Week 128

• Torah (T): Devarim (Deuteronomy) 3:23-29
• Prophets (P): Jeremiah 32:16-23
• Apostolic (A): John 5:24-30
• Additional (ADD): Wisdom of Solomon 2:1-24

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Hebrews 12:14-17 (T)
• 1 Samuel 2:1-2 (T)
• Psalms 89:1-8 (T)
• 2 Samuel 7:20-24; 1 Chronicles 17:19-22 (T)
• Psalms 86:1-8 (T)
• Deuteronomy 1:34-37 (T)
• Deuteronomy 31:1-14 (T)
• Deuteronomy 34:1-12 (T)
• Jeremiah 32:1-44 (P)

RELATED ADDITIONAL REA.D.INGS

• Deuteronomy 3:23-29 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 4.8.47-49 (T)

Note: (T) means the verse relates to that week’s Torah portion. (P) means the verse relates to that week’s Prophets portion. (A) means the verse relates to that week’s Apostolic portion. (ADD) means the verse relates to that week’s Additional portion.

Torah Portion (T)

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 3:23-29

3:23 I earnestly begged the favor of YHWH at that time, saying, 24 “Lord YHWH, you have begun to show your servant your greatness, and your strong hand [and your outstretched arm].^(LXX) For what el (god) is there in the heavens or in land that can do works like yours, and mighty acts like yours? 25 Please let me go over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that fine mountain, and Lebanon.” 26 But YHWH was angry with me because of you, and didn’t listen to me. YHWH said to me, “That is enough! Speak no more to me of this word. 27 Go up [on]^(DSS) the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and see with your eyes; for you will not go over this Jordan. 28 But command Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him; for he will go over before this people, and he will cause them to inherit the land which you will see.” 29 So we stayed in the valley near Beth Peor.

Prophets Portion (P)

Jeremiah 32:16-23

32:16 Now after I had delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to YHWH, saying, 17 “Ah, [YHWH]!^(LXX) Behold, you have made the heavens and the land by your great power and by your outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for you. 18 You show loving kindness to thousands, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their sons after them. The great, the mighty Elohim, YHWH of Armies is your name: 19 great in counsel, and mighty in work; whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings; 20 who performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even to this day, both in Israel and among other men; and made yourself a name, as it is today; 21 and brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, with wonders, with a strong hand, with an outstretched arm, and with great terror; 22 and gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 They came in and possessed it, but they didn’t obey your voice and didn’t walk in your Torah. They have done nothing of all that you commanded them to do. Therefore you have caused all this evil to come upon them.

Apostolic Portion (A)

John 5:24-30

5:24 “Amen, amen, I tell you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life, and doesn’t come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. 25 Amen, amen, I tell you, the hour comes, and now is, when the dead will hear the Son of Elohim’s voice; and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself. 27 He also gave him authority to execute judgment, because he is a son of man. 28 Don’t marvel at this, for the hour comes in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and will come out; those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment (cf. Daniel 12:2). 30 I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and my judgment is righteous, because I don’t seek my own will, but the will of [the One]^(mss) who sent me.

Additional Portion (ADD)

Wisdom of Solomon 2:1-24

The Wisdom of Solomon or Book of Wisdom is a Jewish work, written in Greek, and most likely composed in Alexandria, Egypt. Generally dated to the mid first century B.C. It is uncertain whether the book has a single author or comes from a school of writers, but recent scholarship has favored regarding it as a unified work. Fragments of the Wisdom of Solomon were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls in the first discovered and excavated cave at Qumran in 1949.

2:1 For they said within themselves, with unsound reasoning, “Our life is short and sorrowful. There is no healing when a man comes to his end, and no one was ever known who was released from Hades. 2 Because we were born by mere chance, and hereafter we will be as though we had never been, because the breath in our nostrils is smoke, and reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our heart, 3 which being extinguished, the body will be turned into ashes, and the spirit will be dispersed as thin air. 4 Our name will be forgotten in time. No one will remember our works. Our life will pass away as the traces of a cloud, and will be scattered as is a mist, when it is chased by the rays of the sun, and overcome by its heat. 5 For our allotted time is the passing of a shadow, and our end doesn’t retreat, because it is securely sealed, and no one turns it back. 6 Come therefore and let’s enjoy the good things that exist. Let’s use the creation earnestly as in our youth. 7 Let’s fill ourselves with costly wine and perfumes, and let no Spring flower pass us by. 8 Let’s crown ourselves with rosebuds before they wither. 9 Let none of us go without his share in our proud revelry. Let’s leave tokens of mirth everywhere, because this is our portion, and this is our lot. 10 Let’s oppress the righteous poor. Let’s not spare the widow, nor reverence the gray hair of the bearded man. 11 But let our strength be a law of righteousness; for that which is weak is proven useless. 12 But let’s lie in wait for the righteous man, because he annoys us, is contrary to our works, reproaches us with sins against the law, and charges us with sins against our training. 13 He professes to have knowledge of Elohim, and calls himself a child of the Lord. 14 He became to us a reproof of our thoughts. 15 He is grievous to us even to look at, because his life is unlike other men’s, and his paths are strange. 16 We were regarded by him as worthless metal, and he abstains from our ways as from uncleanness. He calls the latter end of the righteous happy. He boasts that Elohim is his father. 17 Let’s see if his words are true. Let’s test what will happen at the end of his life. 18 For if the righteous man is Elohim’s son, he will uphold him, and he will deliver him out of the hand of his adversaries. 19 Let’s test him with outrage and torture, that we may find out how gentle he is, and test his patience. 20 Let’s condemn him to a shameful death, for he will be overseen according to his words.” 21 Thus they reasoned, and they were led astray; for their wickedness blinded them, 22 and they didn’t know the mysteries of Elohim, neither did they hope for wages of holiness, nor did they discern that there is a prize for blameless souls. 23 Because Elohim created man for incorruption, and made him an image of his own everlastingness; 24 but death entered into the world by the envy of the devil, and those who belong to him experience it.

Related Scriptures

Hebrews 12:14-17 (T)

12:14 Follow after peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no man will see the Lord, 15 looking carefully lest there be any man who falls short of the grace of Elohim, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and many be defiled by it, 16 lest there be any sexually immoral person or profane person, like Esau, who sold his birthright for one meal. 17 For you know that even when he afterward desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for a change of mind though he sought it diligently with tears.

1 Samuel 2:1-2 (T)

2:1 Hannah prayed, and said, “My heart exults in YHWH! My horn is exalted in YHWH. My mouth is enlarged over my enemies, because I rejoice in your salvation. 2 There is no one as holy as YHWH, for there is no one besides you, nor is there any rock like our Elohim.

Psalms 89:1-8 (T)

89:1 I will sing of the loving kindness of YHWH forever. With my mouth, I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. 2 I indeed declare, “Love stands firm forever. You established the heavens. Your faithfulness is in them.” 3 “I have cut a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David, my servant, 4 ‘I will establish your seed forever, and build up your throne to all generations.’ ” Selah. 5 The heavens will praise your wonders, YHWH, your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. 6 For who in the clouds can be compared to YHWH? Who among the sons of the heavenly beings is like YHWH, 7 a very awesome Elohim in the council of the holy ones, to be feared above all those who are around him? 8 YHWH, Elohim of Armies, who is a mighty one, like you? Yah, your faithfulness is around you.

2 Samuel 7:20-24; 1 Chronicles 17:19-22 (T)

2 Samuel 7:20 What more can David say to you? For you know your servant, Lord YHWH. 21 For your word’s sake, and according to your own heart, you have worked all this greatness, to make your servant know it. 22 Therefore you are great, YHWH Elohim. For there is no one like you, neither is there any Elohim besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 23 What one nation in the land is like your people, even like Israel, whom Elohim went to redeem to himself for a people, and to make himself a name, and to do great things for you, and awesome things for your land, before your people, whom you redeemed to yourself out of Egypt, from the nations and their elohim? 24 You established for yourself your people Israel to be your people forever; and you, YHWH, became their Elohim.

1 Chronicles 17:19 YHWH, for your servant’s sake, and according to your own heart, you have done all this greatness, to make known all these great things. 20 YHWH, there is no one like you, neither is there any Elohim besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. 21 What one nation in the land is like your people Israel, whom Elohim went to redeem to himself for a people, to make you a name by great and awesome things, in driving out nations from before your people whom you redeemed out of Egypt? 22 For you made your people Israel your own people forever; and you, YHWH, became their Elohim.

Psalms 86:1-8 (T)

86:1 Hear, YHWH, and answer me, for I am afflicted and needy. 2 Preserve my soul, for I am pious. You, my Elohim, save your servant who trusts in you. 3 Be merciful to me, Lord, for I call to you all day long. 4 Bring joy to the soul of your servant, for to you, Lord, do I lift up my soul. 5 For you, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, abundant in loving kindness to all those who call on you. 6 Hear, YHWH, my prayer. Listen to the voice of my petitions. 7 In the day of my trouble I will call on you, for you will answer me. 8 There is no one like you among the elohim, Lord, nor any deeds like your deeds.

Deuteronomy 1:34-37 (T)

1:34 YHWH heard the voice of your words and was angry, and swore, saying, 35 “Surely not one of these men of this evil generation will see the good land which I swore to give to your fathers, 36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He will see it. I will give the land that he has trodden on to him and to his sons, because he has wholly followed YHWH.” 37 Also YHWH was angry with me for your sakes, saying, “You also will not go [to]^(DSS) there.

Deuteronomy 31:1-14 (T)

31:1 Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. 2 He said to them, “I am one hundred twenty years old today. I can no more go out and come in. YHWH has said to me, ‘You will not go over this Jordan.’ 3 YHWH your Elohim himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations from before you, and you will dispossess them. Joshua will go over before you, as YHWH has spoken. 4 YHWH will do to them as he did to Sihon and to Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. 5 YHWH will deliver them up before you, and you will do to them according to all the commandment which I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or scared of them, for YHWH your Elohim himself is who goes with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you.” 7 Moses called to Joshua, and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land which YHWH has sworn to their fathers to give them; and you will cause them to inherit it. 8 YHWH himself is who goes before you. He will be with you. He will not fail you nor forsake you. Don’t be afraid. Don’t be discouraged.” 9 Moses wrote this Torah and delivered it to the priests the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of YHWH, and to all the elders of Israel. 10 Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, in the set time of the year of release, in the feast of booths, 11 when all Israel has come to appear before YHWH your Elohim in the place which he will choose, you will read this Torah before all Israel in their hearing. 12 Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and the foreigners who are within your gates, that they may hear, learn, fear YHWH your Elohim, and observe to do all the words of this Torah, 13 and that their sons, who have not known, may hear and learn to fear YHWH your Elohim, as long as you live in the land where you go over the Jordan to possess it.” 14 YHWH said to Moses, “Behold, your days approach that you must die. Call Joshua, and present yourselves in the Appointed Tent, that I may command him.”

Deuteronomy 34:1-12 (T)

34:1 Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is opposite Jericho. YHWH showed him all the land of Gilead to Dan, 2 and all Naphtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all the land of Judah, to the Western Sea, 3 and the south, and the Plain of the valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, to Zoar. 4 YHWH said to him, “This is the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your seed.’ I have caused you to see it with your eyes, but you will not go over there.” 5 So Moses the servant of YHWH died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of YHWH. 6 He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth Peor, but no man knows where his tomb is to this day. 7 Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died. His eye was not dim, nor his strength gone. 8 The sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the days of weeping in the mourning for Moses were ended. 9 Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands on him. The sons of Israel listened to him, and did as YHWH commanded Moses. 10 Since then, there has not arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom YHWH knew face to face, 11 in all the signs and the wonders which YHWH sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land, 12 and in all the mighty hand, and in all the awesome deeds, which Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

Jeremiah 32:1-44 (P)

32:1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from YHWH in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar. 2 Now at that time the king of Babylon’s army was besieging Jerusalem. Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah’s house. 3 For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, “Why do you prophesy, and say, ‘YHWH says, “Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will take it; 4 and Zedekiah king of Judah won’t escape out of the hand of the Kasdim, but will surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and will speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes will see his eyes; 5 and he will bring Zedekiah to Babylon, and he will be there until I visit him,” says YHWH, “though you fight with the Kasdim, you will not prosper?” ‘ ” 6 Jeremiah said, “the word of YHWH came to me, saying, 7 ‘Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle will come to you, saying, “Buy my field that is in Anathoth; for the right of redemption is yours to buy it.” ‘ ” 8 “So Hanamel my uncle’s son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of YHWH, and said to me, ‘Please buy my field that is in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is yours, and the redemption is yours. Buy it for yourself.’ “Then I knew that this was the word of YHWH. 9 I bought the field that was in Anathoth of Hanamel my uncle’s son, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. 10 I signed the deed, sealed it, called witnesses, and weighed the money in the balances to him. 11 So I took the deed of the purchase, both that which was sealed, containing the terms and conditions, and that which was open; 12 and I delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the face of Hanamel my uncle’s son, and in the face of the witnesses who signed the deed of the purchase, before all the Jews who sat in the court of the guard. 13 “I commanded Baruch before them, saying, 14 YHWH of Armies, the Elohim of Israel, says: ‘Take these deeds, this deed of the purchase which is sealed, and this deed which is open, and put them in a vessel of clay, that they may last many days.’ 15 For YHWH of Armies, the Elohim of Israel says: ‘Houses and fields and vineyards will yet again be bought in this land.’ 16 Now after I had delivered the deed of the purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed to YHWH, saying, 17 “Ah Lord YHWH! Behold, you have made the heavens and the land by your great power and by your outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for you. 18 You show loving kindness to thousands, and repay the iniquity of the fathers into the bosom of their sons after them. The great, the mighty Elohim, YHWH of Armies is your name: 19 great in counsel, and mighty in work; whose eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, to give everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings; 20 who performed signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, even to this day, both in Israel and among other men; and made yourself a name, as it is today; 21 and brought your people Israel out of the land of Egypt with signs, with wonders, with a strong hand, with an outstretched arm, and with great terror; 22 and gave them this land, which you swore to their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 They came in and possessed it, but they didn’t obey your voice and didn’t walk in your Torah. They have done nothing of all that you commanded them to do. Therefore you have caused all this evil to come upon them. 24 “Behold, siege ramps have been built against the city to take it. The city is given into the hand of the Kasdim who fight against it, because of the sword, of the famine, and of the pestilence. What you have spoken has happened. Behold, you see it. 25 You have said to me, Lord YHWH, ‘Buy the field for money, and call witnesses;’ whereas the city is given into the hand of the Kasdim.” 26 Then the word of YHWH came to Jeremiah, saying, 27 “Behold, I am YHWH, the Elohim of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me? 28 Therefore YHWH says: Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Kasdim, and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will take it. 29 The Kasdim, who fight against this city, will come and set this city on fire, and burn it with the houses on whose roofs they have offered incense to Baal, and poured out libation offerings to other elohim, to provoke me to anger. 30 “For the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have done only that which was evil in my sight from their youth; for the sons of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, says YHWH. 31 For this city has been to me a provocation of my anger and of my wrath from the day that they built it even to this day, so that I should remove it from before my face, 32 because of all the evil of the sons of Israel and of the sons of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger—they, their kings, their princes, their priests, their prophets, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 33 They have turned their backs to me, and not their faces. Although I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not listened to receive instruction. 34 But they set their abominations in the house which is called by my name, to defile it. 35 They built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through fire to Molech, which I didn’t command them. It didn’t even come into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.” 36 Now therefore YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, says concerning this city, about which you say, “It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence:” 37 “Behold, I will gather them out of all the countries where I have driven them in my anger, and in my wrath, and in great indignation; and I will bring them again to this place. I will cause them to dwell safely. 38 Then they will be my people, and I will be their Elohim. 39 I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their good and the good of their sons after them. 40 I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from following them, to do them good. I will put my fear in their hearts, that they may not depart from me. 41 Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.” 42 For YHWH says: “Just as I have brought all this great evil on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them. 43 Fields will be bought in this land, about which you say, ‘It is desolate, without man or animal. It is given into the hand of the Kasdim.’ 44 Men will buy fields for money, sign the deeds, seal them, and call witnesses, in the land of Benjamin, and in the places around Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the lowland, and in the cities of the South; for I will cause their captivity to be reversed,” says YHWH.

Related Additional Readings​

Deuteronomy 3:23-29 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)

Composed in Talmudic Israel (c.150 – c.250 AD). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western targum (translation) of the Torah (Pentateuch) from the land of Israel (as opposed to the eastern Babylonian Targum Onkelos). Its correct title was originally Targum Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Targum), which is how it was known in medieval times. But because of a printer’s mistake it was later labeled Targum Jonathan, in reference to Jonathan ben Uzziel. Some editions of the Pentateuch continue to call it Targum Jonathan to this day. Most scholars refer to the text as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. This targum is more than a mere translation. It includes much Aggadic material collected from various sources as late as the Midrash Rabbah as well as earlier material from the Talmud. It is effectively a combination of a commentary and a translation. In the portions where it is pure translation, it often agrees with the Targum Onkelos. The date of its composition is disputed. It cannot have been completed before the Arabic conquest as it refers to Mohammad’s wife Fatimah, but might have been initially composed in the 4th Century AD. However, some scholars date it in the 14th Century.

And I sought mercy at that time from before the Lord, saying: I supplicate compassion before Thee, O Lord Elohim: Thou hast begun to show unto Thy servant Thy greatness and the power of Thy mighty hand; for Thou art Elohim, and there is none beside Thee; for Thy glory dwelleth in the heavens on high, and Thou rulest upon the land; there is none who can work according to Thy working or Thy power. [JERUSALEM. And I prayed and sought mercy in that hour, said Mosheh, saying: I supplicate compassion before Thee, O Lord Elohim; Thou hast begun.] Let me, I pray, pass over and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain on which is builded the city of Jerusalem, and Mount Lebanon, where the Shekinah will dwell. But the Lord was displeased with me on your account, and received not my prayer; but the Lord said to me: Let it be enough for thee; speak not before Me again of this matter: go up to the head of the mountain, and lift up thine eyes to the west, to the north, to the south, and to the east, and behold with thy eyes, for thou shalt not pass over this Jordan. But instruct Jehoshua, strengthen and confirm him; for he will go over before this people, and give them the inheritance of the land which thou seest. And we dwelt in the valley, weeping for our sins, because we bad been joined with the worshippers of the idol of Peor. [JERUSALEM. And we dwelt in the valley weeping for our guilt, and confessing our sins, for that we had been joined with the worshippers of the idol of Baal Peor.]

Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 4.8.47-49 (T)

Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in 37 AD in Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. In 62 AD he went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero’s wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem in 65 AD to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus shrewdly reinterpreted the Messianic prophecies. He predicted that Vespasian would become the ruler of the ‘entire world’. His prophecy became true in 68 AD when Nero committed suicide and Vespasian became Ceasar. As a result, Josephus was freed; he moved to Rome and became a Roman citizen, taking the Vespasian family name Flavius. Vespasian commissioned Josephus to write a history of the war, which he finished in 78 AD, the Jewish War. His second major work, the Antiquities of the Jews, was completed in 93 AD. The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews contain two references to Yeshua of Nazareth (18.3.3. and 20.9.1.) and one reference to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist (18.5.2.).

4.8.47. Now when Moses had encouraged Joshua to lead out the army against the Canaanites, by telling him that Elohim would assist him in all his undertakings, and had blessed the whole multitude, he said, “Since I am going to my forefathers, and Elohim has determined that this should be the day of my departure to them, I return him thanks while I am still alive and present with you, for that providence he hath exercised over you, which hath not only delivered us from the miseries we lay under, but hath bestowed a state of prosperity upon us; as also, that he hath assisted me in the pains I took, and in all the contrivances I had in my care about you, in order to better your condition, and hath on all occasions showed himself favorable to us; or rather he it was who first conducted our affairs, and brought them to a happy conclusion, by making use of me as a vicarious general under him, and as a minister in those matters wherein he was willing to do you good: on which account I think it proper to bless that Divine Power which will take care of you for the time to come, and this in order to repay that debt which I owe him, and to leave behind me a memorial that we are obliged to worship and honor him, and to keep those laws which are the most excellent gift of all those he hath already bestowed upon us, or which, if he continue favorable to us, he will bestow upon us hereafter. Certainly a human legislator is a terrible enemy when his laws are affronted, and are made to no purpose. And may you never experience that displeasure of Elohim which will be the consequence of the neglect of these his laws, which he, who is your Creator, hath given you.”

4.8.48. When Moses had spoken thus at the end of his life, and had foretold what would befall to every one of their tribes afterward, with the addition of a blessing to them, the multitude fell into tears, insomuch that even the women, by beating their breasts, made manifest the deep concern they had when he was about to die. The children also lamented still more, as not able to contain their grief; and thereby declared, that even at their age they were sensible of his virtue and mighty deeds; and truly there seemed to be a strife betwixt the young and the old who should most grieve for him. The old grieved because they knew what a careful protector they were to be deprived of, and so lamented their future state; but the young grieved, not only for that, but also because it so happened that they were to be left by him before they had well tasted of his virtue. Now one may make a guess at the excess of this sorrow and lamentation of the multitude, from what happened to the legislator himself; for although he was always persuaded that he ought not to be cast down at the approach of death, since the undergoing it was agreeable to the will of Elohim and the law of nature, yet what the people did so overbore him, that he wept himself. Now as he went thence to the place where he was to vanish out of their sight, they all followed after him weeping; but Moses beckoned with his hand to those that were remote from him, and bade them stay behind in quiet, while he exhorted those that were near to him that they would not render his departure so lamentable. Whereupon they thought they ought to grant him that favor, to let him depart according as he himself desired; so they restrained themselves, though weeping still towards one another. All those who accompanied him were the senate, and Eleazar the high priest, and Joshua their commander. Now as soon as they were come to the mountain called Abarim, (which is a very high mountain, situate over against Jericho, and one that affords, to such as are upon it, a prospect of the greatest part of the excellent land of Canaan,) he dismissed the senate; and as he was going to embrace Eleazar and Joshua, and was still discoursing with them, a cloud stood over him on the sudden, and he disappeared in a certain valley, although he wrote in the holy books that he died, which was done out of fear, lest they should venture to say that, because of his extraordinary virtue, he went to Elohim.

4.8.49. Now Moses lived in all one hundred and twenty years; a third part of which time, abating one new moon, he was the people’s ruler; and he died on the last new moon of the year, which is called by the Macedonians Dystrus, but by us Adar, on the first day of the new moon. He was one that exceeded all men that ever were in understanding, and made the best use of what that understanding suggested to him. He had a very graceful way of speaking and addressing himself to the multitude; and as to his other qualifications, he had such a full command of his passions, as if he hardly had any such in his soul, and only knew them by their names, as rather perceiving them in other men than in himself. He was also such a general of an army as is seldom seen, as well as such a prophet as was never known, and this to such a degree, that whatsoever he pronounced, you would think you heard the voice of Elohim himself. So the people mourned for him thirty days: nor did ever any grief so deeply affect the Hebrews as did this upon the death of Moses: nor were those that had experienced his conduct the only persons that desired him, but those also that perused the laws he left behind him had a strong desire after him, and by them gathered the extraordinary virtue he was master of. And this will suffice for the declaration of the manner of the death of Moses.