XLIV. (1) There was a Levite in the land of Egypt whose name was Amram, the son of Qehath, the son of Levi, the son of Jacob. This man betrothed Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, the sister of his father, and she conceived and bare a daughter, and called her name Miriam (the bitter), because in those days people began to embitter the lives of the Israelites. She conceived again and bare a son, whose name she called Aaron (pregnancy), because during the time of her pregnancy Pharaoh began to shed the blood of their males upon the ground, and to cast them into the river of Egypt. When, however, the word of the king and his decree became known respecting the casting of their males into the river, many of God's people separated from their wives, as did Amram from his wife.
(2) After the lapse of three years the Spirit of God came
upon Miriam, so that she went forth and prophesied in the house, saying, ' Behold, a son shall be born to my mother and father, and he shall rescue the Israelites from the hands of the Egyptians.' When Amram heard his young daughter's prophecy he took back his wife, from whom he had separated in consequence of Pharaoh's decree to destroy all the male line of the house of Jacob. After three years of separation he went to her and she conceived. And it came to pass at the end of six months from the time of her conception that she bare a son. The whole house was at that moment filled with a great light, as the light of the sun and the moon in their splendour. The woman saw that the child was good and beautiful to behold, so she hid him in an inner room for three months.
(3) At that time the Egyptian women took secret counsel together to destroy the Hebrew women; they, therefore, went to the land of Goshen, where the Israelites were carrying their little children who could not speak upon their shoulders. The Hebrew women then hid their children from the Egyptians, so that their existence might not become known to them, in order to preserve them from destruction and annihilation. The Egyptian women came thus to Goshen with their children who could not speak, and when one of them came into the house of the Hebrew she made her own child chatter in the child's language, and the hidden child, hearing it, replied in the same manner. The Egyptian women thereupon went to Pharaoh's house to tell him of it, and Pharaoh sent his officers to slay those children.
(4) After that child (Moses) had been hidden now for three months and it thus became known to Pharaoh, the mother took the child and placed it in a little ark of bulrushes, which she daubed with slime and with pitch. She then hurriedly placed the child among the flags by the river's brink, while his sister stood at a distance to wit what would be done to him.
(5j God then sent drought and great heat in the land of Egypt, so that it burnt one's very flesh upon him just
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as when the sun is m its strength. The Egyptians were therefore sorely troubled. Pharaoh's daughter went down by the river-side to bathe, as did all the Egyptian women, on account of the heat and the drought. Her handmaids and all Pharaoh's concubines went with her. While thus occupied, she beheld the ark floating on the water, and sent her handmaid to fetch it. On opening the box, she discovered the child. It began to cry, and she had pity upon it, and said, ' This is one of the Hebrew children.' (6) At this the Egyptian women by the river came up for the purpose of suckling it, but it refused to take them. God wished to return it to the breast of its mother. The child's sister Miriam then said to Pharaoh's daughter, ' Shall I go and call a Hebrew nurse to suckle the child?' 'Yes,' said she. And she forthwith called the child's own mother. Then said Pharaoh's daughter, ' Take this child and suckle it for me, and I will give thee as a reward a monthly wage of two pieces of silver;' so the woman took the child and nursed it. (7) After two years she brought it to Pharaoh's daughter, who adopted it, and she called its name Moses, ' for from the waters I drew him.' But his father called him ' Heber,' because for his sake he joined his wife again from whom he had separated himself; while his mother called him 'Yequtiel,' because *I placed my hope in God the Almighty,' and He returned him to her. His sister called him ' Yered,' because she went down to the river after him to know what his end would be; while his brother called him 'Abi Zanoah,' saying, 'My father separated from my mother, but returned to her on account of this child.' Kehath, his grandfather, named him 'Abigedor,' because for his sake God closed up the breach of the house of Jacob, so that they no more cast the children into the water. His nurse called him ' Abi Sokho,' saying that he was hidden in a tent (or box) for three months out of fear of the descendants of Ham; and all Israel called him ' Ben Nethanel,' because in his days God heard their groaning.
(8) In the third year of Moses' birth, when Pharaoh was sitting at his meal, with his mistress on his right hand, his
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daughter on his left, and the child in her lap, and all the princes of the kingdom sitting round the table, it happened that the child stretched out his hand, and, taking the crown from the king's head, placed it upon his own. The king and the princes, on seeing this, were confused and exceedingly astonished. (9) Then Balaam, the enchanter, one of the king's eunuchs, said,'/ Eememberest thou, my lord the king, the dream which thou didst dream and the interpretation thy servant gave it? Now, is this not one of the children of the Hebrews in whom the spirit of God is? By his wisdom he has done this and has chosen for himself the kingdom of Egypt. Thus did Abraham, who weakened the power of Nimrod, the King of the Chaldeans, and Abimelech, King of Gerar, and inherited the land of the children of Heth and all the kingdoms of Canaan. He also went down to Egypt, and said of his wife, " She is my sister," for the purpose of placing a stumbling-block in the way of the Egyptians and their king. Isaac did the same in Philistia when he sojourned in Gerar. He grew stronger than all the Philistines. Their king he also wished to lead astray when he said of his wife, " She is my sister." Jacob also went stealthily and took away his only brother's birthright and his blessing withal. He then went to Padan Aram, to the house of Laban, his maternal uncle, and by his cunning obtained his daughters, his cattle, and all that he had. He then fled to the land of Canaan. (10) His sons again sold Joseph into Egypt, where he was put in prison for two years, until the Pharaoh before thee dreamt dreams. He was then taken from prison and appointed over the princes of Egypt, on account of the interpretation of these dreams. When God brought a famine upon the land he brought his father and his brothers to Egypt. He maintained them without paying for it, and us he bought for slaves. If, now, it seems good to the king, let us shed the blood of this child, lest, when he grows up, he take the kingdom from thy hands, and Egypt perish.'
(11) God at that moment sent one of his angels, named
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Gabriel, who assumed the form of one of them. ' If it pleaseth the king,' said the angel, ' let onyx stones and live-coals be brought and placed before the child, and it shall come to pass, if he stretches forth his hand to the coals, then know that he has not done this by his wisdom, and let him live.' This thing being good in the eyes of the king and the princes, they acted according to the word of the angel, and they brought him the onyx and the coals. The angel then placed the child's hand near the coal so that his fingers touched it. He lifted it to his mouth and burnt his lips and his tongue, so that he became heavy of speech. The king and the princes then desisted from killing the child. (12) He lived for fifteen years afterwards in the king's palace, clothed in garments of purple, for he was reared together with the king's sons. When he was in his eighteenth year the lad longed for his parents, and consequently went to them. He went out to his brethren in the field and looked upon their burdens. He there saw an Egyptian smite one of his Hebrew brethren. When the man that was beaten saw Moses he ran to him for help, for Moses was a greatly-honoured man in Pharaoh's house. He said to him, '0 my Lord, this Egyptian came into my house in the night and, binding me with cords, went to my wife in my very presence, and he now seeks my life.' When Moses heard this evil deed he was exceedingly angry, and, turning this way and that to see that nobody was looking, he smote the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. He thus saved the Hebrew from the hand of the Egyptian. (13) Moses then returned to the palace, and the Hebrew to his house. When the man returned to his house he told his wife that he wished to divorce her, because it was not right for one of the house of Jacob to lie with his wife after she had been defiled. So the woman went out and told her brothers, who thereupon sought to kill him, but he fled into his house, and thus escaped.
(14) On the next day Moses went out to his brethren, and, seeing that some were quarrelling, he said to the wicked
one, ' Why dost thou beat thy neighbour?' But one of them retorted, * Who made thee to be a prmce and judge over us? Wilt thou slay us as thou didst slay the Egyptian?' Moses by this perceived that the thing was already known. (15) Pharaoh immediately got to hear of it, and ordered Mo'ses to be slain. But God sent Michael, the captain of His heavenly host, in the likeness of the chief butcher (slayer). He then took his sword and severed the head of the chief butcher, for his face was changed to the exact likeness of Moses. The angel then took hold of Moses' hand, and, bringing him forth from Egypt, placed him outside its border, a distance of forty days' journey. But Aaron yet remained in Egypt, who prophesied to the Israelites in the midst of the Egyptians, saying, ' Cast away from you the abominations of the Egyptians, and do not defile yourselves with their idols.' But the Israelites rebelled and would not listen. The Lord then said that He would have destroyed them, were it not that He remem- bered the covenant He had made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the hand of Pharaoh was constantly becoming heavier upon the Israelites, so that he persecuted and oppressed them until God sent forth His word and redeemed them.
XLY. (1) At that time a war broke out between Cush on the one side and the people of Qedem (East) and Syria on the other; for these rebelled against the King of Cush. Qinqanos, King of Cush, then went out to war against the other two nations, and smote Syria and the East. He took many captives and made them submit to Cush. (2) When Qinqanos went out to war against Syria and the people of the East he left behind Bala am the enchanter, i.e,, Laban the Aramean, who came from Caphtor, together with his two sons, Janis and Jambris, to guard the city and the poor people. But Bala'am counselled the people to rebel against Qinqanos, so that he should not be able to come into the city. The people, Hstening to him, swore to act accordingly. Him they made king over them, and his two sons they appointed as captains of the host of
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the people. On two sides of the city they raised very high walls, while on the third side they dug an innumer- able number of pits between the city and the river that surrounds the whole land of Gush, and from there the people drew into them the waters of the river. On the fourth side they collected by their wiles and witchcraft an immense number of serpents, so that no one could approach them.
(3) When the king and all the captains of the army returned from the war and saw the very high walls of the cit}^ they were greatly astonished, and said, ' Behold, wdiile we have been detained at w^ar, they have built walls to the city and strengthened themselves to prevent the Canaanitish kings from waging war against them.' But w4ien they came near the city and discovered that the gates were closed, they shouted to the keepers, ' Open the gates for us, that w^e may enter the city.' But they refused to open them, just as Bala'am the enchanter had ordered them, and would not allow them to enter the city. They therefore drew up their line of battle opposite the gate, and fought so that on that day there fell 130 men of Qinqanos's army. On the second day they fought on the side of the river. But when thirty cavalrymen tried to cross they sank into the pits and were drowned. The king then commanded them to hew some wood, which they were to use as rafts upon ^yhich to cross, and they did so. When, however, they came to the w^alls, the rafts rolled from under them like a mill, and on that day 200 men that had gone upon ten rafts were sunk in the wells. On the third day they w^ent on that side of the city where the serpents lay, but they dared not approach. After 170 men had been killed by these serpents they ceased fighting against Gush. They besieged it for nine years, so that no one went out or entered the city.
(4) During this siege Moses, having fled from Egypt, came to the camp of Qinqanos, the King of Gush. He was then but eighteen years old. This young man entered their ranks, and was much beloved by the king, the princes, and all the army, because he w^as mighty and beautiful.
His height was hke the cedar and his face hke the rising sun, and his strength Hke that of a Hon. He was therefore made the king's counseUor. It came to pass after nine years that the Cushite king was seized with an iHness by which he died, so that after seven days Qinqanos departed this Hfe. His servants embahned him, and buried him opposite the gate of the city looking towards Egypt. There they erected a beautiful building and a very high temple, and engraved upon the stones his arms and the record of his mighty deeds.
(5) When they had completed the building, they said to each other, ' What shall we now do? If we try to get into the city and fight there wall be many more of us slain than before. If we give up the siege, then all the Syrian kings and those of the East, having heard of the death of our king, will come upon us suddenly, and none of us will be left. Now, let us appoint a king over us, and we shall then continue the siege until the city falls into our hands.' They then hastily stripped themselves of their garments, and, casting them upon the ground, they made a large platform, upon which they placed Moses. They then blew the trumpets, and exclaimed, ' Long live the king!' And all the princes and all the people took the oath of obedience to him, and gave him a Cushite wife, the widow of Qinqanos. They then crowned him King of Gush. He was twenty- seven years old when he was made king.
(6) On the second day of his reign they all assembled before the king, and said, ' If it is pleasing to the king, give us advice what to do. For these last nine years we have not seen our wives nor our sons, but have remained in the siege.' The king then answered the people, saying, ' Be certain that the city will be delivered into our hands if you hearken to my advice. Now, if we fight with them, many of us will fall as at first, and if we determine to cross the water we shall fare similarly. Now, go to the forest, and let each one bring a young stork, which he shall keep until it has grown up and be taught to hunt just as the hawk.' The people immediately hastened to the forest, and, climb-
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ing the fir-trees, they each brought the young (of the stork) in then- hands according to the king's word.
(7) When the young storks had grown up, the king com- manded them to starve them for two days, and on the third day he said to them, ' Let each man put on his armour and harness the horses and mules to the chariots; and when each man has taken his stork in his hand, let us rise and war against the city on the side where the serpents are lying.' This they did. When they approached the place, the king said, ' Let each send forth his young stork.' As soon as they did so the storks flew upon the serpents and devoured them, thus ridding the place of them.
(8) When the king and the people saw that the serpents had disappeared they raised a great shout, fought against the city, and captured it, so that each man went to his own house, to his own wife, and to his goods. On that day 1,100 inhabitants were killed, but of the besiegers not one. When Bala am the enchanter saw that the city was taken, opening the gate, he and his two sons fled away upon their horses to Egypt, to Pharaoh, King of Egypt. These were the magicians and the wizards, as it is written in the ' Sefer Hayashar ' (Book of the Just = Bible), that coun- selled Pharaoh to wipe out the name of Jacob from off the face of the earth.