Torah of Yeshuah: ADDITIONS TO NEW TESTAMENT

The Book of the Bee

Chapter IV
Of Heaven
HEAVEN is like a roof to the material world, and will serve as the floor of the new world. It is by nature shining and glorious, and is the dwelling-place of the invisible hosts. When God spread out this firmament, He brought up above it a third part of the waters, and above these is the heaven of light and of the luminaries. Hence people say ‘the heaven, and the heaven of heavens;’ for we call both the firmament and the waters which are above it ‘heaven.’ Some consider that the verse ‘Let the waters which are above the heavens praise the name of the Lord’ refers to the holy angels and to our Lord’s humanity; but neither the Church nor the orthodox teachers accept this.
Chapter V
Of the Angels
THE Angels consist of nine classes and three orders, upper, middle and lower. The upper order is composed of Cherubim, Seraphim, and Thrones: these are called ‘priests’ (kumrê), and ‘chief priests,’ and ‘bearers of God’s throne.’ The middle order is composed of Lords, Powers and Rulers: these are called ‘priests’ (kâhnê), because they receive revelations from those above them. The lower order consists of Principalities, Archangels and Angels: and these are the ministers who wait upon created things. The Cherubim are an intellectual motion which bears the throne of the holy Trinity, and is the chief of all motions; they are ever watchful of the classes of themselves and those beneath them. As concerning the epithet ‘full of eyes,’ which is applied to them, the eyes indicate the mystery of the revelations of the Trinity. Their head, and the foremost and highest among them, is Gabriel, who is the mediator between God and His creation. The Seraphim are a fiery motion, which warms those below it with the fire of the divine love. The six wings which each of them is said to possess indicate the revelations which they receive from the Creator and transmit to mankind. The Thrones are a fixed motion, which is not shaken by the trials which come upon it. The Lords are a motion which is entrusted with the government of the motions beneath it; and it is that which prevents the demons from injuring created things. The Powers are a mighty motion, the minister of the will of the Lord; and it is that which gives victory to some rulers in battle and defeat to others. The Rulers are a motion which has power over the spiritual treasures, to distribute them to its companions according to the will of the Creator. This class of angels governs the luminaries, the sun, moon, and stars. The Principalities are a defined motion which possesses the direction of the upper ether, of rain, clouds, lightning, thunder, whirlwinds, tempests, winds, and other ethereal disturbances. The Archangels are a swift operative motion, into whose hands is entrusted the government of the wild beasts, cattle, winged fowl, reptiles, and everything that hath life, from the gnat to the elephant, except man. The Angels are a motion which has spiritual knowledge of everything that is on earth and in heaven. With each and every one of us is an angel of this group–called the guardian angel–who directs man from his conception until the general resurrection. The number of each one of these classes of angels is equal to the number of all mankind from Adam to the resurrection. Hence it is handed down that the number of people who are going to enter the world is equal to the number of all the heavenly hosts; but some say that the number is equal to that of one of the classes only, that they may fill the place of those of them who have fallen through transgressing the law; because the demons fell from three classes (of angels), from each class a third part. If then it is an acknowledged fact that there are three orders of angels, and in each order there are three classes, and in every class a number equivalent to that of all mankind, what is the total number of the angels? Some say that when the angels were created, and were arranged in six divisions–Cherubim, Seraphim, Thrones, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels–the three lower divisions reflected (saying), ‘What is the reason that these are set above, and we below? for they have not previously done anything more than we, neither do we fall short of them.’ On account of this reflection as a cause, according to the custom of the (divine) government, Justice took from both sides, and established three other middle classes of angels–Lords, Powers, and Rulers–that the upper might not be (unduly) exalted, nor the lower think themselves wronged. As for the dwelling-place of the angels, some say that above the firmament there are waters, and above them another heaven in the form of infinite light, and that this is the home of the angels. Here too is God without limit, and the angels, invisible to bodily eyes, surround the throne of His majesty, where they minister to ‘the tabernacle not made with hands.’ Others say that, from the beginning, when God created the angels, until the second day, in which the firmament was made, all the classes of angels dwelt in the upper heavens; but when the firmament was made, they all came down below it, with the exception of three classes–the Cherubim, Seraphim, and Thrones–who remained above it. These surrounded and supported the Shechinah of God from the beginning of the world until our Lord ascended unto heaven; and after the Ascension, behold, they surround and support the throne of the Christ God, who is over all, until the end of the world. The Expositor and his companions say: ‘The tabernacle which Moses made is a type of the whole world.’ The outer tabernacle is the likeness of this world, but the inner tabernacle is the similitude of the place that is above the firmament. And as the priests ministered in the outer tabernacle daily, while the high priest alone entered into the inner tabernacle once a year; so of all rational beings, angels and men, no one has entered (the place) above the firmament, save the High Priest of our confession, Jesus Christ. The fathers, when they have been deemed worthy at any time to see our Lord in a revelation, have seen Him in heaven, surrounded by the Cherubim and Seraphim. Hence some say that there are angels above the heavens. All these celestial hosts have revelations both of sight and of hearing; but the Cherubim have revelations by sight only, because there is no mediator between them and God. The angels have an intellect superior to that of the rest of rational beings; man has stronger desire, and the demons a greater degree of anger.
Chapter VI
Of Darkness
DARKNESS is a self-existent nature; and if it had not had a nature, it would not have been reckoned among the seven natures which were created in the beginning in silence. Others say that darkness is not a self-existent nature, but that it is the shadow of bodies.
Chapter VII
Of Effused (Circumambient) Light
WHEN the holy angels were created on the evening of the first day, without voice, they understood not their creation, but thought within themselves that they were self-existent beings and not made. On the morning of the first day God said in an audible and commanding voice, ‘Let there be light,’ and immediately the effused light was created. When the angels saw the creation of light, they knew of a certainty that He who had made light had created them. And they shouted with a loud voice, and praised Him, and marvelled at His creation of light, as the blessed teacher saith, ‘When the Creator made that light, the angels marvelled thereat,’ etc.; and as it is said in Job, ‘When I created the morning star, all my angels praised me.’ Now by nature light has no warmth.
Chapter VIII
Of the Firmament
ON the evening of the second day of the week, God willed to divide the heavens from the earth, that there might be luminaries and stars beneath the heavens to give light to this world, and that the heavens might be a dwelling-place for the righteous and the angels after the resurrection. God said, ‘Let there be a firmament which shall divide the waters from the waters’; and straightway the waters were divided into three parts. One part remained upon the earth for the use of men, cattle, winged fowl–the rivers and the seas; of another part God made the firmament; and the third part He took up above the firmament. But on the day of resurrection the waters will return to their former nature.
Chapter IX
Of the Creation of Trees and Plants, and the Making of Seas and Rivers
ON the third day God commanded that the waters should be gathered together into the pits and depths of the earth, and that the dry land should appear. When the waters were gathered together into the depths of the earth, and the mountains and hills had appeared, God placed the sand as a limit for the waters of the seas, that they might not pass over and cover the earth. And God commanded the earth to put forth herbage and grass and every green thing; and the earth brought forth trees and herbs and plants of all kinds, complete and perfect in respect of flowers and fruit and seed, each according to its kind. Some say that before the transgression of the command, the earth brought forth neither thorns nor briars, and that even the rose had no thorns as it has now; but that after the transgression of the command, the earth put forth thorns and briars by reason of the curse which it had received. The reason why God created the trees and plants before the creation of the luminaries was that the philosophers, who discourse on natural phenomena, might not imagine that the earth brought forth herbs and trees through the power of the heat of the sun. Concerning the making of Paradise, it is not mentioned in the Pentateuch on what day it was created; but according to the opinion of those who may be relied upon, it was made on the same day in which the trees were made: and if the Lord will, we will speak about it in its proper place.
Chapter X
Of the Making of the Luminaries
ON the fourth day God made the luminaries–sun, moon, and stars–of three substances, air, light, and fire. He took aerial material and prepared vessels like lamps, and mixed fire with light, and filled them. And because in the nature of fire there was no light, nor heat in that of light, the fire imparted heat to the light, and the light gave luminosity to the fire; and from these two were the luminaries–sun, moon, and stars–fabricated. Some say that the luminaries were made in the morning, that the sun was placed in the east, and the moon in the west; while others say that they were made in the evening, and that the sun was placed in the west, and the moon in the east; and therefore the Jews celebrate the fourteenth in the evening. Others say that all the luminaries when they were created were placed in the east; the sun completed his course by day, while the moon waited until eventide, and then began her course. The path of the luminaries is beneath the firmament, and they are not fixed as men have foolishly stated, but the angels guide them. Mâr Isaac says, ‘The sun performs his course from the east to the west, and goes behind the lofty northern mountains the whole night until he rises in the east.’ And the philosophers say that during the night the luminaries perform their course under the earth.
Chapter XI
Of the Creation of Sea-Monsters, Fish, Winged Fowl, and the Reptiles That Are In the Seas
ON the fifth day of the week God made from the waters mighty sea-monsters, fish, winged fowl, swimming beasts, and the reptiles that are in the seas. He created the winged fowl that are in the waters from the waters; for, like fish, they lay eggs and swim. Now, fish swim in the waters, and winged fowl in the air; but some of the latter in the waters also. Although they say that swimming creatures were made from the waters, or that the other wild beasts and cattle were made from the earth; still they consist of parts of all the other elements. Those, however, that are of the waters, have the greater part of their composition made of water; while the greater part of those whose origin is earth, consists of earth: but none of them lack the four elements.
Chapter XII
Of the Creation of Beasts and Animals
ON Friday eve God created them, and therefore animals can see at night as well as in the day time. Others say that they were all created in the morning, and that God created Adam after them on the sixth day, which is Friday.
Chapter XIII
Of the Formation of Adam
ON the Friday, after the making of all created things, God said, ‘Come, let us make man in our image and in our likeness.’ The Jews have interpreted the expression ‘Come, let us make,’ as referring to the angels; though God (adored be His glory!) needs not help from His creatures: but the expositors of the Church indicate the Persons of the adorable Trinity. Some say that when God said ‘Come, let us make man in our image and in our likeness,’ the angels by the eye of the Spirit saw the right hand (of God) spread out over the whole world, and there were in it parts of all the creatures both spiritual and corporeal. And God took from these parts, and fashioned Adam with His holy hands, and breathed into him the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Others say that God took earth from the four quarters of the world, and formed Adam outside paradise; while others say that God fashioned him in the middle of the earth, on the spot where our Lord was crucified, and that there also was Adam’s skull laid. After God had formed Adam outside Paradise, He brought him in as a king, and made him king over all the creatures, and commanded him to give a name to each of them. God did not gather together unto Adam all cattle, nor (all) that swim in the sea, nor (all) the birds of the air, that he might give them names; but he received dominion and power over them to make use of them as he pleased, and to give them names, as a master to his slaves. And when God had brought him into Paradise, He commanded him to till it and to guard it. Why did God say ‘to till it and to guard it’?–for Paradise needed no guarding, and was adorned with fruit of all kinds, and there was none to injure it–unless it were to exhort him to keep His commandments, and to till it that he might not become a lover of idleness. Because Adam had not seen his own formation, and was not acquainted with the power of his Maker, it was necessary that, when Eve was taken from him in his own likeness, he should perceive his Maker, and should acknowledge that He who made Eve also made him, and that they two were bound to be obedient to Him.
Chapter XIV
Of the Making of Eve
GOD said, ‘Let us make a helper for Adam.’ And He threw upon Adam a sleep and stupor, and took one of his ribs from his left side, and put flesh in its place, and of it He formed Eve. He did not make her of earth, that she might not be considered something alien to him in nature; and He did not take her from Adam’s fore-parts, that she might not uplift herself against him; nor from his hind-parts, that she might not be accounted despicable; nor from his right side, that she might not have pre-eminence over him; nor from his head, that she might not seek authority over him; nor from his feet, that she might not be trodden down and scorned in the eyes of her husband: but (He took her) from his left side, for the side is the place which unites and joins both front and back.–Concerning the sleep which God cast upon Adam, He made him to be half asleep and half awake, that he might not feel pain when the rib was taken from him, and look upon the woman as a hateful thing; and yet not without pain, that he might not think that she was not meet for him in matters of nature. When Adam came to himself, he prophesied and said, ‘This is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; this shall be called woman’: and they were both clothed in light, and saw not each other’s nakedness.
Chapter XV
Of Paradise
IN the eastern part of the earth, on the mountain of Eden, beyond the ocean, God planted Paradise, and adorned it with fruit-bearing trees of all kinds, that it might be a dwelling-place for Adam and his progeny, if they should keep His commandments. He made to spring forth from it a great river, which was parted into four heads, to water Paradise and the whole earth. The first river is Pîshôn, which compasseth the land of Havîlâ, where there is gold and beryls and fair and precious stones. The second river is Gihôn, that is, the Nile of Egypt. The third river is Deklath (the Tigris), which travels through the land of Assyria and Bêth-Zabdai. The fourth river is Perath (the Euphrates), which flows through the middle of the earth. Some teachers say that Paradise surrounds the whole earth like a wall and a hedge beyond the ocean. Others say that it was placed upon the mount of Eden, higher than every other mountain in the world by fifteen cubits. Others say that it was placed between heaven and earth, below the firmament and above this earth, and that God placed it there as a boundary for Adam between heaven and earth, so that, if he kept His commands, He might lift him up to heaven, but if he transgressed them, He might cast him down to this earth. And as the land of heaven is better and more excellent than the land of Paradise, so was the land of Paradise better and more glorious and more excellent (than our earth); its trees were more beautiful, its flowers more odoriferous, and its atmosphere more pure than ours, through superiority of species and not by nature. God made Paradise large enough to be the dwelling-place of Adam and of his posterity, provided that they kept the divine commandments. Now it is the dwelling-place of the souls of the righteous, and its keepers are Enoch and Elijah; Elijah the unwedded, and Enoch the married man: that the unwedded may not exalt themselves above the married, as if, forsooth, Paradise were suitable for the unwedded only. The souls of sinners are without Paradise, in a deep place called Eden. After the resurrection, the souls of the righteous and the sinners will put on their bodies. The righteous will enter into heaven, which will become the land of the righteous; while the sinners will remain upon earth. The tree of good and evil that was in Paradise did not by nature possess these properties of good and evil like rational beings, but only through the deed which was wrought by its means; like the ‘well of contention,’ and the ‘heap of witness,’ which did not possess these properties naturally, but only through the deeds which were wrought by their means. Adam and Eve were not stripped of the glory with which they were clothed, nor did they die the death of sin, because they desired and ate of the fruit of the fig-tree–for the fruit of the fig-tree was not better than the fruit of any other tree–but because of the transgression of the law, in that they were presumptuous and wished to become gods. On account of this foolish and wicked and blasphemous intention, chastisement and penalty overtook them.–Concerning the tree of life which was planted in the middle of Paradise, some have said that Paradise is the mind, that the tree of good and evil is the knowledge of material things, and that the tree of life is the knowledge of divine things, which were not profitable to the simple understanding of Adam. Others have said that the tree of life is the kingdom of heaven and the joy of the world to come; and others that the tree of life was a tree in very truth, which was set in the middle of Paradise, but no man has ever found out what its fruit or its flowers or its nature was like.
Chapter XVI
Of the Sin of Adam
WHEN God in His goodness had made Adam, He laid down a law for him, and commanded him not to eat of the tree of good and evil, which is the fig-tree. After Eve was created, Adam told her the story of the tree; and Satan heard it, and by his envy it became the occasion and cause of their being made to sin, and being expelled from Paradise, for it was by reason of him that Adam fell from the height of his glory. Some say that Satan heard when God commanded Adam not to eat of that tree. Others say that God commanded Adam in his mind, mentally (and not by sense); others again say, by sense and openly. And Satan saw that the serpent was more subtle than all four-footed beasts; and he played in him, as it were with pipes, in the hearing of Eve, like an instrument, and said to her, ‘Ye shall not die, as God hath said to you, but ye shall be gods like God, knowers of good and evil.’ Then Eve saw that the appearance of the fig-tree was beautiful, and that its smell was delightful; and she desired to eat of it and to become a goddess. So she stretched out her hand, and plucked, and ate, and gave also to her husband, and he likewise did eat. And they were stripped of the fair glory and glorious light of purity wherewith they were clothed, when they saw not each other’s nakedness. And their eyes were opened, and they saw their nakedness; and they took leaves of the fig-tree, and covered their nakedness for shame, and hid themselves beneath thick trees. Then God called Adam and said to him, ‘Where art thou, Adam?’–not that He did not know where he was, but in a chiding manner–and Adam said, ‘Lord, I heard Thy voice, and I hid myself because I am naked.’ God said, ‘Whence knowest thou that thou art naked? peradventure hast thou transgressed the law and command which I laid down for thee, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee not to eat?’ Adam said, ‘The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave to me, and I did eat.’ And God questioned Eve in like manner; and Eve said, ‘The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.’ And God cursed the serpent, saying, ‘Cursed art thou above all beasts upon the earth.’ With the cursing of the serpent, who was the tool of Satan, Satan, who had instigated the serpent, was himself cursed; and immediately his legs were destroyed, and he crawled upon his belly, and instead of being an animal became a hissing reptile. And God set enmity between the serpent and man, saying, ‘He shall smite the heel of man, but man shall crush his head, and the food of the serpent shall be dust.’ God said to Eve, ‘In pain shalt thou bring forth children;’ and to Adam He said, ‘Cursed is the ground for thy sake, and in toil and the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.’ And the earth, by reason of the curse which it had received, straightway brought forth thorns and thistles. And God drove them out from Paradise at the ninth hour of the same day in which they were created.
Chapter XVII
Of the Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise
AFTER God had expelled them from Paradise, like wicked servants driven forth from the inheritance of their master, and had cast them into exile, over the gate at the eastern side of Paradise He set a cherub with a sword and spear to frighten Adam from approaching Paradise. Some say that the cherub was one of the heavenly hosts, of the class of the Cherubim; and others say that he did not belong to the spiritual powers, but was a terrible form endowed with a body. So also the spear point and the sword were made of fire extended like a sharp sword, which went and came round about Paradise to terrify Adam and his wife. And God made for them garments of skin to cover their shame. Some say that they clothed themselves with the skins of animals, which they stripped off; but this is not credible, for all the beasts were created in couples, and Adam and Eve had as yet no knives to kill and flay them; hence it is clear that he means the bark of trees. Only the blessed Moses called the bark of trees ‘skins,’ because it fills the place of skins to trees. In the land of India there are trees whose bark is used for the clothing of kings and nobles and the wealthy, on account of its beauty. After God had expelled Adam and his wife from Paradise, He withheld from them the fruits of trees, and the use of bread and flesh and wine, and the anointing with oil; but they cooked grain and vegetables and the herbs of the earth, and did eat sparingly. Moreover, the four-footed beasts and fowl and reptiles rebelled against them, and some of them became enemies and adversaries unto them. They remained thus until Noah went forth from the ark, and then God allowed them to eat bread and to drink wine and to eat flesh, after they had slain the animal and poured out its blood. They say that when Adam and Eve were driven out of Paradise, Adam cut off a branch for a staff from the tree of good and evil; and it remained with him, and was handed down from generation to generation unto Moses and even to the Crucifixion of our Lord; and if the Lord will, we will relate its history in its proper place.
Chapter XVIII
Of Adam’s Knowing Eve
WHEN Adam and Eve went forth from Paradise, they were both virgins. After thirty years Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and brought forth Cain together with his sister Kelêmath at one birth. And after thirty years Eve conceived and brought forth Abel and Lebôdâ his sister at one birth. And when they arrived at the age for marriage, Adam wished and intended to give Abel’s sister to Cain and Cain’s sister to Abel; but Cain desired his own sister more than Abel’s. Both (i.e. Kelêmath and Lebôdâ) were his sisters, but because of their birth at one time I have called them thus. Now Cain’s sister was exceedingly beautiful. The two brothers made an offering to God because of this matter. Abel, because he was a shepherd, offered up of the fat firstlings of his flock in great love, with a pure heart and a sincere mind. Cain, because he was a husbandman, made an offering of some of the refuse of the fruits of his husbandry with reluctance. He made an offering of ears of wheat that were smitten by blight; but some say of straw only. And the divine fire came down from heaven and consumed the offering of Abel, and it was accepted; while the offering of Cain was rejected. And Cain was angry with God, and envied his brother; and he persuaded his brother to come out into the plain, and slew him. Some say that he smashed his head with stones, and killed him; and others say that Satan appeared to him in the form of wild beasts that fight with one another and slay each other. At any rate, he killed him, whether this way or that way. Then God said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel thy brother?’ Cain said, ‘Am I forsooth my brother’s keeper?’ God said, ‘Behold, the sound of the cry of thy brother Abel’s blood has come unto me;’ and God cursed Cain, and made him a wanderer and a fugitive all the days of his life. From the day in which the blood of Abel was shed upon the ground, it did not again receive the blood of any animal until Noah came forth from the ark. Adam and Eve mourned for Abel one hundred years. In the two hundred and thirtieth year, Seth, the beautiful, was born in the likeness of Adam; and Adam and Eve were consoled by him, Cain and his descendants went down and dwelt in the plain, while Adam and his children, that is the sons of Seth, dwelt upon the top of the Mount of Eden, And the sons of Seth went down and saw the beauty of the daughters of Cain, and lay with them; and the earth was corrupted and polluted with lasciviousness; and Adam and Eve heard of it and mourned. Now Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years. Some say that in the days of Seth the knowledge of books went forth in the earth; but the Church does not accept this. When Seth was two hundred and fifty years old, he begat Enos; and Seth lived nine hundred and thirteen years, and he died. Enos was two hundred and ninety years old when he begat Cainan; and Enos first called upon the name of the Lord. Some say that he first composed books upon the course of the stars and the signs of the Zodiac. Enos lived nine hundred and five years. Cainan was a hundred and forty years old when he begat Mahalaleel; and he lived nine hundred and ten years. Mahalaleel was one hundred and sixty-five years old when he begat Jared; and he lived eight hundred and ninety-five years. Jared was one hundred and sixty-two years old when he begat Enoch; and he lived nine hundred and sixty-two years. Enoch was one hundred and sixty-five years old when he begat Methuselah; and when he was three hundred and sixty-five years old, God removed him to the generation of life, that is to Paradise. Methuselah was one hundred and eighty-seven years old when he begat Lamech; and he lived nine hundred and sixty-nine years. Lamech was a hundred and eighty-two years old when he begat Noah; and he lived seven hundred and seventy-seven years.
Chapter XIX
Of the Invention of the Instruments for Working in Iron
SOME say that Cainan and Tubal-Cain, who were of the family of Cain, were the first who invented the three tools of the art of working in iron, the anvil, hammer and tongs. The art of working in iron is the mother and begetter of all arts; as the head is to the body, so is it to all other crafts. And as all the limbs of the body cease to perform their functions if the head is taken away from it, so also all other arts would cease if the art of working in iron were to come to an end. In the days of Tubal and Tubal-Cain, the sons of Lamech the blind, Satan entered and dwelt in them, and they constructed all kinds of musical instruments, harps and pipes. Some say that spirits used to go into the reeds and disturb them, and that the sound from them was like the sound of singing and pipes; and men constructed all kinds of musical instruments. Now this blind Lamech was a hunter, and could shoot straight with a bow; his son used to take him by the hand, and guide him to places where there was game, and when he heard the movement of an animal, he shot an arrow at it, and brought it down. One day, when shooting an arrow at an animal, he smote Cain the murderer, the son of Adam, and slew him.
Chapter XX
Of Noah and the Flood
WHEN Noah was five hundred years old, he took a wife from the daughters of Seth; and there were born to him three sons, Shem, Ham and Japhet. And God saw Noah’s uprightness and integrity, while all men were corrupted and polluted by lasciviousness; and He determined to remove the human race from this broad earth, and made this known to the blessed Noah, and commanded him to make an ark for the saving of himself, his sons, and the rest of the animals. Noah constructed this ark during the space of one hundred years, and he made it in three stories, all with boards and projecting ledges. Each board was a cubit long and a span broad. The length of the ark was three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. Noah made it of box wood, though some say of teak wood; and he pitched it within and without. At the end of the six hundredth year, God commanded Noah, with his wife, his sons and his daughters-in-law–eight souls–to go into the ark, and to take in with him seven couples of every clean animal and fowl, and one couple of every unclean animal, a male and a female. And he took bread and water in with him according to his need: not an abundant supply, lest they might be annoyed by the smell of the faeces, but they got food just sufficient to preserve their lives. God forewarned the blessed Noah of what he was about to do seven days beforehand, in case the people might remember their sins and offer the sacrifice of repentance. But those rebels mocked at him scoffingly, and thrust out their unclean lips at the sound of the saw and the adze. After seven days God commanded Noah to shut the door of the ark, and to plaster it over with bitumen. And the fountains of the deeps were broken up from beneath, and a torrent of rain (fell) from above, for forty days and forty nights, without cessation, until the waters rose fifteen cubits above the highest mountains in the world. And the waters bore up the ark, which travelled over them from east to west and from north to south, and so inscribed the figure of the cross upon the world; and it passed over the ocean, and came to this broad earth. So the rain was stayed, and the winds blew, and the waters remained upon the earth without diminishing one hundred and fifty days, besides those forty days; which, from the time that Noah entered the ark and the flood began until the waters began to diminish, make in all one hundred and ninety days, which are six months and ten days–even until the twentieth day of the latter Teshrî. The waters began to diminish from the latter Teshrî to the tenth month, on the first day of which the tops of the mountains appeared, but until the time when the earth was dry, and the dove found rest for the sole of her foot, was one hundred days. The ark rested upon the top of mount Kardô. In the tenth month, which is Shebât, Noah opened the door of the ark, and sent a raven to bring him news of the earth. And it went and found dead bodies, and it alighted upon them and returned not. For this reason people have made a proverb about Noah’s raven. Again he sent forth a dove, but it found not a place whereon to alight, and returned to the ark. After seven days he sent forth another dove, and it returned to him in the evening carrying an olive leaf in its bill; and Noah knew that the waters had subsided. Noah remained in the ark a full year, and he came forth from it and offered up an offering of clean animals; and God accepted his offering and promised him that He would never again bring a flood upon the face of the earth, nor again destroy beasts and men by a flood; and He gave him (as) a token the bow in the clouds, and from that day the bow has appeared in the clouds; and He commanded him to slay and eat the flesh of beasts and birds after he had poured out their blood. The number of people who came forth from the ark was eight souls, and they built the town of Themânôn after the name of the eight souls, and it is to-day the seat of a bishopric in the province of Sûbâ. Noah planted a vineyard, and drank of its wine; and one day when he slumbered, and was sunk in the deep sleep of drunkenness, his nakedness was uncovered within his tent. When Ham his son saw him, he laughed at him and despised him, and told his brethren Shem and Japhet. But Shem and Japhet took a cloak upon their shoulders, and walked backwards with their faces turned away, and threw the cloak over their father and covered him, and then they looked upon him. When Noah awoke and knew what had been done to him by the two sets of his sons, he cursed Canaan the son of Ham and said, ‘Thou shalt be a servant to thy brethren;’ but he blessed Shem and Japhet. The reason why he cursed Canaan, who was not as yet born nor had sinned, was because Ham had been saved with him in the ark from the waters of the flood, and had with his father received the divine blessing; and also because the arts of sin–I mean music and dancing and all other hateful things–were about to be revived by his posterity, for the art of music proceeded from the seed of Canaan. After the flood a son was born to Noah, and he called his name Jônatôn; and he provided him with gifts and sent him to the fire of the sun, to the east. Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years; the sum of his years was nine hundred and fifty years; and he saw eighteen generations and families before and after it. He died on the fourth day of the week, on the second of Nîsân, at the second hour of the day; his son Shem embalmed him, and his sons buried him, and mourned over him forty days.
Chapter XXI
Of Melchizedek
NEITHER the father nor mother of this Melchizedek were written down in the genealogies; not that he had no natural parents, but that they were not written down. The greater number of the doctors say that he was of the seed of Canaan, whom Noah cursed. In the book of Chronography, however, (the author) affirms and says that he was of the seed of Shem the son of Noah. Shem begat Arphaxar, Arphaxar begat Cainan, and Cainan begat Shâlâh and Mâlâh, Shâlâh was written down in the genealogies; but Mâlâh was not, because his affairs were not sufficiently important to be written down in the genealogies. When Noah died, he commanded Shem concerning the bones of Adam, for they were with them in the ark, and were removed from the land of Eden to this earth. Then Shem entered the ark, and sealed it with his father’s seal, and said to his brethren, ‘My father commanded me to go and see the sources of the rivers and the seas and the structure of the earth, and to return.’ And he said to Mâlâh the father of Melchizedek, and to Yôzâdâk his mother, ‘Give me your son that he may be with me, and behold, my wife and my children are with you.’ Melchizedek’s parents said to him, ‘My lord, take thy servant; and may the angel of peace be with thee, and protect thee from wild beasts and desolation of the earth.’ Shem went by night into the ark, and took Adam’s coffin; and he sealed up the ark, saying to his brethren, ‘My father commanded me that no one should go into it.’ And he journeyed by night with the angel before him, and Melchizedek with him, until they came and stood upon the spot where our Lord was crucified. When they had laid the coffin down there, the earth was rent in the form of a cross, and swallowed up the coffin, and was again sealed up and returned to its former condition. Shem laid his hand upon Melchizedek’s head, and blessed him, and delivered to him the priesthood, and commanded him to dwell there until the end of his life. And he said to him, ‘Thou shalt not drink wine nor any intoxicating liquor, neither shall a razor pass over thy head; thou shalt not offer up to God an offering of beasts, but only fine flour and olive oil and wine; thou shalt not build a house for thyself; and may the God of thy fathers be with thee.’ And Shem returned to his brethren, and Melchizedek’s parents said to him, ‘Where is our son?’ Shem said, ‘He died while he was with me on the way, and I buried him;’ and they mourned for him a month of days; but Melchizedek dwelt in that place until he died. When he was old, the kings of the earth heard his fame, and eleven of them gathered together and came to see him; and they entreated him to go with them, but he would not be persuaded. And when he did not conform to their wishes, they built a city for him there, and he called it Jerusalem; and the kings said to one another, ‘This is the king of all the earth, and the father of nations.’ When Abraham came back from the battle of the kings and the nations, he passed by the mount of Jerusalem; and Melchizedek came forth to meet him, and Abraham made obeisance to Melchizedek, and gave him tithes of all that he had with him. And Melchizedek embraced him and blessed him, and gave him bread and wine from that which he was wont to offer up as an offering.
Chapter XXII
Of the Generations of Noah
The children of Shem
The people of Shem are twenty and seven families. Elam, from whom sprang the Elamites; Asshur, from whom sprang the Assyrians (Âthôrâyê); Arphaxar, from whom sprang the Persians; and Lud (Lôd) and Aram, from whom sprang the Arameans, the Damascenes, and the Harranites. Now the father of all the children of Eber was Arphaxar. Shâlâh begat Eber (Abâr), and to Eber were born two sons; the name of the one of whom was Peleg (Pâlâg), because in his days the earth was divided. From this it is known that the Syriac language remained with Eber, because, when the languages were confounded and the earth was divided, he was born, and was called Peleg by the Syriac word which existed in his time. After Peleg, Joktân (Yaktân) was born, from whom sprang the thirteen nations who dwelt beside one another and kept the Syriac language. And their dwelling was from Menashshê (or Manshâ) of mount Sepharvaïm, by the side of the land of Canaan, and towards the east, beginning at Aram and Damascus, and coming to Baishân [Maishân ?] and Elam, and their border (was) Assyria, and the east, and Persia to the south, and the Great Sea. Now the Hebrew has Maishân instead of Menashshê (or Manshâ), in the verse, ‘The children of Joktân dwelt from Maishân to Sepharvaïm.’
The children of Ham
The people of Ham are thirty and six families, besides the Philistines and Cappadocians. Cush, from whom sprang the Cushites; Misraim, from whom sprang the Misrâyê (or Egyptians); Phut (or Pôt), from whom sprang the Pôtâyê; Canaan, from whom sprang the Canaanites; the seven kings whom Joshua the son of Nun destroyed; the children of `Ôbâr, Shebâ and Havîlâ, from whom sprang the Indians, the Amorites, the Samrâyê, the Metrâyê, and all the dwellers of the south. And of Cush was born Nimrod, who was the first king after the flood. The beginning of his kingdom was Babel (Babylon), which he built, and in which he reigned; and then, after the division of tongues, he built the following cities: Ârâch (Erech), which is Orhâi (Edessa), Âchâr (Accad), which is Nisîbis, and Calyâ (Calneh), which is Ctesiphon. The land of Babel he called the land of Shinar. because in it were the languages confounded, for ‘Shinar’ in the Hebrew language is interpreted ‘division.’ From that land the Assyrian went forth and built Nineveh and the town of Rehôbôth, which is the town of Arbêl (Irbil). It is said that Belus, the son of Nimrod, was the first to depart from Babel and to come to Assyria; and after Belus, his son Ninus built Nineveh, and called it after his name, and Arbêl and Câlâh, which is Hetrê (Hatrâ), and Resen, which is Rêsh-`ainâ (Râs`ain). Misraim begat Ludim, from whom sprang the Lôdâyê; La`bîm, from whom sprang the Lûbâyê; Lahbîm, from whom sprang the Tebtâyê; Yaphtuhîm, Pathrusîm, and Casluhîm, from whom went forth the Philistines, the Gedrâyê (Gadarenes), and the people of Sodom. Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, from whom sprang the Sôrâyê (Tyrians) and Sidonians, ten nations who dwelt by the side of Israel, from the sea (i.e. the Mediterranean) to the Euphrates; the Kîshâyê, the Kenrâyê (or Kîrâyê), and the Akdemônâyê (or Kadmônâyê), who were between the children of Esau and Amnâ of Ireth. The children of Lot are children of Ham.
The children of Japhet
The people of Japhet are fifteen families. Gomer, from whom sprang the Gêôthâyê (Gôthâyê, Goths ?); Magog, from whom sprang the Galatians; Mâdâi, from whom sprang the Medes; Javan, from whom sprang the Yaunâyê (Greeks); Tûbîl (Tubal), from whom sprang the Baithônâyê (Bithynians); Meshech, from whom sprang the Mûsâyê (Mysians); Tîras, from whom sprang the Tharnekâyê (or Thrêkâyê, Thracians), the Anshklâyê (or Asklâyê), and the Achshklâyê. The children of Gomer: Ashkenaz, from whom sprang the Armenians; Danphar, from whom sprang the Cappadocians; Togarmah, from whom sprang the Asâyê (Asians) and the Îsaurâyê (Isaurians). The sons of Javan: Elisha, that is Halles (Hellas); Tarshîsh, Cilicia, Cyprus, Kâthîm (Kittîm), Doranim, and the Macedonians; and from these they were divided among the islands of the nations. These are the families of the children of Noah, and from them were the nations divided on the earth after the flood; they are seventy and two families, and according to the families, so are the languages.
Chapter XXIII
Of the Succession of Generations from the Flood Until Now
SHEM was a hundred years old, and begat Arphaxar two years after the flood; the sum of his years was six hundred. Arphaxar was a hundred and thirty-five years old, and begat Kainan. Kainan was a hundred and thirty-nine years old, and begat Shâlâh: the sum of his years was four hundred and thirty-eight. Shâlâh was a hundred and thirty years old, and begat Eber; the sum of his years was four hundred and thirty-three. Eber was a hundred and thirty-four years old, and begat Peleg; the sum of his years was four hundred and sixty-four. Peleg was a hundred and thirty years old, and begat Reu; the sum of his years was a hundred and thirty-nine. In the days of Reu the languages were divided into seventy and two; up to this time there was only one language, which was the parent of them all, namely, Aramean, that is Syriac. Reu was a hundred and thirty-two years old, and begat Serug; the sum of his years was a hundred and thirty-nine. Serug was a hundred and thirty years old, and begat Nahor; the sum of his years was a hundred and thirty years. In the days of Serug men worshipped idols and graven images. Nahor was seventy and nine years old, and begat Terah; the sum of his years was one hundred and forty-eight. In the days of Nahor magic began in the world. And God opened the storehouse of the winds and whirlwinds, and they uprooted the idols and graven images, and they collected them together and buried them under the earth, and they reared over them these mounds that are in the world. This was called ‘the Wind Flood.’ Terah was seventy years old, and begat Abraham; the sum of his years was one hundred and five years. So it is two thousand two hundred and forty-two years from Adam to the flood; and one thousand and eighty-one years from the flood to the birth of Abraham; and from Adam to Abraham it is three thousand three hundred and thirteen years. And know, my brother readers, that there is a great difference between the computation of Ptolemy and that of the Hebrews and the Samaritans; for the Jews take away one hundred years from the beginning of the years of each (patriarch), and they add them to the end of the years of each of them, that they may disturb the reckoning and lead men astray and falsify the coming of Christ, and may say, ‘The Messiah is to come at the end of the world, and in the last times;’ and behold, according to their account, He came in the fourth millennium, for so it comes out by their reckoning.
Chapter XXIV
Of the Building of the Tower and the Division of Tongues
WHEN Reu was born in the days of Peleg, the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japhet, together with Arphaxar and their children, were gathered together in Shinar. And they took counsel together, saying, ‘Come, let us build for ourselves a high tower, the top of which shall be in the heavens, lest a flood come again upon us, and destroy us from off the face of the earth.’ And they began to make bricks and to build, until (the tower) was reared a great height from the ground. Then they determined to build seventy-two other towers around it, and to set up a chief over each tower to govern those who were under his authority. God saw the weariness of their oppression and the hardness of their toil, and in His mercy had compassion upon them; for the higher they went, the more severe became their labour, and their pain went on increasing, by reason of the violence of the winds and storms and the heat of the luminaries and the necessity of carrying up everything they needed. And God said, ‘Come, let us go down and divide the tongues there.’ The expression ‘Come, let us,’ resembles ‘Come, let us make man in our image and in our likeness,’ and refers to the persons of the adorable Trinity. While they were tormenting themselves with that vain labour, their language was suddenly confounded so as to become seventy-two languages, and they understood not each other’s speech, and were scattered throughout the whole world, and built cities, every man with his fellow who spoke the same language. From Adam to the building of the tower, there was only one language, and that was Syriac. Some have said that it was Hebrew; but the Hebrews were not called by this name until after Abraham had crossed the river Euphrates and dwelt in Harrân; and from his crossing they were called Hebrews. It was grievous to Peleg that the tongues were confounded (or, that God had confounded the tongues of mankind) in his days, and he died; and his sons Serug and Nahor buried him in the town of Pâlgîn, which he built after his name.
Chapter XXV
Of Abraham
TERAH the father of Abraham took two wives; the one called Yônâ, by whom he begat Abraham; the other called Shelmath, by whom he begat Sarah. Mâr Theodore says that Sarah was the daughter of Abraham’s uncle, and puts the uncle in the place of the father. When Abraham was seventy-five years old, God commanded him to cross the river Euphrates and to dwell in Harrân. And he took Sarah his wife and Lot his nephew, and crossed the river Euphrates and dwelt in Harrân. In his eighty-sixth year his son Ishmael was born to him of Hagar the Egyptian woman, the handmaid of Sarah, whom Pharaoh the king gave to her when he restored her to Abraham; and God was revealed to him under the oak of Mamre. Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac, the son of promise, was born to him; and on the eighth day he circumcised himself, his son, and every one born in his house. When God commanded Abraham to offer up Isaac upon the altar, He sent him for sacrifice to the special place where, according to the tradition of those worthy of belief, our Lord was crucified. After the death of Sarah, Abraham took to wife Kentôrah (Keturah), the daughter of Yaktân, the king of the Turks. When Isaac was forty years old, Eliezer the Damascene, the servant of Abraham, went down to the town of Arâch (Erech), and betrothed Raphkâ (Rebecca), the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean, to Isaac his lord’s son. And Abraham died at the age of one hundred and seventy-five years, and was laid by the side of Sarah his wife in the ‘double cave,’ which he bought from Ephron the Hittite; When Isaac was sixty years old, there were born unto him twin sons, Jacob and Esau: At that time Arbêl was built; some say that the king who built it was called Arbôl. In Isaac’s sixty-sixth year Jericho was built. Esau begat Reuel; Reuel begat Zerah; Zerah begat Jobab, that is Job.
Chapter XXVI
Of the Temptation of Job
THERE was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And he was a perfect, righteous and God-fearing man; and there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. The number of his possessions was seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-asses, and a very large train of servants. This man was the greatest of all the children of the east. His children used to go and make a feast; and the day came that his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking in the house of their eldest brother. There came a messenger to Job and said to him:
The oxen were drawing the ploughs, and the she-asses were feeding by their side, when robbers fell upon them and carried them off, and the young men were slain by the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell thee.
While he was yet speaking, there came another and said to him:
The fire of God fell from heaven and consumed the sheep and the shepherds, and burnt them up; and I alone have escaped to tell thee.
While he was yet speaking, there came another and said to him:
The Chaldeans divided themselves into three bands and fell upon the camels and carried them off, and slew the young men; and I alone have escaped to tell thee.
While he was yet speaking, there came another and said to him:
Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking in the house of their eldest brother, when there came a mighty wind and beat upon the corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell thee.
Then Job stood up and rent his garment, and shaved his head; and he fell upon the ground and prostrated himself, saying:
Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
In all this did Job sin not, neither did he blaspheme God. And Satan smote Job with a grievous sore from the sole of his foot to his head (lit. brain); and Job took a potsherd to scrape himself with, and sat upon ashes. His wife says to him, ‘Dost thou still hold fast by thy integrity? curse God and die.’ Job says to her, ‘Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh: we have received the good things of God; shall we not receive His evil things?’ In all this did Job sin not, neither did he blaspheme God with his lips. Job’s three friends heard of this evil which had come upon him, and they came to him, every man from his own land, to comfort him; and their names were these: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. When they were come, they lifted up their eyes from afar off, and they did not know him. And they lifted up their voice and wept, and each man rent his garment, and they strewed dust upon their heads towards heaven; and they sat with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word, for they saw that his blow was very sore. And when he held fast by his God, He blessed him, and gave him seven sons and three daughters; and there were not found in the whole land women more beautiful than Job’s daughters, and their names were Jemima, Keren-happuch, and Kezia. And God gave him fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels and a thousand yoke of oxen; and Job lived one hundred and forty years after his temptation, and died in peace.
Chapter XXVII
Of the Blessings of Isaac
JACOB was seventy-seven years old when his father Isaac blessed him; and he stole the blessings and birthright from his brother Esau, and fled from before his brother to Harrân. On the first night Jacob saw a ladder reaching from earth to heaven, with angels ascending and descending, and the Power of God upon the top thereof. And he woke and said, ‘This is the house of the Lord.’ He took the stone that was under his head, and set it up for an altar; and he vowed a vow to God. Now the ladder was a type of Christ’s crucifixion; the angels that were ascending and descending were a type of the angels who announced the glad tidings to the shepherds on the day of our Saviour’s birth. The Power of God which was upon the top of the ladder was (a type of) the manifestation of God the Word in pure flesh of the formation of Adam. The place in which the vision appeared was a type of the church; the stone under his head, which he set up for an altar, was a type of the altar; and the oil which he poured out upon it was like the holy oil wherewith they anoint the altar.
And Jacob went to Laban the Aramean, his mother’s brother, and served before him as a shepherd for fourteen years. And he took his two daughters to wife; Leah with her handmaid Zilpah, and Rachel with her handmaid Bilhah. Now he loved Rachel more than Leah, because she was the younger and was fair in aspect, while Leah had watery eyes. There were born to Jacob by Leah six sons: Rûbîl (Reuben), which is interpreted ‘Great is God’ (now Jacob was eighty-four years old at that time); Simeon, which is interpreted ‘the Obedient;’ Levi, that is ‘the Perfect;’ Judah, that is ‘Praise;’ Issachar, that is ‘Hope is near;’ and Zebulun, that is ‘Gift’ or ‘Dwelling-place.’ Two sons were born to him by Rachel: Joseph, that is ‘Addition;’ and Benjamin, that is ‘Consolation.’ By Zilpah two sons were born to him: Gad, that is ‘Luck;’ and Asher, that is ‘Praise.’ By Bilhah two sons were born to him: Dan, that is ‘Judgment;’ and Naphtali, that is ‘Heartener;’ and one daughter, whose name was Dina. After twenty years Jacob returned to Isaac; and Isaac lived one hundred and eighty years. Twenty-three years after Jacob went up to his father, Joseph was sold by his brethren to the Midianites for twenty dînârs. When Isaac died, Jacob was one hundred and twenty years old.
Chapter XXVIII
Of Joseph
AFTER Jacob’s sons had been born to him by Leah, then Joseph and Benjamin were born to him (by Rachel); and he loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the child of (his) old age, and because of his beauty and purity, and his being left motherless. He made him a garment with long sleeves, and his brethren envied him. And he dreamed dreams twice, and their hatred increased, and they kept anger in their hearts against him. They sold him to the Midianites, who carried him to Egypt, and sold him to Potiphar, the chief of the guards; and Potiphar delivered his house and servants into his hands; but because of the wantonness of Potiphar’s wife, he was bound and kept in prison for two years. When the chief cup-bearer and the chief baker dreamed dreams in one night, and Joseph interpreted them, his words actually came to pass. After Joseph had remained in bondage two years, Pharaoh the king of Egypt saw two dreams in one night; and he was troubled and disturbed, and the sorcerers and enchanters and wise men were unable to interpret his dreams. Then one of those who had been imprisoned with Joseph remembered (him), and they told Pharaoh; and Joseph interpreted his dreams, and Pharaoh made him king over Egypt. And Joseph gathered together and collected the corn of the seven prosperous years, and saved it for the seven years of famine. When the household of Jacob lacked bread, Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy corn, and they met Joseph, and he recognised them, but they did not know him. After he had tortured them twice by his harsh words, he at last revealed himself to them, and shewed himself to his brethren. And he sent and brought his father Jacob and all his family–seventy-five souls in number, and they came down and dwelt in the land of Egypt two hundred and thirty years. Concerning that which God spake to Abraham, ‘Thy seed shall be a sojourner in a strange land four hundred and thirty years;’ they were under subjection in their thoughts from the time that God spake to Abraham until they went forth from Egypt. Jacob died in Egypt, and he commanded that he should be buried with his fathers; and they carried him and buried him by the side of his fathers in the land of Palestine. After Joseph died, another king arose, who knew not Joseph, and he oppressed the children of Israel with heavy labour in clay; at that time Moses was born in Egypt. Since many have written the history of the blessed Joseph at great length, and the blessed Mâr Ephraim has written his history in twelve discourses, concerning everything which happened to him from his childhood to his death, as well as another discourse upon the carrying up of his bones (to Palestine), we refrain from writing a long account of him, that we may not depart from the plan which we laid down in making this collection.
Chapter XXIX
Of Moses and the Children of Israel
AFTER Joseph was dead, and another king had arisen who knew not the Israelitish people, the people increased and became strong in Egypt. And Pharaoh was afraid of them, and laid a burden upon them, and oppressed them with hard work in clay, and demanded a tale of bricks from them without giving them straw. At that time Moses the son of Amram, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, was born. Levi was forty-six years old when he begat Kohath; Kohath was sixty-three years old when he begat Amram; and Amram was seventy years old when he begat Moses. When Moses was born, Pharaoh the king commanded to throw the new-born children of the Israelites into the river. Moses was beautiful in appearance, and he was called Pantîl and Amlâkyâ; and the Egyptians used to call him the Shakwîthâ of the daughter of Pharaoh. The name of Moses’ mother was Yokâbâr (Jochebed). When the command of the king went forth for the drowning of the infants, she made a little ark covered with pitch, and laid the child in it; and she carried it and placed it in a shallow part of the waters of the river Nile (that is Gîhôn); and she sat down opposite (that is, at a distance), to see what would be the end of the child. And Shîpôr, the daughter of Pharaoh, came to bathe in the river–some say that she was called Tharmesîs–and she saw the ark and commanded it to be fetched. When she opened it, and saw that the appearance of the child was beautiful and his complexion comely, she said, ‘Verily this child is one of the Hebrews’ children;’ and she took him, and reared him up as her son. She sought a Hebrew nurse, and the mother of the child Moses came, and became a nurse to him; and he was reared in the house of Pharaoh until he was forty years old. One day he saw Pethkôm the Egyptian, one of the servants of Pharaoh, quarrelling with an Israelite and reviling him. Moses looked this way and that way, and saw no man; and zeal entered into him, and he slew the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. Two days after, he saw two Hebrews quarrelling with one another. And he said to them, ‘Ye are brethren; why quarrel ye with one another?’ And one of them thrust him away from him, saying, ‘Dost thou peradventure seek to kill me as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday?’ Then Moses feared lest Pharaoh should perceive (this) and slay him; and he fled to Midian, and sat by the well there. Now Reuel the Midianite had seven daughters, who used to come to that well and water their father’s flocks; and the shepherds came and drove them away; and Moses arose and delivered them, and watered their flocks. When they went to their father, he said to them, ‘Ye have come quickly to-day.’ They said to him, ‘An Egyptian rescued us from the hands of the shepherds, and watered the flocks also.’ He said to them, ‘Why did ye not bring him? Go quickly and call him hither to eat bread with us.’ When Moses came to the house of Reuel and dwelt with him, Reuel loved him and gave him his daughter Zipporah the Cushite to wife. And he said to him, ‘Go into the house, and take a shepherd’s crook, and go feed thy flocks.’ When Moses went into the house to take the rod, it drew near to him by divine agency; and he took it and went forth to feed his father-in-law’s flocks.
Chapter XXX
The History of Moses’ Rod
WHEN Adam and Eve went forth from Paradise, Adam, as if knowing that he was never to return to his place, cut off a branch from the tree of good and evil–which is the fig-tree–and took it with him and went forth; and it served him as a staff all the days of his life. After the death of Adam, his son Seth took it, for there were no weapons as yet at that time. This rod was passed on from hand to hand unto Noah, and from Noah to Shem; and it was handed down from Shem to Abraham as a blessed thing from the Paradise of God. With this rod Abraham broke the images and graven idols which his father made, and therefore God said to him, ‘Get thee out of thy father’s house,’ etc. It was in his hand in every country as far as Egypt, and from Egypt to Palestine. Afterwards Isaac took it, and (it was handed down) from Isaac to Jacob; with it he fed the flocks of Laban the Aramean in Paddan Aram. After Jacob Judah his fourth son took it; and this is the rod which Judah gave to Tamar his daughter-in-law, with his signet ring and his napkin, as the hire for what he had done. From him (it came) to Pharez. At that time there were wars everywhere, and an angel took the rod, and laid it in the Cave of Treasures in the mount of Moab, until Midian was built. There was in Midian a man, upright and righteous before God, whose name was Yathrô (Jethro). When he was feeding his flock on the mountain, he found the cave and took the rod by divine agency; and with it he fed his sheep until his old age. When he gave his daughter to Moses, he said to him, ‘Go in, my son, take the rod, and go forth to thy flock.’ When Moses had set his foot upon the threshold of the door, an angel moved the rod, and it came out of its own free will towards Moses. And Moses took the rod, and it was with him until God spake with him on Mount Sinai. When God said to him, ‘Cast the rod upon the ground,’ he did so, and it became a great serpent; and the Lord said, ‘Take it,’ and he did so, and it became a rod as at first. This is the rod which God gave him for a help and a deliverance; that it might be a wonder, and that with it he might deliver Israel from the oppression of the Egyptians. By the will of the living God this rod became a serpent in Egypt. By it God spake to Moses; and it swallowed up the rod of Pôsdî the sorceress of the Egyptians. With it Moses smote the sea of Sôph in its length and breadth, and the depths congealed in the heart of the sea. It was in Moses’ hands in the wilderness of Ashîmôn, and with it he smote the stony rock, and the waters flowed forth. Then God gave serpents power over the children of Israel to destroy them, because they had angered Him at the waters of strife. And Moses prayed before the Lord, and God said to him, ‘Make thee a brazen serpent, and lift it up with the rod, and let the children of Israel look upon it and be healed.’ Moses did as the Lord had commanded him, and he placed the brazen serpent in the sight of all the children of Israel in the wilderness; and they looked upon it and were healed. After all the children of Israel were dead, save Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Yôphannâ (Jephunneh), they went into the promised land, and took the rod with them, on account of the wars with the Philistines and Amalekites. And Phineas hid the rod in the desert, in the dust at the gate of Jerusalem, where it remained until our Lord Christ was born. And He, by the will of His divinity, shewed the rod to Joseph the husband of Mary, and it was in his hand when he fled to Egypt with our Lord and Mary, until he returned to Nazareth. From Joseph his son Jacob, who was surnamed the brother of our Lord, took it; and from Jacob Judas Iscariot, who was a thief, stole it. When the Jews crucified our Lord, they lacked wood for the arms of our Lord; and Judas in his wickedness gave them the rod, which became a judgment and a fall unto them, but an uprising unto many. There were born to Moses two sons; the one called Gershom, which is interpreted ‘sojourner;’ and the other Eliezer, which is interpreted ‘God hath helped me.’ Fifty-two years after the birth of Moses, Joshua the son of Nun was born in Egypt. When Moses was eighty years old, God spake with him upon Mount Sinai. And the cry of the children of Israel went up to God by reason of the severity of the oppression of the Egyptians; and God heard their groaning, and remembered His covenants with the fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to whom He promised that in their seed should all nations be blessed. One day when Moses was feeding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, he and the sheep went from the wilderness to mount Horeb, the mount of God; and the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, but the bush was not burnt. Moses said, ‘I will turn aside and see this wonderful thing, how it is that the fire blazes in the bush, but the bush is not burnt.’ God saw that he turned aside to look, and He called to him from within the bush, and said, ‘Moses, Moses.’ Moses said, ‘Here am I, Lord.’ God said to him, ‘Approach not hither, for the place upon which thou standest is holy.’ And God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob;’ and Moses covered his face, for he was afraid to look at Him. Some say that when God spake with Moses, Moses stammered through fear. And the Lord said to him:
I have seen the oppression of My people in Egypt, and have heard the voice of their cry, and I am come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to carry them up from that land to the land flowing with milk and honey; come, I will send thee to Egypt.
Moses said, ‘Who am I, Lord, that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring out those of the house of Israel from Egypt?’ God said to him, ‘I will be with thee.’ Moses said to the Lord, ‘If they shall say unto me, What is the Lord’s name? what shall I say unto them?’ God said:
‘אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה, {Hebrew: Aehøyeh Aasher Aehøyeh} that is, the Being who is the God of your fathers hath sent me to you. This is My name for ever, and this is My memorial to all generations.
God said to Moses, ‘Go, tell Pharaoh everything I say to thee.’ Moses said to the Lord, ‘My tongue is heavy and stammers; how will Pharaoh accept my word?’ God said to Moses:
Behold, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh, and thy brother Aaron a prophet before thee; speak thou with Aaron, and Aaron shall speak with Pharaoh, and he shall send away the children of Israel that they may serve Me. And I will harden the heart of Pharaoh, and I will work My wonders in the land of Egypt, and will bring up My people the children of Israel from thence, and the Egyptians shall know that I am God.
And Moses and Aaron did everything that God had commanded them. Moses was eighty-three years old when God sent him to Egypt. And God said to him, ‘If Pharaoh shall seek a sign from thee, cast thy rod upon the ground, and it shall become a serpent.’ Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and threw down Moses’ rod, and it became a serpent. The sorcerers of Egypt did the same, but Moses’ rod swallowed up those of the sorcerers; and the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not send away the people. And God wrought ten signs by the hands of Moses: first, turning the waters into blood; second, bringing up frogs upon them; third, domination of the gnats; fourth, noisome creatures of all kinds; fifth, the pestilence among the cattle; sixth, the plague of boils; seventh, the coming of hail-stones; eighth, the creation of locusts; ninth, the descent of darkness; tenth, the death of the firstborn. When God wished to slay the first-born of Egypt, He said to Moses:
This day shall be to you the first of months, that is to say, Nisan and the new year. On the tenth of this month, let every man take a lamb for his house, and a lamb for the house of his father; and if they be too few in number (for a whole lamb), let him and his neighbour who is near him share it. Let the lamb be kept until the fourteenth day of this month, and let all the children of Israel slay it at sunset, and let them sprinkle its blood upon the thresholds of their houses with the sign of the cross. This blood shall be to you a sign of deliverance, and I will see (it) and rejoice in you, and Death the destroyer shall no more have dominion over you.
And Moses and Aaron told the children of Israel all these things. And the Lord commanded them not to go out from their houses until morning; ‘for the Lord will pass over the Egyptians to smite their firstborn, and will see the blood upon the thresholds, and will not allow the destroyer to enter their houses.’ When it was midnight, the Lord slew the firstborn of the Egyptians, from the firstborn of Pharaoh sitting upon his throne down to the last. And Pharaoh sent to Moses and Aaron, saying, ‘Depart from among my people, and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said; and take your goods and chattels with you.’ The Egyptians also urged the children of Israel to go forth from among them, through fear of death; and the children of Israel asked chains of gold and silver and costly clothing of the Egyptians, and spoiled them; and the Lord gave them favour in the sight of the Egyptians. The children of Israel set out from Raamses to Succoth, six hundred thousand men; and when they entered Egypt in the days of Joseph, they were seventy-five souls in number. They remained in bodily and spiritual subjection four hundred and thirty years; from the day that God said to Abraham, ‘Thy seed shall be a sojourner in the land of Egypt,’ from that hour they were oppressed in their minds. When the people had gone out of Egypt on the condition that they should return, and did not return, Pharaoh pursued after them to bring them back to his slavery. And they said to Moses, ‘Why hast thou brought us out from Egypt? It was better for us to serve the Egyptians as slaves, and not to die here.’ Moses said, ‘Fear not, but see the deliverance which God will work for you to-day.’ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Lift up thy rod and smite the sea, that the children of Israel may pass over as upon dry land.’ And Moses smote the sea, and it was divided on this side and on that; and the children of Israel passed through the depth of the sea as upon dry land. When Pharaoh and his hosts came in after them, Moses brought his rod back over the sea, and the waters returned to their place; and all the Egyptians were drowned. And Moses bade the children of Israel to sing praises with the song ‘Then sang Moses and the children of Israel’ (Exod. xv. 1).
The children of Israel marched through the wilderness three days, and came to the place called Murrath (Marah) from the bitterness of its waters; and the people were unable to drink that water. And they lifted up their voice and murmured against Moses, saying, ‘What shall we drink?’ Moses prayed before God, and took absinth-wood, which is bitter in its nature, and threw it into the water, and it was made sweet. There did the Lord teach them laws and judgments. And they set out from thence, and on the fifteenth of the second month, which is Îyâr, came to a place in which there were twelve wells and seventy palm-trees. Dâd-Îshô` says in his exposition of Paradise that the sorcerers Jannes and Jambres, who once opposed Moses, lived there. There was a well in that place, and over it was a bucket and brass chain; and devils dwelt there, because that place resembled Paradise. The blessed Mâkârîs (Macarius) visited that spot, but was unable to live there because of the wickedness of those demons; but that they might not boast over the human race, as if forsooth no one was able to live there, God commanded two anchorites, whose names no man knoweth, and they dwelt there until they died. When the children of Israel saw that wilderness, they murmured against Moses, saying, ‘It were better for us to have died in Egypt, being satisfied with bread, than to come forth into this arid desert for this people to perish by hunger.’ And God said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will bring manna down from heaven for you; a cloud shall shade you by day from the heat of the sun, and a pillar of fire shall give light before you by night.’ God said to Moses, ‘Go up into this mountain, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and Nadab, and seventy chosen elders of the children of Israel, and let them worship from afar; and let Moses come near to Me by himself.’ And they did as the Lord commanded them, and Moses drew near by himself, and the rest of the elders remained below at the foot of the mountain; and God gave him commandments. And Moses made known to the people the words of the Lord; and all the people answered with one voice and said, ‘Everything that the Lord commands us we will do.’ Moses took blood with a hyssop, and sprinkled it upon the people, saying to them, ‘This is the blood of the covenant,’ and so forth. And God said to Moses, ‘Say unto the children of Israel that they set apart for Me gold and silver and brass and purple,’ and the rest of the things which are mentioned in the Tôrâh, ‘and let them make a tabernacle for Me.’ God also shewed the construction thereof to Moses, saying, ‘Let Aaron and his sons be priests to Me, and let them serve My altar and sanctuary.’ God wrote Ten Commandments on two tables of stone, and these are they. Thou shalt not make to thyself an image or a likeness; thou shalt not falsify thy oaths; keep the day of the Sabbath; honour thy father and thy mother; thou shalt not do murder; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s or brother’s house; thou shalt not covet the wife of thy kinsman or neighbour, nor his servants, nor his handmaidens. When the children of Israel saw that Moses tarried on the mountain, they gathered together to Aaron and said to him, ‘Arise, make us a god to go before us, for we know not what has become of thy brother Moses.’ Aaron said to them, ‘Bring me the earrings that are in the ears of your wives and children.’ When they had brought them to him, he cast a calf from them, and said to the people, ‘This is thy god, O Israel, who brought thee out of Egypt;’ and they built an altar, and the children of Israel offered up sacrifice upon it. God said to Moses, ‘Get thee down to the people, for they have become corrupt.’ And Moses returned to the people, and in his hands were the two tablets of stone, upon which the Ten Commandments were written by the finger of God. When Moses saw that the people had erred, he was angry and smote the tablets upon the side of the mountain and brake them. And Moses brought the calf, and filed it with a file, and threw it into the fire, and cast its ashes into water; and he commanded the children of Israel to drink of that water. And Moses reproached Aaron for his deeds, but Aaron said, ‘Thou knowest that the people is stiffnecked.’ Then Moses said to the children of Levi, ‘The Lord commands you that each man should slay his brother and his neighbour of those who have wrought iniquity;’ and there were slain on that day three thousand men. And Moses went up to the mountain a second time, and there were with him two tables of stone instead of those which he brake. He remained on the mountain and fasted another forty days, praying and supplicating God to pardon the iniquity of the people. When he came down from the mountain with the other two tablets upon which the commandments were written, the skin of his face shone, and the children of Israel were unable to look upon his countenance by reason of the radiance and light with which it was suffused; and they were afraid of him. When he came to the people, he covered his face with a napkin; and when he spake with God, he uncovered his face. And Moses said to Hur, the son of his father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, ‘We will go to the land which God promised to give us; come with us, and we will do thee good;’ but he would not, and returned to Midian. So the children of Israel went along the road to prepare a dwelling-place for themselves; and they lifted up their voice with a cry; and God heard and was angry, and fire went round about them and burnt up the parts round about their camps. They said to Moses, ‘Our soul languishes in this wilderness, and we remember the meats of Egypt; the fishes and the cucumbers and the melons and the onions and the leeks and the garlic; and now we have nought save this manna which is before us.’ Now the appearance of manna was like that of coriander seed, and they ground it, and made flat cakes of it; and its taste was like bread with oil in it. And the Lord heard the voice of the people weeping each one at the door of his tent, and it was grievous to Him. Moses prayed before the Lord and said, ‘Why have I not found favour before Thee? and why hast Thou cast the weight of this people upon me? Did I beget them? Either slay me or let me find favour in Thy sight.’ God said to Moses, ‘Choose from the elders of the children of Israel seventy men, and gather them together to the tabernacle, and I will come down and speak with thee. And I will take of the spirit and power which is with thee and will lay it upon them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, and thou shalt not bear it by thyself alone;’ and Moses told them. Moses gathered together seventy elders from the children of Israel, and the Lord came down in a cloud, and spake with them; and he took of the spirit and power which was with Moses and laid it upon them, and they prophesied. But two elders of the seventy whose names were written down remained in the camp and did not come; the name of the one was Eldad, and that of the other Medad; and they also prophesied in the tabernacle. A young man came and told Moses, and Joshua the son of Nun, the disciple of Moses, said to him, ‘My lord, restrain them.’ Moses said, ‘Be not jealous; would that all the children of Israel were prophets; for the Spirit of God hath come upon them.’
And Moses said to the children of Israel, ‘Because ye have wept and have asked for flesh, behold the Lord will give you flesh to eat; not one day, nor two, nor five, nor ten, but a month of days shall ye eat, until it goeth out of your nostrils, and becometh nauseous to you.’ Moses said (to the Lord), ‘This people among whom I am is six hundred thousand men, and hast Thou promised to feed them with flesh for a month of days? If we slay sheep and oxen, it would not suffice for them; and if we collect for them (all) the fish that are in the sea, they would not satisfy them.’ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘The hand of the Lord shall bring (this) to pass, and behold, thou shalt see whether this happens or not.’ By the command of God a wind blew and brought out quails from the sea, and they were gathered around the camp of the children of Israel about a day’s journey on all sides; and they were piled upon one another to the depth of two cubits. Each of the children of Israel gathered about ten cors; and they spread them out before the doors of their tents. And the Lord was angry with them, and smote them with death, and many died; and that place was called ‘the graves of lust.’
They departed from thence to the place called Haserôth. And Aaron and Miriam lifted up themselves against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, and they said, ‘Has God spoken with Moses only? Behold, He hath spoken with us also.’ Now Moses was meeker than all men. And God heard the words of Miriam and Aaron, and came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and called them, and they came forth to Him. The Lord said to them, ‘Hear what I will say to you. I have revealed Myself to you in secret, and ye have prophesied in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses, who is trusted in everything, for with him I speak mouth to mouth.’ And the Lord was angry with them, and the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle; and Miriam was a leper, and was white as snow. Aaron saw that she was a leper, and said to Moses, ‘I entreat thee not to look upon our sins which we have sinned against thee.’ Moses made supplication before God, saying, ‘Heal her, O Lord, I entreat Thee.’ God said to Moses, ‘If her father had spat in her face, it would have been right for her to pass the night alone outside the camp for seven days, and then to come in.’ So Miriam stayed outside the camp for seven days, and then she was purified.
And God said to Moses, ‘Send forth spies, from every tribe a man, and let them go and search out the land of promise.’ Moses chose twelve men, among whom were Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh; and they went and searched out the land. And they returned, carrying with them of the fruit of the land grapes and figs and pomegranates. The spies came and said, ‘We have not strength to stand against them, for they are mighty men, while we are like miserable locusts in their sight.’ And the children of Israel were gathered together to Moses and Aaron, and they lifted up their voice and wept with a great weeping, saying, ‘Why did we not die under the hand of the Lord in the wilderness and in Egypt, and not come to this land to die with our wives and children, and to become a laughing-stock and a scorn to the nations?’ Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh said to them, ‘Fear not; we will go up against them, and the Lord will deliver them into our hands, and we shall inherit the land, as the Lord said to us.’ The children of Israel said to one another, ‘Come, let us make us a chief and return to Egypt;’ and Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces before the people. And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh rent their clothes and said to the children of Israel, ‘The land which we have searched out is a thriving one, flowing with milk and honey, and it is in the power of God to give it to us; do not provoke God.’ And the children of Israel gathered together to stone them with stones. And God was revealed in a cloud over the tabernacle openly in the sight of the children of Israel; and He said to Moses, ‘How long will these (people) provoke Me? And how long will they not believe in Me for all the wonders which I have wrought among them? Let Me smite them, and I will make thee the chief of a people stronger than they.’ Moses said to the Lord, ‘O Lord God Almighty, the Egyptians will hear and will say that Thou hast brought out Thy people from among them by Thy power: but when Thou smitest them, they will say, “He slew them in the desert, because He was unable to make them inherit the land which He promised them.” And Thou, O Lord, who hast dwelt among this people, and they have seen Thee eye to eye, and Thy light is ever abiding with them, and Thou goest (before them) by night in a pillar of light, and dost shade them with a cloud by day, pardon now in Thy mercy the sins of Thy people, as Thou hast pardoned their sins from Egypt unto here.’ God said to Moses, ‘Say unto the children of Israel, O wicked nation, I have heard all the words which ye have spoken, and I will do unto you even as ye wish for yourselves. In this desert shall your dead bodies fall, and your families and your children, every one that knows good from evil, from twenty years old and downwards. Their children shall enter the land of promise; but ye shall not enter it, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. Your children shall remain in this wilderness forty years, until your dead bodies decay, according to the number of the days in which ye searched out the land; for each day ye shall be requited with a year because of your sins.’ And the spies who had spied out the land with Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh died at once, save Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh. This was very grievous to the people, and the children of Israel said to Moses, ‘Behold, we are going up to the land which God promised us.’ He said to them, ‘God hath turned His face from you; go ye not away from your place.’ And they hearkened not to Moses, but went up to the top of the mountain without Moses and the tabernacle; and the Amalekites and Canaanites who dwelt there came out against them and put them to flight. God said to Moses, ‘When the children of Israel enter the land of promise, let them offer as offerings fine flour and oil and wine.’ Then Korah the son of Zahar (Izhar), and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, together with their families, and two hundred and fifty men, separated from the children of Israel; and they came to Moses, and made him hear them, and troubled him. And Moses fell upon his face before the Lord and said, ‘To-morrow shall everyone know whom God chooses. Is that which I have done for you not sufficient for you, that ye serve before the Lord, but ye must seek the priesthood also?’ And Moses said unto God, ‘O God, receive not their offerings.’ And Moses said to them, ‘Let every one of you take his censer in his hand, and place fire and incense therein;’ and there stood before the Lord on that day two hundred and fifty men holding their censers. The Lord said to Moses, ‘Stand aloof from the people, and I will destroy them in a moment.’ And Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces, and said to the Lord, ‘Wilt Thou destroy all these for the sake of one man who hath sinned?’ God said to Moses, ‘Tell the children of Israel to go away from around the tents of Korah and his fellows;’ and Moses said to the people everything that God had said to him; and the people kept away from the tent of Korah. Then Korah and his family with their wives and children came forth and stood at the doors of their tents. And Moses said to them, ‘If God hath sent me, let the earth open her mouth and swallow them up; but if I am come of my own desire, let them die a natural death like every man.’ While the word was yet in his mouth, the earth opened, and swallowed them up, and the people that were with them, from man even unto beast; and fear fell upon their companions. The fire went forth from their censers, and burnt up the two hundred and fifty men. Moses said to Eleazar, ‘Take their censers and make a casting of them, that they may be a memorial–for they have been sanctified by the fire which fell into them–that no man who is not of the family of Aaron should dare to take a censer in his hand.’
The children of Israel gathered together unto Moses and Aaron and said to them, ‘Ye have destroyed the people of the Lord.’ And God said to Moses and Aaron in the tabernacle, ‘Stand aloof from them, and I will destroy them in a moment.’ Moses said to Aaron, ‘Take a censer and put fire and incense therein, and go to the people, that God may forgive their sins, for anger has gone forth against them from before the Lord.’ And Aaron put incense in a censer, and went to the people in haste, and he saw death destroying the people unsparingly; but with his censer he separated the living from the dead, and the plague was stayed from them. The number of men whom the plague destroyed at that time of the children of Israel was fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides those who died with the children of Korah; and Aaron returned to Moses. And God said to Moses, ‘Let the children of Israel collect from every tribe a rod, and let them write the name of the tribe upon its rod, and the name of Aaron upon (that of) the tribe of Levi, and the rod of the man whom the Lord chooseth shall blossom.’ And they did as God had commanded them, and took the rods and placed them in the tabernacle that day. On the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle, and saw the rod of the house of Levi budding and bearing almonds. And Moses brought out all the rods to the children of Israel, and the sons of Levi were set apart for the service of the priesthood before the Lord.
When the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sîn, Miriam the sister of Moses and Aaron died, and they buried her. And there was no water for them to drink; and the children of Israel murmured against Moses and said, ‘Would that we had all died with those who are dead already, and that we had not come hither to die with our beasts and our possessions! Why did the Lord bring us out from Egypt to this desert land, in which there are neither pomegranates nor grapes?’ Moses and Aaron went to the tabernacle, and fell upon their faces before the Lord, and the Lord said to them, ‘Gather together the children of Israel, and let Moses smite the rock with the rod, and water shall come forth and all the people shall drink;’ and Moses called that water ‘the water of strife.’ The children of Israel gathered themselves together unto Moses and Aaron, and they murmured against them saying, ‘Why have ye brought us out to this desert to die of thirst and hunger?’ And the Lord was angry with them, and sent serpents upon them, and many of the people died by reason of the serpents. And they gathered themselves together unto Moses and Aaron and said to them, ‘We have sinned before God and before you.’ God said to Moses, ‘Make a serpent of brass, and hang it upon the top of thy rod, and set it up among the people; and let everyone whom a serpent shall bite look upon the brazen serpent, and he shall live and not die.’ This serpent which Moses set up is a type of the crucifixion of our Lord, as the doctor saith, ‘Like the serpent which Moses set up, He set Him up also, that He might heal men of the bites of cruel demons.’
And the children of Israel came to mount Hôr, and Aaron died there; and they wept for him a month of days; and Moses put his garments upon Eleazar his son. The children of Israel began to commit fornication with the daughters of Moab, and to bow down to their idols, and to eat of their sacrifices. The Lord was angry with them, and He commanded Moses to gather together the children of Israel, and to order every man to slay his fellow, and everyone who should bow down to Baal Peôr, the idol of the Moabites. When they were all assembled at the door of the tabernacle, Zimri the son of Salô came and took Cosbî the daughter of Zûr, and committed fornication with her in the sight of Moses and all the people; and God smote the people with a pestilence. Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, the son of Aaron, arose, and thrust them through with a spear, and lifted them up upon the top of it; and the plague was stayed from that hour. This zeal was accounted unto Phinehas as a prayer; as the blessed David says, ‘Phinehas arose and prayed, and the pestilence was stayed; and it was accounted unto him for merit from generation unto generation, even forever.’ The number of those who died at that time was twenty-four thousand men. God commanded Moses to number the people, and their number amounted to six hundred and one thousand seven hundred and eighty souls. And God commanded Moses to bless Joshua the son of Nun, and to lay his hand upon him, and to set him up before Eleazar the priest and before all the children of Israel; and God gave him wisdom and knowledge and prophecy and courage, and made him ruler of the children of Israel. God commanded the children of Israel to destroy the Midianites. And (Moses) chose from each tribe a thousand men, and they went up against the Midianites and took them captive and spoiled them. And Moses told them to slay every man who had committed fornication with a Midianitish woman, and every Midianitish woman who had committed fornication with a son of Israel, except the virgins whom man had not known. God commanded Moses to set apart one-fiftieth part of the spoil for the sons of Levi, the ministers of the altar and the house of the Lord. The number of the flocks that were gathered together with the children of Israel was six hundred and seventy thousand, and seventy-two thousand oxen, and thirty-two thousand virgins. And the Lord commanded them that when they should pass over the Jordan and come to the land of promise, they should set apart three villages for a place of flight and refuge, that whosoever committed a murder involuntarily might flee thither and dwell in them until the high priest of that time died, when he might return to his family and the house of his fathers. God laid down for them laws and commandments, and these are they. A man shall not clothe himself in a woman’s garments; neither shall a woman clothe herself in those of a man. If one sees a bird’s nest, he shall drive away the mother, and then take the young ones. A man shall make a fence and an enclosure to his roof, lest anyone fall therefrom, and his blood be required of him. Let him that hath a rebellious son, bring him out before the elders, and let them reprimand him; if he turn from his (evil) habit, (goad and well); but if not, let him be stoned. One that is crucified shall not pass the night upon his cross. He that blasphemes God shall be slain. The man that lies with a betrothed woman shall be slain. If she is not betrothed, he shall give her father five hundred dinârs, and take her to wife; and the other commandments.
And Moses gathered together the children of Israel and said to them, ‘Behold, I am a hundred and twenty years old, no more strength abideth in me; and God hath said to me, Thou shalt not pass over this river Jordan.’ And he called Joshua the son of Nun and said to him in the sight of all the people:
Be strong and of good courage, for thou shalt bring this people into the land of promise. Fear not the nations that are in it, for God will deliver them into thy hands, and thou shalt inherit their cities and villages, and shalt destroy them.
And Moses wrote down laws and judgments and orders, and gave them into the hands of the priests, the children of Levi. He commanded them that, when they crossed over to the land of promise, they should make a feast of tabernacles and should read aloud these commandments before all the people, men and women; that they might hear and fear the Lord their God. And God said to Moses, ‘Behold thou art going the way of thy fathers; call Joshua the son of Nun, thy disciple, and make him stand in the tabernacle, and command him to be diligent for the government of this people; for I know that after thy death they will turn aside from the way of truth, and will worship idols, and I will turn away My face from them.’ And God said to Moses, ‘Get thee up into this mountain of the Amorites which is called Nebo, and see the land of Canaan, and be gathered to thy fathers, even as Aaron thy brother died on mount Hôr.’ So Moses died there and was buried, and no man knoweth his grave; for God hid him, that the children of Israel might not go astray and worship him as God. He died at the age of one hundred and twenty years; his sight had not diminished, neither was the complexion of his face changed. And the children of Israel wept for him a month of days in Arbôth Moab.
From Adam then until the death of Moses was three thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight years.
When the number of the children of Israel was reckoned up, it amounted to eight hundred thousand, and that of the house of Judah to five hundred thousand. In the Book of Chronicles it is written, ‘The children of Israel were a thousand thousand, one hundred thousand and one hundred men; and the house of Judah was four hundred thousand and seven hundred men that drew sword.’ Now when they came out of Egypt, they were six hundred thousand; and when they entered Egypt, they were seventy and five souls.
Of Joshua The Son Of Nun, And Brief Notices Of The Years Of The Judges And The Kings Of The Children Of Israel
AFTER Moses was dead, God said to Joshua the son of Nun, ‘Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land which I have sworn to their fathers to give them, Every place upon which ye tread shall be yours.’ So Joshua the son of Nun gathered the people together, and passed over Jordan. Jordan was divided on this side and on that, and the children of Israel passed over as upon dry ground, even as their fathers passed through the sea of Sôph, when they went forth from Egypt. And they took twelve stones from the midst of Jordan, as a memorial for those after them. And they took Jericho, and destroyed it; and Joshua the son of Nun slew thirty-one kings of the foreign nations, and divided the land among them, and he brake their idols and images. These are the names of the kings whom Joshua the son of Nun destroyed. The king of Jericho, the king of Ai, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, the king of Gezer, the king of Debir, the king of Hormah, the king of Geder, the king of Arad, the king of Libnah, the king of Adullam, the king of Makkedah, the king of Bethel, the king of Tappuah, the king of Hepher, the king of Aphek, the king of Lashsharon; the king of Madon, the king of Hazor, the king of Shimron-meron, the king of Achshaph, the king of Taanach, the king of Megiddo, the king of Rekam (Kadesh), the king of Jokneam, the king of Dor and Naphath-Dor, the king of Goiim, the king of Tirzah,
And as we do not intend to write a complete history of the kings and judges, but only to collect a few matters which may serve for the consolation of the feeble in a time of despondency, behold we pass over them with brief notices. If however any one seeks to know these (things), let him read in the Tôrah and in the Bêth-Mautebhê, whence he will understand clearly. Moses ruled the people in the desert forty years. Joshua ruled the people twenty-five years. Judah was ruler of the people forty-eight years. Eglon king of Moab oppressed the people eighteen years. Ahôr (Ehûd) was ruler of the people eighty years. Nâbîn (Jabin) oppressed Israel twenty years. Deborah and Barak were rulers of the people forty years. The Midianites oppressed Israel seven years. Gideon was ruler of the people forty years. He had seventy sons, who rode with him upon seventy ass colts. Abimelech the son of Gideon was ruler of the people sixty years. Tola the son of Puah was ruler of the people twenty-three years. Jair was ruler of the people twenty-two years. The Philistines and Ammonites oppressed the people eighteen years. Naphthah (Jephthah) was ruler of the people six years. He vowed a vow to the Lord and said, ‘Whatsoever cometh forth to meet me from my house, I will offer up as an offering to the Lord.’ And his only daughter came forth, and he offered her up as an offering to the Lord. Abîzan (Ibzan) was ruler of the people seven years. He had thirty sons and thirty daughters; he sent out the thirty daughters and brought in thirty daughters-in-law. Elon was a ruler of the people ten years. Acrôn (Abdon) was ruler of the people eight years. The Philistines oppressed Israel forty years. Samson was ruler of the people twenty years. He slew a thousand men with the jawbone of a dead ass. Eli was ruler of the people forty years. From Eli, the ark was in the house of Abinadab twenty years. Samuel was ruler of the people thirty years. Saul was ruler of the people forty years. These years of the Judges (lit. rulers) amount to six hundred and fifty-five. King David reigned forty years. Solomon reigned forty years. Rehoboam reigned seventeen years. Abijah reigned three years. Asa reigned forty-one years. Jehoshaphat reigned twenty-five years. Joram reigned eight years. Ahaziah reigned one year. Athaliah reigned six years. Joash reigned forty years. Amaziah reigned twenty-three years. Uzziah reigned fifty-two years. Jotham reigned sixteen years. Hezekiah reigned twenty-nine years. He prayed before God, and fifteen years were added to his life; and he held back the sun and the moon in their course. Manasseh reigned fifty-five years. He sawed Isaiah with a wooden saw and killed him. Amon reigned two years. Josiah reigned thirty-one years. Jehoahaz reigned three months. Jehoiakim reigned eleven years. Jehoiachin reigned one hundred days. Zedekiah reigned seven years. These years of the kings amount to four hundred and fifty-five years, six months, and ten days.
Of The Death Of The Prophets; How They Died, And (Where) Each One Of Them Was Buried
MANASSEH the son of Hezekiah slew Isaiah with a wooden saw; he was buried before the outfall of the waters which Hezekiah concealed by the side of Siloah.
Hosea the son of Beeri, of the tribe of Issachar, (was) from the town of Be`elmâth. He prophesied mystically about our Lord Jesus Christ who was to come; saying that when He should be born, the oak in Shiloh should be divided into twelve parts; and that He should take twelve disciples of Israel. He died in peace, and was buried in his own land.
Joel the son of Bethuel (Pethuel), of the tribe of Reuben, died in peace in his own land. Others say that Ahaziah the son of Amaziah smote him with a staff upon his head; and while his life was yet in him, they brought him to his own land, and after two days he died.
Amos (was) from the land of Tekoa. The priest of Bethel tortured him and afterwards slew him. Others say that it was he whom Ahaziah the son of Amaziah killed with a staff, and he died.
Obadiah from the country of Shechem was the captain of fifty of Ahab’s soldiers. He became a disciple of Elijah, and endured many evil things from Ahab, because he forsook him and went after Elijah. However he died in peace. After he followed Elijah, he was deemed worthy of prophecy.
Elijah the fiery, of the family of Aaron, (was) from Tashbî, a town of the Levites. When this (prophet) was born, his father saw in a dream that one was born, and that they wrapped him in fire instead of swaddling bands, and gave him some of that fire to eat. He came to Jerusalem, and told the priests the vision that he had seen. The learned among the people said to him, ‘Fear not, thy son is about to be a fire, and his word shall be like fire, and shall not fall to the ground; he will burn like fire with jealousy of sinners, and his zeal will be accepted before God.’ He was taken up in a chariot towards heaven. Some say that his father was called Shôbâkh.
Elisha his pupil, from Abêl-Mehôlâh, (was) of the tribe of Reuben. On the day of his birth a great wonder took place in Israel; for the bull which they worshipped in Gilgal lowed, and his voice was heard in Jerusalem. The chief priests in Jerusalem said, ‘A mighty prophet is born to-day in Israel at this time, and he will break the images and idols to pieces.’ He died in peace, and was buried in Samaria.
Jonah the son of Amitta (was) from Gath-hepher, from Kûryath-Âdâmôs, which is near to Ascalon and Gaza and the sea coast. After this (prophet) had prophesied to the Ninevites in the time of Sardânâ the king, he did not remain in his own land because the Jews were jealous of him; but he took his mother, and went and dwelt in Assyria. He feared the reproach of the Jews, because he had prophesied, and his prophecy did not come to pass. He also rebuked Ahab the king, and called a famine upon the land and the people. He came to the widow of Elijah, and blessed her, because she received him, and he returned to Judaea. His mother died on the way, and he buried her by the side of Deborah’s grave. He lived in the land of Serîdâ, and died two years after the people had returned from Babylon, and was buried in the cave of Kainân. This (prophet) prophesied that when the Messiah should come, the cities of the Jews would be overturned.
Micah the Morashthite (was) of the tribe of Ephraim, and was slain by Joram the son of Ahab. This (prophet) prophesied concerning the destruction of the temple of the Jews, and the abrogation of the Passover on the death of the Messiah. He died in peace, and was buried in Anikâm.
Nahum, from the city of Elkôsh, (was) of the tribe of Simeon. After the death of Jonah this (prophet) prophesied concerning the Ninevites, saying, ‘Nineveh shall perish by perpetually advancing waters, and ascending fire;’ and this actually took place. He prophesied also concerning the Babylonians, that they would come against the Israelitish people; and therefore they sought to kill him. He prophesied that when the Messiah should be slain, the vail of the temple should be rent in twain, and that the Holy Spirit should depart from it. He died in peace, and was buried in his own country.
Habakkuk (was) of the tribe of Simeon, and from the land of Sûâr (Zoar). This (prophet) prophesied concerning the Messiah, that He should come, and abrogate the laws of the Jews. He brought food to Daniel at Babylon by the divine (or, angelic) agency. The Jews stoned him in Jerusalem.
Zephaniah (was) of the tribe of Simeon. He prophesied concerning the Messiah, that He should suffer, and that the sun should become dark, and the moon be hidden. He died in peace in his own land.
Haggai returned from Babylon to Jerusalem when he was young. He prophesied that the people would return, and concerning the Messiah, that He would abrogate the sacrifices of the Jews. He died in peace.
Zechariah the son of Jehoiada returned from Babylon in his old age, and wrought wonders among the people. He died at a great age, and was buried by the side of the grave of Haggai.
Malachi was born after the return of the people, and because of his beauty he was surnamed ‘Angel.’ He died in peace in his own land.
The Jews stoned Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah in Egypt, because he rebuked them for worshipping idols; and the Egyptians buried him by the side of Pharaoh’s palace. The Egyptians loved him much, because he prayed and the beasts died which used to come up from the river Nile and devour men. These beasts were called ‘crocodiles.’ When Alexander the son of Philip, the Macedonian, came (to Egypt), he made enquiries about his grave, and took and brought him to Alexandria. This (prophet) during his life said to the Egyptians, ‘a child shall be born–that is the Messiah–of a virgin, and He shall be laid in a crib, and He will shake and cast down the idols.’ From that time, and until Christ was born, the Egyptians used to set a virgin and a baby in a crib, and to worship him, because of what Jeremiah said to them, that He should be born in a crib.
Ezekiel the son of Buzi was of the priestly tribe, and from the land of Serîdâ. The chief of the Jews who was in the land of the Chaldeans slew him, because he rebuked him for worshipping idols. He was buried in the grave of Arphaxar, the son of Shem, the son of Noah.
Daniel (was) of the tribe of Judah, and was born in Upper Beth-Horon. He was a man who kept himself from women, and hence the Jews thought that he was an eunuch, for his face was different (from that of other men), and he had no children. He prayed for the Babylonians, and died in Elam, in the city of the Hôzâyê, and was buried in Shôshan the fortress. He prophesied concerning the return of the people.
Ahijah (was) from Shilo. A lion slew this prophet, and he was buried by the oak at Shilo in Samaria.
Ezra the scribe was from the country of Sâbthâ, and of the tribe of Judah. This (prophet) brought back the people, and died in peace in his own land.
Zechariah the son of Berachiah, the priest, was from Jerusalem. Joash the king slew this (prophet) between the steps and the altar, and sprinkled his blood upon the horns of the altar, and the priests buried him. From that day God forsook the temple, and angels were never again seen in it.
Simon the son of Sîrâ (Sirach) died in peace in his own town.
Nathan died in peace.
Here ends the first part of the book of gleanings called ‘the Bee.’
To God be the glory, and may His mercy and compassion be upon us. Amen.

Second Part of the Book of Gleanings, called “The Bee”
Again, by the Divine power, we write the second part of the book of gleanings called ‘the Bee,’ regarding the Divine dispensation which was wrought in the new (covenant).
Chapter XXXIII
Of the Messianic Generations
GOD created Adam. Adam begat Seth. Seth begat Enos. Enos begat Kainân. Kainân begat Mahalaleel. Mahalaleel begat Jared. Jared begat Enoch. Enoch begat Methuselah. Methuselah begat Lamech. Lamech begat Noah. Noah begat Shem. Shem begat Arphaxar. Arphaxar begat Kainân. Kainân begat Shâlâch. Shâlâch begat Eber. Eber begat Peleg. Peleg begat Reu. Reu begat Serug. Serug begat Nahor. Nahor begat Terah. Terah begat Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac. Isaac begat Jacob. Jacob begat Judah. Judah took a Canaanitish wife, whose name was Shuah. And it was very grievous to Jacob, and he said to Judah, ‘The God of my fathers will not allow the seed of Canaan to be mingled with our seed, nor his family with our family.’ There were born to Judah by the Canaanitish woman three sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah. Er took Tamar, the daughter of Merari the son of Levi, to wife, and he lay with her in the Sodomite way and died without children. After him his brother Onan took her, to raise up seed to his brother; he also, when he lay with her, scattered his seed outside of her on the ground, and he too died without children. Because Shelah was a child, Judah kept his daughter-in-law in widowhood, that he might give her to Shelah to raise up seed by her. But Tamar went into her father-in-law by crafty devices, and lay with him, and conceived, and gave birth to twins, Pharez and Zarah. Pharez begat Hezron. Hezron begat Aram. Aram begat Amminadab. Amminadab begat Nahshon. Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest, took the sister of Nahshon to wife, and by her begat Phinehas; and the seed of the priesthood was mingled with the royal line. Nahshon begat Salmon. Salmon begat Boaz by Rahab. Boaz begat Obed by Ruth the Moabitess. Obed begat Jesse. Jesse begat David the king by Nahash.
Now two genealogies are handed down from David to Christ; the one from Solomon to Jacob, and the other from Nathan to Heli. David begat Solomon. Solomon begat Rehoboam. Rehoboam begat Abijah. Abijah begat Asa. Asa begat Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat begat Joram. Joram begat Uzziah. Uzziah begat Jotham. Jotham begat Ahaz. Ahaz begat Hezekiah. Hezekiah begat Manasseh. Manasseh begat Amon. Amon begat Josiah. Josiah begat Jeconiah. Jeconiah begat Salathiel. Salathiel begat Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel begat Abiud. Abiud begat Eliakim. Eliakim begat Azor. Azor begat Zadok. Zadok begat Achin. Achin begat Eliud. Eliud begat Eleazar. Eleazar begat Matthan. Matthan begat Jacob. Jacob begat Joseph. Or again: David begat Nathan. Nathan begat Mattatha. Mattatha begat Mani. Mani begat Melea. Melea begat Eliakim. Eliakim begat Jonam. Jonam begat Levi. Levi begat Mattîtha. Mattîtha begat Jorim. Jorim begat Eliezer. Eliezer begat Jose. Jose begat Er. Er begat Elmodad. Elmodad begat Cosam. Cosam begat Addi. Addi begat Melchi. Melchi begat Neri. Neri begat Salathiel. Salathiel begat Zorobabel. Zorobabel begat Rhesa. Rhesa begat Johannan. Johannan begat Juda. Juda begat Joseph. Joseph begat Semei. Semei begat Mattatha. Mattatha begat Maath. Maath begat Nagge. Nagge begat Esli. Esli begat Nahum. Nahum begat Amos. Amos begat Mattîtha. Mattîtha begat Joseph. Joseph begat Janni. Janni begat Melchi. Melchi begat Levi. Levi begat Matthat. Matthat begat Heli. Heli begat Joseph.
Know too, O my brother, that Mattan the son of Eliezer–whose descent was from the family of Solomon–took a wife whose name was Astha (or Essetha) and by her begat Jacob naturally. Mattan died, and Melchi–whose family descended from Nathan the son of David–took her to wife, and begat by her Eli (or Heli); hence Jacob and Heli are brothers, (the sons) of (one) mother. Eli took a wife and died without children. Then Jacob took her to wife, to raise up seed to his brother, according to the command of the law; and he begat by her Joseph, who was the son of Jacob according to nature, but the son of Heli according to the law; so whichever ye choose, whether according to nature, or according to the law, Christ is found to be the son of David. It is moreover right to know that Eliezer begat two sons, Mattan and Jotham. Mattan begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Joseph; Jotham begat Zadok, and Zadok begat Mary. From this it is clear that Joseph’s father and Mary’s father were cousins.
Chapter XXXIV
Of the Annunciation of the Angel to Yônâkîr (Joachim) in Respect of Mary
THIS Zadok, who was called Yônâkîr, and Dinah his wife were righteous before God, and were rich in earthly riches and in goods and chattels; but they had neither fruit nor offspring like other people. They were reproached by the people for their barrenness, and they did not allow them to offer up the offering except after everyone else, because they had no children among the people of Israel. And Yônâkîr went out into the desert, and pitched his tent outside the encampment, and he prayed before God with mournful tears, and put on garments of mourning; so also did Dinah his wife. And God heard their prayers and accepted the sacrifices of their tears. The angel of God came to them, and announced to them the conception of Mary, saying, ‘Your prayer has been heard before God, and behold, He will give you blessed fruit, a daughter who shall be a sign and a wonder among all the generations of the world; and all families shall be blessed through her.’ Then they two praised God, and Zadok returned to his habitation. And Dinah his wife conceived, and brought forth Mary; and from that day she was called Hannah (Anna) instead of Dinah, for the Lord had had compassion upon her. Now the name ‘Mary’ (Maryam or Miriam) is interpreted ‘lifted up,’ ‘exalted;’ and they rejoiced in her exceedingly. And after six months her parents said to one another, ‘We will not allow her to walk upon the ground;’ and they carried her with sacrifices and offerings, and brought her to the temple of the Lord. And they sacrificed oxen and sheep to the Lord, and offered Mary to the high priest. He laid his hand upon her head, and blessed her, saying, ‘Blessed shalt thou be among women.’ Two years after she was weaned, they brought her to the temple of the Lord, even as they had vowed to the Lord, and delivered her to the high priest. He laid his hand upon her head, and blessed her, and said to her that she should give herself over to the aged women who were there. And she was brought up with the virgins in the temple of the Lord, and performed the service of the temple with joyful heart and godly fervour until she was twelve years old. Because she was beautiful in appearance, the priests and the high priest took counsel and prayed before God that He would reveal to them what they should do with her. And the angel of God appeared unto the high priest and said to him, ‘Gather together the staves of the men who have been left widowers by their first wives, and are well known for piety, uprightness, and righteousness, and what God sheweth thee, do.’ And they brought many staves and laid them down in the temple; and they prayed before God that day and its night. The chief priest went into the temple and gave to each of them his staff, and when Joseph took his staff in his hand, there went forth from it a white dove, and hovered over the top of the rod, and sat upon it. The chief priest drew near to Joseph and kissed him on his head, and said to him, ‘The blessed maiden has fallen to thy lot from the Lord; take her to thee until she arrives at the age for marriage, and (then) make a marriage feast after the manner and custom of men; for it is meet for thee (to do so) more than others, because ye are cousins.’ Joseph said to the chief priest, ‘I am an old and feeble man, and this is a girl, and unfit for my aged condition; it is better to give her to one of her own age, because I cannot rely upon myself to watch her and guard her.’ The chief priest said to him, ‘Take heed that thou dost not transgress the command of God, and bring a punishment upon thee.’ So Joseph took Mary, and went to his dwelling-place.
Some days after the priests distributed various coloured silken threads to weave for the veil of the sanctuary; and it fell to Mary’s lot to weave purple. And while she was in the temple in prayer, having placed incense before the Lord, suddenly the archangel Gabriel appeared to her in the form of a middle-aged man, and a sweet odour was diffused from him; and Mary was terrified at the sight of the angel.
Chapter XXXV
Of the Annunciation by Gabriel to Mary of the Conception of Our Lord
AT the ninth hour of the first day of the week, on the twenty-fifth of the month of Adar,–though some say on the first day of the month of Nisan, which is correct,–in the three hundred and seventh year of Alexander the son of Philip, or of Nectanebus, the Macedonian, six months after Elizabeth’s conception of John, the archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said to her, ‘Peace be to thee, O full of grace! our Lord is with thee, O blessed among women!’ As for her, when she saw (him), she was terrified at his words, and was thinking what this salutation was. The angel said to her:
Fear not Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel, which is interpreted, “our God is with us.” This (child) shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest.
Mary said to the angel, ‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to thy word.’ And the angel went away from her. In those days Mary arose, and went to Elizabeth het cousin, and she went in and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s salutation, the babe leaped in her womb, and John in Elizabeth’s womb bowed down to our Lord in Mary’s womb, as a servant to his master. Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months, and then returned to her house. After the lapse of six months, Joseph saw that Mary had conceived, and he was troubled in his mind, and said, ‘What answer shall I give to the high priest in respect of this trial which has befallen me?’ And because he relied upon the purity of his spouse, he fell into perplexity and doubt, and said to her, ‘Whence hast thou this? And who has beguiled thee, O perfect dove? Wast thou not brought up with the pure virgins and venerable matrons in the temple of the Lord?’ And she wept, saying, ‘As the Lord God liveth, I have never known man nor had connexion with any one;’ but she did not speak to him of the angel and the cause of her conception. Then Joseph meditated within himself and said, ‘If I reveal this matter before men, I fear lest it may be from God; and if I keep it back and hide it, I fear the rebuke and penalty of the law.’ For the Jews did not approach their wives until they made a feast to the high priest, and then they took them. And Joseph thought that he would put her away secretly; and while he was pondering these things in his heart, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, fear not to take Mary thy wife; for that which is born in her is of the Holy Spirit.’ He spake well when he said ‘in her,’ and not ‘of her.’
And the priests heard of Mary’s conception, and they made an accusation against Joseph, as if deceit had been found in him. Joseph said, ‘As the Lord liveth, I know not the cause of her conception;’ and Mary likewise swore this. There was a custom among the Jews that, when any one of them was accused with an accusation, they made him drink ‘the water of trial;’ if he were innocent, he was not hurt, but if he were guilty, his belly swelled, and his body became swollen, and the mark of chastisement appeared in him. When they had made Mary and Joseph drink of the water of trial, and they were not hurt, the high priest commanded Joseph to guard her diligently until they saw the end of this matter.
Chapter XXXVI
Of the Birth of Our Lord in The Flesh
ONE year before the annunciation of our Lord, the emperor of the Romans sent to the land of Palestine Cyrinus the governor, to write down every one for the poll-tax, for the Jews were subject to the empire of the Romans; and every man was written down in his city. And Joseph the carpenter also went up that he might be written down in his city; and by reason of his exceeding great watchfulness for the blessed (Mary), he took her with him upon an ass. When they had gone about three miles, Joseph looked at her and saw that her hand was laid upon her belly, and that her face was contracted with pain; and he thought that she was troubled by the beast, and asked her about her trouble and pain. She said to him, ‘Hasten and prepare a place for me to alight, for the pains of childbirth have taken hold upon me.’ When he had lifted her down from the animal, he went to fetch a midwife, and found a Hebrew woman whose name was Salome. The heretics say that she was called Hadyôk, but they err from the truth. When Joseph came to the cave, he found it full of brilliant light, and the child wrapped in swaddling clothes and rags, and laid in a crib. And there were shepherds there keeping watch over their flocks, and behold the angel of God came to them, and the glory of the Lord shone upon them; and they feared with an exceeding great fear. The angel said to them:
Fear not, for behold, I announce to you a great joy which shall be to all the world; for there is born to you this day a Redeemer, who is the Lord Jesus, in the city of David: and this shall be the sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a crib.
And suddenly with the angel there appeared many hosts of heaven, praising God and saying:
Glory to God in the heights, and on earth peace and tranquillity and good hope to men.
And the shepherds went and entered the cave, and they saw as the angel had said to them. The names of the shepherds were these: Asher, Zebulon, Justus, Nicodemus, Joseph, Barshabba, and Jose; seven in number.
Chapter XXXVII
The Prophecy of Zârâdôsht Concerning Our Lord
THIS Zârâdôsht is Baruch the scribe. When he was sitting by the fountain of water called Glôshâ of Hôrîn, where the royal bath had been erected, he said to his disciples, the king Gûshnâsâph and Sâsân and Mahîmad, ‘Hear, my beloved children, for I will reveal to you a mystery concerning the great King who is about to rise upon the world. At the end of time, and at the final dissolution, a child shall be conceived in the womb of a virgin, and shall be formed in her members, without any man approaching her. And he shall be like a tree with beautiful foliage and laden with fruit, standing in a parched land; and the inhabitants of that land shall be gathered together to uproot it from the earth, but shall not be able. Then they will take him and crucify him upon a tree, and heaven and earth shall sit in mourning for his sake; and all the families of the nations shall be in grief for him. He will begin to go down to the depths of the earth, and from the depth he will be exalted to the height; then he will come with the armies of light, and be borne aloft upon white clouds; for he is a child conceived by the Word which establishes natures.’ Gûshnâsâph says to him, ‘Whence has this one, of whom thou sayest these things, his power? Is he greater than thou, or art thou greater than he?’ Zârâdôsht says to him, ‘He shall descend from my family; I am he, and he is I; he is in me, and I am in him. When the beginning of his coming appears, mighty signs will be seen in heaven, and his light shall surpass that of the sun. But ye, sons of the seed of life, who have come forth from the treasuries of life and light and spirit, and have been sown in the land of fire and water, for you it is meet to watch and take heed to these things which I have spoken to you, that ye await his coming; for you will be the first to perceive the coming of that great king, whom the prisoners await to be set free. Now, my sons, guard this secret which I have revealed to you, and let it be kept in the treasure-houses of your souls. And when that star rises of which I have spoken, let ambassadors bearing offerings be sent by you, and let them offer worship to him. Watch, and take heed, and despise him not, that he destroy you not with the sword; for he is the king of kings, and all kings receive their crowns from him. He and I are one.’ These are the things which were spoken by this second Balaam, and God, according to His custom, compelled him to interpret these things; or he sprang from a people who were acquainted with the prophecies concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, and declared them aforetime.
Chapter XXXVIII
Of the Star Which Appeared in the East on the Day of the Birth of Our Lord
SOME say that that star appeared to the Magi simultaneously with the birth of our Lord. As for Herod’s commanding that all children from two years old and downwards should be slain, it is not as if they required all that length of time for their journey, but they had some accidental delay either in their own country or on the road. Again, Herod did not command that the children should be slain immediately after his having met the Magi, but much time passed in the interval, because he was waiting to hear from them.
The holy Mâr John Chrysostom, in his exposition of Matthew, says:
The star appeared a long time before, for their journey was accomplished with great delay that they might come to the end of it on the day of our Lord’s birth. It was meet that He should be worshipped in swaddling bands, that the greatness of the wonder might be recognised; therefore the star appeared to them a long time before. For if the star had appeared to them in the east when He was born in Palestine, they would not have been able to see Him in swaddling bands. Marvel not, if Herod slew the children from two years and downwards, for wrath and fear urged him to increased watchfulness; therefore he added more time than was needful, that no one should be able to escape.
As touching the nature of that star, whether it was a star in its nature, or in appearance only, it is right to know that it was not of the other stars, but a secret power which appeared like a star; for all the other stars that are in the firmament, and the sun and moon, perform their course from east to west. This one, however, made its course from north to south, for Palestine lies thus, over against Persia. This star was not seen by them at night only, but also during the day, and at noon; and it was seen at the time when the sun is particularly strong, because it was not one of the stars. Now the moon is stronger in its light than all the stars, but it is immediately quenched and its light dissipated by one small ray of the sun. But this star overcame even the beams of the sun by the intensity of its light. Sometimes it appeared, and sometimes it was hidden entirely. It guided the Magi as far as Palestine. When they drew near to Jerusalem, it was hidden; and when they went forth from Herod, and began to journey along the road, it appeared and shewed itself. This was not an ordinary movement of the stars, but a rational power. Moreover, it had no fixed path, but when the Magi travelled, it travelled on also, and when they halted, it also halted; like the pillar of cloud which stopped and went forward when it was convenient for the camp of Israel. The star did not remain always up in the height of heaven, but sometimes it came down and sometimes it mounted up; and it also stood over the head of the Child, as the Evangelist tells us.
Chapter XXXIX
Of the Coming of The Magi from Persia
WHEN Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judah, and the star appeared to the Magi in the east, twelve Persian kings took offerings–gold and myrrh and frankincense–and came to worship Him. Their names are these: Zarwândâd the son of Artabân, and Hôrmîzdâd the son of Sîtârûk (Santarôk), Gûshnâsâph (Gushnasp) the son of Gûndaphar, and Arshakh the son of Mîhârôk; these four brought gold. Zarwândâd the son of Warzwâd, Îryâhô the son of Kesrô (Khosrau), Artahshisht the son of Holîtî, Ashtôn`âbôdan the son of Shîshrôn; these four brought myrrh. Mêhârôk the son of Hûhâm, Ahshîresh the son of Hasbân, Sardâlâh the son of Baladân, Merôdâch the son of Beldarân; these four brought frankincense. Some say that the offerings which the Magi brought and offered to our Lord had been laid in the Cave of Treasures by Adam; and Adam commanded Seth to hand them down from one to another until our Lord rose, and they brought (them), and offered (them) to Him. But this is not received by the Church. When the Magi came to Jerusalem, the whole city was moved; and Herod the king heard it and was moved. And he gathered together the chief priests and the scribes of the people, and enquired about the place in which Christ should be born; and they told him, in Bethlehem of Judah, for so it is written in the prophet. Then Herod called the Magi, and flattered them, and commanded them to seek out the Child diligently, and when they had found Him to tell Herod, that he also might go and worship Him. When the Magi went forth from Herod, and journeyed along the road, the star rose again suddenly, and guided them until it came and stood over (the place) where the Child was. And when they entered the cave, and saw the Child with Mary His mother, they straightway fell down and worshipped Him, and opened their treasures, and offered unto Him offerings, gold and myrrh and frankincense. Gold for His kingship, and myrrh for His burial, and frankincense for His Godhead. And it was revealed to them in a dream that they should not return to Herod, and they went to their land by another way. Some say that the Magi took some of our Lord’s swaddling bands with them as a blessed thing.
Then Longinus the sage wrote to Augustus Caesar and said to him, ‘Magians, kings of Persia, have come and entered thy kingdom, and have offered offerings to a child who is born in Judah; but who he is, and whose son he is, is not known to us.’ Augustus Caesar wrote to Longinus, saying, ‘Thou hast acted wisely in that thou hast made known to us (these things) and hast not hidden (them) from us.’ He wrote also to Herod, and asked him to let him know the story of the Child. When Herod had made enquiries about the Child, and saw that he had been mocked by the Magi, he was wroth, and sent and slew all the children in Bethlehem and its borders, from two years old and downwards, according to the time which he had enquired of the Magi. The number of the children whom he slew was two thousand, but some say one thousand eight hundred. When John the son of Zechariah was sought for, his father took him and brought him before the altar; and he laid his hand upon him, and bestowed on him the priesthood, and then brought him out into the wilderness. When they could not find John, they slew Zechariah his father between the steps and the altar. They say that from the day when Zechariah was slain his blood bubbled up until Titus the son of Vespasian came and slew three hundred myriads of Jerusalem, and then the flow of blood ceased. The father of the child Nathaniel also took him, and wrapped him round, and laid him under a fig-tree; and he was saved from slaughter. Hence our Lord said to Nathaniel, ‘Before Philip called thee, I saw thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree.’
Chapter XL
Of Our Lord’s Going Down into Egypt
WHEN the Magi had returned to their country, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, and said to him, ‘Arise, take the Child and His mother, and flee to Egypt; and stay there until I tell thee.’ So Joseph arose and took the Child and His mother by night, and fled to Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod. When they were journeying along the road to Egypt, two robbers met them; the name of the one was Titus, that of the other Dûmâchos (?). Dûmâchos wished to harm them and to treat them evilly, but Titus would not let him, and delivered them from the hands of his companion. When they reached the gate of the city called Hermopolis, there were by the two buttresses of the gate two figures of brass, that had been made by the sages and philosophers; and they spoke like men. When our Lord and His mother and Joseph entered Egypt, that is to say that city, these two figures cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘A great king has come into Egypt.’ When the king of Egypt heard this, he was troubled and moved; for he feared lest his kingdom should be taken away from him. And he commanded the heralds to proclaim throughout the whole city, ‘If any man knoweth (who He is), let him point (Him) out to us without delay.’ When they had made much search and did not find Him, the king commanded all the inhabitants of the city to go outside and come in one by one. When our Lord entered, these two figures cried out, ‘This is the king.’ And when our Lord was revealed, Pharaoh sought to slay Him. Now Lazarus–whom Christ raised from the dead–was there, and was one of the king’s officials, and held in much esteem by the lord of Egypt. He drew near to Joseph and asked them, ‘Whence are ye?’ They said to him, ‘From the land of Palestine.’ When he heard that they were from the land of Palestine, he was sorry for them, and came to the king and pledged himself for the Child. And he said to the king, ‘O king, live forever! If deceit be found in this Child, behold, I am before thee, do unto me according to thy will.’ This is the (cause) of the love between Lazarus and Christ. One day when Mary was washing the swaddling bands of our Lord, she poured out the water used in washing in a certain place, and there grew up there apûrsam (that is to say balsam) trees, a species of tree not found anywhere else save in this spot in Egypt. Its oil has (divers) properties; if a man dips iron into it, and brings (the iron) near a fire, it shines like wax; if some of it is thrown upon water, it sinks to the bottom; and if a drop of it is dropped upon the hollow of a man’s hand, it goes through to the other side. Our Lord remained two years in Egypt, until Herod had died an evil death. He died in this manner. First of all he slew his wife and his daughter, and he killed one man of every family, saying, ‘At the time of my death there shall be mourning and weeping and lamentation in the whole city.’ His bowels and his legs were swollen with running sores, and matter flowed from them, and he was consumed by worms. He had nine wives and thirteen children. And he commanded his sister Salome and her husband, saying, ‘I know that the Jews will hold a great festival on the day of my death; when they are gathered together with the weepers and mourners, slay them, and let them not live after my death.’ There was a knife in his hand, and he was eating an apple; and by reason of the severity of his pain, he drew the knife across his throat, and cut it with his own hand; and his belly burst open, and he died and went to perdition. After the death of Herod who slew the children, his son Herod Archelaus reigned, who cut off the head of John. And the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in Egypt and said to him, ‘Arise, take the Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the life of the Child are dead.’ So Joseph took the Child and His mother, and came to Galilee; and they dwelt in the city of Nazareth, that what was said in the prophecy might be fulfilled, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.’ In the tenth year of the reign of Archelaus the kingdom of the Jews was divided into four parts. To Philip (were assigned) two parts, Ituraea and Trachonitis; to Lysanias one part, which was Abilene; and to Herod the younger the fourth part. And Herod loved Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip.
Chapter XLI
Of John the Baptist, and of the Baptism of Our Lord
JOHN the Baptist lived thirty years in the desert with the wild beasts; and after thirty years he came from the wilderness to the habitations of men. From the day when his father made him flee to the desert, when he was a child, until he came (again), he covered himself with the same clothes both summer and winter, without changing his ascetic mode of life. And he preached in the wilderness of Judaea, saying, ‘Repent, the kingdom of God draweth nigh;’ and he baptised them with the baptism of repentance for the remission of their sins. He said to them, ‘Behold, there cometh after me a man who is stronger than I, the latchets of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose. I baptise you with water for repentance, but He who cometh after me is stronger than I; He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire:’ thereby referring to that which was about to be wrought on the apostles, who received the Holy Spirit by tongues of fire, and this took the place of baptism to them, and by this grace they were about to receive all those who were baptised in Christ. Jesus came to John at the river Jordan to be baptised by him; but John restrained Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptised by Thee, and art Thou come to me?’ Jesus said to him, ‘It is meet thus to fulfil the words of prophecy.’ When Jesus had been baptised, as soon as He had gone up from the water, He saw that the heavens were rent, and the Spirit like a dove descended upon Him, and a voice from heaven said:
This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
On this day the Trinity was revealed to men; by the Father who cried out, and by the Son who was baptised, and by the Holy Spirit which came down upon Him in the corporeal form of a dove. Touching the voice which was heard from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him,’ every one heard the voice; but John only was worthy to see the vision of the Spirit by the mind. The day of our Lord’s birth was the fourth day of the week, but the day of His baptism was the fifth. When John rebuked Herod, saying that it was not lawful for him to take his brother Philip’s wife, he seized John, and cast him into the prison called Machaerûs. And it came to pass on a certain day, when Herod on his birthday made a feast for his nobles, that Bôzîyâ, the daughter of Herodias, came in and danced before the guests; and she was pleasing in the sight of Herod and his nobles. And he said to her, ‘Ask of me whatsoever thou desirest and I will give it to thee;’ and he sware to her saying that whatever she asked he would give it to her, unto the half of his kingdom. She then went in to Herodias her mother and said to her, ‘What shall I ask of him?’ She said to her, ‘The head of John the Baptist;’ for the wretched woman thought that when John should be slain, she and her daughter would be free from the reprover, and would have an opportunity to indulge their lust: for Herod committed adultery with the mother and with her daughter. Then she went in to the king’s presence and said to him, ‘Give me now the head of John the Baptist on a charger.’ And the king shewed sorrow, as if, forsooth, he was not delighted at the murder of the saint; but by reason of the force and compulsion of the oath he was obliged to cut off John’s head. If, O wretched Herod, she had demanded of thee the half of thy kingdom, that she might sit upon the throne beside thee and divide (it) with thee, wouldst thou have acceded to her, and not have falsified thy oath, O crafty one? And the king commanded an executioner, and he cut off the head of the blessed man, and he put it in a charger and brought and gave it to the damsel, and the damsel gave it to her mother. Then she went out to dance upon the ice, and it opened under her, and she sank into the water up to her neck; and no one was able to deliver her. And they brought the sword with which John’s head had been cut off, and cut off hers and carried it to Herodias her mother. When she saw her daughter’s head and that of the holy man, she became blind, and her right hand, with which she had taken up John’s head, dried up; and her tongue dried up, because she had reviled him, and Satan entered into her, and she was bound with fetters. Some say that the daughter of Herodias was called Bôzîyâ, but others say that she also was called by her mother’s name Herodias. When John was slain, his disciples came and took his body and laid him in a grave; and they came and told Jesus. The two disciples, whom John sent to our Lord, saying, ‘Art thou He that should come, or do we look for another,’ were Stephen the martyr and deacon, and Hananyah (Ananias) who baptised Paul. Some say that the wild honey and locusts, which he fed upon in the wilderness, was manna,–which was the food of the children of Israel, and of which Enoch and Elijah eat in Paradise,–for its taste is like that of honey. Moses compares it to coriander seed, and the anchorites in the mountains feed upon it. Others say that it was a root like unto a carrot; it is called Kâmûs, and its taste is sweet like honey-comb. Others say that the locusts were in reality some of those which exist in the world, and that the honey-comb was that which is woven by the little bees, and is found in small white cakes in desert places.
Chapter XLII
Of Our Lord’s Fast; of the Strife Which He Waged with the Devil; and Of the Mighty Deeds That He Wrought
TWO days after His baptism, He chose eight of the twelve disciples; and on the third day He changed the water into wine in the city of Cana. After He went forth from the wilderness, He completed the number of the twelve, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel and according to the number of the months. After the twelve disciples, He chose seventy and two, according to the number of the seventy-two elders. When He went out to the desert after He had changed the water into wine, He fasted forty days and forty nights. Some say that our Lord and the devil were waging war with one another for forty days; others say that the three contests took place in one day. After He had conquered the devil by the power of His Godhead, and had given us power to conquer him, He began to teach the nations. He wrought miracles, healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, cast out devils, opened the eyes of the blind, made the lame walk, made cripples stand, gave hearing to the deaf, and speech of tongue to the dumb. He satisfied five thousand with five loaves, and there remained twelve basketfuls; and with seven loaves and two fishes He satisfied four thousand (men), besides women and children, and there remained seven basketfuls. And some writers say that our Lord satisfied forty thousand men and women and children with five loaves. He walked upon the water and the sea as upon dry land. He rebuked the sea when it was disturbed, and it ceased from its disturbance. He raised up four dead; the daughter of Jairus, the widow’s son, the servant of the centurion, and His friend Lazarus after (he had been dead) four days. He subjected Himself to the ancient law of Moses, that it might not be thought He was opposed to the divine commandments; and when the time came for Him to suffer, and to draw nigh to death that He might make us live by His death, and to slay sin in His flesh, and to fulfil the prophecies concerning Him, first of all He kept the Passover of the law; He dissolved the old covenant, and then He laid the foundation for the new law by His own Passover.
Chapter XLIII
Of The Passover of Our Lord
WHEN the time of the Passover came, He sent two of His disciples to a man with whom they were not acquainted, saying, ‘When ye enter the city, behold, there will meet you a man carrying a pitcher of water; follow him, and wheresoever he entereth, say ye to the master of the house, “Our Master saith, Where is the guest-chamber, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” and behold, he will shew a large upper chamber made ready and prepared; there make ye ready for us.’ And because at that time crowds of people were flocking thickly into Jerusalem to keep the feast of the Passover, so that all the houses of the inhabitants of Jerusalem were filled with people by reason of the great crowd which was resorting thither, our Lord, by the power of His Godhead, worked upon the master of the house to make ready a large upper chamber without his being aware for whom he was preparing it, but he thought that perhaps some great man among the nobles and grandees of the Jews was about to come to him, and that it was right to keep a room for him furnished with all things (needful); because all those who came from other places to Jerusalem were received into their houses by the people of the city, and whatsoever they required for the use of the feast of the Passover they supplied. Hence the master of the house made ready that upper chamber with all things (needful), and permitted no man to enter therein, being restrained by the power of our Lord. Because a mystical thing was about to be done in it, it was not meet for Him to perform the hidden mystery when others were near. Mâr Basil says:
On the eve of the Passion, after the disciples had received the body and blood of our Lord, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of His disciples; this was baptism to the apostles. They were not all made perfect, because they were not all pure, for Judas, the son of perdition, was not sanctified; and because that basin of washing was in truth baptism, as our Lord said to Simon Peter, “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me,” that is to say, “If I baptise thee not, thou art not able to enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Therefore, everyone who is not baptised by the priests, and receives not the body and blood of Christ our Lord, enters not into the kingdom of heaven.
Mâr Dâd-îshô` says in his commentary on Abbâ Isaiah:
When our Lord at the Passover had washed the feet of His disciples, He kissed the knees of Judas, and wiped the soles of his feet with the napkin which was girt round His loins, like a common slave; for everything which our Lord did, He did for our teaching.
Mâr Basil in his ‘Questions’ advises Christians to eat oil, drink wine, and break their fast on this evening; for in it was the old covenant finished, and the new one inaugurated; and in it was the (chosen) people stripped of holiness, and the nations were sanctified and pardoned. Although this saint permits (this), yet the other fathers do not give leave (to do) this, neither do we, nor those of our confession.
Chapter XLIV
Of The Passion of Our Lord
THREE years and three months after His baptism, Judas Iscariot the son of Simon betrayed his Lord to death. He was called Iscariot (Sekhariôtâ) from the name of his town (Sekhariôt), and he had the sixth place among the disciples before he betrayed our Lord. Our Lord was crucified at the third hour of Friday, the ninth of Nisan. Caiaphas, who condemned our Lord, is Josephus. The name of Bar-Abbâ was Jesus. The name of the soldier who pierced our Lord with the spear, and spat in His face, and smote Him on His cheek, was Longinus; it was he who lay upon a sick bed for thirty-eight years, and our Lord healed him, and said to him, ‘Behold, thou art healed; sin no more, lest something worse than the first befall thee.’ The watchers at the grave were five, and these are their names: Issachar, Gad, Matthias, Barnabas and Simon; but others say they were fifteen, three centurions and their Roman and Jewish soldiers. Some men have a tradition that the stone which was laid upon the grave of our Lord was the stone which poured out water for the children of Israel in the wilderness. The grave in which our Redeemer was laid was prepared for Joshua the son of Nun, and was carefully guarded by the Divine will for the burial of our Lord. The purple which they put on our Lord mockingly, was given in a present to the Maccabees by the emperors of the Greeks; and they handed it over to the priests for dressing the temple. The priests took it and brought it to Pilate, testifying and saying, ‘See the purple which He prepared when He thought to become king,’ The garment which the soldiers divided into four parts indicates the passibility of His body, The robe without seam at the upper end which was not rent, is the mystery of the Godhead which cannot admit suffering. As touching the blood and water which came forth from His side, John the son of Zebedee was deemed worthy to see that vivifying flow from the life-giving fountain. Mâr John Chrysostom says: ‘When His side was rent by the soldiers with the spear, there came forth immediately water and blood. The water is a type of baptism, and the blood is the mystery of His precious blood, for baptism was given first, and then the cup of redemption. But in the gospel it is written, “There went forth blood and water,”‘ As to the tree upon which our Redeemer was crucified, some have said that He was crucified upon those bars with which they carried the ark of the covenant; and others that it was upon the wood of the tree on which Abraham offered up the ram as an offering instead of Isaac. His hands were nailed upon the wood of the fig-tree of which Adam ate, and behold, we have mentioned its history with that of Moses’ rod. The thirty pieces of silver (zûzê) which Judas received, and for which he sold his Lord, were thirty pieces according to the weight of the sanctuary, and were equal to six hundred pieces according to the weight of our country. Terah made these pieces for Abraham his son; Abraham gave them to Isaac; Isaac bought a village with them; the owner of the village carried them to Pharaoh; Pharaoh sent them to Solomon the son of David for the building of his temple; and Solomon took them and placed them round about the door of the altar. When Nebuchadnezzar came and took captive the children of Israel, and went into Solomon’s temple and saw that these pieces were beautiful, he took them, and brought them to Babylon with the captives of the children of Israel. There were some Persian youths there as hostages, and when Nebuchadnezzar came from Jerusalem, they sent to him everything that was meet for kings and rulers. And since gifts and presents had been sent by the Persians, he released their sons and gave them gifts and presents, among which were those pieces of silver about which we have spoken; and they carried them to their parents. When Christ was born and they saw the star, they arose and took those pieces of silver and gold and myrrh and frankincense, and set out on the journey; and they came to the neighbourhood of Edessa, and these kings fell asleep by the roadside. And they arose and left the pieces behind them, and did not remember them, but forgot that anything of theirs remained behind. And certain merchants came and found them, and took these pieces, and came to the neighbourhood of Edessa, and sat down by a well of water. On that very day an angel came to the shepherds, and gave them the garment without seam at the upper end, woven throughout. And he said to them, ‘Take this garment, in which is the life of mankind.’ And the shepherds took the garment, and came to the well of water by the side of which were those merchants. They said to them, ‘We have a garment without seam at the upper end; will ye buy it?’ The merchants said to them, ‘Bring it here.’ When they saw the garment, they marvelled and said to the shepherds: ‘We have thirty pieces of silver which are meet for kings; take them and give us this garment.’ When the merchants had taken the garment, and had gone into the city of Edessa, Abgar the king sent to them and said, ‘Have ye anything meet for kings, that I may buy it from you?’ The merchants said to him, ‘We have a garment without seam at the upper end.’ When the king saw the garment, he said to them, ‘Whence have ye this garment?’ They said to him, ‘We came to a well by the gate of thy city, and we saw it in the hands of some shepherds, and we bought it from them for thirty pieces of stamped silver, which were also meet for kings like thyself.’ The king sent for the shepherds, and took the pieces from them, and sent them together with the garment to Christ for the good that He had done him in healing his sickness. When Christ saw the garment and the pieces, He kept the garment by Him, but He sent the pieces to the Jewish treasury. When Judas Iscariot came to the chief priests and said to them, ‘What will ye give me that I may deliver Him to you?’ the priests arose and brought those pieces, and gave them to Judas Iscariot; and when he repented, he returned them to the Jews, and went and hanged himself. And the priests took them and bought with them a field for a burial-place for strangers.
Of Joseph the senator (βουλευτής {Greek: Bouleuths}), and why he was thus called. The senators were a class very much honoured in the land of the Romans; and if it happened that no one could be found of the royal lineage, they made a king from among this class. If one of them committed an offence, they used to beat his horse with white woollen gloves instead of him. This Joseph was not a senator by birth, but he purchased the dignity, and enrolled himself among the Roman senate, and was called Senator.
As for the committal of Mary to John the son of Zebedee by our Lord, He said to her, ‘Woman, behold thy son;’ and to John He said, ‘Behold thy mother;’ and from that hour he took her into his house and ministered unto her. Mary lived twelve years after our Lord’s Ascension: the sum of the years which she lived in the world was fifty-eight years, but others say sixty-one years. She was not buried on earth, but the angels carried her to Paradise, and angels bore her bier. On the day of her death all the apostles were gathered together, and they prayed over her and were blessed by her. Thomas was in India, and an angel took him up and brought him, and he found the angels carrying her bier through the air; and they brought it nigh to Thomas, and he also prayed and was blessed by her.
Touching the writing which was written in Greek, Hebrew and Latin, and set over Christ’s head, there was no Aramean written upon the tablet, for the Arameans or Syrians had no part in (the shedding of) Christ’s blood, but only the Greeks and Hebrews and Romans; Herod the Greek and Caiaphas the Hebrew and Pilate the Roman. Hence when Abgar the Aramean king of Mesopotamia heard (of it), he was wroth against the Hebrews and sought to destroy them.
Chapter XLV
Of The Resurrection of Our Lord
SINCE the history of our Lord’s Passion and Resurrection is recorded in the Gospel, there is no need to repeat it (here). After our Lord rose from the dead, He appeared ten times. First, to Mary Magdalene, as John the Evangelist records. Secondly, to the women at the grave, as Matthew mentions. Thirdly, to Cleopas and his companion, as Luke says. The companion of Cleopas, when they were going to Emmaus, was Luke the Evangelist. Fourthly, to Simon Peter, as Luke says. Fifthly, to all the disciples, except Thomas, on the evening of the first day of the week, when he went in through the closed doors, as Luke and John say. Sixthly, eight days after, to the disciples, and to Thomas with them, as John says. Seventhly, on the mount, as Matthew says. Eighthly, upon the sea of Tiberias, as John says. The reason that Simon Peter did not recognise Him was because he had denied Him, and was ashamed to look upon Him; but John, because of his frank intimacy with our Lord, immediately that he saw Him, knew Him. Ninthly, when He was taken up to heaven from the Mount of Olives, as Mark and Luke say. Tenthly, to the five hundred at once, who had risen from the dead, as Paul says. After His Ascension, He appeared to Paul on the way to Damascus, when He blinded his eyes; and also to Stephen, the martyr and deacon, when he was stoned.
Chapter XLVI
Of The Ascension of Our Lord to Heaven
AFTER our Redeemer had risen from the grave, and had gone about in the world forty days, He appeared to His disciples ten times, and ate and drank with them by the side of the Sea of Tiberias. At this point the heathen say to us, that if our Lord really ate and drank after His resurrection, there will certainly be eating and drinking after (our) resurrection; but if He did not really eat and drink, then all the actions of Christ are mere phantasms. To these we make answer, that this world is a world of need for food; therefore He ate and drank, that it might not be thought He was a phantom; and because many who have risen from the dead have eaten and drunk in (this) world until they departed and died, as, for example, the dead (child) whom Elisha raised, and the dead whom our Lord raised. Our Lord did not eat after His resurrection because He needed food, but only to make certain His humanity: for, behold, He once remained in the desert forty days without food, and was not injured by hunger. Some say that after His resurrection our Lord ate food like unto that which the angels ate in the house of Abraham, and that the food was dissipated and consumed by the Divine Power, just as fire licks up oil without any of it entering into its substance. Our Lord remained upon the earth forty days, even as He had fasted forty days, and as Elijah fasted forty days, and as Moses fasted forty days at two several times, and as the rain continued for forty days during the flood, and as God admonished the Ninevites for forty days, and as the spies remained (absent) for forty days, and as the children of Israel wandered about in the wilderness for forty years, and like the child whose fashioning in the womb is completed in forty days. After forty days, our Lord took up His disciples to the Mount of Olives, and laid His hand upon them, and blessed them, and commanded them concerning the preaching and teaching of the nations. And it came to pass that while He was blessing them, He was separated from them, and went up to heaven; and they worshipped Him. And there appeared to them angels, encouraging them and saying, ‘This Jesus, who has been taken up from you to heaven, is about to come again even as ye have seen Him go up to heaven.’ Then they returned to that upper chamber where they were, and stayed there ten days, until they received the Holy Spirit in the form of tongues of fire. Simon Peter said to his fellow-disciples, ‘It is right for us to put someone in the place of Judas to complete the number of twelve;’ and they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
As concerning the manner in which our Lord entered heaven without cleaving it, some say that He went in as He did through the closed doors; and as He came forth from the virgin womb, and Mary’s virginity returned to its former state; and like the sweat from the body; and as water is taken up by the roots of the olive and other trees, and reaches in the twinkling of an eye the leaves, flowers and fruits, as if through certain ducts, without holes or channels being pierced in them. Thus by an infinite and ineffable miracle our Lord entered into heaven without cleaving it. And if the bodies of us who are accustomed to drink water and wine pour out sweat without our flesh being rent or our skin pierced, how very much easier is it for the Divine Power to go in through closed doors and within the firmament of heaven without rending or cleaving it?
Chapter XLVII
Of the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in the Upper Chamber
TEN days after our Lord’s Ascension, when the holy apostles were assembled in the upper chamber waiting for the promise of our Lord, of a sudden, at the third hour of the holy Sunday of Pentecost, a mighty sound was heard, so that all men were terrified and marvelled at the mightiness of the sound; and the chamber was filled with an ineffably strong light. And there appeared over the head of each one of them (something) in the form of tongues of fire, and there breathed forth from thence a sweet odour which surpassed all aromas in this world. The eyes of their hearts were opened, and they began interpreting new things and uttering wonderful things in the languages of all nations. When the Jews saw them, they thought within themselves that they had been drinking new wine and were drunk, and that their minds were depraved. On that day they participated in the mystery of the body and blood of our Lord, and sanctified the leavened bread of the sign of the cross (the Eucharistic wafers) and the oil of baptism.
Some men have a tradition that when our Lord broke His body for His disciples in the upper chamber, John the son of Zebedee hid a part of his portion until our Lord rose from the dead. And when our Lord appeared to His disciples and to Thomas with them, He said to Thomas, ‘Hither with thy finger and lay it on My side, and be not unbelieving, but believing.’ Thomas put his finger near to our Lord’s side, and it rested upon the mark of the spear, and the disciples saw the blood from the marks of the spear and nails. And John took that piece of consecrated bread, and wiped up that blood with it; and the Easterns, Mâr Addai and Mâr Mârî, took that piece, and with it they sanctified this unleavened bread which has been handed down among us. The other disciples did not take any of it, because they said, ‘We will consecrate for ourselves whenever we wish.’ As for the oil or baptism, some say that it was part of the oil with which they anointed the kings; others say that it was part of the unguent wherewith they embalmed our Lord; and many agree with this (statement). Others again say that when John took that piece of consecrated bread of the Passover in his hand, it burst into flame and burnt in the palm of his hand, and the palm of his hand sweated, and he took that sweat and hid it for the sign of the cross of baptism. This account we have heard by ear from the mouth of a recluse and visitor (περιοδευτής {Greek: periodeuths}), and we have not received it from Scripture. The word Pentecost is interpreted ‘the completion of fifty days.’
Chapter XLVIII
Of the Teaching of The Apostles, and of the Places of Each One of Them, and of Their Deaths
NEXT we write the excellent discourse composed by Mâr Eusebius of Caesarea upon the places and families of the holy apostles.
Know then that the apostles were twelve and seventy. When the apostles had received the gift of the Holy Spirit, on the day following they fasted this feast of the apostles (which we keep); but the Malkâyê (Melchites) say that the apostles fasted eight days after. Their names are as follows.
Simon, the chief of the apostles, was from Bethsaida, of the tribe of Naphtali. He first preached in Antioch, and built there the first of all churches, which was in the house of Cassianus, whose son he restored to life. He remained there one year, and there the disciples were called Christians. From thence he went to Rome, where he remained for twenty-seven years; and in the three hundred and seventy-sixth year of the Greeks, the wicked Nero crucified him head downwards.
Andrew his brother preached in Scythia and Nicomedia and Achaia. He built a church in Byzantium, and there he died and was buried.
John the son of Zebedee (Zabhdai) was also from Bethsaida, of the tribe of Zebulun. He first preached in Asia (Ephesus), and was afterwards cast into exile in the island of Patmos by Tiberius Caesar. He then went to Ephesus, and built in it a church. Three of his disciples went with him: Ignatius, who was afterwards bishop of Antioch, and who was thrown to the beasts in Rome; Polycarp, who was afterwards bishop of Smyrna, and was crowned by fire; and John, to whom he committed the priesthood and the bishopric after him. When John had lived a long time, he died and was buried at Ephesus; and John, the disciple of the Evangelist, who became bishop of Ephesus, buried him; for he commanded them that no one should know the place of his burial. The graves of both of them are in Ephesus; the hidden one of the Evangelist, and the other of his disciple John, the author of the Revelation; he said that everything he had written down, he had heard from John the Evangelist.
James, the brother of John, preached in his city Bethsaida, and built a church there. Herod Agrippas slew him with the sword one year after the Ascension of our Lord. He was laid in Âkâr, a city of Marmârîkâ.
Philip also was from Bethsaida, of the tribe of Asher. He preached in Phrygia, Pamphylia and Pisidia; he built a church in Pisidia, and died and was buried there. He lived twenty-seven years as an apostle.
Thomas was from Jerusalem, of the tribe of Judah. He taught the Parthians, Medes and Indians; and because he baptised the daughter of the king of the Indians, he stabbed him with a spear and he died. Habbân the merchant brought his body, and laid it in Edessa, the blessed city of Christ our Lord. Others say that he was buried in Mahlûph, a city in the land of the Indians.
Matthew the Evangelist was from Nazareth, of the tribe of Issachar. He preached in Palestine, Tyre and Sidon, and went as far as Gabbûlâ. He died and was buried in Antioch, a city of Pisidia.
Bartholomew was from Endor, of the tribe of Issachar. He preached in inner Armenia, Ardeshîr, Ketarbôl, Radbîn, and Prûharmân. After he had lived thirty years as an apostle, Hûrstî the king of the Armenians crucified him, and he was buried in the church which he built in Armenia.
Jude, the son of James, who was surnamed Thaddaeus (Taddai), who is also Lebbaeus (Lebbai), was from Jerusalem, of the tribe of Judah. He preached in Laodicea and in Antaradus and Arwâd. He was stoned in Arwâd, and died and was buried there.
Simon Zelôtes was from Galilee, of the tribe of Ephraim. He preached in Shemêshât (Samosâta), Pârîn (Perrhê), Zeugma, Hâlâb (Aleppo), Mabbôg (Manbig), and Kenneshrîn (Kinnesrîn). He built a church in Kyrrhos, and died and was buried there.
James, the son of Alphaeus (Halphai), was from the Jordan, of the tribe of Manasseh. He preached in Tadmor (Palmyra), Kirkêsion (Kirkîsiyâ), and Callinîcos (ar-Rakkah), and came to Batnân of Serûg (Sarûg), where he built a church, and died and was buried there.
Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, was from the town of Sekharyût of the tribe of Gad, though some say that he was of the tribe of Dan. He was like unto the serpent that acts deceitfully towards its master, because like a serpent, he dealt craftily with his Lord. Matthias, of the tribe of Reuben, came in in his stead. He preached in Hellas, and in Sicily, where he built a church, and died and was buried in it.
While James the brother of our Lord was teaching the Jews in Jerusalem, they cast him down from a pinnacle of the temple; and while his life was yet in him, a fuller of cloth smote him upon the head with a club and beat it in; and afterwards they stoned him with stones.
John the Baptist was of the tribe of Levi. Herod the tetrarch slew him, and his body was laid in Sebastia.
Ananias (Hananyâ) the disciple of the Baptist taught in Damascus and Arbêl. He was slain by Pôl, the general of the army of Aretas, and was laid in the church which he built at Arbêl (Irbil).
Paul of Tarsus was a Pharisee by sect, of the tribe of Ephraim. When he had been baptised by Ananias, he wrought many miracles, and taught great cities, and bore and suffered dangers not a few for the name of Christ. Afterwards he went to Peter at Rome. When they divided the world between them, and the heathen fell to Paul’s lot, and the Jewish nation to Peter, and they had turned many to the truth of Christ, Nero commanded that they should both die a cruel death. Then Simon asked to be crucified head downwards, that he might kiss that part of the cross where the heels of his Master had been. As they were going forth to be slain, they gave the laying on of hands of the priesthood to their disciples, Peter to Mark, and Paul to Luke. When Peter had been crucified, and Paul slain, together with many of those who had become their disciples, Mark and Luke went forth by night, and brought their bodies into the city. Now Paul’s head was lost among the slain, and could not be found. Sometime after, when a shepherd was passing by the spot where the slain were buried, he found Paul’s head, and took it upon the top of his staff, and laid it by his sheep-fold. At night he saw a fire blazing over it, and he went in (to the city) and informed the holy bishop Xystus (Sixtus) and the clergy of the church; and they all recognised that it was Paul’s head. Xystus said to them, ‘Let us watch and pray the whole night, and let us bring out the body and lay the head at its feet; and if it joins again to its neck, it will be certain that it is Paul’s.’ And when they had done so, the whole body was restored, and the head was joined to its neck as if the vertebrae had never been severed; and those who saw it were amazed and glorified God. From his call to the end of his life was thirty-five years; he went about in every place for thirty-one years; for two years he was in prison at Caesarea, and for two years at Rome. He was martyred in the thirty-sixth year after the Passion of our Lord, and was laid with great honour in the magnificent royal catacombs in Rome. They celebrate every year the day of his commemoration on the twenty-ninth of the month of Tammûz.
Luke the physician and Evangelist was first of all a disciple of Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, and was afterwards baptised by Philip in the city of Beroea. He was crowned with the sword by Hôros, the judge (or governor) of the emperor Tiberius, while he was preaching in Alexandria, and was buried there.
Mark the Evangelist preached in Rome, and died and was buried there. Some say that he was the son of Simon Peter’s wife, others that he was the Son of Simon; and Rhoda was his sister. He was first called John, but the Apostles changed his name and called him Mark, that there might not be two Evangelists of one name.
Addai was from Paneas, and he preached in Edessa and in Mesopotamia in the days of Abgar the king; and he built a church in Edessa. After Abgar died, Herod Abgar’s son slew him in the fortress of Aggêl. His body was afterwards taken and carried to Rome; but some say that he was laid in Edessa.
Aggai his disciple was first of all a maker of silks for Abgar, and became a disciple. After Abgar’s death, his son reigned, and he required of Aggai to weave silks for him; and when he consented not, saying, ‘I cannot forsake teaching and preaching to return to weaving,’ he smote him with a club upon his legs and brake them, and he died.
Thaddaeus (Taddai) came after him at Edessa, and Herod, the son of Abgar, slew him also; he was buried at Edessa.
Zacchaeus (Zaccai) the publican and the young man whom our Lord brought to life were both slain together while they were preaching in Mount Hôrôn.
The Jews smote Simon the leper while he was teaching in Ramah, and he died (there).
Joseph the Senator taught in Galilee and Decapolis; he was buried in his town of Ramah.
Nicodemus the Pharisee, the friend of our Lord, received and honoured the Apostles in Jerusalem; and he died and was buried there.
Nathaniel was stoned while he was teaching in Mount Hôrôn, and died.
Simon the Cyrenian was slain while he was teaching in the island of Chios.
Simon the son of Cleopas became bishop of Jerusalem. When he was an old man, one hundred years of age, Irenaeus the chiliarch crucified him.
Stephen the martyr was stoned with stones at Jerusalem, and his body was laid in the village of Kephar Gamlâ.
Mark, who was surnamed John, taught at Nyssa and Nazianzus. He built a church at Nazianzus, and died and was buried there. Some say that he is the Evangelist, as we have mentioned.
Cephas, whom Paul mentions taught in Baalbec, Hims (Emesa) and Nathrôn (Batharûn). He died and was buried in Shîrâz.
Barnabas taught in Italy and in Kûrâ; he died and was buried in Samos.
Titus taught in Crete, and there he died and was buried.
Sosthenes taught in the country of Pontus and Asia. He was thrown into the sea by the command of Nonnus the prefect.
Criscus (Crescens) taught in Dalmatia; he was imprisoned in Alexandria, where he died of hunger and was buried.
Justus taught in Tiberias and in Caesarea, where he died and was buried.
Andronicus taught in Illyricum, where he died and was buried.
The people of Zeugma slew Rufus while he was teaching in Zeugma.
Patrobas taught in Chalcedon, and he died and was buried there.
Hermas the shepherd taught in Antioch, and he died and was buried there.
Narcissus taught in Hellas, and he died and was buried there.
Asyncritus went to Beth-Hûzâyê (Khûzistân), and there he died and was buried.
Aristobulus taught in Isauria, and there he died and was buried.
Onesimus was the slave of Philemon, and he fled from him and went to Paul, while he was in prison; because of this Paul calls him ‘the son whom I have begotten in my bonds.’ His legs were broken in Rome.
Apollos the elect was burnt with fire by Sparacleus (?), the governor of Gangra.
Olympas, Stachys and Stephen were imprisoned in Tarsus, and there they died in prison.
Junias was captured in Samos, and there he was slain and died.
Theocritus died while teaching in Ilios, and was buried there.
Martalus (?) was slain while teaching the barbarians.
Niger taught in Antioch, and died and was buried there.
They dragged Lucius behind a horse, and thus he ended his life.
While Alexander was teaching in Heracleôpolis, they threw him into a pit and he died.
Milus, while he was teaching in Rhodes, was thrown into the sea and drowned.
Silvanus and Hêrôdiôn (Rhôdiôn) were slain while they were preaching in the city of Accô.
Silas taught in Sarapolis (Hierapolis ?), and died and was buried there.
Timothy taught in Ephesus, and died and was buried there.
Manael was burnt with fire while teaching in Accô, and died.
The Eunuch whom Philip baptised, the officer of Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, went to Ethiopia and preached there. Afterwards, while he was preaching in the island of Parparchia (?), they strangled him with a cord.
Jason and Sosipatrus were thrown to the wild beasts while they were teaching in Olmius (?).
Demas taught in Thessalonica, and there he died and was buried.
Omius (Hymenaeus) taught in Melitene, and there he died and was buried.
They threw Thraseus into a fiery furnace, while he was teaching at Laodicea.
Bistorius (Aristarchus ?) taught in the island of Kô, and there he died and was buried.
Abrios (?) and Môtos (?) went to the country of the Ethiopians, and there they died and were buried.
Levi was slain by Charmus, while he was teaching in Paneas.
Nicetianus (Nicetas) was sawn in two while teaching in Tiberias.
While John and Theodorus were preaching in the theatre of Baalbec, they threw them to the beasts.
The prefect Methalius (?) slew Euchestion (?) and Simon in Byzantium.
Ephraim (Aphrem) taught in Baishân, and he died and was buried there.
Justus was slain at Corinth.
James taught and preached in Nicomedia, and he died and was buried there.
Chapter XLIX
The Names of The Apostles in Order
THE names of the Twelve
Simon Peter; Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee; John his brother; Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus; Labbaeus, who was surnamed Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananite; Judas Iscariot, in whose stead came in Matthias.
The names of the Seventy
James, the son of Joseph; Simon the son of Cleopas; Cleopas his father; Joses; Simon; Judah; Barnabas; Manaeus (?); Ananias, who baptised Paul; Cephas, who preached at Antioch; Joseph the senator; Nicodemus the archon; Nathaniel the chief scribe; Justus, that is Joseph, who is called Barshabbâ; Silas; Judah; John, surnamed Mark; Mnason, who received Paul; Manaël, the foster-brother of Herod; Simon called Niger; Jason, who is (mentioned) in the Acts (of the Apostles); RufusAlexander; Simon the Cyrenian, their father; Lucius the Cyrenian; another Judah, who is mentioned in the Acts (of the Apostles); Judah, who is called Simon; Eurion (Orion) the splay-footed; Thôrus (?); Thorîsus (?); Zabdon; Zakron. These are the seven who were chosen with Stephen: Philip the Evangelist, who had three daughters that used to prophesy; Stephen; Prochorus; Nicanor; Timon; Parmenas; Nicolaus, the Antiochian proselyte; Andronicus the Greek; Titus; Timothy.
These are the five who were with Peter in Rome: Hermas; Plîgtâ; Patrobas; Asyncritus; Hermas.
These are the six who came with Peter to Cornelius: Criscus (Crescens); Milichus; Kîrîtôn (Crito); Simon; Gaius, who received Paul; Abrazon (?); Apollos.
These are the twelve who were rejected from among the seventy, as Judas Iscariot was from among the twelve, because they absolutely denied our Lord’s divinity at the instigation of Cerinthus. Of these Luke said, ‘They went out from us, but they were not of us;’ and Paul called them ‘false apostles and deceitful workers.’ Simon; Levi; Bar-Kubbâ; Cleon; Hymenaeus; Candarus; Clithon (?); Demas; Narcissus; Slîkîspus (?); Thaddaeus; Mârûthâ. In their stead there came in these: Luke the physician; Apollos the elect; Ampelius; Urbanus; Stachys; Popillius (or Publius); Aristobulus; Stephen (not the Corinthian); Herodion the son of Narcissus; Olympas; Mark the Evangelist; Addai; Aggai; Mâr Mâri.
It is said that each one of the twelve and of the seventy wrote a Gospel; but in order that there might be no contention and that the number of ‘Acts’ might not be multiplied, the apostles adopted a plan and chose two of the seventy, Luke and Mark, and two of the twelve, Matthew and John.
Chapter L
Of some Minor Matters
THESE are they who were married among the apostles: Peter, the chief of the apostles; Philip the Evangelist; Paul; Nathaniel, who is Bartholomew; Labbaeus, who is Thaddaeus, who is Judah the son of Jacob; Simon the Cananite, who is Zelotes, who is Judah the son of Simon.
The child whom our Lord called and set (in the midst), and said, ‘Except ye be converted, and become as children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven,’ was Ignatius, who became patriarch of Antioch. He saw in a vision the angels ministering in two bands, and he ordained that (men) should minister in the church in like manner. After some time this order was broken through; and when Diodorus went with his father on an embassy to the land of Persia, and saw that they ministered in two bands, he came to Antioch his country, and re-established the custom of their ministering in two bands.
The children whom they brought near to our Lord, that He might lay His hand upon them and pray, were Timothy and Titus, and they were deemed worthy of the office of bishop.
The names of the Maries who are mentioned in the Gospels. Mary the Virgin, the mother of our Lord; Mary the wife of Joseph; Mary the mother of Cleopas and Joseph; Mary the wife of Peter, the mother of Mark the Evangelist; and Mary the sister of Lazarus. Some say that Mary the sinner is Mary of Magdala; but others do not agree with this, and say that she was other than the Magdalene. Those who say that she was the Magdalene tell us that she built herself a tower with the wages of fornication; and those who say that she was other than the Magdalene, say that Mary Magdalene was called after the name of her town Magdala, and that she was a pure and holy woman.
Chapter LI
The Names of The Eastern Catholics, the Successors of The Apostles Addai and Mârî
1. Addai was buried in Edessa.
2. Mârî (was buried) in the convent of Kônî.
3. Abrîs, called in Greek A[m]brosius; the place of his grave is unknown; he was of the laying on of hands of Antioch.
4. Abraham was of the laying on of hands of Antioch; he was descended from the family of Jacob the son of Joseph; his grave is in Ctesiphon.
5. James, of the laying on of hands of Antioch, was also of the family of Joseph the husband of Mary; his grave is in Ctesiphon.
6. Ahâ-d´abû[hî] was of the laying on of hands of Antioch; his grave is in Ctesiphon.
7. Shahlûphâ was of the laying on of hands of Ctesiphon, and he was buried there.
8. Pâpâ; his grave is at Ctesiphon.
9. Simon bar Sabbâ`ê was martyred at Shôshân.
10. Shah-dôst was buried in Ctesiphon.
11. Bar-Be`esh-shemîn was martyred and buried in Elam (Khûzistân).
12. Tûmarsâ was buried in Ctesiphon.
13. Kâyômâ was buried in Ctesiphon; he abdicated the patriarchate, and another was put in his place, and was before him until he died.
14. Isaac was buried in Ctesiphon.
15. Ahâ was buried in Ctesiphon.
16. Yab-alâhâ was of the school of Mâr `Abdâ; he was buried in Ctesiphon.
17. Ma`nâ dwelt in Persia and was buried there.
18. Dâd-îshô` was buried in Hêrtâ. In his days the strife between Nestorius and Cyril (of Alexandria) took place.
19. Bâbôi was martyred and buried in Hêrtâ.
20. Akak (Acacius) was of the family of Bâbôi the Catholicus; he was buried in al-Madâïn.
21. Bâbai took a wife, and was buried at Ctesiphon,
22. Shîlâ took a wife, and was buried in his convent beside Awânâ.
23. Paul was buried in Ctesiphon.
24. Mâr(î)-abâ was buried in Hêrtâ, and was a martyr without bloodshed.
25. Ezekiel was buried in Hêrtâ.
26. Îshô`-yab of Arzôn was buried in Hêrtâ.
27. Sabr-îshô` was buried in Hêrtâ.
28. Gregory was buried in . . . . . .
29. Îshô`-yab of Gedâlâ was buried in . . . . . .
30. Mâr[î]-emmêh was buried in Ketîmiyâ (?).
31. Îshô`-yab of Adiabene was buried in Bêth-`Âbê.
32. George was buried in . . . . . .
33. John was buried in . . . . . .
34. Henân-îshô` was buried in . . . . . .
35. Selîbâ-zekhâ was buried in Ctesiphon.
36. Pethiôn was buried in Ctesiphon.
37. Mâr[î]-abâ was buried in al-Madâïn.
38. Jacob was buried in . . . . . .
39. Henân-îshô` was buried in . . . . . .
40. Timothy was buried in his own convent.
41. Îshô` (Joshua) the son of Nôn (Nun) was buried in the convent of Timothy.
42. George was buried in the same convent.
43. Sabr-îshô`3 was buried in the same convent.
44. Abraham was buried in the same convent.
45. Athanasius was buried in the same convent.
46. Sergius was buried in the same convent.
47. Anôsh (Enos) was buried in the same convent.
48. John the son of Narsai was buried in the Greek Palace (at Baghdâd).
49. Joannes was buried in the Greek Palace.
50. John was buried in the Greek Palace.
51. Abraham was buried in the convent of `Abdôn.
52. Emmanuel was buried in the Greek Palace.
53. Israel was buried in the Greek Palace.
54. `Abd-îshô` was buried in the Greek Palace.
55. Mârî was buried in the Greek Palace.
56. Joannes was buried in the Greek Palace.
57. John was buried in the Greek Palace.
58. Îshô`-yab was buried in the Grek Palace.
59. Elijah (Elîyâ) was buried in the Greek Palace.
60. John was buried in the Greek Palace.
61. Sabr-îshô` was buried in the Greek Palace.
62. `Abd-îshô` was buried in the Greek Palace.
63. Makkîkhâ was buried in the Greek Palace.
64. Elijah (Elîyâ) was buried in the Greek Palace.
65. Bar-saumâ was buried in the Greek Palace.
66. `Abd-îshô` was buried . . . . . .
67. Îshô`-yab was buried in the church of Mâr Sabr-îshô`.
68. Elijah (Elîyâ) was buried in the church of Mâr Sabr-îshô`.
69. Yab-alâhâ was buried in the church of Mârt[î] Maryam (my lady Mary).
70. Sabr-îshô` was buried in the church of Mârt[î] Maryam.
71. Sabr-îshô` was buried . . . . . .
72. [Mâr Makkîkhâ was buried . . . . . .
73. Mâr Denhâ was buried . . . . . .
74. Mâr Yab-alâhâ the Turk was buried . . . . . .
75. Mâr Timothy was buried . . . . . .
76. Mâr Denhâ was buried . . . . . .
77. Mâr Simon was buried . . . . . .
78. Mâr Elijah (Elîyâ) was buried . . . . . .
79. Mâr Simon of our days, may he live for ever!]
The names of the Catholics who were deposed and dismissed (from office): Mâr(î)-bôkht, Narsai, Elisha, Joseph and Sôrên.
Chapter LII
The Names of the Kings who have Reigned in the World from the Flood until Now
The Median Kings Who Reigned In Babylon
Darius the son of Vashtasp (Hystaspes) reigned 24 years.
Ahshîresh (Xerxes) his son, 20 years.
Artahshisht the long-hand (Artaxerxes Longimanus), 41 years.
Daryâwash (Darius) the son of the concubine, 20 years.
Artahshisht (Artaxerxes) the ruler, 30 years.
Arses the son of Ochus, 4 years.
Daryâwash (Darius) the son of Ârsham (Arsanes), 6 years.
The Years Of The Egyptian Kings
Alexander the son of Philip, 12 years. Ptolemy the son of Lagôs, 40 years. Ptolemy Philadelphus, 38 years. In his third year the fifth millennium ended. This (king) asked the captive Jews who were in Egypt, and seventy old men translated the Scriptures for him, from Hebrew into Greek, in the island of Pharos. In return for this he set them free, and gave back to them also the vessels of their temple. Their names are these. Josephus, Hezekiah, Zechariah, John, Ezekiel, Elisha; these were of the tribe of Reuben. Judah, Simon, Samuel, Addai, Mattathias, Shalmî; these were of the tribe of Simeon. Nehemiah, Joseph, Theodosius, Bâsâ, Adonijah, Dâkî; these were of the tribe of Levi. Jothan, Abdî, Elisha, Ananias, Zechariah, Hilkiah; these were of the tribe of Judah. Isaac, Jacob, Jesus, Sambât (Sabbateus), Simon, Levi; these were of the tribe of Issachar. Judah, Joseph, Simon, Zechariah, Samuel, Shamlî; these were of the tribe of Zebulon. Sambât (Sabbateus), Zedekiah, Jacob, Isaac, Jesse, Matthias; these were of the tribe of Gad. Theodosius, Jason, Joshua, John, Theodotus, Jothan; these were of the tribe of Asher. Abraham, Theophilus, Arsam, Jason, Jeremiah, Daniel; these were of the tribe of Dan. Jeremiah, Eliezer, Zechariah, Benaiah, Elisha, Dathî; these were of the tribe of Naphtali. Samuel, Josephus, Judah, Jonathan, Dositheus, Caleb; these were of the tribe of Joseph. Isalus, John, Theodosius, Arsam, Abijah, Ezekiel; these were of the tribe of Benjamin.
After Ptolemy Philadelphus arose Ptolemy Euergetes; (he reigned) 26 years.
Ptolemy Philopator, 17 years.
Ptolemy Epiphanes, 24 years.
Ptolemy Philometor, 35 years. The time of the Maccabees extended to this (reign), and in it the old Covenant came to an end.
Ptolemy Soter, 17 years.
Ptolemy Alexander, 18 years.
Ptolemy Dionysius, 30 years.
The Years Of The Roman Emperors
Gaius Julius, 4 years.
Augustus, 57 years. In the forty-third year of his reign our Lord Christ was born.
Tiberius, 23 years. In the fifteenth year of his reign our Lord was baptised; and in the seventeenth year He suffered, died, rose again, and ascended to heaven.
Gaius (Caligula), 4 years.
Claudius, 14 years.
Nero, 14 years.
Vespasian, 10 years. Immediately after he came to the throne, he sent his son Titus against Jerusalem, and he besieged it for two years, until he uprooted it and destroyed it.
Titus, 2 years.
Domitian, 15 years.
Trajan, 20 years. John, the son of Zebedee, lived until the seventh year of his reign.
Hadrian, 20 years.
Antoninus, 20 years.
Verus, 20 years.
Commodus, 14 years.
Severus, 20 years.
The house of Antoninus.
Alexander the son of Mammaea, 13 years.
Maximinius and Gordianus, 9 years.
Philip and Gallus, 10 years.
Valerianus and Gallius (Gallienus), 15 years.
Claudius and Tacitus, 16 years.
Diocletian and those that were with him, 20 years.
Constantine, 33 years.
THE KINGS OF THE PERSIANS FROM SHÂBÔR (SAPOR) THE SON OF HORMIZD
In the fourth year of Constantine Caesar the Victorious, Shâbôr reigned in Persia 70 years.
Ardashîr his brother, 20 years.
Vahrân (Bahrâm) and Shâbôr, the sons of Ardashîr, 20 years.
Yazdagerd, the son of Shâbôr, 20 years.
Vahrân (Bahrâm), the son of Yazdagerd, 20 years.
Pêrôz, the son of Yazdagerd, 27 years.
Balâsh, the son of Pêrôz, 4 years.
Kawâd, the son of Pêrôz, 41 years.
Chosrau, the son of Kawâd, 47 years.
Hormizd, the son of Chosrau, 12 years.
From Shâbôr to this fifteenth year of Chosrau the son of Hormizd, in which he destroyed Dârâ, is three hundred and six years. The sum of all the years from Adam to this fifteenth year of Chosrau the conqueror, which is the nine hundred and sixteenth year of the Greeks, is 5861 years. From Adam to the Crucifixion is 5280 years. The whole of the Jewish economy therefore, from the time they went out of Egypt until Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus, was 1601 years. From Abraham to this year is 2031 years.
Of The Years That Have Passed Away From The World
From Adam to the Flood was 2262 years. From the Flood to Abraham was 1015 years. From Abraham to the Exodus of the people from Egypt was 430 years. From the Exodus of the people by the hand of Moses to Solomon and the building of the Temple was 400 years. From Solomon to the first Captivity, which Nebuchadnezzar led away captive, was 495 years. From the first Captivity to the prophesying of Daniel was 180 years. From the prophesying of Daniel to the Birth of our Lord was 483 years. All these years make 5345 years. From Alexander to our Lord was 303 years. From our Lord to Constantine was 341 years. In the year 438 of Alexander the Macedonian, the kingdom of the Persians had its beginning. Know, O my brother readers, that from the beginning of the creation of Adam to Alexander was 5180 years.
Chapter LIII
Of the End of Times and the Change of Kingdoms; from the Book of Methodius, Bishop of Rome
IN this seventh and last millennium will the kingdom of the Persians be destroyed. In it will the children of Ishmael go forth from the wilderness of Yathrib (al-Medînah), and they will all come and be gathered together in Gibeah of Ramah, and there shall the fat ones of the kingdom of the Greeks, who destroyed the kingdoms of the Hebrews and the Persians, be destroyed by Ishmael, the wild ass of the desert; for in wrath shall he be sent against the whole earth, against man and beast and trees, and it shall be a merciless chastisement. It is not because God loves them that He has allowed them to enter into the kingdoms of the Christians, but by reason of the iniquity and sin which is wrought by the Christians, the like of which has never been wrought in any one of the former generations. They are mad with drunkenness and anger and shameless lasciviousness; they have intercourse with one another wickedly, a man and his son committing fornication with one woman, the brother with his brother’s wife, male with male, and female with female, contrary to the law of nature and of Scripture, as the blessed Paul has said, ‘Male with male did work shame, and likewise also the women did work lewdness, and, contrary to nature, had intercourse with one another.’ Therefore they have brought upon themselves the recompense of punishment which is meet for their error, women as well as men, and hence God will deliver them over to the impurity of the barbarians, that their wives may be polluted by the sons of pollution, and men may be subjected to the yoke of tribute; then shall men sell everything that they have and give it to them, but shall not be able to pay the debt of the tribute, until they give also their children to them into slavery. And the tyrant shall exalt himself until he demands tribute and poll-tax from the dead that lie in the dust, first oppressing the orphans and defrauding the widows. They will have no pity upon the poor, nor will they spare the miserable; they will not relieve the afflicted; they will smite the grey hairs of the aged, despise the wise, and honour fools; they will mock at those who frame laws, and the little shall be esteemed as the great, and the despised as the honourable; their words shall cut like swords, and there is none who shall be able to change the persuasive force of their words. The path of their chastisement shall be from sea to sea, and from east to west, and from north to south, and to the wilderness of Yathrib. In their latter days there shall be great tribulation, old men and old women hungering and thirsting, and tortured in bonds until they account the dead happy. They will rip up the pregnant woman, and tear infants away from their mothers’ bosoms and sell them like beasts, and those that are of no use to them will they dash against the stones. They will slay the priests and deacons in the sanctuary, and they will lie with their wives in the houses of God. They will make clothes for themselves and their wives out of the holy vestments, and they will spread them upon their horses, and work impurity upon them in their beds. They will bring their cattle into the churches and altars, and they will tie up their dogs by the shrines of the saints. In those days the spirit of the righteous and of them that are well versed in signs will be grieved. The feeble will deny the true faith, the holy Cross, and the life-giving mysteries; and without compulsion many will deny Christ, and become rebels and slanderers and boasters, denying the faith. With this chastisement shall the Christians be tried. For at that time the righteous, the humble, the peaceful and the gentle will not be sought after, but liars and slanderers and accusers and disturbers and the obscene and those who are destitute of mercy, and those who scoff at their parents and blaspheme the life-giving mysteries. And the true believers shall come into troubles and persecutions until they despair of their lives. Honour shall be taken away from the priests, and the pastors shall become as the people. When the measure of their (i.e. the Ishmaelites’) victory is full, tribulation will increase, and chastisement will be doubled upon man and beast. And there shall be a great famine, and the dead bodies of men shall lie in the streets and squares without any one to bury them, and (just) reckoning shall vanish and disappear from the earth, And men shall sell their brass and their iron and their clothes, and shall give their sons and their daughters willingly to the heathen. A man shall lie down in the evening and rise in the morning, and shall find at his do or two or three exactors and officers to carry off by force; and two or three women shall throw themselves upon one man and say, ‘We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel, only let us take refuge beneath thy skirts.’ When men are oppressed and beaten, and hunger and thirst, and are tormented by that bitter chastisement; while the tyrants shall live luxuriously and enjoy themselves, and eat and drink, and boast in the victory they have won, having destroyed nations and peoples, and shall adorn themselves like brides, saying, ‘The Christians have neither a God nor a deliverer;’ then all of a sudden there shall be raised up against them pains like those of a woman in childbirth; and the king of the Greeks shall go forth against them in great wrath, and he shall rouse himself like a man who has shaken off his wine. He shall go forth against them from the sea of the Cushites, and shall cast the sword and destruction into the wilderness of Yathrib and into the dwelling-place of their fathers. They shall carry off captive their wives and sons and daughters into the service of slavery, and fear of all those round about them shall fall upon them, and they shall all be delivered into the hand of the king of the Greeks, and shall be given over to the sword and to captivity and to slaughter, and their latter subjection shall be one hundred times more severe than their (former) yoke. They shall be in sore tribulation from hunger and thirst and anxiety; they shall be slaves unto those who served them, and bitter shall their slavery be. Then shall the earth which has become desolate of its inhabitants find peace, and the remnant that is left shall return every man to his own land and to the inheritance of his fathers; and men shall increase like locusts upon the earth which was laid waste. Egypt shall be ravaged, Arabia shall be burnt with fire, the land of Hebron shall be laid waste, and the tongue of the sea shall be at peace. All the wrath and anger of the king of the Greeks shall have full course upon those who have denied Christ. And there shall be great peace on earth, the like of which has not been from the creation of the world until its end; for it is the last peace. And there shall be great joy on earth, and men shall dwell in peace and quiet; convents and churches shall be restored, cities shall be built, the priests shall be freed from taxes, and men shall rest from labour and anxiety of heart. They shall eat and drink; there shall be neither pain nor care; and they shall marry wives and beget children during that true peace. Then shall the gates of the north be opened, and the nations shall go forth that were imprisoned there by Alexander the king.
Chapter LIV
Of Gog and Magog, who are imprisoned in the North
WHEN Alexander was king and had subdued countries and cities, and had arrived in the East, he saw on the confines of the East those men who are of the children of Japhet. They were more wicked and unclean than all (other) dwellers in the world; filthy peoples of hideous appearance, who ate mice and the creeping things of the earth and snakes and scorpions. They never buried the bodies of their dead, and they ate as dainties the children which women aborted and the after-birth. People ignorant of God, and unacquainted with the power of reason, but who lived in this world without understanding like ravening beasts. When Alexander saw their wickedness, he called God to his aid, and he gathered together and brought them and their wives and children, and made them go in, and shut them up within the confines of the North. This is the gate of the world on the north, and there is no other entrance or exit from the confines of the world from the east to the north. And Alexander prayed to God with tears, and God heard his prayer and commanded those two lofty mountains which are called ‘the children of the north,’ and they drew nigh to one another until there remained between them about twelve cubits. Then he built in front of them a strong building, and be made for it a door of brass, and anointed it within and without with oil of Thesnaktîs, so that if they should bring iron (implements) near it to force it open, they would be unable to move it; and if they wished to melt it with fire, it would quench it; and it feared neither the operations of devils nor of sorcerers, and was not to be overcome (by them). Now there were twenty-two kingdoms imprisoned within the northern gate, and tbeir names are these: Gôg, Mâgôg, Nâwâl, Eshkenâz, Denâphâr, Paktâyê, Welôtâyê, Humnâyê, Parzâyê, Daklâyê, Thaubelâyê, Darmetâyê, Kawkebâyê, Dog-men (Cynocephali), Emderâthâ, Garmîdô`, Cannibals, Therkâyê, Âlânâyê, Pîsîlôn, Denkâyê, Saltrâyê. At the end of the world and at the final consummation, when men are eating and drinking and marrying wives, and women are given to husbands; when they are planting vineyards and building buildings, and there is neither wicked man nor adversary, on account of the assured tranquillity and certain peace; suddenly the gates of the north shall be opened and the hosts of the nations that are imprisoned there shall go forth. The whole earth shall tremble before them, and men shall flee and take refuge in the mountains and in caves and in burial places and in clefts of the earth; and they shall die of hunger; and there will be none to bury them, by reason of the multitude of afflictions which they will make men suffer. They will eat the flesh of men and drink the blood of animals; they will devour the creeping things of the earth, and hunt for serpents and scorpions and reptiles that shoot out venom, and eat them. They will eat dead dogs and cats, and the abortions of women with the after-birth; they will give mothers the bodies of their children to cook, and they will eat them before them without shame. They will destroy the earth, and there will be none able to stand before them. After one week of that sore affliction, they will all be destroyed in the plain of Joppa, for thither will all those (people) be gathered together, with their wives and their sons and their daughters; and by the command of God one of the hosts of the angels will descend and will destroy them in one moment.
Chapter LV
Of the Coming of the Antichrist, the Son of Perdition
IN a week and half a week after the destruction of these wretches shall the son of destruction appear. He shall be conceived in Chorazin, born in Bethsaida, and reared in Capernaum. Chorazin shall exult because he was conceived in her, Bethsaida because he was born in her, and Capernaum because he was brought up in her; for this reason our Lord proclaimed Woe to these three (cities) in the Gospel. As soon as the son of perdition is revealed, the king of the Greeks will go up and stand upon Golgotha, where our Lord was crucified; and he will set the royal crown upon the top of the holy Cross, upon which our Lord was crucified; and he will stretch out his two hands to heaven; and will deliver over the kingdom to God the Father. The holy Cross will be taken up to heaven, and the royal crown with it; and the king will die immediately. The king who shall deliver over the kingdom to God will be descended from the seed of Kûshath the daughter of Pîl, the king of the Ethiopians; for Armelaus (Romulus) the king of the Greeks took Kûshath to wife, and the seed of the Ethiopians was mingled with that of the Greeks. From this seed shall a king arise who shall deliver the kingdom over to God, as the blessed David has said, ‘Cush will deliver the power to God.’ When the Cross is raised up to heaven, straightway shall every head and every ruler and all powers be brought to nought, and God will withdraw His providential care from the earth. The heavens will be prevented from letting fall rain, and the earth from producing germs and plants; and the earth shall remain like iron through drought, and the heavens like brass. Then will the son of perdition appear, of the seed and of the tribe of Dan; and he will shew deluding phantasms, and lead astray the world, for the simple will see the lepers cleansed, the blind with their eyes opened, the paralytic walking, the devils cast out, the sun when he looks upon it becoming black, the moon when he commands it becoming changed, the trees putting forth fruit from their branches, and the earth making roots to grow. He will shew deluding phantasms (of this kind), but he will not be able to raise the dead. He will go into Jerusalem and will sit upon a throne in the temple saying, ‘I am the Christ;’ and he will be borne aloft by legions of devils like a king and a lawgiver, naming himself God, and saying, ‘I am the fulfilment of the types and the parables.’ He will put an end to prayers and offerings, as if at his appearance prayers are to be abolished and men will not need sacrifices and offerings along with him. He becomes a man incarnate by a married woman of the tribe of Dan. When this son of destruction becomes a man, he will be made a dwelling-place for devils, and all Satanic workings will be perfected in him. There will be gathered together with him all the devils and all the hosts of the Indians; and before all the Indians and before all men will the mad Jewish nation believe in him, saying, ‘This is the Christ, the expectation of the world.’ The time of the error of the Antichrist will last two years and a half, but others say three years and six months. And when every one is standing in despair, then will Elijah (Elias) come from Paradise, and convict the deceiver, and turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to the fathers; and he will encourage and strengthen the hearts of the believers.
Chapter LVI
Of Death and the Departure of the Soul from the Body
THE foundation of all good and precious things, of all the greatness of God’s gifts, of His true love, and of our arriving in His presence, is Death. Men die in five ways. Naturally; as David said, ‘Unless his day come and he die,’ alluding to Saul. Voluntarily; as when Saul killed himself in the battle with the Philistines. By accident; such as a fall from a roof, and other fatal accidents. By violence, from devils and men and wild beasts and venomous reptiles. By (divine) chastisement; as the flood in the days of Noah, and the fire which fell upon the Sodomites, and other such like things. But (side by side) with all these kinds of fatalities runs the providence of God’s government, which cannot be comprehended by the creatures, restraining (them) where it is meet (to restrain), and letting (them) loose where it is fitting (to let loose). This government is not comprehended in this world, neither by angels nor by men; but in the world which is to come all rational beings will know it. When the soul goes forth from the body, as Abbâ Isaiah says, the angels go with it: then the hosts of darkness go forth to meet it, seeking to seize it and examine it, if there be anything of theirs in it. Then the angels do not fight with them, but those deeds which the soul has wrought protect it and guard it, that they come not near it. If its deeds be victorious, then the angels sing praises before it until it meets God with joy. In that hour the soul forgets every deed of this world. Consequently, no one who does not obtain remission (of sins) in this world can be free from the penalty of examination in that day. Not that there is torture or pleasure or recompense before the resurrection; but the soul knows everything that it has done whether of good or evil.
As to where the souls abide from the time they leave their bodies until the resurrection, some say that they are taken up to heaven, that is, to the region of spirit, where the celestial hosts dwell. Others say that they go to Paradise, that is, to the place which is abundantly supplied with the good things of the mystery of the revelations of God; and that the souls of sinners lie in darkness in the abyss of Eden outside Paradise. Others say that they are buried with their bodies; that is to say, as the two were buried in God at baptism, so also will they now dwell in Him until the day of the resurrection. Others say that they stand at the mouth of the graves and await their Redeemer; that is to say, they possess the knowledge of the resurrection of their bodies. Others say that they are as it were in a slumber, because of the shortness of the time; for they point out in regard to them that what seems to us a very long time is to them as a momentary nod (or wink) in its shortness. And just as he that is sunk in slumber departs from the life of this world, and yet does not arrive at absolute mortality, so also are they in an intermediate knowledge which is higher than that of this world, and yet attain not to that which is after the resurrection. Those who say that they are like an infant which has no knowledge, shew that they call even the knowledge of the truth ignorance in comparison with that knowledge of the truth which shall be bestowed upon them after the resurrection.
That the souls of the righteous pray, and that their prayers assist those who take refuge with them, may be learned from many, especially from Mâr Theodore in his account of the blessed Thecla. Therefore it is right for those who have a holy man for a friend, to rejoice when he goes to our Lord in Paradise, because their friend has the power to help them by his prayers. Like the blind disciple of one of the saints mentioned in the Book of the Paradise, who, when his master was dying, wept bitterly and said, ‘To whose care dost thou leave the poor blind man?’ And his master encouraged him, and said to him, ‘I believe in God that, if I find mercy in His sight, at the end of a week thou wilt see;’ and after some days he did see. The souls of the righteous also hold spiritual conversation with each other, according to the Divine permission and command which moves them to this by necessary causes. Neither those who have departed this life in the flesh are hindered from this (intercourse), nor those who are still clad in their fleshly garments, if they live their life in them holily.
Chapter LVII
Of the Quickening and the General Resurrection, the Consummation of the Material World and the Beginning of the New World
AFTER Elijah comes and conquers the son of destruction, and encourages the believers, for a space and a time which is known to God alone, there will appear the living sign of our Lord’s Cross, honoured and borne aloft in the hands of the Archangel Gabriel. Its light will overpower the light of the sun, to the reproach and putting to shame of the infidels and the crucifying Jews. As soon as the life-giving Cross appears before our Lord, as the Doctor saith, ‘His victory comes before Him,’ etc., then a powerful light will fill the whole vaulted space between the heavens and the earth, the radiance and light whereof will be above all (other) lights; and suddenly will the mighty sound of the first trumpet of the Archangel be heard, concerning which our Lord said, ‘At midnight there will be a cry, “Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet Him.”‘ At this trumpet the sun shall become dark, the moon shall not display its light, the stars shall drop from the heavens like leaves, and the powers of the heavens shall be moved. The earth shall totter and tremble, the mountains and hills shall melt, the sea shall be disturbed and shall cause terrible sounds to be heard. The rivers shall submerge the earth, the trees shall be uprooted, buildings shall fall, towns and villages shall be overturned, and high walls and strong towers shall be thrown down. The wild beasts and cattle and fowl and fish shall come to an end and perish; and everything shall be destroyed, except a few human beings who shall remain alive, and whom the resurrection shall overtake, of whom Paul has said, ‘We who are left shall not overtake them that sleep,’ meaning to say that those who are found alive at the time of the resurrection will not sleep the sleep of death; as the apostle says again, ‘Behold I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.’ As touching the heavens, some say that they will be rent, and that the waters which are above the firmament will descend, for it is not possible for the substance of water to pass through the substance of the firmament. Others say that as water passes through a tree or a piece of pottery, and sweat through the skin, so also will men enter into heaven and not be prevented, and (in like manner too) will the waters descend from above. Others say that the firmament will be rolled up like the curtain of a tent.
The second trumpet is that at the sound of which the firmament will be opened, and our Lord will appear from heaven in splendour and great glory. He will come down with the glory of His divinity as far as two-thirds of the distance between the firmament and the earth, whither Paul ascended in the spirit of revelation. He will then make an end of the son of perdition, and destroy him body and soul, and He will hurl Satan and the devils into Gehenna.
The third trumpet is the last, at which the dead will rise, and the living be changed, as the blessed Paul says, ‘Swiftly, as in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet when it sounds; and the dead shall rise without corruption, and we shall be changed.’ So swiftly and speedily will the resurrection of all men be wrought, according to the spiritual nature of the new world. For the swiftness of the resurrection will surpass the swiftness of understanding, and the spiritual hosts alone see and know in what manner it will take place, every man being suddenly found standing in his spirituality. Some men therefore have a tradition that the resurrection of the righteous and the just and the believers will precede that of other men, who are remote from the true faith; but according to the opinion of the truthful and of people generally, the resurrection of the whole human race will take place quicker than lightning and than the twinkling of an eye; from the generation of Adam to the latest generation they shall rise at the last trumpet. And though, according to the opinion of the Expositor, many sounds will be heard on that night, each one of which is a sign of what will happen, yet, according to the consent of the greater part of the expositors and of Scripture, three distinct trumpets will sound by which the whole work of the resurrection will be completed and finished. Michael the expositor and exegete, however, says otherwise in the book of Questions, speaking as follows: ‘The world will not pass away and be dissolved before the vivification of the dead, but the coming of our Lord will be seen first of all, who will come with the spiritual hosts; and immediately our Lord’s power will compel the earth to give up the parts of the bodies of men who have been slain and have become dust and ashes within it; and there will be a making ready and preparation of the souls to receive their bodies all together. If, before the vivification of the dead, the world and all that is therein were to pass away, from whence pray would the dead rise? Those who say that the world will pass away before the vivification of the dead are fools and simpletons; for Christ will not make the world pass away before the vivification of the dead, but He will first of all raise the dead, and men will see with their eyes the passing away of the world, the uprooting of the elements, and the destruction of the heavens and the earth and the sun and the moon and the stars; and from here sorrow will begin to reign in the mind of the wicked, and endless joy in the mind of the righteous.
Chapter LVIII
Of the Manner and State in which Men will Rise in the Day of The Resurrection
ALL classes and conditions of men will rise from the dead in the state of the perfect form of Christ, about thirty-three years of age, even as our Redeemer rose from the grave. We shall rise with all our limbs perfect, and with the same constitutions, without addition or diminution. Some say that the hair and nails and prepuce will rise, and some say they will not; as if they were superfluous for the completion of the nature of man. Some say concerning the resurrection that a likeness only will rise, without parts and without the composition of the limbs of man; a mere similitude of hands and feet and hardness of bones. Others say that the whole man will be cast into one crystalline substance, and that all his parts will be mingled together; and they do not grant him an ordered arrangement of composition. Others say that the vessels which are inside the belly, such as the bowels, liver, etc., will not rise; but they err and stray from the truth, and do not understand that if one of the parts of the body perish, it is not perfect. For Paul shewed plainly and laid down an example of the resurrection in the grain of wheat: just as that grows up entire with its glory, without any portion of it having perished, even so we; for the whole man shall rise with all his limbs and parts, and ordered in his composition as now, only having acquired purification from the humours. And this is not surprising, that if an earthen vessel acquires firmness and lightness when it goes into the fiery furnace, without any change taking place in its shape or form, but is lightened of its heaviness and density, whilst it preserves its shape uninjured; so also should the Holy Spirit burn us in the furnace of the resurrection and drive forth from us all the foul material of the present (life), and clothe us with incorruptibility. ‘It is sown an animal body; it rises a spiritual body.’ We shall neither see nor hear with all our bodily members, although some men have thought that the whole man will be sight and hearing; but we shall carry out action with these same usual limbs, if it happen to be necessary; although we shall not there need speech and conversation with one another, because each other’s secrets will be revealed to us.
The things which certain stupid men invent, who indulge their fancy, and give bodily form to the punishment of sinners and the reward of the just and righteous, and say that there is at the resurrection a reckoning and a pair of scales, the Church does not receive; but each one of us carries his light and his fire within him, and his heaviness and his lightness is round in his own pature. Just as stone and iron naturally possess the property of falling to the earth, and as the air naturally ascends upward on account of its rarity and its lightness; so also in the resurrection, he that is heavy and lying in sins, his sins will bring him down; and he that is free from the rust of sin, his purity will make him rise in the scale. And our Lord will ascend to heaven, and the angels (will go) before Him like ambassadors, and the just and the righteous will be upon His right hand and His left, and the children behind Him in the form of the life-giving Cross.
Chapter LIX
Of The Happiness of The Righteous and the Torment of Sinners, and in What State they are There
IT is right for us to know and explain how those suffer, who suffer in Gehenna. If they do suffer, how can we say that they are impassible? and if they do not suffer, then there is no torture for sinners; and if there be no torture for sinners in proportion to their sins, neither can there be happiness for the righteous as a reward for their labours. The suffering wherewith the Fathers say that sinners will suffer in Gehenna is not one that will pain the limbs, such as the blows of sticks, the mutilation of the flesh, and the breaking of the bones, but one that will afflict the soul, such as grief for the transgression of what is right, repentance for shameful deeds, and banishment from one to whom he is bound in love and for whom his affection is strong. For in the resurrection we shall not be without perception, like the sun which perceives not his splendour, nor the moon her brilliancy, nor the pearl its beauty; but by the power of reason we shall feel perfectly the delight of our happiness or the keen pain of our torture. So then by that which enables the righteous to perceive the pleasure of their happiness, by that selfsame thing will the wicked also perceive the suffering of their torment; (that is) by the power capable of receiving pleasure, which is the intelligence. Hence it is right for us to be certain that intelligence will not be taken away from us, but it will receive the utmost purification and refinement. The glorious and good things of the world which is to come are not to be compared with those of this world; for if all the glorious and good things and delights of this world were given to us in the world which is to come, we should look upon them as hateful and abominable, and they would not be able to give us pleasure or to gladden us; and our nature by the blessedness of its immortality would be exalted above all their glory and desirability. And if all the torments and afflictions and troubles of this world were brought near to us in the world which is to come, the pain of them would make no impression upon our immortal and immutable nature. Hence the pleasure of that world is something beyond all comparison more glorious and excellent and exalted than those of this world; and the torment of yonder is likewise something beyond all comparison more severe and more bitter than any that is here.
It is also right for us to explain the quality of the light of the righteous. The light of the righteous is not of a natural origin like this elemental light (of ours), but some of the light of our Lord–whose splendour surpasses ten thousand suns–is diffused and shed upon them. Each saint shines in proportion to his purity, and holiness and refinement and sincerity, as the blessed Paul has said, ‘One star surpasseth another in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead.’ And although all the saints will be happy in one kingdom, yet he who is near to the King or the Bridegroom will be separated from him whose place is at the end of the guest-chamber, even though his place be in the same chamber. So also with the sinners in Gehenna; their sentence will not be alike, for in proportion to the sin of each will be his torment. And as the light of the sun is not to be compared with the light of the moon, nor is the light of the moon like that of the stars, so also will the happiness of the righteous be, although the name and honour of righteousness be laid upon and spread over all of them. And as the light of our Lord’s humanity will pass over all our limbs without distinction, and take the place of dress and ornament for us, so also with all our members shall we perceive the suffering and torment of Gehenna. The festal garments which our Lord has prepared for His saints, the children of light, are impassibility; and the filthy garments which hinder us from entering into the spiritual bridal-chamber are the passions. In the new world there will be no distinctive names for ranks and conditions of human beings; and as every name and surname attributed to God and the angels had its origin from this world, and names for human beings were assigned and distributed by the government of this world, in the world of spiritual and intellectual natures there will be neither names nor surnames among them, nor male nor female, nor slave nor free, nor child nor old man, nor Ethiopian nor Roman (Greek); but they will all rise in the one perfect form of a man thirty-three years of age, as our Lord rose from the dead. In the world to come there will be no companies or bands but two; the one of the angels and the righteous, who will mingle and form one Church, and the other of the devils and sinners in Gehenna.
Chapter LX
Whether Mercy will be Shewn to Sinners and the Devils in Gehenna, after they have been Tormented and Suffered and been Punished, or Not? And if Mercy is to be Shewn to Them, When will it Be?
SOME of the Fathers terrify us beyond our strength and throw us into despair; and their opinion is well adapted to the simple-minded and trangressors of the law. Others of them encourage us and bid us rely upon Divine mercy; and their opinions are suitable and adapted to the perfect and those of settled minds and the pious. In the ‘Book of Memorials’ it is thus written: ‘This world is the world of repentance, but the world which is to come is the world of retribution. As in this world repentance saves until the last breath, so in the world to come justice exacts to the uttermost farthing. And as it is impossible to see here strict justice unmingled with mercy, so it is impossible to find there strict justice mingled with mercy.’ Mâr Isaac says thus: ‘Those who are to be scourged in Gehenna will be tortured with stripes of love; they who feel that they have sinned against love will suffer harder and more severe pangs from love than the pain that springs from fear.’ Again he says: ‘The recompense of sinners will be this: the resurrection itself will be their recompense instead of the recompense of justice; and at the last He will clothe those bodies which have trodden down His laws with the glory of perfection. This act of grace to us after we have sinned is greater than that which, when we were not, brought our nature into being.’ Again he says: ‘In the world which is to come grace will be the judge and not justice.’ Mâr Theodore the Expositor says: ‘Those who have here chosen fair things will receive in the world to come the pleasure of good things with praises; but the wicked who have turned aside to evil things all their life, when they are become ordered in their minds by penalties and the fear that springs from them, and choose good things, and learn how much they have sinned by having persevered in evil things and not in good things, and by means of these things receive the knowledge of the highest doctrine of the fear of God, and become instructed to lay hold of it with a good will, will be deemed worthy of the happiness of the Divine liberality. For He would never have said, “Until thou payest the uttermost farthing,” unless it had been possible for us to be freed from our sins through having atoned for them by paying the penalty; neither would He have said, “he shall be beaten with many stripes,” or “he shall be beaten with few stripes,” unless it were that the penalties, being meted out according to the sins, should finally come to an end.’ These things the Expositor has handed down in his books clearly and distinctly.
So also the blessed Diodorus, who says in the ‘Book of the Dispensation:’ ‘A lasting reward, which is worthy of the justice of the Giver, is laid up for the good, in return for their labours; and torment for sinners, but not everlasting, that the immortality which is prepared for them may not be worthless. They must however be tormented for a short time, as they deserve, in proportion to the measure of their iniquity and wickedness, according to the amount of the wickedness of their deeds. This they will have to bear, that they suffer for a short time; but immortal and unending happiness is prepared for them. If it be then that the rewards of good deeds are as great (in proportion to them) as the times of the immortality which are prepared for them are longer than the times of the limited contests which take place in this world, the torments for many and great sins must be very much less than the greatness of mercy. So then it is not for the good only that the grace of the resurrection from the dead is intended, but also for the wicked; for the grace of God greatly honours the good, but chastises the wicked sparingly.’
Again he says: ‘God pours out the wages of reward beyond the measure of the labours (wrought), and in the abundance of His goodness He lessens and diminishes the penalty of those who are to be tormented, and in His mercy He shortens and reduces the length of the time. But even thus He does not punish the whole time according to (the length of) the time of folly, seeing that He requites them far less than they deserve, just as He does the good beyond the measure and period (of their deserts); for the reward is everlasting. It has not been revealed whether the goodness of God wishes to punish without ceasing the blameworthy who have been found guilty of evil deeds (or not), as we have already said before
But if punishment is to be weighed out according to sin, not even so would punishment be endless. For as regards that which is said in the Gospel, ‘These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal;’ this word ‘eternal’ (le-`âlam) is not definite: for if it be not so, how did Peter say to our Lord, ‘Thou shalt never wash my feet,’ and yet He washed him? And of Babylon He said, ‘No man shall dwell therein for ever and ever,’ and behold many generations dwell therein. In the ‘Book of Memorials’ he says: ‘I hold what the most celebrated of the holy Fathers say, that He cuts off a little from much. The penalty of Gehenna is a man’s mind; for the punishment there is of two kinds, that of the body and that of the mind. That of the body is perhaps in proportion to the degree of sin, and He lessens and diminishes its duration; but that of the mind is for ever, and the judgment is for ever.’ But in the New Testament le-`âlam is not without end. To Him be glory and dominion and praise and exaltation and honour for ever and ever. Amen and Amen.

The Book of the Bee
The Syriac Text
Edited from the Manuscripts in London, Oxford, and Munich
With an English Translation
By Ernest A. Wallis Budge, M.A.
Late Scholar of Christ’s College, Cambridge, and Tyrwhitt Scholar Assistant in the Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities, British Museum
Oxford, at the Clarendon Press, 1886
Preface
OF the author of ‘the Book of the Bee,’ the bishop Shelêmôn or Solomon, but very little is known. He was a native of Khilât or Akhlât (in Armenia, at the western end of lake Vân), and by religious profession a Nestorian. He became metropolitan bishop of al-Basra (in al-`Irâk, on the right bank of the united streams of the Tigris and Euphrates) about A.D. 1222, in which year he was present at the consecration of the catholicus or Nestorian patriarch Sabr-îshô` (Hope-in-Jesus) (see Assemânî, Bibl. Orient., t. ii, p. 453, no. 75; Bar-hebraeus, Chron. Eccl., t. ii, p. 371). In the Catalogue of Ecclesiastical Works compiled by `Ebêd-yêshû` or `Abd-îshô` (the-Servant-of-Jesus) he is stated to have written, besides ‘the Bee,’ a treatise on the figure of the heavens and the earth, and sundry short discourses and prayers (see Assemânî, Bibl. Orient., t. iii, pt. i, p. 309, where there is a lengthy analysis of the contents of ‘the Bee’). A Latin translation of ‘the Bee’ by Dr. J. M. Schoenfelder appeared at Bamberg in 1866; it is based upon the Munich MS. only, and is faulty in many places.
The text of ‘the Bee,’ as contained in this volume, is edited from four MSS., indicated respectively by the letters A, B, C and D.
The MS. A2 belongs to the Library of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. It is dated A.Gr. 1880 = A.D. 1569, and consists of 188 paper leaves, measuring about 8 in. by 5¾. Each page is occupied by one column of writing, generally containing 25 lines. This MS. is so stained and damaged by water in parts that some of the writing is illegible. The quires are twenty-one in number and, excepting the last two, are signed with letters. Leaves are wanting after folios 6, 21, 49, 125, 166 and 172; and in several pages there are lacunae of one, two and more lines. The volume is written in a good Nestorian hand, with numerous vowel-points. Originally it was the property of the priest Wardâ, son of the deacon Moses, who was prior of the convent of Mâr Ezekiel. Later on, it belonged to one Mâr John of Enzelli (near Resht, on the south shore of the Caspian Sea). In the year A.Gr. 1916 = A.D. 1605 it was bound by a person whose name has been erased. The Book of the Bee occupies foll. 26a to 92b, and the colophon runs:
By the help of our Lord and our God, this Book of the Bee was completed on the 16th day of the month of Tammuz, on the Saturday that ushers in the Sunday which is called Nûsârdêl, in the year 1880 of the blessed Greeks, by the hands of the sinful servant the faulty Elias. Amen.
The MS. B is on paper, and is numbered Add. 25,875 in the British Museum. See Wright’s Catal., p. 1064, no. dccccxxii, ff. 81 b-158 a. It is written in a good Nestorian hand, with numerous vowel-points, etc., and is dated A.Gr. 2020 = A.D. 1709. The colophon runs:
It was finished in the year 2020 of the Greeks, on Friday the 22nd of the blessed month Tammûz, by the wretched sinner, the deacon Hômô of Alkôsh. I entreat you to pray for him that perchance he may obtain mercy with those upon whom mercy is freely shewn in the Day of Judgment; Amen. And to Jah be the glory, Amen.
The illustrious priest and pure verger, the priest Joseph, the son of the late deacon Hormizd of Hôrdaphnê, took pains and was careful to have this book written: may Christ make his portion in the kingdom of heaven! Amen. He had it written for the holy church called after the name of our Lady Mary the pure and virgin mother, which is in the blessed and happy village of Hôrdaphnê in the district of `Amêdîa. From now and henceforth this book remains the property of the (above-) mentioned church, and no man shall have power over it to carry it off for any reprehensible cause of theft or robbery, or to give it away without the consent of its owners, or to abstract it and not to return it to its place. Whosoever shall do this, he shall be banned and cursed and execrated by the word of our Lord; and all corporeal and incorporeal beings shall say “Yea and Amen.”
From the manner in which B ends, it would seem either that the MS. from which it was copied was imperfect, or that the scribe Hômô omitted to transcribe the last leaf of the MS. before him, probably because it contained views on man’s future state which did not coincide with his own.
The MS. C, belonging to the Royal Library at Munich, consists of 146 paper leaves, measuring about 12 1/8 in. by 8¼. There are two columns, of twenty-four lines each, to a page; the right-hand column is Syriac, the left Kârshûnî or Arabic in Syriac characters. The MS. is beautifully written in a fine Nestorian hand, and vowels and diacritical points have been added abundantly. The headings of the chapters are in Estrangelâ. The last two or three leaves have been torn out, and on fol. 147 a there are eighteen lines of Kârshûnî in another hand, which contain the equivalent in Arabic of B, fol. 157 a, col. 2, lines 10 to 24.
On the fly-leaf are five lines of Arabic, which run:
This book is the property of the church of Mâr Cyriacus the Martyr at Batnâye. The deacon Peter bar Saumô has purchased it for the church with its own money, and therefore it has become the lawful property of the church. Whosoever taketh it away without the consent of the directors of the church, committeth sin and is bound to restore it. This was on the 17th of the month of Âdhâr in the year of our Lord 1839, in the protected city of Mosul.
Dr. Schoenfelder in the preface to his translation, assigns this MS. to the fourteenth century (‘ad saeculum decimum quartum procul dubio pertinet’). From this view, however, I differ for the following reasons. The MS. B, dated A.Gr. 2020 = A.D. 1709, is written upon water-lined paper, having for water-mark upon each leaf three crescents of different sizes, and a sign like a V.
The paper is smooth and thick. The Munich MS. C is written upon rather rougher paper, but with the same water-mark exactly, only the three crescents are on one leaf, and the V-shaped mark upon that next to it. Therefore Dr. E. Maunde Thompson, keeper of the MSS. in the British Museum, who has kindly given me the benefit of his great experience in these matters, considers that the paper on which these two MSS. are written was made at the same manufactory and about the same time. Add to this that the writing of both MSS. is almost identical, and that the signatures of the quires and the style of ornamentation is the same, and it will be evident that the Munich MS. belongs rather to the end of the seventeenth or the beginning of the eighteenth century than to the fourteenth.
The MS. D, belonging to the Bodleian Library, Oxford, consists of 405 paper leaves, measuring 8 5/8 in. by 6¼. There is one column of twenty-one lines, in Kârshûni or Arabic in Syriac characters, to each page. The MS. is written in a fine bold hand, the headings of the chapters, names, and diacritical points being in red. It is dated Friday the 28th day of Âb, A.Gr. 1895 = A.D. 1584, and was transcribed by Peter, the son of Jacob.
The Arabic version of ‘the Bee’ contained in this MS. borders at times on a very loose paraphrase of the work. The writer frequently repeats himself, and occasionally translates the same sentence twice, though in different words, as if to make sure that he has given what he considers to be the sense of the Syriac. He adds paragraphs which have no equivalents in the three Syriac copies of ‘the Bee’ to which I have had access, and he quotes largely from the Old and New Testaments in support of the opinions of Solomon of Basrah. The order of the chapters is different, and the headings of the different sections into which the chapters are divided will be found in the selections from the Arabic versions of ‘the Bee’. This MS. is of the utmost importance for the study of ‘the Bee,’ as it contains the last chapter in a perfect and complete state; which is unfortunately not the case either with the bilingual Munich MS. or the copy in Paris.
Assemânî says in the Bibl. Orient., t. iii, pt. i, p. 310, note 4, that there are two codices of ‘the Bee’ in the Vatican Library, and he has described them in his great work–MSS. Codicum Bibliothecae Apostol. Vatic. Catalogus, t. iii, nos. clxxvi and clxxvii. The latter is incomplete, containing only forty chapters (see Bibl. Orient., t. ii, p. 488, no. ix); but the former is complete (see Bibl. Orient., t. i, p. 576, no. xvii). It was finished, according to a note at the end, on Wednesday, 14th of Shebât in the year of Alexander, the son of Nectanebus, 1187, which Assemânî corrects into 1787 = A.D. 1476. The name of the scribe was Gabriel, and he wrote it for the ‘priest John, son of the priest Jonah’ (Yaunân), living at the village of ### in the district of Baz, (see Hoffmann, Auszüge aus syr. Akten pers. Martyrer, pp. 204-5). At a subsequent time it belonged to the church of Mâr Cyriacus in the village of Sâlekh, in the district of Barwar, (see Hoffmann, op. cit., pp. 193, 204).
My translation aims at being literal, and will, I hope, be found more correct in some places than that of Dr. Schoenfelder. I have added brief notes only where it seemed absolutely necessary. A few Syriac words, which are either wanting or not sufficiently explained in Castell-Michaelis’s Lexicon, have been collected in a ‘Glossary,’ on the plan of that in Wright’s Kal¯ilah and Dimnah. The Index will probably be useful to the English reader. {The glossary and index are not included in this version.}
My thanks are due to Mr. E. B. Nicholson and Dr. A. Neubauer of the Bodleian Library, to the authorities of the Royal Library at Munich, and to the late W. S. W. Vaux, Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society, for the loan of the MSS. of ‘the Bee’ preserved in their respective collections. Professor Wright has edited the extracts from the Arabic versions of ‘the Bee,’ and read a proof of each sheet of the whole book from first to last, besides giving me much general help and guidance in the course of my work. I dedicate this book to him as a mark of gratitude for a series of kindnesses shewn to me during the past nine years.
E. A. Wallis Budge
London
October 23, 1886
List of the Chapters in This Book
Of God’s eternal intention in respect of the creation of the universe.
Of the creation of the seven natures (substances) in silence.
Of earth, water, air, and fire.
Of heaven.
Of the angels.
Of darkness.
Of effused (circumambient) light.
Of the firmament.
Of the creation of trees and plants, and the making of seas and rivers.
Of the making of the luminaries.
Of the creation of sea-monsters, fish, winged fowl, and the reptiles that are in the seas.
Of the creation of beasts and animals.
Of the formation of Adam.
Of the making of Eve.
Of Paradise.
Of the sin of Adam.
Of the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise.
Of Adam’s knowing Eve.
Of the invention of the instruments for working in iron.
Of Noah and the Flood.
Of Melchizedek.
Of the generations of Noah, how seventy-two families sprang from three sons.
Of the succession of generations from the Flood until now.
Of the building of the Tower.
Of Abraham.
Of the temptation of Job.
Of Isaac’s blessing upon Jacob.
Of Joseph.
Of Moses and the Children of Israel.
Of Moses’ rod.
Of Joshua the son of Nun, and the Judges, and brief notices of the Kings of the Children of Israel.
Of the death of the Prophets; how they died, and (where) they were buried.
Of the divine dispensation which was wrought in the New Testament, and of the genealogy of Christ.
Of the announcement of the angel to Jonachir (Joachim) in respect of Mary.
Of the annunciation of Gabriel to Mary in respect of her conception of our Lord.
Of our Lord’s birth in the flesh.
Of the prophecy of Zarâdôsht, that is Baruch the scribe.
Of the star which appeared in the East on the day of our Lord’s birth.
Of the coming of the Magi from Persia, and the slaughter of the infants.
Of the going down of our Lord into Egypt.
Of John the Baptist and his baptism of our Lord.
Of our Lord’s fast and His contest with Satan.
Of the passover of our Lord.
Of the passion of our Lord.
Of the resurrection of our Lord.
Of the ascension of our Lord.
Of the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles in the upper chamber.
Of the teaching of the Apostles, their deaths, and the place where each of them (was buried).
The names of the twelve Apostles and the seventy (Disciples), one after another in (his) grade.
Of minor matters; those of the Apostles who were married, etc.
The names of the Eastern Patriarchs, and the places where they were buried.
The names of the kings who have reigned in the world from the Flood to the present time, and the (number of the) years of the reign of each of them. The names of the kings of the Medes and the Egyptians; the names of the seventy old men who brought out the Scriptures and translated them; the names of the Roman emperors, and of the kings of Persia.
Of the end of times and the change of kingdoms. From the book of Methodius, the bishop of Rome.
Of Gog and Magog, who are imprisoned in the North.
Of the coming of Antichrist, the son of perdition.
Of death and the departure of the soul from the body.
Of the rising of the dead and the general resurrection, the end of the material world, and the beginning of the new world.
Of the manner in which men will rise in the day of the resurrection.
Of the happiness of the righteous, and the torture of sinners; and of the manner in which they will exist yonder.
Of the demons and sinners in Gehenna, whether after they have been punished and have suffered and received their sentence, they will have mercy shewn to them or not; and if mercy be shewn to them, when it will be.

“Debhûrîthâ” (The “Bee” — A “Book of Gleanings”)
By the Saint of God, Mâr Shelêmôn (Solomon), Metropolitan of Perath-Maishân, that is Bassorah (al-Basrah)
TRUSTING in the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, we begin to write this book of gleanings called ‘The Bee,’ which was composed by the saint of God, Mâr Solomon, metropolitan of Perath-Maishân, that is Bassorah (al-Basrah), one of His companions. O Lord, in Thy mercy help me. Amen.
First, the Apology
‘The children ought not to lay up treasures for the parents, but the parents for the spiritual children,’ saith the blessed Paul; therefore we are bound to repay thee the debt of love, O beloved brother and staff of our old age, saint of God, Mâr Narses, bishop of Khônî-Shâbôr Bêth-Wâzik. We remember thy solicitude for us, and thy zeal for our service, which thou didst fulfil with fervent love and Christ-like humility. And when we had loving meetings with each other from time to time, thou wert wont to ask questions and to make enquiries about the various things which God hath wrought in His dispensation in this material world, and also as to the things that He is about to do in the world of light. But since we were afflicted with the Mosaic defect of hesitancy of speech, we were unable to inform thee fully concerning the profitable matters about which, as was right, thou didst enquire; and for this reason we were prevented from profitable discourse upon the holy Books. Since, then, God has willed and ruled our separation from each other, and the sign of old age, which is the messenger of death, hath appeared in us, and we have grown old and come into years, it has seemed good to us, with the reed for a tongue and with ink for lips, to inform thee briefly concerning God’s dispensation in the two worlds. And, behold, we have gleaned and collected and gathered together chapters and sections relating to this whole universe from the garden of the divine Books and from the crumbs of the Fathers and the Doctors, having laid down as the foundation of our building the beginning of the creation of this world, and concluding with the consummation of the world to come. We have called this book the ‘Book of the Bee,’ because we have gathered of the blossoms of the two Testaments and of the flowers of the holy Books, and have placed them therein for thy benefit. As the common bee with gauzy wings flies about, and flutters over and lights upon flowers of various colours, and upon blossoms of divers odours, selecting and gathering from all of them the materials which are useful for the construction of her handiwork; and having first of all collected the materials from the flowers, carries them upon her thighs, and bringing them to her dwelling, lays a foundation for her building with a base of wax; then gathering in her mouth some of the heavenly dew which is upon the blossoms of spring, brings it and blows it into these cells; and weaves the comb and honey for the use of men and her own nourishment: in like manner have we, the infirm, hewn the stones of corporeal words from the rocks of the Scriptures which are in the Old Testament, and have laid them down as a foundation for the edifice of the spiritual law. And as the bee carries the waxen substance upon her thighs because of its insipidity and tastelessness, and brings the honey in her mouth because of its sweetness and value; so also have we laid down the corporeal law by way of substratum and foundation, and the spiritual law for a roof and ceiling to the edifice of the spiritual tower. And as the expert gardener and orchard-keeper goes round among the gardens, and seeking out the finest sorts of fruits takes from them slips and shoots, and plants them in his own field; so also have we gone into the garden of the divine Books, and have culled therefrom branches and shoots, and have planted them in the ground of this book for thy consolation and benefit. When thou, O brother, art recreating thyself among these plants, those which appear and which thou dost consider to be insipid and tasteless, leave for thy companions, for they may be more suitable to others (than to thee); but, upon those which are sweet, and which sweeten the palate of thy understanding, do thou feed and satisfy thy hunger. If, however, owing to their fewness, they do not fill thee, seek in succession for their roots, and from thence shall thy want be satisfied. Know also, O brother, that where there is true love, there is no fear; and where there is freedom of speech, there is no dread; and we should not dare to be so rash as to enter upon these subjects, which are beyond the capacity of our simple understanding, unless we relied upon thy immaculate love; because, in the words of one of the inspired:
When thou findest honey, eat (only) so much as is sufficient for thee, lest, when thou art sated, thou vomit it;
That is to say, do not enquire (too closely) into the divine words.
Chapter I
Of God’s Eternal Intention in Respect of the Creation of the Universe
IT is well for us to take the materials for our discourse from the divine Scriptures, that we may not stray from the straight paths of the way of truth. The blessed David saith:
Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in all generations, before the mountains were conceived.
David, the harpist of the Spirit, makes known thereby, that although there was a beginning of the framing of Adam and the other creatures when they were made, yet in the mind of God it had no beginning; that it might not be thought that God has a new thought in respect of anything that is renewed day by day, or that the construction of Creation was newly planned in the mind of God: but everything that He has created and is about to create, even the marvellous construction of the world to come, has been planned from everlasting in the immutable mind of God. As the natural child in the womb of his mother knows not her who bears him, nor is conscious of his father, who, after God, is the cause of his formation; so also Adam, being in the mind of the Creator, knew Him not. And when he was created, and recognised himself as being created, he remained with this knowledge six hours only, and there came over him a change, from knowledge to ignorance and from good to evil. Hence, when Divine Providence wished to create the world, the framing of Adam was first designed and conceived in the mind of God, and then that of the (other) creatures; as David saith, ‘Before the mountains were conceived.’ Consequently, Adam is older than the (other) creatures in respect of his conception, and the (other) creatures are older than Adam in respect of their birth and their being made. And whereas God created all creatures in silence and by a word, He brought forth Adam out of His thoughts, and formed him with His holy hands, and breathed the breath of life into him from His Spirit, and Adam became a living soul, and God gave him the knowledge of the difference between good and evil. When he perceived his Creator, then was God formed and conceived within the mind of man; and man became a temple to God his maker, as it is written:
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
And again:
I will dwell in them, and walk in them.
Chapter II
Of the Creation of the Seven Natures (Substances) in Silence
WHEN God in His mercy wished to make known all His power and His wisdom, in the beginning, on the evening of the first day, which is Sunday, He created seven natures (substances) in silence, without voice. And because there was as yet none to hear a sound, He did well to create them in silence, that He might not make anything uselessly; but He willed, and heaven, earth, water, air, fire, and the angels and darkness, came into being from nothing.
Chapter III
Of Earth, Water, Air, and Fire
THE earth was tôhu we-bôhu, that is to say, it was unarranged and unadorned, but plunged in the midst of the waters. The waters were above it, and above the waters was air, and above the air was fire. The earth is by nature cold and dry. Dry land appeared on the third day, when the trees and plants were created; and the waters were separated therefrom on the second day, when the firmament was made from them. Water is by nature cold and moist. As touching the Spirit which was brooding upon the face of the waters, some men have ignorantly imagined it to have been the Holy Spirit, while others have more correctly thought it to have been this air (of ours). Air is by nature hot and moist. Fire was operating in the upper ether, above the atmosphere; it possessed heat only, and was without luminosity until the fourth day, when the luminaries were created: we shall mention it in the chapter on the luminaries (chap. x). Fire is by nature hot and dry.
Chapter IV
Of Heaven
HEAVEN is like a roof to the material world, and will serve as the floor of the new world. It is by nature shining and glorious, and is the dwelling-place of the invisible hosts. When God spread out this firmament, He brought up above it a third part of the waters, and above these is the heaven of light and of the luminaries. Hence people say ‘the heaven, and the heaven of heavens;’ for we call both the firmament and the waters which are above it ‘heaven.’ Some consider that the verse ‘Let the waters which are above the heavens praise the name of the Lord’ refers to the holy angels and to our Lord’s humanity; but neither the Church nor the orthodox teachers accept this.
Chapter V
Of the Angels
THE Angels consist of nine classes and three orders, upper, middle and lower. The upper order is composed of Cherubim, Seraphim, and Thrones: these are called ‘priests’ (kumrê), and ‘chief priests,’ and ‘bearers of God’s throne.’ The middle order is composed of Lords, Powers and Rulers: these are called ‘priests’ (kâhnê), because they receive revelations from those above them. The lower order consists of Principalities, Archangels and Angels: and these are the ministers who wait upon created things. The Cherubim are an intellectual motion which bears the throne of the holy Trinity, and is the chief of all motions; they are ever watchful of the classes of themselves and those beneath them. As concerning the epithet ‘full of eyes,’ which is applied to them, the eyes indicate the mystery of the revelations of the Trinity. Their head, and the foremost and highest among them, is Gabriel, who is the mediator between God and His creation. The Seraphim are a fiery motion, which warms those below it with the fire of the divine love. The six wings which each of them is said to possess indicate the revelations which they receive from the Creator and transmit to mankind. The Thrones are a fixed motion, which is not shaken by the trials which come upon it. The Lords are a motion which is entrusted with the government of the motions beneath it; and it is that which prevents the demons from injuring created things. The Powers are a mighty motion, the minister of the will of the Lord; and it is that which gives victory to some rulers in battle and defeat to others. The Rulers are a motion which has power over the spiritual treasures, to distribute them to its companions according to the will of the Creator. This class of angels governs the luminaries, the sun, moon, and stars. The Principalities are a defined motion which possesses the direction of the upper ether, of rain, clouds, lightning, thunder, whirlwinds, tempests, winds, and other ethereal disturbances. The Archangels are a swift operative motion, into whose hands is entrusted the government of the wild beasts, cattle, winged fowl, reptiles, and everything that hath life, from the gnat to the elephant, except man. The Angels are a motion which has spiritual knowledge of everything that is on earth and in heaven. With each and every one of us is an angel of this group–called the guardian angel–who directs man from his conception until the general resurrection. The number of each one of these classes of angels is equal to the number of all mankind from Adam to the resurrection. Hence it is handed down that the number of people who are going to enter the world is equal to the number of all the heavenly hosts; but some say that the number is equal to that of one of the classes only, that they may fill the place of those of them who have fallen through transgressing the law; because the demons fell from three classes (of angels), from each class a third part. If then it is an acknowledged fact that there are three orders of angels, and in each order there are three classes, and in every class a number equivalent to that of all mankind, what is the total number of the angels? Some say that when the angels were created, and were arranged in six divisions–Cherubim, Seraphim, Thrones, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels–the three lower divisions reflected (saying), ‘What is the reason that these are set above, and we below? for they have not previously done anything more than we, neither do we fall short of them.’ On account of this reflection as a cause, according to the custom of the (divine) government, Justice took from both sides, and established three other middle classes of angels–Lords, Powers, and Rulers–that the upper might not be (unduly) exalted, nor the lower think themselves wronged. As for the dwelling-place of the angels, some say that above the firmament there are waters, and above them another heaven in the form of infinite light, and that this is the home of the angels. Here too is God without limit, and the angels, invisible to bodily eyes, surround the throne of His majesty, where they minister to ‘the tabernacle not made with hands.’ Others say that, from the beginning, when God created the angels, until the second day, in which the firmament was made, all the classes of angels dwelt in the upper heavens; but when the firmament was made, they all came down below it, with the exception of three classes–the Cherubim, Seraphim, and Thrones–who remained above it. These surrounded and supported the Shechinah of God from the beginning of the world until our Lord ascended unto heaven; and after the Ascension, behold, they surround and support the throne of the Christ God, who is over all, until the end of the world. The Expositor and his companions say: ‘The tabernacle which Moses made is a type of the whole world.’ The outer tabernacle is the likeness of this world, but the inner tabernacle is the similitude of the place that is above the firmament. And as the priests ministered in the outer tabernacle daily, while the high priest alone entered into the inner tabernacle once a year; so of all rational beings, angels and men, no one has entered (the place) above the firmament, save the High Priest of our confession, Jesus Christ. The fathers, when they have been deemed worthy at any time to see our Lord in a revelation, have seen Him in heaven, surrounded by the Cherubim and Seraphim. Hence some say that there are angels above the heavens. All these celestial hosts have revelations both of sight and of hearing; but the Cherubim have revelations by sight only, because there is no mediator between them and God. The angels have an intellect superior to that of the rest of rational beings; man has stronger desire, and the demons a greater degree of anger.
Chapter VI
Of Darkness
DARKNESS is a self-existent nature; and if it had not had a nature, it would not have been reckoned among the seven natures which were created in the beginning in silence. Others say that darkness is not a self-existent nature, but that it is the shadow of bodies.
Chapter VII
Of Effused (Circumambient) Light
WHEN the holy angels were created on the evening of the first day, without voice, they understood not their creation, but thought within themselves that they were self-existent beings and not made. On the morning of the first day God said in an audible and commanding voice, ‘Let there be light,’ and immediately the effused light was created. When the angels saw the creation of light, they knew of a certainty that He who had made light had created them. And they shouted with a loud voice, and praised Him, and marvelled at His creation of light, as the blessed teacher saith, ‘When the Creator made that light, the angels marvelled thereat,’ etc.; and as it is said in Job, ‘When I created the morning star, all my angels praised me.’ Now by nature light has no warmth.
Chapter VIII
Of the Firmament
ON the evening of the second day of the week, God willed to divide the heavens from the earth, that there might be luminaries and stars beneath the heavens to give light to this world, and that the heavens might be a dwelling-place for the righteous and the angels after the resurrection. God said, ‘Let there be a firmament which shall divide the waters from the waters’; and straightway the waters were divided into three parts. One part remained upon the earth for the use of men, cattle, winged fowl–the rivers and the seas; of another part God made the firmament; and the third part He took up above the firmament. But on the day of resurrection the waters will return to their former nature.
Chapter IX
Of the Creation of Trees and Plants, and the Making of Seas and Rivers
ON the third day God commanded that the waters should be gathered together into the pits and depths of the earth, and that the dry land should appear. When the waters were gathered together into the depths of the earth, and the mountains and hills had appeared, God placed the sand as a limit for the waters of the seas, that they might not pass over and cover the earth. And God commanded the earth to put forth herbage and grass and every green thing; and the earth brought forth trees and herbs and plants of all kinds, complete and perfect in respect of flowers and fruit and seed, each according to its kind. Some say that before the transgression of the command, the earth brought forth neither thorns nor briars, and that even the rose had no thorns as it has now; but that after the transgression of the command, the earth put forth thorns and briars by reason of the curse which it had received. The reason why God created the trees and plants before the creation of the luminaries was that the philosophers, who discourse on natural phenomena, might not imagine that the earth brought forth herbs and trees through the power of the heat of the sun. Concerning the making of Paradise, it is not mentioned in the Pentateuch on what day it was created; but according to the opinion of those who may be relied upon, it was made on the same day in which the trees were made: and if the Lord will, we will speak about it in its proper place.
Chapter X
Of the Making of the Luminaries
ON the fourth day God made the luminaries–sun, moon, and stars–of three substances, air, light, and fire. He took aerial material and prepared vessels like lamps, and mixed fire with light, and filled them. And because in the nature of fire there was no light, nor heat in that of light, the fire imparted heat to the light, and the light gave luminosity to the fire; and from these two were the luminaries–sun, moon, and stars–fabricated. Some say that the luminaries were made in the morning, that the sun was placed in the east, and the moon in the west; while others say that they were made in the evening, and that the sun was placed in the west, and the moon in the east; and therefore the Jews celebrate the fourteenth in the evening. Others say that all the luminaries when they were created were placed in the east; the sun completed his course by day, while the moon waited until eventide, and then began her course. The path of the luminaries is beneath the firmament, and they are not fixed as men have foolishly stated, but the angels guide them. Mâr Isaac says, ‘The sun performs his course from the east to the west, and goes behind the lofty northern mountains the whole night until he rises in the east.’ And the philosophers say that during the night the luminaries perform their course under the earth.
Chapter XI
Of the Creation of Sea-Monsters, Fish, Winged Fowl, and the Reptiles That Are In the Seas
ON the fifth day of the week God made from the waters mighty sea-monsters, fish, winged fowl, swimming beasts, and the reptiles that are in the seas. He created the winged fowl that are in the waters from the waters; for, like fish, they lay eggs and swim. Now, fish swim in the waters, and winged fowl in the air; but some of the latter in the waters also. Although they say that swimming creatures were made from the waters, or that the other wild beasts and cattle were made from the earth; still they consist of parts of all the other elements. Those, however, that are of the waters, have the greater part of their composition made of water; while the greater part of those whose origin is earth, consists of earth: but none of them lack the four elements.
Chapter XII
Of the Creation of Beasts and Animals
ON Friday eve God created them, and therefore animals can see at night as well as in the day time. Others say that they were all created in the morning, and that God created Adam after them on the sixth day, which is Friday.
Chapter XIII
Of the Formation of Adam
ON the Friday, after the making of all created things, God said, ‘Come, let us make man in our image and in our likeness.’ The Jews have interpreted the expression ‘Come, let us make,’ as referring to the angels; though God (adored be His glory!) needs not help from His creatures: but the expositors of the Church indicate the Persons of the adorable Trinity. Some say that when God said ‘Come, let us make man in our image and in our likeness,’ the angels by the eye of the Spirit saw the right hand (of God) spread out over the whole world, and there were in it parts of all the creatures both spiritual and corporeal. And God took from these parts, and fashioned Adam with His holy hands, and breathed into him the breath of life, and man became a living soul. Others say that God took earth from the four quarters of the world, and formed Adam outside paradise; while others say that God fashioned him in the middle of the earth, on the spot where our Lord was crucified, and that there also was Adam’s skull laid. After God had formed Adam outside Paradise, He brought him in as a king, and made him king over all the creatures, and commanded him to give a name to each of them. God did not gather together unto Adam all cattle, nor (all) that swim in the sea, nor (all) the birds of the air, that he might give them names; but he received dominion and power over them to make use of them as he pleased, and to give them names, as a master to his slaves. And when God had brought him into Paradise, He commanded him to till it and to guard it. Why did God say ‘to till it and to guard it’?–for Paradise needed no guarding, and was adorned with fruit of all kinds, and there was none to injure it–unless it were to exhort him to keep His commandments, and to till it that he might not become a lover of idleness. Because Adam had not seen his own formation, and was not acquainted with the power of his Maker, it was necessary that, when Eve was taken from him in his own likeness, he should perceive his Maker, and should acknowledge that He who made Eve also made him, and that they two were bound to be obedient to Him.
Chapter XIV
Of the Making of Eve
GOD said, ‘Let us make a helper for Adam.’ And He threw upon Adam a sleep and stupor, and took one of his ribs from his left side, and put flesh in its place, and of it He formed Eve. He did not make her of earth, that she might not be considered something alien to him in nature; and He did not take her from Adam’s fore-parts, that she might not uplift herself against him; nor from his hind-parts, that she might not be accounted despicable; nor from his right side, that she might not have pre-eminence over him; nor from his head, that she might not seek authority over him; nor from his feet, that she might not be trodden down and scorned in the eyes of her husband: but (He took her) from his left side, for the side is the place which unites and joins both front and back.–Concerning the sleep which God cast upon Adam, He made him to be half asleep and half awake, that he might not feel pain when the rib was taken from him, and look upon the woman as a hateful thing; and yet not without pain, that he might not think that she was not meet for him in matters of nature. When Adam came to himself, he prophesied and said, ‘This is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; this shall be called woman’: and they were both clothed in light, and saw not each other’s nakedness.
Chapter XV
Of Paradise
IN the eastern part of the earth, on the mountain of Eden, beyond the ocean, God planted Paradise, and adorned it with fruit-bearing trees of all kinds, that it might be a dwelling-place for Adam and his progeny, if they should keep His commandments. He made to spring forth from it a great river, which was parted into four heads, to water Paradise and the whole earth. The first river is Pîshôn, which compasseth the land of Havîlâ, where there is gold and beryls and fair and precious stones. The second river is Gihôn, that is, the Nile of Egypt. The third river is Deklath (the Tigris), which travels through the land of Assyria and Bêth-Zabdai. The fourth river is Perath (the Euphrates), which flows through the middle of the earth. Some teachers say that Paradise surrounds the whole earth like a wall and a hedge beyond the ocean. Others say that it was placed upon the mount of Eden, higher than every other mountain in the world by fifteen cubits. Others say that it was placed between heaven and earth, below the firmament and above this earth, and that God placed it there as a boundary for Adam between heaven and earth, so that, if he kept His commands, He might lift him up to heaven, but if he transgressed them, He might cast him down to this earth. And as the land of heaven is better and more excellent than the land of Paradise, so was the land of Paradise better and more glorious and more excellent (than our earth); its trees were more beautiful, its flowers more odoriferous, and its atmosphere more pure than ours, through superiority of species and not by nature. God made Paradise large enough to be the dwelling-place of Adam and of his posterity, provided that they kept the divine commandments. Now it is the dwelling-place of the souls of the righteous, and its keepers are Enoch and Elijah; Elijah the unwedded, and Enoch the married man: that the unwedded may not exalt themselves above the married, as if, forsooth, Paradise were suitable for the unwedded only. The souls of sinners are without Paradise, in a deep place called Eden. After the resurrection, the souls of the righteous and the sinners will put on their bodies. The righteous will enter into heaven, which will become the land of the righteous; while the sinners will remain upon earth. The tree of good and evil that was in Paradise did not by nature possess these properties of good and evil like rational beings, but only through the deed which was wrought by its means; like the ‘well of contention,’ and the ‘heap of witness,’ which did not possess these properties naturally, but only through the deeds which were wrought by their means. Adam and Eve were not stripped of the glory with which they were clothed, nor did they die the death of sin, because they desired and ate of the fruit of the fig-tree–for the fruit of the fig-tree was not better than the fruit of any other tree–but because of the transgression of the law, in that they were presumptuous and wished to become gods. On account of this foolish and wicked and blasphemous intention, chastisement and penalty overtook them.–Concerning the tree of life which was planted in the middle of Paradise, some have said that Paradise is the mind, that the tree of good and evil is the knowledge of material things, and that the tree of life is the knowledge of divine things, which were not profitable to the simple understanding of Adam. Others have said that the tree of life is the kingdom of heaven and the joy of the world to come; and others that the tree of life was a tree in very truth, which was set in the middle of Paradise, but no man has ever found out what its fruit or its flowers or its nature was like.
Chapter XVI
Of the Sin of Adam
WHEN God in His goodness had made Adam, He laid down a law for him, and commanded him not to eat of the tree of good and evil, which is the fig-tree. After Eve was created, Adam told her the story of the tree; and Satan heard it, and by his envy it became the occasion and cause of their being made to sin, and being expelled from Paradise, for it was by reason of him that Adam fell from the height of his glory. Some say that Satan heard when God commanded Adam not to eat of that tree. Others say that God commanded Adam in his mind, mentally (and not by sense); others again say, by sense and openly. And Satan saw that the serpent was more subtle than all four-footed beasts; and he played in him, as it were with pipes, in the hearing of Eve, like an instrument, and said to her, ‘Ye shall not die, as God hath said to you, but ye shall be gods like God, knowers of good and evil.’ Then Eve saw that the appearance of the fig-tree was beautiful, and that its smell was delightful; and she desired to eat of it and to become a goddess. So she stretched out her hand, and plucked, and ate, and gave also to her husband, and he likewise did eat. And they were stripped of the fair glory and glorious light of purity wherewith they were clothed, when they saw not each other’s nakedness. And their eyes were opened, and they saw their nakedness; and they took leaves of the fig-tree, and covered their nakedness for shame, and hid themselves beneath thick trees. Then God called Adam and said to him, ‘Where art thou, Adam?’–not that He did not know where he was, but in a chiding manner–and Adam said, ‘Lord, I heard Thy voice, and I hid myself because I am naked.’ God said, ‘Whence knowest thou that thou art naked? peradventure hast thou transgressed the law and command which I laid down for thee, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee not to eat?’ Adam said, ‘The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave to me, and I did eat.’ And God questioned Eve in like manner; and Eve said, ‘The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.’ And God cursed the serpent, saying, ‘Cursed art thou above all beasts upon the earth.’ With the cursing of the serpent, who was the tool of Satan, Satan, who had instigated the serpent, was himself cursed; and immediately his legs were destroyed, and he crawled upon his belly, and instead of being an animal became a hissing reptile. And God set enmity between the serpent and man, saying, ‘He shall smite the heel of man, but man shall crush his head, and the food of the serpent shall be dust.’ God said to Eve, ‘In pain shalt thou bring forth children;’ and to Adam He said, ‘Cursed is the ground for thy sake, and in toil and the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.’ And the earth, by reason of the curse which it had received, straightway brought forth thorns and thistles. And God drove them out from Paradise at the ninth hour of the same day in which they were created.
Chapter XVII
Of the Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise
AFTER God had expelled them from Paradise, like wicked servants driven forth from the inheritance of their master, and had cast them into exile, over the gate at the eastern side of Paradise He set a cherub with a sword and spear to frighten Adam from approaching Paradise. Some say that the cherub was one of the heavenly hosts, of the class of the Cherubim; and others say that he did not belong to the spiritual powers, but was a terrible form endowed with a body. So also the spear point and the sword were made of fire extended like a sharp sword, which went and came round about Paradise to terrify Adam and his wife. And God made for them garments of skin to cover their shame. Some say that they clothed themselves with the skins of animals, which they stripped off; but this is not credible, for all the beasts were created in couples, and Adam and Eve had as yet no knives to kill and flay them; hence it is clear that he means the bark of trees. Only the blessed Moses called the bark of trees ‘skins,’ because it fills the place of skins to trees. In the land of India there are trees whose bark is used for the clothing of kings and nobles and the wealthy, on account of its beauty. After God had expelled Adam and his wife from Paradise, He withheld from them the fruits of trees, and the use of bread and flesh and wine, and the anointing with oil; but they cooked grain and vegetables and the herbs of the earth, and did eat sparingly. Moreover, the four-footed beasts and fowl and reptiles rebelled against them, and some of them became enemies and adversaries unto them. They remained thus until Noah went forth from the ark, and then God allowed them to eat bread and to drink wine and to eat flesh, after they had slain the animal and poured out its blood. They say that when Adam and Eve were driven out of Paradise, Adam cut off a branch for a staff from the tree of good and evil; and it remained with him, and was handed down from generation to generation unto Moses and even to the Crucifixion of our Lord; and if the Lord will, we will relate its history in its proper place.
Chapter XVIII
Of Adam’s Knowing Eve
WHEN Adam and Eve went forth from Paradise, they were both virgins. After thirty years Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and brought forth Cain together with his sister Kelêmath at one birth. And after thirty years Eve conceived and brought forth Abel and Lebôdâ his sister at one birth. And when they arrived at the age for marriage, Adam wished and intended to give Abel’s sister to Cain and Cain’s sister to Abel; but Cain desired his own sister more than Abel’s. Both (i.e. Kelêmath and Lebôdâ) were his sisters, but because of their birth at one time I have called them thus. Now Cain’s sister was exceedingly beautiful. The two brothers made an offering to God because of this matter. Abel, because he was a shepherd, offered up of the fat firstlings of his flock in great love, with a pure heart and a sincere mind. Cain, because he was a husbandman, made an offering of some of the refuse of the fruits of his husbandry with reluctance. He made an offering of ears of wheat that were smitten by blight; but some say of straw only. And the divine fire came down from heaven and consumed the offering of Abel, and it was accepted; while the offering of Cain was rejected. And Cain was angry with God, and envied his brother; and he persuaded his brother to come out into the plain, and slew him. Some say that he smashed his head with stones, and killed him; and others say that Satan appeared to him in the form of wild beasts that fight with one another and slay each other. At any rate, he killed him, whether this way or that way. Then God said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel thy brother?’ Cain said, ‘Am I forsooth my brother’s keeper?’ God said, ‘Behold, the sound of the cry of thy brother Abel’s blood has come unto me;’ and God cursed Cain, and made him a wanderer and a fugitive all the days of his life. From the day in which the blood of Abel was shed upon the ground, it did not again receive the blood of any animal until Noah came forth from the ark. Adam and Eve mourned for Abel one hundred years. In the two hundred and thirtieth year, Seth, the beautiful, was born in the likeness of Adam; and Adam and Eve were consoled by him, Cain and his descendants went down and dwelt in the plain, while Adam and his children, that is the sons of Seth, dwelt upon the top of the Mount of Eden, And the sons of Seth went down and saw the beauty of the daughters of Cain, and lay with them; and the earth was corrupted and polluted with lasciviousness; and Adam and Eve heard of it and mourned. Now Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years. Some say that in the days of Seth the knowledge of books went forth in the earth; but the Church does not accept this. When Seth was two hundred and fifty years old, he begat Enos; and Seth lived nine hundred and thirteen years, and he died. Enos was two hundred and ninety years old when he begat Cainan; and Enos first called upon the name of the Lord. Some say that he first composed books upon the course of the stars and the signs of the Zodiac. Enos lived nine hundred and five years. Cainan was a hundred and forty years old when he begat Mahalaleel; and he lived nine hundred and ten years. Mahalaleel was one hundred and sixty-five years old when he begat Jared; and he lived eight hundred and ninety-five years. Jared was one hundred and sixty-two years old when he begat Enoch; and he lived nine hundred and sixty-two years. Enoch was one hundred and sixty-five years old when he begat Methuselah; and when he was three hundred and sixty-five years old, God removed him to the generation of life, that is to Paradise. Methuselah was one hundred and eighty-seven years old when he begat Lamech; and he lived nine hundred and sixty-nine years. Lamech was a hundred and eighty-two years old when he begat Noah; and he lived seven hundred and seventy-seven years.
Chapter XIX
Of the Invention of the Instruments for Working in Iron
SOME say that Cainan and Tubal-Cain, who were of the family of Cain, were the first who invented the three tools of the art of working in iron, the anvil, hammer and tongs. The art of working in iron is the mother and begetter of all arts; as the head is to the body, so is it to all other crafts. And as all the limbs of the body cease to perform their functions if the head is taken away from it, so also all other arts would cease if the art of working in iron were to come to an end. In the days of Tubal and Tubal-Cain, the sons of Lamech the blind, Satan entered and dwelt in them, and they constructed all kinds of musical instruments, harps and pipes. Some say that spirits used to go into the reeds and disturb them, and that the sound from them was like the sound of singing and pipes; and men constructed all kinds of musical instruments. Now this blind Lamech was a hunter, and could shoot straight with a bow; his son used to take him by the hand, and guide him to places where there was game, and when he heard the movement of an animal, he shot an arrow at it, and brought it down. One day, when shooting an arrow at an animal, he smote Cain the murderer, the son of Adam, and slew him.
Chapter XX
Of Noah and the Flood
WHEN Noah was five hundred years old, he took a wife from the daughters of Seth; and there were born to him three sons, Shem, Ham and Japhet. And God saw Noah’s uprightness and integrity, while all men were corrupted and polluted by lasciviousness; and He determined to remove the human race from this broad earth, and made this known to the blessed Noah, and commanded him to make an ark for the saving of himself, his sons, and the rest of the animals. Noah constructed this ark during the space of one hundred years, and he made it in three stories, all with boards and projecting ledges. Each board was a cubit long and a span broad. The length of the ark was three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. Noah made it of box wood, though some say of teak wood; and he pitched it within and without. At the end of the six hundredth year, God commanded Noah, with his wife, his sons and his daughters-in-law–eight souls–to go into the ark, and to take in with him seven couples of every clean animal and fowl, and one couple of every unclean animal, a male and a female. And he took bread and water in with him according to his need: not an abundant supply, lest they might be annoyed by the smell of the faeces, but they got food just sufficient to preserve their lives. God forewarned the blessed Noah of what he was about to do seven days beforehand, in case the people might remember their sins and offer the sacrifice of repentance. But those rebels mocked at him scoffingly, and thrust out their unclean lips at the sound of the saw and the adze. After seven days God commanded Noah to shut the door of the ark, and to plaster it over with bitumen. And the fountains of the deeps were broken up from beneath, and a torrent of rain (fell) from above, for forty days and forty nights, without cessation, until the waters rose fifteen cubits above the highest mountains in the world. And the waters bore up the ark, which travelled over them from east to west and from north to south, and so inscribed the figure of the cross upon the world; and it passed over the ocean, and came to this broad earth. So the rain was stayed, and the winds blew, and the waters remained upon the earth without diminishing one hundred and fifty days, besides those forty days; which, from the time that Noah entered the ark and the flood began until the waters began to diminish, make in all one hundred and ninety days, which are six months and ten days–even until the twentieth day of the latter Teshrî. The waters began to diminish from the latter Teshrî to the tenth month, on the first day of which the tops of the mountains appeared, but until the time when the earth was dry, and the dove found rest for the sole of her foot, was one hundred days. The ark rested upon the top of mount Kardô. In the tenth month, which is Shebât, Noah opened the door of the ark, and sent a raven to bring him news of the earth. And it went and found dead bodies, and it alighted upon them and returned not. For this reason people have made a proverb about Noah’s raven. Again he sent forth a dove, but it found not a place whereon to alight, and returned to the ark. After seven days he sent forth another dove, and it returned to him in the evening carrying an olive leaf in its bill; and Noah knew that the waters had subsided. Noah remained in the ark a full year, and he came forth from it and offered up an offering of clean animals; and God accepted his offering and promised him that He would never again bring a flood upon the face of the earth, nor again destroy beasts and men by a flood; and He gave him (as) a token the bow in the clouds, and from that day the bow has appeared in the clouds; and He commanded him to slay and eat the flesh of beasts and birds after he had poured out their blood. The number of people who came forth from the ark was eight souls, and they built the town of Themânôn after the name of the eight souls, and it is to-day the seat of a bishopric in the province of Sûbâ. Noah planted a vineyard, and drank of its wine; and one day when he slumbered, and was sunk in the deep sleep of drunkenness, his nakedness was uncovered within his tent. When Ham his son saw him, he laughed at him and despised him, and told his brethren Shem and Japhet. But Shem and Japhet took a cloak upon their shoulders, and walked backwards with their faces turned away, and threw the cloak over their father and covered him, and then they looked upon him. When Noah awoke and knew what had been done to him by the two sets of his sons, he cursed Canaan the son of Ham and said, ‘Thou shalt be a servant to thy brethren;’ but he blessed Shem and Japhet. The reason why he cursed Canaan, who was not as yet born nor had sinned, was because Ham had been saved with him in the ark from the waters of the flood, and had with his father received the divine blessing; and also because the arts of sin–I mean music and dancing and all other hateful things–were about to be revived by his posterity, for the art of music proceeded from the seed of Canaan. After the flood a son was born to Noah, and he called his name Jônatôn; and he provided him with gifts and sent him to the fire of the sun, to the east. Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years; the sum of his years was nine hundred and fifty years; and he saw eighteen generations and families before and after it. He died on the fourth day of the week, on the second of Nîsân, at the second hour of the day; his son Shem embalmed him, and his sons buried him, and mourned over him forty days.
Chapter XXI
Of Melchizedek
NEITHER the father nor mother of this Melchizedek were written down in the genealogies; not that he had no natural parents, but that they were not written down. The greater number of the doctors say that he was of the seed of Canaan, whom Noah cursed. In the book of Chronography, however, (the author) affirms and says that he was of the seed of Shem the son of Noah. Shem begat Arphaxar, Arphaxar begat Cainan, and Cainan begat Shâlâh and Mâlâh, Shâlâh was written down in the genealogies; but Mâlâh was not, because his affairs were not sufficiently important to be written down in the genealogies. When Noah died, he commanded Shem concerning the bones of Adam, for they were with them in the ark, and were removed from the land of Eden to this earth. Then Shem entered the ark, and sealed it with his father’s seal, and said to his brethren, ‘My father commanded me to go and see the sources of the rivers and the seas and the structure of the earth, and to return.’ And he said to Mâlâh the father of Melchizedek, and to Yôzâdâk his mother, ‘Give me your son that he may be with me, and behold, my wife and my children are with you.’ Melchizedek’s parents said to him, ‘My lord, take thy servant; and may the angel of peace be with thee, and protect thee from wild beasts and desolation of the earth.’ Shem went by night into the ark, and took Adam’s coffin; and he sealed up the ark, saying to his brethren, ‘My father commanded me that no one should go into it.’ And he journeyed by night with the angel before him, and Melchizedek with him, until they came and stood upon the spot where our Lord was crucified. When they had laid the coffin down there, the earth was rent in the form of a cross, and swallowed up the coffin, and was again sealed up and returned to its former condition. Shem laid his hand upon Melchizedek’s head, and blessed him, and delivered to him the priesthood, and commanded him to dwell there until the end of his life. And he said to him, ‘Thou shalt not drink wine nor any intoxicating liquor, neither shall a razor pass over thy head; thou shalt not offer up to God an offering of beasts, but only fine flour and olive oil and wine; thou shalt not build a house for thyself; and may the God of thy fathers be with thee.’ And Shem returned to his brethren, and Melchizedek’s parents said to him, ‘Where is our son?’ Shem said, ‘He died while he was with me on the way, and I buried him;’ and they mourned for him a month of days; but Melchizedek dwelt in that place until he died. When he was old, the kings of the earth heard his fame, and eleven of them gathered together and came to see him; and they entreated him to go with them, but he would not be persuaded. And when he did not conform to their wishes, they built a city for him there, and he called it Jerusalem; and the kings said to one another, ‘This is the king of all the earth, and the father of nations.’ When Abraham came back from the battle of the kings and the nations, he passed by the mount of Jerusalem; and Melchizedek came forth to meet him, and Abraham made obeisance to Melchizedek, and gave him tithes of all that he had with him. And Melchizedek embraced him and blessed him, and gave him bread and wine from that which he was wont to offer up as an offering.
Chapter XXII
Of the Generations of Noah
The children of Shem
The people of Shem are twenty and seven families. Elam, from whom sprang the Elamites; Asshur, from whom sprang the Assyrians (Âthôrâyê); Arphaxar, from whom sprang the Persians; and Lud (Lôd) and Aram, from whom sprang the Arameans, the Damascenes, and the Harranites. Now the father of all the children of Eber was Arphaxar. Shâlâh begat Eber (Abâr), and to Eber were born two sons; the name of the one of whom was Peleg (Pâlâg), because in his days the earth was divided. From this it is known that the Syriac language remained with Eber, because, when the languages were confounded and the earth was divided, he was born, and was called Peleg by the Syriac word which existed in his time. After Peleg, Joktân (Yaktân) was born, from whom sprang the thirteen nations who dwelt beside one another and kept the Syriac language. And their dwelling was from Menashshê (or Manshâ) of mount Sepharvaïm, by the side of the land of Canaan, and towards the east, beginning at Aram and Damascus, and coming to Baishân [Maishân ?] and Elam, and their border (was) Assyria, and the east, and Persia to the south, and the Great Sea. Now the Hebrew has Maishân instead of Menashshê (or Manshâ), in the verse, ‘The children of Joktân dwelt from Maishân to Sepharvaïm.’
The children of Ham
The people of Ham are thirty and six families, besides the Philistines and Cappadocians. Cush, from whom sprang the Cushites; Misraim, from whom sprang the Misrâyê (or Egyptians); Phut (or Pôt), from whom sprang the Pôtâyê; Canaan, from whom sprang the Canaanites; the seven kings whom Joshua the son of Nun destroyed; the children of `Ôbâr, Shebâ and Havîlâ, from whom sprang the Indians, the Amorites, the Samrâyê, the Metrâyê, and all the dwellers of the south. And of Cush was born Nimrod, who was the first king after the flood. The beginning of his kingdom was Babel (Babylon), which he built, and in which he reigned; and then, after the division of tongues, he built the following cities: Ârâch (Erech), which is Orhâi (Edessa), Âchâr (Accad), which is Nisîbis, and Calyâ (Calneh), which is Ctesiphon. The land of Babel he called the land of Shinar. because in it were the languages confounded, for ‘Shinar’ in the Hebrew language is interpreted ‘division.’ From that land the Assyrian went forth and built Nineveh and the town of Rehôbôth, which is the town of Arbêl (Irbil). It is said that Belus, the son of Nimrod, was the first to depart from Babel and to come to Assyria; and after Belus, his son Ninus built Nineveh, and called it after his name, and Arbêl and Câlâh, which is Hetrê (Hatrâ), and Resen, which is Rêsh-`ainâ (Râs`ain). Misraim begat Ludim, from whom sprang the Lôdâyê; La`bîm, from whom sprang the Lûbâyê; Lahbîm, from whom sprang the Tebtâyê; Yaphtuhîm, Pathrusîm, and Casluhîm, from whom went forth the Philistines, the Gedrâyê (Gadarenes), and the people of Sodom. Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, from whom sprang the Sôrâyê (Tyrians) and Sidonians, ten nations who dwelt by the side of Israel, from the sea (i.e. the Mediterranean) to the Euphrates; the Kîshâyê, the Kenrâyê (or Kîrâyê), and the Akdemônâyê (or Kadmônâyê), who were between the children of Esau and Amnâ of Ireth. The children of Lot are children of Ham.
The children of Japhet
The people of Japhet are fifteen families. Gomer, from whom sprang the Gêôthâyê (Gôthâyê, Goths ?); Magog, from whom sprang the Galatians; Mâdâi, from whom sprang the Medes; Javan, from whom sprang the Yaunâyê (Greeks); Tûbîl (Tubal), from whom sprang the Baithônâyê (Bithynians); Meshech, from whom sprang the Mûsâyê (Mysians); Tîras, from whom sprang the Tharnekâyê (or Thrêkâyê, Thracians), the Anshklâyê (or Asklâyê), and the Achshklâyê. The children of Gomer: Ashkenaz, from whom sprang the Armenians; Danphar, from whom sprang the Cappadocians; Togarmah, from whom sprang the Asâyê (Asians) and the Îsaurâyê (Isaurians). The sons of Javan: Elisha, that is Halles (Hellas); Tarshîsh, Cilicia, Cyprus, Kâthîm (Kittîm), Doranim, and the Macedonians; and from these they were divided among the islands of the nations. These are the families of the children of Noah, and from them were the nations divided on the earth after the flood; they are seventy and two families, and according to the families, so are the languages.
Chapter XXIII
Of the Succession of Generations from the Flood Until Now
SHEM was a hundred years old, and begat Arphaxar two years after the flood; the sum of his years was six hundred. Arphaxar was a hundred and thirty-five years old, and begat Kainan. Kainan was a hundred and thirty-nine years old, and begat Shâlâh: the sum of his years was four hundred and thirty-eight. Shâlâh was a hundred and thirty years old, and begat Eber; the sum of his years was four hundred and thirty-three. Eber was a hundred and thirty-four years old, and begat Peleg; the sum of his years was four hundred and sixty-four. Peleg was a hundred and thirty years old, and begat Reu; the sum of his years was a hundred and thirty-nine. In the days of Reu the languages were divided into seventy and two; up to this time there was only one language, which was the parent of them all, namely, Aramean, that is Syriac. Reu was a hundred and thirty-two years old, and begat Serug; the sum of his years was a hundred and thirty-nine. Serug was a hundred and thirty years old, and begat Nahor; the sum of his years was a hundred and thirty years. In the days of Serug men worshipped idols and graven images. Nahor was seventy and nine years old, and begat Terah; the sum of his years was one hundred and forty-eight. In the days of Nahor magic began in the world. And God opened the storehouse of the winds and whirlwinds, and they uprooted the idols and graven images, and they collected them together and buried them under the earth, and they reared over them these mounds that are in the world. This was called ‘the Wind Flood.’ Terah was seventy years old, and begat Abraham; the sum of his years was one hundred and five years. So it is two thousand two hundred and forty-two years from Adam to the flood; and one thousand and eighty-one years from the flood to the birth of Abraham; and from Adam to Abraham it is three thousand three hundred and thirteen years. And know, my brother readers, that there is a great difference between the computation of Ptolemy and that of the Hebrews and the Samaritans; for the Jews take away one hundred years from the beginning of the years of each (patriarch), and they add them to the end of the years of each of them, that they may disturb the reckoning and lead men astray and falsify the coming of Christ, and may say, ‘The Messiah is to come at the end of the world, and in the last times;’ and behold, according to their account, He came in the fourth millennium, for so it comes out by their reckoning.
Chapter XXIV
Of the Building of the Tower and the Division of Tongues
WHEN Reu was born in the days of Peleg, the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japhet, together with Arphaxar and their children, were gathered together in Shinar. And they took counsel together, saying, ‘Come, let us build for ourselves a high tower, the top of which shall be in the heavens, lest a flood come again upon us, and destroy us from off the face of the earth.’ And they began to make bricks and to build, until (the tower) was reared a great height from the ground. Then they determined to build seventy-two other towers around it, and to set up a chief over each tower to govern those who were under his authority. God saw the weariness of their oppression and the hardness of their toil, and in His mercy had compassion upon them; for the higher they went, the more severe became their labour, and their pain went on increasing, by reason of the violence of the winds and storms and the heat of the luminaries and the necessity of carrying up everything they needed. And God said, ‘Come, let us go down and divide the tongues there.’ The expression ‘Come, let us,’ resembles ‘Come, let us make man in our image and in our likeness,’ and refers to the persons of the adorable Trinity. While they were tormenting themselves with that vain labour, their language was suddenly confounded so as to become seventy-two languages, and they understood not each other’s speech, and were scattered throughout the whole world, and built cities, every man with his fellow who spoke the same language. From Adam to the building of the tower, there was only one language, and that was Syriac. Some have said that it was Hebrew; but the Hebrews were not called by this name until after Abraham had crossed the river Euphrates and dwelt in Harrân; and from his crossing they were called Hebrews. It was grievous to Peleg that the tongues were confounded (or, that God had confounded the tongues of mankind) in his days, and he died; and his sons Serug and Nahor buried him in the town of Pâlgîn, which he built after his name.
Chapter XXV
Of Abraham
TERAH the father of Abraham took two wives; the one called Yônâ, by whom he begat Abraham; the other called Shelmath, by whom he begat Sarah. Mâr Theodore says that Sarah was the daughter of Abraham’s uncle, and puts the uncle in the place of the father. When Abraham was seventy-five years old, God commanded him to cross the river Euphrates and to dwell in Harrân. And he took Sarah his wife and Lot his nephew, and crossed the river Euphrates and dwelt in Harrân. In his eighty-sixth year his son Ishmael was born to him of Hagar the Egyptian woman, the handmaid of Sarah, whom Pharaoh the king gave to her when he restored her to Abraham; and God was revealed to him under the oak of Mamre. Abraham was a hundred years old when Isaac, the son of promise, was born to him; and on the eighth day he circumcised himself, his son, and every one born in his house. When God commanded Abraham to offer up Isaac upon the altar, He sent him for sacrifice to the special place where, according to the tradition of those worthy of belief, our Lord was crucified. After the death of Sarah, Abraham took to wife Kentôrah (Keturah), the daughter of Yaktân, the king of the Turks. When Isaac was forty years old, Eliezer the Damascene, the servant of Abraham, went down to the town of Arâch (Erech), and betrothed Raphkâ (Rebecca), the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean, to Isaac his lord’s son. And Abraham died at the age of one hundred and seventy-five years, and was laid by the side of Sarah his wife in the ‘double cave,’ which he bought from Ephron the Hittite; When Isaac was sixty years old, there were born unto him twin sons, Jacob and Esau: At that time Arbêl was built; some say that the king who built it was called Arbôl. In Isaac’s sixty-sixth year Jericho was built. Esau begat Reuel; Reuel begat Zerah; Zerah begat Jobab, that is Job.
Chapter XXVI
Of the Temptation of Job
THERE was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. And he was a perfect, righteous and God-fearing man; and there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters. The number of his possessions was seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred she-asses, and a very large train of servants. This man was the greatest of all the children of the east. His children used to go and make a feast; and the day came that his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking in the house of their eldest brother. There came a messenger to Job and said to him:
The oxen were drawing the ploughs, and the she-asses were feeding by their side, when robbers fell upon them and carried them off, and the young men were slain by the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell thee.
While he was yet speaking, there came another and said to him:
The fire of God fell from heaven and consumed the sheep and the shepherds, and burnt them up; and I alone have escaped to tell thee.
While he was yet speaking, there came another and said to him:
The Chaldeans divided themselves into three bands and fell upon the camels and carried them off, and slew the young men; and I alone have escaped to tell thee.
While he was yet speaking, there came another and said to him:
Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking in the house of their eldest brother, when there came a mighty wind and beat upon the corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell thee.
Then Job stood up and rent his garment, and shaved his head; and he fell upon the ground and prostrated himself, saying:
Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
In all this did Job sin not, neither did he blaspheme God. And Satan smote Job with a grievous sore from the sole of his foot to his head (lit. brain); and Job took a potsherd to scrape himself with, and sat upon ashes. His wife says to him, ‘Dost thou still hold fast by thy integrity? curse God and die.’ Job says to her, ‘Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh: we have received the good things of God; shall we not receive His evil things?’ In all this did Job sin not, neither did he blaspheme God with his lips. Job’s three friends heard of this evil which had come upon him, and they came to him, every man from his own land, to comfort him; and their names were these: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. When they were come, they lifted up their eyes from afar off, and they did not know him. And they lifted up their voice and wept, and each man rent his garment, and they strewed dust upon their heads towards heaven; and they sat with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word, for they saw that his blow was very sore. And when he held fast by his God, He blessed him, and gave him seven sons and three daughters; and there were not found in the whole land women more beautiful than Job’s daughters, and their names were Jemima, Keren-happuch, and Kezia. And God gave him fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels and a thousand yoke of oxen; and Job lived one hundred and forty years after his temptation, and died in peace.
Chapter XXVII
Of the Blessings of Isaac
JACOB was seventy-seven years old when his father Isaac blessed him; and he stole the blessings and birthright from his brother Esau, and fled from before his brother to Harrân. On the first night Jacob saw a ladder reaching from earth to heaven, with angels ascending and descending, and the Power of God upon the top thereof. And he woke and said, ‘This is the house of the Lord.’ He took the stone that was under his head, and set it up for an altar; and he vowed a vow to God. Now the ladder was a type of Christ’s crucifixion; the angels that were ascending and descending were a type of the angels who announced the glad tidings to the shepherds on the day of our Saviour’s birth. The Power of God which was upon the top of the ladder was (a type of) the manifestation of God the Word in pure flesh of the formation of Adam. The place in which the vision appeared was a type of the church; the stone under his head, which he set up for an altar, was a type of the altar; and the oil which he poured out upon it was like the holy oil wherewith they anoint the altar.
And Jacob went to Laban the Aramean, his mother’s brother, and served before him as a shepherd for fourteen years. And he took his two daughters to wife; Leah with her handmaid Zilpah, and Rachel with her handmaid Bilhah. Now he loved Rachel more than Leah, because she was the younger and was fair in aspect, while Leah had watery eyes. There were born to Jacob by Leah six sons: Rûbîl (Reuben), which is interpreted ‘Great is God’ (now Jacob was eighty-four years old at that time); Simeon, which is interpreted ‘the Obedient;’ Levi, that is ‘the Perfect;’ Judah, that is ‘Praise;’ Issachar, that is ‘Hope is near;’ and Zebulun, that is ‘Gift’ or ‘Dwelling-place.’ Two sons were born to him by Rachel: Joseph, that is ‘Addition;’ and Benjamin, that is ‘Consolation.’ By Zilpah two sons were born to him: Gad, that is ‘Luck;’ and Asher, that is ‘Praise.’ By Bilhah two sons were born to him: Dan, that is ‘Judgment;’ and Naphtali, that is ‘Heartener;’ and one daughter, whose name was Dina. After twenty years Jacob returned to Isaac; and Isaac lived one hundred and eighty years. Twenty-three years after Jacob went up to his father, Joseph was sold by his brethren to the Midianites for twenty dînârs. When Isaac died, Jacob was one hundred and twenty years old.

Chapter XXVIII
Of Joseph
AFTER Jacob’s sons had been born to him by Leah, then Joseph and Benjamin were born to him (by Rachel); and he loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the child of (his) old age, and because of his beauty and purity, and his being left motherless. He made him a garment with long sleeves, and his brethren envied him. And he dreamed dreams twice, and their hatred increased, and they kept anger in their hearts against him. They sold him to the Midianites, who carried him to Egypt, and sold him to Potiphar, the chief of the guards; and Potiphar delivered his house and servants into his hands; but because of the wantonness of Potiphar’s wife, he was bound and kept in prison for two years. When the chief cup-bearer and the chief baker dreamed dreams in one night, and Joseph interpreted them, his words actually came to pass. After Joseph had remained in bondage two years, Pharaoh the king of Egypt saw two dreams in one night; and he was troubled and disturbed, and the sorcerers and enchanters and wise men were unable to interpret his dreams. Then one of those who had been imprisoned with Joseph remembered (him), and they told Pharaoh; and Joseph interpreted his dreams, and Pharaoh made him king over Egypt. And Joseph gathered together and collected the corn of the seven prosperous years, and saved it for the seven years of famine. When the household of Jacob lacked bread, Jacob sent his sons to Egypt to buy corn, and they met Joseph, and he recognised them, but they did not know him. After he had tortured them twice by his harsh words, he at last revealed himself to them, and shewed himself to his brethren. And he sent and brought his father Jacob and all his family–seventy-five souls in number, and they came down and dwelt in the land of Egypt two hundred and thirty years. Concerning that which God spake to Abraham, ‘Thy seed shall be a sojourner in a strange land four hundred and thirty years;’ they were under subjection in their thoughts from the time that God spake to Abraham until they went forth from Egypt. Jacob died in Egypt, and he commanded that he should be buried with his fathers; and they carried him and buried him by the side of his fathers in the land of Palestine. After Joseph died, another king arose, who knew not Joseph, and he oppressed the children of Israel with heavy labour in clay; at that time Moses was born in Egypt. Since many have written the history of the blessed Joseph at great length, and the blessed Mâr Ephraim has written his history in twelve discourses, concerning everything which happened to him from his childhood to his death, as well as another discourse upon the carrying up of his bones (to Palestine), we refrain from writing a long account of him, that we may not depart from the plan which we laid down in making this collection.
Chapter XXIX
Of Moses and the Children of Israel
AFTER Joseph was dead, and another king had arisen who knew not the Israelitish people, the people increased and became strong in Egypt. And Pharaoh was afraid of them, and laid a burden upon them, and oppressed them with hard work in clay, and demanded a tale of bricks from them without giving them straw. At that time Moses the son of Amram, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, was born. Levi was forty-six years old when he begat Kohath; Kohath was sixty-three years old when he begat Amram; and Amram was seventy years old when he begat Moses. When Moses was born, Pharaoh the king commanded to throw the new-born children of the Israelites into the river. Moses was beautiful in appearance, and he was called Pantîl and Amlâkyâ; and the Egyptians used to call him the Shakwîthâ of the daughter of Pharaoh. The name of Moses’ mother was Yokâbâr (Jochebed). When the command of the king went forth for the drowning of the infants, she made a little ark covered with pitch, and laid the child in it; and she carried it and placed it in a shallow part of the waters of the river Nile (that is Gîhôn); and she sat down opposite (that is, at a distance), to see what would be the end of the child. And Shîpôr, the daughter of Pharaoh, came to bathe in the river–some say that she was called Tharmesîs–and she saw the ark and commanded it to be fetched. When she opened it, and saw that the appearance of the child was beautiful and his complexion comely, she said, ‘Verily this child is one of the Hebrews’ children;’ and she took him, and reared him up as her son. She sought a Hebrew nurse, and the mother of the child Moses came, and became a nurse to him; and he was reared in the house of Pharaoh until he was forty years old. One day he saw Pethkôm the Egyptian, one of the servants of Pharaoh, quarrelling with an Israelite and reviling him. Moses looked this way and that way, and saw no man; and zeal entered into him, and he slew the Egyptian and buried him in the sand. Two days after, he saw two Hebrews quarrelling with one another. And he said to them, ‘Ye are brethren; why quarrel ye with one another?’ And one of them thrust him away from him, saying, ‘Dost thou peradventure seek to kill me as thou didst the Egyptian yesterday?’ Then Moses feared lest Pharaoh should perceive (this) and slay him; and he fled to Midian, and sat by the well there. Now Reuel the Midianite had seven daughters, who used to come to that well and water their father’s flocks; and the shepherds came and drove them away; and Moses arose and delivered them, and watered their flocks. When they went to their father, he said to them, ‘Ye have come quickly to-day.’ They said to him, ‘An Egyptian rescued us from the hands of the shepherds, and watered the flocks also.’ He said to them, ‘Why did ye not bring him? Go quickly and call him hither to eat bread with us.’ When Moses came to the house of Reuel and dwelt with him, Reuel loved him and gave him his daughter Zipporah the Cushite to wife. And he said to him, ‘Go into the house, and take a shepherd’s crook, and go feed thy flocks.’ When Moses went into the house to take the rod, it drew near to him by divine agency; and he took it and went forth to feed his father-in-law’s flocks.
Chapter XXX
The History of Moses’ Rod
WHEN Adam and Eve went forth from Paradise, Adam, as if knowing that he was never to return to his place, cut off a branch from the tree of good and evil–which is the fig-tree–and took it with him and went forth; and it served him as a staff all the days of his life. After the death of Adam, his son Seth took it, for there were no weapons as yet at that time. This rod was passed on from hand to hand unto Noah, and from Noah to Shem; and it was handed down from Shem to Abraham as a blessed thing from the Paradise of God. With this rod Abraham broke the images and graven idols which his father made, and therefore God said to him, ‘Get thee out of thy father’s house,’ etc. It was in his hand in every country as far as Egypt, and from Egypt to Palestine. Afterwards Isaac took it, and (it was handed down) from Isaac to Jacob; with it he fed the flocks of Laban the Aramean in Paddan Aram. After Jacob Judah his fourth son took it; and this is the rod which Judah gave to Tamar his daughter-in-law, with his signet ring and his napkin, as the hire for what he had done. From him (it came) to Pharez. At that time there were wars everywhere, and an angel took the rod, and laid it in the Cave of Treasures in the mount of Moab, until Midian was built. There was in Midian a man, upright and righteous before God, whose name was Yathrô (Jethro). When he was feeding his flock on the mountain, he found the cave and took the rod by divine agency; and with it he fed his sheep until his old age. When he gave his daughter to Moses, he said to him, ‘Go in, my son, take the rod, and go forth to thy flock.’ When Moses had set his foot upon the threshold of the door, an angel moved the rod, and it came out of its own free will towards Moses. And Moses took the rod, and it was with him until God spake with him on Mount Sinai. When God said to him, ‘Cast the rod upon the ground,’ he did so, and it became a great serpent; and the Lord said, ‘Take it,’ and he did so, and it became a rod as at first. This is the rod which God gave him for a help and a deliverance; that it might be a wonder, and that with it he might deliver Israel from the oppression of the Egyptians. By the will of the living God this rod became a serpent in Egypt. By it God spake to Moses; and it swallowed up the rod of Pôsdî the sorceress of the Egyptians. With it Moses smote the sea of Sôph in its length and breadth, and the depths congealed in the heart of the sea. It was in Moses’ hands in the wilderness of Ashîmôn, and with it he smote the stony rock, and the waters flowed forth. Then God gave serpents power over the children of Israel to destroy them, because they had angered Him at the waters of strife. And Moses prayed before the Lord, and God said to him, ‘Make thee a brazen serpent, and lift it up with the rod, and let the children of Israel look upon it and be healed.’ Moses did as the Lord had commanded him, and he placed the brazen serpent in the sight of all the children of Israel in the wilderness; and they looked upon it and were healed. After all the children of Israel were dead, save Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Yôphannâ (Jephunneh), they went into the promised land, and took the rod with them, on account of the wars with the Philistines and Amalekites. And Phineas hid the rod in the desert, in the dust at the gate of Jerusalem, where it remained until our Lord Christ was born. And He, by the will of His divinity, shewed the rod to Joseph the husband of Mary, and it was in his hand when he fled to Egypt with our Lord and Mary, until he returned to Nazareth. From Joseph his son Jacob, who was surnamed the brother of our Lord, took it; and from Jacob Judas Iscariot, who was a thief, stole it. When the Jews crucified our Lord, they lacked wood for the arms of our Lord; and Judas in his wickedness gave them the rod, which became a judgment and a fall unto them, but an uprising unto many. There were born to Moses two sons; the one called Gershom, which is interpreted ‘sojourner;’ and the other Eliezer, which is interpreted ‘God hath helped me.’ Fifty-two years after the birth of Moses, Joshua the son of Nun was born in Egypt. When Moses was eighty years old, God spake with him upon Mount Sinai. And the cry of the children of Israel went up to God by reason of the severity of the oppression of the Egyptians; and God heard their groaning, and remembered His covenants with the fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to whom He promised that in their seed should all nations be blessed. One day when Moses was feeding the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, he and the sheep went from the wilderness to mount Horeb, the mount of God; and the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, but the bush was not burnt. Moses said, ‘I will turn aside and see this wonderful thing, how it is that the fire blazes in the bush, but the bush is not burnt.’ God saw that he turned aside to look, and He called to him from within the bush, and said, ‘Moses, Moses.’ Moses said, ‘Here am I, Lord.’ God said to him, ‘Approach not hither, for the place upon which thou standest is holy.’ And God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob;’ and Moses covered his face, for he was afraid to look at Him. Some say that when God spake with Moses, Moses stammered through fear. And the Lord said to him:
I have seen the oppression of My people in Egypt, and have heard the voice of their cry, and I am come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to carry them up from that land to the land flowing with milk and honey; come, I will send thee to Egypt.
Moses said, ‘Who am I, Lord, that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring out those of the house of Israel from Egypt?’ God said to him, ‘I will be with thee.’ Moses said to the Lord, ‘If they shall say unto me, What is the Lord’s name? what shall I say unto them?’ God said:
‘אֶהְיֶה אֲשֶׁר אֶהְיֶה, {Hebrew: Aehøyeh Aasher Aehøyeh} that is, the Being who is the God of your fathers hath sent me to you. This is My name for ever, and this is My memorial to all generations.
God said to Moses, ‘Go, tell Pharaoh everything I say to thee.’ Moses said to the Lord, ‘My tongue is heavy and stammers; how will Pharaoh accept my word?’ God said to Moses:
Behold, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh, and thy brother Aaron a prophet before thee; speak thou with Aaron, and Aaron shall speak with Pharaoh, and he shall send away the children of Israel that they may serve Me. And I will harden the heart of Pharaoh, and I will work My wonders in the land of Egypt, and will bring up My people the children of Israel from thence, and the Egyptians shall know that I am God.
And Moses and Aaron did everything that God had commanded them. Moses was eighty-three years old when God sent him to Egypt. And God said to him, ‘If Pharaoh shall seek a sign from thee, cast thy rod upon the ground, and it shall become a serpent.’ Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and threw down Moses’ rod, and it became a serpent. The sorcerers of Egypt did the same, but Moses’ rod swallowed up those of the sorcerers; and the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not send away the people. And God wrought ten signs by the hands of Moses: first, turning the waters into blood; second, bringing up frogs upon them; third, domination of the gnats; fourth, noisome creatures of all kinds; fifth, the pestilence among the cattle; sixth, the plague of boils; seventh, the coming of hail-stones; eighth, the creation of locusts; ninth, the descent of darkness; tenth, the death of the firstborn. When God wished to slay the first-born of Egypt, He said to Moses:
This day shall be to you the first of months, that is to say, Nisan and the new year. On the tenth of this month, let every man take a lamb for his house, and a lamb for the house of his father; and if they be too few in number (for a whole lamb), let him and his neighbour who is near him share it. Let the lamb be kept until the fourteenth day of this month, and let all the children of Israel slay it at sunset, and let them sprinkle its blood upon the thresholds of their houses with the sign of the cross. This blood shall be to you a sign of deliverance, and I will see (it) and rejoice in you, and Death the destroyer shall no more have dominion over you.
And Moses and Aaron told the children of Israel all these things. And the Lord commanded them not to go out from their houses until morning; ‘for the Lord will pass over the Egyptians to smite their firstborn, and will see the blood upon the thresholds, and will not allow the destroyer to enter their houses.’ When it was midnight, the Lord slew the firstborn of the Egyptians, from the firstborn of Pharaoh sitting upon his throne down to the last. And Pharaoh sent to Moses and Aaron, saying, ‘Depart from among my people, and go, serve the Lord, as ye have said; and take your goods and chattels with you.’ The Egyptians also urged the children of Israel to go forth from among them, through fear of death; and the children of Israel asked chains of gold and silver and costly clothing of the Egyptians, and spoiled them; and the Lord gave them favour in the sight of the Egyptians. The children of Israel set out from Raamses to Succoth, six hundred thousand men; and when they entered Egypt in the days of Joseph, they were seventy-five souls in number. They remained in bodily and spiritual subjection four hundred and thirty years; from the day that God said to Abraham, ‘Thy seed shall be a sojourner in the land of Egypt,’ from that hour they were oppressed in their minds. When the people had gone out of Egypt on the condition that they should return, and did not return, Pharaoh pursued after them to bring them back to his slavery. And they said to Moses, ‘Why hast thou brought us out from Egypt? It was better for us to serve the Egyptians as slaves, and not to die here.’ Moses said, ‘Fear not, but see the deliverance which God will work for you to-day.’ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Lift up thy rod and smite the sea, that the children of Israel may pass over as upon dry land.’ And Moses smote the sea, and it was divided on this side and on that; and the children of Israel passed through the depth of the sea as upon dry land. When Pharaoh and his hosts came in after them, Moses brought his rod back over the sea, and the waters returned to their place; and all the Egyptians were drowned. And Moses bade the children of Israel to sing praises with the song ‘Then sang Moses and the children of Israel’ (Exod. xv. 1).
The children of Israel marched through the wilderness three days, and came to the place called Murrath (Marah) from the bitterness of its waters; and the people were unable to drink that water. And they lifted up their voice and murmured against Moses, saying, ‘What shall we drink?’ Moses prayed before God, and took absinth-wood, which is bitter in its nature, and threw it into the water, and it was made sweet. There did the Lord teach them laws and judgments. And they set out from thence, and on the fifteenth of the second month, which is Îyâr, came to a place in which there were twelve wells and seventy palm-trees. Dâd-Îshô` says in his exposition of Paradise that the sorcerers Jannes and Jambres, who once opposed Moses, lived there. There was a well in that place, and over it was a bucket and brass chain; and devils dwelt there, because that place resembled Paradise. The blessed Mâkârîs (Macarius) visited that spot, but was unable to live there because of the wickedness of those demons; but that they might not boast over the human race, as if forsooth no one was able to live there, God commanded two anchorites, whose names no man knoweth, and they dwelt there until they died. When the children of Israel saw that wilderness, they murmured against Moses, saying, ‘It were better for us to have died in Egypt, being satisfied with bread, than to come forth into this arid desert for this people to perish by hunger.’ And God said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will bring manna down from heaven for you; a cloud shall shade you by day from the heat of the sun, and a pillar of fire shall give light before you by night.’ God said to Moses, ‘Go up into this mountain, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and Nadab, and seventy chosen elders of the children of Israel, and let them worship from afar; and let Moses come near to Me by himself.’ And they did as the Lord commanded them, and Moses drew near by himself, and the rest of the elders remained below at the foot of the mountain; and God gave him commandments. And Moses made known to the people the words of the Lord; and all the people answered with one voice and said, ‘Everything that the Lord commands us we will do.’ Moses took blood with a hyssop, and sprinkled it upon the people, saying to them, ‘This is the blood of the covenant,’ and so forth. And God said to Moses, ‘Say unto the children of Israel that they set apart for Me gold and silver and brass and purple,’ and the rest of the things which are mentioned in the Tôrâh, ‘and let them make a tabernacle for Me.’ God also shewed the construction thereof to Moses, saying, ‘Let Aaron and his sons be priests to Me, and let them serve My altar and sanctuary.’ God wrote Ten Commandments on two tables of stone, and these are they. Thou shalt not make to thyself an image or a likeness; thou shalt not falsify thy oaths; keep the day of the Sabbath; honour thy father and thy mother; thou shalt not do murder; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not bear false witness; thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s or brother’s house; thou shalt not covet the wife of thy kinsman or neighbour, nor his servants, nor his handmaidens. When the children of Israel saw that Moses tarried on the mountain, they gathered together to Aaron and said to him, ‘Arise, make us a god to go before us, for we know not what has become of thy brother Moses.’ Aaron said to them, ‘Bring me the earrings that are in the ears of your wives and children.’ When they had brought them to him, he cast a calf from them, and said to the people, ‘This is thy god, O Israel, who brought thee out of Egypt;’ and they built an altar, and the children of Israel offered up sacrifice upon it. God said to Moses, ‘Get thee down to the people, for they have become corrupt.’ And Moses returned to the people, and in his hands were the two tablets of stone, upon which the Ten Commandments were written by the finger of God. When Moses saw that the people had erred, he was angry and smote the tablets upon the side of the mountain and brake them. And Moses brought the calf, and filed it with a file, and threw it into the fire, and cast its ashes into water; and he commanded the children of Israel to drink of that water. And Moses reproached Aaron for his deeds, but Aaron said, ‘Thou knowest that the people is stiffnecked.’ Then Moses said to the children of Levi, ‘The Lord commands you that each man should slay his brother and his neighbour of those who have wrought iniquity;’ and there were slain on that day three thousand men. And Moses went up to the mountain a second time, and there were with him two tables of stone instead of those which he brake. He remained on the mountain and fasted another forty days, praying and supplicating God to pardon the iniquity of the people. When he came down from the mountain with the other two tablets upon which the commandments were written, the skin of his face shone, and the children of Israel were unable to look upon his countenance by reason of the radiance and light with which it was suffused; and they were afraid of him. When he came to the people, he covered his face with a napkin; and when he spake with God, he uncovered his face. And Moses said to Hur, the son of his father-in-law Reuel the Midianite, ‘We will go to the land which God promised to give us; come with us, and we will do thee good;’ but he would not, and returned to Midian. So the children of Israel went along the road to prepare a dwelling-place for themselves; and they lifted up their voice with a cry; and God heard and was angry, and fire went round about them and burnt up the parts round about their camps. They said to Moses, ‘Our soul languishes in this wilderness, and we remember the meats of Egypt; the fishes and the cucumbers and the melons and the onions and the leeks and the garlic; and now we have nought save this manna which is before us.’ Now the appearance of manna was like that of coriander seed, and they ground it, and made flat cakes of it; and its taste was like bread with oil in it. And the Lord heard the voice of the people weeping each one at the door of his tent, and it was grievous to Him. Moses prayed before the Lord and said, ‘Why have I not found favour before Thee? and why hast Thou cast the weight of this people upon me? Did I beget them? Either slay me or let me find favour in Thy sight.’ God said to Moses, ‘Choose from the elders of the children of Israel seventy men, and gather them together to the tabernacle, and I will come down and speak with thee. And I will take of the spirit and power which is with thee and will lay it upon them, and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, and thou shalt not bear it by thyself alone;’ and Moses told them. Moses gathered together seventy elders from the children of Israel, and the Lord came down in a cloud, and spake with them; and he took of the spirit and power which was with Moses and laid it upon them, and they prophesied. But two elders of the seventy whose names were written down remained in the camp and did not come; the name of the one was Eldad, and that of the other Medad; and they also prophesied in the tabernacle. A young man came and told Moses, and Joshua the son of Nun, the disciple of Moses, said to him, ‘My lord, restrain them.’ Moses said, ‘Be not jealous; would that all the children of Israel were prophets; for the Spirit of God hath come upon them.’
And Moses said to the children of Israel, ‘Because ye have wept and have asked for flesh, behold the Lord will give you flesh to eat; not one day, nor two, nor five, nor ten, but a month of days shall ye eat, until it goeth out of your nostrils, and becometh nauseous to you.’ Moses said (to the Lord), ‘This people among whom I am is six hundred thousand men, and hast Thou promised to feed them with flesh for a month of days? If we slay sheep and oxen, it would not suffice for them; and if we collect for them (all) the fish that are in the sea, they would not satisfy them.’ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘The hand of the Lord shall bring (this) to pass, and behold, thou shalt see whether this happens or not.’ By the command of God a wind blew and brought out quails from the sea, and they were gathered around the camp of the children of Israel about a day’s journey on all sides; and they were piled upon one another to the depth of two cubits. Each of the children of Israel gathered about ten cors; and they spread them out before the doors of their tents. And the Lord was angry with them, and smote them with death, and many died; and that place was called ‘the graves of lust.’
They departed from thence to the place called Haserôth. And Aaron and Miriam lifted up themselves against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married, and they said, ‘Has God spoken with Moses only? Behold, He hath spoken with us also.’ Now Moses was meeker than all men. And God heard the words of Miriam and Aaron, and came down in a pillar of cloud, and stood at the door of the tabernacle, and called them, and they came forth to Him. The Lord said to them, ‘Hear what I will say to you. I have revealed Myself to you in secret, and ye have prophesied in a dream. Not so with My servant Moses, who is trusted in everything, for with him I speak mouth to mouth.’ And the Lord was angry with them, and the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle; and Miriam was a leper, and was white as snow. Aaron saw that she was a leper, and said to Moses, ‘I entreat thee not to look upon our sins which we have sinned against thee.’ Moses made supplication before God, saying, ‘Heal her, O Lord, I entreat Thee.’ God said to Moses, ‘If her father had spat in her face, it would have been right for her to pass the night alone outside the camp for seven days, and then to come in.’ So Miriam stayed outside the camp for seven days, and then she was purified.
And God said to Moses, ‘Send forth spies, from every tribe a man, and let them go and search out the land of promise.’ Moses chose twelve men, among whom were Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh; and they went and searched out the land. And they returned, carrying with them of the fruit of the land grapes and figs and pomegranates. The spies came and said, ‘We have not strength to stand against them, for they are mighty men, while we are like miserable locusts in their sight.’ And the children of Israel were gathered together to Moses and Aaron, and they lifted up their voice and wept with a great weeping, saying, ‘Why did we not die under the hand of the Lord in the wilderness and in Egypt, and not come to this land to die with our wives and children, and to become a laughing-stock and a scorn to the nations?’ Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh said to them, ‘Fear not; we will go up against them, and the Lord will deliver them into our hands, and we shall inherit the land, as the Lord said to us.’ The children of Israel said to one another, ‘Come, let us make us a chief and return to Egypt;’ and Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces before the people. And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh rent their clothes and said to the children of Israel, ‘The land which we have searched out is a thriving one, flowing with milk and honey, and it is in the power of God to give it to us; do not provoke God.’ And the children of Israel gathered together to stone them with stones. And God was revealed in a cloud over the tabernacle openly in the sight of the children of Israel; and He said to Moses, ‘How long will these (people) provoke Me? And how long will they not believe in Me for all the wonders which I have wrought among them? Let Me smite them, and I will make thee the chief of a people stronger than they.’ Moses said to the Lord, ‘O Lord God Almighty, the Egyptians will hear and will say that Thou hast brought out Thy people from among them by Thy power: but when Thou smitest them, they will say, “He slew them in the desert, because He was unable to make them inherit the land which He promised them.” And Thou, O Lord, who hast dwelt among this people, and they have seen Thee eye to eye, and Thy light is ever abiding with them, and Thou goest (before them) by night in a pillar of light, and dost shade them with a cloud by day, pardon now in Thy mercy the sins of Thy people, as Thou hast pardoned their sins from Egypt unto here.’ God said to Moses, ‘Say unto the children of Israel, O wicked nation, I have heard all the words which ye have spoken, and I will do unto you even as ye wish for yourselves. In this desert shall your dead bodies fall, and your families and your children, every one that knows good from evil, from twenty years old and downwards. Their children shall enter the land of promise; but ye shall not enter it, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun. Your children shall remain in this wilderness forty years, until your dead bodies decay, according to the number of the days in which ye searched out the land; for each day ye shall be requited with a year because of your sins.’ And the spies who had spied out the land with Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh died at once, save Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh. This was very grievous to the people, and the children of Israel said to Moses, ‘Behold, we are going up to the land which God promised us.’ He said to them, ‘God hath turned His face from you; go ye not away from your place.’ And they hearkened not to Moses, but went up to the top of the mountain without Moses and the tabernacle; and the Amalekites and Canaanites who dwelt there came out against them and put them to flight. God said to Moses, ‘When the children of Israel enter the land of promise, let them offer as offerings fine flour and oil and wine.’ Then Korah the son of Zahar (Izhar), and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, together with their families, and two hundred and fifty men, separated from the children of Israel; and they came to Moses, and made him hear them, and troubled him. And Moses fell upon his face before the Lord and said, ‘To-morrow shall everyone know whom God chooses. Is that which I have done for you not sufficient for you, that ye serve before the Lord, but ye must seek the priesthood also?’ And Moses said unto God, ‘O God, receive not their offerings.’ And Moses said to them, ‘Let every one of you take his censer in his hand, and place fire and incense therein;’ and there stood before the Lord on that day two hundred and fifty men holding their censers. The Lord said to Moses, ‘Stand aloof from the people, and I will destroy them in a moment.’ And Moses and Aaron fell upon their faces, and said to the Lord, ‘Wilt Thou destroy all these for the sake of one man who hath sinned?’ God said to Moses, ‘Tell the children of Israel to go away from around the tents of Korah and his fellows;’ and Moses said to the people everything that God had said to him; and the people kept away from the tent of Korah. Then Korah and his family with their wives and children came forth and stood at the doors of their tents. And Moses said to them, ‘If God hath sent me, let the earth open her mouth and swallow them up; but if I am come of my own desire, let them die a natural death like every man.’ While the word was yet in his mouth, the earth opened, and swallowed them up, and the people that were with them, from man even unto beast; and fear fell upon their companions. The fire went forth from their censers, and burnt up the two hundred and fifty men. Moses said to Eleazar, ‘Take their censers and make a casting of them, that they may be a memorial–for they have been sanctified by the fire which fell into them–that no man who is not of the family of Aaron should dare to take a censer in his hand.’
The children of Israel gathered together unto Moses and Aaron and said to them, ‘Ye have destroyed the people of the Lord.’ And God said to Moses and Aaron in the tabernacle, ‘Stand aloof from them, and I will destroy them in a moment.’ Moses said to Aaron, ‘Take a censer and put fire and incense therein, and go to the people, that God may forgive their sins, for anger has gone forth against them from before the Lord.’ And Aaron put incense in a censer, and went to the people in haste, and he saw death destroying the people unsparingly; but with his censer he separated the living from the dead, and the plague was stayed from them. The number of men whom the plague destroyed at that time of the children of Israel was fourteen thousand and seven hundred, besides those who died with the children of Korah; and Aaron returned to Moses. And God said to Moses, ‘Let the children of Israel collect from every tribe a rod, and let them write the name of the tribe upon its rod, and the name of Aaron upon (that of) the tribe of Levi, and the rod of the man whom the Lord chooseth shall blossom.’ And they did as God had commanded them, and took the rods and placed them in the tabernacle that day. On the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle, and saw the rod of the house of Levi budding and bearing almonds. And Moses brought out all the rods to the children of Israel, and the sons of Levi were set apart for the service of the priesthood before the Lord.
When the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sîn, Miriam the sister of Moses and Aaron died, and they buried her. And there was no water for them to drink; and the children of Israel murmured against Moses and said, ‘Would that we had all died with those who are dead already, and that we had not come hither to die with our beasts and our possessions! Why did the Lord bring us out from Egypt to this desert land, in which there are neither pomegranates nor grapes?’ Moses and Aaron went to the tabernacle, and fell upon their faces before the Lord, and the Lord said to them, ‘Gather together the children of Israel, and let Moses smite the rock with the rod, and water shall come forth and all the people shall drink;’ and Moses called that water ‘the water of strife.’ The children of Israel gathered themselves together unto Moses and Aaron, and they murmured against them saying, ‘Why have ye brought us out to this desert to die of thirst and hunger?’ And the Lord was angry with them, and sent serpents upon them, and many of the people died by reason of the serpents. And they gathered themselves together unto Moses and Aaron and said to them, ‘We have sinned before God and before you.’ God said to Moses, ‘Make a serpent of brass, and hang it upon the top of thy rod, and set it up among the people; and let everyone whom a serpent shall bite look upon the brazen serpent, and he shall live and not die.’ This serpent which Moses set up is a type of the crucifixion of our Lord, as the doctor saith, ‘Like the serpent which Moses set up, He set Him up also, that He might heal men of the bites of cruel demons.’
And the children of Israel came to mount Hôr, and Aaron died there; and they wept for him a month of days; and Moses put his garments upon Eleazar his son. The children of Israel began to commit fornication with the daughters of Moab, and to bow down to their idols, and to eat of their sacrifices. The Lord was angry with them, and He commanded Moses to gather together the children of Israel, and to order every man to slay his fellow, and everyone who should bow down to Baal Peôr, the idol of the Moabites. When they were all assembled at the door of the tabernacle, Zimri the son of Salô came and took Cosbî the daughter of Zûr, and committed fornication with her in the sight of Moses and all the people; and God smote the people with a pestilence. Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, the son of Aaron, arose, and thrust them through with a spear, and lifted them up upon the top of it; and the plague was stayed from that hour. This zeal was accounted unto Phinehas as a prayer; as the blessed David says, ‘Phinehas arose and prayed, and the pestilence was stayed; and it was accounted unto him for merit from generation unto generation, even forever.’ The number of those who died at that time was twenty-four thousand men. God commanded Moses to number the people, and their number amounted to six hundred and one thousand seven hundred and eighty souls. And God commanded Moses to bless Joshua the son of Nun, and to lay his hand upon him, and to set him up before Eleazar the priest and before all the children of Israel; and God gave him wisdom and knowledge and prophecy and courage, and made him ruler of the children of Israel. God commanded the children of Israel to destroy the Midianites. And (Moses) chose from each tribe a thousand men, and they went up against the Midianites and took them captive and spoiled them. And Moses told them to slay every man who had committed fornication with a Midianitish woman, and every Midianitish woman who had committed fornication with a son of Israel, except the virgins whom man had not known. God commanded Moses to set apart one-fiftieth part of the spoil for the sons of Levi, the ministers of the altar and the house of the Lord. The number of the flocks that were gathered together with the children of Israel was six hundred and seventy thousand, and seventy-two thousand oxen, and thirty-two thousand virgins. And the Lord commanded them that when they should pass over the Jordan and come to the land of promise, they should set apart three villages for a place of flight and refuge, that whosoever committed a murder involuntarily might flee thither and dwell in them until the high priest of that time died, when he might return to his family and the house of his fathers. God laid down for them laws and commandments, and these are they. A man shall not clothe himself in a woman’s garments; neither shall a woman clothe herself in those of a man. If one sees a bird’s nest, he shall drive away the mother, and then take the young ones. A man shall make a fence and an enclosure to his roof, lest anyone fall therefrom, and his blood be required of him. Let him that hath a rebellious son, bring him out before the elders, and let them reprimand him; if he turn from his (evil) habit, (goad and well); but if not, let him be stoned. One that is crucified shall not pass the night upon his cross. He that blasphemes God shall be slain. The man that lies with a betrothed woman shall be slain. If she is not betrothed, he shall give her father five hundred dinârs, and take her to wife; and the other commandments.
And Moses gathered together the children of Israel and said to them, ‘Behold, I am a hundred and twenty years old, no more strength abideth in me; and God hath said to me, Thou shalt not pass over this river Jordan.’ And he called Joshua the son of Nun and said to him in the sight of all the people:
Be strong and of good courage, for thou shalt bring this people into the land of promise. Fear not the nations that are in it, for God will deliver them into thy hands, and thou shalt inherit their cities and villages, and shalt destroy them.
And Moses wrote down laws and judgments and orders, and gave them into the hands of the priests, the children of Levi. He commanded them that, when they crossed over to the land of promise, they should make a feast of tabernacles and should read aloud these commandments before all the people, men and women; that they might hear and fear the Lord their God. And God said to Moses, ‘Behold thou art going the way of thy fathers; call Joshua the son of Nun, thy disciple, and make him stand in the tabernacle, and command him to be diligent for the government of this people; for I know that after thy death they will turn aside from the way of truth, and will worship idols, and I will turn away My face from them.’ And God said to Moses, ‘Get thee up into this mountain of the Amorites which is called Nebo, and see the land of Canaan, and be gathered to thy fathers, even as Aaron thy brother died on mount Hôr.’ So Moses died there and was buried, and no man knoweth his grave; for God hid him, that the children of Israel might not go astray and worship him as God. He died at the age of one hundred and twenty years; his sight had not diminished, neither was the complexion of his face changed. And the children of Israel wept for him a month of days in Arbôth Moab.
From Adam then until the death of Moses was three thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight years.
When the number of the children of Israel was reckoned up, it amounted to eight hundred thousand, and that of the house of Judah to five hundred thousand. In the Book of Chronicles it is written, ‘The children of Israel were a thousand thousand, one hundred thousand and one hundred men; and the house of Judah was four hundred thousand and seven hundred men that drew sword.’ Now when they came out of Egypt, they were six hundred thousand; and when they entered Egypt, they were seventy and five souls.
Of Joshua The Son Of Nun, And Brief Notices Of The Years Of The Judges And The Kings Of The Children Of Israel
AFTER Moses was dead, God said to Joshua the son of Nun, ‘Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land which I have sworn to their fathers to give them, Every place upon which ye tread shall be yours.’ So Joshua the son of Nun gathered the people together, and passed over Jordan. Jordan was divided on this side and on that, and the children of Israel passed over as upon dry ground, even as their fathers passed through the sea of Sôph, when they went forth from Egypt. And they took twelve stones from the midst of Jordan, as a memorial for those after them. And they took Jericho, and destroyed it; and Joshua the son of Nun slew thirty-one kings of the foreign nations, and divided the land among them, and he brake their idols and images. These are the names of the kings whom Joshua the son of Nun destroyed. The king of Jericho, the king of Ai, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Eglon, the king of Gezer, the king of Debir, the king of Hormah, the king of Geder, the king of Arad, the king of Libnah, the king of Adullam, the king of Makkedah, the king of Bethel, the king of Tappuah, the king of Hepher, the king of Aphek, the king of Lashsharon; the king of Madon, the king of Hazor, the king of Shimron-meron, the king of Achshaph, the king of Taanach, the king of Megiddo, the king of Rekam (Kadesh), the king of Jokneam, the king of Dor and Naphath-Dor, the king of Goiim, the king of Tirzah,
And as we do not intend to write a complete history of the kings and judges, but only to collect a few matters which may serve for the consolation of the feeble in a time of despondency, behold we pass over them with brief notices. If however any one seeks to know these (things), let him read in the Tôrah and in the Bêth-Mautebhê, whence he will understand clearly. Moses ruled the people in the desert forty years. Joshua ruled the people twenty-five years. Judah was ruler of the people forty-eight years. Eglon king of Moab oppressed the people eighteen years. Ahôr (Ehûd) was ruler of the people eighty years. Nâbîn (Jabin) oppressed Israel twenty years. Deborah and Barak were rulers of the people forty years. The Midianites oppressed Israel seven years. Gideon was ruler of the people forty years. He had seventy sons, who rode with him upon seventy ass colts. Abimelech the son of Gideon was ruler of the people sixty years. Tola the son of Puah was ruler of the people twenty-three years. Jair was ruler of the people twenty-two years. The Philistines and Ammonites oppressed the people eighteen years. Naphthah (Jephthah) was ruler of the people six years. He vowed a vow to the Lord and said, ‘Whatsoever cometh forth to meet me from my house, I will offer up as an offering to the Lord.’ And his only daughter came forth, and he offered her up as an offering to the Lord. Abîzan (Ibzan) was ruler of the people seven years. He had thirty sons and thirty daughters; he sent out the thirty daughters and brought in thirty daughters-in-law. Elon was a ruler of the people ten years. Acrôn (Abdon) was ruler of the people eight years. The Philistines oppressed Israel forty years. Samson was ruler of the people twenty years. He slew a thousand men with the jawbone of a dead ass. Eli was ruler of the people forty years. From Eli, the ark was in the house of Abinadab twenty years. Samuel was ruler of the people thirty years. Saul was ruler of the people forty years. These years of the Judges (lit. rulers) amount to six hundred and fifty-five. King David reigned forty years. Solomon reigned forty years. Rehoboam reigned seventeen years. Abijah reigned three years. Asa reigned forty-one years. Jehoshaphat reigned twenty-five years. Joram reigned eight years. Ahaziah reigned one year. Athaliah reigned six years. Joash reigned forty years. Amaziah reigned twenty-three years. Uzziah reigned fifty-two years. Jotham reigned sixteen years. Hezekiah reigned twenty-nine years. He prayed before God, and fifteen years were added to his life; and he held back the sun and the moon in their course. Manasseh reigned fifty-five years. He sawed Isaiah with a wooden saw and killed him. Amon reigned two years. Josiah reigned thirty-one years. Jehoahaz reigned three months. Jehoiakim reigned eleven years. Jehoiachin reigned one hundred days. Zedekiah reigned seven years. These years of the kings amount to four hundred and fifty-five years, six months, and ten days.
Of The Death Of The Prophets; How They Died, And (Where) Each One Of Them Was Buried
MANASSEH the son of Hezekiah slew Isaiah with a wooden saw; he was buried before the outfall of the waters which Hezekiah concealed by the side of Siloah.
Hosea the son of Beeri, of the tribe of Issachar, (was) from the town of Be`elmâth. He prophesied mystically about our Lord Jesus Christ who was to come; saying that when He should be born, the oak in Shiloh should be divided into twelve parts; and that He should take twelve disciples of Israel. He died in peace, and was buried in his own land.
Joel the son of Bethuel (Pethuel), of the tribe of Reuben, died in peace in his own land. Others say that Ahaziah the son of Amaziah smote him with a staff upon his head; and while his life was yet in him, they brought him to his own land, and after two days he died.
Amos (was) from the land of Tekoa. The priest of Bethel tortured him and afterwards slew him. Others say that it was he whom Ahaziah the son of Amaziah killed with a staff, and he died.
Obadiah from the country of Shechem was the captain of fifty of Ahab’s soldiers. He became a disciple of Elijah, and endured many evil things from Ahab, because he forsook him and went after Elijah. However he died in peace. After he followed Elijah, he was deemed worthy of prophecy.
Elijah the fiery, of the family of Aaron, (was) from Tashbî, a town of the Levites. When this (prophet) was born, his father saw in a dream that one was born, and that they wrapped him in fire instead of swaddling bands, and gave him some of that fire to eat. He came to Jerusalem, and told the priests the vision that he had seen. The learned among the people said to him, ‘Fear not, thy son is about to be a fire, and his word shall be like fire, and shall not fall to the ground; he will burn like fire with jealousy of sinners, and his zeal will be accepted before God.’ He was taken up in a chariot towards heaven. Some say that his father was called Shôbâkh.
Elisha his pupil, from Abêl-Mehôlâh, (was) of the tribe of Reuben. On the day of his birth a great wonder took place in Israel; for the bull which they worshipped in Gilgal lowed, and his voice was heard in Jerusalem. The chief priests in Jerusalem said, ‘A mighty prophet is born to-day in Israel at this time, and he will break the images and idols to pieces.’ He died in peace, and was buried in Samaria.
Jonah the son of Amitta (was) from Gath-hepher, from Kûryath-Âdâmôs, which is near to Ascalon and Gaza and the sea coast. After this (prophet) had prophesied to the Ninevites in the time of Sardânâ the king, he did not remain in his own land because the Jews were jealous of him; but he took his mother, and went and dwelt in Assyria. He feared the reproach of the Jews, because he had prophesied, and his prophecy did not come to pass. He also rebuked Ahab the king, and called a famine upon the land and the people. He came to the widow of Elijah, and blessed her, because she received him, and he returned to Judaea. His mother died on the way, and he buried her by the side of Deborah’s grave. He lived in the land of Serîdâ, and died two years after the people had returned from Babylon, and was buried in the cave of Kainân. This (prophet) prophesied that when the Messiah should come, the cities of the Jews would be overturned.
Micah the Morashthite (was) of the tribe of Ephraim, and was slain by Joram the son of Ahab. This (prophet) prophesied concerning the destruction of the temple of the Jews, and the abrogation of the Passover on the death of the Messiah. He died in peace, and was buried in Anikâm.
Nahum, from the city of Elkôsh, (was) of the tribe of Simeon. After the death of Jonah this (prophet) prophesied concerning the Ninevites, saying, ‘Nineveh shall perish by perpetually advancing waters, and ascending fire;’ and this actually took place. He prophesied also concerning the Babylonians, that they would come against the Israelitish people; and therefore they sought to kill him. He prophesied that when the Messiah should be slain, the vail of the temple should be rent in twain, and that the Holy Spirit should depart from it. He died in peace, and was buried in his own country.
Habakkuk (was) of the tribe of Simeon, and from the land of Sûâr (Zoar). This (prophet) prophesied concerning the Messiah, that He should come, and abrogate the laws of the Jews. He brought food to Daniel at Babylon by the divine (or, angelic) agency. The Jews stoned him in Jerusalem.
Zephaniah (was) of the tribe of Simeon. He prophesied concerning the Messiah, that He should suffer, and that the sun should become dark, and the moon be hidden. He died in peace in his own land.
Haggai returned from Babylon to Jerusalem when he was young. He prophesied that the people would return, and concerning the Messiah, that He would abrogate the sacrifices of the Jews. He died in peace.
Zechariah the son of Jehoiada returned from Babylon in his old age, and wrought wonders among the people. He died at a great age, and was buried by the side of the grave of Haggai.
Malachi was born after the return of the people, and because of his beauty he was surnamed ‘Angel.’ He died in peace in his own land.
The Jews stoned Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah in Egypt, because he rebuked them for worshipping idols; and the Egyptians buried him by the side of Pharaoh’s palace. The Egyptians loved him much, because he prayed and the beasts died which used to come up from the river Nile and devour men. These beasts were called ‘crocodiles.’ When Alexander the son of Philip, the Macedonian, came (to Egypt), he made enquiries about his grave, and took and brought him to Alexandria. This (prophet) during his life said to the Egyptians, ‘a child shall be born–that is the Messiah–of a virgin, and He shall be laid in a crib, and He will shake and cast down the idols.’ From that time, and until Christ was born, the Egyptians used to set a virgin and a baby in a crib, and to worship him, because of what Jeremiah said to them, that He should be born in a crib.
Ezekiel the son of Buzi was of the priestly tribe, and from the land of Serîdâ. The chief of the Jews who was in the land of the Chaldeans slew him, because he rebuked him for worshipping idols. He was buried in the grave of Arphaxar, the son of Shem, the son of Noah.
Daniel (was) of the tribe of Judah, and was born in Upper Beth-Horon. He was a man who kept himself from women, and hence the Jews thought that he was an eunuch, for his face was different (from that of other men), and he had no children. He prayed for the Babylonians, and died in Elam, in the city of the Hôzâyê, and was buried in Shôshan the fortress. He prophesied concerning the return of the people.
Ahijah (was) from Shilo. A lion slew this prophet, and he was buried by the oak at Shilo in Samaria.
Ezra the scribe was from the country of Sâbthâ, and of the tribe of Judah. This (prophet) brought back the people, and died in peace in his own land.
Zechariah the son of Berachiah, the priest, was from Jerusalem. Joash the king slew this (prophet) between the steps and the altar, and sprinkled his blood upon the horns of the altar, and the priests buried him. From that day God forsook the temple, and angels were never again seen in it.
Simon the son of Sîrâ (Sirach) died in peace in his own town.
Nathan died in peace.
Here ends the first part of the book of gleanings called ‘the Bee.’
To God be the glory, and may His mercy and compassion be upon us. Amen.
Second Part of the Book of Gleanings, called “The Bee”
Again, by the Divine power, we write the second part of the book of gleanings called ‘the Bee,’ regarding the Divine dispensation which was wrought in the new (covenant).
Chapter XXXIII
Of the Messianic Generations
GOD created Adam. Adam begat Seth. Seth begat Enos. Enos begat Kainân. Kainân begat Mahalaleel. Mahalaleel begat Jared. Jared begat Enoch. Enoch begat Methuselah. Methuselah begat Lamech. Lamech begat Noah. Noah begat Shem. Shem begat Arphaxar. Arphaxar begat Kainân. Kainân begat Shâlâch. Shâlâch begat Eber. Eber begat Peleg. Peleg begat Reu. Reu begat Serug. Serug begat Nahor. Nahor begat Terah. Terah begat Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac. Isaac begat Jacob. Jacob begat Judah. Judah took a Canaanitish wife, whose name was Shuah. And it was very grievous to Jacob, and he said to Judah, ‘The God of my fathers will not allow the seed of Canaan to be mingled with our seed, nor his family with our family.’ There were born to Judah by the Canaanitish woman three sons, Er, Onan, and Shelah. Er took Tamar, the daughter of Merari the son of Levi, to wife, and he lay with her in the Sodomite way and died without children. After him his brother Onan took her, to raise up seed to his brother; he also, when he lay with her, scattered his seed outside of her on the ground, and he too died without children. Because Shelah was a child, Judah kept his daughter-in-law in widowhood, that he might give her to Shelah to raise up seed by her. But Tamar went into her father-in-law by crafty devices, and lay with him, and conceived, and gave birth to twins, Pharez and Zarah. Pharez begat Hezron. Hezron begat Aram. Aram begat Amminadab. Amminadab begat Nahshon. Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest, took the sister of Nahshon to wife, and by her begat Phinehas; and the seed of the priesthood was mingled with the royal line. Nahshon begat Salmon. Salmon begat Boaz by Rahab. Boaz begat Obed by Ruth the Moabitess. Obed begat Jesse. Jesse begat David the king by Nahash.
Now two genealogies are handed down from David to Christ; the one from Solomon to Jacob, and the other from Nathan to Heli. David begat Solomon. Solomon begat Rehoboam. Rehoboam begat Abijah. Abijah begat Asa. Asa begat Jehoshaphat. Jehoshaphat begat Joram. Joram begat Uzziah. Uzziah begat Jotham. Jotham begat Ahaz. Ahaz begat Hezekiah. Hezekiah begat Manasseh. Manasseh begat Amon. Amon begat Josiah. Josiah begat Jeconiah. Jeconiah begat Salathiel. Salathiel begat Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel begat Abiud. Abiud begat Eliakim. Eliakim begat Azor. Azor begat Zadok. Zadok begat Achin. Achin begat Eliud. Eliud begat Eleazar. Eleazar begat Matthan. Matthan begat Jacob. Jacob begat Joseph. Or again: David begat Nathan. Nathan begat Mattatha. Mattatha begat Mani. Mani begat Melea. Melea begat Eliakim. Eliakim begat Jonam. Jonam begat Levi. Levi begat Mattîtha. Mattîtha begat Jorim. Jorim begat Eliezer. Eliezer begat Jose. Jose begat Er. Er begat Elmodad. Elmodad begat Cosam. Cosam begat Addi. Addi begat Melchi. Melchi begat Neri. Neri begat Salathiel. Salathiel begat Zorobabel. Zorobabel begat Rhesa. Rhesa begat Johannan. Johannan begat Juda. Juda begat Joseph. Joseph begat Semei. Semei begat Mattatha. Mattatha begat Maath. Maath begat Nagge. Nagge begat Esli. Esli begat Nahum. Nahum begat Amos. Amos begat Mattîtha. Mattîtha begat Joseph. Joseph begat Janni. Janni begat Melchi. Melchi begat Levi. Levi begat Matthat. Matthat begat Heli. Heli begat Joseph.
Know too, O my brother, that Mattan the son of Eliezer–whose descent was from the family of Solomon–took a wife whose name was Astha (or Essetha) and by her begat Jacob naturally. Mattan died, and Melchi–whose family descended from Nathan the son of David–took her to wife, and begat by her Eli (or Heli); hence Jacob and Heli are brothers, (the sons) of (one) mother. Eli took a wife and died without children. Then Jacob took her to wife, to raise up seed to his brother, according to the command of the law; and he begat by her Joseph, who was the son of Jacob according to nature, but the son of Heli according to the law; so whichever ye choose, whether according to nature, or according to the law, Christ is found to be the son of David. It is moreover right to know that Eliezer begat two sons, Mattan and Jotham. Mattan begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Joseph; Jotham begat Zadok, and Zadok begat Mary. From this it is clear that Joseph’s father and Mary’s father were cousins.
Chapter XXXIV
Of the Annunciation of the Angel to Yônâkîr (Joachim) in Respect of Mary
THIS Zadok, who was called Yônâkîr, and Dinah his wife were righteous before God, and were rich in earthly riches and in goods and chattels; but they had neither fruit nor offspring like other people. They were reproached by the people for their barrenness, and they did not allow them to offer up the offering except after everyone else, because they had no children among the people of Israel. And Yônâkîr went out into the desert, and pitched his tent outside the encampment, and he prayed before God with mournful tears, and put on garments of mourning; so also did Dinah his wife. And God heard their prayers and accepted the sacrifices of their tears. The angel of God came to them, and announced to them the conception of Mary, saying, ‘Your prayer has been heard before God, and behold, He will give you blessed fruit, a daughter who shall be a sign and a wonder among all the generations of the world; and all families shall be blessed through her.’ Then they two praised God, and Zadok returned to his habitation. And Dinah his wife conceived, and brought forth Mary; and from that day she was called Hannah (Anna) instead of Dinah, for the Lord had had compassion upon her. Now the name ‘Mary’ (Maryam or Miriam) is interpreted ‘lifted up,’ ‘exalted;’ and they rejoiced in her exceedingly. And after six months her parents said to one another, ‘We will not allow her to walk upon the ground;’ and they carried her with sacrifices and offerings, and brought her to the temple of the Lord. And they sacrificed oxen and sheep to the Lord, and offered Mary to the high priest. He laid his hand upon her head, and blessed her, saying, ‘Blessed shalt thou be among women.’ Two years after she was weaned, they brought her to the temple of the Lord, even as they had vowed to the Lord, and delivered her to the high priest. He laid his hand upon her head, and blessed her, and said to her that she should give herself over to the aged women who were there. And she was brought up with the virgins in the temple of the Lord, and performed the service of the temple with joyful heart and godly fervour until she was twelve years old. Because she was beautiful in appearance, the priests and the high priest took counsel and prayed before God that He would reveal to them what they should do with her. And the angel of God appeared unto the high priest and said to him, ‘Gather together the staves of the men who have been left widowers by their first wives, and are well known for piety, uprightness, and righteousness, and what God sheweth thee, do.’ And they brought many staves and laid them down in the temple; and they prayed before God that day and its night. The chief priest went into the temple and gave to each of them his staff, and when Joseph took his staff in his hand, there went forth from it a white dove, and hovered over the top of the rod, and sat upon it. The chief priest drew near to Joseph and kissed him on his head, and said to him, ‘The blessed maiden has fallen to thy lot from the Lord; take her to thee until she arrives at the age for marriage, and (then) make a marriage feast after the manner and custom of men; for it is meet for thee (to do so) more than others, because ye are cousins.’ Joseph said to the chief priest, ‘I am an old and feeble man, and this is a girl, and unfit for my aged condition; it is better to give her to one of her own age, because I cannot rely upon myself to watch her and guard her.’ The chief priest said to him, ‘Take heed that thou dost not transgress the command of God, and bring a punishment upon thee.’ So Joseph took Mary, and went to his dwelling-place.
Some days after the priests distributed various coloured silken threads to weave for the veil of the sanctuary; and it fell to Mary’s lot to weave purple. And while she was in the temple in prayer, having placed incense before the Lord, suddenly the archangel Gabriel appeared to her in the form of a middle-aged man, and a sweet odour was diffused from him; and Mary was terrified at the sight of the angel.
Chapter XXXV
Of the Annunciation by Gabriel to Mary of the Conception of Our Lord
AT the ninth hour of the first day of the week, on the twenty-fifth of the month of Adar,–though some say on the first day of the month of Nisan, which is correct,–in the three hundred and seventh year of Alexander the son of Philip, or of Nectanebus, the Macedonian, six months after Elizabeth’s conception of John, the archangel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said to her, ‘Peace be to thee, O full of grace! our Lord is with thee, O blessed among women!’ As for her, when she saw (him), she was terrified at his words, and was thinking what this salutation was. The angel said to her:
Fear not Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel, which is interpreted, “our God is with us.” This (child) shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest.
Mary said to the angel, ‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to thy word.’ And the angel went away from her. In those days Mary arose, and went to Elizabeth het cousin, and she went in and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard Mary’s salutation, the babe leaped in her womb, and John in Elizabeth’s womb bowed down to our Lord in Mary’s womb, as a servant to his master. Mary remained with Elizabeth about three months, and then returned to her house. After the lapse of six months, Joseph saw that Mary had conceived, and he was troubled in his mind, and said, ‘What answer shall I give to the high priest in respect of this trial which has befallen me?’ And because he relied upon the purity of his spouse, he fell into perplexity and doubt, and said to her, ‘Whence hast thou this? And who has beguiled thee, O perfect dove? Wast thou not brought up with the pure virgins and venerable matrons in the temple of the Lord?’ And she wept, saying, ‘As the Lord God liveth, I have never known man nor had connexion with any one;’ but she did not speak to him of the angel and the cause of her conception. Then Joseph meditated within himself and said, ‘If I reveal this matter before men, I fear lest it may be from God; and if I keep it back and hide it, I fear the rebuke and penalty of the law.’ For the Jews did not approach their wives until they made a feast to the high priest, and then they took them. And Joseph thought that he would put her away secretly; and while he was pondering these things in his heart, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, fear not to take Mary thy wife; for that which is born in her is of the Holy Spirit.’ He spake well when he said ‘in her,’ and not ‘of her.’
And the priests heard of Mary’s conception, and they made an accusation against Joseph, as if deceit had been found in him. Joseph said, ‘As the Lord liveth, I know not the cause of her conception;’ and Mary likewise swore this. There was a custom among the Jews that, when any one of them was accused with an accusation, they made him drink ‘the water of trial;’ if he were innocent, he was not hurt, but if he were guilty, his belly swelled, and his body became swollen, and the mark of chastisement appeared in him. When they had made Mary and Joseph drink of the water of trial, and they were not hurt, the high priest commanded Joseph to guard her diligently until they saw the end of this matter.
Chapter XXXVI
Of the Birth of Our Lord in The Flesh
ONE year before the annunciation of our Lord, the emperor of the Romans sent to the land of Palestine Cyrinus the governor, to write down every one for the poll-tax, for the Jews were subject to the empire of the Romans; and every man was written down in his city. And Joseph the carpenter also went up that he might be written down in his city; and by reason of his exceeding great watchfulness for the blessed (Mary), he took her with him upon an ass. When they had gone about three miles, Joseph looked at her and saw that her hand was laid upon her belly, and that her face was contracted with pain; and he thought that she was troubled by the beast, and asked her about her trouble and pain. She said to him, ‘Hasten and prepare a place for me to alight, for the pains of childbirth have taken hold upon me.’ When he had lifted her down from the animal, he went to fetch a midwife, and found a Hebrew woman whose name was Salome. The heretics say that she was called Hadyôk, but they err from the truth. When Joseph came to the cave, he found it full of brilliant light, and the child wrapped in swaddling clothes and rags, and laid in a crib. And there were shepherds there keeping watch over their flocks, and behold the angel of God came to them, and the glory of the Lord shone upon them; and they feared with an exceeding great fear. The angel said to them:
Fear not, for behold, I announce to you a great joy which shall be to all the world; for there is born to you this day a Redeemer, who is the Lord Jesus, in the city of David: and this shall be the sign unto you; ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a crib.
And suddenly with the angel there appeared many hosts of heaven, praising God and saying:
Glory to God in the heights, and on earth peace and tranquillity and good hope to men.
And the shepherds went and entered the cave, and they saw as the angel had said to them. The names of the shepherds were these: Asher, Zebulon, Justus, Nicodemus, Joseph, Barshabba, and Jose; seven in number.
Chapter XXXVII
The Prophecy of Zârâdôsht Concerning Our Lord
THIS Zârâdôsht is Baruch the scribe. When he was sitting by the fountain of water called Glôshâ of Hôrîn, where the royal bath had been erected, he said to his disciples, the king Gûshnâsâph and Sâsân and Mahîmad, ‘Hear, my beloved children, for I will reveal to you a mystery concerning the great King who is about to rise upon the world. At the end of time, and at the final dissolution, a child shall be conceived in the womb of a virgin, and shall be formed in her members, without any man approaching her. And he shall be like a tree with beautiful foliage and laden with fruit, standing in a parched land; and the inhabitants of that land shall be gathered together to uproot it from the earth, but shall not be able. Then they will take him and crucify him upon a tree, and heaven and earth shall sit in mourning for his sake; and all the families of the nations shall be in grief for him. He will begin to go down to the depths of the earth, and from the depth he will be exalted to the height; then he will come with the armies of light, and be borne aloft upon white clouds; for he is a child conceived by the Word which establishes natures.’ Gûshnâsâph says to him, ‘Whence has this one, of whom thou sayest these things, his power? Is he greater than thou, or art thou greater than he?’ Zârâdôsht says to him, ‘He shall descend from my family; I am he, and he is I; he is in me, and I am in him. When the beginning of his coming appears, mighty signs will be seen in heaven, and his light shall surpass that of the sun. But ye, sons of the seed of life, who have come forth from the treasuries of life and light and spirit, and have been sown in the land of fire and water, for you it is meet to watch and take heed to these things which I have spoken to you, that ye await his coming; for you will be the first to perceive the coming of that great king, whom the prisoners await to be set free. Now, my sons, guard this secret which I have revealed to you, and let it be kept in the treasure-houses of your souls. And when that star rises of which I have spoken, let ambassadors bearing offerings be sent by you, and let them offer worship to him. Watch, and take heed, and despise him not, that he destroy you not with the sword; for he is the king of kings, and all kings receive their crowns from him. He and I are one.’ These are the things which were spoken by this second Balaam, and God, according to His custom, compelled him to interpret these things; or he sprang from a people who were acquainted with the prophecies concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, and declared them aforetime.
Chapter XXXVIII
Of the Star Which Appeared in the East on the Day of the Birth of Our Lord
SOME say that that star appeared to the Magi simultaneously with the birth of our Lord. As for Herod’s commanding that all children from two years old and downwards should be slain, it is not as if they required all that length of time for their journey, but they had some accidental delay either in their own country or on the road. Again, Herod did not command that the children should be slain immediately after his having met the Magi, but much time passed in the interval, because he was waiting to hear from them.
The holy Mâr John Chrysostom, in his exposition of Matthew, says:
The star appeared a long time before, for their journey was accomplished with great delay that they might come to the end of it on the day of our Lord’s birth. It was meet that He should be worshipped in swaddling bands, that the greatness of the wonder might be recognised; therefore the star appeared to them a long time before. For if the star had appeared to them in the east when He was born in Palestine, they would not have been able to see Him in swaddling bands. Marvel not, if Herod slew the children from two years and downwards, for wrath and fear urged him to increased watchfulness; therefore he added more time than was needful, that no one should be able to escape.
As touching the nature of that star, whether it was a star in its nature, or in appearance only, it is right to know that it was not of the other stars, but a secret power which appeared like a star; for all the other stars that are in the firmament, and the sun and moon, perform their course from east to west. This one, however, made its course from north to south, for Palestine lies thus, over against Persia. This star was not seen by them at night only, but also during the day, and at noon; and it was seen at the time when the sun is particularly strong, because it was not one of the stars. Now the moon is stronger in its light than all the stars, but it is immediately quenched and its light dissipated by one small ray of the sun. But this star overcame even the beams of the sun by the intensity of its light. Sometimes it appeared, and sometimes it was hidden entirely. It guided the Magi as far as Palestine. When they drew near to Jerusalem, it was hidden; and when they went forth from Herod, and began to journey along the road, it appeared and shewed itself. This was not an ordinary movement of the stars, but a rational power. Moreover, it had no fixed path, but when the Magi travelled, it travelled on also, and when they halted, it also halted; like the pillar of cloud which stopped and went forward when it was convenient for the camp of Israel. The star did not remain always up in the height of heaven, but sometimes it came down and sometimes it mounted up; and it also stood over the head of the Child, as the Evangelist tells us.
Chapter XXXIX
Of the Coming of The Magi from Persia
WHEN Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judah, and the star appeared to the Magi in the east, twelve Persian kings took offerings–gold and myrrh and frankincense–and came to worship Him. Their names are these: Zarwândâd the son of Artabân, and Hôrmîzdâd the son of Sîtârûk (Santarôk), Gûshnâsâph (Gushnasp) the son of Gûndaphar, and Arshakh the son of Mîhârôk; these four brought gold. Zarwândâd the son of Warzwâd, Îryâhô the son of Kesrô (Khosrau), Artahshisht the son of Holîtî, Ashtôn`âbôdan the son of Shîshrôn; these four brought myrrh. Mêhârôk the son of Hûhâm, Ahshîresh the son of Hasbân, Sardâlâh the son of Baladân, Merôdâch the son of Beldarân; these four brought frankincense. Some say that the offerings which the Magi brought and offered to our Lord had been laid in the Cave of Treasures by Adam; and Adam commanded Seth to hand them down from one to another until our Lord rose, and they brought (them), and offered (them) to Him. But this is not received by the Church. When the Magi came to Jerusalem, the whole city was moved; and Herod the king heard it and was moved. And he gathered together the chief priests and the scribes of the people, and enquired about the place in which Christ should be born; and they told him, in Bethlehem of Judah, for so it is written in the prophet. Then Herod called the Magi, and flattered them, and commanded them to seek out the Child diligently, and when they had found Him to tell Herod, that he also might go and worship Him. When the Magi went forth from Herod, and journeyed along the road, the star rose again suddenly, and guided them until it came and stood over (the place) where the Child was. And when they entered the cave, and saw the Child with Mary His mother, they straightway fell down and worshipped Him, and opened their treasures, and offered unto Him offerings, gold and myrrh and frankincense. Gold for His kingship, and myrrh for His burial, and frankincense for His Godhead. And it was revealed to them in a dream that they should not return to Herod, and they went to their land by another way. Some say that the Magi took some of our Lord’s swaddling bands with them as a blessed thing.
Then Longinus the sage wrote to Augustus Caesar and said to him, ‘Magians, kings of Persia, have come and entered thy kingdom, and have offered offerings to a child who is born in Judah; but who he is, and whose son he is, is not known to us.’ Augustus Caesar wrote to Longinus, saying, ‘Thou hast acted wisely in that thou hast made known to us (these things) and hast not hidden (them) from us.’ He wrote also to Herod, and asked him to let him know the story of the Child. When Herod had made enquiries about the Child, and saw that he had been mocked by the Magi, he was wroth, and sent and slew all the children in Bethlehem and its borders, from two years old and downwards, according to the time which he had enquired of the Magi. The number of the children whom he slew was two thousand, but some say one thousand eight hundred. When John the son of Zechariah was sought for, his father took him and brought him before the altar; and he laid his hand upon him, and bestowed on him the priesthood, and then brought him out into the wilderness. When they could not find John, they slew Zechariah his father between the steps and the altar. They say that from the day when Zechariah was slain his blood bubbled up until Titus the son of Vespasian came and slew three hundred myriads of Jerusalem, and then the flow of blood ceased. The father of the child Nathaniel also took him, and wrapped him round, and laid him under a fig-tree; and he was saved from slaughter. Hence our Lord said to Nathaniel, ‘Before Philip called thee, I saw thee, when thou wast under the fig-tree.’
Chapter XL
Of Our Lord’s Going Down into Egypt
WHEN the Magi had returned to their country, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, and said to him, ‘Arise, take the Child and His mother, and flee to Egypt; and stay there until I tell thee.’ So Joseph arose and took the Child and His mother by night, and fled to Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod. When they were journeying along the road to Egypt, two robbers met them; the name of the one was Titus, that of the other Dûmâchos (?). Dûmâchos wished to harm them and to treat them evilly, but Titus would not let him, and delivered them from the hands of his companion. When they reached the gate of the city called Hermopolis, there were by the two buttresses of the gate two figures of brass, that had been made by the sages and philosophers; and they spoke like men. When our Lord and His mother and Joseph entered Egypt, that is to say that city, these two figures cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘A great king has come into Egypt.’ When the king of Egypt heard this, he was troubled and moved; for he feared lest his kingdom should be taken away from him. And he commanded the heralds to proclaim throughout the whole city, ‘If any man knoweth (who He is), let him point (Him) out to us without delay.’ When they had made much search and did not find Him, the king commanded all the inhabitants of the city to go outside and come in one by one. When our Lord entered, these two figures cried out, ‘This is the king.’ And when our Lord was revealed, Pharaoh sought to slay Him. Now Lazarus–whom Christ raised from the dead–was there, and was one of the king’s officials, and held in much esteem by the lord of Egypt. He drew near to Joseph and asked them, ‘Whence are ye?’ They said to him, ‘From the land of Palestine.’ When he heard that they were from the land of Palestine, he was sorry for them, and came to the king and pledged himself for the Child. And he said to the king, ‘O king, live forever! If deceit be found in this Child, behold, I am before thee, do unto me according to thy will.’ This is the (cause) of the love between Lazarus and Christ. One day when Mary was washing the swaddling bands of our Lord, she poured out the water used in washing in a certain place, and there grew up there apûrsam (that is to say balsam) trees, a species of tree not found anywhere else save in this spot in Egypt. Its oil has (divers) properties; if a man dips iron into it, and brings (the iron) near a fire, it shines like wax; if some of it is thrown upon water, it sinks to the bottom; and if a drop of it is dropped upon the hollow of a man’s hand, it goes through to the other side. Our Lord remained two years in Egypt, until Herod had died an evil death. He died in this manner. First of all he slew his wife and his daughter, and he killed one man of every family, saying, ‘At the time of my death there shall be mourning and weeping and lamentation in the whole city.’ His bowels and his legs were swollen with running sores, and matter flowed from them, and he was consumed by worms. He had nine wives and thirteen children. And he commanded his sister Salome and her husband, saying, ‘I know that the Jews will hold a great festival on the day of my death; when they are gathered together with the weepers and mourners, slay them, and let them not live after my death.’ There was a knife in his hand, and he was eating an apple; and by reason of the severity of his pain, he drew the knife across his throat, and cut it with his own hand; and his belly burst open, and he died and went to perdition. After the death of Herod who slew the children, his son Herod Archelaus reigned, who cut off the head of John. And the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in Egypt and said to him, ‘Arise, take the Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the life of the Child are dead.’ So Joseph took the Child and His mother, and came to Galilee; and they dwelt in the city of Nazareth, that what was said in the prophecy might be fulfilled, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.’ In the tenth year of the reign of Archelaus the kingdom of the Jews was divided into four parts. To Philip (were assigned) two parts, Ituraea and Trachonitis; to Lysanias one part, which was Abilene; and to Herod the younger the fourth part. And Herod loved Herodias, the wife of his brother Philip.

Chapter XLI
Of John the Baptist, and of the Baptism of Our Lord
JOHN the Baptist lived thirty years in the desert with the wild beasts; and after thirty years he came from the wilderness to the habitations of men. From the day when his father made him flee to the desert, when he was a child, until he came (again), he covered himself with the same clothes both summer and winter, without changing his ascetic mode of life. And he preached in the wilderness of Judaea, saying, ‘Repent, the kingdom of God draweth nigh;’ and he baptised them with the baptism of repentance for the remission of their sins. He said to them, ‘Behold, there cometh after me a man who is stronger than I, the latchets of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose. I baptise you with water for repentance, but He who cometh after me is stronger than I; He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire:’ thereby referring to that which was about to be wrought on the apostles, who received the Holy Spirit by tongues of fire, and this took the place of baptism to them, and by this grace they were about to receive all those who were baptised in Christ. Jesus came to John at the river Jordan to be baptised by him; but John restrained Him, saying, ‘I need to be baptised by Thee, and art Thou come to me?’ Jesus said to him, ‘It is meet thus to fulfil the words of prophecy.’ When Jesus had been baptised, as soon as He had gone up from the water, He saw that the heavens were rent, and the Spirit like a dove descended upon Him, and a voice from heaven said:
This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
On this day the Trinity was revealed to men; by the Father who cried out, and by the Son who was baptised, and by the Holy Spirit which came down upon Him in the corporeal form of a dove. Touching the voice which was heard from heaven, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him,’ every one heard the voice; but John only was worthy to see the vision of the Spirit by the mind. The day of our Lord’s birth was the fourth day of the week, but the day of His baptism was the fifth. When John rebuked Herod, saying that it was not lawful for him to take his brother Philip’s wife, he seized John, and cast him into the prison called Machaerûs. And it came to pass on a certain day, when Herod on his birthday made a feast for his nobles, that Bôzîyâ, the daughter of Herodias, came in and danced before the guests; and she was pleasing in the sight of Herod and his nobles. And he said to her, ‘Ask of me whatsoever thou desirest and I will give it to thee;’ and he sware to her saying that whatever she asked he would give it to her, unto the half of his kingdom. She then went in to Herodias her mother and said to her, ‘What shall I ask of him?’ She said to her, ‘The head of John the Baptist;’ for the wretched woman thought that when John should be slain, she and her daughter would be free from the reprover, and would have an opportunity to indulge their lust: for Herod committed adultery with the mother and with her daughter. Then she went in to the king’s presence and said to him, ‘Give me now the head of John the Baptist on a charger.’ And the king shewed sorrow, as if, forsooth, he was not delighted at the murder of the saint; but by reason of the force and compulsion of the oath he was obliged to cut off John’s head. If, O wretched Herod, she had demanded of thee the half of thy kingdom, that she might sit upon the throne beside thee and divide (it) with thee, wouldst thou have acceded to her, and not have falsified thy oath, O crafty one? And the king commanded an executioner, and he cut off the head of the blessed man, and he put it in a charger and brought and gave it to the damsel, and the damsel gave it to her mother. Then she went out to dance upon the ice, and it opened under her, and she sank into the water up to her neck; and no one was able to deliver her. And they brought the sword with which John’s head had been cut off, and cut off hers and carried it to Herodias her mother. When she saw her daughter’s head and that of the holy man, she became blind, and her right hand, with which she had taken up John’s head, dried up; and her tongue dried up, because she had reviled him, and Satan entered into her, and she was bound with fetters. Some say that the daughter of Herodias was called Bôzîyâ, but others say that she also was called by her mother’s name Herodias. When John was slain, his disciples came and took his body and laid him in a grave; and they came and told Jesus. The two disciples, whom John sent to our Lord, saying, ‘Art thou He that should come, or do we look for another,’ were Stephen the martyr and deacon, and Hananyah (Ananias) who baptised Paul. Some say that the wild honey and locusts, which he fed upon in the wilderness, was manna,–which was the food of the children of Israel, and of which Enoch and Elijah eat in Paradise,–for its taste is like that of honey. Moses compares it to coriander seed, and the anchorites in the mountains feed upon it. Others say that it was a root like unto a carrot; it is called Kâmûs, and its taste is sweet like honey-comb. Others say that the locusts were in reality some of those which exist in the world, and that the honey-comb was that which is woven by the little bees, and is found in small white cakes in desert places.
Chapter XLII
Of Our Lord’s Fast; of the Strife Which He Waged with the Devil; and Of the Mighty Deeds That He Wrought
TWO days after His baptism, He chose eight of the twelve disciples; and on the third day He changed the water into wine in the city of Cana. After He went forth from the wilderness, He completed the number of the twelve, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel and according to the number of the months. After the twelve disciples, He chose seventy and two, according to the number of the seventy-two elders. When He went out to the desert after He had changed the water into wine, He fasted forty days and forty nights. Some say that our Lord and the devil were waging war with one another for forty days; others say that the three contests took place in one day. After He had conquered the devil by the power of His Godhead, and had given us power to conquer him, He began to teach the nations. He wrought miracles, healed the sick, cleansed the lepers, cast out devils, opened the eyes of the blind, made the lame walk, made cripples stand, gave hearing to the deaf, and speech of tongue to the dumb. He satisfied five thousand with five loaves, and there remained twelve basketfuls; and with seven loaves and two fishes He satisfied four thousand (men), besides women and children, and there remained seven basketfuls. And some writers say that our Lord satisfied forty thousand men and women and children with five loaves. He walked upon the water and the sea as upon dry land. He rebuked the sea when it was disturbed, and it ceased from its disturbance. He raised up four dead; the daughter of Jairus, the widow’s son, the servant of the centurion, and His friend Lazarus after (he had been dead) four days. He subjected Himself to the ancient law of Moses, that it might not be thought He was opposed to the divine commandments; and when the time came for Him to suffer, and to draw nigh to death that He might make us live by His death, and to slay sin in His flesh, and to fulfil the prophecies concerning Him, first of all He kept the Passover of the law; He dissolved the old covenant, and then He laid the foundation for the new law by His own Passover.
Chapter XLIII
Of The Passover of Our Lord
WHEN the time of the Passover came, He sent two of His disciples to a man with whom they were not acquainted, saying, ‘When ye enter the city, behold, there will meet you a man carrying a pitcher of water; follow him, and wheresoever he entereth, say ye to the master of the house, “Our Master saith, Where is the guest-chamber, where I may eat the Passover with My disciples?” and behold, he will shew a large upper chamber made ready and prepared; there make ye ready for us.’ And because at that time crowds of people were flocking thickly into Jerusalem to keep the feast of the Passover, so that all the houses of the inhabitants of Jerusalem were filled with people by reason of the great crowd which was resorting thither, our Lord, by the power of His Godhead, worked upon the master of the house to make ready a large upper chamber without his being aware for whom he was preparing it, but he thought that perhaps some great man among the nobles and grandees of the Jews was about to come to him, and that it was right to keep a room for him furnished with all things (needful); because all those who came from other places to Jerusalem were received into their houses by the people of the city, and whatsoever they required for the use of the feast of the Passover they supplied. Hence the master of the house made ready that upper chamber with all things (needful), and permitted no man to enter therein, being restrained by the power of our Lord. Because a mystical thing was about to be done in it, it was not meet for Him to perform the hidden mystery when others were near. Mâr Basil says:
On the eve of the Passion, after the disciples had received the body and blood of our Lord, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of His disciples; this was baptism to the apostles. They were not all made perfect, because they were not all pure, for Judas, the son of perdition, was not sanctified; and because that basin of washing was in truth baptism, as our Lord said to Simon Peter, “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with Me,” that is to say, “If I baptise thee not, thou art not able to enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Therefore, everyone who is not baptised by the priests, and receives not the body and blood of Christ our Lord, enters not into the kingdom of heaven.
Mâr Dâd-îshô` says in his commentary on Abbâ Isaiah:
When our Lord at the Passover had washed the feet of His disciples, He kissed the knees of Judas, and wiped the soles of his feet with the napkin which was girt round His loins, like a common slave; for everything which our Lord did, He did for our teaching.
Mâr Basil in his ‘Questions’ advises Christians to eat oil, drink wine, and break their fast on this evening; for in it was the old covenant finished, and the new one inaugurated; and in it was the (chosen) people stripped of holiness, and the nations were sanctified and pardoned. Although this saint permits (this), yet the other fathers do not give leave (to do) this, neither do we, nor those of our confession.
Chapter XLIV
Of The Passion of Our Lord
THREE years and three months after His baptism, Judas Iscariot the son of Simon betrayed his Lord to death. He was called Iscariot (Sekhariôtâ) from the name of his town (Sekhariôt), and he had the sixth place among the disciples before he betrayed our Lord. Our Lord was crucified at the third hour of Friday, the ninth of Nisan. Caiaphas, who condemned our Lord, is Josephus. The name of Bar-Abbâ was Jesus. The name of the soldier who pierced our Lord with the spear, and spat in His face, and smote Him on His cheek, was Longinus; it was he who lay upon a sick bed for thirty-eight years, and our Lord healed him, and said to him, ‘Behold, thou art healed; sin no more, lest something worse than the first befall thee.’ The watchers at the grave were five, and these are their names: Issachar, Gad, Matthias, Barnabas and Simon; but others say they were fifteen, three centurions and their Roman and Jewish soldiers. Some men have a tradition that the stone which was laid upon the grave of our Lord was the stone which poured out water for the children of Israel in the wilderness. The grave in which our Redeemer was laid was prepared for Joshua the son of Nun, and was carefully guarded by the Divine will for the burial of our Lord. The purple which they put on our Lord mockingly, was given in a present to the Maccabees by the emperors of the Greeks; and they handed it over to the priests for dressing the temple. The priests took it and brought it to Pilate, testifying and saying, ‘See the purple which He prepared when He thought to become king,’ The garment which the soldiers divided into four parts indicates the passibility of His body, The robe without seam at the upper end which was not rent, is the mystery of the Godhead which cannot admit suffering. As touching the blood and water which came forth from His side, John the son of Zebedee was deemed worthy to see that vivifying flow from the life-giving fountain. Mâr John Chrysostom says: ‘When His side was rent by the soldiers with the spear, there came forth immediately water and blood. The water is a type of baptism, and the blood is the mystery of His precious blood, for baptism was given first, and then the cup of redemption. But in the gospel it is written, “There went forth blood and water,”‘ As to the tree upon which our Redeemer was crucified, some have said that He was crucified upon those bars with which they carried the ark of the covenant; and others that it was upon the wood of the tree on which Abraham offered up the ram as an offering instead of Isaac. His hands were nailed upon the wood of the fig-tree of which Adam ate, and behold, we have mentioned its history with that of Moses’ rod. The thirty pieces of silver (zûzê) which Judas received, and for which he sold his Lord, were thirty pieces according to the weight of the sanctuary, and were equal to six hundred pieces according to the weight of our country. Terah made these pieces for Abraham his son; Abraham gave them to Isaac; Isaac bought a village with them; the owner of the village carried them to Pharaoh; Pharaoh sent them to Solomon the son of David for the building of his temple; and Solomon took them and placed them round about the door of the altar. When Nebuchadnezzar came and took captive the children of Israel, and went into Solomon’s temple and saw that these pieces were beautiful, he took them, and brought them to Babylon with the captives of the children of Israel. There were some Persian youths there as hostages, and when Nebuchadnezzar came from Jerusalem, they sent to him everything that was meet for kings and rulers. And since gifts and presents had been sent by the Persians, he released their sons and gave them gifts and presents, among which were those pieces of silver about which we have spoken; and they carried them to their parents. When Christ was born and they saw the star, they arose and took those pieces of silver and gold and myrrh and frankincense, and set out on the journey; and they came to the neighbourhood of Edessa, and these kings fell asleep by the roadside. And they arose and left the pieces behind them, and did not remember them, but forgot that anything of theirs remained behind. And certain merchants came and found them, and took these pieces, and came to the neighbourhood of Edessa, and sat down by a well of water. On that very day an angel came to the shepherds, and gave them the garment without seam at the upper end, woven throughout. And he said to them, ‘Take this garment, in which is the life of mankind.’ And the shepherds took the garment, and came to the well of water by the side of which were those merchants. They said to them, ‘We have a garment without seam at the upper end; will ye buy it?’ The merchants said to them, ‘Bring it here.’ When they saw the garment, they marvelled and said to the shepherds: ‘We have thirty pieces of silver which are meet for kings; take them and give us this garment.’ When the merchants had taken the garment, and had gone into the city of Edessa, Abgar the king sent to them and said, ‘Have ye anything meet for kings, that I may buy it from you?’ The merchants said to him, ‘We have a garment without seam at the upper end.’ When the king saw the garment, he said to them, ‘Whence have ye this garment?’ They said to him, ‘We came to a well by the gate of thy city, and we saw it in the hands of some shepherds, and we bought it from them for thirty pieces of stamped silver, which were also meet for kings like thyself.’ The king sent for the shepherds, and took the pieces from them, and sent them together with the garment to Christ for the good that He had done him in healing his sickness. When Christ saw the garment and the pieces, He kept the garment by Him, but He sent the pieces to the Jewish treasury. When Judas Iscariot came to the chief priests and said to them, ‘What will ye give me that I may deliver Him to you?’ the priests arose and brought those pieces, and gave them to Judas Iscariot; and when he repented, he returned them to the Jews, and went and hanged himself. And the priests took them and bought with them a field for a burial-place for strangers.
Of Joseph the senator (βουλευτής {Greek: Bouleuths}), and why he was thus called. The senators were a class very much honoured in the land of the Romans; and if it happened that no one could be found of the royal lineage, they made a king from among this class. If one of them committed an offence, they used to beat his horse with white woollen gloves instead of him. This Joseph was not a senator by birth, but he purchased the dignity, and enrolled himself among the Roman senate, and was called Senator.
As for the committal of Mary to John the son of Zebedee by our Lord, He said to her, ‘Woman, behold thy son;’ and to John He said, ‘Behold thy mother;’ and from that hour he took her into his house and ministered unto her. Mary lived twelve years after our Lord’s Ascension: the sum of the years which she lived in the world was fifty-eight years, but others say sixty-one years. She was not buried on earth, but the angels carried her to Paradise, and angels bore her bier. On the day of her death all the apostles were gathered together, and they prayed over her and were blessed by her. Thomas was in India, and an angel took him up and brought him, and he found the angels carrying her bier through the air; and they brought it nigh to Thomas, and he also prayed and was blessed by her.
Touching the writing which was written in Greek, Hebrew and Latin, and set over Christ’s head, there was no Aramean written upon the tablet, for the Arameans or Syrians had no part in (the shedding of) Christ’s blood, but only the Greeks and Hebrews and Romans; Herod the Greek and Caiaphas the Hebrew and Pilate the Roman. Hence when Abgar the Aramean king of Mesopotamia heard (of it), he was wroth against the Hebrews and sought to destroy them.
Chapter XLV
Of The Resurrection of Our Lord
SINCE the history of our Lord’s Passion and Resurrection is recorded in the Gospel, there is no need to repeat it (here). After our Lord rose from the dead, He appeared ten times. First, to Mary Magdalene, as John the Evangelist records. Secondly, to the women at the grave, as Matthew mentions. Thirdly, to Cleopas and his companion, as Luke says. The companion of Cleopas, when they were going to Emmaus, was Luke the Evangelist. Fourthly, to Simon Peter, as Luke says. Fifthly, to all the disciples, except Thomas, on the evening of the first day of the week, when he went in through the closed doors, as Luke and John say. Sixthly, eight days after, to the disciples, and to Thomas with them, as John says. Seventhly, on the mount, as Matthew says. Eighthly, upon the sea of Tiberias, as John says. The reason that Simon Peter did not recognise Him was because he had denied Him, and was ashamed to look upon Him; but John, because of his frank intimacy with our Lord, immediately that he saw Him, knew Him. Ninthly, when He was taken up to heaven from the Mount of Olives, as Mark and Luke say. Tenthly, to the five hundred at once, who had risen from the dead, as Paul says. After His Ascension, He appeared to Paul on the way to Damascus, when He blinded his eyes; and also to Stephen, the martyr and deacon, when he was stoned.
Chapter XLVI
Of The Ascension of Our Lord to Heaven
AFTER our Redeemer had risen from the grave, and had gone about in the world forty days, He appeared to His disciples ten times, and ate and drank with them by the side of the Sea of Tiberias. At this point the heathen say to us, that if our Lord really ate and drank after His resurrection, there will certainly be eating and drinking after (our) resurrection; but if He did not really eat and drink, then all the actions of Christ are mere phantasms. To these we make answer, that this world is a world of need for food; therefore He ate and drank, that it might not be thought He was a phantom; and because many who have risen from the dead have eaten and drunk in (this) world until they departed and died, as, for example, the dead (child) whom Elisha raised, and the dead whom our Lord raised. Our Lord did not eat after His resurrection because He needed food, but only to make certain His humanity: for, behold, He once remained in the desert forty days without food, and was not injured by hunger. Some say that after His resurrection our Lord ate food like unto that which the angels ate in the house of Abraham, and that the food was dissipated and consumed by the Divine Power, just as fire licks up oil without any of it entering into its substance. Our Lord remained upon the earth forty days, even as He had fasted forty days, and as Elijah fasted forty days, and as Moses fasted forty days at two several times, and as the rain continued for forty days during the flood, and as God admonished the Ninevites for forty days, and as the spies remained (absent) for forty days, and as the children of Israel wandered about in the wilderness for forty years, and like the child whose fashioning in the womb is completed in forty days. After forty days, our Lord took up His disciples to the Mount of Olives, and laid His hand upon them, and blessed them, and commanded them concerning the preaching and teaching of the nations. And it came to pass that while He was blessing them, He was separated from them, and went up to heaven; and they worshipped Him. And there appeared to them angels, encouraging them and saying, ‘This Jesus, who has been taken up from you to heaven, is about to come again even as ye have seen Him go up to heaven.’ Then they returned to that upper chamber where they were, and stayed there ten days, until they received the Holy Spirit in the form of tongues of fire. Simon Peter said to his fellow-disciples, ‘It is right for us to put someone in the place of Judas to complete the number of twelve;’ and they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
As concerning the manner in which our Lord entered heaven without cleaving it, some say that He went in as He did through the closed doors; and as He came forth from the virgin womb, and Mary’s virginity returned to its former state; and like the sweat from the body; and as water is taken up by the roots of the olive and other trees, and reaches in the twinkling of an eye the leaves, flowers and fruits, as if through certain ducts, without holes or channels being pierced in them. Thus by an infinite and ineffable miracle our Lord entered into heaven without cleaving it. And if the bodies of us who are accustomed to drink water and wine pour out sweat without our flesh being rent or our skin pierced, how very much easier is it for the Divine Power to go in through closed doors and within the firmament of heaven without rending or cleaving it?
Chapter XLVII
Of the Descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles in the Upper Chamber
TEN days after our Lord’s Ascension, when the holy apostles were assembled in the upper chamber waiting for the promise of our Lord, of a sudden, at the third hour of the holy Sunday of Pentecost, a mighty sound was heard, so that all men were terrified and marvelled at the mightiness of the sound; and the chamber was filled with an ineffably strong light. And there appeared over the head of each one of them (something) in the form of tongues of fire, and there breathed forth from thence a sweet odour which surpassed all aromas in this world. The eyes of their hearts were opened, and they began interpreting new things and uttering wonderful things in the languages of all nations. When the Jews saw them, they thought within themselves that they had been drinking new wine and were drunk, and that their minds were depraved. On that day they participated in the mystery of the body and blood of our Lord, and sanctified the leavened bread of the sign of the cross (the Eucharistic wafers) and the oil of baptism.
Some men have a tradition that when our Lord broke His body for His disciples in the upper chamber, John the son of Zebedee hid a part of his portion until our Lord rose from the dead. And when our Lord appeared to His disciples and to Thomas with them, He said to Thomas, ‘Hither with thy finger and lay it on My side, and be not unbelieving, but believing.’ Thomas put his finger near to our Lord’s side, and it rested upon the mark of the spear, and the disciples saw the blood from the marks of the spear and nails. And John took that piece of consecrated bread, and wiped up that blood with it; and the Easterns, Mâr Addai and Mâr Mârî, took that piece, and with it they sanctified this unleavened bread which has been handed down among us. The other disciples did not take any of it, because they said, ‘We will consecrate for ourselves whenever we wish.’ As for the oil or baptism, some say that it was part of the oil with which they anointed the kings; others say that it was part of the unguent wherewith they embalmed our Lord; and many agree with this (statement). Others again say that when John took that piece of consecrated bread of the Passover in his hand, it burst into flame and burnt in the palm of his hand, and the palm of his hand sweated, and he took that sweat and hid it for the sign of the cross of baptism. This account we have heard by ear from the mouth of a recluse and visitor (περιοδευτής {Greek: periodeuths}), and we have not received it from Scripture. The word Pentecost is interpreted ‘the completion of fifty days.’
Chapter XLVIII
Of the Teaching of The Apostles, and of the Places of Each One of Them, and of Their Deaths
NEXT we write the excellent discourse composed by Mâr Eusebius of Caesarea upon the places and families of the holy apostles.
Know then that the apostles were twelve and seventy. When the apostles had received the gift of the Holy Spirit, on the day following they fasted this feast of the apostles (which we keep); but the Malkâyê (Melchites) say that the apostles fasted eight days after. Their names are as follows.
Simon, the chief of the apostles, was from Bethsaida, of the tribe of Naphtali. He first preached in Antioch, and built there the first of all churches, which was in the house of Cassianus, whose son he restored to life. He remained there one year, and there the disciples were called Christians. From thence he went to Rome, where he remained for twenty-seven years; and in the three hundred and seventy-sixth year of the Greeks, the wicked Nero crucified him head downwards.
Andrew his brother preached in Scythia and Nicomedia and Achaia. He built a church in Byzantium, and there he died and was buried.
John the son of Zebedee (Zabhdai) was also from Bethsaida, of the tribe of Zebulun. He first preached in Asia (Ephesus), and was afterwards cast into exile in the island of Patmos by Tiberius Caesar. He then went to Ephesus, and built in it a church. Three of his disciples went with him: Ignatius, who was afterwards bishop of Antioch, and who was thrown to the beasts in Rome; Polycarp, who was afterwards bishop of Smyrna, and was crowned by fire; and John, to whom he committed the priesthood and the bishopric after him. When John had lived a long time, he died and was buried at Ephesus; and John, the disciple of the Evangelist, who became bishop of Ephesus, buried him; for he commanded them that no one should know the place of his burial. The graves of both of them are in Ephesus; the hidden one of the Evangelist, and the other of his disciple John, the author of the Revelation; he said that everything he had written down, he had heard from John the Evangelist.
James, the brother of John, preached in his city Bethsaida, and built a church there. Herod Agrippas slew him with the sword one year after the Ascension of our Lord. He was laid in Âkâr, a city of Marmârîkâ.
Philip also was from Bethsaida, of the tribe of Asher. He preached in Phrygia, Pamphylia and Pisidia; he built a church in Pisidia, and died and was buried there. He lived twenty-seven years as an apostle.
Thomas was from Jerusalem, of the tribe of Judah. He taught the Parthians, Medes and Indians; and because he baptised the daughter of the king of the Indians, he stabbed him with a spear and he died. Habbân the merchant brought his body, and laid it in Edessa, the blessed city of Christ our Lord. Others say that he was buried in Mahlûph, a city in the land of the Indians.
Matthew the Evangelist was from Nazareth, of the tribe of Issachar. He preached in Palestine, Tyre and Sidon, and went as far as Gabbûlâ. He died and was buried in Antioch, a city of Pisidia.
Bartholomew was from Endor, of the tribe of Issachar. He preached in inner Armenia, Ardeshîr, Ketarbôl, Radbîn, and Prûharmân. After he had lived thirty years as an apostle, Hûrstî the king of the Armenians crucified him, and he was buried in the church which he built in Armenia.
Jude, the son of James, who was surnamed Thaddaeus (Taddai), who is also Lebbaeus (Lebbai), was from Jerusalem, of the tribe of Judah. He preached in Laodicea and in Antaradus and Arwâd. He was stoned in Arwâd, and died and was buried there.
Simon Zelôtes was from Galilee, of the tribe of Ephraim. He preached in Shemêshât (Samosâta), Pârîn (Perrhê), Zeugma, Hâlâb (Aleppo), Mabbôg (Manbig), and Kenneshrîn (Kinnesrîn). He built a church in Kyrrhos, and died and was buried there.
James, the son of Alphaeus (Halphai), was from the Jordan, of the tribe of Manasseh. He preached in Tadmor (Palmyra), Kirkêsion (Kirkîsiyâ), and Callinîcos (ar-Rakkah), and came to Batnân of Serûg (Sarûg), where he built a church, and died and was buried there.
Judas Iscariot, the betrayer, was from the town of Sekharyût of the tribe of Gad, though some say that he was of the tribe of Dan. He was like unto the serpent that acts deceitfully towards its master, because like a serpent, he dealt craftily with his Lord. Matthias, of the tribe of Reuben, came in in his stead. He preached in Hellas, and in Sicily, where he built a church, and died and was buried in it.
While James the brother of our Lord was teaching the Jews in Jerusalem, they cast him down from a pinnacle of the temple; and while his life was yet in him, a fuller of cloth smote him upon the head with a club and beat it in; and afterwards they stoned him with stones.
John the Baptist was of the tribe of Levi. Herod the tetrarch slew him, and his body was laid in Sebastia.
Ananias (Hananyâ) the disciple of the Baptist taught in Damascus and Arbêl. He was slain by Pôl, the general of the army of Aretas, and was laid in the church which he built at Arbêl (Irbil).
Paul of Tarsus was a Pharisee by sect, of the tribe of Ephraim. When he had been baptised by Ananias, he wrought many miracles, and taught great cities, and bore and suffered dangers not a few for the name of Christ. Afterwards he went to Peter at Rome. When they divided the world between them, and the heathen fell to Paul’s lot, and the Jewish nation to Peter, and they had turned many to the truth of Christ, Nero commanded that they should both die a cruel death. Then Simon asked to be crucified head downwards, that he might kiss that part of the cross where the heels of his Master had been. As they were going forth to be slain, they gave the laying on of hands of the priesthood to their disciples, Peter to Mark, and Paul to Luke. When Peter had been crucified, and Paul slain, together with many of those who had become their disciples, Mark and Luke went forth by night, and brought their bodies into the city. Now Paul’s head was lost among the slain, and could not be found. Sometime after, when a shepherd was passing by the spot where the slain were buried, he found Paul’s head, and took it upon the top of his staff, and laid it by his sheep-fold. At night he saw a fire blazing over it, and he went in (to the city) and informed the holy bishop Xystus (Sixtus) and the clergy of the church; and they all recognised that it was Paul’s head. Xystus said to them, ‘Let us watch and pray the whole night, and let us bring out the body and lay the head at its feet; and if it joins again to its neck, it will be certain that it is Paul’s.’ And when they had done so, the whole body was restored, and the head was joined to its neck as if the vertebrae had never been severed; and those who saw it were amazed and glorified God. From his call to the end of his life was thirty-five years; he went about in every place for thirty-one years; for two years he was in prison at Caesarea, and for two years at Rome. He was martyred in the thirty-sixth year after the Passion of our Lord, and was laid with great honour in the magnificent royal catacombs in Rome. They celebrate every year the day of his commemoration on the twenty-ninth of the month of Tammûz.
Luke the physician and Evangelist was first of all a disciple of Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, and was afterwards baptised by Philip in the city of Beroea. He was crowned with the sword by Hôros, the judge (or governor) of the emperor Tiberius, while he was preaching in Alexandria, and was buried there.
Mark the Evangelist preached in Rome, and died and was buried there. Some say that he was the son of Simon Peter’s wife, others that he was the Son of Simon; and Rhoda was his sister. He was first called John, but the Apostles changed his name and called him Mark, that there might not be two Evangelists of one name.
Addai was from Paneas, and he preached in Edessa and in Mesopotamia in the days of Abgar the king; and he built a church in Edessa. After Abgar died, Herod Abgar’s son slew him in the fortress of Aggêl. His body was afterwards taken and carried to Rome; but some say that he was laid in Edessa.
Aggai his disciple was first of all a maker of silks for Abgar, and became a disciple. After Abgar’s death, his son reigned, and he required of Aggai to weave silks for him; and when he consented not, saying, ‘I cannot forsake teaching and preaching to return to weaving,’ he smote him with a club upon his legs and brake them, and he died.
Thaddaeus (Taddai) came after him at Edessa, and Herod, the son of Abgar, slew him also; he was buried at Edessa.
Zacchaeus (Zaccai) the publican and the young man whom our Lord brought to life were both slain together while they were preaching in Mount Hôrôn.
The Jews smote Simon the leper while he was teaching in Ramah, and he died (there).
Joseph the Senator taught in Galilee and Decapolis; he was buried in his town of Ramah.
Nicodemus the Pharisee, the friend of our Lord, received and honoured the Apostles in Jerusalem; and he died and was buried there.
Nathaniel was stoned while he was teaching in Mount Hôrôn, and died.
Simon the Cyrenian was slain while he was teaching in the island of Chios.
Simon the son of Cleopas became bishop of Jerusalem. When he was an old man, one hundred years of age, Irenaeus the chiliarch crucified him.
Stephen the martyr was stoned with stones at Jerusalem, and his body was laid in the village of Kephar Gamlâ.
Mark, who was surnamed John, taught at Nyssa and Nazianzus. He built a church at Nazianzus, and died and was buried there. Some say that he is the Evangelist, as we have mentioned.
Cephas, whom Paul mentions taught in Baalbec, Hims (Emesa) and Nathrôn (Batharûn). He died and was buried in Shîrâz.
Barnabas taught in Italy and in Kûrâ; he died and was buried in Samos.
Titus taught in Crete, and there he died and was buried.
Sosthenes taught in the country of Pontus and Asia. He was thrown into the sea by the command of Nonnus the prefect.
Criscus (Crescens) taught in Dalmatia; he was imprisoned in Alexandria, where he died of hunger and was buried.
Justus taught in Tiberias and in Caesarea, where he died and was buried.
Andronicus taught in Illyricum, where he died and was buried.
The people of Zeugma slew Rufus while he was teaching in Zeugma.
Patrobas taught in Chalcedon, and he died and was buried there.
Hermas the shepherd taught in Antioch, and he died and was buried there.
Narcissus taught in Hellas, and he died and was buried there.
Asyncritus went to Beth-Hûzâyê (Khûzistân), and there he died and was buried.
Aristobulus taught in Isauria, and there he died and was buried.
Onesimus was the slave of Philemon, and he fled from him and went to Paul, while he was in prison; because of this Paul calls him ‘the son whom I have begotten in my bonds.’ His legs were broken in Rome.
Apollos the elect was burnt with fire by Sparacleus (?), the governor of Gangra.
Olympas, Stachys and Stephen were imprisoned in Tarsus, and there they died in prison.
Junias was captured in Samos, and there he was slain and died.
Theocritus died while teaching in Ilios, and was buried there.
Martalus (?) was slain while teaching the barbarians.
Niger taught in Antioch, and died and was buried there.
They dragged Lucius behind a horse, and thus he ended his life.
While Alexander was teaching in Heracleôpolis, they threw him into a pit and he died.
Milus, while he was teaching in Rhodes, was thrown into the sea and drowned.
Silvanus and Hêrôdiôn (Rhôdiôn) were slain while they were preaching in the city of Accô.
Silas taught in Sarapolis (Hierapolis ?), and died and was buried there.
Timothy taught in Ephesus, and died and was buried there.
Manael was burnt with fire while teaching in Accô, and died.
The Eunuch whom Philip baptised, the officer of Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, went to Ethiopia and preached there. Afterwards, while he was preaching in the island of Parparchia (?), they strangled him with a cord.
Jason and Sosipatrus were thrown to the wild beasts while they were teaching in Olmius (?).
Demas taught in Thessalonica, and there he died and was buried.
Omius (Hymenaeus) taught in Melitene, and there he died and was buried.
They threw Thraseus into a fiery furnace, while he was teaching at Laodicea.
Bistorius (Aristarchus ?) taught in the island of Kô, and there he died and was buried.
Abrios (?) and Môtos (?) went to the country of the Ethiopians, and there they died and were buried.
Levi was slain by Charmus, while he was teaching in Paneas.
Nicetianus (Nicetas) was sawn in two while teaching in Tiberias.
While John and Theodorus were preaching in the theatre of Baalbec, they threw them to the beasts.
The prefect Methalius (?) slew Euchestion (?) and Simon in Byzantium.
Ephraim (Aphrem) taught in Baishân, and he died and was buried there.
Justus was slain at Corinth.
James taught and preached in Nicomedia, and he died and was buried there.
Chapter XLIX
The Names of The Apostles in Order
THE names of the Twelve
Simon Peter; Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee; John his brother; Philip; Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus; Labbaeus, who was surnamed Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananite; Judas Iscariot, in whose stead came in Matthias.
The names of the Seventy
James, the son of Joseph; Simon the son of Cleopas; Cleopas his father; Joses; Simon; Judah; Barnabas; Manaeus (?); Ananias, who baptised Paul; Cephas, who preached at Antioch; Joseph the senator; Nicodemus the archon; Nathaniel the chief scribe; Justus, that is Joseph, who is called Barshabbâ; Silas; Judah; John, surnamed Mark; Mnason, who received Paul; Manaël, the foster-brother of Herod; Simon called Niger; Jason, who is (mentioned) in the Acts (of the Apostles); RufusAlexander; Simon the Cyrenian, their father; Lucius the Cyrenian; another Judah, who is mentioned in the Acts (of the Apostles); Judah, who is called Simon; Eurion (Orion) the splay-footed; Thôrus (?); Thorîsus (?); Zabdon; Zakron. These are the seven who were chosen with Stephen: Philip the Evangelist, who had three daughters that used to prophesy; Stephen; Prochorus; Nicanor; Timon; Parmenas; Nicolaus, the Antiochian proselyte; Andronicus the Greek; Titus; Timothy.
These are the five who were with Peter in Rome: Hermas; Plîgtâ; Patrobas; Asyncritus; Hermas.
These are the six who came with Peter to Cornelius: Criscus (Crescens); Milichus; Kîrîtôn (Crito); Simon; Gaius, who received Paul; Abrazon (?); Apollos.
These are the twelve who were rejected from among the seventy, as Judas Iscariot was from among the twelve, because they absolutely denied our Lord’s divinity at the instigation of Cerinthus. Of these Luke said, ‘They went out from us, but they were not of us;’ and Paul called them ‘false apostles and deceitful workers.’ Simon; Levi; Bar-Kubbâ; Cleon; Hymenaeus; Candarus; Clithon (?); Demas; Narcissus; Slîkîspus (?); Thaddaeus; Mârûthâ. In their stead there came in these: Luke the physician; Apollos the elect; Ampelius; Urbanus; Stachys; Popillius (or Publius); Aristobulus; Stephen (not the Corinthian); Herodion the son of Narcissus; Olympas; Mark the Evangelist; Addai; Aggai; Mâr Mâri.
It is said that each one of the twelve and of the seventy wrote a Gospel; but in order that there might be no contention and that the number of ‘Acts’ might not be multiplied, the apostles adopted a plan and chose two of the seventy, Luke and Mark, and two of the twelve, Matthew and John.
Chapter L
Of some Minor Matters
THESE are they who were married among the apostles: Peter, the chief of the apostles; Philip the Evangelist; Paul; Nathaniel, who is Bartholomew; Labbaeus, who is Thaddaeus, who is Judah the son of Jacob; Simon the Cananite, who is Zelotes, who is Judah the son of Simon.
The child whom our Lord called and set (in the midst), and said, ‘Except ye be converted, and become as children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven,’ was Ignatius, who became patriarch of Antioch. He saw in a vision the angels ministering in two bands, and he ordained that (men) should minister in the church in like manner. After some time this order was broken through; and when Diodorus went with his father on an embassy to the land of Persia, and saw that they ministered in two bands, he came to Antioch his country, and re-established the custom of their ministering in two bands.
The children whom they brought near to our Lord, that He might lay His hand upon them and pray, were Timothy and Titus, and they were deemed worthy of the office of bishop.
The names of the Maries who are mentioned in the Gospels. Mary the Virgin, the mother of our Lord; Mary the wife of Joseph; Mary the mother of Cleopas and Joseph; Mary the wife of Peter, the mother of Mark the Evangelist; and Mary the sister of Lazarus. Some say that Mary the sinner is Mary of Magdala; but others do not agree with this, and say that she was other than the Magdalene. Those who say that she was the Magdalene tell us that she built herself a tower with the wages of fornication; and those who say that she was other than the Magdalene, say that Mary Magdalene was called after the name of her town Magdala, and that she was a pure and holy woman.
Chapter LI
The Names of The Eastern Catholics, the Successors of The Apostles Addai and Mârî
1. Addai was buried in Edessa.
2. Mârî (was buried) in the convent of Kônî.
3. Abrîs, called in Greek A[m]brosius; the place of his grave is unknown; he was of the laying on of hands of Antioch.
4. Abraham was of the laying on of hands of Antioch; he was descended from the family of Jacob the son of Joseph; his grave is in Ctesiphon.
5. James, of the laying on of hands of Antioch, was also of the family of Joseph the husband of Mary; his grave is in Ctesiphon.
6. Ahâ-d´abû[hî] was of the laying on of hands of Antioch; his grave is in Ctesiphon.
7. Shahlûphâ was of the laying on of hands of Ctesiphon, and he was buried there.
8. Pâpâ; his grave is at Ctesiphon.
9. Simon bar Sabbâ`ê was martyred at Shôshân.
10. Shah-dôst was buried in Ctesiphon.
11. Bar-Be`esh-shemîn was martyred and buried in Elam (Khûzistân).
12. Tûmarsâ was buried in Ctesiphon.
13. Kâyômâ was buried in Ctesiphon; he abdicated the patriarchate, and another was put in his place, and was before him until he died.
14. Isaac was buried in Ctesiphon.
15. Ahâ was buried in Ctesiphon.
16. Yab-alâhâ was of the school of Mâr `Abdâ; he was buried in Ctesiphon.
17. Ma`nâ dwelt in Persia and was buried there.
18. Dâd-îshô` was buried in Hêrtâ. In his days the strife between Nestorius and Cyril (of Alexandria) took place.
19. Bâbôi was martyred and buried in Hêrtâ.
20. Akak (Acacius) was of the family of Bâbôi the Catholicus; he was buried in al-Madâïn.
21. Bâbai took a wife, and was buried at Ctesiphon,
22. Shîlâ took a wife, and was buried in his convent beside Awânâ.
23. Paul was buried in Ctesiphon.
24. Mâr(î)-abâ was buried in Hêrtâ, and was a martyr without bloodshed.
25. Ezekiel was buried in Hêrtâ.
26. Îshô`-yab of Arzôn was buried in Hêrtâ.
27. Sabr-îshô` was buried in Hêrtâ.
28. Gregory was buried in . . . . . .
29. Îshô`-yab of Gedâlâ was buried in . . . . . .
30. Mâr[î]-emmêh was buried in Ketîmiyâ (?).
31. Îshô`-yab of Adiabene was buried in Bêth-`Âbê.
32. George was buried in . . . . . .
33. John was buried in . . . . . .
34. Henân-îshô` was buried in . . . . . .
35. Selîbâ-zekhâ was buried in Ctesiphon.
36. Pethiôn was buried in Ctesiphon.
37. Mâr[î]-abâ was buried in al-Madâïn.
38. Jacob was buried in . . . . . .
39. Henân-îshô` was buried in . . . . . .
40. Timothy was buried in his own convent.
41. Îshô` (Joshua) the son of Nôn (Nun) was buried in the convent of Timothy.
42. George was buried in the same convent.
43. Sabr-îshô`3 was buried in the same convent.
44. Abraham was buried in the same convent.
45. Athanasius was buried in the same convent.
46. Sergius was buried in the same convent.
47. Anôsh (Enos) was buried in the same convent.
48. John the son of Narsai was buried in the Greek Palace (at Baghdâd).
49. Joannes was buried in the Greek Palace.
50. John was buried in the Greek Palace.
51. Abraham was buried in the convent of `Abdôn.
52. Emmanuel was buried in the Greek Palace.
53. Israel was buried in the Greek Palace.
54. `Abd-îshô` was buried in the Greek Palace.
55. Mârî was buried in the Greek Palace.
56. Joannes was buried in the Greek Palace.
57. John was buried in the Greek Palace.
58. Îshô`-yab was buried in the Grek Palace.
59. Elijah (Elîyâ) was buried in the Greek Palace.
60. John was buried in the Greek Palace.
61. Sabr-îshô` was buried in the Greek Palace.
62. `Abd-îshô` was buried in the Greek Palace.
63. Makkîkhâ was buried in the Greek Palace.
64. Elijah (Elîyâ) was buried in the Greek Palace.
65. Bar-saumâ was buried in the Greek Palace.
66. `Abd-îshô` was buried . . . . . .
67. Îshô`-yab was buried in the church of Mâr Sabr-îshô`.
68. Elijah (Elîyâ) was buried in the church of Mâr Sabr-îshô`.
69. Yab-alâhâ was buried in the church of Mârt[î] Maryam (my lady Mary).
70. Sabr-îshô` was buried in the church of Mârt[î] Maryam.
71. Sabr-îshô` was buried . . . . . .
72. [Mâr Makkîkhâ was buried . . . . . .
73. Mâr Denhâ was buried . . . . . .
74. Mâr Yab-alâhâ the Turk was buried . . . . . .
75. Mâr Timothy was buried . . . . . .
76. Mâr Denhâ was buried . . . . . .
77. Mâr Simon was buried . . . . . .
78. Mâr Elijah (Elîyâ) was buried . . . . . .
79. Mâr Simon of our days, may he live for ever!]
The names of the Catholics who were deposed and dismissed (from office): Mâr(î)-bôkht, Narsai, Elisha, Joseph and Sôrên.
Chapter LII
The Names of the Kings who have Reigned in the World from the Flood until Now
The Median Kings Who Reigned In Babylon
Darius the son of Vashtasp (Hystaspes) reigned 24 years.
Ahshîresh (Xerxes) his son, 20 years.
Artahshisht the long-hand (Artaxerxes Longimanus), 41 years.
Daryâwash (Darius) the son of the concubine, 20 years.
Artahshisht (Artaxerxes) the ruler, 30 years.
Arses the son of Ochus, 4 years.
Daryâwash (Darius) the son of Ârsham (Arsanes), 6 years.
The Years Of The Egyptian Kings
Alexander the son of Philip, 12 years. Ptolemy the son of Lagôs, 40 years. Ptolemy Philadelphus, 38 years. In his third year the fifth millennium ended. This (king) asked the captive Jews who were in Egypt, and seventy old men translated the Scriptures for him, from Hebrew into Greek, in the island of Pharos. In return for this he set them free, and gave back to them also the vessels of their temple. Their names are these. Josephus, Hezekiah, Zechariah, John, Ezekiel, Elisha; these were of the tribe of Reuben. Judah, Simon, Samuel, Addai, Mattathias, Shalmî; these were of the tribe of Simeon. Nehemiah, Joseph, Theodosius, Bâsâ, Adonijah, Dâkî; these were of the tribe of Levi. Jothan, Abdî, Elisha, Ananias, Zechariah, Hilkiah; these were of the tribe of Judah. Isaac, Jacob, Jesus, Sambât (Sabbateus), Simon, Levi; these were of the tribe of Issachar. Judah, Joseph, Simon, Zechariah, Samuel, Shamlî; these were of the tribe of Zebulon. Sambât (Sabbateus), Zedekiah, Jacob, Isaac, Jesse, Matthias; these were of the tribe of Gad. Theodosius, Jason, Joshua, John, Theodotus, Jothan; these were of the tribe of Asher. Abraham, Theophilus, Arsam, Jason, Jeremiah, Daniel; these were of the tribe of Dan. Jeremiah, Eliezer, Zechariah, Benaiah, Elisha, Dathî; these were of the tribe of Naphtali. Samuel, Josephus, Judah, Jonathan, Dositheus, Caleb; these were of the tribe of Joseph. Isalus, John, Theodosius, Arsam, Abijah, Ezekiel; these were of the tribe of Benjamin.
After Ptolemy Philadelphus arose Ptolemy Euergetes; (he reigned) 26 years.
Ptolemy Philopator, 17 years.
Ptolemy Epiphanes, 24 years.
Ptolemy Philometor, 35 years. The time of the Maccabees extended to this (reign), and in it the old Covenant came to an end.
Ptolemy Soter, 17 years.
Ptolemy Alexander, 18 years.
Ptolemy Dionysius, 30 years.
The Years Of The Roman Emperors
Gaius Julius, 4 years.
Augustus, 57 years. In the forty-third year of his reign our Lord Christ was born.
Tiberius, 23 years. In the fifteenth year of his reign our Lord was baptised; and in the seventeenth year He suffered, died, rose again, and ascended to heaven.
Gaius (Caligula), 4 years.
Claudius, 14 years.
Nero, 14 years.
Vespasian, 10 years. Immediately after he came to the throne, he sent his son Titus against Jerusalem, and he besieged it for two years, until he uprooted it and destroyed it.
Titus, 2 years.
Domitian, 15 years.
Trajan, 20 years. John, the son of Zebedee, lived until the seventh year of his reign.
Hadrian, 20 years.
Antoninus, 20 years.
Verus, 20 years.
Commodus, 14 years.
Severus, 20 years.
The house of Antoninus.
Alexander the son of Mammaea, 13 years.
Maximinius and Gordianus, 9 years.
Philip and Gallus, 10 years.
Valerianus and Gallius (Gallienus), 15 years.
Claudius and Tacitus, 16 years.
Diocletian and those that were with him, 20 years.
Constantine, 33 years.
THE KINGS OF THE PERSIANS FROM SHÂBÔR (SAPOR) THE SON OF HORMIZD
In the fourth year of Constantine Caesar the Victorious, Shâbôr reigned in Persia 70 years.
Ardashîr his brother, 20 years.
Vahrân (Bahrâm) and Shâbôr, the sons of Ardashîr, 20 years.
Yazdagerd, the son of Shâbôr, 20 years.
Vahrân (Bahrâm), the son of Yazdagerd, 20 years.
Pêrôz, the son of Yazdagerd, 27 years.
Balâsh, the son of Pêrôz, 4 years.
Kawâd, the son of Pêrôz, 41 years.
Chosrau, the son of Kawâd, 47 years.
Hormizd, the son of Chosrau, 12 years.
From Shâbôr to this fifteenth year of Chosrau the son of Hormizd, in which he destroyed Dârâ, is three hundred and six years. The sum of all the years from Adam to this fifteenth year of Chosrau the conqueror, which is the nine hundred and sixteenth year of the Greeks, is 5861 years. From Adam to the Crucifixion is 5280 years. The whole of the Jewish economy therefore, from the time they went out of Egypt until Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus, was 1601 years. From Abraham to this year is 2031 years.
Of The Years That Have Passed Away From The World
From Adam to the Flood was 2262 years. From the Flood to Abraham was 1015 years. From Abraham to the Exodus of the people from Egypt was 430 years. From the Exodus of the people by the hand of Moses to Solomon and the building of the Temple was 400 years. From Solomon to the first Captivity, which Nebuchadnezzar led away captive, was 495 years. From the first Captivity to the prophesying of Daniel was 180 years. From the prophesying of Daniel to the Birth of our Lord was 483 years. All these years make 5345 years. From Alexander to our Lord was 303 years. From our Lord to Constantine was 341 years. In the year 438 of Alexander the Macedonian, the kingdom of the Persians had its beginning. Know, O my brother readers, that from the beginning of the creation of Adam to Alexander was 5180 years.
Chapter LIII
Of the End of Times and the Change of Kingdoms; from the Book of Methodius, Bishop of Rome
IN this seventh and last millennium will the kingdom of the Persians be destroyed. In it will the children of Ishmael go forth from the wilderness of Yathrib (al-Medînah), and they will all come and be gathered together in Gibeah of Ramah, and there shall the fat ones of the kingdom of the Greeks, who destroyed the kingdoms of the Hebrews and the Persians, be destroyed by Ishmael, the wild ass of the desert; for in wrath shall he be sent against the whole earth, against man and beast and trees, and it shall be a merciless chastisement. It is not because God loves them that He has allowed them to enter into the kingdoms of the Christians, but by reason of the iniquity and sin which is wrought by the Christians, the like of which has never been wrought in any one of the former generations. They are mad with drunkenness and anger and shameless lasciviousness; they have intercourse with one another wickedly, a man and his son committing fornication with one woman, the brother with his brother’s wife, male with male, and female with female, contrary to the law of nature and of Scripture, as the blessed Paul has said, ‘Male with male did work shame, and likewise also the women did work lewdness, and, contrary to nature, had intercourse with one another.’ Therefore they have brought upon themselves the recompense of punishment which is meet for their error, women as well as men, and hence God will deliver them over to the impurity of the barbarians, that their wives may be polluted by the sons of pollution, and men may be subjected to the yoke of tribute; then shall men sell everything that they have and give it to them, but shall not be able to pay the debt of the tribute, until they give also their children to them into slavery. And the tyrant shall exalt himself until he demands tribute and poll-tax from the dead that lie in the dust, first oppressing the orphans and defrauding the widows. They will have no pity upon the poor, nor will they spare the miserable; they will not relieve the afflicted; they will smite the grey hairs of the aged, despise the wise, and honour fools; they will mock at those who frame laws, and the little shall be esteemed as the great, and the despised as the honourable; their words shall cut like swords, and there is none who shall be able to change the persuasive force of their words. The path of their chastisement shall be from sea to sea, and from east to west, and from north to south, and to the wilderness of Yathrib. In their latter days there shall be great tribulation, old men and old women hungering and thirsting, and tortured in bonds until they account the dead happy. They will rip up the pregnant woman, and tear infants away from their mothers’ bosoms and sell them like beasts, and those that are of no use to them will they dash against the stones. They will slay the priests and deacons in the sanctuary, and they will lie with their wives in the houses of God. They will make clothes for themselves and their wives out of the holy vestments, and they will spread them upon their horses, and work impurity upon them in their beds. They will bring their cattle into the churches and altars, and they will tie up their dogs by the shrines of the saints. In those days the spirit of the righteous and of them that are well versed in signs will be grieved. The feeble will deny the true faith, the holy Cross, and the life-giving mysteries; and without compulsion many will deny Christ, and become rebels and slanderers and boasters, denying the faith. With this chastisement shall the Christians be tried. For at that time the righteous, the humble, the peaceful and the gentle will not be sought after, but liars and slanderers and accusers and disturbers and the obscene and those who are destitute of mercy, and those who scoff at their parents and blaspheme the life-giving mysteries. And the true believers shall come into troubles and persecutions until they despair of their lives. Honour shall be taken away from the priests, and the pastors shall become as the people. When the measure of their (i.e. the Ishmaelites’) victory is full, tribulation will increase, and chastisement will be doubled upon man and beast. And there shall be a great famine, and the dead bodies of men shall lie in the streets and squares without any one to bury them, and (just) reckoning shall vanish and disappear from the earth, And men shall sell their brass and their iron and their clothes, and shall give their sons and their daughters willingly to the heathen. A man shall lie down in the evening and rise in the morning, and shall find at his do or two or three exactors and officers to carry off by force; and two or three women shall throw themselves upon one man and say, ‘We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel, only let us take refuge beneath thy skirts.’ When men are oppressed and beaten, and hunger and thirst, and are tormented by that bitter chastisement; while the tyrants shall live luxuriously and enjoy themselves, and eat and drink, and boast in the victory they have won, having destroyed nations and peoples, and shall adorn themselves like brides, saying, ‘The Christians have neither a God nor a deliverer;’ then all of a sudden there shall be raised up against them pains like those of a woman in childbirth; and the king of the Greeks shall go forth against them in great wrath, and he shall rouse himself like a man who has shaken off his wine. He shall go forth against them from the sea of the Cushites, and shall cast the sword and destruction into the wilderness of Yathrib and into the dwelling-place of their fathers. They shall carry off captive their wives and sons and daughters into the service of slavery, and fear of all those round about them shall fall upon them, and they shall all be delivered into the hand of the king of the Greeks, and shall be given over to the sword and to captivity and to slaughter, and their latter subjection shall be one hundred times more severe than their (former) yoke. They shall be in sore tribulation from hunger and thirst and anxiety; they shall be slaves unto those who served them, and bitter shall their slavery be. Then shall the earth which has become desolate of its inhabitants find peace, and the remnant that is left shall return every man to his own land and to the inheritance of his fathers; and men shall increase like locusts upon the earth which was laid waste. Egypt shall be ravaged, Arabia shall be burnt with fire, the land of Hebron shall be laid waste, and the tongue of the sea shall be at peace. All the wrath and anger of the king of the Greeks shall have full course upon those who have denied Christ. And there shall be great peace on earth, the like of which has not been from the creation of the world until its end; for it is the last peace. And there shall be great joy on earth, and men shall dwell in peace and quiet; convents and churches shall be restored, cities shall be built, the priests shall be freed from taxes, and men shall rest from labour and anxiety of heart. They shall eat and drink; there shall be neither pain nor care; and they shall marry wives and beget children during that true peace. Then shall the gates of the north be opened, and the nations shall go forth that were imprisoned there by Alexander the king.
Chapter LIV
Of Gog and Magog, who are imprisoned in the North
WHEN Alexander was king and had subdued countries and cities, and had arrived in the East, he saw on the confines of the East those men who are of the children of Japhet. They were more wicked and unclean than all (other) dwellers in the world; filthy peoples of hideous appearance, who ate mice and the creeping things of the earth and snakes and scorpions. They never buried the bodies of their dead, and they ate as dainties the children which women aborted and the after-birth. People ignorant of God, and unacquainted with the power of reason, but who lived in this world without understanding like ravening beasts. When Alexander saw their wickedness, he called God to his aid, and he gathered together and brought them and their wives and children, and made them go in, and shut them up within the confines of the North. This is the gate of the world on the north, and there is no other entrance or exit from the confines of the world from the east to the north. And Alexander prayed to God with tears, and God heard his prayer and commanded those two lofty mountains which are called ‘the children of the north,’ and they drew nigh to one another until there remained between them about twelve cubits. Then he built in front of them a strong building, and be made for it a door of brass, and anointed it within and without with oil of Thesnaktîs, so that if they should bring iron (implements) near it to force it open, they would be unable to move it; and if they wished to melt it with fire, it would quench it; and it feared neither the operations of devils nor of sorcerers, and was not to be overcome (by them). Now there were twenty-two kingdoms imprisoned within the northern gate, and tbeir names are these: Gôg, Mâgôg, Nâwâl, Eshkenâz, Denâphâr, Paktâyê, Welôtâyê, Humnâyê, Parzâyê, Daklâyê, Thaubelâyê, Darmetâyê, Kawkebâyê, Dog-men (Cynocephali), Emderâthâ, Garmîdô`, Cannibals, Therkâyê, Âlânâyê, Pîsîlôn, Denkâyê, Saltrâyê. At the end of the world and at the final consummation, when men are eating and drinking and marrying wives, and women are given to husbands; when they are planting vineyards and building buildings, and there is neither wicked man nor adversary, on account of the assured tranquillity and certain peace; suddenly the gates of the north shall be opened and the hosts of the nations that are imprisoned there shall go forth. The whole earth shall tremble before them, and men shall flee and take refuge in the mountains and in caves and in burial places and in clefts of the earth; and they shall die of hunger; and there will be none to bury them, by reason of the multitude of afflictions which they will make men suffer. They will eat the flesh of men and drink the blood of animals; they will devour the creeping things of the earth, and hunt for serpents and scorpions and reptiles that shoot out venom, and eat them. They will eat dead dogs and cats, and the abortions of women with the after-birth; they will give mothers the bodies of their children to cook, and they will eat them before them without shame. They will destroy the earth, and there will be none able to stand before them. After one week of that sore affliction, they will all be destroyed in the plain of Joppa, for thither will all those (people) be gathered together, with their wives and their sons and their daughters; and by the command of God one of the hosts of the angels will descend and will destroy them in one moment.
Chapter LV
Of the Coming of the Antichrist, the Son of Perdition
IN a week and half a week after the destruction of these wretches shall the son of destruction appear. He shall be conceived in Chorazin, born in Bethsaida, and reared in Capernaum. Chorazin shall exult because he was conceived in her, Bethsaida because he was born in her, and Capernaum because he was brought up in her; for this reason our Lord proclaimed Woe to these three (cities) in the Gospel. As soon as the son of perdition is revealed, the king of the Greeks will go up and stand upon Golgotha, where our Lord was crucified; and he will set the royal crown upon the top of the holy Cross, upon which our Lord was crucified; and he will stretch out his two hands to heaven; and will deliver over the kingdom to God the Father. The holy Cross will be taken up to heaven, and the royal crown with it; and the king will die immediately. The king who shall deliver over the kingdom to God will be descended from the seed of Kûshath the daughter of Pîl, the king of the Ethiopians; for Armelaus (Romulus) the king of the Greeks took Kûshath to wife, and the seed of the Ethiopians was mingled with that of the Greeks. From this seed shall a king arise who shall deliver the kingdom over to God, as the blessed David has said, ‘Cush will deliver the power to God.’ When the Cross is raised up to heaven, straightway shall every head and every ruler and all powers be brought to nought, and God will withdraw His providential care from the earth. The heavens will be prevented from letting fall rain, and the earth from producing germs and plants; and the earth shall remain like iron through drought, and the heavens like brass. Then will the son of perdition appear, of the seed and of the tribe of Dan; and he will shew deluding phantasms, and lead astray the world, for the simple will see the lepers cleansed, the blind with their eyes opened, the paralytic walking, the devils cast out, the sun when he looks upon it becoming black, the moon when he commands it becoming changed, the trees putting forth fruit from their branches, and the earth making roots to grow. He will shew deluding phantasms (of this kind), but he will not be able to raise the dead. He will go into Jerusalem and will sit upon a throne in the temple saying, ‘I am the Christ;’ and he will be borne aloft by legions of devils like a king and a lawgiver, naming himself God, and saying, ‘I am the fulfilment of the types and the parables.’ He will put an end to prayers and offerings, as if at his appearance prayers are to be abolished and men will not need sacrifices and offerings along with him. He becomes a man incarnate by a married woman of the tribe of Dan. When this son of destruction becomes a man, he will be made a dwelling-place for devils, and all Satanic workings will be perfected in him. There will be gathered together with him all the devils and all the hosts of the Indians; and before all the Indians and before all men will the mad Jewish nation believe in him, saying, ‘This is the Christ, the expectation of the world.’ The time of the error of the Antichrist will last two years and a half, but others say three years and six months. And when every one is standing in despair, then will Elijah (Elias) come from Paradise, and convict the deceiver, and turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to the fathers; and he will encourage and strengthen the hearts of the believers.
Chapter LVI
Of Death and the Departure of the Soul from the Body
THE foundation of all good and precious things, of all the greatness of God’s gifts, of His true love, and of our arriving in His presence, is Death. Men die in five ways. Naturally; as David said, ‘Unless his day come and he die,’ alluding to Saul. Voluntarily; as when Saul killed himself in the battle with the Philistines. By accident; such as a fall from a roof, and other fatal accidents. By violence, from devils and men and wild beasts and venomous reptiles. By (divine) chastisement; as the flood in the days of Noah, and the fire which fell upon the Sodomites, and other such like things. But (side by side) with all these kinds of fatalities runs the providence of God’s government, which cannot be comprehended by the creatures, restraining (them) where it is meet (to restrain), and letting (them) loose where it is fitting (to let loose). This government is not comprehended in this world, neither by angels nor by men; but in the world which is to come all rational beings will know it. When the soul goes forth from the body, as Abbâ Isaiah says, the angels go with it: then the hosts of darkness go forth to meet it, seeking to seize it and examine it, if there be anything of theirs in it. Then the angels do not fight with them, but those deeds which the soul has wrought protect it and guard it, that they come not near it. If its deeds be victorious, then the angels sing praises before it until it meets God with joy. In that hour the soul forgets every deed of this world. Consequently, no one who does not obtain remission (of sins) in this world can be free from the penalty of examination in that day. Not that there is torture or pleasure or recompense before the resurrection; but the soul knows everything that it has done whether of good or evil.
As to where the souls abide from the time they leave their bodies until the resurrection, some say that they are taken up to heaven, that is, to the region of spirit, where the celestial hosts dwell. Others say that they go to Paradise, that is, to the place which is abundantly supplied with the good things of the mystery of the revelations of God; and that the souls of sinners lie in darkness in the abyss of Eden outside Paradise. Others say that they are buried with their bodies; that is to say, as the two were buried in God at baptism, so also will they now dwell in Him until the day of the resurrection. Others say that they stand at the mouth of the graves and await their Redeemer; that is to say, they possess the knowledge of the resurrection of their bodies. Others say that they are as it were in a slumber, because of the shortness of the time; for they point out in regard to them that what seems to us a very long time is to them as a momentary nod (or wink) in its shortness. And just as he that is sunk in slumber departs from the life of this world, and yet does not arrive at absolute mortality, so also are they in an intermediate knowledge which is higher than that of this world, and yet attain not to that which is after the resurrection. Those who say that they are like an infant which has no knowledge, shew that they call even the knowledge of the truth ignorance in comparison with that knowledge of the truth which shall be bestowed upon them after the resurrection.
That the souls of the righteous pray, and that their prayers assist those who take refuge with them, may be learned from many, especially from Mâr Theodore in his account of the blessed Thecla. Therefore it is right for those who have a holy man for a friend, to rejoice when he goes to our Lord in Paradise, because their friend has the power to help them by his prayers. Like the blind disciple of one of the saints mentioned in the Book of the Paradise, who, when his master was dying, wept bitterly and said, ‘To whose care dost thou leave the poor blind man?’ And his master encouraged him, and said to him, ‘I believe in God that, if I find mercy in His sight, at the end of a week thou wilt see;’ and after some days he did see. The souls of the righteous also hold spiritual conversation with each other, according to the Divine permission and command which moves them to this by necessary causes. Neither those who have departed this life in the flesh are hindered from this (intercourse), nor those who are still clad in their fleshly garments, if they live their life in them holily.
Chapter LVII
Of the Quickening and the General Resurrection, the Consummation of the Material World and the Beginning of the New World
AFTER Elijah comes and conquers the son of destruction, and encourages the believers, for a space and a time which is known to God alone, there will appear the living sign of our Lord’s Cross, honoured and borne aloft in the hands of the Archangel Gabriel. Its light will overpower the light of the sun, to the reproach and putting to shame of the infidels and the crucifying Jews. As soon as the life-giving Cross appears before our Lord, as the Doctor saith, ‘His victory comes before Him,’ etc., then a powerful light will fill the whole vaulted space between the heavens and the earth, the radiance and light whereof will be above all (other) lights; and suddenly will the mighty sound of the first trumpet of the Archangel be heard, concerning which our Lord said, ‘At midnight there will be a cry, “Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet Him.”‘ At this trumpet the sun shall become dark, the moon shall not display its light, the stars shall drop from the heavens like leaves, and the powers of the heavens shall be moved. The earth shall totter and tremble, the mountains and hills shall melt, the sea shall be disturbed and shall cause terrible sounds to be heard. The rivers shall submerge the earth, the trees shall be uprooted, buildings shall fall, towns and villages shall be overturned, and high walls and strong towers shall be thrown down. The wild beasts and cattle and fowl and fish shall come to an end and perish; and everything shall be destroyed, except a few human beings who shall remain alive, and whom the resurrection shall overtake, of whom Paul has said, ‘We who are left shall not overtake them that sleep,’ meaning to say that those who are found alive at the time of the resurrection will not sleep the sleep of death; as the apostle says again, ‘Behold I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.’ As touching the heavens, some say that they will be rent, and that the waters which are above the firmament will descend, for it is not possible for the substance of water to pass through the substance of the firmament. Others say that as water passes through a tree or a piece of pottery, and sweat through the skin, so also will men enter into heaven and not be prevented, and (in like manner too) will the waters descend from above. Others say that the firmament will be rolled up like the curtain of a tent.
The second trumpet is that at the sound of which the firmament will be opened, and our Lord will appear from heaven in splendour and great glory. He will come down with the glory of His divinity as far as two-thirds of the distance between the firmament and the earth, whither Paul ascended in the spirit of revelation. He will then make an end of the son of perdition, and destroy him body and soul, and He will hurl Satan and the devils into Gehenna.
The third trumpet is the last, at which the dead will rise, and the living be changed, as the blessed Paul says, ‘Swiftly, as in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet when it sounds; and the dead shall rise without corruption, and we shall be changed.’ So swiftly and speedily will the resurrection of all men be wrought, according to the spiritual nature of the new world. For the swiftness of the resurrection will surpass the swiftness of understanding, and the spiritual hosts alone see and know in what manner it will take place, every man being suddenly found standing in his spirituality. Some men therefore have a tradition that the resurrection of the righteous and the just and the believers will precede that of other men, who are remote from the true faith; but according to the opinion of the truthful and of people generally, the resurrection of the whole human race will take place quicker than lightning and than the twinkling of an eye; from the generation of Adam to the latest generation they shall rise at the last trumpet. And though, according to the opinion of the Expositor, many sounds will be heard on that night, each one of which is a sign of what will happen, yet, according to the consent of the greater part of the expositors and of Scripture, three distinct trumpets will sound by which the whole work of the resurrection will be completed and finished. Michael the expositor and exegete, however, says otherwise in the book of Questions, speaking as follows: ‘The world will not pass away and be dissolved before the vivification of the dead, but the coming of our Lord will be seen first of all, who will come with the spiritual hosts; and immediately our Lord’s power will compel the earth to give up the parts of the bodies of men who have been slain and have become dust and ashes within it; and there will be a making ready and preparation of the souls to receive their bodies all together. If, before the vivification of the dead, the world and all that is therein were to pass away, from whence pray would the dead rise? Those who say that the world will pass away before the vivification of the dead are fools and simpletons; for Christ will not make the world pass away before the vivification of the dead, but He will first of all raise the dead, and men will see with their eyes the passing away of the world, the uprooting of the elements, and the destruction of the heavens and the earth and the sun and the moon and the stars; and from here sorrow will begin to reign in the mind of the wicked, and endless joy in the mind of the righteous.
Chapter LVIII
Of the Manner and State in which Men will Rise in the Day of The Resurrection
ALL classes and conditions of men will rise from the dead in the state of the perfect form of Christ, about thirty-three years of age, even as our Redeemer rose from the grave. We shall rise with all our limbs perfect, and with the same constitutions, without addition or diminution. Some say that the hair and nails and prepuce will rise, and some say they will not; as if they were superfluous for the completion of the nature of man. Some say concerning the resurrection that a likeness only will rise, without parts and without the composition of the limbs of man; a mere similitude of hands and feet and hardness of bones. Others say that the whole man will be cast into one crystalline substance, and that all his parts will be mingled together; and they do not grant him an ordered arrangement of composition. Others say that the vessels which are inside the belly, such as the bowels, liver, etc., will not rise; but they err and stray from the truth, and do not understand that if one of the parts of the body perish, it is not perfect. For Paul shewed plainly and laid down an example of the resurrection in the grain of wheat: just as that grows up entire with its glory, without any portion of it having perished, even so we; for the whole man shall rise with all his limbs and parts, and ordered in his composition as now, only having acquired purification from the humours. And this is not surprising, that if an earthen vessel acquires firmness and lightness when it goes into the fiery furnace, without any change taking place in its shape or form, but is lightened of its heaviness and density, whilst it preserves its shape uninjured; so also should the Holy Spirit burn us in the furnace of the resurrection and drive forth from us all the foul material of the present (life), and clothe us with incorruptibility. ‘It is sown an animal body; it rises a spiritual body.’ We shall neither see nor hear with all our bodily members, although some men have thought that the whole man will be sight and hearing; but we shall carry out action with these same usual limbs, if it happen to be necessary; although we shall not there need speech and conversation with one another, because each other’s secrets will be revealed to us.
The things which certain stupid men invent, who indulge their fancy, and give bodily form to the punishment of sinners and the reward of the just and righteous, and say that there is at the resurrection a reckoning and a pair of scales, the Church does not receive; but each one of us carries his light and his fire within him, and his heaviness and his lightness is round in his own pature. Just as stone and iron naturally possess the property of falling to the earth, and as the air naturally ascends upward on account of its rarity and its lightness; so also in the resurrection, he that is heavy and lying in sins, his sins will bring him down; and he that is free from the rust of sin, his purity will make him rise in the scale. And our Lord will ascend to heaven, and the angels (will go) before Him like ambassadors, and the just and the righteous will be upon His right hand and His left, and the children behind Him in the form of the life-giving Cross.
Chapter LIX
Of The Happiness of The Righteous and the Torment of Sinners, and in What State they are There
IT is right for us to know and explain how those suffer, who suffer in Gehenna. If they do suffer, how can we say that they are impassible? and if they do not suffer, then there is no torture for sinners; and if there be no torture for sinners in proportion to their sins, neither can there be happiness for the righteous as a reward for their labours. The suffering wherewith the Fathers say that sinners will suffer in Gehenna is not one that will pain the limbs, such as the blows of sticks, the mutilation of the flesh, and the breaking of the bones, but one that will afflict the soul, such as grief for the transgression of what is right, repentance for shameful deeds, and banishment from one to whom he is bound in love and for whom his affection is strong. For in the resurrection we shall not be without perception, like the sun which perceives not his splendour, nor the moon her brilliancy, nor the pearl its beauty; but by the power of reason we shall feel perfectly the delight of our happiness or the keen pain of our torture. So then by that which enables the righteous to perceive the pleasure of their happiness, by that selfsame thing will the wicked also perceive the suffering of their torment; (that is) by the power capable of receiving pleasure, which is the intelligence. Hence it is right for us to be certain that intelligence will not be taken away from us, but it will receive the utmost purification and refinement. The glorious and good things of the world which is to come are not to be compared with those of this world; for if all the glorious and good things and delights of this world were given to us in the world which is to come, we should look upon them as hateful and abominable, and they would not be able to give us pleasure or to gladden us; and our nature by the blessedness of its immortality would be exalted above all their glory and desirability. And if all the torments and afflictions and troubles of this world were brought near to us in the world which is to come, the pain of them would make no impression upon our immortal and immutable nature. Hence the pleasure of that world is something beyond all comparison more glorious and excellent and exalted than those of this world; and the torment of yonder is likewise something beyond all comparison more severe and more bitter than any that is here.
It is also right for us to explain the quality of the light of the righteous. The light of the righteous is not of a natural origin like this elemental light (of ours), but some of the light of our Lord–whose splendour surpasses ten thousand suns–is diffused and shed upon them. Each saint shines in proportion to his purity, and holiness and refinement and sincerity, as the blessed Paul has said, ‘One star surpasseth another in glory, so also is the resurrection of the dead.’ And although all the saints will be happy in one kingdom, yet he who is near to the King or the Bridegroom will be separated from him whose place is at the end of the guest-chamber, even though his place be in the same chamber. So also with the sinners in Gehenna; their sentence will not be alike, for in proportion to the sin of each will be his torment. And as the light of the sun is not to be compared with the light of the moon, nor is the light of the moon like that of the stars, so also will the happiness of the righteous be, although the name and honour of righteousness be laid upon and spread over all of them. And as the light of our Lord’s humanity will pass over all our limbs without distinction, and take the place of dress and ornament for us, so also with all our members shall we perceive the suffering and torment of Gehenna. The festal garments which our Lord has prepared for His saints, the children of light, are impassibility; and the filthy garments which hinder us from entering into the spiritual bridal-chamber are the passions. In the new world there will be no distinctive names for ranks and conditions of human beings; and as every name and surname attributed to God and the angels had its origin from this world, and names for human beings were assigned and distributed by the government of this world, in the world of spiritual and intellectual natures there will be neither names nor surnames among them, nor male nor female, nor slave nor free, nor child nor old man, nor Ethiopian nor Roman (Greek); but they will all rise in the one perfect form of a man thirty-three years of age, as our Lord rose from the dead. In the world to come there will be no companies or bands but two; the one of the angels and the righteous, who will mingle and form one Church, and the other of the devils and sinners in Gehenna.
Chapter LX
Whether Mercy will be Shewn to Sinners and the Devils in Gehenna, after they have been Tormented and Suffered and been Punished, or Not? And if Mercy is to be Shewn to Them, When will it Be?
SOME of the Fathers terrify us beyond our strength and throw us into despair; and their opinion is well adapted to the simple-minded and trangressors of the law. Others of them encourage us and bid us rely upon Divine mercy; and their opinions are suitable and adapted to the perfect and those of settled minds and the pious. In the ‘Book of Memorials’ it is thus written: ‘This world is the world of repentance, but the world which is to come is the world of retribution. As in this world repentance saves until the last breath, so in the world to come justice exacts to the uttermost farthing. And as it is impossible to see here strict justice unmingled with mercy, so it is impossible to find there strict justice mingled with mercy.’ Mâr Isaac says thus: ‘Those who are to be scourged in Gehenna will be tortured with stripes of love; they who feel that they have sinned against love will suffer harder and more severe pangs from love than the pain that springs from fear.’ Again he says: ‘The recompense of sinners will be this: the resurrection itself will be their recompense instead of the recompense of justice; and at the last He will clothe those bodies which have trodden down His laws with the glory of perfection. This act of grace to us after we have sinned is greater than that which, when we were not, brought our nature into being.’ Again he says: ‘In the world which is to come grace will be the judge and not justice.’ Mâr Theodore the Expositor says: ‘Those who have here chosen fair things will receive in the world to come the pleasure of good things with praises; but the wicked who have turned aside to evil things all their life, when they are become ordered in their minds by penalties and the fear that springs from them, and choose good things, and learn how much they have sinned by having persevered in evil things and not in good things, and by means of these things receive the knowledge of the highest doctrine of the fear of God, and become instructed to lay hold of it with a good will, will be deemed worthy of the happiness of the Divine liberality. For He would never have said, “Until thou payest the uttermost farthing,” unless it had been possible for us to be freed from our sins through having atoned for them by paying the penalty; neither would He have said, “he shall be beaten with many stripes,” or “he shall be beaten with few stripes,” unless it were that the penalties, being meted out according to the sins, should finally come to an end.’ These things the Expositor has handed down in his books clearly and distinctly.
So also the blessed Diodorus, who says in the ‘Book of the Dispensation:’ ‘A lasting reward, which is worthy of the justice of the Giver, is laid up for the good, in return for their labours; and torment for sinners, but not everlasting, that the immortality which is prepared for them may not be worthless. They must however be tormented for a short time, as they deserve, in proportion to the measure of their iniquity and wickedness, according to the amount of the wickedness of their deeds. This they will have to bear, that they suffer for a short time; but immortal and unending happiness is prepared for them. If it be then that the rewards of good deeds are as great (in proportion to them) as the times of the immortality which are prepared for them are longer than the times of the limited contests which take place in this world, the torments for many and great sins must be very much less than the greatness of mercy. So then it is not for the good only that the grace of the resurrection from the dead is intended, but also for the wicked; for the grace of God greatly honours the good, but chastises the wicked sparingly.’
Again he says: ‘God pours out the wages of reward beyond the measure of the labours (wrought), and in the abundance of His goodness He lessens and diminishes the penalty of those who are to be tormented, and in His mercy He shortens and reduces the length of the time. But even thus He does not punish the whole time according to (the length of) the time of folly, seeing that He requites them far less than they deserve, just as He does the good beyond the measure and period (of their deserts); for the reward is everlasting. It has not been revealed whether the goodness of God wishes to punish without ceasing the blameworthy who have been found guilty of evil deeds (or not), as we have already said before
But if punishment is to be weighed out according to sin, not even so would punishment be endless. For as regards that which is said in the Gospel, ‘These shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal;’ this word ‘eternal’ (le-`âlam) is not definite: for if it be not so, how did Peter say to our Lord, ‘Thou shalt never wash my feet,’ and yet He washed him? And of Babylon He said, ‘No man shall dwell therein for ever and ever,’ and behold many generations dwell therein. In the ‘Book of Memorials’ he says: ‘I hold what the most celebrated of the holy Fathers say, that He cuts off a little from much. The penalty of Gehenna is a man’s mind; for the punishment there is of two kinds, that of the body and that of the mind. That of the body is perhaps in proportion to the degree of sin, and He lessens and diminishes its duration; but that of the mind is for ever, and the judgment is for ever.’ But in the New Testament le-`âlam is not without end. To Him be glory and dominion and praise and exaltation and honour for ever and ever. Amen and Amen.

The Book of the Cave of Treasures

The Cave Of Treasures (Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 25875.)
Translation
The Title Of The Work: The Scribe’s Prayer
[Fol. 3b, col. 1] By the might of our Lord Jesus Christ we begin to write the “Book of the Succession of the Generations,” that is to say, Me`Ârath Gazzê, which was composed by Saint Mâr Aphrêm (i.e. Ephraim, commonly known as “Ephraim Syrus,” or “Ephraim the Syrian,” who died A.D. 373). O our Lord, help Thou me in Thy Mercy. Amen.
The First Thousand Years: Adam To Yarêd (Jared)
The Creation. First Day
In the beginning, on the First Day, which was the holy First Day of the Week, the chief and firstborn of all the days, God created the heavens, and the earth, and the waters, and the air, and the fire, and the hosts which are invisible (that is to say, the Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Lords, Principalities, Powers, Cherubim and Seraphim), and all the ranks and companies of Spiritual beings, and the Light, and the Night, and the Day-time, and the gentle winds and the strong winds (i.e. storms). All these were created on the First Day. And on the First Day of the Week the Spirit of holiness, one of the Persons of the Trinity, hovered over the waters, and through the hovering thereof over the [Fol. 3b, col. 2] face of the waters, the waters were blessed so that they might become producers of offspring, and they became hot, and the whole nature of the waters glowed with heat, and the leaven of creation was united to them. As the mother-bird maketh warm her young by the embrace of her closely covering wings, and the young birds acquire form through the warmth of the heat which [they derive] from her, so through the operation of the Spirit of holiness, the Spirit, the Paraclete, the leaven of the breath of life was united to the waters when He hovered over them.
[Note: According to Solomon, a Nestorian bishop of Perâth Mayshân, or Al-Basrah, a city on the right bank of the Shatt al-`Arab, about A.D. 1222, the creation of the heavens and the earth has been planned from everlasting in the immutable mind of God. He created SEVEN substances (or natures) in silence, without voice, viz. heaven, earth, water, air, fire, the angels, and darkness. The earth was plunged in the midst of the waters, above the waters was air, and above the air was fire. Water is cold and moist, air is hot and moist, fire is hot and dry, but it had no luminosity until the Fourth Day, when the luminaries were created. The angels are divided into nine classes and three orders. The upper order contains Cherubim, Seraphim, and Thrones, and these are bearers of God's throne. The middle order contains Lords, Powers, and Rulers. The lower order contains Principalities, Archangels, and Angels. (Compare the "thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers" of Col. i. 16.) The Cherubim are an intellectual motion, the Seraphim are a fiery motion, the Thrones are a fixed motion, the Lords are a motion which governs the motions beneath it and controls the devils, the Powers are a motion which gives effect to God's will, the Rulers are a motion which rules spiritual measures and the sun, moon and stars, the Principalities are a motion which rules the elements, the Archangels are a swift operative motion which governs every living creature, except man, and the Angels are a motion which has spiritual knowledge of everything which is in heaven or on the earth. The guardian angel of every man belongs to this last class. The number of each class of angels is equal to the number of all mankind from Adam to the Resurrection. The heaven in which the angels live is above the waters, which are above the firmament, and they minister to their God there, being invisible to bodily eyes. The angels are not self-existent beings--they were created; on the other hand, darkness is a self-existent nature (or substance). Solomon of Al-Basrah does not accept the view that the spirit which hovered over the waters was the Holy Spirit. (See Book of the Bee, ed. Budge, chapters i-vii.)]
The Creation. Second Day
And on the Second Day God made the Lower Heaven, and called it Rekî’a [that is to say, "what is solid and fixed," or "firmament"]. This He did that He might make known that the Lower Heaven doth not possess the nature of the heaven which is above it, and that it is different in appearance from that heaven which is above it, for the heaven above it is of fire. And that second heaven is Nûhrâ (i.e. Light), and this lower heaven is Darpîtîôn [Fol. 4a, col. 1], and because it hath the dense nature of water it hath been called “Rekî`a.” And on the Second Day God made a separation between the waters and the waters, that is to say, between the waters which were above [Rekî`a] and the waters which were below. And the ascent of these waters which were above heaven took place on the Second Day, and they were like unto a dense black cloud of thick darkness. Thus were they raised up there, and they mounted up, and behold, they stand above the Rekî`a in the air; and they do not spread, and they make no motion to any side.
[Note: According to the "Book of the Bee," the creation of the firmament enabled God to allot a dwelling place to the angels, where also the souls of the righteous could be received after the General Resurrection. The great abyss of water which God created on the First Day was divided by Him into three parts; one part He left on the earth for the use of man and beast, and to form rivers and seas; of the second part He made the firmament, and the third part the place above the firmament. After the Resurrection all these parts will return to their original state. The word Darpîtîôn is a difficulty, and I cannot explain it. The variant forms Dûrîkôn and Dertêkôn appear in Ethiopic books, wherein it is said to be a name of the sixth heaven.]
The Creation. Third Day
And on the Third Day God commanded the waters that were below the firmament (Rekî`a) to be gathered together in one place, and the dry land to appear. And when the covering of water had been rolled up from the face of the earth, the earth showed itself to be in an unsettled and unstable state, that is to say, it was of a damp (or moist) and yielding nature. And the waters were gathered together into seas that were under the earth and within it [Fol. 4a, col. 2], and upon it. And God made in the earth from below, corridors, and shafts, and channels for the passage of the waters; and the winds which come from within the earth ascend by means of these corridors and channels, and also the heat and the cold for the service of the earth. Now, as for the earth, the lower part of it is like unto a thick sponge, for it resteth on the waters. And on this Third Day God commanded the earth, and it brought forth herbs and vegetables, and it conceived in its interior trees, and seeds, and plants and roots.
[Note: On this day the waters gathered together in the depths of the earth, sand was set as a limit for the waters of the seas, and the mountains and hills appeared. The sages say that Paradise was created on this day, but the Rabbis held the view that it existed before the world. Solomon of Basrah says that the earth produced herbs and trees by its own power, and that the luminaries had nothing to do with vegetable growth. Book of the Bee (chapter ix.)]
The Creation. Fourth Day
And on the Fourth Day God made the sun, and the moon, and the stars. And as soon as the heat of the sun was diffused over the surface of the earth, the earth became hard and rigid, and lost its flaccidity, because the humidity and the dampness [caused by] the waters were taken away from it. The Creator made the sphere of the sun of fire and filled it with light. And God gave unto the sphere of the moon and the stars bodies of water and air, and filled them with light. And when the dust of the earth became hot, it brought forth all the trees [Fol. 4b, col. 1], and plants, and seeds, and roots which had been conceived inside it on the Third Day.
[Note: The cases of the sun, moon, and stars were made of aerial material, after the manner of lamps, and God filled them with a mixture of fire, which had no light in it, and with light which had no heat in it. The path of the luminaries is beneath the firmament; they are not fixed, as the ignorant think, but are guided in their courses by the angels. The Ethiopians have a tradition that when the sun was first made its light was twelve times as strong as it is to-day. The angels complained that the heat was too strong, and that it hampered them in the performance of their duties, whereupon God divided it into twelve parts, and took away six of these parts, and out of three of them He made the moon and stars, and the other three He distributed among the waters, the clouds, and the lightning.]
The Creation. Fifth Day
And on the Fifth Day God commanded the waters, and they brought forth all kind of fish of divers appearances, and creatures which move about, and twist themselves and wriggle in the waters, and serpents, and Leviathan, and beasts of terrible aspects, and feathered fowl of the air and of the waters. And on this same day God made from the earth all the cattle and wild beasts, and all the reptiles which creep about upon the earth.
[Note: According to the Book of the Bee (chapter xii), beasts and animals were created on Friday evening, and they can therefore see at night as well as in the daytime. In the Book of Mysteries of Heaven and Earth, "whales" and the Behemôth are mentioned with Leviathan.]
The Creation. Sixth Day
And on the Sixth Day, which is the Eve of the Sabbath, God formed man out of the dust, and Eve from his rib.
And on the Seventh Day God rested from His labours, and it is called “Sabbath.”
The Creation of Adam
Now the formation of Adam took place in this wise: On the Sixth Day, which is the Eve of the Sabbath, at the first hour of the day, when quietness was reigning over [Fol. 4b, col. 2] all the Ranks [of the Angels], and the hosts [of heaven], God said, “Come ye, let Us make man in Our image, and according to Our likeness.” Now by this word “Us” He maketh known concerning the Glorious Persons [of the Trinity]. And when the angels heard this utterance, they fell into a state of fear and trembling, and they said to one another, “A mighty miracle will be made manifest to us this day [that is to say], the likeness of God, our Maker.” And they saw the right hand of God opened out flat, and stretched out over the whole world; and all creatures were collected in the palm of His right hand. And they saw that He took from the whole mass of the earth one grain of dust, and from the whole nature of water one drop of water, and from all the air which is above one puff of wind, and from the whole nature of fire a little of its heat and warmth. And the angels saw that when these four feeble (or inert) materials were placed in the palm of His right hand [Fol. 5a, col. 1], that is to say, cold, and heat, and dryness, and moisture, God formed Adam. Now, for what reason did God make Adam out of these four materials unless it were [to show] that everything which is in the world should be in subordination to him through them? He took a grain from the earth in order that everything in nature which is formed of earth should be subject unto him; and a drop of water in order that everything which is in the seas and rivers should be his; and a puff of air so that all kinds [of creatures] which fly in the air might be given unto him; and the heat of fire so that all the beings that are fiery in nature, and the celestial hosts, might be his helpers.
God formed Adam with His holy hands, in His own Image and Likeness, and when the angels saw Adam’s glorious appearance they were greatly moved by the beauty thereof. For they saw [Fol. 5a, col. 2] the image of his face burning with glorious splendour like the orb of the sun, and the light of his eyes was like the light of the sun, and the image of his body was like unto the sparkling of crystal. And when he rose at full length and stood upright in the centre of the earth, he planted his two feet on that spot whereon was set up the Cross of our Redeemer; for Adam was created in Jerusalem. There he was arrayed in the apparel of sovereignty, and there was the crown of glory set upon his head, there was he made king, and priest, and prophet, there did God make him to sit upon his honourable throne, and there did God give him dominion over all creatures and things. And all the wild beasts, and all the cattle, and the feathered fowl were gathered together, and they passed before Adam and he assigned names to them; and they bowed their heads before him; and eveything in nature worshipped him [Fol. 5b, col. 1], and submitted themselves unto him. And the angels and the hosts of heaven heard the Voice of God saying unto him, “Adam, behold; I have made thee king, and priest, and prophet, and lord, and head, and governor of everything which hath been made and created; and they shall be in subjection unto thee, and they shall be thine, and I have given unto thee power over everything which I have created.” And when the angels heard this speech they all bowed the knee and worshipped Him.
[Note: The Jews consider that the words, "Come, let Us make man," refer to God and the angels, but the Fathers of the Syrian Church understand that God refers to the Three Persons of the Trinity. Some Fathers believe that Adam was formed on the morning of the Sixth Day, outside Paradise, but others think that the formation of Adam took place in the evening in Paradise. According to some, Paradise was created before the world, and, according to others, on the Third Day. Bar Hebraeus says that Adam was created on Friday of the first week of Nîsân (April), the first month of the first year of the world. The Egyptian and Ethiopian Churches have a tradition that the angels were not all created at the same time. The great archangel Michael, who is called the "Angel of the Face," and all his Rank of angels were created in the first hour of Friday, the Priests in the second, the Thrones in the third, the Dominions (or Sultâns) in the fourth, the Lords in the fifth, the Powers in the sixth, the Tens of Thousands in the seventh, the Governors in the eighth, the Masters in the ninth. After the Governors the Rank of angels governed by Satan were created, and then the Tenth Rank.
According to a Coptic tradition preserved in the Discourse on Abbatôn, the Angel of Death, by Timothy, Archbishop of Rakoti (Alexandria), the clay of which Adam was made was brought by the angel Mûrîêl from the Land of the East. When God had made his body He left it lying for forty days and forty nights without putting breath into it. At the request of our Lord, Who promised to become Adam's advocate and to go down into the world, God breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of life three times, saying, "Live! Live! Live! according to the type of My Divinity." Thereupon Adam rose up, and worshipped the Father, saying, "My Lord and my God." (Budge, Coptic Martyrdoms, page 482.)]
The Revolt of Satan, And the Battle in Heaven
And when the prince of the lower order of angels saw what great majesty had been given unto Adam, he was jealous of him from that day, and he did not wish to worship him. And he said unto his hosts, “Ye shall not worship him, and ye shall not praise him with the angels. It is meet that ye should worship me, because I am fire and spirit; and not that I should worship a thing of dust, which hath been fashioned of fine dust.” And the Rebel meditating these things [Fol. 5b, col. 2] would not render obedience to God, and of his own free will he asserted his independence and separated himself from God. But he was swept away out of heaven and fell, and the fall of himself and of all his company from heaven took place on the Sixth Day, at the second hour of the day. And the apparel of their glorious state was stripped off them. And his name was called “Sâtânâ” because he turned aside [from the right way], and “Shêdâ” because he was cast out, and “Daiwâ” because he lost the apparel of his glory. And behold, from that time until the present day, he and all his hosts have been stripped of their apparel, and they go naked and have horrible faces. And when Sâtânâ was cast out from heaven, Adam was raised up so that he might ascend to Paradise in a chariot of fire. And the angels went before him, singing praises, and the Seraphim ascribed holiness unto him, and the Cherubim ascribed blessing; and amid cries of joy and praises Adam went into [Fol. 6a, col. 1] Paradise. And as soon as Adam entered Paradise he was commanded not to eat of a [certain] tree; his entrance into heaven took place at the third hour of the Eve of the Sabbath (i.e. on Friday morning).
[Note: The Fathers of the Egyptian and Ethiopian Churches treat the story of the Fall of Satan in great detail. According to them, Satan, or Satnâêl, was greatly astonished at the beauty and splendour of the sun and moon, and on the Fourth Day of the week he declared to himself that he would set his throne above the stars, and make himself equal to God. One week after the creation of Adam, Satan declared war on the hosts of Almighty God. These were commanded by Michael and consisted of 120,000 horsemen, 600,000 shield bearers, 700,000 mail-clad horsemen in chariots of fire, 700,000 torch bearers, 800,000 angels with daggers of fire, 1,000,000 slingers, 500,000 bearers of axes of fire, 300,000 bearers of fiery crosses, and 400,000 bearers of lamps. The angels uttered their battle cries and began to fight, but Satan charged them and dispersed them; they reformed, but again Satan charged them and put them to flight. Then God gave the angels the Cross of Light, which bore the legend, "In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost." And when they attacked the hosts of darkness under this Cross, Satan became faint, and he and his forces withdrew, and Michael hurled them down into hell. The Abyssinian legend says that Satan was 1,700 cubits high, and his hand 70 cubits long, and his foot 7,000 cubits long; his mouth was 40 cubits in width, his face was as broad as the distance of a day's journey, and the length of his eyebrows was a distance of three days' journey [From the Book of the Mysteries of Heaven and Earth.] The prototype of the great fight in heaven between the powers of light and darkness is found in ancient Egyptian religious texts, in more than one form. In the oldest form Set, hieroglyphics, the Devil, rebels against Her-ur, hieroglyphics, the god of heaven, whose chief symbols are the sun and moon, and is utterly defeated. In the next form Set attacks the Sun-god R¯a, hieroglyphics, and is destroyed by him; the great ally of Set, called ¯Apep (Apôphis), hieroglyphics, and all his fiends and devils (the Sebau), hieroglyphics, are defeated and burnt up daily. In another form Set makes war on Horus, the son of Osiris, and on Osiris himself, and is defeated utterly. The Coptic version of the legend was borrowed from the old hieroglyphic texts, and then Christianized. Compare the following:
When Satan saw Adam seated on a great throne, with a crown of glory on his head and a sceptre in his hand, and all the angels worshipping him, he was filled with anger. And when God said to him, “Come thou also, for thou shalt worship My image and likeness,” Satan refused to do so, and, assuming an arrogant and insolent manner, he said, “It is meet that he should worship me, for I existed before he came into being.” When the Father saw his overbearing attitude, He knew that Satan’s wickedness and rebellion had reached their highest pitch. He ordered the celestial soldiers to take from him the written authority that was in his hand, to strip off his armour, and to hurl him down from heaven to earth. Satan was the greatest of the angels, and God had made him the Commander-in-Chief of the celestial hosts, and in the document which Satan held in his hand were written the names of all the angels under his command. Knowing their names, his authority over them was absolute. When God saw that the angels hesitated to take the document from him, He commanded them to bring a sharp reaping-knife, and to stab him on this side and that, right through his body to the backbone and shoulder blades; and Satan could no longer stand upright. And a Cherub smote him, and broke his wings and his ribs, and having rendered him helpless he cast Satan down from Heaven upon the earth. Then he became the Arch-Devil and the leader of those who were cast out of heaven with him, and who henceforth were devils. (From Budge, Coptic Martyrdoms, page 484.)]
The Making Of Eve
And God cast a sleep upon Adam and he slept. And God took a rib from the loins on the right side of Adam, and He made Khâwâ (i.e. Eve) from it; and when Adam woke up, and saw Eve, he rejoiced in her greatly. And Adam and Eve were in Paradise, and clothed with glory and shining with praise for three hours. Now this Paradise was situated on a high range of hills, and it was thirty spans–according to the measurement of the spirit–higher than all the high mountains, and it surrounded the whole earth.
[Note:
God did not make Eve of earth, that she might not be considered something alien to Adam in nature; and He did not take her from Adam's fore-parts, that she might not uplift herself against him; nor from his hind-parts, that she might not be accounted despicable; nor from his right side, that she might not have pre-eminence over him; nor from his head, that she might not seek authority over him; nor from his feet, that she might not be trodden down and scorned in the eyes of her husband; but [He took her] from his left side, for the side is the place which unites and joins both front and back (Book of the Bee, chapter xiv, and Bar Hebraeus, Ausar Râzê). Further, God did not form Eve from Adam’s head, that she might not carry her head proudly; nor from his eye, that she might not be curious; nor from his ear, that she might not be an eavesdropper; nor from his mouth, that she might not be gossiping; nor from his heart, that she might not be quarrelsome; nor from his hand, that she might not touch everything with her hand; nor from his feet, that she might not rove about (Berêshîth Rabbah on Gen. ii. 23).]
Now Moses the prophet said that God planted Paradise in Eden and placed Adam there (Gen. ii. 8).
[Note: Paradise was situated on Mount Eden, beyond the Ocean, and it was filled with fruit-bearing trees. The great river which sprung up in it was parted into four heads, viz. Pishôn, which flowed through Havilâ, where there were beryls, and gold, and stones of price; Gîhôn, or the Nile of Egypt; Deklath (the Tigris), which flows through Assyria; and Perath (the Euphrates). The keepers of Paradise were Enoch and Elijah, and in it dwelt the souls of the righteous. The souls of sinners dwelt in a deep place, outside Eden. The tree of good and evil that was in Paradise did not possess these properties naturally, but only through the deed which was wrought by its means. Adam and Eve did not become naked and die the death of sin because they desired and ate of the fruit of the fig-tree, but because they transgressed the law. The tree of which they ate may have been the fig-tree, or the date-palm, or the vine or the ethrôg (citron). Mount Eden is probably the original of Jabal Kâf of the Arabs, a mountain range which surrounds the whole world.]
The Symbolism Of Eden
Now Eden is the Holy Church, and the Church [Fol. 6a, col. 2] is the compassion of God, which He was about to extend to the children of men. For God, according to His foreknowledge, knew what Satan had devised against Adam, and therefore He set Adam beforehand in the bosom of His compassion, even as the blessed David singeth concerning Him in the Psalm (xc), saying, “Lord, Thou hast been an abiding place for us throughout all generations,” that is to say, “Thou hast made us to have our abiding place in Thy compassion.” And, when entreating God on behalf of the redemption of the children of men, David said, “Remember Thy Church, which Thou didst acquire in olden time ” (Ps. lxxiv. 2), that is to say, “[Remember] Thy compassion, which Thou art about to spread over our feeble race.” Eden is the Holy Church, and the Paradise which was in it is the land of rest, and the inheritance of life, which God hath prepared for all the holy children of men. And because [Fol. 6b, col. 1] Adam was priest, and king, and prophet, God brought him into Paradise that he might minister in Eden, the Holy Church, even as the blessed man Moses testifieth concerning him, saying, “That he might serve God by means of priestly ministration with praise, and that he might keep that commandment which had been entrusted to him by the compassion of God” (Gen. ii. 15, 16?). And God made Adam and Eve to dwell in Paradise. True is this word, and it proclaimeth the truth: That Tree of Life which was in the midst of Paradise prefigured the Redeeming Cross, which is the veritable Tree of Life, and this it was that was fixed in the middle of the earth.
Satan’s Attack On Adam And Eve
And when Satan saw that Adam and Eve were happy and joyful in Paradise, that Rebel was smitten sorely with jealousy, and he became filled with wrath. And he went and took up his abode in the serpent, and he raised him up, and made him to fly through the air to the skirts of Mount [Eden] whereon was Paradise [Fol. 6b, col. 2]. Now, why did Satan enter the body of the serpent and hide himself therein? Because he knew that his appearance was foul, and that if Eve saw his form, she would betake herself to flight straightway before him. Now, the man who wished to teach the Greek language to a bird–now the bird that can learn the speech of men is called “babbaghah” (i.e. parrot)–first bringeth a large mirror and placeth between himself and the bird. He then beginneth to talk to the bird, and immediately the parrot heareth the voice of the man, it turneth round, and when it seeth its own form [reflected] in the mirror, it becometh pleased straightway, because it imagineth that a fellow parrot is talking to it. Then it inclineth its ear with pleasure, and listeneth to the words of the man who is talking to it, and it becometh eager to learn, and to speak Greek. In this manner (i.e. with the object of making Eve believe that it was the serpent that spoke to her) did Satan enter in and dwell in the serpent, and he watched for the opportunity, and [when] he saw Eve by herself [Fol. 7a, col. 1], he called her by her name. And when she turned round towards him, she saw her own form [reflected] in him, and she talked to him; and Satan led her astray with his lying words, because the nature of woman is soft (or, yielding).
And when Eve had heard from him concerning that tree, straightway she ran quickly to it, and she plucked the fruit of disobedience from the tree of transgression of the command, and she ate. Then immediately she found herself stripped naked, and she saw the hatefulness of her shame, and she ran away naked, and hid herself in another tree, and covered her nakedness with the leaves thereof. And she cried out to Adam, and he came to her, and she handed to him some of the fruit of which she had eaten, and he also did eat thereof. And when he had eaten he also became naked, and he and Eve made girdles for their loins of the leaves of the fig-trees; and they were arrayed in these girdles of ignominy for three [Fol. 7a, col. 2] hours. At mid-day they received [their] sentence of doom. And God made for them tunics of skin which was stripped from the trees, that is to say, of the bark of the trees, because the trees that were in Paradise had soft barks, and they were softer than the byssus and silk wherefrom the garments worn by kings are made. And God dressed them in this soft skin, which was thus spread over a body of infirmities.
[Note: The Fathers of the Ethiopian Church emphasize the difficulty which Satan found in entering Paradise. He knew that he could not carry out his plan for ruining Adam if he entered Paradise in his own form, and he decided that he must assume the form of some bird or animal or reptile if he was to succeed. He applied to the white bird Arzel, and the green bird Besel, and a red bird, but each refused to take him to the place where Eve was. Then he applied to the elephant, and the lion, and the leopard, and the hyena, and the wild boar; the first four refused point blank to do what Satan wished, and the wild boar attempted to gore him with his tusks. On this Satan took to flight. He then went to the animal Sereg, which was commonly known as the "digger of graves," but this animal refused to help him, and then Satan approached the animal called "Taman," "the front part of which was like a camel's foal." This creature agreed to help him, and, mounted on his back, Satan entered Paradise and stood before Eve. The serpent became spokesman for him, and Eve hearkened to him and ate of the fruit. According to the "Book of the Mysteries of Heaven and Earth," the tree was called "Sezen," and each fruit cluster contained, 150,000 grains, or berries. It is described as a large and handsome tree, and it has been identified with the "Sendâlê," or sandal-wood tree. According to the same authorities, the Tree of Life was the prototype of the Cross on which our Lord was crucified.]
Adam’s stay in Paradise
At the third hour of the day Adam and Eve ascended into Paradise, and for three hours they enjoyed the good things thereof; for three hours they were in shame and disgrace, and at the ninth hour their expulsion from Paradise took place. And as they were going forth sorrowfully, God spake unto Adam, and heartened him, and said unto him:
Be not sorrowful, O Adam, for I will restore unto thee thine inheritance. Behold, see how greatly I have loved thee, for though I have cursed the earth for thy sake, yet have I withdrawn thee from the operation of the curse. As for the serpent [Fol. 7b, col. 1], I have fettered his legs in his belly, and I have given him the dust of the earth for food; and Eve have I bound under the yoke of servitude. Inasmuch as thou hast transgressed my commandments get thee forth, but be not sad. After the fulfilment of the times which I have allotted that you shall be in exile outside [Paradise], in the land which is under the curse, behold, I will send my Son. And He shall go down [from heaven] for thy redemption, and He shall sojourn in a Virgin, and shall put on a body [of flesh], and through Him redemption and a return shall be effected for thee. But command thy sons, and order them to embalm thy body after thy death with myrrh, cassia, and stakte. And they shall place thee in this cave, wherein I am making you to dwell this day, until the time when your expulsion shall take place from the regions of Paradise to that earth which is outside it. And whosoever shall be left in those days shall take thy body with him, and [Fol. 7b, col. 2] shall deposit it on the spot which I shall show him, in the centre of the earth; for in that place shall redemption be effected for thee and for all thy children.
And God revealed unto Adam everything which the Son would suffer on behalf of him.
Adam’s expulsion from Paradise
And when Adam and Eve had gone forth from Paradise, the door of Paradise was shut, and a cherub bearing a two-edged sword stood by it.
[Note: According to the Book of the Bee, the cherub, or, as some think, a "terrible form endowed with a body," was armed with a spear and sword, each being made of fire.]
And Adam and Eve went down in . . . . . . . of spirit over the mountains of Paradise, and they found a cave in the top of the mountain, and they entered and hid themselves therein.
[Note: When Adam and Eve left Paradise they no longer had fruit and wine and bread and flesh to live upon, and they subsisted on cooked grain and vegetables and the herbs of the earth, of which they ate sparingly. Moreover, the four-footed beasts and fowl and reptiles rebelled against them, and some of them became enemies and adversaries unto them. Book of the Bee (chapter xvii.)]
Now Adam and Eve were virgins, and Adam wished to know Eve his wife. And Adam took from the skirts of the mountain of Paradise, gold, and myrrh, and frankincense, and he placed them in the cave, and he blessed the cave, and consecrated it that it might be the house of prayer for himself and his sons. And he called the cave “Me`Ârath Gazzê” (i.e. “Cave Of Treasures”) [Fol. 8a, col. 1].
So Adam and Eve went down from that holy mountain [of Eden] to the slopes which were below it, and there Adam knew Eve his wife. [A marginal note in the manuscript says that Adam knew Eve thirty years after they went forth from Paradise.] And Eve conceived and brought forth Cain and Lebhûdhâ, his sister, with him; and Eve conceived again and she brought forth Hâbhîl (Abel) and Kelîmath, his sister, with him.
[Note: The Book of the Bee makes Kelîmath the twin sister of Cain, and Lebhûdhâ the twin sister of Abel.]
And when the children grew up, Adam said unto Eve, “Let Cain take to wife Kelîmath, who was brought forth with Abel, and let Abel take to wife Lebhûdhâ, who was brought forth with Cain.” And Cain said unto Eve his mother, “I will take to wife my twin sister Lebhûdhâ, and let Abel take to wife his twin sister Kelîmath”; now Lebhûdhâ was beautiful. When Adam heard these words, which were exceedingly displeasing unto him, he said:
It will be a transgression of the commandment for thee to take [to wife] thy sister, who was born with thee. Nevertheless, take ye to yourselves fruits of trees, and the young of sheep, and get ye up to the top [Fol. 8a, col. 2] of this holy mountain. Then go ye into the Cave of Treasures, and offer ye up your offerings, and make your prayers, and then ye shall consort with your wives.
And it came to pass that when Adam, the first priest, and Cain and Abel, his sons, were going up to the top of the mountain, Satan entered into Cain [and persuaded him] to kill Abel, his brother, because of Lebhûdhâ; and because his offering was rejected and was not accepted before God, whilst the offering of Abel was accepted, Cain’s jealousy of his brother Abel was increased. And when they came down to the plain, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and he killed him with a blow from a stone of flint. Then straightway Cain received the doom of death, instead of curses, and he became a fugitive and a wanderer all the days of his life. And God drove him forth into exile in a certain part of the forest of Nôdh, and Cain took to wife his twin sister and made the place of his abode there.
[Note: Adam carried Abel to the Cave of Treasures and buried him therein, and he set by the side of the body a lamp which burned day and night. Abel was fifteen and a half years old when Cain, who was seventeen and a half years old, murdered him. Adam and Eve mourned for Abel, in great grief, for one hundred and forty days. Book of Adam and Eve (II, 1.)]
The Birth of Seth
And Adam and Eve mourned for Abel [Fol. 8b, col. 1] one hundred years (sic). And then Adam knew his wife again, and she brought forth Seth, the Beautiful, a man mighty and perfect like unto Adam, and he became the father of the mighty men who lived before the Flood.
[Note: Seth was born in the 130th year of Adam's life (Gen. v. 3), but the Book of the Bee says it was the 230th year. Adam and Seth and his sons dwelt on the top of Mount Eden, while Cain and his children lived on the plain below.]
The Posterity of Seth
And to Seth was born Ânôsh (Enos), and Ânôsh begot Kainân (Cainan), and Kainân begot Mahlâlâîl (Mahalaleel); these [are] the Patriarchs who were born in the days of Adam.
The Death of Adam
And when Adam had lived nine hundred and thirty years, that is to say, until the one hundred and thirty-fifth year of Mahlâlâîl, the day of his death drew nigh and came. And Seth, his son, and Ânôsh, and Kainân, and Mahlâlâîl gathered themselves together and came to him. And they were blessed by him, and he prayed over them. And he commanded his son Seth, and said unto him:
Observe, my son Seth, that which I command thee this day, and do thou on the day of thy death give my command to Ânôsh, and repeat it to him, and let him repeat it to Kainân, and Kainân shall repeat it to Mahlâlâîl [Fol. 8b, col. 2], and let this [my] command be handed on to all your generations. And when I die, embalm me with myrrh, and cassia, and stakte, and deposit my body in the Cave of Treasures. And whosoever shall be left of your generations in that day, when your going forth from this country, which is round about Paradise, shall take place, shall carry my body with him, and shall take it and deposit it in the centre of the earth, for in that place shall redemption be effected for me and for all my children. And be thou, O my son Seth, governor of the sons of thy people. And thou shalt rule them purely and holily in an the fear of God. And keep ye your offspring separate from the offspring of Cain, the murderer.
And when the report “Adam is dying” was known generally, all his offspring gathered together, and came to him, that is to say, Seth, his son, and Ânôsh, and Kainân and Mahlâlâîl, they and their wives [Fol. 9a, col. 1], and their sons, and their daughters; and Adam blessed them. And the departure of Adam from this world took place in the nine hundred and thirtieth year–according to the reckoning from the beginning–on the fourteenth day of the moon, on the sixth day of the month of Nîsân (April), at the ninth hour, on the day of the Eve of the Sabbath (i.e. Friday). At the same hour in which the Son of Man delivered up his soul to His Father on the Cross, did our father Adam deliver up his soul to Him that fashioned him; and he departed from this world.
The Burial of Adam
And when Adam was dead his son Seth embalmed him, according as Adam had commanded him, with myrrh, and cassia, and stakte; now Adam’s dead body was the first [body buried] in the earth. And grief for him was exceedingly sore, and Seth [and his sons] mourned for his death one hundred and forty days; and they took Adam’s body up to the top of the mountain, and buried it in the Cave of Treasures. And after the families and peoples of the childreh of Seth had buried Adam, they separated themselves from the children of Cain, the murderer. And Seth took Ânôsh [Fol. 9a, col. 2], his firstborn, and Kainân, and Mahlâlâîl, and their wives and children, and led them up into the glorious mountain where Adam was buried; and Cain and all his descendants remained below on the plain where Cain slew Abel.
The Rule of Seth
And Seth became the governor of the children of his people, and he ruled them in purity and holiness. And because of their purity they received the name, which is the best of all names, and were called “the sons of God,” they and their wives and their sons. Thus they lived in that mountain in all purity and holiness and in the fear of God. And they went up on the skirts of [the mountain] of Paradise, and they became praisers and glorifiers of God in the place of that host of devils who fell from heaven. There they dwelt in peace and happiness: there was nothing about which they needed to feel anxiety, they had nothing to weary or trouble them [Fol. 9b, col. 1], and they had nothing to do except to praise and glorify God, with the angels. For they heard continually the voices of the angels who were singing praises in Paradise, which was situated at no great height above them–in fact, only about thirty spans–according to the measure of the spirit. They suffered neither toil nor fatigue, they had neither seed [time] nor harvest, but they fed themselves with the delectable fruits of glorious trees of all kinds, and they enjoyed the sweet scent and perfume of the breezes which were wafted forth to them from Paradise. [Thus lived] those holy men, who were indeed holy, and their wives were pure, and their sons were virtuous, and their daughters were chaste and undefiled. In them there was no rebellious thought, no envy, no anger, no enmity. In their wives and daughters there was no impure longing, and neither lasciviousness [Fol. 9b, col. 2], nor cursing, nor lying was heard among them. The only oath which they used in swearing was, “By the blood of Abel.” And they, and their wives, and their children used to rise up early in the morning, and go up to the top of that holy mountain, and worship there before God. And they were blessed by the body of Adam their father, and they lifted up their eyes to Paradise, and praised God; and thus they did all the days of their life.
[Note: According to the Book of the Bee (chapter xviii), Adam lived 930 years, and Seth lived 913 or 905 years. Seth was 250 years old (105 years in Gen. v. 6) when he begot Enos. "In the days of Seth the knowledge of books went forth in the earth; but the Church does not accept this." According to the Book of Adam (ii. 5), Seth knew good and evil when he was seven years of age, and he spent his days and nights in fasting and prayer, and he made an offering to God daily. Satan appeared to him, and tried to persuade him to leave the holy mountain, and to go and live with him, and to marry one of his women, but Seth resisted him; and mounting the altar of God, drove him away. When Seth was fifteen years old Adam married him to Aklia, the sister of Abel, and when he was twenty years old he begot Enos.]
And when Seth had lived nine hundred and thirteen years he became sick unto death. And Ânôsh his son, and Kainân, and Mahlâlâîl, and Yârêd (Jared), and Henôkh (Enoch), and their wives and their sons, gathered together and came unto him, and they were blessed by him. And he prayed over them, and commanded them, and made them to take an oath, and said unto them [Fol. 10a, col. 1]:
I will make you to take an oath, and to swear by the holy blood of Abel, that none of you will go down from this holy mountain to the children of Cain, the murderer. For ye know well the enmity which hath existed between us and Cain from the day whereon he slew Abel.
And Seth blessed Ânôsh, his son; and gave him commands concerning the body of Adam, and he made him ruler over the children of his people. And Seth ruled them in purity and in holiness, and he ministered diligently before the body of Adam. And Seth died when he was nine hundred and twelve years old, on the seven-and-twentieth day of the blessed month of Âbh (August), on the second day of the week (Monday), at the third hour, in the twentieth year of the life of Enoch. And Ânôsh, Seth’s first-born son, embalmed his body and buried him in the Cave of Treasures, with his father Adam; and they made a mourning for him forty [Fol. 10a, col. 2] days.
[Note: The Book of Adam (ii. 12) says that Seth was embalmed with sweet spices, and laid on the right side of Adam's body, but there is no evidence that the Hebrews were acquainted with the art of mummification before they had intercourse with Egypt.]
The Rule of Ânôsh
And Ânôsh rose up to minister before God in the Cave of Treasures. And he became the governor of the children of his people, and he kept all the commandments which his father Seth had commanded him, and he urged them to be constant in prayer.
[Note: According to the Book of the Bee (chapter xviii), Ânôsh was two hundred and ninety (ninety years in Gen. v. 9) years old when he begot Kainân; and Ânôsh first called upon the name of the Lord. Some say that he first composed books upon the course of the stars and the signs of the Zodiac.]
And in the days of Ânôsh, in his eight hundred and twentieth year, Lamech, the blind man, killed Cain, the murderer, in the Forest of Nôdh. Now this killing took place in the following manner. As Lamech was leaning on the youth, his son [Tubal-Cain], and the youth was setting straight his father’s arm in the direction in which he saw the quarry, he heard the sound of Cain moving about, backwards and forwards, in the forest. Now Cain was unable to stand still in one place and to hold his peace. And Lamech, thinking that it was a wild beast that was making a movement in the forest, raised his arm, and, having made ready, drew his bow and shot an arrow [Fol. 10b, col. 1] towards that spot, and the arrow smote Cain between his eyes, and he fell down and died. And Lamech, thinking that he had shot game, spake to the youth, saying, “Make haste, and let us see what game we have shot.” And when they went to the spot, and the boy on whom Lamech leaned had looked, he said unto him, “O my lord, thou hast killed Cain.” And Lamech moved his hands to smite them together, and as he did so he smote the youth and killed him also.
[Note: The Book of Adam (ii. 13) says that Lamech was armed with a bow and large arrows, and a sling and smooth stones. An arrow pierced one side of Cain, and a stone from Lamech's sling knocked out both his eyes. Lamech smote the youth who led him about accidentally, but afterwards he smashed his head in with a stone. There are many versions of the story in Arabic, Ethiopic, and Hebrew, but they all agree in essential details. According to the Book of the Bee (chapter xviii), the anvil and hammer and tongs were invented by Tubal-Cain and Jubal, who also constructed musical instruments, harps and pipes; devils lived in the pipes, and sang therein.]
And when Ânôsh had lived nine hundred and five years, and was sick unto death, all the patriarchs gathered themselves together, and came unto him, viz. Kainân, his first-born son, and Mahlâlâîl, and Yârêd, and Enoch, and Matûshlah (Methuselah), they, and their wives, and their sons. And they were blessed by him, and he prayed over them and commanded them, and spake unto them, saying:
I will make you to swear by the holy blood of Abel that not one of you shall go down from this mountain to the plain, nor into the encampment of [Fol. 10b, col. 2] the children of Cain, the murderer; and ye shall not mingle yourselves among them. Take ye good heed unto this matter, for ye well know what enmity hath existed between us and them from the day whereon Cain slew Abel.
And he blessed Kainân, his son, and commanded him concerning the body of Adam, that he should minister before it all the days of his life, and that he should rule over the children of his people in purity and holiness. And Ânôsh died at the age of nine hundred and five years, on the third day of the month of the First Teshrîn (October), on the day of the Sabbath, in the fifty-third year of the life of Methuselah. And Kainân, his first-born, embalmed him and buried him in the Cave of Treasures, with Adam and Seth, his father. And they made a mourning for him forty days.
[Note: The Book of Adam (ii. 14) says that Ânôsh was 985 years old when he died, and that he was laid on the left-hand side of Adam in the Cave of Treasures.]
The Rule of Kainân
And Kainân stood up before God to minister in the Cave of Treasures. He was an honourable and pure man, and he governed the children of his people in the complete [Fol. 11a, col. 1] fear of God, and he fulfilled all the commandments of Ânôsh his father. And when Kainân had lived nine hundred and twenty years [in the Book of Adam and the Book of the Bee 910 years], and was sick unto death, all the Patriarchs gathered together and came unto him, viz. Mahlâlâîl his son, and Yârêd, and Enoch and Methuselah and Lamech, they and their wives and their children, and were blessed by him. And he prayed over them and commanded them, saying:
I will make you swear by the holy blood of Abel that not one of you shall go down from this holy mountain into the camp of the children of Cain, the murderer, for ye all know well what enmity hath existed between us and them since the day whereon he killed Abel.
And he blessed his son Mahlâlâîl, and admonished him concerning the body of Adam, and said unto him:
Behold, O my son Mahlâlâîl, minister thou before God in purity and holiness [Fol. 11a, col. 2] in the Cave of Treasures, and depart not thou from the presence of the body of Adam all the days of thy life. And be thou the governor of the children of thy people, and rule thou them purely and holily.
Kainân died, being nine hundred and twenty years old, on the thirteenth day of the month of Hezêrân (June), on the fourth day of the week (Wednesday), at mid-day, in the five and sixtieth year of [the life of] Lamech, the father of Noah. And Mahlâlâîl, his son, embalmed him, and buried him in the Cave of Treasures; and they made mourning for him forty days.
[Note: According to Gen. v. 12, Kainân was 70 years old when he begot Mahlâlâîl, but the Book of the Bee gives 140 years. The Book of Adam says that the people made "offerings for him, after the custom of their fathers," a statement that seems to suggest that the Hebrews not only mummified their dead, but presented funerary offerings to them, after the manner of the Egyptians.]
The Rule of Mahlâlâîl
And Mahlâlâîl rose up and ministered before God in the place of Kainân his father. He was constant in prayer by day and by night, and he urged earnestly the children of his people to observe holiness and purity, and to pray without ceasing. And when Mahlâlâîl had lived eight hundred and ninety-five years [Fol. 11b, col. 1], and the day of his departure drew nigh, and he was sick unto death, all the Patriarchs gathered together and came unto him, viz. Yârêd, his first-born, and Enoch and Methuselah, and Lamech, and Noah, they and their wives and their children, and were blessed by him. And he prayed over them, and commanded them, saying:
I will make you to swear by the holy blood of Abel, that not one of you shall go down from this holy mountain. And ye shall not permit any one of your descendants to go down to the plain, to the children of Cain, the murderer, for ye all well know what enmity hath existed between us and them from the day whereon he slew Abel.
And he blessed Yârêd, his first-born, and he commanded him concerning the body of Adam, and revealed unto him the place whereto he should make ready to go. And he also commanded him, and made him to swear an oath, saying:
Thou shalt not depart from the body of our father Adam all the days of thy life, and thou shalt be [Fol. 11b, col. 2] the governor of the children of thy people, and shalt rule them in chastity and holiness.
And Mahlâlâîl died, [being] eight hundred and ninety-five years old, on the second day of the month Nîsân (April), on the first day of the week (Sunday), at the third hour of the day, in the four and thirtieth year of the life of Noah. And Yârêd, his first-born, embalmed him, and buried him in the Cave of Treasures; and the people made a mourning for him forty days.
[Note: According to Gen. v. 15, Mahlâlâîl was 65 years old when he begot Yârêd, but the Book of the Bee gives 165 years; the Book of Adam (ii. 16) says he fell sick when he was 870 years old. The latter work makes the Patriarch tell Yârêd that the people will go down from the mountain, and mingle with the children of Cain, and perish with them.]
The Rule of Yârêd
And Yârêd his son rose up and ministered before God [in the Cave of Treasures]. He was a perfect man, and was complete in all the virtues, and he was constant in prayer by day and by night. And because of the excellence of his life and conversation, his days were longer than those of all the children of his people. And in the days of Yârêd, in the five hundredth year of his life, the children of Seth broke the oaths which their fathers had made them to swear. And they began to go down from that holy mountain to the encampment of iniquity [Fol. 12a, col. 1] of the children of Cain, the murderer, and in this way the fall of the children of Seth took place.
[Note: The Book of Adam (ii. 17) says that Yârêd continued to govern the people successfully until the end of the 485th year of his life. At this time Satan and thirty of his devils appeared to Yârêd in the form of handsome men, and called him from the Cave of Treasures. He came out to them, and thought they were strangers, and asked them who they were. In answer, Satan told him that he was Adam, and that among his companions were Abel, Seth, Enos, Cainan, and other kinsmen of Yârêd. He invited Yârêd to come with him, and live with him in the garden which God had given him, and at length Yârêd was persuaded to leave the Cave and go with him. When they arrived at the top of the mountain of the sons of Cain, Satan pretended that he had left a garment for Yârêd by the Cave, and sent one of his devils back to fetch it, telling him at the same time to extinguish the lamp which was burning in the Cave near Adam's body. Satan and Yârêd rested by a fountain, and food was brought out to them by the sons and daughters of Cain, but Yârêd refused to eat or drink. Satan entreated him to put aside his sadness, and to do as he was going to do. Thereupon Satan and five of his devils each seized a woman and committed fornication with her, and on seeing this exhibition of iniquity Yârêd burst into tears and began to pray to God to be delivered from that place. When he began to pray the devils took to flight, and God sent an angel, who brought him back to his holy mountain. When he returned to the Cave his people told him that the lamp had been extinguished, and that the bodies of the Patriarchs had been scattered about, and that voices had come from them. On entering the Cave a voice came to him from Adam's body, and warned him to beware of Satan and his wiles, and told him to relight the lamp from the fire on the altar at which Adam had ministered. The lamp was relighted at the end of the 450th year of Yârêd's life. Eighty years later his people began to go down to the children of Cain, and to mingle with their women.]
And In The Fortieth Year Of Yârêd The First Thousand Years, From Adam To Yârêd, Came To An End.
And in these years the handicraftsmen of sin, and the disciples of Satan, appeared, for he was their teacher, and he entered in and dwelt in them, and he poured into them the spirit of the operation of error, through which the fall of the children of Seth was to take place.

[The Second Thousand Years: Yârêd To The Flood
Of The Transmission Of The Art Of Playing The Harp, That Is To Say, Of Music, And Singing And Dancing.
Yôbâl (Jubal) and Tôbalkîn (Tubal-Cain), the two brethren, the sons of Lamech, the blind man, who killed Cain, invented and made all kinds of instruments of music. Jôbâl made reed instruments, and harps, and flutes, and whistles, and the devils went and dwelt inside them. When men blew into the pipes, the devils sang inside them, and sent out sounds from inside them. Tôbalkîn made [Fol. 12a, col. 2] cymbals, and sistra, and tambourines (or drums). And lasciviousness and fornication increased among the children of Cain, and they had nothing to occupy them except fornication–now they had no obligation [to pay] tribute, and they had neither prince nor governor–and eating, and drinking, and lasciviousness, and drunkenness, and dancing and singing to instruments of music, and the wanton sportings of the devils, and the laughter which affordeth pleasure to the devils, and the sounds of the furious lust of men neighing after women. And Satan, finding [his] opportunity in this work of error, rejoiced greatly, because thereby he could compel the sons of Seth to come down from that holy mountain. There they had been made to occupy the place of that army [of angels] that fell [with Satan], there they were beloved by God, there they were held in honour by the angels, and were called “sons of God,” even as the blessed David saith in the psalm, “I have said [Fol. 12b, col. 1], Ye are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High.” (Ps. lxxxii. 6.)
Meanwhile fornication reigned among the daughters of Cain, and without shame [several] women would run after one man. And one man would attack another, and they committed fornication in the presence of each other shamelessly. For all the devils were gathered together in that camp of Cain, and unclean spirits entered into the women, and took possession of them. The old women were more lascivious than the maidens, fathers and sons defiled themselves with their mothers and sisters, sons respected not even their own fathers, and fathers made no distinction between their sons [and other men]. And Satan had been made ruler (or prince) of that camp [Fol. 12b, col. 2]. And when the men and women were stirred up to lascivious frenzy by the devilish playing of the reeds which emitted musical sounds, and by the harps which the men played through the operation of the power of the devils, and by the sounds of the tambourines and of the sistra which were beaten and rattled through the agency of evil spirits, the sounds of their laughter were heard in the air above them, and ascended to that holy mountain.
And when the children of Seth heard the noise, and uproar, and shouts of laughter in the camp of the children of Cain, about one hundred of them who were mighty men of war gathered together, and set their faces to go down to the camp of the children of Cain. When Yârêd heard their words and knew their intention, he became sorely afflicted, and he sent and called them to him, and said unto them:
By the holy blood of Abel, I will have you swear that not one of you shall go down from this holy mountain. Remember ye [Fol. 13a, col. 1] the oaths which our fathers Seth, and Ânôsh, and Kainân, and Mahlâlâîl made you to swear.
And Enoch also said unto them:
Hearken, O ye children of Seth, no man who shall transgress the commandment of Yârêd, and [break] the oaths of our fathers, and go down from this mountain, shall never again ascend it.
But the children of Seth would neither hearken to the commandment of Yârêd, nor to the words of Enoch, and they dared to transgress the commandment, and those hundred men, who were mighty men of war, went down [to the camp of Cain]. And when they saw that the daughters of Cain were beautiful in form and that they were naked and unashamed, the children of Seth became inflamed with the fire of lust. And when the daughters of Cain saw the goodliness of the children of Seth, they gripped them like ravening beasts and defiled their bodies. And the children of Seth slew their souls by fornication with the daughters of Cain. And when the children of Seth wished to go up [again] to that holy mountain [Fol. 13a, col. 2], after they had come down and fallen, the stones of that holy mountain became fire in their sight, and having defiled their souls with the fire of fomication, God did not permit them to ascend to that holy place. And, moreover, very many others made bold and went down after them, and they, too, fell.
[Note: This story is told at great length in the Book of Adam (ii. 20). Satan appeared in the form of one Gunnun and taught him to make horns and trumpets, stringed instruments, cymbals, psalteries, lyres, harps and flutes. Into these Satan himself entered, and made the music which came from them. Gunnun made corn spirit, and established drinking booths, in which men assembled and drank and ate fruit. Then Satan taught Gunnun to make weapons of war out of iron, and when men were drunk they killed each other with them. Next Satan taught men how to dye their garments crimson and purple, and they arrayed themselves in gaudy attire, and began to race their horses. Little by little the children of Seth began to wish to join the sons of Cain, and when the devils had shown them a way down the mountain, one hundred of them went down to the plain, and were led astray by the women whose hands and feet were stained with bright colours and whose faces had tattoo marks on them. When the Sethites tried to return to the top of the mountain, the stones turned into coals of fire, and they could not pass over them. Company after company of the children of Seth went down to the plain, and at length only Yârêd and a few others remained on the mountain. The Ethiopic Book of Enoch (see the translations by Archbishop Lawrence, Oxford, 1838, by Dillmann, Leipzig, 1853, and Canon Charles, Oxford, 1893) supplies interesting details about the fall of the children of Seth. The leaders of those who went down from Ardis on Mount Hermon were Semyâzâ, the commander-in-chief, Urâkîbarâmê´êl, Kôkabî´êl, Tâmi´êl, Râmu´êl, Dân´êl, Zakîlô, Sarâkuyâl, Asâ´êl, Armârôs, Batraal, ´Anânî, Zakêbê, Samsâwe´êl, Sarta´êl, Tur´êl, Yomyâ´êl, and ´Azâzyâl. Each of these was over a company of ten. The names of two of the dekarchs of the 200 angels are omitted. These angels took to themselves wives, and taught them the use of spells and enchantments, and the use of plants and trees [for medicinal purposes?]. The daughters of Cain conceived, and a tradition in the Kebra Nagast says that the children were so large that they could not be born in the ordinary way, but had to be removed from their mothers by the umbilicus.1 These children grew up and became giants 3,000 cubits in height, and when they had devoured all the provisions which their neighbours had collected, they began to fight against men and to eat them, and at length they ate the flesh and drank the blood of each other. Concerning these giants, the Book of Enoch (chapter xv) says:
Now, the giants, who were produced from the spirits and the flesh, shall be called evil spirits on earth, and their habitation shall be on the earth. Evil spirits shall proceed from their bodies. . . . And the spirits of the giants shall consume, and persecute, and lay waste, and fight and work destruction on the earth and afflict [men]. They shall neither eat food of any kind, nor suffer thirst, and they shall remain invisible. And these spirits shall attack the children of men and women, for from them have they come forth.
The wickedness of these giants became so great that the earth complained [to God]. At this time ´Azâz´êl taught men the art of working in metals, and the use of stibium, or eye-paint, and the art of dyeing stuffs in bright colours. ´Amêzârâk taught enchantments (i.e. magic) and the knowledge of herbs; ´Armârôs taught how spells were to be broken; Barak`âl taught astrology; Kôkab´êl taught the knowledge of signs; Tem´êl taught astronomy; and ´Asrâdêl taught concerning the moon [Book of Enoch, chapter viii.] The originals of these Seven Sages were probably the Seven Wise Men who were revered by the Babylonians.]
And when Yârêd had lived nine hundred and sixty years, and the day of his departure approached, and came nigh, and arrived, all the Patriarchs gathered themselves together and came unto him, viz. Enoch, his first-born, and Methuselah, and Lamech, and Noah, they and their wives and their children, and were blessed by him. And he prayed over them, and said unto them:
I will make you to swear by the holy blood of Abel that you will not go down from this holy mountain; for I know that God will not allow you to remain very much longer in this holy country. Inasmuch as [Fol. 13b, col. 1] ye have transgressed the commandment of your fathers, ye shall surely be cast out into that outer country, and ye shall no longer have your habitation on the skirts [of the mountain] of Paradise. And take ye good heed to this. Let him that is among you who shall go forth from that holy country take with him the body of our father Adam, and the offerings [of gold, frankincense, and myrrh] that are in the Cave of Treasures, and let him carry away and deposit the body in the place wherein he shall be commanded by God to set it down. And thou, my son Enoch, depart thou not from before the body of Adam, but minister before God purely and holily all the days of thy life.
And Yârêd died, [being] nine hundred and sixty-two years old, on the thirteenth day of the month of Îyâr (May), on the day of the Eve of the Sabbath (Friday), at sunset, in the three hundred and sixty-sixth year of the life of Noah. And Enoch his son embalmed him, and buried him in the Cave of Treasures; and they made mourning for him forty days.
[Note: The Book of the Bee says that Yârêd was 962 years old when he died, and that he begot Enoch when he was 162 years old. The Book of Adam says that he was 989 years old when he died, and that he died on Friday, the 12th day of the month of Takhsâs (December) in the 360th year of the life of Noah (ii. 21).]
[Fol. 13b, col. 2] The Rule of Enoch
And Enoch stood up to minister before God in the Cave of Treasures. And the children of Seth turned aside from the right path and willed to go down [to the children of Cain on the plain]. And Enoch and Methuselah, and Lamech and Noah mourned over them. And Enoch had ministered before God for fifty years in the three hundred and [sixty] fifth year of the life of Noah. And when Enoch knew that God was about to remove him [from the earth], he called Methuselah, and Lamech, and Noah, and said unto them:
I know that God is wroth with this generation, and that a pitiless judgment hath been decreed for the people thereof. Ye are the chiefs of this generation and the remnant thereof, for no other man shall be born on this mountain who shall be the chief of the children of his people. But take ye good heed to yourselves, and see that ye minister before God in purity and holiness.
And when Enoch had given them his commandment in these words, God removed him to the Land of Life, and to the [Fol. 14a, col. 1] delectable mansions which are round about Paradise, and to that country which is beyond the reach of death. And of all the children of Seth there remained only these three Patriarchs in the “Mountain of the Triumphant Ones,” viz. Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah, for all the others had betaken themselves to the encampment of the sons of Cain.
[Note: Then Michael, Gabriel, Suriel, and Uriel looked down from heaven, and saw the wickedness which ´Azâz´êl had done in the world, and they heard the appeal which the souls of the dead were making to heaven, and they reported the matter to the Most High. When God heard their words He sent the angel ´Arsyalâlyûr to the son of Lamech, i.e. Noah, with the command, "Hide thyself." No mention is made of Methuselah, who begot Lamech when he was 187 years old, and who lived 969 years, and Lamech, who lived 777 years, and begot Noah in the 182nd year of his age, was passed over in favour of his son. Noah consolidated his position by marrying the daughter of Enoch. The angel revealed to Noah that a flood was about to cover the earth, and told him how to escape from it. Then God commanded Rafa´êl to bind ´Azâz´êl hand and foot, and to thrust him into a dark hole in the desert of Dudâ´êl (a place near Jerusalem?), and heap stones and rocks upon him. There he was to remain until the Day of judgment, when he would be cast into the fire and consumed. Gabriel was sent to destroy all the children of fornication; and Michael was sent to bind Semyâzâ and the other dekarchs of the children of Seth, and to imprison them under the mountains of the earth for 70 generations, after which time they were to be taken to the abyss of fire and tortured there for ever. Book of Enoch (chapter x).]
[The Book of the Mysteries of Heaven and Earth, by Abbâ Bakhayla-Mîkâ´êl (ed. Perruchon), says that it was the men who taught man the arts of civilisation, who caused God to bring the Flood on the earth. This work gives the names of these men and describes their inventions thus:
Pîpîrôs understood the sun, Rûrîdê quarried stones, Zar´êl instituted the month, Pînênê introduced horse-riding (or racing), Gâlê invented the axe, Tîgana invented the shield, Hôrêrî taught men to play musical instruments, Yuebê taught working in iron, Mêgêd taught horse-riding, Negôdî discovered medicinal springs, and made known the planetary hours when the waters were most effective, Gargê made the first corn-grinder, Sêtêr taught men how to mix dough, Gîmêr taught the use of earthenware vessels for food, Zârê taught men to milk animals, Heggê taught men to make roofs, and Tentôreb showed them how to make doors, Sâpêr taught butter-making, Halâgê discovered how to carve wood and stone, Hêder was the first to cultivate trees, Sînô taught house-building, and Tôf invented the potter's craft, Artôrbegâs invented agricultural implements, Sêbêdêgâz introduced the use of kohl (eye-paint, stibium), Zârê invented the brewing of beer, Bêtênêlâdâs invented the oven, Nâfîl taught men to make plantations and gardens, Yârbeh discovered how to fell trees and saw them up, ´Êlyô taught dancing, Pênêmûs invented architecture and writing, ´Agâlêmûn taught the use of beasts in ploughing and how to drive furrows, Kueses invented ploughs and leather whips, ´Akôr discovered bronze (copper?), certain men taught working in cedar and willow-wood, Wasag and ´Abêregyâ taught men the game of Tâbat, and Nêr and Zabêrêgued taught them to play the games of ´Atâwemâ and ´Akîs, and the games of the circus.]
The Rule of Noah
And when Noah saw that sin had increased in his generation, he preserved himself in virginity for five hundred years. Then God spake unto him and said unto him, “Take unto thee to wife Haykêl, the daughter of Namûs (or Haykêl Namûs), the daughter of Enoch, the brother of Methuselah.” And God revealed unto him concerning the Flood which He was making ready to produce, and He spake to him and said unto him, “One hundred and thirty years from this moment I will make a Flood.”
[Note: The Book of Adam says that Haykêl was the daughter of Abaraz, who was one of the children of the family of Enos, who went into perdition. If this be so, Noah married a woman who was akin to the children of Cain. The Book of the Bee (chapter xx) merely states that Noah's wife was of the children of Seth.]
The Building of the Ark
And God said unto Noah:
Make for thyself an ark for the saving of the children of thy house, and build it [in the plain] below [this mountain], in the encampment of the children of Cain, and ye shall cut down the timber for the same [from the trees that are on] this mountain [Fol. 14a, col. 2]. And thus shall be the dimensions thereof. Its length shall be three hundred cubits according to thy cubit, its breadth shall be fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits; and above it shall be finished off one cubit. And make three storeys in it: the lowermost shall be for wild animals and cattle, the middle one shall be for the birds and feathered fowl, and the topmost shall be for thee and the children of thy house. And make in it cisterns for water and cupboards for food. And make to thyself a striking board of eshkar`a wood which will not rot, three cubits long and a cubit and a half in breadth; and there shall be a hammer of the same kind of wood, and with it thou shalt strike [the board] three times in the day. Once in the morning that the workmen may be gathered together for the work of the ark, and once at midday that they may eat food, and once at sunset so that they may cease from their labour. And when thou strikest the board, and men hear the sound of the blows, and say unto thee, ‘What is this that thou doest?’ [Fol. 14b, col. 1], thou shalt say unto them, ‘God is going to make a flood of waters.’
And Noah did as God commanded him. And there were born unto him three sons within the space of a hundred years, Shem, Ham, and Japhet, and they took unto them wives of the daughters of Methuselah.
[Note: According to the Book of the Bee, the storeys were to have boards and projecting ledges, each board being one cubit long and one span broad. The wood used was either box or teak, and the Ark was pitched within and without. The Book of Adam (iii. 2) says that each storey was 10 cubits high. The first was for lions and other animals, and ostriches, the second was for birds and reptiles, and the third for Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japhet, and their wives. The cisterns were to be lined with lead, inside and out. Noah begot his sons during the hundred years in which he was building the Ark; during these years he ate no animal food, and he wore the same pair of sandals, which did not wear out, and the same apparel and head cloth, and carried the same staff. His hair neither increased nor diminished. His sons married daughters of Methuselah.]
The Death of Lamech
And when Lamech had lived seven hundred and seventy years, he died during the lifetime of Methuselah, his father, forty years before the Flood, on the twenty-first day of the month of Ilûl (September), on the first day of the week (Sunday), in the sixty-eighth year of the life of Shem, the firstborn of Noah. And Noah his firstborn embalmed him, and Methuselah his father swathed him for burial, and they buried him in the Cave of Treasures, and mourned for him forty days.
[Note: The Book of Adam says that Lamech was 553 years old when he died, but the Book of the Bee gives his age as 774 or 777 years; the former work says that Lamech died seven years before the Flood.]
The Rule of Methuselah and Noah
And Methuselah and Noah remained alone on the mountain, for all the children of Seth had gone down from the skirts of the mountain of Paradise to the plain where the children of Cain lived [Fol. 14b, col. 2]. And men, the children of Seth, had intercourse with the daughters of Cain, who conceived of them, and brought forth men, giants and the sons of giants, who were like unto towers. Now because of this certain ancient writers have fallen into error, and have written, “The angels came down from heaven, and had intercourse with men, and by them these famous giants have been produced.” But this is not true, for those who have written in this manner did not understand [the facts]. Behold, O my brother-readers, and know ye that it is not in the nature of beings of the spirit to beget, neither is it in the nature of the devils–who are unclean beings, and workers of wickedness, and lovers of adultery–to beget, because there are neither males nor females among them. And since the time when the angels fell, not another angel has been added to their number. And if the devils were able to have intercourse with women they would not leave unravished a single virgin [Fol. 15a, col. 1] in all the race of the children of men.
The Death of Methuselah
And when Methuselah had lived nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and the day of his departure had drawn nigh, Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japhet, and their wives, came unto him. Now of all the posterity of Seth who had not betaken themselves down to the plain, only these eight souls were left, viz. Noah, Shem, Ham, Japhet, and their wives; for no children were born to them before the Flood. And when these gathered themselves together to Methuselah, and they had been blessed by him, he embraced them, and kissed them sorrowfully, and wept over the fall of the children of Seth. And he said unto them, “Of all the tribes and families of your fathers, this remnant [consisting] of eight souls [Fol. 15a, col. 2] alone is left. May the Lord God of our fathers bless you! The Lord God who formed our father Adam and Eve by themselves (and they were fruitful, and multiplied, and the whole of the blessed land which was round about Paradise was filled with their progeny), shall make you to be fruitful, and to multiply, and the whole earth shall be filled with you. He shall save you from the terrible wrath which hath been decreed against this rebellious generation, and He shall be with you, and He shall protect you. And the gift which was given by God unto our father Adam shall go forth with you from this holy country. And these three measures of the wheat of blessings which God gave unto your father Adam shall serve as leaven, and shall be kneaded into your seed, and into the seed of your children, that is to say, Royalty, Priesthood, and Prophecy.
Hearken thou, Noah, thou blessed of the Lord. Behold [Fol. 15b, col. 1], I am going forth from this world, like all my fathers, but thou and thy children shall be saved. And thou shalt do everything which I am commanding you to do this day, [for] God will make the Flood. When I die, embalm my body, and bury me in the Cave of Treasures with my fathers. Take thy wife, and thy sons, and the wives of thy sons, and get thee down from this holy mountain. And take with thee the body of our father Adam, and these three offerings, gold, and myrrh, and frankincense; set the body of Adam in the middle of the Ark, and lay these offerings upon him. Thou and thy sons shall occupy the eastern part of the Ark, and thy wife and thy son’s wives shall occupy the western part thereof; thy wives shall not pass over to you, and ye shall not pass over to them. Ye shall neither eat nor drink with them, and ye shall have no intercourse whatsoever with them until ye go forth [Fol. 15b, col. 2] from the Ark. Now this generation hath provoked God to wrath, and He will neither permit them to be neighbours of [those who are in] Paradise, nor to praise Him with the angels.
And when the waters of the Flood have subsided from the face of the earth, and ye go forth from the Ark, and ye take up your abode in that land, thou, O Noah, the blessed of the Lord, shall not depart from the Ark, from the body of our father Adam, but minister thou before God in the Ark purely and holily all the days of thy life. And these offerings shall be placed in the east. And command thou Shem, thy firstborn, to take up with him, after thy death, the body of our father Adam, and to carry it and deposit it in the middle of the earth. And let him establish there a man from among his descendants who shall minister there. And he shall be one who is set apart (nezîrâ) all the days of his life. He shall not take a wife, he shall not shed blood, he shall not offer up [Fol. 16a, col. 1] these offerings of wild animals and feathered fowl; but he shall offer unto God bread and wine, for by these redemption shall be made for Adam and all his posterity. And the Angel of God shall go before him, and he shall show him the place where the middle of the earth is situated. And the apparel of him that shall stand up there to minister before the body of Adam shall be the skins of wild animals. He shall not shave off the hair of his head, and he shall not cut his nails, but he shall remain alone (in his natural state?) because he is the priest of God, the Most High.
[Note: According to the Book of Adam, (iii. 5), Shem was to appoint Melchisedek (see Gen. xiv. 18-24; Heb., chapter vii.), the son of Kainân, and grandson of Arphaxad, to be the priest of the Most High; and he was to stand and minister on the mountain which is in the middle of the earth. He was to wear a garment of skin, and have a leather girdle about his loins, and his apparel was to be humble and without ornament.]
And when Methuselah had commanded Noah [to do] all these things, he died with tears in his eyes, and sorrow in his heart. He was nine hundred and sixty-nine years old when he died, on the fourteenth day of the month Âdhâr (March), on the first day of the week (Sunday), in the seventy-ninth year [Fol. 16a, col. 2] of the life of Shem, the son of Noah. And Noah, his grandson, embalmed the body of Methuselah with myrrh, and cassia, and stakte, and Noah and his sons buried him in the Cave of Treasures; and they and their wives made mourning for him forty days.
And when the days of his mourning had passed, Noah went into the Cave of Treasures, and embraced and kissed the holy bodies of Seth, and Ânôsh, and Kainân, and Mahlâlâîl, and Yârêd, and Methuselah, and Lamech his father, and he was greatly moved and tears gushed from his eyes. And Noah carried the body of our father Adam, and [the body of] Eve, and his firstborn Shem carried the gold, and Ham carried the myrrh, and Japhet the frankincense, and they went forth from the Cave of Treasures. [The Book of Adam does not mention Eve.]. And as they were coming down from that holy mountain they were smitten sorely with grief: and they wept in agony because they were to be deprived of that [Fol. 16b, col. 1] holy place, and the habitation of their fathers. And weeping painfully, and wailing sorrowfully, and enveloped in gloom, they said,
Remain in peace! O holy Paradise, thou habitation of our father Adam.
He went forth from thee alive, but stripped [of glory] and naked.
And behold, at his death he was deprived of thy nearness.
He and his progeny were cast out into exile in that land of curses, to pass their days there in pain, and sicknesses, and in labour, and in weariness, and in trouble.
Remain in peace, O Cave of Treasures!
Remain in peace, O habitation and inheritance of our Fathers!
Remain ye in peace, O our Fathers and Patriarchs!
Pray ye for us, O ye who live in the dust, ye friends and beloved ones of the Living God.
Pray ye for the remnant of your posterity which is left.
O ye who have propitiated God, make supplication unto Him on our behalf in your prayers. [Fol. 16b, col. 2]
Remain in peace, O Ânôsh!
Remain ye in peace, O ye ministers of God, Kainân, and Mahlâlâîl, and Yârêd, and Methuselah, and Lamech, and Enoch! Cry out in sorrow on our behalf.
Remain in peace, O Haven and Asylum of the Angels!
O ye our Fathers, cry out in sorrow on our behalf, because ye will be deprived of our society!
And we will cry out in sorrow, because we are cast out into a bare land, for our habitation will be with the wild beasts.
And as they were coming down from that holy mountain, they kissed the stones thereof, and embraced the delectable trees thereof. And in this wise they came down, and they wept with great sorrow, and shed scalding (or bitter) tears, and suffering sorely they descended to the plain. And Noah went into the Ark, and deposited the body of Adam in the middle thereof, and he placed these [Fol. 17a, col. 1] offerings upon it.
Now in the year wherein Noah went into the Ark the second thousand years of the posterity of Adam to the time of the flood came to an end, according to what the Seventy Wise Writers have told us.
[Note: The Book of Adam (iii. 6) says that when Noah and his sons were carrying the body of Adam out of the Cave, the bodies of the other Patriarchs cried out, and asked the body of Adam if they were to be separated from it. Adam replied that he must leave the holy mountain, and told them that he knew God would bring their bodies together again on another occasion, and bade them wait patiently. Adam asked God to allow the lighted lamp to remain with the bodies in the Cave, until the resurrection. This God did, and then He closed the Cave until the day of the resurrection. Noah and his sons marvelled greatly when they heard the bodies of the Patriarchs talking together in the Cave. Having carried away the body of Adam and the gold, myrrh and frankincense, they returned to the mountain, intending to enter the Cave once agaln; they sought carefully, but could not find the Cave, and then they knew that God had sealed it, and had hidden it from them, so that they might never dwell therein again.]
Footnotes:
1 See Kebra Nagast (Budge’s translation), chapter c. Concerning the Angels who rebelled.
[The Third Thousand Years: From The Flood To The Reign Of Reu
Noah's entry into the Ark
The entrance of Noah into the Ark took place on the day of the eve of the Sabbath (Friday), on the seventeenth day of the blessed month of Îyâr (May). On the Friday, in the morning (i.e. the third hour) the beasts and the cattle went into the lowermost storey; and at midday all the feathered fowl and all the reptiles went into the middle storey; and at sunset Noah and his sons went into the Ark, on the east side of [the third storey], and his wife and the wives of his sons went to the west side. And the body of Adam was deposited in the middle of the Ark, wherein also all the mysteries of the Church were deposited. Thus women in church shall be on the west [side] [Fol. 17a, col. 2], and men on the east [side], so that the men may not see the faces of the women, and the women may not see the faces of the men. Thus also was it in the Ark; the women were on the west [side], and the men on the east [side], and the body of our father Adam was placed between [them] like a raised stand (or throne). And as quietness reigneth in the Church between men and women, so also peace reigned in the Ark between the wild beasts, and the feathered fowl, and the creeping things (or reptiles). And as kings, and judges, and rich men, and poor men, and governors, and sick men, and beggars, live in concord, that is to say, in a general bond of peace, so also was it in the Ark. For lions, and panthers, and savage beasts of prey lived in peace and harmony with the cattle; and the beasts that were fierce and strong lived in peace with those that were timid and weak; and the lion with the ox, and the wolf with the lamb, and the lion’s whelp [Fol. 17b, col. 1] with the calf, and the serpent with the dove, and the hawk with the sparrow.
The Flood
And when Noah and his sons had gone into the Ark, and his wife and the wives of his sons, on the seventeenth day of the month of Îyâr (May), at sunset, the door of the Ark was shut fast, and Noah and his sons in captivity in the darkness. And as soon as the door of the Ark was shut, the floodgates of the heavens were opened, and the foundations of the earth were rent asunder, and Ocean, that great sea which surroundeth the whole world, poured forth its floods. And whilst the floodgates of heaven were open, and the foundations of the earth were rent asunder, the storehouses of the winds burst their bolts, and storm and whirlwinds swept forth, and Ocean roared and hurled its floods upon the earth. And the children of Seth, who had besmirched themselves in the mire of fornication, ran to the door of the Ark, and entreated Noah to open to them the door of the Ark. And when they saw the water floods which were swirling about them and engulfing [Fol. 17b, col. 2] them on all sides, they were in great tribulation, and they tried to climb up the mountains of Paradise, but were unable to do so. Now the Ark was closed and sealed, and the Angel of the Lord stood over one side of it that he might act as the pilot thereof. And when the floods of waters mastered the children of Seth, and they began to drown in their great and mighty waves–then was fulfilled that which David spake concerning them, saying:
I said, Ye are gods, and all of you sons of the Most High. (Ps. lxxxii. 6.) But since ye have done this, and ye have loved the fornication of the daughters of Cain, like them ye shall perish, and even as they did so shall ye die.
And when the Ark was lifted up from the earth by the mighty strength of the waters, all the children of men, and the wild beasts, and the feathered fowl, and the cattle, and the creeping things, and everything [living] on the face of the earth was drowned. And the waters [Fol. 18a, col. 1] of the Flood mounted up above all the tops of the high mountains fifteen cubits [variants, 25, 50 cubits], according to the measure of the Spirit. [The cubit of the Holy Ghost = 3 ordinary cubits.] And the flood waxed strong, and the waters thereof lifted up the Ark until it reached the skirts [of the mountain] of Paradise. And as the flood had been blessed by Paradise (i.e. had been made holy), it bowed its head, and kissed the skirts of Paradise and turned itself back to destroy the whole earth. And the Ark flew on the wings of the wind over the waters of the flood from east to west, and from north to south, and it marked out [by its path] a cross on the waters. And the Ark flew about for one hundred and fifty days, and it came to rest on the mountains of Kardô (i.e. Ararat, the Jabal al-Jûdî of the Arabs, near Jazîrat ibn `Umar) in the seventh month, that is to say, in the First Teshrî (October) on the seventeenth day thereof. And God commanded the waters, and they became separated from each other. The celestial waters were taken up, and ascended to their own place above [Fol. 18a, col. 2] the heavens, whence they came. The waters which had risen up from the earth returned to the lowermost abyss [under the earth]; and those which belonged to the Ocean [which surroundeth the whole world] returned to the innermost parts thereof. And the waters which had been on the earth, and had been assigned to it by the Divine Nod for the needs thereof from the beginning, remained upon it.
And the waters diminished little by little until the tenth month, which is Shebât (February), and on the first day thereof the tops of the mountains appeared. And, forty days later, on the tenth day of the month of Âdhâr (March), Noah opened the east window of the Ark, and sent forth a raven to bring back tidings; and the raven departed and did not return. And after the waters had diminished a little more from the earth, Noah sent forth a dove; and it found no place to rest, and it returned to Noah to the Ark. And after seven days he sent forth another dove, and it returned to him, carrying in its beak an olive leaf. Now the dove figureth for us the Two Covenants. In the First Covenant [Fol. 18b, col. 1] the spirit which spake by the Prophets did not find a place of rest among that rebellious people (i.e. the Jews); and in the Second Covenant it rested on the peoples through the waters of baptism.
[Note: The above description of the Flood agrees substantially with that given in the Book of Adam (chapters ix and x), and in the Book of the Bee (chapter xx).]
Noah leaves the Ark
And in the six hundred and first year of the life of Noah, on the first day of the month of Nîsân (April) the waters had dried up from the face of the earth. And in the second month, which is Îyâr (May), wherein Noah went into the Ark on the twenty-seventh day, on the holy first day of the week (Sunday), their going forth took place; and he and his wife went forth, and his sons and their wives went with them. Now, when they went into the Ark they went in in separate companies, Noah and his sons [in one company], and his wife and their wives in another company; and the men did not know the women until they went forth from the Ark. And all the wild beasts, and all the cattle, and all the feathered fowl, and all the creeping things went forth from the Ark on the first day of the week.
Noah founds Themânôn, the city of the “Eight.”
And when they had gone forth Noah began work on the ground [Fol. 18b, col. 2], and they built a city and called the name thereof “Themânôn” (i.e. “Eight”), after the name of the eight souls who had gone forth from the Ark. And Noah built an altar, and offered up upon it an offering of beasts that were clean and feathered fowl. And God was appeased by the offering of Noah, and he established with him an everlasting covenant, and swore an oath, saying, “I will never again make a Flood.” He took away the arrow of wrath from the bow which is in the clouds, and he stripped from it the string of anger, and spread it out (i.e. unbent it) in the clouds. For formerly, when the bow was bent in the firmament against that generation of the children of Cain, the murderer, they used to see the arrow of wrath placed in position on the string of anger, but after the Flood they did not see the arrow on the string.
[Note: According to the Book of Adam (iii. 11), the waters dried up in the 607th year of the life of Noah. The altar on which Noah sacrificed was that on which Adam, Cain, and Abel had laid their offerings; it had been damaged by the Flood, but Noah rebuilt it. The city of Themânôn is îdentified with Sûbhâ (i.e. Nisîbis) in the Book of the Bee (chapter xx), but this is a false identification. The "City of Eight," Themânôn, is not to be identified with the τὸ Θομάνων {Greek: tò Ðománwn} of Theophylact Simocatta (vol. ii. chap. 10, p. 86), which lay on the right bank of the Tigris near Hisn Kêfâ, but with the Sûk Thamânîn of the Arab geographers, which lay at a distance of one day's journey from Jazîrat ibn `Umar. It was situated high up in the mountains, and Khusraw Anôsharwân used to encamp there during the heats of summer. Near Burzmihrân, and between Jazîrat ibn `Umar and Thamânôn was Dêr Abbûn, which, according to Yâkût, contained the tomb of Noah. It is interesting to note that the Arabs call Noah's city Sûk Thamânîn (i.e. "Market of the Eighty") and not "Market of the Eight." For further details see Hoffmann, G., Auszüge aus syrischen Akten, page 174.]
The Vineyard of Noah
And when they had gone forth from the Ark, they sowed seed and planted a vineyard; and they pressed out new wine. And Noah drew nigh, and drank some of it, and immediately he had drunk of it [Fol. 19a, col. 1] he became drunk. And having fallen asleep, his shame was seen, and his son Ham saw the nakedness of his father, and did not cover it; but he laughed at him and made a mock of him, and he ran and called his brethren that they also might make a mock of their father. And when Shem and Japhet heard of it they were dismayed exceedingly. And they rose up, and took a cloak, and walked backwards with their faces turned away that they might not see the nakedness of their father. And they cast the cloak over him and covered him. And when Noah woke up from the sleep of his wine, his wife told him about everything that had happened, and he also within himself knew what had happened to him. And Noah was exceedingly angry with his son Ham, and he said:
Cursed be Canaan; he shall be a servant of servants to his brethren.
Why, since the whole of the folly was Ham’s, was Canaan cursed, except that, when the youth grew up [Fol. 19a, col. 2], and attained the full measure of his understanding, Satan entered into him, and became to him a teacher of sin? And he renewed the work of the house of Cain, the murderer. He constructed and made reed instruments and harps, and the fiends and the devils went unto them and dwelt therein. And immediately wind was blown through them (the reeds), the devils sang inside them, and sent forth loud sounds; and when men struck the harps the devils became operative inside them. And when Noah heard that Canaan had done this, he was grieved sorely, because the work of error, through which the fall of the children of Seth had taken place, was renewed. For by means of singing, and lewd play, and the mad lasciviousness of the children of Cain, Satan had cast down the mighty men, the “sons of God,” into fornication. And through the music of reed pipes and harps sin had multiplied [Fol. 19b, col. 1] among the former generations until, at length, God became wroth and made the Flood. And Canaan was cursed because he had dared to do this, and his seed became a servant of servants, that is to say, to the Egyptians, and the Cushites, and the Mûsâyê (Mysians), [and the Indians, and all the Ethiopians, whose skins are black]. And because Ham had dared to make a mock of his father he was called “vile” (or “lascivious”) all the days of his life.
Now Noah in his lying down in sleep, having drunk wine, symbolizeth the Cross of Christ, as the blessed man David singeth in his Psalm concerning him, saying, “Wake up, Lord, like a sleeping man, and like a man whom wine hath overcome.” [Compare Psalm xlv. 23 {sic, Psalm xliv. 23}; lxxviii. 65.] Let the heretics who say “God was crucified” hold their peace. Here David calleth him “Lord,” even as Peter the Apostle said, “This Jesus, whom ye crucified, hath God made Lord and Messiah (Christ).” (Compare Acts v. 30, 31.] He did not say “God” (Allâhâ), but “Lord” (Mâryâ), thus [Fol. 19b, col. 2] making known concerning the unity (or oneness) of the Two Persons who were united in one sonship. Now when Noah woke up from his sleep he cursed Canaan, and reduced his seed to slavery, and scattered his seed among the nations. And when our Lord rose from the dead He cursed the Jews, and scattered them among the nations. Now the seed of Canaan, as I have already said, are the Egyptians, and behold, they are scattered over the whole earth, and have been made servants of servants. And of what kind is this slavery of slavery? Behold, the Egyptians go round about all over the earth carrying loads on their backs (literally, necks). Now, men who are not fettered under the yoke of slavery, when despatched by their masters on journeys, do not march on their feet and carry loads, but they ride upon beasts in an honourable manner, like their masters. The seed of Ham are the Egyptians, who carry loads, and they march [Fol. 20a, col. 1] on the roads with their backs and necks breaking under their loads, and they wander round to the doors of the children of their brethren. The seed of Ham was reduced, through the folly of Canaan, to suffer this penalty, that is, to become servants even to servants.
[Note: The Book of the Bee (chapter xx) says concerning the cursing of Ham:
The reason why he (Noah) cursed Canaan, who was not as yet born, nor had sinned, was because Ham had been saved with him in the Ark from the waters of the Flood, and had with his father received the divine blessing, and also because the arts of sin--I mean music and dancing and all other hateful things--were about to be revived by his posterity, for the art of music proceeded from the seed of Canaan.
The same work adds:
After the Flood a son was born to Noah, and he called his name Yônatôn; and he provided him with gifts and sent him to the fire of the sun, to the east.
The Book of Adam (iii. 13), merely states that Noah married another wife, who bore him seven children, and that he continued to dwell on that mountain until the end of his days.]
The Death of Noah
And Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after he came forth from the Ark. And when he was sick unto death, Shem, and Ham, and Japhet, and Arpakhshar (Arphaxad), and Shâlah (Salah) gathered together unto him. And Noah called Shem, his firstborn, and said unto him privily:
Take heed, my son Shem, unto what I say unto thee this day. When I am dead, go into the Ark, wherein thou hast been saved, and bring out the body of our father Adam, and let no man have knowledge of what thou doest. And take with thee from this place provision for the way, bread and wine, and take with thee Melchisedek, the son of Mâlâkh [Fol. 20a, col. 2], because him hath God chosen from among all your descendants that he may minister before Him in respect of the body of our father Adam. And take the body and place it in the centre of the earth, and make Melchisedek to sit down there. And the Angel of God shall go before you, and shall show you the way wherein ye shall go, and also the place wherein the body of Adam shall be deposited, which is, indeed, the centre of the earth. There the four quarters of the earth embrace each other. For when God made the earth His power went before it, and the earth, from [its] four quarters, ran after it, like the winds and the swift breezes, and there (i.e. in the centre of the earth) His power stood still and was motionless. There shall redemption be made for Adam, and for all his posterity. Now this story, or mystery, was handed down to us from Adam in all generations [Fol. 20b, col. 1]. Adam commanded Seth, and Seth commanded Ânôsh (Enos), and Ânôsh commanded Kainân (Cainan), and Kainân commanded Mahlâlâîl, and Mahlâlâîl commanded Yârêd, and Yârêd commanded Enoch, and Enoch commanded Methuselah, and Methuselah commanded Lamech; and behold, I command thee this day. And take heed that this story is never mentioned again in all your generations. Get thee up, and take the body of Adam, and deposit it secretly in the place which God shall show thee until the day of redemption.
And when Noah had given all these commands unto his son Shem, he died, [being] nine hundred and fifty years old, in the month of Îyâr (May), on the second day thereof, at the second hour of the first day of the week (Sunday). And Shem his son embalmed him, and buried him in the city which he had built (i.e. Themânôn), and they made a mourning for him forty days.
[Note: According to the Book of the Bee, Noah died on the fourth day of the week (Wednesday), on the second day of the month of Nîsân (April), at the second hour of the day. The Book of Adam says that he was buried on the mountain on which the Ark rested. The same authority states (iii. chapter xiv) that the Ark was closed during the days of Noah, but that Noah went into it every evening to light the lamp which he had made, and which burned before the body of Adam. It is also stated that during his dying speech Noah indicated to each of his sons which part of the earth he was to dwell with his posterity. The territory of Shem extended from Jerusalem eastwards as far as India, and southwards as far as the mountains which divided Egypt from the land of the Philistines. It included Mount Zion, Mount Sinai, and the Garden of Eden. Ham's territory extended from Aris towards the south, as far as Fardundan and Gadariun, and also to the borders of the west. Japhet's portion was very large, and extended from the angle of the west to Damatha in the south, and all the north as far as Aris. Canaan, a descendant of Ham, had seven sons, and he seized seven of the great cities of Shem, and set these sons over them; and he doubled the size of his own portion. Later, God gave these cities back to the children of Shem, and blotted out Canaan's posterity, Kebra Nagast (chapter xii).]
The Departure of Shem with the body of Adam
And after the death of Noah Shem did as his father had commanded him. And he went into [Fol. 20b, col. 2] the Ark by night, and brought out the body of Adam therefrom, and he sealed the Ark with his father’s seal, and no man perceived [what he had done]. And he called Ham and Japhet, and said unto them:
My brethren, my father commanded me to go up and travel over the earth, even to the sea (i.e. the Mediterranean), and I am to see what the rivers are like, and then return unto you. And behold, my wife and the children of my house are with you (i.e. in your care); let your eyes be upon them.
And his brethren said unto him, “Take with thee a company of men from the camp, for the land is a desert waste, and is shorn of inhabitants, and there are wild beasts therein.” And Shem said unto them, “The Angel of the Lord shall go up with me, and he shall save me from every evil thing”; and his brethren said unto him, “Go in peace, and may the Lord God of our Fathers be with thee.” And Shem said unto Mâlâkh (the brother of Shâlâh (Salah), the son of [Cainan] and [grand]son of Arphaxad), the father of Melchisedek, and Yôzadhâk, his mother, “Give ye me Melchisedek [Fol. 21a, col. 1], that he may go up with me, and be a consolation for me on the road.” And Mâlâkh and Yôzadhâk, his mother, said unto Shem, “Take [him] and go in peace.” And Shem gave commands unto his brethren, and said unto them, “My brethren, my father made me swear that neither I, nor any of your descendants, should go into the Ark,” nor he sealed the Ark with his seal, and said unto them, “Let no man go near it.”
Shem carries the body of Adam to Golgotha
And Shem took the body of Adam and Melchisedek, and went forth by night from among his people, and behold, the Angel of the Lord, who was going before them, appeared unto them. And their journey was very speedy, because the Angel of the Lord strengthened them until they arrived at that place. And when they arrived at Gâghûltâ (Golgotha), which is the centre of the earth, the Angel of the Lord showed Shem the place [for the body of Adam]. And when Shem had deposited the body of our father Adam upon that place [Fol. 21a, col. 2], the four quarters [of the earth] separated themselves from each other, and the earth opened itself in the form of a cross, and Shem and Melchisedek deposited the body of Adam there (i.e. in the cavity). And as soon as they had laid it therein, the four quarters [of the earth] drew quickly together, and enclosed the body of our father Adam, and the door of the created world was shut fast. And that place was called “Karkaphtâ ” (i.e. “Skull”), because the head of all the children of men was deposited there. And it was called “Gâghûltâ,” because it was round [like the head], and “Resîphtâ ” (i.e. a trodden-down thing), because the head of the accursed serpent, that is to say, Satan, was crushed there, and “Gefîftâ ” (Gabbatha), because all the nations were to be gathered together to it.
[Note: The Book of the Bee devotes a chapter (xxi) to Melchisedek, and says that neither the father nor mother of this Melchisedek were written down in the genealogies; not that he had no natural parents, but that they were not written down. The greater number of the doctors say that he was of the sect of Canaan, whom Noah cursed. In the Book of Chronography, however (the author), affirms and says that he was of the seed of Shem, the son of Noah. Shem begot Arphaxar, Arphaxar begot Cainan, and Cainan begot Shâlâh and Mâlâh. Shâlâh was written down in the genealogies; but Mâlâh was not, because his affairs were not sufficiently important to be written down in the genealogies. The Book of Adam (iii. 16) says that Cainan was the father of Melchisedek, and that the Angel of the Face, or Michael, appeared to him, and told him that he was going to send away his son from him. This same angel also appeared to Melchisedek and told him to go with Shem, and to minister before the body of Adam in the centre of the earth, and also to Shem. After his interview with the angel, Shem made a splendid coffin to hold the body of Adam, and prepared bread and wine for the journey. When he and Melchisedek went to the Ark to take out the body, they found that the door of it had been locked by Noah, and they had no key to open it. As soon as Melchisedek touched the lock the door opened of itself, and the voice of Adam was heard to address him as the "priest of the Most High God." Melchisedek went into the Ark, and Michael helped him to carry out Adam's body, and Shem brought out the gold, frankincense and myrrh. Shem laid the body in the coffin which he had made, and then shut the door of the Ark. Melchisedek was fifteen years of age when he set out with Shem. The voice of Adam told Shem when they arrived at the centre of the earth, and as soon as the coffin touched the rock, the rock split asunder to receive it. On the following morning Melchisedek builded an altar of twelve stones, and offered up upon it the bread and wine which Shem had brought from Paradise.]
Shem’s commands to Melchisedek
And Shem said unto Melchisedek:
Thou shalt be the priest of the Most High God, because thou alone hath God chosen to minister before Him in this place. And thou shalt sit (i.e. dwell) here continually, and shalt not depart from this place all the days of thy life. Thou shalt not take a wife, thou shalt not shave thy head, and thou shalt not pour out blood [Fol. 21b, col. 1] in this place. Thou shalt not offer up wild beasts nor feathered fowl, but thou shalt offer up bread and wine always; and thou shalt not build a building in this place. And behold, the Angel of the Lord shall come down to thee and visit thee continually.
And Shem embraced and kissed Melchisedek, and blessed him, and he returned to his brethren. And Mâlâkh, the father of Melchisedek, and Yôzâdhâk, his mother, said [unto Shem], “Where is the young man?” And he said, “He died on the journey, and I buried him there” (i.e. where he died); and they mourned for him greatly.
[Note: A scribe's note says that in the manuscript of one Makbal Melchisedek's father was called "Harklêîm" and his mother "Shêlâthîêl " (Budge, Book of the Bee, page 34). Melchisedek wore a tunic of skin and a leather girdle, and an angel dwelt with him, and protected him, and gave him food (Book of Adam, iii. 21). When he was old, the kings of the earth heard his fame, and eleven of them gathered together and came to see him; and they entreated him to go with them, but he would not be persuaded. And when he did not conform to their wishes, they built a city for him there, and he called it Jerusalem; and the kings said to one another, "This is the king of all the earth, and the father of nations."]
The Generations of Shem
And when Shem had lived six hundred years he died, and Arphakhshar, his son, and Shâlâh (Salah), and `Abhâr (Eber), his sons, buried him.
And Arphakhshar was thirty and five years old when he begot Shâlâh, and all the days of his life were four hundred and thirty-eight years [Fol. 21b, col. 2], and he died, and Shâlâh, his son, and `Abhâr and Pâlâg (Peleg) buried him in Arpakhsharath, the city which he built after his own name.
[Note: After Shem the Book of Adam (iii. 22) inserts the name of Cainan, the father of Melchisedek (sic), who lived 589 years. Shem's years are given as 550.]
Salah was thirty years old when he begot Eber, and all the days of his life were four hundred and thirty-three years [Ethiopic variant, 408 years], and he died, and Eber, his son, and Peleg, and Ar`ô (Reu) puried hill in Shelîhôn, the city which he built after his own name.
Eber was thirty and four years old when he begot Peleg; and all the days of his life were four hundred and sixty-four [Ethiopic variant, 434] years; and he died, and Peleg his son and Reu and Sorôgh (Serug) buried him in `Ebhrîn, the city which he built after his own name.
Peleg was thirty years old when he begot Reu; and all the days of his life were two hundred and thirty-nine years, and he died [and they buried him in the city of Peleg, which he had built after his own name].
The Migration to the land of Sêntar
And in the days of Peleg all the tribes and families of the children of Noah gathered together, and went up from the East. And they found a [Fol. 22a, col. 1] plain in the land of Sên`ar (Shinar?), and they all sat down there; and from Adam until this time they were all of one speech and one language. They all spake this language, that is to say, SÛRYÂYÂ (Syrian), which is ÂRÂMÂYÂ (Aramean), and this language is the king of all languages. Now, ancient writers have erred in that they said that Hebrew was the first [language], and in this matter they have mingled an ignorant mistake with their writing. For all the languages there are in the world are derived from Syrian, and all the languages in books are mingled with it. In the writing of the Syrians the left hand stretcheth out to the right hand, and all the children of the left hand (i.e. the heathen) draw nigh to the right hand of God; now with the Greeks, and Romans, and the Hebrews, the right hand stretcheth out to the left. [Both Hebrew and Syriac are written from right to left, but Greek and Latin from left to right.]
[Fol. 22a, col. 2.] And in the days of Peleg the Tower which is in Babel was built, and there the tongues of men were confounded. [A marginal note says, "the division of tongues took place at midnight."] And from that place they were scattered over the face of all the earth; and that place was called “Babel,” because tongues were confounded there.
[Note: The name Babel or Babylon has nothing to do with the Hebrew words "to mix, to confound." "Babel" is a transcription of the Assyrian words "Bâb-ilu," which mean "Gate of God," and which are the Semitic translation of the Sumerian words Ka-Dingirra-Ki.]
And after the division of tongues Peleg died in great sorrow, and with tears in his eyes and grief in his heart, because in his days the earth was divided. And his son Reu, and Serug, and Nâhôr buried him in Peleghîn, the city which he had built after his own name. And there were seventy-two tongues in the earth, and seventy-two heads of tribes (or families), and each tribe and tongue made unto themselves a chief like a king.
The Posterity of Japhet
And the seed of Japhet became thirty-seven nations and kingdoms; viz. Gâmâr (Gomer), and Yâwân, and Mâdhâi, and Tûbîl, and Mâshêkh [Fol. 22b, col. 1], and Tîrês, and all the kingdoms of the Alânâyê; all these are the children of Japhet.
[Note: Another list gives: Gomer (Goths), Magog (Galatians), Madai (Medes), Javan (Greeks), Tûbîl (Bithynians), Meshech (Mysians), Tîras (Thracians), and the Anshklâyê. From Gomer sprang the Ashkenaz (Armenians), Danphar (Cappadocians), Togarmah (Asians), and the Isaurians. From Javan sprang Halles (Hellas), Tarshish, Cilicia, Cyprus, Kittim, Doranim (see Gen. x. 4), and the Macedonians. Book of the Bee (chapter xxii).]
And the sons of Hâm–Kûsh (Nubia), and Mesrîm (Egypt), and Pôt, and Canaan, and all their children. And the sons of Shem–`Îlâm (Elamites), and Âshôr (Assyrians), and Arpakhshar (Persians?), and Lôdh (Lud), and Ârâm (Arameans, Damascenes, and Harranites), and all their children. Now the children of Japhet clung to the borders of the east, from the Mountain of Nôdh, which is on the confines of the east, to the Tigris and the confines of the north, and from Baktôrônôs (Bactria?) as far as Gadhrîôn (Gadarea?). And the children of Shem held from Persia [in] the east as far as the sea of Tadhrasnkôs in the west; unto them belongeth the middle of the earth, and they held sovereignty and dominion therein. The children of Shem occupy all the southern and a little of the western quarter.
And Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug. And in the days of Reu, in his one hundred [Fol. 22b, col. 2] and thirtieth year, Nimrod, the mighty man, the first king on the earth, reigned, and he reigned sixty-nine years; and the beginning of his kingdom was Babel. This Nimrod saw the figure of a crown in the heavens, and he called Sîsân, the weaver, who wore a crown like unto it, and he set it on his head. And because of this men used to say that the crown came down to him from heaven.
[Note: Nimrod became so wicked that he thought he was God. Book of Adam (iii. 23).]
In The Days Of Reu The Third Thousand Years Came To An End.

[The Fourth Thousand Years--From the Reign of Reu to the Twenty-Sixth Year Of The Life Of Ehud
And in the days of Reu the Mesrâyê, who are the Egyptians, appointed their first king; his name was Puntos, and he reigned over them sixty-eight years. And in the days of Reu a king reigned in Shebhâ (Sâba), and in Ophir, and in Havilah. And there reigned in Sâba sixty of the daughters of Sâba. And for many years women reigned in Sâba until the kingdom of Solomon, the son of David. And the children of Ophir, that is, Send (Scindia?), appointed to be their [Fol. 23a, col. 1] Lophoron (?), who built Ophir with stones of gold; now, all the stones that are in Ophir are of gold. And the children of Havilah appointed to be their king Havîl, who built Havilah, that is, Hend (India?).
[Note: According to the Book of Adam (iii. 23), the first king of Egypt was called Yanuf; he built Memphis, that is, Misr. Sasen reigned in Sâba and built the city of Sâba, the people of which are called "Sabeans." Bahlul, builder of Bahlu, reigned over Lebensa in India. The first king of Sâba is said to have been Menyelek I, the son of Solomon king of Mael and Mâkeda, Queen of Sheba.]
And Reu died, being two hundred and thirty-nine years old, and Serug his son, and Nâhôr and Tarah (Terah) buried him in Aor`în, the city which he built after his own name.
And Serug lived thirty years and begot Nâhôr, and all the days of his life were two hundred and thirty years. And in the days of Serug the worship of idols entered the world. And in his days the children of men began to make themselves graven images, and it was at this time that the introduction of idols into the world took place. For the children of men were scattered all over the earth, and they had neither teachers nor lawgivers, and no one to show them [Fol. 23a, col. 2] the way of truth wherein they should walk, and for this reason they became confused and fell into error. Some of them through their error adored the heavens, and some of them worshipped the sun, and moon and stars, and some of them the earth, and wild beasts, and birds, and creeping things, and trees, and stones, and the creatures of the sea, and the waters, and the winds. Now Satan had blinded their eyes so that they might walk in the darkness of error, because they had no hope of a resurrection. For when one of them died they used to make an image of him, and set it up upon his grave, so that the remembrance [of his appearance] might not pass from before their eyes. And error having been sown broadcast in all the earth, the land became filled with idols in the form of men and women. And then Serug died, being two hundred and thirty years old, and Nâhôr, and Tarah [Fol. 23b, col. 1], and Abraham his sons, buried him in Sarghîn, the city which he built after his own name.
And Nâhôr was twenty-nine years old when he begot Terah. And in the days of Nâhôr, in the seventieth year of his life, when God looked upon the children of men, and saw that they were worshipping idols, a great earthquake took place, and all their houses were overturned and fell down; but the people did not understand within themselves, and they added to their wickedness. And Nâhôr died when he was one hundred and forty-seven years old, and Terah his son and Abraham buried him. Terah was seventy-five years old when he begot Abraham.
[Note: Nâhôr was the son of Serug by his wife Melka, and he married Iyosaka, the daughter of Kheber, the Chaldean, and she became the mother of Terah. The "Wind Flood" came upon the earth in the days of Nâhôr. God opened the storehouse of the winds and whirlwinds, and they uprooted the idols and graven images, and they collected them together, and buried them under the earth, and they reared over them these mounds that are in the world. (Book of the Bee, chapter xxiii.) God sent forth winds, and the whirlwind, and earthquakes on the earth, until the idols were broken one against another. Instead of repenting, men added to their sins. Book of Adam (iii. 24.)]
And Terah was seventy-five years old when he begat Abraham. And in the days of Terah, in his ninetieth year, sorcery appeared on the earth in the city of Aôr (Ur), which Horon, the son of `Abhâr, built. Now, there was in the city a certain man who was very rich, and he died at that time. And his son made an image of him in gold [Fol. 23b, col. 2], and set it up upon his grave, and he appointed there a young man to keep guard over it. And Satan went and took up his abode in that image, and he spake to that youth (i.e. the son of the rich man) after the manner of his father. And thieves went into [his house], and took everything that the youth possessed, and he went out to the tomb of his father weeping. And Satan spake unto him, saying, “Weep not in my presence, but go and fetch thy little son, and slay him here as a sacrifice to me, and forthwith everything which thou hast lost shall be returned to me here.” And straightway the youth did as Satan told him, and he slew his son, and bathed in his blood. And Satan went forth immediately from that image [of gold], and entered into the youth, and taught him sorcery, and enchantments, and divination, and the lore of the Chaldeans, and [how to tell] fortunes, and [how to forecast] events, and [how to foretell] destinies. And behold, from that time the children of men began to sacrifice their sons to devils and to worship idols, for the devils entered into the images, and took up their abodes therein.
[Note: According to the Book of Adam (iii. 24), the young man who ministered to the image had to sweep the ground around it, and to pour out water before it, and to burn incense. The image seems to have resembled somewhat the Ka-figure of the Egyptians, and its attendant may be regarded as the equivalent of the Ka-priest. A marginal note in the Syriac MS. of the "Cave of Treasures" in the British Museum says that the city Aôr is Erech (Warka). The "Interpreter" (i.e. Theodore), says it was Bêth Mâhôzê (Ctesiphon and Seleucia), that is, Bêth Arâmâyê, but both statements are incorrect. The city referred to is Ur, where, in recent years, excavations have been carried out by the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania. (See my Babylonian Life and History, London, 1925, and the account of the excavations given at the end of the present work, page 275.)]
And in the one hundredth year of the life of Nâhôr, when God saw that the children of men were sacrificing their Sons to devils [Fol. 24a, col. 1], and worshipping idols, He opened the storehouses of the wind, and the gate of the whirlwind, and a blast of wind went forth in all the earth. And it uprooted the images, and the places where offerings were made to devils, and it swept together the idols, and the images, and the pillared buildings in a heap, and piled up great mounds [of earth] over them; [and they are there] to this day. Now to this blast of wind learned men have given the name of “Wind-Flood”; but certain who have erred have said, “These mounds existed [already] in the days of the Flood [of waters].” Now those who have said these things have erred greatly from the truth; for before the Flood [of waters] there were no idols in the earth, and it was not because of idols that the Flood came, but because of the fornication of the daughters of Cain. And, moreover, at that time there were no men on this earth, which was a waste and a desert. And our fathers were cast forth in days of old, as it were, into exile, because they were not worthy to be [Fol. 24a, col. 2] neighbours of Paradise. And through the Ark they were driven forth to the mountains of Kardô, and from there they were scattered about throughout all the earth. For these mounds came into being because of idols, and in them are buried all the idols of that time, and all the devils also who dwell in them are in these mounds, and there is no mound which hath not devils in it.
Nimrod the fire-worshipper, and Yôntôn, son of Noah
And in the days of Nimrod, the mighty man (or giant), a fire appeared which ascended from the earth, and Nimrod went down, and looked at it, and worshipped it, and he established priests to minister there, and to cast incense into it. From that day the Persians began to worship fire, [and they do so] to this day.
And Sîsân, the king, found a spring of water in Drôghîn, and he made a white horse and set it over it, and those who bathed in the water used to worship the horse [Fol. 24b, col. 1]. And from that time the Persians began to worship that (sic) horse.
[Note: According to the Book of Adam (iii. 25), the horse was made of gold.]
And Nimrod went to Yôkdôrâ of Nôdh, and when he arrived at the Lake (or Sea) of Atrâs, he found there Yôntôn, the son of Noah. [A marginal note in the Syriac MS. adds, "Noah begot this Yôntôn after the Flood, and he honoured him in many things, and sent him to the east to dwell there."] And Nimrod went down and bathed in the Lake, and he came to Yôntôn and did homage unto him. And Yôntôn said, “Thou art a king; doest thou homage unto me?” And Nimrod said unto him, “It is because of thee that I have come down here”; and he remained with him for three years. And Yôntôn taught Nimrod wisdom, and the art of revelation (divining?), and he said unto him, “Come not back again to me.”
And when Nimrod went up from the east, and began to practise the art of divining, very many men marvelled at him. And when Îdhâshîr (Ardeshir?), the priest who ministered to the fire that ascended from the earth, saw that Nimrod was practising these exalted courses, he entreated the devil, who appeared in connection with that fire, to teach him [Fol. 24b, col. 2] the wisdom of Nimrod. And as the devils were in the habit of destroying those who came nigh unto them by sin, the devil said unto the priest, “A man cannot become a priest and a Magian until he hath known carnally his mother, and his daughter, and his sister.” And Îdhâshîr the priest did this, and from that time the priests, and the Magians, and the Persians take their mothers, and their sisters, and their daughters [to wife]. And this Îdhâshîr, the Magian, was the first to begin to study the Signs of the Zodiac, and [omens concerning] luck, and fate, and happenings, and motions of the eyes and eyelids, as well as all the other arts of the learning of the Chaldees. Now, all this learning is the error of devils, and those who practise it shall receive, together with the devils, the doom of the Judgment. And because this art of divination, which was employed by Nimrod, was taught to him [Fol. 25a, col. 1] by Yôntôn, none of the orthodox doctors have suppressed it; nay, they have even practised it. Now the Persians call it “Gelyânâ ” (i.e. “Revelation”) and the Romans “Estrômîôn” (i.e. “Astronomy”). But that [knowledge] which the Magians have, viz. astrology, is sorcery and the teaching of devils. There are some who say that it doth indeed [teach concerning] luck, and happenings (i.e. future events), and fate, but these are in error. Now Nimrod builded strong cities in the east, Babel, and Nineveh, and Râsân (Râs `Ain), and Selîk: (Seleucia), and Ctesiphon, and Âdhôrbaighân; and he made three fortresses.
The History of Abraham
And Terah, the father of Abraham, lived two hundred and fifty years, and he died, and Abraham and Lot buried him in Hârrân. And there God spoke unto Abraham, and said unto him:
Get thee forth from thy land, and from among thy people, and come to the land which I will show thee.
And Abraham took his household, Sârâ his wife [Fol. 25a, col. 2], and Lot, his brother’s son, and he went up to the land of the Amôrâyê (Amorites); and he was seventy-five years old when he crossed the desert from the Euphrates. And he was eighty years old when he pursued the kings, and rescued Lot, his brother’s son.
[Note: When still a boy, Abraham had no belief in idols, and, according to the Kebra Nagast (chapter xiii):
When he was twelve years old his father sent him to sell idols. And Abraham said, 'These are not gods that can make deliverance'; and he took away the idols to sell even as his father had commanded him. And he said unto those unto whom he would sell them, 'Do ye wish to buy goods that cannot make deliverance, things made of wood, and stone, and iron, and brass, which the hand of an artificer hath made?' And they (the people) refused to buy the idols from Abraham he himself had defamed the images of his father.
An old tradition says that Terah made idols of mud, and it is possible that some of these may be represented by the terra-cotta figures of gods and goddesses which have been found in such large numbers in recent years at Ur and other ancient sites in Babylonia.]
And as he was returning he stepped aside from the road, and he set the images down, and looked at them, and said unto them, ‘I wonder now if ye are able to do what I ask you at this moment, and whether ye are able to give me bread to eat or water to drink?’ And none of them answered him, for they were pieces of stone and wood; and he abused them and heaped revilings upon them, and they spake never a word. And he buffeted the face of one, and kicked another with his feet, and a third he knocked over and broke to pieces with stones, and he said unto them, ‘If ye are unable to save yourselves from him that buffeteth you, and ye cannot requite with injury him that injureth you, how can ye be called “gods”? Those who worship you do so in vain, and as for myself I utterly despise you, and ye shall not be my gods.’ Then he turned his face to the East, and he stretched out his hands and said:
Be Thou my God, O Lord, Creator of the heavens and the earth, Creator of the Sun and Moon, Creator of the sea and the dry land, Maker of the majesty of the heavens and the earth, and of that which is visible and that which is invisible; O Maker of the universe, be Thou my God. I place my trust in Thee, and from this day forth I will place my trust in no other save Thyself.
And then there appeared unto him a chariot of fire which blazed, and Abraham was afraid, and fell on his face on the ground; and God said unto him:
Fear thou not, stand upright.
On the day of the birth of Abraham the house shone with a bright light. Many people fell down, and there was a cry in a loud voice, which said, “Woe is me! Woe is me! For he who shall crush my kingdom hath been born.” And he who cried out wept, and described the events which should take place, saying, “It is he who shall burn down my abode.” And there were among the people certain men who said, “Kill this child forthwith,” and those who spake thus knew well that grace would be given to Abraham. And God set mercy in the heart of the father of Abraham, and he said to the Satans, “Whence come ye, O ye who tell me that I should kill my son who is a gracious gift of God?” And he reared the child . . . . . And Abraham was circumcised by the hand of Gabriel and Michael, who helped him. [From the Book of the Mysteries of Heaven and Earth, ed. Perruchon.]
Abraham and Melchisedek
And at that time Abraham had no son, because Sârâ was barren.
And when he returned from the battle of the kings, the agency of God called him, and he crossed the mountain of Yâbhôs (Jebus?), and Melchisedek, the king of Shâlîm, the priest of the Most High God, went forth to meet him. And when Abraham saw Melchisedek, he made haste and fell upon his face, and did homage to him, and he rose up from the ground and embraced him, and kissed him, and was blessed by him; and Melchisedek blessed Abraham. And Abraham gave Melchisedek tithes of everything which he had with him, and Melchisedek made him to participate in the Holy Mysteries, [of] the bread of the Offering and the wine of redemption. And after [Fol. 25b, col. 1] Melchisedek had blessed him, and made him to participate in the Holy Mysteries, God spake unto Abraham, and said unto him:
Thy reward is exceedingly great. Since Melchisedek hath blessed thee, and hath made thee to partake of bread and wine [with him], I also will assuredly bless thee, and I will assuredly multiply thy seed.
And when Abraham was eighty-six years old Ishmael was born to him by Hâghâr, the Egyptian woman, whom Pharaoh had given to Sârâ as a handmaiden. Now Sârâ was the sister of Abraham on the father’s side, because Terah took two women to wife. When Yâwnû, the mother of Abraham, died, Terah took to wife a woman whose name was “Naharyath” (or Shalmath, or Tona, or Tahdif), and of her Sârâ was born. It was because of this [fact] that Abraham said, “She is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother” (Gen. xx. 2, 5).
The Birth of Isaac.
And Abraham was ninety-nine [Fol. 25b, col. 2] years old when God went into his house and gave Sârâ a son, and he was one hundred years old when Isaac was born to him. And Isaac was thirteen years old when his father took him and went up to the mountain of Yâbhôs (Jebus) to Melchisedek, the priest of God, the Most High. Now Mount Yâbhôs is the mountain of the Amôrâyê (Amorites), and in that place the Cross of Christ was set up, and on it grew the tree which held the ram that saved Isaac. And that same place is the centre of the earth, and the grave of Adam, and the altar of Melchisedek, and Golgotha, and Karkaftâ, and Gefîftâ (Gabbatha). And there David saw the angel bearing the sword of fire. There, too, Abraham took up Isaac his son for a burnt offering, and he saw the Cross, and Christ [Fol. 26a, col. 1], and the redemption of our father Adam. The tree (i.e. thicket) was a symboI of the Cross of Christ our Lord, and the ram [caught] in its branches was the mystery of the manhood of the Word, the Only One. And, because of this, Paul cried out and said, “If they had only known [it] they were not crucifying the Lord of glory.” Let the mouths of the heretics be stopped who in their madness impute passibility to the Eternal God.
Now, when Christ was eight days old, Joseph, the betrothed of Mary, rose up to circumcise the Child according to the Law, and he circumcised Him according to the custom that was the Law. In like manner Abraham took up his son as an offering, but he at the same time [fore]saw in this [act] the crucifixion of Christ. And this thing did Christ openly proclaim before the multitudes of the Jews, saying:
Abraham, your father, wanted to see My days, and he saw and was glad (John viii. 56).
Abraham saw the day of the redemption [Fol. 26a, col. 2] of Adam, and he saw and rejoiced, and it was revealed unto him that Christ would suffer on behalf of Adam.
The founding of Jerusalem
And in that same year in which Abraham offered up his son as an offering, in that same year [I say] Jerusalem was built; and the beginning of the building thereof was in this wise. Melchisedek having appeared and shown himself to men, the kings of the nations heard his history, and they gathered together and came unto him.
The names of the kings who built Jerusalem
Abimelech, king of Gâdhâr.
Âmarphîl, (Amraphel), king of Sen`âr.
Arioch, king of Dâlâsâr (sic).
Kardla`mar (Chedorlaomer), king of Elam.
Tar`îl (Tidal), king of the Gîlâyê.
Bârâ (Bera), king of Sodom.
Barshâ (Birsha), king of Gomorrah.
Shênâbh (Shinab), king of Adhâmâh.
Shamâ`ir (Shemeber), king of Zeboim.
Salâkh, king of Bâlâ`.
Tâbhîk, king of Damascus.
Baktôr, king of the desert.
These twelve kings gathered together and came to Melchisedek, king of Shâlim [Fol. 26b, col. 1], the priest of the Most High God. And when they saw his appearance, and heard his words, they entreated him to go with them. And he said unto them, “I am not able to go from this place to any other”; and they took counsel together about building him a city, and said to each other, “Verily, he is the king of the whole earth, and the father of all kings.” And they built him a city and made Melchisedek to live in it; and Melchisedek called the name thereof “Jerusalem.” And when Mâghôgh, the king of the south, heard [of this], he came to him, and saw his appearance, and spake unto him, and gave him offerings and gifts. And Melchisedek was held in honour by all, and he was called the “Father of Kings.”
Melchisedek
Now, as concerning what the Apostle said, “there was no beginning to his days, and no end to his life” (Heb. vii. 3) [Fol. 26b, col. 2], it has been thought by simple folk that he was not a man at all, and in their error they have said concerning him that he was God. God forbid that there should have been no beginning to his days or end to his life. [The Apostle spake thus] because when Shem, the son of Noah, took away Melchisedek from his parents, no word is said as to how old he was when he went up from the East, and it is not said how old he was at the time of his departure from this world. Now, he was the son of Mâlâkh, the son of Arpakhshar, the son of Shem, and he was not the son of one of the Patriarchs. And the Apostle said that none of his father’s family had ever ministered at the altar (Heb. vii. 6). The name of his father is not written in the genealogies, because Matthew and Luke, the Evangelists [only] wrote down the [names of the] Fathers [in chief, i.e. Patriarchs]; and for this reason neither the name of his father [Fol. 27a, col. 1], nor the name of his mother, is known. The Apostle did not say that he had no parents, but [only] that they were not written down in Matthew and Luke.
Kûmrôs
And in the one hundredth year [of the life] of Abraham there was a king in the East whose name was “Kûmrôs.” He built Shemesht (Samosata), after the name of his son Shemeshtô, and Klawdîya (Claudias), after the name of his daughter Kâlôdh, and Pîrîn after the name of his son Pôrôn.
Nimrod founds Nisibis, Harrân and Edessa
And in the fiftieth year of [the life of] Reu, Nimrod went up and built Nisibis, and Edessa, and Harrân, which is Edessa. And Harrânîth, the wife of Dâsân, the priest of the mountain, surrounded it with a wall, and the people of Harrân made a statue of her and worshipped her. And Baltîn, who was given to Tamûzâ (Tammuz) now because B`êlshemîn loved her, Tammuz fled before him and set fire to Harrân and burned it.
The Death of Sârâ
And when Sârâ, the wife of Abraham, died, Abraham took to wife Kentôrâ [Fol. 27a, col. 2], the daughter of Baktôr, the king of the desert. And there were born unto him by her Zamrân, and Yakshân, and Mâdhân, and Medhyân, and Ashbâk, and Shôh. [See Gen. xxv. 1, 2; 1 Chron. i. 32. A marginal note in the Syriac MS. says, "these sons of Kentôrâ are called sons of Daran by the prophet."] And from these are sprung the Arabs.
Isaac and Rebecca
And when Isaac was forty years old, Eliezer, a son of the house of Abraham, went down and brought Rabkâ (Rebecca) from the east, and Isaac took her to wife. And when Abraham died Isaac buried him by the side of Sârâ.
[Note: According to the Book of Adam (iv. 4), Abraham was 175 years old when he died, and Isaac and Ishmael buried him. Rebecca was the daughter of Bethuel, the Aramean, a native of the town of Arâch (Erech?).]
And when Isaac was sixty years old Rebecca became with child of Esau and Jacob. And being sorely afflicted, she went to Melchisedek, and he prayed over her and said unto her:
Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be removed from thy loins, that is to say, shall go forth from thy womb. One nation shall be stronger than the other, and the elder shall be in subjection to the younger, that is to say, Esau [Fol. 27b, col. 1] shall be in subjection to Jacob.
The founding of Jericho
And in the sixty-seventh year of [the life of] Isaac, Jericho was built by seven kings, namely, the king of the Hittites, and the king of the Amorites, and the king of the Girgantes, and the king of the Jebusites, and the king of the Canaanites, and the king of the Hivites, and the king of the Perizites; and each of them surrounded it with a wall. Now the son of Mesrîn (Mizraim), the king of the Egyptians, had founded Jericho in olden time. And Ishmael made a mill of the hands (i.e. a handmill) in the desert, a mill of slavery (i.e. a mill to be worked by, slaves).
Jacob’s Ladder
And in the one hundred and third year of his life Isaac blessed Jacob, who was forty years old, and having received the blessing from his father, he went down into the desert [Fol. 27b, col. 2] of Beersheba, and lay down to sleep there; and when he was lying down he took a stone and made a pillow of it. And he saw in his dream, and behold, a ladder was set upon the earth. And the top of it was in the heavens. And the angels of God were going up and coming down, and the Lord stood at the top of it. And Jacob woke up from his sleep, and said, “This is truly the house of God”; and he took the stone of his pillow, and made it an altar, and he anointed it with oil. And he vowed a vow and said, “Of everything which I have will I tithe for this stone.” Now, it is manifest to those who possess understanding that the ladder which Jacob saw symbolizeth the Cross of our Redeemer. And the angels who were going up and down were the ministers of Zechariah and Mary, and the Magi, and the shepherds. And the Lord Who was standing at [Fol. 28a, col. 1] the top of the ladder symbolized Christ, Who stood on the Cross that He might go down to redeem us.
[Note: The Power of God which was upon the top of the ladder was [a type of] the manifestation of God the Word in pure flesh of the formation of Adam. The place in which it appeared was a type of the Church; the stone under his head, which he set up for an altar, was a type of the altar; and the oil which he poured out upon it was like the holy oil wherewith they anoint the altar. Book of the Bee (chapter xxvii).]
Jacob and Baptism
And when God had shown the blessed Jacob the Cross of Christ by means of the Ladder of the Angels, and the coming down of Christ for our redemption, and the Church, the House of God, and the altar by means of the stone, and the offerings by means of the tithes, and the anointing by means of the oil, Jacob again went down to the East that there God might show him baptism. And Jacob looked, and saw, and beheld three flocks of sheep lying down by a well; and there was a great stone placed over the mouth of the well. And Jacob drew nigh, and rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the sheep of his mother’s brother. And having watered the flocks, he took Rachel and kissed her.
Now by “Well” [Fol. 28a, col. 2] the blessed Jacob indicated (or, depicted) baptism, which was covered over (i.e. hidden) from the races of men, and generations and tribes. And the three flocks of sheep which were lying down by the well are a type of the three divisions and three groups [who come] for baptism, namely, men and women and children. And that Jacob saw Rachel coming with the flocks, and that he neither embraced her nor kissed her until he had rolled away the stone from the well, and she had watered the flocks, is in accordance with the law of the sons of the Church, who neither embrace nor kiss the Lamb of Christ until baptism hath opened [the way]; they go down into the waters and put on strength from them and then the sons of the Church embrace and kiss. And as Jacob served with Laban for seven years, and the woman he loved was not given to him, so also was it with the Jews, who served Pharaoh, king of Egypt, in slavery, and went forth. [Fol. 28b, col. 1.] For the Covenant of the Church, the Bride of Christ, was not given unto them, but that Covenant which was old, and worn out, and of no effect. Now the eyes of [Leah], the first woman whom Jacob took to wife, were hateful, whilst the eyes of Rachel were beautiful, and her countenance was radiant. A covering (i.e. veil) was laid over the face of the first Covenant, so that the children of Israel might not see the beauty thereof; as for the second Covenant, it is wholly light.
Jacob’s sons. The Death of Isaac
Jacob was seventy-seven years old when he received the blessing of Isaac, his father, and he was eighty-nine years old when he begot Reuben, his firstborn, by Leah. The sons of Jacob are these:
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar and Zebulon; these are the sons of Leah.
Joseph and Benjamin were the sons of Rachel.
Gad and Asher were the sons of Zilpah, the handmaiden of Leah [Fol. 28b, col. 2].
Dan and Naphtali were the sons of Bilhah, the handmaiden of Rachel.
And after twenty years Jacob returned to Isaac his father. And all the days of the life of Isaac were one hundred and eighty years, until the thirty-first year of the life of Levi, and he died in the one hundred and twentieth year of the life of Jacob. Twenty-three years after Jacob went up from Harrân, Joseph was sold to the Midianites; he was sold during the lifetime of Isaac, and they mourned for him. When Isaac died Jacob and Esau, his sons, buried him with Abraham and Sârâ. Seven years later Rebecca died, and was buried with Abraham, and Isaac, and Sârâ; and Rachel died and was buried with them.
And Judah, the son of Jacob, took unto himself to wife Shû` (Shuah), the Canaanitess [Fol. 29a, col. 1], and his father was grieved because he had taken to wife a woman of the seed of Canaan. And Jacob said unto Judah, “May the Lord God of our fathers Abraham and Isaac not permit the seed of Canaan to be mingled with our families.” And there were born unto Judah by Shuah, the Canaanite woman, `Îr (Er), Ônân, and Shêlâ (Shelah). And Judah took a wife for Er his firstborn, Tâmâr, and he consorted with her unnaturally, and God put him to death. And Judah gave Tâmâr to Ônân, and as soon as his seed became available for Tâmâr he wasted it, and him also did God put to death. Thus, God did not permit the seed of Canaan to mingle with the seed of Jacob, even as Jacob prayed God that the seed of Canaan, the firstborn of the lascivious Ham, might not be mingled among the generations [Fol. 29a, col. 2] of the Fathers. And God made Tâmâr go out to the roadside, and Judah lay with her in the passion of fornication, and she conceived and brought forth Peres (Pharez) and Zarah.
Jacob in Egypt
And Jacob and all his descendants went down into Egypt to Joseph, and he lived in Egypt seventeen years; and Jacob died, being one hundred and forty years old, and Joseph was fifty-six years old when his father died, in the twelfth year of Kâhâth. And the wise physicians of Pharaoh embalmed him, and Joseph took him up [to Canaan] and buried him with Abraham and Isaac his father.
[Note: According to the Book of Adam (iv. 5), Jacob lived in Egypt fourteen years, and died there at the age of 157 years, when Joseph was 53 years old.]
The Genealogies of the “Tribes” and the “Children of Israel.”
Now there are certain doctors who trace the genealogies of the Tribes from the death of Jacob, and who mix them together, but they do not do this in the light of knowledge. They set in the midst two genealogies, one of the “Tribes,” and the other of the “Children of Israel” [Fol. 29b, col. 1]. Now fix thine attention on these generations, and how they became mixed together. [When] they went forth from Egypt: Judah begot Pharez, Pharez begot Hesrôn (Hezron), Hezron begot Ârâm (Râm, 1 Chron. ii. 9), Ârâm begot Amminadab, Amminadab begot Nahshôn (Nahson), and Nahshôn was he who became prince of Judah. And Amminadab gave the sister of Nahshôn to `Îr (so in the text, but read Eleazar), the son of Aaron, the priest; of her was born Phinehas, the great priest, who prayed “and the plague was stayed” (Num. xxv. 7, 8; Ps. cvi. 30). Behold, I have shown thee that from Amminadab, the priesthood of the children of Israel was transmitted by the sister of Nahshôn, and the kingdom by Nahshôn her brother. Observe also that the priesthood and the kingdom were transmitted by Judah to the children of Israel.
And Nahshôn begot Shîlâ, that is to say, Salmôn, and Shîlâ begot Boaz. Observe now that the kingdom went forth from Boaz and Ruth [Fol. 29b, col. 2], the Moabitess, for the old man Boaz took Ruth to wife so that Lot, the son of Abraham’s brother, might have participation in the transmission of the kingdom. And God did not deprive the righteous man Lot of the reward of his labour, because he had suffered in exile with Abraham, and he received the angels of God in peace. And that the righteous man Lot might not be reviled because he slept with his daughters, God granted that the royal succession might be maintained by the seed of both, and that Christ should be born of the seed of Lot and Abraham. And from the seed of Ruth, the Moabitess, Obed was born, and from Obed, Jesse, and from Jesse, David, and from David, Solomon; these are the descendants of Ruth, the Moabitess, the daughter of Lot. And of Na`mâ (Naamah, 1 Kings xiv. 21), the Ammonitess, another daughter of Lot, whom Solomon took to wife [Fol. 30a, col. 1], was born Rehoboam, who reigned after Solomon.
Solomon
Now Solomon married many wives, seven hundred free-born women, and three hundred concubines; and of the thousand women which he took to wife, he had no son except from Naamab the Ammonitess. And why was it that God did not give him a son from these [others]? It was in order to prevent the wicked seed of the Canaanites, and Jebusites, and Amorites, and Hittites, and Gergasites, and the seed of the peoples whom God hated, from mingling in the succession of the genealogy of Jesus Christ.
[Note: from the Kebra Nagast, chapter lxvii: And the Angel of God went down to Solomon and said unto him:
From being a wise man thou hast turned thyself into a fool, and from being a rich man thou hast turned thyself into a poor man, and from being a king thou hast turned thyself into a man of no account, through transgressing the commandment of God. And the beginning of thy evil was the taking of many wives by thee, for through this thou didst transgress His Law, and His decree, and the ordinance of God which Moses wrote and gave to you, to Israel, that ye should not marry wives from alien peoples, but only from your kinsfolk and the house of your fathers, that your seed might be pure and holy, and that God might dwell with you. But thou didst hold lightly the Law of God, thinking that thou wast wiser than God, and that thou wouldst get very many male children. But the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men, and he hath only given thee three sons: the one who carried off thy glory into an alien land, and made the habitation of God to be in Ethiopia; the one who is lame of foot, who shall sit upon thy throne for the people of Israel, the son of the kin of thy kin from Tarbâna, of the house of Judah; and the one who is the son of a Greek woman, a handmaiden, who in the last days shall destroy Rehoboam and all thy kin of Israel; and this land shall be his because he believeth in Him that shall come, the Saviour.]
The chiefs of Israel born in Egypt
Now the succession of the children of Israel is this: Levi, and Amram, and Moses, and Joshua, the son of Nôn, and Caleb, the son of Yôfannâ (Jephunneh). These were born in Egypt.
[Note: Moses was the son of Amram, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi; his mother's name was Yokâbâr (Jochebed). Book of the Bee (chapter xxix).]
Moses
And when Moses was born he was cast into the river, and Shîpôr (in Ethiopic, Sephurah), the Egyptian woman, the daughter of Pharaoh, took him up, and he lived in the house of Pharaoh for forty years. And then [Fol. 30a, col. 2] he killed Pethkôm, the Egyptian, the chief of the bakers of Pharaoh. Now this was noised abroad in the house of Pharaoh, after Pharaoh’s daughter Makrî, who was called “Shîpôr Mesrên (i.e. “Trumpet of Egypt”), was dead, and Moses was afraid, and he fled to Midian, to Reuel, the Cushite, the priest of Midian.
[Note: Moses was a beautiful child, and was called "Pantîl" (Paltîêl?), and "Amlâkyâ," and the Egyptians used to call him the "Shakwîthâ of Pharaoh's daughter." Various names are given to this princess, e.g. Makrî, Mary, Shîpôr, Tharmesîs, Tarmûthîsâ; Bar Hebraeus says she was the daughter of Amûnpthîs, or Amûnpâthîôs. Book of the Bee (chapter xxix).]
And Moses took to wife Zipporah, the Cushite woman, daughter of the priest, and two sons were born to him–Gershom and Eliezer. And in the second year of the life of Moses, Joshua, the son of Nôn, was born in Egypt. And Moses was eighty years old when God talked with him from out of the bush, and because of his fear his tongue halted, even as he said to God, “Behold, my Lord, from the day wherein Thou didst speak to me I have been halting of tongue.” Moses lived in Egypt forty years, and in the house [Fol. 30b, col. 1] of the priest of Midian forty years, and he passed forty years in governing the people. And he died at the age of one hundred and twenty years on Mount Nebo.
[Note: From Adam until the death of Moses was 3,868 years. Book of the Bee (chapter xxx). MOSES' ROD.-Adam cut the rod from a branch of the Tree of Good and Evil which grew in Paradise, and he used it as a staff all his life. It passed from hand to hand to Abraham, who smashed his father's idols with it. It went with him to Egypt, and when it came to Jacob he used it as a shepherd's crook. Judah received it and gave it to Tamar, and then an angel laid it up in the Cave of Treasures until Midian was built. An angel showed Jethro the Cave, and he took the rod from it, and from him it went of its own free will to Moses. The rod became a serpent, and it swallowed up the rod of Pôsdî, the sorceress. The rod was taken unto the promised land by Joshua, and Phineas hid it in the dust at the gate of Jerusalem, where it remained until Christ showed it to Joseph, who took it to Egypt and brought it back to Nazareth. It passed to James, the brother of our Lord, but was stolen by Judas Iscariot, who gave it to the Jews who were crucifying our Lord; to them it "became a judgment and a fall." Book of the Bee (chapter xxx).]
The Successors of Moses
And Joshua, the son of Nôn, was the governor of the children of Israel for twenty-seven years. And after the death of Joshua, the son of Nôn, Kûshân, the Wicked (Chushanrishathayim), was lord over the people for eighty years.
And `Athnâîl (Othniel), the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, was lord over Israel for forty years.
And then the children of Israel were in subjection to the Moabites for eighteen years.
And Ahôr (Ehud), the son of Gera, ruled the children of Israel for eighty years.
And In The Twenty-Sixth Year Of His Life The Fourth Thousand Years Came To An End.
(Note: See Book of Adam, IV, chapter vii.)
[The Fifth Thousand Years. From The Twenty-Sixth Year Of Ehud's Life To The Second Year Of The Reign Of Cyrus
Nâbhîn (Jabin), who was dried up in body, ruled twenty years.
Deborah and Barak [ruled them] forty years.
The children [Fol. 30b, col. 2] of Israel were in subjection to the Midianites seven years, and God delivered them by the hands of Gideon, who ruled them forty years.
Abimelech his son reigned after him three years.
Tûla` (Tola), the son of Puah [ruled them] twenty-three years.
Yâîr, the Gileadite, twenty-two years.
And again the children of Israel were in subjection to the Ammonites eighteen years, and God delivered them by the hand of Naphtah (Jephthah), the man who offered up his daughter as a sacrifice, and he ruled them six years.
Abhîsân (Ibzan of Bethlehem), who is Nahshôn (sic), ruled them seven years.
Alôn (Elon), who was from Zebulon, ruled them ten years.
`Abhrôn (Abdon, the son of Hillel, the Pirathonite) ruled them eight years.
And the children of Israel were in subjection to the Philistines forty years, and God delivered them by the hand of Samson, and he ruled them twenty years.
And the [Fol. 31a, col. 1] children of Israel lived without a governor for eighteen years, and then Eli the priest rose up and ruled them forty years.
And Samuel rose up over them and ruled them twenty years. And in the days of Samuel the children of Israel provoked to wrath God, Who had delivered them from the servitude of the Egyptians, and they made Saul, the son of Kish, king, and he reigned over them forty years.
And in the days of Saul lived Gûlyâdh (Goliath), a giant of the Philistines. He came nigh and reviled Israel, and blasphemed against God, and David, the son of Jesse, killed him. And David was praised in songs by the daughters of Israel, and Saul persecuted him. And the Philistines slew Saul because he forsook the Lord, and took refuge with the devils.
[Note: The story of David and Goliath finds an interesting parallel in the history of Sanehat as found in an Egyptian papyrus in the Royal Library at Berlin. Sanehat fled from Egypt as the result of some political trouble, and made his way into Palestine, where he settled down and prospered, and became a shêkh of great influence and importance. Then a certain man of Thennu went to Sanehat's tent and reviled him, and challenged him to fight him. This man was a mighty warrior, and was famed throughout the country for his strength, and valour, and success. During the following night Sanehat made ready his dagger, and spear, and bow, and at daybreak all the tribes came to the place to witness the great duel which was to take place. The man of Thennu grasped his shield and his battle-axe, and then began to hurl his spears at Sanehat, but they either went wide or Sanehat managed in some way to avoid them; in any case, they failed to touch him. When the man of Thennu saw this, he lost his temper, and made a rush at Sanehat, meaning to close with him and despatch him with his battle-axe. But as he came on in his mad rage Sanehat hurled his short javelin at his head, and it pierced his neck and remained fast in it. The man of Thennu uttered a prolonged shriek and then fell headlong on the ground, face downwards. Sanehat went to him, and, taking his foe's weapons from him, killed him with them. Then he took his stand on the dead body, and shouted the cry of victory, and the onlookers rejoiced in his triumph and applauded him.]
David reigned over [Fol. 31a, col. 2] the children of Israel forty years, and Solomon, his son, reigned forty years.
And Solomon did great and wonderful things, and it was he who sent to Ophir and brought gold from the mountains of gold, and the ships sailed the sea for thirty-six months, and then came forth (i.e. returned). It was he who built Tadmor (Palmyra) in the wilderness, and he carried out there great and wonderful works. And when Solomon passed the borders of the mountain which is called Sâ`êr, he found there the altar which Pîôrzâkhâr, and Pîôrzânâi, and Neznâdhôr had built. These were they whom Nimrod, the giant, sent to Balaam, the priest of the Mountain of Sâ`êr, because he heard that he was wont to consult the Signs of the Zodiac, and when they were passing the skirts of the mountain they built there an altar to the sun. And when Solomon saw it he built a city there and called its name “Nîâpôlîs” (more correctly, Heliopolis) [Fol. 31b, col. 1], that is to say, “City of the Sun.” And Solomon also built Aradus (Arvad) in the midst of the sea, and he became so famous and renowned that the report of his wise acts went out into all the ends of the earth. And the Queen of Sheba went to hold converse with him. And Solomon loved Hiram, king of Tyre, greatly. And Hiram reigned in Tyre five hundred years, from the days of the kingdom of David to the [days of] the kingdom of Zedekiah and of all the kings of the children of Israel. And at length he forgot that he was a man, and he blasphemed and said, “I am God, and I sit upon the throne of God in the middle of the sea.” And Nebuchadnezzar the king killed him.
[Note: Solomon reigned over his large kingdom with the greatest wisdom ever found. But he did not keep his soul; but inclined his heart to the love of women, and forsook God, Who had created him and given him his kingdom. And he died in his denial of Him, and in his sins. Book of Adam (iv. 8.)]
The purple linen of Tyre
And in the days of Hiram the purple-[coloured] apparel worn by kings [first] appeared. As a dog was running along the sea-shore [at Tyre] he saw a purple shell-fish (i.e. the murex) coming up out of the [Fol. 31b, col. 2] water, and he bit it, and straightway his mouth was filled with the blood of that shell-fish. And a certain shepherd who saw the dog brought a piece of woollen cloth and wiped the dog’s mouth with it. And he made that piece of woollen cloth into a crown (i.e. a kafîyah or head-cloth), and set it upon his head, and as he walked along in the sun, those who saw him thought that rays of fire were coming forth from his head, and when Hiram heard [of this] he sent for the man. And when he saw the woollen cloth he marvelled, and was astonished. And all the dyers gathered together and marvelled at it, and they set out to enquire into the matter; and they found some of these shell-fish and rejoiced greatly.
The Apostasy of Solomon.
And Solomon waxed exceedingly great. And the food [provided for his table every day] consisted of forty oxen, one hundred head of sheep, thirty measures of fine flour, sixty measures of wheat, and three hundred measures of wine; and besides all this [Fol. 32a, col. 1], stags, and gazelle, and wild antelopes, and other creatures of the desert. And he became froward and transgressed the Law, and hearkened not to the commands of his father, and he took to wife one thousand women from all the peoples whom God hated. And in the time of his old age he gave himself up to women, and he let them play with him, and he hearkened to their words, and did their will. And he denied the God of David, his father. And he builded altars to devils, and offered up sacrifices to idols and graven images, and he worshipped the work of the hands; and God turned away His face from him and he died. And he reigned in Jerusalem forty-six years.
[Note: Solomon was seduced into idolatry by his wife, the daughter of Pharaoh:
One day she beautified and scented herself for him, and she behaved herself haughtily towards him, and treated him disdainfully. And he said unto her, 'What shall I do? Thou hast made thy face evil towards me, and thy regard towards me is not as it was formerly, and thy beautiful form is not as enticing as usual. Ask me, and I will give thee whatsoever thou wishest, and I will perform it for thee, so that thou mayest make thy face gracious towards me as formerly'; but she held her peace and answered him never a word. And he repeated to her the words that he would do whatsoever she wished. And she said unto him, 'Swear to me by the God of Israel that thou wilt not play me false.' And he swore to her that he would give her whatsoever she asked for, and that he would do for her everything she told him. And she tied a scarlet thread on the middle of the door of [the house of] her gods, and she brought three locusts and set them in the house of her gods. And she said unto Solomon, ‘Come to me without breaking the scarlet thread, bend thyself and kill these locusts before me, and pull out their necks,’ and he did so. And she said unto him, ‘I will henceforward do thy will, for thou hast sacrificed to my gods and hast worshipped them.’ Now he had done this because of his oath, so that he might not break his oath which she had made him to swear, even though he knew that it was an offence (or, sin) to enter into the house of her gods. Kebra Nagast (chapter lxiv).]
Rehoboam
And Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, reigned after him. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when [he began] to reign, and he polluted Jerusalem with fornication, and the altars of devils, and the stink of heathendom; and the kingdom of Israel was rent in twain. And in the fifth year [Fol. 32a, col. 2] of his kingdom Shishak, the king of Egypt, went up against Jerusalem. And he carried off all the treasure of the service of the house of the Lord, and all the treasure of the kingdom of David, and of that of Solomon, and the vessels of gold and the vessels of silver. And he magnified himself and said, “I am not taking away treasure which is yours but the wealth which your fathers took out of Egypt.” And Rehoboam died in the heathen practices of his father Solomon.
And Abijah his son reigned after him and he destroyed Jerusalem with fornication and with heathen works–now, Melkâ, the mother of `Abhd-Shâlôm, was his mother–and he died in the heathen practices of his father.
And Asa his son reigned after him for forty years in Jerusalem. He did that which was good before the Lord, and he put away fornication from Jerusalem, and made an end of the heathen practices of his people, for he kept the commandments of God [Fol. 32b, col. 1]. And he drove them (i.e. the idolators) out of his palace (or, kingdom), and made them to be a mockery before all the people, because they [taught] the offering of sacrifices to idols. And Zerah of Judah went up against him, and God humbled him before Asa. And Asa died in righteousness like his father David.
[Note: The Book of Adam (iv. 8) says that Asaph (i.e. Asa) took his mother Anna, who was an adulteress, and cast her down from the roof of her house, and she died. Zerah, who is called Eleazar, is described as a "black king" who reigned at Endena. No mention of Zerah the Cushite has hitherto been found in the cuneiform or hieroglyphic inscriptions.]
And Jehosaphat his son reigned after him, and he walked in the ways of Asa his father, and he did that which was pleasing before God. And God was angry with him because he was a friend of the house of Ahab, and for this reason God did not permit him to bring out gold from Ophir. Now he made ships to send thither, and they were broken at Ezion Geber. He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and the name of his mother was `Azôbhâ (Azuba?), the daughter of Shâlâh. And Jehosaphat died in his righteousness.
Joram reigned after him, and he was thirty-two years old [Fol. 32b, col. 2] when he began to reign; he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. He did not do what was pleasing before God, for he sacrificed at the altar of devils, and he died in his heathen practices.
[Note: In the Book of Adam he is called Aram. Zambri made war upon him, and he died denying God.]
Ahaziah his son reigned after him, and he was twenty-two years old when [he began] to reign; he lived for one year in Jerusalem, and did evil things before God in that year. Because of the wickedness and iniquity which he wrought, God delivered him into the hands of his enemies and they killed him. When he was dead his mother [Athaliah] killed all the royal children of the house of David, imagining that she would uproot the children of the Jews. The only person of the seed of the royal house whom she did not slay was Joash, whom Yôshba` (Jehosheba), the daughter of Joram, the son of Jehosaphat, carried away secretly and hid [Fol. 33a, col. 1] with her in her house.
Reign of Ahab’s sister
And the sister of Ahab reigned seven years in Jerusalem. And she polluted the city with fornication, for she commanded the women to play the whore without fear, and the men to commit adultery with the wives of their neighbours without incurring any penalty. And she herself committed fornication like Jezebel, and she adopted all the heathen practices of the house of Ahab in Jerusalem.
Reign of Joash
And after seven years the children of Jerusalem considered whom they should make their king, and Jehoiada the priest gathered them together in the house of the Lord, in the temple which Solomon had built. And when the captains of thousands and the captains of hundreds had gathered together, Jehoiada the priest said unto them,:
Whom say ye shall be king and sit upon the throne of David except [he be] a king and the son of a king?
And when he showed him [Fol. 33a, col. 2] to them they rejoiced with an exceedingly great joy. And the captains of thousands, and the captains of hundreds, and the “runners,” and the messengers brought the kingdom to the house of the Lord, and the soldiers who were armed surrounded him on all sides; and Jehoiada the priest set him (i.e. Joash) upon the throne of David his father. And [Joash] was seven years old when [he began] to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. And the name of his mother was Sûbhâ (Zibea) and she was from Beersheba. And Athaliah [the mother of Ahaziah] was killed. And Joash requited with evil the kindness which Jehoiada had done him, and after his death he shed the innocent blood of his sons. And Joash died, and Amaziah his son reigned after him.
Amaziah was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Yâhô`adhân (Joadan). And Amaziah died, and [Fol. 33b, col. 1] Uzziah his son reigned after him.
Uzziah was sixteen years old when [he began] to reign, and he reigned fifty (sic) years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Îkhânyâ (Jechalia). And he did that which was good before the Lord. Now, he made bold to go into the Holy of Holies, and he took the censer from the priest of God (Azariah), and burned incense in the temple of the Lord; and because he did this leprosy covered his face. And because Isaiah the prophet did not rebuke him, he was prevented from prophesying until Uzziah died. And Jotham his son reigned in his stead.
Jotham was twenty-five years old when [he began] to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Îrûshâ (Jerusa), the daughter of Zadok. And he did that which was good before the Lord, and he died and Ahaz his son reigned after him.
Ahaz a vassal of the King of Assyria
Ahaz was twenty years old when [he began] to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem [Fol. 33b, col. 2]; and the name of his mother was `Aphin, the daughter of Levi. And he did that which was evil before the Lord, and he sacrificed to devils. Tiglath-Pileser, the king of Assyria, went up against him, and Ahaz wrote himself down in his letter as his servant, and the Assyrian held him in subjection. And Ahaz sent to the king of Assyria the gold and silver [which were in] the house of the Lord, [and in his days] the children of Israel were carried off into captivity. And the king sent for the men who had come from Babel, so that they might dwell in the land instead of the children of Israel, because they could kill the lions. And the king of Assyria sent to them Ôrî [Fol. 34a, col. 1] the priest, and he taught them the laws. And Ahaz died and Hezekiah his son reigned after him.
[Note: The Assyrian king who conquered Ahaz was Tiglath Pileser III, who reigned from 745-727 B.C. In a list of the kings in the British Museum which were his tributaries we find-Ia-u-kha-zi (matu) Ia-u-da-ai (Ahaz [king of] the country of the Judeans.)(Brit. Mus. K. 2751.) Tiglath Pileser’s Babylonian name was PU-LU, which we find in the Bible under the form of “Pul.” (See II Kings xv. 29; xvi. 7, 10; and I Chron. v. 26.)]
Hezekiah
Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when [he began] to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Akhi (Abhi?), the daughter of Zechariah. And he did that which was pleasing before the Lord, for he smashed the altars, and he cut in pieces the serpent of brass which Moses made in the wilderness, because the children of Israel used to worship it, and he abolished heathen practices in Jerusalem.
In the fourth year of his reign, Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, came up and carried away captive the rest of the children of Israel, and he sent them into Media, beyond Babel.
[Note: Tiglath Pileser III having conquered Syria carried away into captivity the Israelitish tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh. His successor Shelmaneser V, (727-722 B.C.) attacked Hosea, king of Israel, and conquered him and, because he was an ally of the king of Egypt, carried him off into captivity.]
And in the twentieth year of Hezekiah, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up and took all the cities and towns of Judah, but through the prayer of Hezekiah Jerusalem was saved.
[Note: Sennacherib, king of Assyria, 705-681 B.C., having brought Padi from Jerusalem and made him king of Ekron, then marched on to attack.
He captured 46 of Hezekiah's strongholds, and brought out from them 200,150 people, and horses, mules, asses, camels, oxen, and innumerable sheep. He then shut up Hezekiah like a caged bird in "Jerusalem the city of his sovereignty."
Hezekiah's soldiers deserted, and he sent his envoy to Nineveh to pay his tribute to Sennacherib, viz. 30 talents of gold, 800 talents of silver, precious stones, eye-paint, couches and chairs of ivory, hides, tusks, precious woods, and his daughters with their attendants and musicians.]
And Hezekiah became sick unto death [Fol. 34a, col. 2], and it was grievous unto him, and he wept. And there were certain men who blamed him, but why [his sickness] was grievous unto him they never troubled to acquaint themselves. Now the sorrow of Hezekiah [came upon him] because when he became sick unto death he had no son to reign after him. And when he looked with the eyes of his soul and saw that he had no son to reign after him, he was afflicted, and wept and said:
Woe is me! for I must die childless, and that blessing which hath been given [unto us] for six and forty generations hath been cut off by me this day. I have become the destroyer of the kingdom of David, and the succession of the kings of Judah hath been cut off this day.
This was [the cause of] the sorrow of Hezekiah. And after he recovered from his sickness he waited fourteen years, and [then] Manasseh was born to him. And Hezekiah died in great content, and left a son to sit upon the throne of David [Fol. 34b, col. 1] his father.
Manasseh
Manasseh was twelve years old when [he began] to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Habhsîbhâh (Hephziba). He was a man who was more evil and iniquitous than all those who had lived before him; he builded altars to devils, and sacrificed to idols, and he filled Jerusalem with iniquity and provoked God to wrath. And because Isaiah the prophet rebuked him, he threatened him and sent men who were sons of iniquity, and they sawed Isaiah the prophet in twain with a saw between [two pieces of] wood, from his head downwards to his feet. And Isaiah was one hundred and twenty years old when they sawed him in twain, and he had been the prophet of God for ninety years. And Manasseh repented after he had slain Isaiah, and he put sackcloth on his body, and decreed fasting for himself, and he ate bread with tears all the days of his life because he had committed iniquity and had [Fol. 34b, col. 2] slain the prophet. And Manasseh died, and Ammon reigned after him.
Ammon was twenty-two years old when [he began] to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Mashlemath. And Ammon did evil before the Lord, and he made his sons to pass through fire; he died, and Josiah his son reigned after him. Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Yadhîdhâ (Jedida), the daughter of Azariah (Adaja?), from Bezkath. And he did what was good before the Lord, and he walked in all the way wherein his father David had walked; and he turned aside neither to the right hand nor to the left. And Pharaoh, the “Lame” (i.e. Necho II) killed him, and Jehoahaz his son reigned after him.
[Note: Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt 609-593 B.C., was the second king of the XXVlth Dynasty. His names as "King of the South and North" and "Son of Ra" are Uhem-a {dot-over} b-R¯a and N-Ka-u.]
Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when [he began] to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Hamtâl, the daughter of [Fol. 35a, col. 1] Jeremiah from Lebhnâ. And he did what was evil before the Lord, even as Manasseh had done. And Pharaoh, the Lame, king of Egypt, took him prisoner in Diblath, in the land of Hamath, whilst he was king in Jerusalem, and he laid tribute on the land, one hundred talents of silver and ten talents of gold. And Pharaoh, the Lame, made Eliakim, the son of Jonah, king instead of Josiah his father, and he made his name to be Jehoiakim. And he carried away Jehoahaz, and he went to Egypt and died there. And Jehoiakim gave silver and gold to Pharaoh; he laid [the payment] of silver and gold on the land according to the word (i.e. command) of Pharoh’s mouth. Every man, according to what it was right for him [to pay], brought silver and gold from the people of the land, according to the command of the mouth of Pharaoh, the Lame.
Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when [he began] to reign, and he reigned eleven [Fol. 35a, col. 2] years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Zebhîdhâ, the daughter of Pedâyâ, from Ramah. And he did that which was evil before the Lord, even as his fathers had done. In his days Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, went up against Jerusalem, and Jehoiakim became his vassal for three years. Then he turned and rebelled against him, and the Lord stirred up bands of robbers against him because of his sins. And Jehoiakim slept with his fathers, and Jehoiachin his son reigned after him. And the king of Egypt did not come forth again out of his country; for the king of Babel captured all the land that belonged to the king of Egypt, from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates.
Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when [he began] to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Neheshtâ, the daughter of Elyâthân (Elnathan?), from Jerusalem. And he did that which was evil before the [Fol. 35b, col. 1] Lord, even as his father had done. At that time Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, went up against Jerusalem, and the king of Babel took him with him in the eighth year of his kingdom. And he brought out from there all the treasure of the house of the Lord, and the treasure of the king’ s house, and he carried off into captivity to Babel all [the people of] Jerusalem, and Jehoiachin, and his mother, and his wives, and his nobles; and the king brought captive to Babel all the men who had made war. And the king of Babel made Methanyâ, the uncle [of Jehoiachin] king in his stead, and he called his name “Zedekiah.”
The Capture of Jerusalem
Zedekiah was twenty years old when [he began] to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem; and the name of his mother was Hamtâl, the daughter of Jeremiah, from Libnah. And he did that which was evil before the Lord, even as did Jehoiakim, and the wrath of the [Fol. 35b, col. 2] Lord was (i.e. fell upon) Jerusalem. And Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babel, and in the ninth year of his kingdom Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babel, came against Jerusalem, and the city was fettered with affliction (i.e. besieged) until the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. And the city was rent open (i.e. its wall was breached), and all the mighty men of war fled from the city by night by way of the plain. And the soldiers of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and they overtook him on the plain of Jericho, and all his soldiers were driven away from him; and the Chaldeans captured Zedekiah and took him up to the king of Babel at Debhlath (Riblah), and he passed judgment upon him. And the king of Babel slew the sons of Zedekiah the king before his eyes, and he blinded the eyes of Zedekiah, and bound him in chains, and carried him to Babel [Fol. 36a, col. 1]. And Simeon the high priest, because he had freedom of speech with the commander of the [Chaldean] army, made entreaty to him, and the commander of the army gave him all the books of the Scriptures and did not burn them; and Simeon the high priest gathered them together and cast them into a pit (or dry well). And Jerusalem was laid waste and made desolate, and no man remained therein except Jeremiah, the Prophet, who sat and raised lamentations over it for twenty years. And Jeremiah, the Prophet, died in Samaria, and the priest Ûr buried him in Jerusalem, according to the oath which the prophet made him to swear.
Now up to the time of the destruction of Jerusalem the Hebrew, Greek, and Syrian writers were in possession of the truth, and they were able to produce the registers of the genealogies of the tribes and the people. But from the destruction of Jerusalem and onwards there has been no truth in their writings, except as regards the heads of the tribes (i.e. the Patriarchs) [Fol. 36a, col. 2], and they are unable to prove whence the succession of the priests took its origin.
Jehoiachin
And Jehoiachin was bound in prison for thirty-seven years, and after he came forth from prison he took to wife Gûlîth, the daughter of Eliakim, and he begot by her in Babel Shalathiel (Salathiel); and Jehoiachin died in Babel. And Salathiel took to wife Hetbath, the daughter of Halkânâ, and he begot by her Zûrbâbhel (Zerubbabel), who took to wife Malkath, the daughter of Ezra the scribe; but no son was born to him by her in Babel. In the days of Zerubbabel, the prince of Judah, Cyrus the Persian reigned in Babel. [A reproduction of a sculptured relief of Cyrus is given on Plate I. The official account of his conquest of Babylon is found on a baked clay cylinder now in the British Museum. See Plate II.]
Cyrus
And Cyrus took to wife the daughter of Salathiel, the sister of Zerubbabel, and he took her to wife according to the law of the Persians, and made her [his] queen. And she entreated Cyrus to bring about the return of the children of Israel [to Jerusalem]. And inasmuch as Zerubbabel was her brother, she was very insistent about [Fol. 36b, col. 1] the return [to Jerusalem] of those who had been led away into captivity. Now Cyrus loved his wife as he loved himself, and he did for her what she wished. And he sent forth heralds into all the land of Babel, ordering all the children of Israel to gather themselves together. And when they were gathered together Cyrus said unto Zerubbabel, his wife’s brother:
Rise up, and take with thee all the children of thy people, and go up to Jerusalem in peace; and [re]build the city of thy fathers, and dwell and reign therein.
And because Cyrus brought about the return of the children of Israel [to Jerusalem], God said, “I have taken my servant Cyrus by his right hand” (Isa. xliv. 28; xlv. 1). And the name of Cyrus was called “My shepherd, the anointed of the Lord,” because his seed was received into the seed of David through Meshayyanath, the sister of Zerubbabel, whom he had taken to wife. And the children of Israel went up from Babel, and Zerubbabel became king over them; and Joshua, the son of Yôzâdâk, the son of Aaron, was high priest, even as the angel showed Zechariah the prophet, and said unto him, “These are the sons of the oil of consecration.”
And the people of the captivity went up in the second year of Cyrus, and the
Fifth Thousand Years Came To An End.
The Five Hundred Years From The Second Year Of Cyrus To The Birth Of Christ.
Now when the people had gone up [to Jerusalem] they had no Books of the Prophets. And Ezra the scribe went down into that pit [wherein Simeon had cast the Books], and he found a censer full of fire, and the perfume of the incense which rose up from it. And thrice he took some of the dust of those Books, and cast it into his mouth, and straightway God made to abide in him the spirit of prophecy, and he renewed all the Books of the Prophets.
[Note: According to the Book of Adam (iv. 10) the manuscripts and the library of the Temple were burnt. Simeon begged the commander to give him the ruins of the library, and he went in and collected the ashes of the books and put them into a pot, which he placed in a vault. He filled a censer with coals and incense, and, having lighted the fire, he set the censer over the place where the ashes of the books lay. The fire continued to burn until Ezra came to the vault, and the smoke of the incense was rising from the censer. He spread his hands thrice over the ashes of the books, and God gave him the spirt of prophecy, and he rewrote the Books of the Law and the Prophets.]
And that same fire which was found in the pit became the holy fire in the house of the Lord. And Zerubbabel reigned in Jerusalem, and Joshua, the son of Yôzâdâk, was high-priest, and Ezra was the scribe of the Law and the Prophets. And the children of Israel [Fol. 37a, col. 1] celebrated a Passover when they went up from Babel. These are the three Passovers which the children of Israel kept; the first was [kept] in Egypt in the days of Moses; the the second was [kept] in the reign of Josiah; the third was [kept] when they went up from the land of Babel. And now an end hath been made to the Passover for them for ever. From the first captivity of Jerusalem, that in which Daniel went down into captivity, to the reign of Cyrus the Persian, was seventy years according to the prophecy of Jeremiah. And the children of Israel began the [re]building of the Temple in the days of Zerubbabel, and Joshua, the son of Yôzâdôk, and Ezra the scribe, and the building thereof was finished in six and forty years, even as it is written in the holy Gospel (John ii. 19).
The genealogies of the later Israelites
Now the genealogy of the tribes (or, families) was lost by [Fol. 37a, col. 2] the scribes, and they were unable to show either whence the heads of families took [their] wives, or whence they came. I, however, possess the knowledge of the correct genealogy, and will show the truth to everyman. When the children of Israel went up from Babylon–
Zerubbabel begot Abiud by Malkath, the daughter of Ezra the scribe. Abiud took to wife Zakhyath, the daughter of Joshua, the son of Yôzâdâk, the priest, and begot by her Eliakim.
Eliakim took to wife Hâlâbh, the daughter of Dôrnîbh, and begot by her `Azôr.
`Azôr took to wife Yalpath, the daughter of Hazôr, and begot by her Zadok.
Zadok took to wife Kaltîn, the daughter of Dôrnibh, and begot by her Akhîn.
Akhîn took to wife Heskath, the daughter of Ta`îl, and begot by her Eliud.
Eliud took to wife Beshtîn, the daughter of [Fol. 37b, col. 1] Hasâl, and begot by her Eleazar.
Eleazar took to wife Dîbath, the daughter of Tôlâh, and begot by her Mâtthân.
Mâtthân took to wife Sebhrath, the daughter of Phinehas, and begot by her two sons at one conception, Jacob and Yônâkhîr.
Jacob took to wife Hadbhîth, the daughter of Eleazur, and begot by her Joseph.
Yônakhîr took Dînâ, the daughter of Pâkôdh, and begot by her Mary, of whom was born the Christ.
And because none of the early writers could discover the order of succession of the generations of their fathers, the Jews urged the sons of the Church very strongly to show them [who were] the fathers of the blessed Mary in the order of the succession of their families. And they pressed the children of the Church to enquire into the genealogy of the families [Fol. 37b, col. 2] of their fathers, and to show them the truth. For the Jews call Mary an adulteress. And here the mouth of the Jews is stopped, and they believe that Mary was of the seed of the house of David and of Abraham. Now the Jews have no table of succession which showeth them the true order of the families of their fathers, because their books have been burned thrice–once in the days of Antiochus [IV. Epiphanes], who raised up a persecution against them, and polluted the Temple of the Lord, and forced them to offer up sacrifices unto idols; the second time in the days of . . . . . . . ; and the third time in the days of Herod, when Jerusalem was destroyed. Because of this the Jews were greatly grieved, for they had no trustworthy table of the succession of the generations of their fathers. And they toiled eagerly [Fol. 38a, col. 1] that they might obtain the truth, but they were unable to do so.
Now the Jews had many writers, and each of them wrote what he pleased, and no two of them agreed in what they wrote, because they could not stand on a foundation of truth. And even our own writers, the children of the Church, cannot show us the certainty of the real truth. They cannot show how the ascent of the body of Adam to Golgotha took place, nor whence came the fathers (or, ancestors) of Melchisedek, and the fathers of the blessed woman Mary. And the children of Israel being urged by the Church, and being unable to ascertain the truth, waxed reckless, and wrote, as it were, in the madness of error. [Here the text is faulty and incomplete.] And as concerning the table of succession of the sixty-three families, which [reach] from Adam to Christ, the Greek writers, and the Hebrew writers, and the Syrian writers, can neither show whence each head of a family took his wife [Fol. 38a, col. 2], nor whose daughter she was. Now each divine doctor (or, teacher) has laid down for the Church one true doctrine, and they have given unto believers the armour wherewith they can fight and overcome her enemies. Besides this, the grace of Christ hath granted unto us that which was lacking in them, and this we will cast into the rich treasury [of their knowledge]. And this, with great diligence, we have bestirred ourselves to do, even as our truly loving brother in Christ, the illustrious Nâmôsâyâ (Nemesius?) greatly desireth. And although I have been hindered through my dilatoriness, thou hast through thy love of learning, not been dilatory. And because of thy loving kindness towards me, and also because I myself am eager not to withhold from thee that which thou requirest of me, I will [here] write down [Fol. 38b, col. 1] the true table of succession. Hear, O my brother Nemesius (?) the following table of succession which I write for thee; none of the [other] doctors hath been able to light upon it. The following are the sixty-three generations from which the Incarnation of Christ is descended, and their order is thus:

Adam begot Seth.
Seth took to wife Kelîmath, who was born with Abel, and begot by her Enos.
Enos took to wife Hannâ, the daughter of Jubal, the daughter of Hôh, the daughter of Seth, and begot by her Cainan.
Cainan took to wife Peryath, the daughter of Kôtûn, the daughter of Yarbâl, and begot by her Mahlâlâîl.
Mahlâlâîl took to wife Sehatpar, the daughter of Enos, and begot by her Yârêd (Jared).
Jared took to wife Zebhîdhâ, the daughter of Kuhlôn, the daughter of Kenan, and begot by her Enoch.
Enoch took to wife Zadhkîn, the daughter of Tôpîh, the daughter of Mahlâlâîl, and begot by her Methuselah.
Methuselah took to wife Sâkhûth, the daughter of Sôkhîn, and begot by her Lamech.
Lamech took to wife Kîpâr, the daughter of Tûthâth, the daughter of Methuselah, and begot by her Noah.
Noah took to wife Haykâl, the daughter of Namûs, and he begot by her Shem, Ham and Japhet.
Shem begot Arpakhshar (Arphaxad) .
Arphaxad begot Shâlâh (Salah).
Salah begot Âbhâr (Eber).
Eber begot Pâlâg (Peleg) .
Peleg begot Ar`ô (Reu) .
Reu begot Sârôgh (Serug) .
Serug took to wife Kâhâl, the daughter of Peleg, who begot Nâhôr.
Nâhôr took to wife Napûsh (Yapûsh?), the daughter of Reu, and begot Tarah (Terah).
Terah took two wives, Yônâ and Salmûth; by Yônâ he begot Abraham, and by Salmûth he begot Sârâ (Sarah) [Fol. 39a, col. 1].
Abraham took to wife Sarah and begot Isaac.
Isaac took to wife Rebecca and begot Jacob.
Jacob took to wife Leah and begot Judah.
Judah begot Pars (Pharez) by Tamar.
Pharez begot Hezron.
Hezron begot Aram.
Aram begot Amminadab.
Amminadab begot Nahshôn (Nahasson).
Nahasson begot Salmon.
Salmon begot Boaz, by Rahab.
Boaz took to wife Ruth, the daughter of Lot, and begot Obed.
Obed begot Jesse.
Jesse begot David the king.
David took to wife Bathsheba, and begot by her Solomon.
Solomon begot Rehoboam.
Rehoboam begot Abijah.
Abijah begot Asa.
Asa begot Jehoshaphat.
Jehoshaphat begot Joram [Fol. 39a, col. 2].
Joram begot Ahaziah.
Ahaziah begot Joash.
Joash begot Amaziah.
Amaziah begot Uzziah.
Uzziah begot Jotham.
Jotham begot Ahaz.
Ahaz begot Hezekiah.
Hezekiah begot Manasseh.
Manasseh begot Amon.
Amon begot Josiah.
Josiah begot Jehoiakim.
Jehoiakim begot Jehoiachin.
Jehoiachin begot Salathiel.
Salathiel begot Nedabijah (sic).
Nedabijah begot Zerubbabel.
Zerubbabel begot Abiud.
Abiud begot Eliakim.
Eliakim begot Azor.
Azor begot Zadok.
Zadok begot Achin.
Achin begot Eliud.
Eliud begot Eleazar.
Eleazar begot Mâtthan.
Mâtthan took to wife Sabhrath, the daughter of Phinehas, and begot Jacob and Yônâkhîr.
Jacob took to wife Hadhbhîth, the daughter of Eleazar, and begot Joseph, the betrothed of Mary [Fol. 39b, col. 1].
Yônâkhîr took to wife Dînâ, that is to say, Hannâ, the daughter of Pâkôdh, and sixty years after he had taken her to wife she brought forth Mary, of whom was born Christ.
The Genealogy of Mary
And because Joseph was the son of Mary’s uncle, by the fore-knowledge of God, Who knew that Mary would be certainly attacked by the Jews, Mary was given to Joseph, who was the son of her uncle, that he might take care of her. Observe, O our brother Nemesius, that the fathers of the blessed woman Mary belonged to the succession of the generations of David.
[Note: An alternative genealogy is given in the Book of the Bee (chapter xxxiii), and reads: David begot Nathan, Nathan begot Mattatha, Mattatha begot Mani, Mani begot Melea, Melea begot Eliakim, Eliakim begot Jonam, Jonam begot Levi. [Add Joseph, Juda and Simeon from Luke iii. 19, 20.] Levi begot Mattîtha, Mattîtha begot Jorim, Jorim begot Eliezer, Eliezer begot Jose, Jose begot Er. Er begot Elmodad, Elmodad begot Cosam, Cosam begot Addi, Addi begot Melchi, Melchi begot Neri, Neri begot Salathiel, Salathiel begot Zerubbabel, Zerubbabel begot Rhesa, Rhesa begot Johannan, Johannan begot Juda, Juda begot Joseph, Joseph begot Semei, Semei begot Mattatha, Mattatha begot Maath, Maath begot Nagge, Nagge begot Esli, Esli begot Nahum, Nahum begot Amos, Amos begot Mattîtha, Mattîtha begot Joseph, Joseph begot Janni, Janni begot Melchi, Melchi begot Levi, Levi begot Matthat, Matthat begot Heli, Heli begot Joseph.]
Behold, I have set thee upon a foundation of truth, which none of the [former] chroniclers found to stand upon; see, too, how these sixty-three generations [reaching] from Adam to the birth of Christ, succeeded each other. And the Jews also rejoiced [Fol. 39b, col. 2] because they also had found the generations of the familles of their fathers.
Observe, O our brother Nemesius, that in the days of Cyrus the Fifth Thousand [Years] Came To An End.
And from the thousand [years] of Cyrus until the Passion of our Redeemer, the years were in number five hundred, according to the prophecy of Daniel, who prophesied and said, “After sixty-two weeks the Messiah shall be slain.” And these weeks make five hundred years.
[Note: According to the Book of Adam (iv. 14), Daniel said, "After seven weeks Christ shall come, and shall be put to death." Now seven weeks are 490 years, for a great week contains 70 years. But on that the prophet said, "after seven years," he pointed to the [remaining] ten [of the 500 years]. Daniel did not say, “Christ shall come at the end of seven weeks,” but “after seven weeks, and He shall be put to death.”]
Behold, from this time the mouth of the Jews is shut, for they have dared to say that the Messiah hath not yet come. They must, perforce, do one of two things: either accept the prophecy of Daniel, or say, “We do not accept it.” For the prophecy hath fulfilled itself, and the weeks have passed, and the Messiah hath been slain, and the Holy City hath been laid waste by Vespasian.
The Birth of Christ
Observe now [Fol. 40a, col. 1], O thou lover of learning, our brother Nemesius, in the forty-second year of the kingdom of Augustus, Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judah, as it is written in the Holy Gospel.
The Star and the Magi
Now, it was two years before Christ was born that the star appeared to the Magi. They saw the star in the firmament of heaven, and the brilliancy of its appearance was brighter than that of every other star. And within it was a maiden carrying a child, and a crown was set upon his head. Now it was the custom of the ancient kings, and the Magi of the Chaldeans, to consult the Signs of the Zodiac about all the affairs of their lives. And when the Magi saw the star they were perturbed, and terrified, and afraid, and the whole land of Persia was disturbed. And the kings, and the Magi, and the Chaldeans [Fol. 40a, col. 2], and the wise men of Persia, were stupefied, and they were exceedingly afraid of the portent which they saw. And they said, “Peradventure the king of the Greeks hath determined to wage war against the land of Nimrod.” And the Magi and the Chaldeans were terrified, and they consulted their books of wisdom, and through the might of the wisdom of their books they understood and learned, and stood upon the strength of the truth. Now, in truth, the Magi of the Chaldeans discovered that by means of the motions of the stars, to which they gave the name of “Signs of the Zodiac,” they were able to know and understand the strength (or, importance) of events before they took place. And this same knowledge is also given to those who go down into the sea, and by the motions of the stars they know beforehand when there is going to be a disturbance of the winds, and when a violent storm is going to rise up against them, and whenever they are about to be threatened with danger from winds and waves. Thus also was it with the Magi. When they saw and read in the [Fol. 40b, col. 1] “Revelation of Nimrod” they discovered therein that a king was born in Judah, and the whole path of the Dispensation of Christ was revealed unto them.
[Note: As touching the nature of that star, whether it was a star in its nature, or in appearance only, it is right to know that it was not of the other stars, but a secret power which appeared like a star; for all the other stars that are in the firmament, and the sun and moon, perform their course from east to west. This one, however, made its course from north to south, for Palestine lies thus, over against Persia. This star was not seen by them at night only, but also during the day, and at noon; and it was seen at the time when the sun is particularly strong, because it was not one of the stars. Now the moon is stronger in its light than all the stars, but it is immediately quenched and its light dissipated by one small ray of the sun. But this star overcame even the beams of the sun by the intensity of its light. Sometimes it appeared, and sometimes it was hidden entirely. It guided the Magi as far as Palestine. . . . . . This was not an ordinary movement of the stars, but a rational power. Moreover, it had no fixed path. It did not remain always in the height of heaven, but sometimes it came down, and sometimes it mounted up. Book of the Bee (chapter xxxviii).]
The Signs of the Zodiac
[The names of the Babylonian Signs of the Zodiac were:--
(amel) Agru
Kakkab u Alap shame
Re`u kinu shame u
Tu´ame rabuti
AL.LUL (Shittu?)
Kalbu rabu
Shiru
Zibanitum
Akrabu
PA-BIL-SAG
SUHUR.MASH
Gula
DILGANU u Rikis nuni
(The sign placed before each name is the determinative for star.)

Meaning of the name. Modern equivalent. Name of month.
1 The Labourer Goat Nisannu
2   Bull Airu
3 The Faithful Shepherd of heaven and the Great Twins Twins Simanu
4 The Tortoise Crab Duuzu
5 The Great Dog (Lion) Lion Abu
6 Virgin with ear of corn Virgin Ululu
7   Scales Tashritum
8 The Scorpion Scorpion Arah shamna
9 Enurta (the god) Bow Kislimu
10 The Goat-fish Capricornus Tebetum
11 The Great Star Water-Bearer Shabatu
12 The star . . . and the Band of Fishes The Fishes Addaru
On the first Zodiac which was set up by Tiâmat, the Evil one, see The Babylonian Legends of the Creation, London, 1921, page 17 (British Museum publication.)]
And straightway, according to what they had received from the tradition which had been handed down to them by their fathers, they left the East, and went up to the mountains of Nôdh, which lie inside the entrances to the East from the lands on the skirts of the North, and they took from them gold, and myrrh, and frankincense. And from this [passage] understand, O my brother Nemesius, that the Magi knew the whole service of the Dispensation of our Redeemer through the offerings which they brought: the gold was for a king, the myrrh for a physician, and the frankincense for a priest, for the Magi knew Who He was, and that He was a king, and a physician, and a priest. Now when the son of the king of Sheba was a little boy his father brought him [Fol. 40b, col. 2] to a Rabbi, and he learned the Book of the Hebrews better than all his companions and his fellow countrymen, and he said unto all his slaves, “It is written in all the books of genealogies that the king shall be born in Bethlehem.”
The names of the Magi
These are they who bore offerings to the King, kings, the sons of kings:
Hôrmîzdadh of Mâkhôzdî, king of Persia, who was called “King of Kings,” and dwelt in Lower Âdhôrghîn.
Îzgarad (Yazdegerd), the king of Sâbhâ.
Perôzâdh, the king of Sheba, which is in the East.
[Note: In the Book of Adam (iv. 15) the kings are called Hor, king of Persia, Basantar, king of Saba, and Karsundas, king of the East. According to the Book of the Bee (chapter xxxix), the Magi were twelve in number, and their names were:
These four brought gold:
Zarwândâd, the son of Artabân.
Hôrmîzdâd, the son of Sîtârûk (Santarôk).
Gûshnâsâph (Gushnasp), the son of Gûndaphar.
Arshakh, the son of Mîhârôk.
These four brought myrrh:
Zarwândâd, the son of Wârzwâd.
Îryâhô, the son of Kesro (Khusrau).
Artahshesht, the son of Holîtî.
Ashtôn`âbôdân, the son of Shîshrôn.
These four brought frankincense:
Mehârôk, the son of Hûhâm.
Ahshiresh, the son of Hasbân.
Sardâlâh, the son of Baladân.
Merôdâch, the son of Beldarân.]
The Magi in Jerusalem
And the Magi having made ready to go up, the kingdom of the mighty men of war was perturbed and terrified, and there was with the Magi so mighty a following that all the cities of the East were in dismay before them, and Jerusalem also. And when they entered the presence of Herod, he trembled before them, and he commanded them, saying, “Depart in [Fol. 41a, col. 1] peace, and seek diligently for the young Child, and when ye have found Him, come and show me, that I too may go and make obeisance unto Him”; though deceit was hidden in Herod’s heart, he offered homage with his mouth. Now when, the Magi went up to Jerusalem there was great commotion in Judea, because of the edict of Augustus Cæsar, which commanded that every man should be registered in his country, and in the city of his fathers. Because of this Herod was greatly perturbed, and he said unto the Magi, “Go ye and search for Him.” Now the Magi are called “Magi” because of the garb of Magianism in which the heathen kings arrayed themselves whensoever they offered up a sacrifice and made offerings to their gods. They made use of two different kinds of apparel; that which appertained to royalty [they wore] inside, and that which appertained to Magianism outside [Fol. 41a, col. 2]. And thus also was it with those who went up prepared to make offerings to Christ, and they were arrayed in both kinds of apparel.
And when the Magi had gone forth from Jerusalem, and from the presence of Herod, that same star which had been their guide on the road appeared to them, and they rejoiced greatly. And the star went on before them until they entered the cave, where they saw the young Child swathed in bands and laid in a manger. Whilst they were on their way up thither they said within themselves:
When we arrive there we shall see mighty and wonderful things, according to the law and custom which prevail among royal personages when a king is born.
Thus did they think that they would find in the land of Israel a royal palace, and couches of gold with cushions laid upon them [Fol. 41b, col. 1], and the king and the son of the king arrayed in purple, and awestruck soldiers and companies of royal troops, and the nobles of the kingdom paying him honour by presenting gifts, and tables laid out with meats fit for the king, and vessels of drink standing in rows, and men servants and women servants serving in fear. Such were the things which the Magi expected to see, but they saw them not; they saw sights which were far better than these when they went into the cave. They saw Joseph sitting in astonishment, and Mary in a state of wonderment, but there was no couch with cushions laid upon it, and no table with food laid out upon it, and no sign of the preparations which accompany royal state. And although they saw all this humble estate and poverty, they had no doubt in their minds, but they drew nigh in fear and made obeisance to Him in honour, and they offered [Fol. 41b, col. 2] unto Him, gold, and myrrh, and frankincense. And it was very grievous unto Mary and Joseph that they had nothing to set before them, but the Magi fed themselves with food of their own providing.
[Note: In addition to the gold, frankincense and myrrh which the Magi brought, they laid before the Child as an offering thirty zûzê of silver. Their weight was according to the weight of the sanctuary, but they were equal to six hundred pieces according to the weight of the country. (The Syriac zûzê = the Arabic dirham and the Greek drachme.) The thirty pieces were made by Terah, who gave them to Abraham, who gave them to Isaac. With them Isaac bought a village, and the man who received them took them to Pharaoh. Pharaoh sent them to David as a contribution towards the building of the Temple, and Solomon placed them round the door of the altar. Nebuchadnezzar carried them away to Babylon, and gave them to certain royal Persian hostages, who took them to Persia and gave them to their parents. When the Magi set out for Jerusalem they took the thirty pieces with their other offerings out with them they bought from certain shepherds at Edessa "the garment without seam," which an angel had given to them. Abgar, king of Edessa, took the thirty pieces and the garment from the shepherds, and sent them to Christ. Christ kept the garment and sent the thirty pieces to the Jewish treasury. The priests gave them to Judas Iscariot for betraying our Lord, but he repented and took them back to the priests. After Judas hanged himself the priests purchased a burial ground for strangers with the thirty pieces (Book of the Bee, chapter xliv) . Another legend says that Joseph had the thirty pieces, and that with them he bought spices to embalm Jacob. They passed into the possession of the Queen of Sheba, who gave them to Solomon (Sandeys, Christmas Carols, London, 1883, page lxxxiii).]
The Circumcision of Christ
Now Christ was eight days old when the Magi presented their offerings; and Mary received them at the very time when Joseph circumcised Christ. In truth, Joseph circumcised Him according to the Law, but he only went through (or imitated) the act of cutting, for no [flesh] whatsoever was cut off from Him. For as [a rod of] iron passeth through the fire and cutteth the rays thereof, without any part of it being cut off from it, so in like manner was Christ circumcised without anything being taken from Him.
The Conversion of the Magi
And the Magi lived with the Child three days, and they saw the hosts of heaven going up and coming down to Christ. And they heard the sound [Fol. 42a, col. 1] of the praises of the angels, who sang hymns and cried out:
Holy, Holy, Holy, Mighty God, with whose praises the heavens and the earth are filled.
And they were in great fear, and in truth they believed in Christ, and said:
This is the King Who hath come down from heaven and become man.
And Perôzdhâdh answered and said unto them:
Now know I that the prophecy of Isaiah is true. For when I was in the school of the Hebrews I read in [the Book of] Isaiah, and I found [written] therein thus: ‘For unto us a child is born, and unto us a son hath been given. And His Name shall be called Wonderful, and Counsellor, and God, Giant of the Worlds’(Isa. ix. 6). And it is written in another place, “Behold, a virgin is with child, and she shall bring forth a son, and his name shall be called ‘Emmanuel,’ which is, being interpreted, ‘God with us’” (Isa. vii. 14). And because He became like a man, and the angels were coming down [Fol. 42a, col. 2] from heaven to Him, truly He is the Lord of angels and men.
And all the Magi believed and said:
Truly this King is God. Kings are born unto us frequently, and mighty men, the sons of mighty men, are born unto us on earth, but it is an unheard-of thing for the angels to come down to them.
And straightway they all rose up, and did homage to Him as the Lord and King of the world. And having prepared food for their journey, they went down to their own country by a desert road.
The Massacre of the Innocents
Now, there are certain men who will dispute this [statement] and say, “Where was Christ when the children were massacred, for it is written that He was not found in the land of Judah?” It was because of this massacre that He fled to Egypt, so that there might be fulfilled that which is written [Fol. 42b, col. 1]. “From Egypt I called my Son” (Hos. xi. 1). And know this also. When Christ entered Egypt all the idols therein were swept from their places, and fell down, and were broken, so that there might be fulfilled that which is written, “Behold, the Lord rideth on a swift cloud, and entereth Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be broken before Him” (Isa. xix. 1).
[Note: When Joseph and Mary and the Child reached the gate of the city of Hermopolis, there were by the two buttresses of the gate two figures of brass that had been made by the sages and philosophers; and they spoke like men. When our Lord entered Egypt these two figures cried out with a loud voice, saying, "A great king has come into Egypt." Book of the Bee (chapter xl.)]
And He did not return from Egypt [at once], but lived there until Herod died, and after him reigned Archelaus.
Now, thou must know, O my brother Nemesius, that, even as I have already told thee, all the men who were under the rule of Herod were [included] in that registration for taxation; and the registration was completed in fifty days. And it was not until this registration was completed and sealed, and until Herod had sealed it and sent it to Augustus in Rome, that the Messiah was searched for; up to that time [Fol. 42b, col. 2] no children had been slain. And it was during the commotion caused by that registration that Christ was born. When forty days after His birth had been fulfilled, Christ went into the Temple of the Lord. And Simeon the Aged, the son of Joshua bar-Yôzâdhâk, in whose days the captivity went up from Babel, took Him in his arms. Now, Simeon was five hundred years old when he took Christ in his arms.

The Flight into Egypt.1
And straightway the angel said unto Joseph:
Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and flee into Egypt.
And when the registration was completed, the Jews were dismissed, so that each man might depart to his own district and to his own village.
Herod and John the Baptist
Then did Herod enquire for the Magi, and when he was told, “they have gone back to their own country,” he was exceedingly wroth, and he sent straightway and slew all the young children in Bethlehem, and in all the villages round about. And when Herod had passed among the [Fol. 43a, col. 1] slain children, and they did not find there [the body of] John, the son of Zacharias, he said, “Truly, his son will reign over Israel.” For he had heard of what had been said unto Zacharias by the angel, when he announced to him concerning [the birth of] John. And Herod sent to Zacharias [and commanded him] to bring John, and Zacharias said:
I am a priest, and I minister in the Temple of the Lord; I do not know where the Child and his mother are.
And because of these words Zacharias was slain between the bench (or, steps) and the altar. Now, Elizabeth had taken John and gone forth into the desert.
The Death of Herod
And as for Herod, a divine punishment that was pitiless overtook him, and he fell ill of a sickness, through which he stank, and his body melted away into a mass of worms, and he suffered most grievous pains, and at length people were unable to come near him because of his putrid smell. And through that bitter suffering [Fol. 43a, col. 2] his soul departed into outer darkness. Nevertheless, by his death he destroyed many.
[Note: First of all, he slew his wife and his daughter, and he killed one man of every family, saying, "At the time of my death there shall be mourning and weeping and lamentation in the whole city." His bowels and his legs were swollen with running sores, and matter flowed from them, and he was consumed by worms. He had nine wives and thirteen children. There was a knife in his hand, and he was eating an apple; and by reason of the severity of his pain, he drew the knife across his throat, and cut it with his own hand; and his belly burst open, and he died and went to perdition. An evil fate also overtook Bôzîyâ, the daughter of Herodias, who begged for the head of John the Baptist on a charger. Having given the saint's head to her mother, she went out to dance upon the ice, but the ice broke and she sank into the water up to her neck, and no one could deliver her. At length men came with the sword which had been used in beheading John, and they cut off Bôzîyâ's head and gave it to her mother. The right hand with which Herodias took up John's head withered, and when she saw the heads of the saint and her daughter she became blind, and Satan entered her and bound her with fetters. See Book of the Bee (chapters xxxix and xli).]
Now Herod had said unto Archelaus his son, and unto Shâlôm his sister, “Immediately I am dead, let those whom I have fettered in prison be slain”–now he had imprisoned one person from every house. And he said, “I know that the Jews will feel great joy at my death. But in order that they may not rejoice and be glad whilst ye are sorrowful and are weeping, let all those whom I have shut up in prison be slain, so that through their death they may cause lamentation unintentionally.” And Archelaus and Shâlôm did as Herod commanded them, and when this order had been carried out in all Judea there remained not one house in which there was not lamentation, even as it was in Egypt [in days of old].
Christ returns to Galilee
And when Herod died, and his death had been announced to Joseph, he went back to Galilee. And when Christ was thirty years old [Fol. 43b, col. 1] He was baptized by John. Now John was in the desert all the days of his life, and he lived upon the root which is called “Kâmûs,” which is wild honey. [According to some this root was like unto a carrot.] And in the twelfth year of the kingdom of Tiberius Christ suffered.
Chronological statement
Understand now and see, O my brother Nemesius, that in the days of Yârêd, in his fortieth year, the FIRST Thousand Years came to an end. In the six hundredth year of Noah the SECOND Thousand Years came to an end. In the seventy-fourth year of Reu the THIRD Thousand Years came to an end. In the twenty-sixth year of Âhôr (Ehud) the FOURTH Thousand Years came to an end. In the second year of Cyrus the FIFTH Thousand Years came to an end. And in the five hundredth year of the SIXTH Thousand Years Christ was born in His human form.
The Crucifixion of Christ
And know thou also that Christ dwelt [Fol. 43b, col. 2] in Mary, and suffered in Nazareth, and was born in Bethlehem, and was laid in a manger, and was carried by Simeon in the Temple of Solomon, and was reared in Galilee, and was anointed by Mary Magdalene, and ate the Passover in the house of Nicodemus, the brother of Joseph of Râmethâ, and was bound in the house of Hannân, and was struck with a reed in the house of Caiaphas, and embraced the pillar and was scourged with a whip in the Prætorium of Pilate, and on Friday, on the first day of Nîsân (April), on the fourteenth day of the moon, our Redeemer suffered.
At the FIRST HOUR of Friday God fashioned Adam from the dust, and at the first hour of Friday Christ received spittle from the sons of Adam.
At the SECOND HOUR of Friday the wild beasts, and the cattle, and the feathered fowl gathered themselves together [Fol. 44a, col. 1] to Adam, and he gave names to them as they bowed their heads before him. And at the second hour of Friday the Jews gathered themselves together against Christ, and they gnashed their teeth at Him, even as the blessed David said, “Many bulls have gathered together round about me, bulls of Bashan have beset me round” (Ps. xxii. 12).
At the THIRD HOUR of Friday a crown of glory was placed on the head of Adam, and at the third hour of Friday the crown of thorns was placed on the head of Christ.
THREE HOURS was Adam in Paradise and shining with splendour, and three hours was Christ in the Judgment Hall being beaten by creatures that had been fashioned out of dust.
At the SIXTH HOUR Eve went up to the tree of the transgression of the commandment, and at the sixth hour Christ ascended the Cross, the Tree of Life.
At the SIXTH HOUR Eve gave unto Adam the fruit of the gall of death [Fol. 44a, col. 2], and at the sixth hour the crowd of iniquity gave unto Christ vinegar and gall.
For THREE HOURS Adam remained under the Tree naked, and for three hours was Christ naked on the wood of the Cross. And from the right side of Adam went forth Eve, the mother of mortal offspring, and from the right side of Christ went forth baptism, the mother of immortal offspring.
On Friday Adam and Eve sinned, and on Friday their sin was remitted.
On Friday Adam and Eve died, and on Friday they came alive.
On Friday Death reigned over them, and on Friday they were freed from his dominion.
On Friday Adam and Eve went forth from Paradise, and on Friday our Lord went into the grave.
On Friday Adam and Eve became naked, and on Friday Christ stripped [Fol. 44b, col. 1] Himself naked and clothed them.
On Friday Satan stripped Adam and Eve naked, and on Friday Christ stripped naked Satan and all his hosts, and put them to shame openly.
On Friday the door of Paradise was shut and Adam went forth, and on Friday it was opened and a robber went in.
On Friday the two-edged sword was given to the Cherub, and on Friday Christ smote with the spear, and brake the two-edged sword.
On Friday kingdom, and priesthood, and prophecy were given unto Adam, and on Friday priesthood, and kingdom, and prophecy were taken from the Jews.
At the NINTH HOUR Adam went down into the lowest depth of the earth from the height of Paradise, and at the ninth hour Christ went down to the lowest depths of the earth, to those who lay [Fol. 44b, col. 2] in the dust, from the height of the Cross.
Know also that Christ was like unto Adam in everything, even as it is written.
In that very place where Melchisedek ministered as a priest, and where Abraham offered up his son Isaac as an offering, the wood of the Cross was set up, and that self-same place is the centre of the earth, and there the Four Quarters of the earth meet each other. For when God made the earth His mighty power was running before it, and the earth was running after it, and the power of God stood still and became motionless in Golgotha; and that same place formeth the boundary of the earth. When Shem took up the body of Adam, that same place, which is the door of the earth, opened itself. And when Shem and Melchisedek had deposited the body of Adam in the centre of the earth the Four Quarters [Fol. 45a, col. 1] of the earth closed in about it, and embraced Adam, and straightway that opening was closed firmly, and all the children of Adam were not able to open it. And when the Cross of Christ, the Redeemer of Adam and his sons, was set up upon it, the door of that place was opened in the face of Adam. And when the Wood (i.e. the Cross) was fixed upon it, and Christ was smitten with the spear, and blood and water flowed down from His side, they ran down into the mouth of Adam, and they became a baptism to him, and he was baptized.
Now when the Jews crucified Christ on the Wood, they divided His garments among them beneath the Cross, even as it is written. His tunic was of purple, which is the raiment of royalty; and when they stripped Him of the raiment of royalty Pilate would not permit the Jews [Fol. 45a, col. 2] to array Him in ordinary apparel, but only in the actual raiment of royalty, either purple or scarlet. By both of these it might be known that He was a king. For it is impossible for any other man to wear purple; only a king can do this. And one of the Evangelists hath said, “The soldiers put on Him a purple robe” (Mark xv. 17; John xix. 2, 5), and this is a true word and is highly credible; and another Evangelist uses the word “scarlet “(Matt. xxvii. 28), and he proclaimed what was true. The scarlet garment indicateth to us blood, and the purple garment water; for the scarlet one was like unto blood, and the purple one was like unto water. The scarlet garment proclaimeth the joyful and immortal nature of man, and the purple one the sad and mortal nature of man. Understand, therefore, O our brother [Fol. 45b, col. 1] Nemesius, that scarlet proclaimeth life.
Now the spies said prophetically to Rahab, the harlot, “thou shalt tie a thread of scarlet to the window” (Joshua ii. 18) when they descended having been [well] entreated by her. And through her they prefigured a certain matter, for the window [symbolized] the side of our Lord Christ, and the thread of scarlet His precious blood which produced life.
And they (i.e. the Jews) wove a crown of spikes of thorn bushes, and set it upon His head. And they arrayed Him in royal apparel, not knowing what they were doing. And they bowed the knee, and made obeisance unto Him, and they spake with their mouths, without being compelled to do so, saying, “Hail to Thee, King of the Jews.” Observe ye, O my brethren, that not even in His death did He lack the [sign of] royalty. And when the Jews and the soldiers who were the servants of Herod and Pilate were struggling together to rend the tunic of Christ [Fol. 45b, col. 2], to divide it among them, they did so because they all eagerly desired the beauty of the sight thereof. And the centurion also who watched the Cross himself testified before all the crowd, saying, “Verily, this man is the Son of God.” And this centurion said unto them, “The orders which have been given to me do not permit me to rend the apparel of royalty, but cast lots for it [and we shall see] to whom it will come”; and when the Jews and the soldiers of the king had cast lots, the lot fell upon one of the soldiers of Pilate. Now the tunic of our Lord had no seam, but had been woven whole in one piece. And whensoever there was a lack of rain in the place where it had been deposited and taken care of, the people used to bring out the tunic, and as soon as they lifted it up [Fol. 46a, col. 1] towards heaven an abundance of rain fell. And also, whensoever the soldier who had received it lacked rain for his crop, he brought out the tunic, and it worked this miracle. Now the tunic was taken away by force from the man who got it by Pilate, who sent it to the Emperor Tiberius. To us this tunic indicateth the Orthodox Faith, which all the nations [joined] together are unable to cleave.
Three valuable gifts, than which there is nothing more valuable, were given to the Jews in olden time, namely, royalty, priesthood, and prophecy: prophecy by the hand of Moses, priesthood by the hand of Aaron, and royalty by the hand of David. These three gifts which the generations and families of the children of Israel had enjoyed for [many] years were taken from them in one day; and they were stripped of all three of them, and became aliens to them, that is to say, prophecy by the Cross, priesthood by the rending of the tunic [of Christ], and royalty by the crown of thorns. Moreover, that spirit of compassion (or propitiation) which had dwelt in the Temple, in the Holy of Holies, forsook them and departed. And the curtain (or veil) of the sanctuary was cleft in twain. And the Passover fled from them, for they never celebrated another Passover in it. And know, O my brethren, that when Pilate pressed them to go into the Judgment Hall, they said unto him, “We are unable to go into the Prætorium, because up to now we have not eaten the Passover.”
And when the sentence of death had been passed on our Lord by Pilate, they (the Jews) made haste and went into the sanctuary [Fol. 46b, col. 1] and brought out from thence the carrying poles of the Ark of the Covenant, and out of them they made the Cross of Christ. Verily it was meet that these pieces of wood which used to carry the Covenant should also carry the Lord of the Covenant. The Cross of Christ was formed of two pieces of wood which were of the same height, and depth, and length, and breadth. And Paul the Apostle laboured exceedingly that the Gentiles might know what was the might of the Cross, which embraced the height, and depth, and length, and breadth of the earth. And when they raised up Christ, the Lamp of Light of all the earth, and set Him upon the candlestick of the Cross, the light of the sun became dark, and was extinguished, and a covering of darkness was spread over the whole earth. Three nails were driven into the body of our Redeemer, two through His hands, and one through both His feet. And there were two thieves [with Him], one on His right hand and one on His left hand.
And they handed out to Him vinegar and gall in a sponge. By the vinegar which they gave unto Him it was made known concerning them that their will was changed from what it had been formerly, and that they had turned themselves from integrity to wickedness, and by the gall was made known the bitterness of the accursed serpent which was in them. And they showed that they also had belonged to that good vineyard from which prophets, and kings, and priests, and they themselves had drunk; but because they had become wicked heirs, who would not labour in the vineyard of my beloved, they produced husks instead of grapes, and the wine which they pressed out therefrom was sour. And having crucified the Heir on the Wood, they mixed some of the impurity of their wickedness with their sour wine [Fol. 47a, col. 1], and gave Him to drink of the wine from the vineyard of the Gentiles; but He would not drink [saying], “Give me of that vine which My Father brought out of Egypt.” For Christ knew that the prophecy of Moses which had been prophesied concerning them had been fulfilled in them; for Moses said, “Your grapes are grapes of gall, your clusters are bitter. Your poison is the poison of the serpent, and their head is that of a malignant viper. These are the things which ye render unto the Lord” (Deut. xxxii. 32, 33).
Observe, O my brother Nemesius, that the blessed Moses with the eye of the Spirit foresaw the things which they were going to do to Christ [and said], “These are the things which ye render to the Lord.” The congregation of the crucifiers was a decayed vine, its daughters were bitter grapes, and its sons were clusters of gall. Their head was Caiaphas, the malignant viper, and they were all evil serpents, and all of them were filled with [Fol. 47a, col. 2] the venom of Satan, who is the Evil Serpent. Instead of the water of the rock which had been given them to drink in the wilderness, they gave Him vinegar to drink, and instead of manna, the gall of the quail. They did not give Him a cup to drink from, but a sponge, so that they might show that the blessing of their fathers had been swept away from them. Now this is evident from what follows: When a vessel is empty and there is no wine in it, they wash and wipe it with a sponge. Even so did the Jews do when they crucified Christ, [for] with a sponge they wiped away and removed from themselves royalty, and priesthood, and prophecy, and the religion of Christ, and gave them to Christ, and the vessels of their bodies washed and empty remained only.
And the Law and the Prophets having been fulfilled, and Adam having been sent and seen the fountain of living water which was poured out from above for his redemption [Fol. 47b, col. 1], then was Christ smitten with the spear, and blood and water flowed down from His side; but they were not mingled with each other. For what reason did the blood come forth before the water? For two reasons: First, that through the blood life might be given unto Adam, and then, after life and resurrection, the water for his baptism. Secondly, that through the blood He might show that He was immortal, and through the water He might show that He was mortal, and a bearer of sufferings. The blood and the water ran down into the mouth of Adam, and Adam was redeemed, and put on a garment of glory. And Christ wrote the edict of His return with the blood of His own Person, and despatched it by the thief.
And when an end had been made of everything, the writ of repudiation of the congregation was written, and the congregation became a thing cast aside, and it was stripped of its glorious raiment, even as in times of old [Fol. 47b, col. 2] David had, through the Holy Spirit, said and prophesied, saying, “Even unto the horns of the altar” (Ps. cxviii. 22?)–to this pass were the festivals of the Jews brought. “Unto the horns of the altar” [means] to the crucifixion of Christ, that is to say:
The Genealogy of Christ
From Adam to Seth; from Seth to Enos; from Enos to Cainan; from Cainan to Mahalâlâêl; from Mahalâlâêl to Jared; from Jared to Enoch; from Enoch to Methuselah; from Methuselah to Lamech; from Lamech to Noah; from Noah to Shem; from Shem to Arphaxad; from Arphaxad to Salah; from Salah to Eber; from Eber to Peleg; from Peleg to Reu; from Reu to Serug; from Serug to Nahor; from Nahor to Terah; from Terah to Abraham; from Abraham to Isaac; from Isaac to Jacob; from Jacob [Fol. 48a, col. 1] to Judah; from Judah to Pharez; from Pharez to Hesron; from Hesron to Aram; from Aram to Amminadab; from Amminadab to Nahasson; from Nahasson to Salmon; from Salmon to Boaz; from Boaz to Obed; from Obed to Jesse; from Jesse to David; from David to Solomon; from Solomon to Rehoboam; from Rehoboam to Abijah; from Abijah to Ara; from Ara to Jehoshaphat; from Jeshoshaphat to Joram; from Joram to Ahaziah; from Ahaziah to Joash; from Joash to Amaziah; from Amaziah to Uzziah; from Uzziah to Jotham; from Jotham to Ahaz; from Ahaz to Hezekiah; from Hezekiah to Manasseh; from Manasseh to Ammon; from Ammon to Josiah; from Josiah to Jehoahaz; from Jehoahaz to Jehoiakim; from Jehoiakim to Jehoiachin; from Jehoiachin to Salathiel; from Salathiel [Fol. 48a, col. 2] to Zerubbabel; from Zerubbabel to Abiud; from Abiud to Eliakim; from Eliakim to Azor; from Azor to Zadok; from Zadok to Achin; from Achin to Eliud; from Eliud to Eleazar; from Eleazar to Mathan; from Mathan to Jacob and Yônâkhîr; from Yônâkhîr to Mary; from Mary to the manger; from the manger to circumcision; from the circumcision to the Temple; from the Temple to Egypt; from Egypt to Galilee; from Galilee to Jerusalem; from Jerusalem to the Jordan; from the Jordan to the desert; from the desert to Judah; from Judah to the preaching; from the preaching to the Upper Chamber; from the Upper Chamber to the Passover; from the Passover to the Judgment Hall; from the Judgment Hall to the Cross; from the Cross to the grave; from the grave to the Upper Chamber; from the Upper Chamber to heaven; and from heaven to the throne [Fol. 48b, col. 1]. He sitteth on the right hand of His Father.
The end of the two and sixty weeks
Observe, O our brother Nemesius, how the generations and families have succeeded each other; from Adam to the Jews, and the Jews also from one [generation] to another until the Cross of Christ. From that time and onwards the festivals of the Jews have ceased, even as the blessed David saith concerning them: “Bind our festivals with chains even to the horns of the altar” (Ps. cxviii. 27). The chains are the families which are linked each to the other, and the altar is the Cross of Christ. The festivals of the Jews succeeded each other until the Cross of Christ, in priesthood, and royalty, and prophecy, and Passover; but from the Cross of Christ up to the present they all have ceased, even as I have said [Fol. 48b, col. 2]. The Jews have no longer among them a king, or a priest, or a prophet, or a Passover, even as Daniel prophesied concerning them, saying, “After two and sixty weeks Christ shall be slain, and the city of holiness shall be laid waste until the completion of things decreed” (Dan. ix. 26). That is to say, for ever and ever.
Christ’s body is embalmed and laid in the tomb made for Joshua, the son of Nôn
And when the end of all the Law and the Prophets had come, and Christ was hanging on the Cross, Joseph, the brother of Nicodemus and Cleophas, went in to Pilate–now he was the bearer of the seal-ring of Pilate, and was a councillor, and had free intercourse with him–and asked for the body of our Redeemer; and Pilate commanded that it should be given to him. And when Joseph had taken His body, straightway Pilate commanded that [Fol. 49a, col. 1] the garden also in which the grave was situated should be given to him; it belonged to Joseph, and it had been given unto him as an inheritance by Phinehas, the Levite, the son of Joseph’s uncle. Now Joseph was from Jerusalem, but he had been made a councillor in Râmthâ, and all the letters which had been written during the whole period of Pilate’s administration had been sealed with the seal which Joseph carried. And when Joseph had taken down the body of our Lord from the Cross, the Jews ran and took the Cross, and brought it into the Temple, because [the pieces of wood thereof] were the bearing poles of the Ark of the Covenant. And Nicodemos also embalmed the body of our Lord [and swathed it] in clean, new linen swathings, and Joseph made it ready for the grave and buried it in a new tomb which had been made for Joshua, the son of Nôn, to be buried in. And because he saw with the eye of the Spirit [Fol. 49a, col. 2], and the way of the Dispensation of Christ had appeared to him, he took the stone which had travelled about with the children of Israel in the desert and placed it at the door of the tomb, and therefore he was not buried in it. And when Joseph, and Nicodemus, and Cleophas had buried Christ, they laid that stone before the door of the building of the tomb. And the high priests, and men of the house of Pilate, went out and set seals on the grave and on the stone.
The Cross of Christ
And now, my brother Nemesius, be amazed and give praise to God that all the straps (or, ligatures) of the . . . . . . of Christ were joined together on the bearing poles of the Ark of the service of God and the covering of the sanctuary of propitiation. This was what God commanded Moses: to make a breast-plate of judgment (Exod. xxviii. 15) and of peace; of judgment for the Jews who crucified Him [Fol. 49b, col. 1], and of peace for the Gentiles who have believed in him. His Cross was made of the wood of the Sanctuary, His grave was a new one, which had been made for the death of Joshua, the son of Nôn, and the stone (or rock), which is Christ, had when in the desert given water to six hundred thousand people, and now it became an altar and gave life to all the Gentiles. And the saying of the Apostle, “that rock was Christ” (I Cor. x. 4) is true and well worthy of belief. Joseph was a councillor in Râmthâ, Nicodemus was a teacher of the Law in Jerusalem, and Cleophas was the recorder of the Hebrews in `Amâôs. Nicodemus prepared everything which was required for the Passover in the Upper Chamber; and Joseph made Him ready for burial and buried Him in his own inheritance, and Cleophas received Him into his house. And when [Fol. 49b, col. 2] He had risen from the dead these men became to Him true and faithful brethren.
The trilingual inscription above the Cross
And when Joseph brought Him down from the Cross, he took away that inscription which was spread out above His head, that is to say, over the head of the Cross of Christ, because it had been written by Pilate in Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew. And why did Pilate write in it no word of the Syrians? Because the Syrians participated in no way whatsoever in the [shedding of the] blood of Christ. And Pilate, a wise man and a lover of the truth, did not wish to write a lie as wicked judges do, but he did according to what is written in the Law of Moses. Pilate wrote in the inscription [the names of the languages of] those who condemned the innocent in the order in which the slayers of Christ laid their hands upon him, and he hung the writing above Him. Herod was a Greek, Caiaphas was [Fol. 50a, col. 1] a Hebrew, and Pilate a Roman. Now the Syrians had no part in the murder of Christ, and to this testifieth Abhgar, king of Edessa, who wished to take Jerusalem and destroy it because the Jews crucified Christ.
[Note: See Cureton, Doctrine of Addai, ed. Phillips, page 30; Cureton, Ancient Syrian Documents, page 107; and Wright, Journal of Sacred Literature, No. XX, New Series, January, 1865.]
The Harrowing of Hell
Now the descent of Sheol was not in vain, for it was the cause of manifold benefits to our race. He dismissed Death from his domination. He preached the resurrection to those who were lying in the dust, and He pardoned those who had sinned against the Law. He laid waste Sheol, and slew sin. He put Satan to shame, and made the devils sad, and He abrogated sacrifices and offerings and made an apology for Adam, and abolished the festivals of the Jews.
[Note: According to the Coptic Book of the Resurrection, which is attributed to Bartholomew the Apostle, Christ broke down the doors of hell, and smashed the bolts, and destroyed the doorposts and frames. He overthrew the blazing furnaces of brass, and extinguished their fires, and, sweeping everything out of hell, He left it like a desert. He fettered the "Shameless One," and bound the ministers of Satan, and tied up a devil called Melkhir with a chain. See British Museum MS. Oriental No. 6804, and Budge, Coptic Apocrypha, page 184.]
The Resurrection of Christ
And having risen from the grave on the third day, Christ appeared to Kîpâ (Peter) and John.
And whilst [Fol. 50a, col. 2] Christ was in the grave, and the watchmen were sitting round about it, Simon Peter conceived the design of giving the watchmen wine to drink so that they might become drunk and fall asleep, when he intended to rise up and open the tomb, and take out the body of Christ without breaking the seals on the tomb, so that the Jews might not say, “Assuredly His disciples stole Him away.” And whilst the watchmen were eating and drinking, Christ rose up and showed Himself to Kîpâ (Peter), for He had indeed risen. And Peter believed that He was truly Christ, the Lord of the heavens and the earth, and did not approach the tomb. And afterwards Christ also appeared to the watchmen openly, and He went to His disciples in the Upper Chamber, and Thomas felt Him. And He appeared to His disciples on the sea shore. Now, though Simon Peter denied Him thrice before the Jews, he acknowledged Him thrice [Fol. 50b, col. 1] before the disciples. And Christ delivered to him and committed to his hands all His flock, saying, before His disciples, “Feed thou for Me My sheep and lambs and ewes,” that is to say, men, women and children. And forty days after His Resurrection He bestowed upon the Apostles the laying on of hands of the priesthood, and He went up to heaven, and sat down on the right hand of His Father.
Then the Apostles gathered themselves together and went up into the Upper Chamber with Mary, the Holy Virgin, and Simon Peter baptized Mary, and John, the virgin, received her [into his house]. And they decreed a fast until they had received the Spirit, the Paraclete, at Pentecost, they all being gathered together. And tongues (i.e. languages) were distributed among them, so that each of them might go and teach that nation in the tongue which he had received, so that there might never be strife among them. [Fol. 50b, col. 2].
Here Endeth The “Book Of The Order Of The Succession Of Families From Adam To Christ,” Which Is Called The “Cave Of Treasures.”
And to God be glory for ever!
Footnotes:
1 This is the order in which this paragraph appears in the text, though in the “Genealogy of our Lord” (see below, page 233) the circumcision and the presentation in the Temple precede the flight into Egypt.
Testamentum Adami
The Ethiopic text and an Arabic version were published by Bezold in Nöldeke’s Festschrift, Gieszen, 1906. See also Brit. Mus. Add. 16251 and Add. 16217 (Dillmann, Catalogus, Nos. XXXIV and XXXVII.
The Hours Of The Day
And, moreover, understand thou concerning the hours of the day and of the night, and how it is seemly that ye should make supplication to God, and to pray to Him at each of His seasons. For my Creator taught me all this, and He told me the names of all the wild animals and beasts, and of the birds of heaven, and then God made me to understand the number of the hours of the day and of the night, and He told me how the angels praise God. Understand, then, O my son, that at the first hour of the day the prayer of my children ascendeth to God. And at the second hour the prayer and petition of the angels take place. At the third hour the birds of the heavens praise Him. And at the fourth hour the spiritual beings worship Him. And at the fifth hour all the wild beasts and animals salute Him. At the sixth hour the petition of the Kîrûbêl (Cherubim) taketh place. And at the seventh hour all the angels enter the presence of God, and go forth therefrom, for at this hour the prayer of every living thing ascendeth to God. At the eighth hour the shining denizens of heaven praise Him. And at the ninth hour the angels of God who stand before the throne of the Most High do homage unto Him. And at the tenth hour the Holy Spirit overshadoweth the waters, and the devils flee away and remove themselves from the waters. And if the Holy Spirit did not overshadow the waters at this hour every day, no one could drink of the waters, [for if he did] his flesh (i.e. body) would be destroyed by the evil devils. And if the priest taketh water at this hour and mixeth with it holy oil, and anointeth the sick and those who are possessed of foul spirits with the mixture, they shall be healed of their sickness. And at the eleventh hour the glorifyings of the righteous take place. And at the twelfth hour God, the Most High, receiveth the prayers and petitions of the children of men.
The Hours Of The Night.
And at the first hour of the night the devils render thanks and praise to God Most High, and there is in them no evil and no harm for anyone until they have finished their service of homage. And at the second hour of the night the fish and every creature that is in the waters praise God, and the wild beasts and the whales. And at the third hour the fire praiseth Him–now it is in the lowest depth, and in that hour no one can address Him (?). And at the fourth hour the Sûrâfêl (Seraphim) proclaim Him Holy. And at the fifth hour the waters which are above the heavens praise Him. Now long ago I sat and listened to the angels at this hour, and [marvelled] how they cried out; [their cry] was like the noise of a mighty wheel, and they cried out like the waves of the sea with the voice of praise to God. And at the sixth hour the clouds praised God in fear and trembling. And at the seventh hour the earth was hushed in silence and every creature that was upon it, and the waters slumbered. And if at this hour the priest taketh some water and mixeth holy oil with it, and he anointeth therewith the sick and those who cannot sleep at night because of [their] pain, those who are sick will be healed, and those who are wakeful will fall asleep. At the eighth hour the earth maketh to grow grass and green herbs, and maketh the trees to put forth leaves and fruit. And at the ninth hour the angels perform their service of homage to God, and the prayer of the children of men cometh into the presence of God the Most High. And at the tenth hour the gates of heaven are opened, and God heareth the prayer of the children of the believers, and the petition which they ask from God is granted unto them; And at the sound of the wings of the Seraphim at that time the cocks crow and praise God. And at the eleventh hour there is joy and gladness on all the earth, for the sun entereth into the Garden (i.e. Paradise), and his light riseth in all the ends of the world, and illumineth every created thing. And at the twelfth hour it is befitting for my children to stand up before God, and pay homage to Him, for at this hour there resteth a great silence on all the heavenly beings.
Adam Foretells The Coming Of Christ.
Now therefore know thou all this, and hearken unto my word, and understand that the Word of God, the Most High, shall come down upon the earth, even as He told me at the moment when He thrust me out from the Garden (Paradise). For He told me that His Word in later days should become man from a woman who was a virgin whose name was Mary, and should hide in her, and put on flesh, and be born like a man with great power, and operative skill and knowledge. No one shall know Him except Himself and him to whom He manifested [Himself]. And God said that He should go about with people on the earth, and grow in days and years, and should perform signs and wonders openly, and should walk upon the sea as upon dry land, and should rebuke the sea and the winds openly, and they should be subject unto Him, and that He should cry out to the waves of the sea and they should make answer to Him speedily. And that He should make the blind to see, and the lepers to be cleansed, and the deaf to hear, and the dumb to talk, and should raise up the paralytics, and make the lame to walk, and should turn many from error to the knowledge of God, and should drive out the devils from men.
And besides [these things] God spake unto me, saying:
Be not sorrowful, O Adam, for thou didst wish to become a god and didst transgress my command. Behold, I will stablish thee, not at this present, but after a few days.
And again He spake unto me, saying:
I am God Who made thee to go forth from the Garden of Joy into the earth, which shall shoot forth thorns and brambles, and thou shalt dwell therein. Bend thy back, and make thy knees to totter in old age, and I will make thy flesh food for the worms. And after five days and half a day1 I will have compassion upon thee, and shew thee mercy in the abundance of my compassion and my mercy. And I will come down into thy house, and I will dwell in thy flesh, and for thy sake I will be pleased to be born like an [ordinary] child. And for thy sake I will be pleased to walk in the market place. And for thy sake I will be pleased to fast forty days. And for thy sake I will be pleased to accept baptism. And for thy sake I will be pleased to endure suffering. And for thy sake I will be pleased to hang on the wood of the Cross. All these things [will I do] for thy sake, O Adam.
To Him be praise, and majesty, and dominion, and glory, and worship, and hymns, with His Father and the Holy Spirit from this time forward and for ever and ever. Amen.
Furthermore, thou must know, O my son, Seth, behold a Flood shall come and shall wash the whole earth because of the children of Kâyal (Cain), the murderer, who slew his brother through jealousy, because of his sister Lûd. And after the Flood and many weeks the latter days shall come, and everything shall be completed, and his time shall come and fire shall consume everything which is found before God, and the earth shall be sanctified, and the Lord of Lords shall walk about on it.
And Seth wrote down this Commandment, and sealed it with his seal, and with the seal of his father Adam, which he took with him from the Garden (Paradise), and with the seal of Eve his mother.
Footnotes:
1 I.e. five thousand five hundred years.
Supplementary Translations From The “Book Of The Bee.”
The Assumption Of The Virgin. Our Lord’s Appearances After The Resurrection. The Last Supper. The Names Of The Apostles And Disciples. Chronology. Gog And Magog. Anti-Christ. The Greek Translation Of The Hebrew Bible.
The extracts quoted in the preceding pages show how largely Solomon, Bishop of Al-Basrah, borrowed from the “Cave of Treasures” when compiling his work, “The Book of the Bee,” especially when he was dealing with the history of the early Patriarchs. But he did not bring his book to a close with the narrative of the Crucifixion, for his aim was to describe briefly the progress of Christianity after the death of Christ; and in doing this he collected and set down in writing a considerable amount of information regarding the Apostles and disciples, and their lives and deaths, and a number of facts and legends which he accepted and wished the Nestorians in his diocese especially to believe. In fact, the “Book of the Bee,” though written by a Nestorian bishop, may be regarded as a supplement or continuation of the “Cave of Treasures,” which, according to ancient tradition, was written by a Jacobite bishop. Both works are included in the collection of texts which the learned priest Hômô copied in the British Museum MS. Add. 25875, and both were so highly esteemed that copies of them were made for the library of the church of the Virgin Mary in `Amedîa. The following summary is based on my translation of the Syriac text published at Oxford in 1886.
[The Death And Assumption Of The Virgin Mary
Mary lived twelve years after our Lord's Ascension; the sum of the years which she lived in the world was fifty-eight years, but others say sixty-one years. She was not buried on earth, but the angels carried her to Paradise, and angels bore her bier. On the other hand, we read in the History of the Virgin:
And the blessed Mary departed this life in the year of Alexander, 394 (i.e. A.D. 82-83). At the Annunciation she was thirty years old, and she lived also the thirty-three years of the Dispensation; and after the Crucifixion she lived fifty-eight years. The years which she lived were one hundred and twenty-one.
In the same book we have:
And Mary remained in Jerusalem, and grieved because of her separation from our Lord Jesus Christ, and the absence of the apostles from her. And she prayed and cast frankincense into the fire, and lifted up her eyes and spread out her hands to heaven, and said, 'O Christ, the Son of the living God, hearken unto the voice of Thy handmaiden, and send unto me Thy friend John the Young with his fellow-apostles, that I may see them and be comforted by the sight of them before the day of my death; and I will praise and adore Thy goodness.’ And straightway it was revealed by the Holy Spirit to each one of the apostles, in whatever country he was in, that the blessed Mary was about to depart from this world into the never-ending life. And the Spirit summoned them, along with those of them who were dead, to be gathered together at daybreak to the blessed Mary for her to see them: and each one of them came to her from his own land at dawn by the agency of the Holy Spirit, and they saluted Mary and each other, and adored her. Thomas was in India, and an angel took him up and brought him. And he found the angels carrying her bier through the air; and they brought it nigh to Thomas, and he also prayed and was blessed by her.
[Our Lord's Appearances After His Resurrection
He appeared ten times:
To Mary Magdalene (John xx. 11, 18).
To the women at the grave (Matt. xxviii. 9, 10).
To Cleophas (Luke xxiv. 18).
To Simon Peter (Luke xxiv. 34).
To all the disciples except Thomas (Luke xxiv. 36-49; John xx. 19-23).
To the disciples, Thomas being with them (John xx. 24-29).
On the Mount (Matt. xxviii. 16-20).
On the Sea of Tiberias (John xxi. 1-24).
At His Ascension (Mark xvi. 19; Luke xxiv. 50-53).
To the Five Hundred at once (I Cor. xv. 6).
After His Ascension he appeared:
to Paul (Acts ix. 3-9; I Cor. xv. 3), and
to Stephen (Acts vii. 55-60).
[The Last Supper
Some men have a tradition that when our Lord broke His body in the Upper Chamber, John, the son of Zebedee, hid a part of his portion until our Lord rose from the dead. When Thomas put his finger near to our Lord's side, and it rested on the mark of the spear, the disciples saw the blood. And John took that piece of consecrated bread, and wiped up that blood with it; and the Easterns Mâr Addai and Mâr Mârî took that piece, and sanctified this unleavened bread which has been handed down among us. Others say that when John took that piece of consecrated bread in his hand, it burst into flame, and burnt in the palm of his hand, and the palm of his hand sweated, and he took that sweat and hid it for the sign of the Cross of baptism.
[The Apostles
The Apostles were Twelve and Seventy; their names are:--
SIMON, the chief of the Apostles, was from Bethsaida, of the tribe of Naphtali. He preached for one year in Antioch, where the disciples were [first] called Christians, and he built there the first church, in the house of Cassianus, whose son he restored to life. He lived in Rome twenty-seven years. He was crucified, head downwards, by Nero, in the 376th year of the Greeks (65-64 B.C.).
ANDREW, his brother, preached in Scythia, Nicomedia, and Achaia. He died in Byzantium and was buried in the church which he built there.
JOHN, the son of Zabhdai (Zebedee), was from Bethsaida, of the tribe of Zebulon. He preached in Ephesus, was exiled to Patmos, and then returned to Ephesus, where he built a church. Three of his disciples went with him:–IGNATIUS, later bishop of Antioch, who was thrown to the beasts in Rome; POLYCARP, later bishop of Smyrna who was burnt to death; and JOHN, who succeeded him as bishop. John, the son of Zebedee, was buried by John, his disciple, at Ephesus, and his grave is unknown. John, his disciple, was also buried at Ephesus. He wrote the Revelation, and said that all he had written in that book he had received from John the Evangelist.
JAMES, the brother of John, preached in Bethsaida and built a church there. Herod Agrippa slew him with the sword in the year following the Ascension of our Lord. He was buried at Âkâr, a city of Marmârîkâ.
PHILIP, from Bethsaida, was of the tribe of Asher. He preached in Phrygia, Pamphylia and Pisidia; he died in Pisidia, and was buried in the church which he built there. He lived as an apostle 27 years.
THOMAS, from Jerusalem, was of the tribe of Judah. He taught the Parthians, Medes and Indians; he baptized the daughter of the Indian king, who had him speared to death. Habbân the merchant brought his body to Edessa and buried it there. Some say he was buried in Mahlûph in India.
MATTHEW, from Nazareth, was of the tribe of Issachar. He preached in Palestine, Tyre and Sidon, and went as far as Gabbûlâ (i.e. al-Jabbâl, a town in Coelesyria). He died, and was buried in Antioch.
BARTHOLOMEW, from Endor, was of the tribe of Issachar. He preached in Armenia, Ardeshîr, Ketarbôl, Radbîn and Prûharmân. He first went to Golthon in Armenia, came back to Artaschu, and then went on to Her, Zarevant and Urbianos. He lived as an apostle for 30 years, and then Hûrstî (Rhûstnî or Hêrôstmî), king of Armenia, crucified him in Urbianos. He was buried in the church which he had built in Armenia. The king of Armenia in the time of Bartholomew was called Sanadrog (Sanatruk).
JUDE, the son of James, surnamed THADDAEUS (TADDAI), who is also LEBBAEUS (Lebbai), from Jerusalem, was of the tribe of Judah. He preached in Laodicea, and in Antaradus and Arwâd (Ruwâd). He was stoned in Arwâd, and died and was buried there.
SIMON ZELÔTES, from Galilee, was of the tribe of Ephraim. He preached in Shêmêshât (Samosata), Pârîn (Perrhê), Zeugma, Hâlâb (Aleppo), Mabbôg (Manbig), and Kenneshrîn (Kinnesrîn). He built a church in Kyrrhos, and died and was buried there.
JAMES, the son of Alphaeus (Halphai), was from the Jordan, and of the tribe of Manasseh. He preached in Tadmor (Palmyra), Kirkêsion (Kîrkîsîyâ), and Callinicos (ar-Rakkah), and came to Bâtnân of Serûg (Sarug), where he built a church, and died and was buried there.
JUDAS ISCARIOT, the Betrayer, from Sekharyût, was of the tribe of Gad or Dan.
MATTHIAS, of the tribe of Reuben, came in his stead. He preached in Hellas and in Sicily, where he built a church, and died, and was buried in it.
JAMES, the brother of our Lord, was cast down from a pinnacle of the Temple whilst preaching in Jerusalem; then a fuller of cloth smashed in his skull with a club, and afterwards they stoned him.
JOHN THE BAPTIST was of the tribe of Levi. Herod the tetrarch slew him, and his body was buried in Sebastia.
ANANIAS (HANANYÂ), John’s disciple, taught in Damascus and Arbîl. Pôl, the general of Aretas (Aristus) slew him, and he was buried in his church at Arbil.
PAUL, of Tarsus, was a Pharisee and of the tribe of Ephraim (or, Benjamin?). He went to Peter at Rome, and Nero ordered them to be slain. On their way to the place of slaughter they gave the laying on of hands of the priesthood to their disciples, Peter to Mark, and Paul to Luke. Peter was crucified and Paul was beheaded, and Mark and Luke brought their bodies into the city. But Paul’s head could not be found. At length a shepherd found it, and he laid it by his sheep-fold. At night a fire blazed over it, and the shepherd went and told bishop Xystus and the clergy, and when they saw the head they recognized it as Paul’s head. They laid the head at the feet of Paul’s body, and, having prayed the whole night, the head was found to have joined itself to the body. From his call to the end of his life was 35 years; he travelled for 31 years, and he was in prison at Caesarea for two years, and for two years in Rome. He was martyred in the thirty-sixth year after the Passion of our Lord, and was buried in the royal catacombs in Rome.
LUKE, the physician and Evangelist, was a disciple of Lazarus, and was baptized by Philip in the city of Beroea. He was beheaded by Hôros, the governor of Alexandria under Tiberius, whilst preaching there; he was buried in that city.
MARK the Evangelist preached in Rome, and died and was buried there. He was either the son of Simon Peter’s wife or the son of Simon; and Rhoda was his sister. He was first called John, but the Apostles changed his name to Mark.
ADDAI, from Paneas, preached in Edessa and Mesopotamia in the days of Abhgar the king; he built a church in Edessa. Herod, son of Abhgar, slew him in the fortress of Aggêl, or Engîl, north of Amid. He was buried either in Edessa or Rome.
AGGAI, the disciple of Addai, was a silk weaver; because he refused to give up his preaching, Herod, son of Abhgar, broke his legs with a club and he killed him.
THADDAEUS was slain by Herod, son of Abhgar, and was buried in Edessa.
ZACCHAEUS (Zaccai), the publican, was slain whilst preaching in Mount Hôrôn.
SIMON, the leper, taught in Ramah, and the Jews slew him there.
JOSEPH, the Senator, taught in Galilee and Decapolis, and was buried in Ramah.
NICODEMUS, the Pharisee, the friend of our Lord, died in Jerusalem, and was buried there. Some say that he was buried by his brother Gamaliel in Kephar Gamlâ.
NATHANIEL was stoned whilst preaching in Mount Hôrôn (or, Mount Hebron), and died.
SIMON, the Cyrenian, was slain in the island of Chios.
SIMON, son of Cleopas, was bishop of Jerusalem. At the age of one hundred years he was crucified by Irenaeus (or, Hereôs?), the chiliarch.
STEPHEN was stoned to death in Jerusalem, and was buried in Kephar Gamlâ.
MARK (sumamed John) taught at Nyssa and Nazianzus; he built a church at the latter place, and died and was buried there.
GEPHAS (Gal. ii. 9; I Cor. i. 12) taught in Baalbec, Hims (Emesa), and Nathrôn (Batharûn); he died and was buried in Shîrâz (Shaizar?).
BARNABAS, a native of Cyprus or a member of a family of Cyprians settled in Antioch, undertook two preaching missions in that Island, and then went and preached in Northern Italy and Kûrâ for some time. Later he returned to Cyprus, where, according to one tradition, he suffered martyrdom. The various accounts of his life and preaching are described by Lipsius in his Apostelgeschichte (Bd. ii. Heft 2, pp. 276-320).
TITUS taught in Crete, and died and was buried there.
SOSTHENES taught in Pontus and Asia, and was cast into the sea by Nonnus, the prefect.
CRISCUS (CRESCENS) taught in Dalmatia; he died of hunger in Alexandria.
JUSTUS taught in Tiberias and Caesarea, where he died and was buried.
ANDRONICUS taught in Illyricum, where he died and was buried.
RUFUS was slain whilst teaching in Zeugma.
PATROBAS taught in Chalcedon, and died there.
HERMAS, the shepherd, taught in Antioch and died there.
NARCISSUS taught in Hellas, and died there.
ASYNCRITUS went to Bêth-Hûzâyê (Ahwâz, Khûzistân), and died there.
ARISTOBULUS taught in Isauria, and died there.
ONESIMUS, the slave of Philemon, fled to Paul in Rome, where his legs were broken, and he died.
APOLLOS was burned to death by Sparacleus (?), governor of Gangra.
OLYMPAS, STACHYS and STEPHEN died in prison in Tarsus.
JUNIAS was slain in Samos.
THEOCRITUS died in Ilios.
MARTALUS (I) was slain by the Barbarians.
NIGER taught in Antioch, and died there.
LUCIUS was dragged behind a horse and died.
ALEXANDER was thrown into a pit in Heracleôpolis (Hierapolis?) and died.
MILUS was drowned at Rhodes.
SILVANUS and HERÔDIÔN (Rhôdiôn) were slain at Accô.
SILAS taught at Sarapolis (Hierapolis?), and died there.
TIMOTHY taught in Ephesus, and died there.
MANAEL was burned to death in Accô.
The EUNUCH of Candace was strangled on the island of Parparchia.
JASON and SOSIPATRUS were thrown to the beasts in Olmius.
DEMAS taught in Thessalonica, and died there.
OMIUS (HYMENAEUS) taught in Melitene, and died there.
THRASEUS was thrown into a fiery furnace at Laodicea.
BISTORIUS (ARISTARCHUS) taught in the island of Kâ, and died there.
ABRIOS and MÔTOS died in Ethiopia.
LEVI was slain in Paneas by Charmus.
NICETIANUS (NICETAS) was sawn in twain in Tiberias.
JOHN and THEODORUS were thrown to the beasts at Baalbec.
EUCHESTION (?) and SIMON were slain by Methalius in Byzantium.
EPHRAIM (APHREM) taught in Baishân, and died there.
JUSTUS was slain at Corinth.
JAMES taught in Nicomedia, and died there.
[The Names Of The Apostles]

The TWELVE (Matt. x. Mark iii. Luke vi. Acts i.).
1. Simon Peter.
2. Andrew, his brother.
3. James, the son of Zebedee.
4. John, his brother.
5. Philip.
6. Bartholomew.
7. Thomas.
8. Matthew.
9. James, the son of Alphaeus.
10. Labbaeus (Thaddaeus).
11. Simon the Canaanite.
12. Judas Iscariot (in whose stead came Matthias).
The SEVENTY.
1. James, the son of Joseph.
2. Simon, the son of Cleopas.
3. Cleopas, his father.
4-8. Joses; Simon; Judah; Barnabas; Manaeus (?).
9. Ananias, who baptized Paul.
10. Cephas, who preached at Antioch.
11. Joseph, the senator.
12. Nicodemus, the Archon.
13. Nathaniel, the chief scribe.
14. Justus (i.e. Joseph, called Barshabbâ).
15-17. Silas; Judah; John (Mark).
18. Mnason, who received Paul.
19. Manael, foster-brother of Herod.
20. Simon, called Niger.
21. Jason (see Acts xvii. 5-9).
22. Rufus (see Rom. xvi. 13).
23. Alexander.
24. Simon, the Cyrenian, their father.
25. Lucius, the Cyrenian.
26. Judah (mentioned in the Acts).
27. Judah, who is called Simon.
28. Eurion (Orion), the splay-footed.
29-32. Thorus; Thorisus; Zabdon; Zakron.
The following were chosen with Stephen:–
33. Philip, whose three (sic) daughters prophesied (see Acts xxi. 9).
34-36. Stephen; Prochorus; Nicanor.
37-39. Timon; Parmenas; Nicolaus (Acts vi. 5).
40. Andronicus, the Greek (Rom. xvi. 7).
41, 42. Titus; Timothy.
The following were with Peter in Rome:–
43, 44. Hermas; Plightâ.
45-47. Patrobas; Asyncritus; Hermas.
The following came with Peter to Cornelius:–
48, 49. Criscus (II Tim. iv. 10); Milichus.
50, 51. Kîrîtôn (Crito); Simon.
52. Gaius, who received Paul.
53, 54. Abrazon (?); Apollos.
The following were rejected from among the Seventy, for they were followers of Cerinthus, and denied our Lord’s divinity:–
55-57. Simon; Levi; Bar-Kubbâ.
58-60. Cleon; Hymenaeus; Candarus.
61-63. Clithon (?); Demas; Narcissus.
64-66. Slîkîspus; Thaddaeus; Mârûthâ.
In their stead there came in:
Luke, the Physician.
Apollos, the elect.
Ampelius; Urbanus; Stachys.
Popillius (Publius); Aristobulus.
Stephen; Herodion, the son of Narcissus.
Olympas; Mark, the Evangelist.
Addai; Aggai; Mâr Mârî.

[Chronology

From Adam to the Flood was 2262 years.
From the Flood to Abraham was 1015 "
From Abraham to the Exodus from Egypt was 430 "
From the Exodus to Solomon and the building of the Temple was 400 "
From Solomon to the First Captivity, which Nebuchadnezzar led away captive 495 "
From the First Captivity to the prophesying of Daniel was 180 "
From the prophesying of Daniel to the Birth of our Lord was 483 "
[5265] “
All these make 5345 years (sic).
From Alexander to our Lord was 303 years.
From our Lord to Constantine was 341 “
In the year 438 of Alexander, the Macedonian, the kingdom of the Persians had its beginning.
[For 438 read 538, as the Sasanian dynasty was founded by Ardashîr I in A.D. 226.]
Know, O my brother readers, that from the beginning of the creation of Adam to Alexander was 5180 years.]
[Of Gog And Magog
When Alexander was king, and had subdued countries and cities, and had arrived in the East, he saw in the confines of the East those men who are of the children of Japhet. They were more wicked and unclean than all [other] dwellers in the world; filthy people of hideous appearance, who ate mice and the creeping things of the earth, and snakes and scorpions. They never buried the bodies of their dead [but ate them]. People ignorant of God, and unacquainted with the power of reason, but who lived in this world without understanding like ravening beasts. When Alexander saw their wickedness, he called God to his aid, and he gathered together and brought them and their wives and children, and made them go in, and shut them up within the confines of the North. This is the gate of the world on the north, and there is no other entrance or exit from the confines of the world from the east to the north. And Alexander prayed to God with tears, and God heard his prayer and commanded those two lofty mountains which are called “the children of the north,” and they drew nigh to one another until there remained between them about twelve cubits. Then he built in front of them a strong building, and he made for it a door of brass, and anointed it within and without with oil of Thesnaktîs (i.e. an oil which cannot be burnt off with fire or scraped off with an iron tool), so that if they should bring iron implements near it to force it to open, they would be unable to move it; and if they wished to melt it with fire, it would quench it; and it feared neither the operations of devils nor of sorcerers, and was not to be overcome [by them]. Now there were twenty-two kingdoms imprisoned within the northern gate, and their names are these:–
Gôg, Mâgôg.
Nâwâl, Eshkenâz (Eshkîn).
Denâphâr (Dîfâr).
Paktâyê (the people of Paktuê in the Thracian Chersonesus).
Welôtâyê (Lûdâyê).
Humnâyê (the Huns), Parzâyê. Daklâyê, Thaubelâyê (Tuklâyê).
Darmetâyê, Kawkebâyê.
Dog-men (Cynocephali).
Emderâthâ, Garmîdô.
Cannibals, Therkâyê (Thracians).
Âlânâyê (the Allani), Pisilôn.
Denkâyê (Dunkâyê).
Saltrâyê (Saltâyê).
At the end of the world and at the final consummation, when men are eating and drinking and marrying wives; and women are given to husbands; when they are planting vineyards and building buildings, and there is neither wicked man nor adversary, on account of the assured tranquillity and certain peace; suddenly the gates of the north shall be opened, and the hosts of the nations that are imprisoned there shall go forth. The whole earth shall tremble before them, and men shall flee and take refuge in the mountains and in caves and in burial places, and in clefts of the earth; and they shall die of hunger, and there will be none to bury them, by reason of the multitude of afflictions which they will make men suffer. They will eat dead dogs and cats; they will give mothers the bodies of their children to cook, and they will eat them before them without shame. They will destroy the earth, and there will be none able to stand before them. After one week of that sore affliction, they will all be destroyed in the plain of Joppa, for thither will all those [people] be gathered together, with their wives and their sons and their daughters.
[Of The Coming Of Anti-Christ
In a week and half a week after the destruction of these wretches shall the son of destruction appear. He shall be conceived in Chorazin, born in Bethsaida, and reared in Capernaum. Chorazin shall exult because he was conceived in her, Bethsaida because he was born in her, and Capernaum because he was brought up in her; for this reason our Lord proclaimed Woe to these three [cities] in the Gospel (Matt. xi. 21). As soon as the son of perdition is revealed the king of the Greeks will go up and stand upon Golgotha, where our Lord was crucified; and he will set the royal crown upon the top of the holy Cross, upon which our Lord was crucified; and he will stretch out his two hands to heaven, and will deliver over the kingdom to God the Father. The holy Cross shall be taken up to heaven, and the royal crown with it; and the king will die immediately. The king who shall deliver over the kingdom to God will be descended from the seed of Kûshath, the daughter of Pîl, the king of the Ethiopians; for Armelaus (Romulus), the king of the Greeks, took Kûshath to wife, and the seed of the Ethiopians was mingled with that of the Greeks. From this seed shall a king arise who shall deliver the kingdom over to God, as the blessed David hath said, “Cush will deliver the power to God” (Ps. lxviii. 31).
When the Cross is raised up to heaven straightway shall every head and every ruler and all powers be brought to nought, and God will withdraw His providential care from the earth. The heavens will be prevented from letting fall rain, and the earth from producing germs and plants; and the earth shall remain like iron through drought, and the heavens like brass. Then will the son of perdition appear, of the seed and of the tribe of Dan; and he will show deluding phantasms, and lead astray the world, for the simple will see the lepers cleansed, the blind with their eyes opened, the paralytic walking, the devils cast out, the sun when he looks upon it becoming black, the moon when he commands it becoming changed, the trees putting forth fruit from their branches, and the earth making roots to grow. He will show deluding phantasms [of this kind], but he will not be able to raise the dead. He will go into Jerusalem and will sit upon a throne in the Temple, saying, “I am the Christ,” and he will be borne aloft by legions of devils like a king and a lawgiver, naming himself God, and saying, “I am the fulfilment of the types and the parables.” He will put an end to prayers and offerings, as if at his appearance prayers are to be abolished and men will not need sacrifices and offerings along with him. He becomes a man incarnate by a married woman of the tribe of Dan. When this son of destruction becomes a man, he will be made a dwelling place for devils, and all Satanic workings will be perfected in him. There will be gathered together with him all the devils and all the hosts of the Indians; and before all the Indians and before all men will the mad Jewish nation believe in him, saying, “This is the Christ, the expectation of the world.” The time of the error of the Anti-christ will last two years and a half, but others say three years and six months. And when everyone is standing in despair, then will Elijah (Elias) come from Paradise, and convict the deceiver, and turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to the fathers; and he will encourage and strengthen the hearts of the believers.
[The Hebrew Bible Translated Into Greek
Ptolemy Philadelphus reigned 38 years. In the third (or, sixth) year of his reign the fifth millennium from the creation of the world ended. This king asked the Jews who were captives in Egypt, and seventy (or, seventy-two) old men translated the Scriptures for him, from Hebrew into Greek, in the Island of Pharos. In return for this he set them free, and gave back to them also the vessels of their temple. Their names were:--
Of the tribe of Reuben.
Josephus
Hezekiah
Zechariah
John
Ezekiel
Elisha
Of the tribe of Simeon.
Judah
Simon
Samuel
Addai
Mattathias
Shalmi
Of the tribe of Levi.
Nehemiah
Joseph
Theodosius
Bâsâ
Adonijah
Dâkî
Of the tribe of Judah.
Jothan
Abdî
Elisha
Ananias
Zechariah
Hilkiah
Of the tribe of Issachar
Isaac
Jacob
Jesus
Sambât (Sabbateus)
Simon
Levi .
Of the tribe of Zebulon.
Judah
Joseph
Simon
Zechariah
Samuel
Shamlî
Of the tribe of Gad.
Sambât
Zedekiah
Jacob
Isaac
Jesse
Matthias
Of the tribe of Asher.
Theodosius
Jason
Joshua
John
Theodotus
Jothan
Of the tribe of Dan.
Abraham
Theophilus
Arsam
Jason
Jeremiah
Daniel
Of the tribe of Naphtali.
Jeremiah
Eliezer
Zechariah
Benaiah
Elisha
Dathî
Of the tribe of Joseph.
Samuel
Josephus
Judah
Jonathan
Dositheus
Caleb
Of the tribe of Benjamin.
Isalus
John
Theodosius
Arsam
Abijah
Ezekiel

Torah of Yeshuah

יום חמישי, 1 באוקטובר 2015

ADDITIONS TO NEW TESTAMENT - PART 3

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