And God enjoined him to strike the rattles three times every day, to wit, for the first time at early dawn, for the second time at mid-day, and for the third time at sunset.
And it happened that, as soon as Noah had struck the rattles, the sons of Cain and the sons of Vahim ran up straightway to him, and he warned and alarmed them by telling of the immediate approach of the flood, and of the destruction already hasting on and impending.
Thus, moreover, was the pity of God toward them displayed, that they might be converted and come to themselves again. But the sons of Cain did not comply with what Noah proclaimed to them. And Noah brought together pairs, male and female, of all birds of every kind; and thus also of all beasts, tame and wild alike, pair and pair.
[1366] What follows was thus expressed probably in Syriac in some Syriac version.
[1367] Cavernam thesaurorum. [Cant. iv. 6, i.e., Paradise.]
[1368] Cavernam thesaurorum. [Cant. iv. 6, i.e., Paradise.]
[1369] Crepitacula.
Section IV.
On Gen. vii. 6
Hippolytus, the Syrian expositor of the Targum, has said: We find in an ancient Hebrew copy that God commanded Noah to range the wild beasts in order in the lower floor or storey, and to separate the males from the females by putting wooden stakes between them.
And thus, too, he did with all the cattle, and also with the birds in the middle storey. And God ordered the males thus to be separated from the females for the sake of decency and purity, lest they should perchance get intermingled with each other.
Moreover, God said to Moses: Provide victuals for yourself and your children. And let them be of wheat, ground, pounded, kneaded with water, and dried. And Noah there and then bade his wife, and his sons' wives, diligently attend to kneading dough and laying it in the oven. They kneaded dough accordingly, and prepared just about as much as might be sufficient for them, so that nothing should remain over but the very least.
And God charged Noah, saying to him: Whosoever shall first announce to you the approach of the deluge, him you shall destroy that very moment. In the meantime, moreover, the wife of Cham was standing by, about to put a large piece of bread into the oven. And suddenly, according to the word of the Lord, water rushed forth from the oven, and the flow of water penetrated and destroyed the bread. Therefore the wife of Cham exclaimed, addressing herself to Noah: Oh, sir, the word of God is come good: "that which God foretold is come to pass;" execute, therefore, that which the Lord commanded. And when Noah heard the words of the wife of Chain, he said to her: Is then the flood already come? The wife of Cham said to him: Thou hast said it. God, however, suddenly charged Noah, saying: Destroy not the wife of Cham; for from thy mouth is the beginning of destruction--"thou didst first say, The flood is come." At the voice of Noah the flood came, and suddenly the water destroyed that bread. And the floodgates of heaven were opened, and the rains broke upon the earth. And that same voice, in sooth, which had said of old, "Let the waters be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear," [1370] gave permission to the fountain of waters and the floods of the seas to break forth of their own accord, and brought out the waters.
Consider what God said about the world: Let all its high places be brought low, and they were brought low; and let its low places be raised from its depths.
And the earth was made bare and empty of all existence, as it was at the beginning.
And the rain descended from above, and the earth burst open beneath. And the frame of the earth was destroyed, and its primitive order was broken. And the world became such as it was when desolated at the beginning by the waters which flowed over it. Nor was any one of the existences upon it left in its integrity.
Its former structure went to wreck, and the earth was disfigured by the flood of waters that burst upon it, and by the magnitude of its inundations, and the multitude of showers, and the eruption from its depths, as the waters continually broke forth. In fine, it was left such as it was formerly [1371] .
[1370] Gen. i. 9.
[1371] Gen. i. 9.
Section V.
On Gen. viii. I
Hippolytus, the expositor of the Targum, and my master, Jacobus Rohaviensis, have said: On the twenty-seventh day of the month Jiar, which is the second Hebrew month, the ark rose from the base of the holy mount; and already the waters bore it, and it was carried upon them round about towards the four cardinal points of the world. The ark accordingly held off from the holy mount towards the east, then returned towards the west, then turned to the south, and finally, bearing off eastwards, neared Mount Kardu on the first day of the tenth month. And that is the second month Kanun.
And Noah came out of the ark on the twenty-seventh day of the month Jiar, in the second year: for the ark continued sailing five whole months, and moved to and fro upon the waters, and in a period of fifty-one days neared the land. Nor thereafter did it float about any longer. But it only moved successively toward the four cardinal points of the earth, and again finally stood toward the east. We say, moreover, that that was a sign of the cross. And the ark was a symbol of the Christ who was expected. For that ark was the means of the salvation of Noah and his sons, and also of the cattle, the wild beasts, and the birds. And Christ, too, when He suffered on the cross, delivered us from accusations and sins, and washed us in His own blood most pure.
And just as the ark returned to the east, and neared Mount Kardu, so also Christ, when the work was accomplished and finished which He had proposed to Himself, returned to heaven to the bosom of His Father, and sat down upon the throne of His glory at the Father's right hand.
As to Mount Kardu, it is in the east, in the land of the sons of Raban, and the Orientals call it Mount Godash; [1372] the Arabians and Persians call it Ararat. [1373]
And there is a town of the name Kardu, and that hill is called after it, which is indeed very lofty and inaccessible, whose summit no one has ever been able to reach, on account of the violence of the winds and the storms which always prevail there. And if any one attempts to ascend it, there are demons that rush upon him, and cast him down headlong from the ridge of the mountain into the plain, so that he dies. No one, moreover, knows what there is on the top of the mountain, except that certain relics of the wood of the ark still lie there on the surface of the top of the mountain. [1374]
[1372] Gordyæum.
[1373] See Fuller, Misc. Sacr., i. 4; and Bochart, Phaleg., p. 22.
[1374] [See p. 149, note 10, supra.]
Section X.
On Deut. xxxiii. II
Hippolytus, the expositor of the Targum, has said that Moses, when he had finished this prophecy, also pronounced a blessing upon all the children of Israel, by their several tribes, and prayed for them. Then God charged Moses, saying to him, Go up to Mount Nebo, which indeed is known by the name of the mount of the Hebrews, which is in the land of Moab over against Jericho.
And He said to him: View the land of Chanaan, which I am to give to the children of Israel for an inheritance. Thou, however, shalt never enter it; wherefore view it well from afar off. When Moses therefore viewed it, he saw that land,--a land green, and abounding with all plenty and fertility, planted thickly with trees; and Moses was greatly moved, and wept.
And when Moses descended from Mount Nebo, he called for Joshua the son of Nun, and said to him before the children of Israel: Prevail, and be strong; for thou art to bring the children of Israel into the land which God promised to fathers that He would give their them for an inheritance. Fear not, therefore, the people, neither be afraid of the nations: for God will be with thee.
And Moses wrote that Senna [1375] (Hebr. mnsh ="secondary law," or "Deuteronomy"), and gave it to the priests the sons of Levi, and commanded them, saying: For seven years keep this Senna hid, and show it not within the entire course of seven years. ("And then") in the feast of tabernacles, the priests the sons of Levi will read this law before the children of Israel, that the whole people, men and women alike, may observe the words of God: Command them to keep the word of God, which is in that law. And whosoever shall violate one of its precepts, let him be accursed.
Accordingly, when Moses had finished the writing of the law, he gave it to Joshua the son of Nun, and enjoined him to give it to the sons of Levi, the priests. Moses also enjoined and charged them to place the book of the law again within the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that it might remain there for a testimony for ever.
And when Moses had made an end of his injunctions, God bade him go up Mount Nebo, which is over against Jericho. The Lord showed him the whole land of promise in its four quarters, from the wilderness to the sea, and from sea to sea. And the Lord said to him, Thou hast seen it indeed with thine eyes, but thou shalt never enter it. There accordingly Moses died, the servant of God, by the command of God. And the angels buried him on Mount Nebo, which is over against Beth-Phegor. And no one knows of his sepulchre, even to this day. For God concealed his grave.
And Moses lived 120 years; nor was his eye dim, nor was the skin of his face wrinkled.
Moses died on a certain day, at the third hour of the day, on the seventh day of the second month, which is the month Jiar.
And the children of Israel wept for him in the plains of Moab three days.
And Joshua the sun of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hand upon him. And all the children of Israel obeyed him. And God charged Joshua the son of Nun on a certain day,--namely, the seventh day of the month Nisan.
And Joshua the son of Nun lived 110 years, and died on the fourth day, which was the first day of the month Elul. And they buried him in the city Thamnatserach, on Mount Ephraim.
Praise be to God for the completion of the work.
[1375] That is the name the Mohammedans give to their Traditions.
On the Psalms. [1376]
I.
The Argument of the Exposition of the Psalms by Hippolytus, (Bishop) of Rome.
1. The book of Psalms contains new doctrine after the law which was given by Moses; and thus it is the second book of doctrine after the Scripture of Moses. After the death, then of Moses and Joshua, and after the judges, David arose, one deemed worthy to be called the father of the Saviour, and he was the first to give the Hebrews a new style of psalmody, by which he did away with the ordinances established by Moses with respect to sacrifice, and introduced a new mode of the worship of God by hymns and acclamations; and many other things also beyond the law of Moses he taught through his whole ministry. And this is the sacredness of the book, and its utility. And the account to be given of its inscription is this: (for) as most of the brethren who believe in Christ think that this book is David's, and inscribe it "Psalms of David," we must state what has reached us with respect to it. The Hebrews give the book the title "Sephra Thelim," [1377] and in the "Acts of the Apostles" it is called the "Book of Psalms" (the words are these, "as it is written in the Book of Psalms"), but the name (of the author) in the inscription of the book is not found there. And the reason of that is, that the words written there are not the words of one man, but those of several together; Esdra, as tradition says, having collected in one volume, after the captivity, the psalms of several, or rather their words, as they are not all psalms. Thus the name of David is prefixed in the case of some, and that of Solomon in others, and that of Asaph in others. There are some also that belong to Idithum (Jeduthun); and besides these there are others that belong to the sons of Core (Korah), and even to Moses. As they are therefore the words of so many thus collected together, they could not be said by any one who understands the matter to be by David alone.