• Torah (T): Shemot (Exodus) 6:1-30
• Prophets (P): Ezekiel 28:25 – 29:21
• Apostolic (A): Romans 7:1-25
• Additional (ADD): Jubilees 48:4-5

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• Genesis 15:5-7; Genesis 17:1-2; Genesis 28:12-13 (T)
• Ezekiel 20:2-9 (T)
• Exodus 2:1-2, Numbers 26:59 (T)
• Leviticus 18:12-13, 20:19 (T)
• Psalms 82:1-8, John 10:22-36 (T)
• Revelation 11:3-6 (T)
• Psalms 105:25-27 (T)

RELATED ADDITIONAL READINGS

• Testament of Levi 11:1 – 12:7 (T)
• The Testament of Amram 4Q543-548 (T)
• Exodus 6:2 – 7:18 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 2.14.1 (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)

6:1 YHWH said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh, for by a strong hand he shall let them go, and by a strong hand he shall drive them out of his land.” 2 Elohim spoke to Moses, and said to him, “I am YHWH. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as El Shaddai; but by my name YHWH I was not known to them. 4 I have also established my covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their travels, in which they lived as sojourners. 5 Moreover I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant. 6 Therefore tell the sons of Israel, ‘I am YHWH, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm, and with great judgments. 7 I will take you to myself for a people. I will be your Elohim; and you shall know that I am YHWH your Elohim, who brings you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for a possession: I am YHWH.' ” 9 Moses spoke so to the sons of Israel, but they didn't listen to Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage. 10 YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 11 “Go in, speak to Pharaoh king of Egypt, that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land.” 12 Moses spoke before YHWH, saying, “Behold, the sons of Israel haven't listened to me. How then shall Pharaoh listen to me, when I have uncircumcised lips?” 13 YHWH spoke to Moses and to Aaron, and gave them a command to the sons of Israel, and to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt. 14 These are the heads of their fathers' houses. The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, and Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi; these are the families of Reuben. 15 The sons of Shimon: Jemuel, and Jamin, and Ohad, and Jachin, and Zohar, and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman; these are the families of Shimon. 16 These are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations: Gershon, and Qohath, and Merari; and the years of the life of Levi were one hundred thirty-seven years. 17 The sons of Gershon: Libni and Shimei, according to their families. 18 The sons of Qohath: Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel; and the years of the life of Qohath were one hundred thirty-three years. 19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the Levites according to their generations. 20 Amram took Jochebed [the daughter of his father's brother]^(LXX) to himself as wife; and she bore him Aaron and Moses[, and Miriam their sister].^(LXX) The years of the life of Amram were one hundred thirty-seven years. 21 The sons of Izhar: Qorach, and Nepheg, and Zichri. 22 The sons of Uzziel: Mishael, Elzaphan, and Sithri. 23 Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, the sister of Nahshon, as his wife; and she bore him Nadab and Abihu, [and]^(LXX) Eleazar and Ithamar. 24 The sons of Qorach: Assir, Elkanah, and Abiasaph; these are the families of the Qorachites. 25 Eleazar Aaron's son took one of the daughters of Putiel as his wife; and she bore him Phinehas. These are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites according to their families. 26 These are that Aaron and Moses to whom [Elohim]^(LXX) said, “Bring out the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.” 27 These are those who spoke to Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring out the sons of Israel from [the land of]^(LXX) Egypt. These are that Moses and Aaron. 28 On the day when YHWH spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt, 29 YHWH said to Moses, “I am YHWH. Tell Pharaoh king of Egypt all that I tell you.” 30 Moses said before YHWH, “Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh listen to me?”

Prophets Portion (P)

28:25 The Lord YHWH says: “When I have gathered the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered, and am shown as holy among them in the sight of the nations, then they will dwell in their own land which I gave to my servant Jacob. 26 They will dwell in it securely. Yes, they will build houses, plant vineyards, and will dwell securely when I have executed judgments on all those around them who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am YHWH their Elohim.”

29:1 In the tenth year, in the tenth month, on the twelfth day of the month, the word of YHWH came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, set your face against Pharaoh king of Egypt, and prophesy against him and against all Egypt. 3 Speak and say, ‘The Lord YHWH says: “Behold, I am against you, Pharaoh king of Egypt, the great monster that lies in the middle of his rivers, that has said, ‘My river is my own, and I have made it for myself.’ 4 I will put hooks in your jaws, and I will make the fish of your rivers stick to your scales. I will bring you up out of the middle of your rivers, with all the fish of your rivers which stick to your scales. 5 I’ll cast you out into the wilderness, you and all the fish of your rivers. You’ll fall on the face of the field. You won’t be brought together or gathered. I have given you for food to the animals of the land and to the birds of the heavens. 6 “All the inhabitants of Egypt will know that I am YHWH, because they have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel. 7 When they took hold of you by your hand, you broke and tore all their shoulders. When they leaned on you, you broke and paralyzed all of their thighs.” 8 Therefore the Lord YHWH says: “Behold, I will bring a sword on you, and will cut off man and animal from you. 9 The land of Egypt will be a desolation and a waste. Then they will know that I am YHWH. “Because he has said, ‘The river is mine, and I have made it,’ 10 therefore, behold, I am against you and against your rivers. I will make the land of Egypt an utter waste and desolation, from the tower of Seveneh even to the border of Ethiopia. 11 No foot of man will pass through it, nor will any animal foot pass through it. It won’t be inhabited for forty years. 12 I will make the land of Egypt a desolation in the middle of the countries that are desolate. Her cities among the cities that are laid waste will be a desolation forty years. I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.” 13 For the Lord YHWH says: “At the end of forty years I will gather the Egyptians from the peoples where they were scattered. 14 I will reverse the captivity of Egypt, and will cause them to return into the land of Pathros, into the land of their birth. There they will be a lowly reign. 15 It will be the lowest of the reigns. It won’t lift itself up above the nations any more. I will diminish them so that they will no longer rule over the nations. 16 It will no longer be the confidence of the house of Israel, bringing iniquity to memory, when they turn to look after them. Then they will know that I am the Lord YHWH.” ‘ ” 17 It came to pass in the twenty-seventh year, in the first month, in the first day of the month, the word of YHWH came to me, saying, 18 “Son of man, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon caused his army to serve a great service against Tyre. Every head was made bald, and every shoulder was worn; yet he had no wages, nor did his army, from Tyre, for the service that he had served against it. 19 Therefore the Lord YHWH says: ‘Behold, I will give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. He will carry off her multitude, take her plunder, and take her prey. That will be the wages for his army. 20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he served, because they worked for me,’ says the Lord YHWH. 21 “In that day I will cause a horn to sprout for the house of Israel, and I will open your mouth among them. Then they will know that I am YHWH.”

Apostolic Portion (A)

7:1 Or don’t you know, brothers—for I speak to men who know the Torah—that the Torah has dominion over a man for as long as he lives? 2 For the woman that has a husband is bound by Torah to the husband while he lives, but if the husband dies, she is discharged from the Torah of the husband. 3 So then if, while the husband lives, she is joined to another man, she would be called an adulteress. But if the husband dies, she is free from the Torah, so that she is no adulteress, though she is joined to another man. 4 Therefore, my brothers, you also were made dead to the Torah through the body of Messiah, that you would be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might produce fruit to Elohim. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were through the Torah worked in our members to bring out fruit to death. 6 But now we have been discharged from the Torah, having died to that in which we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter. 7 What shall we say then? Is the Torah sin? May it never be! However, I wouldn’t have known sin except through the Torah. For I wouldn’t have known coveting unless the Torah had said, “You shall not covet.” (cf. Exodus 20:17; Deuteronomy 5:21) 8 But sin, finding occasion through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of coveting. For apart from the Torah, sin is dead. 9 I was alive apart from the Torah once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. 10 The commandment which was for life, this I found to be for death; 11 for sin, finding occasion through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me. 12 Therefore the Torah indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, righteous, and good. 13 Did then that which is good become death to me? May it never be! But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, was producing death in me through that which is good; that through the commandment sin might become exceedingly sinful. 14 For we know that the Torah is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin. 15 For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I don’t practice what I desire to do; but what I hate, that I do. 16 But if what I don’t desire, that I do, I consent to the Torah that it is good. 17 So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don’t find it doing that which is good. 19 For the good which I desire, I don’t do; but the evil which I don’t desire, that I practice. 20 But if what I don’t desire, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me. 21 I find then the Torah that, while I desire to do good, evil is present. 22 For I delight in the Torah of Elohim after the inward person, 23 but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the Torah of sin which is in my members. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death? 25 I thank Elohim through Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord! So then with the mind, I myself serve the Torah of Elohim, but with the flesh, the Torah of sin.

Additional Portion (ADD)

Jubilees 48:4-5

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C.

48:4 And I delivered thee out of his hand, and thou didst perform the signs and wonders which thou wast sent to perform in Egypt against Pharaoh, and against all his house, and against his servants and his people. 5. And the Lord executed a great vengeance on them for Israel’s sake, and smote them through (the plagues of) blood and frogs, lice and dog-flies, and malignant boils breaking forth in blains; and their cattle by death; and by hail-stones, thereby He destroyed everything that grew for them; and by locusts which devoured the residue which had been left by the hail, and by darkness; and (by the death) of the first-born of men and animals, and on all their idols the Lord took vengeance and burned them with fire.

Related Scriptures

Genesis 15:5-7; Genesis 17:1-2; Genesis 28:12-13 (T)

Genesis 15:5 YHWH brought him outside, and said, “Look now toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” He said to Abram, “So your seed will be.” 6 He believed in [God],^(LXX) who credited it to him for righteousness. 7 He said to Abram, “I am [God]^(LXX) who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give you this land to inherit it.”

Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, YHWH appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am El Shaddai. Walk before me and be perfect. 2 I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.”

Genesis 28:12 He dreamed and saw a stairway set upon the land, and its top reached to the heavens. Behold, the angels of Elohim were ascending and descending on it. 13 Behold, YHWH stood above it, and said, “[I am]^(LXX)(mss) the Elohim of Abraham your father, and the Elohim of Isaac. I will give the land you lie on to you and to your seed.

20:2 the word of YHWH came to me, saying, 3 “Son of man, speak to the elders of Israel, and tell them, ‘The Lord YHWH says: “Is it to inquire of me that you have come? As I live,” says the Lord YHWH, “I will not be inquired of by you.” ‘ 4 “Will you judge them, son of man? Will you judge them? Cause them to know the abominations of their fathers. 5 Tell them, ‘The Lord YHWH says: “In the day when I chose Israel, and swore to the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt, when I swore to them, saying, ‘I am YHWH your Elohim;’ 6 in that day I swore to them to bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I had searched out for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands. 7 I said to them, ‘Each of you throw away the abominations of his eyes. Don’t defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am YHWH your Elohim.’ 8 “But they rebelled against me and wouldn’t listen to me. They didn’t all throw away the abominations of their eyes. They also didn’t forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said I would pour out my wrath on them, to accomplish my anger against them in the middle of the land of Egypt. 9 But I worked for my name’s sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations among which they were, in whose sight I made myself known to them in bringing them out of the land of Egypt.

Exodus 2:1-2 A man of the house of Levi went and took a daughter of Levi as his wife. 2 The woman conceived and bore a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months.

Numbers 26:59 The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt. She bore to Amram Aaron and Moses, and Miriam their sister.

Leviticus 18:12 You will not uncover the nakedness of your father’s sister [achot aviykha]. She is your father’s near kinswoman. 13 You will not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she is your mother’s near kinswoman.

Leviticus 20:19 You will not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, nor of your father’s sister [waachot aviykha], for he has made his close relative naked. They will bear their iniquity.

Psalms 82:1 A Psalm by Asaph Elohim presides in the great assembly. He judges among the elohim. 2 “How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked?” Selah. 3 “Judge for the helpless and the fatherless. Do righteousness to the afflicted and dispossessed. 4 Rescue the helpless and needy. Deliver them out of the hand of the wicked.” 5 They don’t know, neither do they understand. They walk back and forth in darkness. All the foundations of the land are shaken. 6 I said, “You are elohim, all of you are sons of the Most High. 7 Nevertheless you will die like men, and fall like one of the rulers.” 8 Arise, Elohim, judge the land, for you inherit all of the nations.

John 10:22 It was the Feast of Chanukkah at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Yeshua was walking in the temple, in Solomon’s porch. 24 The Judeans therefore came around him and said to him, “How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 Yeshua answered them, “I told you, and you don’t believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me. 26 But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father who has given them to me is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.” 31 Therefore the Judeans took up stones again to stone him. 32 Yeshua answered them, “I have shown you many good works from my Father. For which of those works do you stone me?” 33 The Judeans answered him, “We don’t stone you for a good work, but for blasphemy: because you, being a man, make yourself Elohim.” 34 Yeshua answered them, “Isn’t it written in your law, ‘I said, you are elohim?’ 35 If he called them elohim, to whom the word of Elohim came, and the Scripture can’t be broken, 36 do you say of him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, ‘You blaspheme,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of Elohim?’

105:25 He turned their heart to hate his people, to conspire against his servants. 26 He sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron, whom he had chosen. 27 They performed miracles among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.

Additional Readings​

Numerous small fragments representing the Aramaic Testament of Levi from Cave 4 all date to the mid-first century B.C. Part of the Testament of Levi involves Levi being taken to the heavens and promised the priesthood forever, and then seven angels physically give him the insignia of the priesthood (as described in Exodus). This part parallels the beginning and end of a vision in the Aramaic Levi Document, whence the body of the vision is now lost; and is thought to preserve that part of the text.

11:1 […] 2 Therefore when I took a wife I was twenty-eight years old, and her name was Melcha. And she conceived and bare a son, and I called his name Gersam, for we were sojourners in our land 3 […] 4 And I saw concerning him, that he would not be in the first rank, And Qohath was born in the 5 thirty-fifth year of my life, towards sunrise. And I saw in a vision that he was standing on high 6 in the midst of all the congregation, Therefore I called his name Qohath [which is, beginning of 7 majesty and instruction]. And she bare me a third son, in the fortieth year of my life; and since his mother bare him with difficulty, I called him Merari, that is, ‘my bitterness,’ because he also was 8 like to die. And Jochebed was born in Egypt, in my sixty-fourth year, for I was renowned then in the midst of my brethren.

12:1 […] 2 And Gersam took a wife, and she bare to him Lomni and Semei. And the sons of Qohath, 3 […] 4 Ambram, Issachar, Hebron, and Ozeel. And the sons of Merari, Mooli, and Mouses. And in the ninety-fourth year Ambram took Jochebed my daughter to him to wife, for they were born in one 5 day, he and my daughter. Eight years old was I when I went into the land of Canaan, and eighteen years when I slew Shechem, and at nineteen years I became priest, and at twenty-eight years I took 6 a wife, and at forty-eight I went into Egypt. And behold, my children, ye are a third generation. 7 In my hundred and eighteenth year Joseph died.

Manuscript C

Column 1

(1) A copy [of the book of the words of the vis]ion of Amram the son of Qohath, the son of Levi: all (2) that [he revealed to his sons and that he commanded t]hem on the day [of his death, in] the year (3) one hundred and thirty-six, whi[ch] was the year of his death, [in the o]ne hundred (4) and fifty-second year of the exil[e of Israel to Egypt … upon [him, and he sent] (5) to call Uzziel his youngest brother, and [gave] to him [in marr]iage [Miri]am [his] daughter. [For he said] (6) ‘You (Miriam) are thirty years old.’ Then he gave a wedding feast seven [day]s long, (7) and ate and drank and rejoiced at the feast. Then, when (8) the Mays of the wedding feast were completed, he called for Aaron his son. Now, [h]e (Aaron) was a man of … years of age (9) [… and he said] to him, ‘Call … and Malachijah … from the house of (10) … above. He called him … Column 2 (11) in this land, and I went up to … (12) to bury our fathers. And I went up … (13) to [a]rise, to bind and pile sheaths and to build … (14) gre[a]t from the sons of my uncle, all togeth[er … and from] (15) our excee[ding great labors, [until in Egy]pt there died … (16) the rumor of war and unrest returned … to the land of E[gypt …] (17) to meet and [they had] not bui[lt gr]aves for their fa[th]ers. Then [my father Qohath] released me [to go,] (18) to build and to get [all their needs] for theOctober (19) we [were] building, wa[r broke out between] the Philistines and Egypt, and … was winn[ing …]

Manuscript E

Fragment 1

(1) … that Levi his son slaughtered to … (2) I said to you at the alt[ar] of stop[e …] (3) [con]cerning slaughter[s …] Fragment 2 (2) I rescued … (3) he built … (4) at Mount Sinai … (5) a great blessing at the bronz[e] altar … (6) from among all the people on land his [son] will be exalted as a priest. The[n …] (7) and his sons after him, for all the generations of eternity in Tru[th …] (8) and I awoke from the sleep of my eyes, and [I] wrote down the vision … (9) I went out from the land of Canaan, and it happened to me just as he said … (10) exalting, and afterwar15, in the twen[tieth] year, [I returned to the land of Canaan] (11) … you were …

Manuscript B

Fragment 1

(9) [… 1 saw Watchers] (10) in my vision, the dream-vision. Two (men) were fighting over me, saying … (11) and holding a great contest over me. I asked them, ‘Who are you, that you are thus empo[wered over me?’ They answered me, ‘We] (12) [have been em]powered and rule over all mankind.’ They said to me, ‘Which of us do yo[u choose to rule (you)?’ I raised my eyes and looked.] (13) [One] of them was terr[i]fying in his appearance, [like a nachash, [his] cl[oa]k many-colored yet very dark… (14) [And I looked again], and … in his appearance, his visage like a viper, and [wearing …] 15) [exceedingly, and all his eyes …] Fragment 2 (1) [… em]powered over you … (2) [I replied to him,] ‘This [Watcher,] who is he?’ He answered me, ‘This Wa[tcher …] (3) [and his three names are Belial and Prince of Darkness] and King of Evil.’ I said, ‘My lord, what dom[inion …?’] (4) [‘and his every way is darkened, his every work da[rk]ened. In Darkness he … (5) [Yo]u saw, and he is empowered over all Darkness, while I [am empowered over all light.] (6) [… from] the highest regions to the lowest I rule over all Light, and over al[1 that is of Elohim. I rule over (every) man] Fragment 3 (1) [of His grace and peace. Over all the sons of Lig]ht have] I been empowered.’ I asked him, [What are your names … ?’] (2) He [s]aid to me, ‘[My] three names are [Michael and Prince of Light and King of Righteousness.’]

Manuscript ?

Column 1

(1) … tribes … (2) to them and all [his] ways [are True …] (3) [and he will heal] them of all their ills … (4) them from death and from de[struction …] (5) [o]ver you, blessed sons … (6) all the generations of Israel for[ever …] (7) angry at me, for the sons of Ri[ghteousness …] (8) between the sons of Lying and the sons of Tr[uth …] (9) I [will make known to you;] certainly I will inform y[ou that all the sons of Light] (10) will be made Light, [whereas all the sons] of Darkness will be made Dark. [The sons of Light …] (11) and in all their Knowledge [they will] be, and the sons of Darkness will be dest[ro]yed … (12) For all foolishness and Evi[1 will be darkened, while all [pea]ce and Truth will be made Ligh[t. All the sons of Light] (13) [are destined for Light and [eternal j]oy (and) [re]joic[ing.] All the sons of Dark[ness] are destined for [Darkness and death] (14) and destruction … Lightness for the people. And I will reveal [to you …] (15) from Darkness, for all … (16) the sons of [Darkness …] and all the sons of Light …

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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.).

2.14.1. But when the king despised the words of Moses, and had no regard at all to them, grievous plagues seized the Egyptians; every one of which I will describe, both because no such plagues did ever happen to any other nation as the Egyptians now felt, and because I would demonstrate that Moses did not fail in any one thing that he foretold them; and because it is for the good of mankind, that they may learn this caution—Not to do anything that may displease Elohim, lest he be provoked to wrath, and avenge their iniquities upon them. For the Egyptian river ran with bloody water at the command of Elohim, insomuch that it could not be drunk, and they had no other spring of water neither; for the water was not only of the color of blood, but it brought upon those that ventured to drink of it, great pains and bitter torment. Such was the river to the Egyptians; but it was sweet and fit for drinking to the Hebrews, and no way different from what it naturally used to be. As the king therefore knew not what to do in these surprising circumstances, and was in fear for the Egyptians, he gave the Hebrews leave to go away; but when the plague ceased, he changed his mind again, end would not suffer them to go.