THE BIBLICAL ANTIQUITIES OF PHILO
TRANSLATED FROM THE OLD LATIN VERSION
BY
M. R. JAMES, LITT.D., F.B.A.
CHAPTER X.
X. Now when the king of Egypt was dead another king arose, and afflicted all the people of Israel. But they cried unto the Lord and he heard them, and sent Moses and delivered them out of the land of Egypt: and God sent also upon them 10 plagues and smote them. Now these were the plagues, namely, blood, and frogs, and all manner of flies,1 hail, and death of cattle, locusts and gnats, and darkness that might be felt, and the death of the firstborn. Ex. 14:8
2. And when they had gone forth thence and were journeying, the heart of the Egyptians was yet again hardened, and they continued to pursue them, and found them by the Red Sea. And the children of Israel cried unto their God and spake to Moyses saying: Lo, now is come the time of our destruction, for the sea is before us and the multitude of enemies behind us, and we in the midst. Was it for this that God brought us out, or are these the covenants which he made with our fathers saying: To your seed will I give the land wherein ye dwell? and now let him do with us that which seemeth good in his sight.
3. Then did the children of Israel sever their counsels into three divisions of counsels,2 because of the fear of the time. For the tribe of Ruben and of Isachar and. of Zabulon and of Symeon said: Come, let us cast ourselves into the sea, for it is better for us to die in the water than to be slain of our enemies. And the tribe of Gad and of Aser and of Dan and Neptalim said: Nay, but let us return with them, and if they will give us our lives, we will serve them. But the tribe of Levi and of Juda and Joseph and the tribe of Benjamin said: Not so, but let us take our weapons and fight them, and God will be with us.
4. Moses also cried unto the Lord and said: O Lord God of our fathers, didst thou not say unto me: Go and tell the sons of Lia, God hath sent me unto You? And now, behold, thou hast brought thy people to the brink of the sea, and the enemy follow after them: but thou, Lord, remember thy name.
5. And God said: Whereas thou hast cried unto me, take thy rod and smite the sea, and it shall be dried up. And when Moses did all this, God rebuked the sea, and the sea was dried up: the seas of waters stood still and the depths of the earth appeared, and the foundations of the dwelling-place were laid bare at the noise of the fear of God and at the breath of the anger of my Lord.1
6. And Israel passed over on dry land in the midst of the sea. And the Egyptians saw and went on to pursue after them, and God hardened their mind, and they knew not that they were entering into the sea. And so it was that while the Egyptians were in the sea God commanded the sea yet again, and said to Moses: Smite the sea yet once again. And he did so. And the Lord commanded the sea and it returned unto his waves, and covered the Egyptians and their chariots and their horsemen unto this day.
7. But as for his own people, he led them forth into the wilderness: forty years did he rain bread from heaven for them, and he brought them quails from the sea, and a well of water following them2 brought he forth for them. And in a pillar of cloud he led them by day and in a pillar of fire by night did he give light unto them. Ps. 78:52
Footnotes
104:1 X. 1. All manner of flies, pammixia. See p. 23.
104:2 3. The idea of the divided counsels of the tribes comes from Deborah's song (Judges 5:15, 15:16): "for the divisions of Reuben there were great searchings of heart." It appears in Jashar, but there four divisions are given.
105:1 5. The breath of the anger of my Lord. This sudden adopting of the first person does not occur again. R omits mei here.
105:2 7. A well of water following them. Cf. 1 Cor. 10:4, and XI. 15 of our text, which agrees very closely with the wording of the Targum of Onkelos on Numbers. See Thackeray, St. Paul and Contemporary Jewish Thought, p. 206, etc., on the genesis of the legend. He shows that it arises from a current interpretation of Num. 20:61 seq. The Bible has: (16) And from thence (they journeyed) to Beer. . (18) And from the wilderness (they journeyed) to Mattanah, (19) And from Mattanah to Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel to Bamoth. The Targum of Onkelos has: (16) "And thence was given them the well (Beer = well) . . . (18) It was given to them from (in) the wilderness (Mattanah =gift). (19) And from (the time) that it was given them, it descended with them to the rivers, and from the rivers it went up with them to the height (Nahaliel = rivers of God, Bamoth = height)." This Targum represents first-century teaching: the later Targum of Palestine amplifies the theme to some extent. See also Driver in Expositor, 1889, I. 15.
