Antiquities of the Jews - Book 1

 

BOOK I

Containing the Period of Three Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Three Years

From the Creation to the Death of Isaac

CHAPTER 1

The Formation of the World and the Arrangement of the Elements

In the beginning, God created heaven and earth. The earth was still hidden from view, covered in deep darkness, while a wind moved across its surface. God commanded that there be light, and light came into being. He looked upon the whole mass and divided the light from the darkness. He called the light Day and the darkness Night. He named the beginning of the light and the time of rest Evening and Morning, and this was the first day. Moses called it one day. I can explain the reason for this now, but since I have promised to discuss such matters in a separate work, I will leave that explanation until then.

On the second day, God placed heaven above the whole world, separating it from the other parts and establishing it apart from them. He also set a crystalline firmament around it, joined it to the earth in a fitting way, and made it able to bring moisture, rain, and the benefit of dew. On the third day, he caused the dry land to appear, with the sea surrounding it. On that same day, he made plants and seeds spring from the earth.

On the fourth day, he adorned heaven with the sun, moon, and other stars. He set their courses and motions so they would show the changing seasons. On the fifth day, he created living creatures, both those that swim in the sea and those that fly through the air. He arranged them in groups, male and female, so they could reproduce and increase their kinds. On the sixth day, he created the four-footed animals, male and female, and on that same day he formed man. Moses therefore says that God made the world and everything in it in six days. He rested on the seventh day, laying aside the work of creation. For this reason, we rest from our labors on that day and call it the Sabbath, a Hebrew word meaning rest.

After the seventh day had passed, Moses began to speak about the creation of man in a more philosophical way. He says that God took dust from the ground, formed man, and placed a spirit and soul within him. This man was called Adam, a name that means "red" in Hebrew, because he was made from red earth. That kind of earth is pure and genuine.

After God had made the living creatures, he brought them to Adam, male and female according to their kinds. Adam gave them the names by which they are still known. But Adam had no female companion, and there was no other human society for him. He wondered at the other animals, which each had a male and a female. So God put him to sleep, took one of his ribs, and formed a woman from it. When she was brought to him, Adam recognized her and understood that she had been made from his own body. In Hebrew, a woman is called Issa. This woman's name was Eve, which means "the mother of all living."

Moses also says that God planted a paradise in the east, filled with every kind of tree. Among them were the tree of life and the tree of knowledge, which made known good and evil. God brought Adam and his wife into the garden and commanded them to care for its plants.

One river watered the garden. It flowed around the whole earth and divided into four branches. The Phison, whose name means "multitude," flows into India and empties into the sea. The Greeks call it the Ganges. The Euphrates and Tigris also flow down toward the Red Sea. The name Euphrates, or Phrath, means either "dispersion" or "flower." Tigris, or Diglath, means "swift and narrow." The Geon flows through Egypt. Its name means "rising in the east," and the Greeks call it the Nile.

God commanded Adam and his wife to eat from all the other plants, but not from the tree of knowledge. He warned them that if they touched it, they would be destroyed. At that time, all living creatures spoke one language. The serpent lived with Adam and his wife, but he became envious when he saw that they were happy and obeyed God's commands. He thought that if they disobeyed, they would fall into trouble. With evil intent, he persuaded the woman to taste the fruit of the tree of knowledge. He told them that the tree would teach them good and evil, and that once they gained this knowledge, they would live happily, almost like gods.

In this way, he persuaded the woman to disregard God's command. After she tasted the fruit and liked it, she convinced Adam to eat it too. Then they saw that they were naked before each other. Ashamed to appear in that state, they found something to cover themselves. The tree had sharpened their understanding, so they tied fig leaves in front of them. They thought they were better off than before because they now understood what they lacked.

When God came into the garden, Adam, who had once been glad to speak with him, hid because he knew he had done wrong. God was surprised and asked why Adam had begun avoiding him, when he had once welcomed their conversations. Adam did not answer, because he knew he had disobeyed God's command. God said, "I had already decided how you both could live happily, free from hardship, care, and distress. By my providence, everything you needed for comfort and pleasure would grow of its own accord, without labor or toil. But labor and toil would soon bring old age, and death would not be far away. Now you have misused my good will and disobeyed my commands. Your silence does not show virtue, but a guilty conscience."

Adam excused his sin and begged God not to be angry with him. He blamed his wife, saying she had deceived him and caused him to sin. The woman, in turn, blamed the serpent. God assigned Adam a punishment because he had given in so easily to his wife's advice. He said that the ground would no longer yield its fruit freely. Only when they worked it would it produce some crops, while withholding others.

God also made Eve suffer the hardships of pregnancy and the sharp pains of childbirth. She had persuaded Adam with the same arguments the serpent had used to persuade her, and had brought him into misery. In anger at the serpent's malicious intent toward Adam, God took away its power of speech. He placed poison beneath its tongue and made it an enemy of mankind. He also told people to strike at its head, where its evil designs against them began, and where they could most easily take revenge. God took away the serpent's feet, so it would move by rolling and dragging itself along the ground. After setting these punishments for them, God sent Adam and Eve out of the garden to another place.

CHAPTER 2

Concerning Adam's Descendants and the Ten Generations from Him to the Flood

Adam and Eve had two sons. The elder was Cain, a name that means "possession"; the younger was Abel, a name that means "sorrow." They also had daughters. The brothers chose different ways of life. Abel, the younger, loved righteousness. He believed God watched all his actions, and so he became a virtuous man. He worked as a shepherd. Cain, by contrast, was wicked in many ways and devoted to acquiring possessions. He was the first to plow the earth.

The brothers agreed to offer sacrifices to God. Cain brought the produce of his fields, the work of his own hands. Abel brought milk and the firstborn of his flocks. God favored Abel's offering, which came from what grew naturally, over Cain's, which came from the ground he had forced to yield. Cain became angry that God had preferred Abel, and he killed his brother. He hid Abel's body, thinking no one would discover what he had done.

But God knew, and came to Cain to ask where his brother was. He had not seen the two of them together for many days, though they had often spoken with one another before. Cain was troubled and did not know what to say. At first he claimed that he had no idea where his brother had gone. When God pressed him for an answer, Cain said that he was not his brother's guardian and had no duty to watch over him. God then showed Cain that He knew he had murdered Abel. "I am amazed that you do not know what became of the man you yourself destroyed," He said.

God did not put Cain to death. Cain had offered a sacrifice and asked God not to punish him too harshly. Instead, God cursed him and declared that his descendants would suffer punishment in the seventh generation. He also drove Cain and his wife from that land. Cain feared that, as he wandered, wild beasts would kill him. God told him not to give way to that fear, and assured him that he could travel across the earth without harm from wild animals. Then God placed a mark on Cain so others would know him, and sent him away.

After traveling through many lands, Cain and his wife built a city and settled there. They named it Nod, after the place where it stood, and had children. Cain did not accept his punishment as a reason to change. Instead, he became more wicked. He sought whatever pleased his body, even when it meant harming his neighbors. He gained great wealth through robbery and violence, and urged those around him to seek pleasure and plunder by stealing. In this way, he led many people into wickedness.

Cain also changed the simple way of life people had known before. He introduced measures and weights. When people had lived without such devices, they had acted with innocence and generosity; Cain taught them cunning. He was the first to mark out the boundaries of lands. He built a city, fortified it with walls, and gathered his family there. He named the city Enoch, after his eldest son.

Enoch's son was Jared; Jared's son was Malaliel; Malaliel's son was Mathusela; and Mathusela's son was Lamech. Lamech had seventy-seven children by his two wives, Silla and Ada. Ada's sons included Jabal, who made tents and loved the life of a shepherd, and Jubal, his brother, who devoted himself to music and invented the psaltery and the harp. Tubal, a son of Lamech's other wife, was stronger than other men and skilled in the arts of war. He used his strength to obtain whatever pleased the body, and was the first to make brass. Lamech also had a daughter named Naamah.

Lamech was skilled in understanding divine revelations. He knew that he would be punished for Cain's murder of Abel, and he told his wives so. While Adam was still alive, Cain's descendants grew increasingly wicked, each generation worse than the one before it. They were fierce in war and eager to rob others. Even those who were slow to murder were bold in shameful conduct, acting unjustly and harming others for profit.

Adam was the first man, made from the earth, and we must now speak of him. After Abel was killed and Cain fled because of the murder, Adam longed to have more children. He was two hundred and thirty years old when he became the father of Seth. Adam lived another seven hundred years and then died. He had many other children as well, but it would take too long to name them all. I will therefore give an account only of Seth's descendants.

When Seth grew up and learned to distinguish good from evil, he became a virtuous man. He was excellent in character, and his children followed his example. They were all well disposed and lived together in the same land, at peace and in happiness, with no misfortune befalling them until their deaths. They also discovered a special kind of wisdom concerning the heavenly bodies and their order.

Adam had foretold that the world would one day be destroyed by fire and, at another time, by a great flood. So that their discoveries would not be lost before people had learned of them, Seth's descendants built two pillars, one of brick and one of stone. They inscribed their discoveries on both. If the flood destroyed the brick pillar, the stone one would remain and preserve their knowledge for mankind. It would also tell people that they had built another pillar of brick. The stone pillar still stands in the land of Siriad to this day.

CHAPTER 3

The Flood, How Noah Was Saved in an Ark with His Family, and How They Later Settled in the Plain of Shinar

For seven generations, Seth's descendants honored God as Lord of the universe and held firmly to virtue. In time, however, they turned away from their ancestors' ways. They stopped giving God the honor due to him and paid no heed to justice in their dealings with others. Their actions became twice as wicked as they had once been virtuous, and they made God their enemy.

Many angels of God joined with women and fathered sons who were unjust and scorned all that was good. Because they trusted in their own strength, they acted, according to tradition, much like the people the Greeks called giants. Noah was deeply troubled by their behavior. He urged them to change their ways and do better, but they refused and gave themselves over to wicked desires. Fearing that they would kill him, his wife, his children, and their spouses, Noah left the land.

God loved Noah because he was righteous. He condemned the wickedness of the other people and decided to destroy the whole human race, then create a new people free from evil. He shortened human life to 120 years, rather than the much longer spans people had lived before, and turned the dry land into sea. All people perished except Noah.

God showed Noah how to escape. He was to build an ark four stories high, 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. Noah entered it with his wife, his sons, and their wives. He brought food and other supplies for their needs, along with every kind of living creature, male and female, to preserve each species. Some animals went aboard in groups of seven. The ark had strong walls and a roof, and crossbeams held it together so the force of the water could not sink or overturn it. In this way, Noah and his family survived.

Noah was the tenth generation after Adam. He was the son of Lamech, whose father was Mathusela, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared. Jared was the son of Malaleel, who, along with many of his sisters, was a child of Cainan, the son of Enos. Enos was the son of Seth, who was the son of Adam.

The disaster took place in Noah's six hundredth year, in the second month, called Dius by the Macedonians and Marchesuan by the Hebrews. The Egyptians arranged their year in this way. Moses, however, made Nisan, which is the same as Xanthicus, the first month for their festivals, because he led the people out of Egypt in that month. So Nisan began the year for all the festivals they kept in God's honor, while the original order of the months remained in use for buying, selling, and other ordinary matters.

Moses says the Flood began on the twenty-seventh [seventeenth] day of that month. This was 2,656 [1,656] years after Adam, the first man. The date is recorded in our sacred books. People living at the time carefully recorded the births and deaths of famous men.

Seth was born when Adam was 230 years old. Adam lived 930 years. Seth fathered Enos in his 205th year. Enos lived 912 years, then passed leadership to his son Cainan, whom he had fathered in his 190th year. Cainan lived 905 years.

Cainan was 910 years old when his son Malaleel was born. Malaleel was born in his 170th year and lived 895 years. He left his son Jared, whom he fathered when he was 165 years old. Jared lived 962 years. His son Enoch succeeded him. Enoch was born when Jared was 162 years old. After living 365 years, Enoch went to God, which is why his death is not recorded.

Enoch's son Mathusela was born when Enoch was 165 years old. Mathusela fathered Lamech in his 187th year and passed leadership to him after 969 years. Lamech led the people for 777 years, then appointed his son Noah as their ruler. Noah was born when Lamech was 182 years old, and he held that position for 950 years. Taken together, these years make the total given above.

No one should ask when these men died. Their lives overlapped with those of their children and grandchildren. The important thing is to consider when they were born.

When God gave the signal, rain fell for forty full days, until the water rose fifteen cubits above the earth. No one else survived, because there was nowhere to escape. When the rain stopped, the water began to recede only after 150 days, on the seventeenth day of the seventh month. Then it stopped falling for a short time.

Afterward, the ark came to rest on a mountain in Armenia. When Noah realized this, he opened the ark and saw a small patch of land nearby. He stayed where he was and began to hope that they would be saved. A few days later, when the water had fallen further, he sent out a raven to find out whether any part of the earth was dry and whether it was safe to leave the ark. The raven found the land still covered by water and returned to Noah.

Seven days later, Noah sent out a dove to learn the state of the ground. It came back covered in mud and carrying an olive branch. Noah understood from this that the Flood had withdrawn from the earth. After waiting another seven days, he sent the living creatures out of the ark. He and his family left as well. Noah offered a sacrifice to God, then shared a feast with his companions.

The Armenians call this place the Place of Descent, since the ark came to rest there. The local people still show its remains.

Writers of many nations mention the Flood and the ark. One of them is Berosus the Chaldean. In his account of the Flood, he writes: "It is said that part of the ship can still be found in Armenia, on the mountain of the Cordyaeans. Some people carry away pieces of its bitumen and use them mainly as charms to ward off harm."

Hieronymus the Egyptian, who wrote the Phoenician Antiquities, also mentions the ark, as do Mnaseas and many others. Nicolaus of Damascus gives a detailed account in his ninety-sixth book. He writes:

"There is a great mountain in Armenia, above Minyas, called Baris. It is said that many people who fled during the Deluge were saved there. One man, carried in an ark, came ashore at the mountain's summit, and the remains of the timber were preserved for a long time. He may have been the man Moses, the Jewish lawgiver, wrote about."

Noah feared that since God had decided to destroy mankind, he might flood the earth every year. So he offered burnt offerings and asked God to let nature return to its former order. He pleaded that God not bring another judgment so severe that every living creature might be destroyed.

Noah asked God to spare those who remained and whom he had judged worthy of rescue. Otherwise, he said, they would suffer more than the people who came before them. They would live in fear of another Flood after seeing the first, only to perish in a second one. He also asked God to accept his sacrifice and never again let the earth endure such a display of wrath. May people live freely as they farm the land, build cities, and enjoy a happy life, he prayed. May they keep the good things they had before the Flood and live as long as the people of old.

When Noah made these requests, God, who loved him for his righteousness, granted them. God said that the destruction had not come upon a polluted world because he wished to destroy mankind. The people had brought this punishment upon themselves through their wickedness. If God had intended to destroy humanity, he said, it would have been wiser not to give people life in the first place. Their offenses against holiness and virtue had forced him to punish them.

"But from now on," God said, "I will no longer punish future wickedness with such terrible anger, especially because of your prayers. If I ever send unusually heavy storms, do not fear the great amount of rain. Water will never again cover the earth.

"I also command you to refrain from shedding human blood and to keep yourselves free from murder. Those who commit murder must be punished. You may use the other living creatures as you wish, according to your appetite. I have made you masters over them all, over the animals that walk on land, swim in the water, and fly through the air. But you must not eat their blood, for life is in the blood.

"I will give you a sign that my anger has passed. It will be my bow." By this, God meant the rainbow, which people understood to be God's bow. After making this promise, God went away.

Noah lived happily for 350 years after the Flood. He died at the age of 950. No one should compare the long lives of the ancients with our short lives and conclude that the accounts are false. Those ancient people were loved by God and had only recently been created by him. Their food was better suited to long life, and God also gave them more years because of their virtue and because they used their time to make discoveries in astronomy and geometry. They could not have predicted the movements of the stars without living for 600 years, since the great year is completed over that span.

The ancient histories, written by both Greeks and non-Greeks, support what I have said. Manetho, who wrote the history of Egypt, and Berosus, who collected the records of Chaldea, agree with this account. So do Mochus, Hestieus, Hieronymus the Egyptian, and the writers of Phoenician history. Hesiod, Hecataeus, Hellanicus, Acusilaus, Ephorus, and Nicolaus also say that people of old lived for a thousand years. Let each reader decide what to make of these matters.

CHAPTER 4

The Tower of Babylon and the Confusion of Tongues

Noah had three sons, Shem, Japheth, and Ham, who were born one hundred years before the Flood. They were the first to come down from the mountains and settle in the plains. They urged others, who feared the lowlands because of the Flood and were reluctant to leave the high ground, to follow their example. The plain where they first settled was called Shinar.

God also commanded them to send out colonies and fill the earth. In this way, they would avoid conflict among themselves, settle much of the land, and enjoy its abundant produce. But they failed to understand God's purpose and disobeyed him. Their disobedience brought hardship, and they came to see through experience what they had done wrong. As their population grew, God again urged them to establish colonies. But they thought their prosperity came from their own strength, not from God's favor, and refused to obey. They even suspected that God wanted them to scatter so they would be divided and easier to oppress.

Nimrod stirred them up against God and encouraged their contempt for him. He was Ham's grandson and Noah's great-grandson, a bold man with great physical strength. He persuaded the people not to credit God for their good fortune, but to believe that their own courage had brought it about. Little by little, he turned their government into a tyranny, since he saw no better way to make them stop fearing God than to keep them dependent on his power.

Nimrod also declared that he would take revenge on God if God ever decided to flood the world again. He would build a tower so tall that the waters could never reach it, and avenge himself on God for destroying their ancestors.

The people eagerly followed Nimrod's plan. They thought it cowardly to submit to God, and they built the tower with great effort and care. So many people worked on it that it rose higher than anyone expected. It was also so broad and strongly built that, when viewed from below, its height seemed less than it really was. The builders used fired bricks joined with mortar made from bitumen, so that water could not penetrate it.

When God saw how foolishly they were acting, he chose not to destroy them completely. The earlier sinners had been destroyed, yet the people had learned nothing from their fate. Instead, God threw them into confusion by giving them different languages. Because they could no longer understand one another, they could not continue their work together.

The place where they built the tower is now called Babylon. Its name comes from the confusion of the language the people had once shared, since the Hebrew word "Babel" means "confusion." The Sibyl also speaks of the tower and the confusion of languages:

"When all men spoke one language, some built a high tower, hoping to climb up to heaven. But the gods sent violent winds and brought the tower down, giving each person a different language. For this reason, the city was called Babylon."

Hestiaeus also mentions the plain of Shinar in Babylonia. He writes: "The priests who escaped took the sacred vessels of Jupiter Enyalius and went to Shinar in Babylonia."

CHAPTER 5

How Noah's Descendants Sent Out Colonies and Settled the Whole Earth

Afterward, they spread out because they spoke different languages and traveled in colonies. Each group settled the land it came upon, wherever God led it. In this way, people filled the whole earth, both the inland regions and the coasts. Some crossed the sea in ships and settled on islands.

Some peoples still bear the names given to them by their first founders. Others have lost those names, while some have changed them to make them easier for their inhabitants to understand. The Greeks were responsible for these changes. In later ages, as their power grew, they claimed the glory of antiquity for themselves. They gave other peoples Greek-sounding names so they would be easier for the Greeks to understand, and assigned them forms of government that suited the Greeks, as if those peoples had descended from them.

CHAPTER 6

How Every Nation Was Named After Its First Inhabitants

These nations were named in honor of Noah's grandchildren, who first settled in their lands. Japhet, Noah's son, had seven sons. They settled across Asia, from the mountains of Taurus and Amanus to the river Tanais, and across Europe as far as Cadiz. They took possession of lands where no one had lived before and named the nations after themselves.

Gomer founded the people whom the Greeks now call Galatians, or Gauls. They were once called Gomerites. Magog founded the people named after him, the Magogites, whom the Greeks call Scythians. From Madai came the Madeans, whom the Greeks call Medes. From Javan came the Ionians and all the Greeks. Thobel founded the Thobelites, now called Iberians, while Mosoch founded the Mosocheni, now called Cappadocians. A trace of their ancient name remains: their city of Mazaca still stands as a reminder that the whole nation was once called by that name. Thiras named his people Thirasians, but the Greeks changed their name to Thracians.

These were the lands inhabited by the children of Japhet. Of Gomer's three sons, Aschanax founded the Aschanaxians, whom the Greeks now call Rheginians. Riphath founded the Ripheans, now called Paphlagonians, and Thrugramma founded the Thrugrammeans, whom the Greeks named Phrygians.

Elisa, one of Japhet's son Javan's three sons, gave his name to the Eliseans, who were under his rule. They are now called Aeolians. Tharsus named the Tharsians, for Cilicia was once called Tharsus. Its chief city, and also its capital, is still called Tarsus. In the name, the tau has replaced the theta. Cethimus took possession of the island of Cethima, now called Cyprus. For this reason, the Hebrews call all islands and most seacoasts Cethim. One city in Cyprus has kept its old name: Greek speakers call it Citius, but the name Cethim has survived among them.

These, then, were the nations possessed by the children and grandchildren of Japhet. Before I continue, I should explain something the Greeks may not know. I have written these names as they are pronounced in Greek, for the sake of my readers. Our own language pronounces them differently, though the names all end in the same way. The name we pronounce Noeas is Noah in our language, and the same rule applies to the others.

The children of Ham took possession of the land extending from Syria and Amanus to the mountains of Lebanon. They claimed the whole region along the seacoast and as far as the ocean. Some of its old names have disappeared entirely. Others have changed so much that they are hard to recognize, though a few have remained unchanged.

Time has not erased the name of Chus, one of Ham's four sons. The Ethiopians, whom he ruled, are still called Chusites by their own people and by everyone in Asia. The name of the Mesraites has also survived. We who live in Judea call Egypt Mestre, and its people Mestreans. Phut founded Libya and named its inhabitants Phutites. A river in the land of the Moors still bears his name. Greek historians often mention this river and the neighboring country as Phut. Its present name came later, from one of Mesraim's sons, who was called Lybyos. I will explain later why the country is also called Africa.

Canaan, Ham's fourth son, settled in the land now called Judea and named it after himself. His descendants were these: Sabas founded the Sabeans; Evilas founded the Evileans, now called Getuli; Sabathes founded the Sabathens, whom the Greeks now call Astaborans; Sabactas settled the Sabactens; and Ragmus founded the Ragmeans. Ragmus had two sons. One was Judadas, who settled the Judadeans, a nation of western Ethiopians, and gave them his name, just as Sabas had named the Sabeans. Nimrod, the son of Chus, remained at Babylon and ruled it as a tyrant, as I have already explained.

All eight of Mesraim's children took possession of the country between Gaza and Egypt, though the whole region kept the name of only one of them, Philistim. The Greeks call part of this country Israel. The others were Ludieim, Enemim, Labim, Nedim, Phethrosim, Chesloim, and Cephthorim. Labim alone settled Libya and named the country after himself. Beyond their names, we know nothing about these people, because the Ethiopian war, which I will describe later, destroyed their cities.

Canaan's children were Sidonius, who built a city of the same name, called Sidon by the Greeks; Amathus, who settled in Amathine, still called Amathe by its inhabitants, though the Macedonians named it Epiphania after one of his descendants; Arudeus, who took possession of the island of Aradus; and Arucas, who settled at Arce in Lebanon.

The remaining names are Eueus, Chetteus, Jebuseus, Amorreus, Gergesus, Eudeus, Sineus, and Samareus. The sacred books preserve nothing about them beyond their names, because the Hebrews destroyed their cities. Their troubles came upon them for the following reason.

After the flood, when the earth had returned to its former state and people began to settle it again, Noah set about cultivating the land. He planted vines. When the grapes ripened, he gathered them and made wine. Then he offered a sacrifice, held a feast, and drank until he was drunk. He fell asleep naked in an indecent manner.

When his youngest son saw him, he laughed and went to tell his brothers. They came and covered their father's nakedness. When Noah learned what had happened, he prayed for prosperity for his other sons. He did not curse Ham, because Ham was so closely related to him. Instead, he cursed Ham's prosperity. The rest of Ham's descendants escaped the curse, but God laid it upon the children of Canaan. I will speak more about these matters later.

Shem, Noah's third son, had five sons. They settled in the land that began at the Euphrates and reached the Indian Ocean. Elam left behind the Elamites, ancestors of the Persians. Ashur lived in the city of Nineveh and named his people Assyrians. They became the most fortunate nation of all. Arphaxad named the Arphaxadites, now called Chaldeans. Aram's people were called Aramites, whom the Greeks call Syrians. Laud founded the Laudites, now called Lydians.

Of Aram's four sons, Uz founded Trachonitis and Damascus. This country lies between Israel and Celesyria. Ul founded Armenia, Gather founded the land of the Bactrians, and Mesa founded the land of the Mesaneans, now called Charax Spasini.

Sala was the son of Arphaxad, and Heber was Sala's son. The Jews were first called Hebrews after Heber. Heber had two sons, Joctan and Phaleg. Phaleg received his name because he was born when the nations were divided among their lands. In Hebrew, Phaleg means "division."

Joctan, one of Heber's sons, had these children: Elmodad, Saleph, Asermoth, Jera, Adoram, Aizel, Decla, Ebal, Abimael, Sabeus, Ophir, Euilat, and Jobab. They settled around Cophen, an Indian river, and in the neighboring part of Asia. This is enough about the children of Shem.

I will now speak about the Hebrews. Ragau was the son of Phaleg, whose father was Heber. Serug was Ragau's son, Nahor was Serug's son, and Terah was Nahor's son. Terah was the father of Abraham, who was the tenth generation after Noah. Abraham was born 292 years after the flood, for Terah fathered Abram when he was 70 years old.

Nahor fathered Haran when he was 120. Serug was 132 when Nahor was born. Ragau was 130 when Serug was born, and Phaleg was also 130 when Ragau was born. Heber was 134 when Phaleg was born. Sala fathered Heber when he was 130, and Arphaxad fathered Sala when he was 135. Arphaxad was Shem's son and was born 12 years after the flood.

Abram had two brothers, Nahor and Haran. Haran left a son, Lot, and two daughters, Sarai and Milcha. Haran died among the Chaldeans, in the Chaldean city of Ur, where his tomb is still shown. His daughters married their uncles: Nahor married Milcha, and Abram married Sarai.

Terah hated Chaldea because he mourned Haran, so the family moved to Haran in Mesopotamia. Terah died there and was buried after living 205 years. Human life had already begun to grow shorter, little by little. It continued to shorten until the birth of Moses. After Moses, the length of human life was set at 120 years, the number of years Moses himself lived.

Nahor had eight sons by Milcha: Uz, Buz, Kemuel, Chesed, Azau, Pheldas, Jadelph, and Bethuel. These were all his legitimate sons. His concubine Reuma bore Teba, Gaam, Tachas, and Maaca. Bethuel had a daughter, Rebecca, and a son, Laban.

CHAPTER 7

How Abram, Our Forefather, Left the Land of the Chaldeans and Settled in Canaan, Now Called Judea

Abram had no son of his own, so he took Lot, the son of his brother Haran, into his household. When Abram was seventy-five, he left Chaldea at God's command and went to Canaan. He settled there, and his descendants later inherited the land.

Abram was wise and understanding, and he knew how to persuade those who listened to him. He was confident in his views and came to hold a higher understanding of virtue than others did. He set out to change the beliefs people held about God. Abram was the first to declare that there was only one God, the Creator of the universe. If other gods brought people happiness, he said, they did so only by God's command, not through their own power.

Abram reached this conclusion by observing the irregular movements of things on land and sea, as well as the sun, moon, and stars. He said, "If these bodies had power of their own, they would keep their movements in order. Since they don't, it's clear that when they help us, they do so not by their own strength but in obedience to the One who commands them. He alone deserves our honor and thanks."

The Chaldeans and other people of Mesopotamia became angry over these teachings and stirred up trouble against Abram. So he decided to leave their country. With God's command and help, he went to live in Canaan. After settling there, he built an altar and offered a sacrifice to God.

Berosus refers to our forefather Abram without giving his name. He writes, "In the tenth generation after the Flood, there was among the Chaldeans a righteous and distinguished man who was skilled in the study of the stars."

Hecataeus says more than this. He wrote a book about Abram and left it behind. Nicolaus of Damascus, in the fourth book of his History, writes:

"Abram, a foreigner who came with an army from the land above Babylon, called the land of the Chaldeans, ruled in Damascus. After a long time, he left that country with his people and went to the land then called Canaan, but now called Judea. By then, his descendants had become numerous. We tell their story in another work. Abram's name is still famous in the country around Damascus, where people point out a village named after him, called the Habitation of Abram."

CHAPTER 8

How Abram Left Canaan During a Famine and Went to Egypt, Then Returned After Staying There for a Time

After a famine struck the land of Canaan, Abram saw that Egypt was prosperous and decided to go there. He hoped to share in the plenty and to listen to the Egyptian priests, so he could learn what they taught about the gods. If their beliefs were better than his own, he intended to follow them. If his beliefs were truer, he hoped to lead them toward a better way.

Abram planned to take Sarai with him, but he feared the Egyptians might desire her so much that the king would kill him to take her. So he came up with a plan. He told Sarai to say that she was his sister, and he pretended the same, saying this would keep them both safe.

When Abram arrived in Egypt, things happened as he had expected. Word spread about Sarai's beauty, and Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, wanted to see her for himself. He was preparing to take her for his own, but God stopped him by sending a sickness upon him and stirring up unrest against his rule.

Pharaoh asked the priests how he could be freed from these troubles. They told him that God's anger had brought them upon him because he had planned to wrong a stranger by taking his wife. Afraid, Pharaoh asked Sarai who she was and who the man was that had brought her with him. Once he learned the truth, he apologized to Abram. He said he had thought Sarai was Abram's sister and had wanted to marry her to form a family bond, not to take her through lust. Pharaoh gave Abram a large sum of money and allowed him to speak with the most learned Egyptians. Through those discussions, Abram's wisdom and reputation grew even greater.

At that time, the Egyptians followed different customs. They looked down on one another's sacred rites and traditions, and they were often angry with each other over these differences. Abram spoke with each group and challenged the arguments they used to defend their own practices. He showed them that these arguments were empty and had no truth in them.

The Egyptians admired Abram for his wisdom and good judgment. Whatever subject he discussed, he understood it well and could persuade others to agree with him. He also taught them arithmetic and astronomy. Before Abram came to Egypt, they had not known these branches of learning. Astronomy had come to Egypt from the Chaldeans, and from Egypt it later passed to the Greeks.

When Abram returned to Canaan, he and Lot divided the land because their shepherds had quarreled over pasture for their flocks. Abram let Lot choose whichever land he wanted. Lot chose the plain and the land beside the Jordan River, near the city of Sodom. Sodom was then a fine city, but it has since been destroyed by God's will and anger. I will explain the cause in its proper place later.

Abram took the land Lot left behind, the lower ground at the foot of the mountains, and settled in Hebron. Hebron is seven years older than Tunis in Egypt.

CHAPTER 9

The Assyrian Defeat of the Sodomites

At this time, the Assyrians ruled over Asia, and the people of Sodom were prosperous and numerous. Five kings governed the region: Ballas, Barsas, Senabar, Sumobor, and the king of Bela. Each king led his own troops.

The Assyrians made war against them, dividing their army into four forces, each under its own commander. When the battle began, the Assyrians prevailed and imposed tribute on the kings of Sodom. The kings submitted and paid tribute for twelve years. In the thirteenth year, they rebelled.

The Assyrian army then marched against them, led by Amraphel, Arioch, Chodorlaomer, and Tidal. These kings had laid waste to all Syria and defeated the descendants of the giants. When they reached Sodom, they camped in the valley called the Slime Pits, where pits lay at that time. After Sodom was destroyed, the valley became the lake now called Asphaltites. We will speak more about this lake later.

The Sodomites met the Assyrians in battle, and the fighting was fierce. Many Sodomites were killed, and the rest were taken captive. Lot was among them, for he had come to aid the people of Sodom.

CHAPTER 10

How Abram Fought the Assyrians and Defeated Them, Rescued the Sodomite Prisoners, and Took Back the Plunder

When Abram heard of their trouble, he at once feared for his kinsman Lot. He also felt sorry for the Sodomites, who were his friends and neighbors. Believing it was right to help them, he wasted no time. He marched quickly, and on the fifth night attacked the Assyrians near Dan, the name of another source of the Jordan.

Before the Assyrians could arm themselves, Abram killed some while they were still in bed, before they knew they were in danger. Others had not yet gone to sleep, but were too drunk to fight, so they ran away. Abram pursued them and, by the second day, had driven them together to Hoba, a place in the land of Damascus.

This showed that victory does not depend on the size of an army or the number of its soldiers. Courage and readiness can defeat a much larger force. Abram won against so great an army with only three hundred and eighteen of his servants and three of his friends. All those who fled returned home in shame.

After rescuing the Sodomites whom the Assyrians had taken captive, along with his kinsman Lot, Abram returned home in peace. The king of Sodom met him at a place called the King's Dale. There, Melchisedec, king of the city of Salem, welcomed him. His name means "righteous king," and he was certainly a just man. For this reason, he had been made a priest of God. Salem was later called Jerusalem.

Melchisedec treated Abram's army with great hospitality and gave them plenty of food. As they feasted, he praised Abram and blessed God for giving him victory over his enemies. Abram gave Melchisedec a tenth of the plunder, and Melchisedec accepted it.

The king of Sodom asked Abram to keep the plunder, but to return the people he had rescued from the Assyrians, since they belonged to him. Abram refused to profit from the plunder, except for what his servants had eaten. He also insisted that his friends who had fought beside him receive their share. The first was named Eschol, the second Enner, and the third Mambre.

God praised Abram's virtue and told him he would not lose the reward he had earned through his glorious deeds. Abram replied, "What good will such rewards do me when I have no child to inherit them?" For until then, he had no children.

God promised that Abram would have a son and that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. When Abram heard this, he offered a sacrifice to God, as he had been commanded. He took a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old she-goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtle dove, and a pigeon. He divided the three larger animals, but did not divide the birds.

Before he built the altar, birds of prey circled above, eager for blood. Then a divine voice told him that his descendants would suffer at the hands of their neighbors when they were in Egypt. They would be oppressed for four hundred years, but afterward they would defeat their enemies, conquer the Canaanites in war, and take possession of their land and cities.

Abram lived near the oak called Ogyges, in Canaan, not far from the city of Hebron. Troubled by his wife's barrenness, he asked God to give him a son. God told him to be courageous and promised to add children to all the other blessings he had given him since leading him out of Mesopotamia.

At God's command, Sarai brought one of her servants, an Egyptian woman, to Abram so that she might have children through her. When the servant became pregnant, she grew proud and insulted Sarai, as though she expected her son to rule the household. Abram gave her back to Sarai, who punished her. Unable to bear Sarai's harsh treatment, the servant fled and asked God to have mercy on her.

A divine angel met her as she traveled through the wilderness and told her to return to her master and mistress. If she followed this wise advice, the angel said, her life would improve. Her misery had come from her ingratitude and pride toward her mistress. The angel warned that she would perish if she disobeyed God and continued on her way. But if she returned, she would give birth to a son who would rule over that country.

She obeyed and went back to her master and mistress, who forgave her. A short time later, she gave birth to Ismael. His name may be translated as "Heard by God," because God had heard his mother's prayer.

Abram was eighty-six years old when Ismael was born. When Abram was ninety-nine, God appeared to him and promised that Sarai would bear him a son named Isaac. God said that great nations and kings would descend from Isaac and that they would take possession of all the land of Canaan by war, from Sidon to Egypt.

To keep Abram's descendants separate from other peoples, God commanded that they be circumcised by cutting the flesh of the foreskin. This was to be done on the eighth day after birth. I will explain the reason for this circumcision elsewhere.

Abram also asked God whether Ismael would live. God told him that Ismael would live to an old age and become the father of great nations. Abram gave thanks to God for these blessings. Then he, his whole household, and his son Ismael were circumcised at once. Ismael was thirteen years old that day, and Abram was ninety-nine.

CHAPTER 11

How God Overthrew the Nation of the Sodomites in His Wrath Against Their Sins

At this time, the Sodomites grew proud because of their riches and great wealth. They dealt unjustly with other people and showed no reverence for God, forgetting the blessings they had received from him. They hated strangers and gave themselves over to sinful practices. God was greatly displeased with them. He resolved to punish their pride, destroy their city, and lay waste to their country until no plant or fruit would grow there.

After God had made this decision, Abraham was sitting beneath the oak of Mambre, at the entrance to his tent, when he saw three angels. Thinking they were strangers, he rose, greeted them, and invited them to stay and share a meal. They agreed, so he quickly had cakes made from flour. He slaughtered a calf, roasted it, and served it to them as they sat beneath the oak. They only appeared to eat. Then they asked where his wife Sarah was. Abraham said she was inside, and they told him they would return later, when she would have become a mother. Sarah laughed at this, saying it was impossible for her to bear a child at ninety years old, while her husband was a hundred. The visitors then revealed who they were: angels of God. One had come to tell them about the child, and the other two had come to announce the destruction of Sodom.

When Abraham heard this, he grieved for the people of Sodom. He stood up and pleaded with God not to destroy the righteous along with the wicked. God replied that there was no good person among the Sodomites. If even ten righteous people lived there, he would spare them all. Abraham then said no more. The angels went on to the city, where Lot urged them to stay at his home. He was a generous and hospitable man who had learned from Abraham's example. When the Sodomites saw how exceptionally handsome the young men were and learned that they were staying with Lot, they decided to take them by force. Lot urged the people to control themselves and not do anything shameful to his guests, who were under his roof. He even offered his daughters to them instead, if they could not control their desires. But the men felt no shame.

God was greatly angered by their shameless behavior. He struck the men with blindness and condemned the Sodomites to complete destruction. After God told Lot what was going to happen, Lot fled with his wife and two daughters, who were still virgins. The men engaged to his daughters refused to leave, believing Lot was speaking foolishly. God then sent a thunderbolt upon the city, setting it and its people on fire. He burned the surrounding country as well, as I have described before in my account of the Jewish War. As Lot and his family fled, his wife kept looking back at the city. Though God had forbidden her to do so, she wanted to see what would become of it. She was turned into a pillar of salt. I have seen it myself, and it remains there to this day. Lot and his daughters escaped to a small place surrounded by the fire and settled there. It is still called Zoar, which is the Hebrew word for something small. There Lot lived a miserable life, with no one else for company and little food.

Lot's daughters thought all other people had been destroyed. So, taking care not to be discovered, they went to their father. They did this so that the human race would not come to an end. Each had a son. The elder named hers Moab, meaning one descended from his father. The younger named hers Ammon, meaning one descended from a kinsman. Moab became the father of the Moabites, who remain a great nation, and Ammon became the father of the Ammonites. Both peoples live in Celesyria. This is how Lot left the Sodomites.

CHAPTER 12

Concerning Abimelech, Ishmael the Son of Abraham, and the Arabians, Who Were His Descendants

Abraham moved to Gerar in Israel, taking Sarah with him. As before, he said she was his sister, because he feared Abimelech, king of that country. Abimelech fell in love with Sarah and meant to take her, but God sent him a dangerous illness that kept him from doing so.

When his physicians could find no cure, Abimelech fell asleep and had a dream. He was warned not to violate the stranger's wife. After he recovered, he told his friends that God had sent the illness to punish him for wronging Abraham and to protect Sarah's chastity. She had come with Abraham as his lawful wife, not as his sister. God had also promised to show him favor in the future, once he was certain that Sarah's chastity had been protected.

At his friends' urging, Abimelech sent for Abraham. He told him not to worry about Sarah or fear that her chastity had been violated, because God had watched over her and returned her to him unharmed. Abimelech called on God and Sarah's conscience as witnesses. He said that he would never have tried to take her if he had known she was Abraham's wife. Since Abraham had presented her as his sister, Abimelech said he had done no wrong.

He asked Abraham to live in peace with him and to pray that God would be favorable toward him. If Abraham chose to stay, he could have whatever he needed in abundance. If he wished to leave, Abimelech would send him away with honor and provide whatever supplies he needed for the journey. Abraham replied that he had not lied when he called Sarah his relative, since she was his brother's daughter. He said he had feared for his safety while traveling in foreign lands, and that he had not caused Abimelech's illness. He had only been trying to protect himself. Abraham also said he was willing to stay.

Abimelech then gave Abraham land and money. They agreed to live together honestly and swore an oath at a well called Beersheba, which means "Well of the Oath." The people of that country still call it by this name.

Before long, Sarah gave birth to a son, just as God had promised Abraham. They named him Isaac, which means "Laughter." The name recalled Sarah's laughter when God told her she would have a son. She had not expected to bear a child, since she was ninety years old and Abraham was one hundred. Isaac was born when each of them had reached those ages.

They circumcised Isaac on the eighth day, and the Jews have kept the custom of circumcising their sons on that day ever since. The Arabians, however, circumcise their boys at thirteen, because Ishmael, who founded their nation and was Abraham's son by a concubine, was circumcised at that age. I will now give a full account of him.

At first, Sarah loved Ishmael, who was born to her handmaid Hagar, as much as she loved her own son. Ishmael had been raised to succeed his father in the rule of the household. But after Sarah gave birth to Isaac, she no longer wanted Ishmael raised alongside him. Ishmael was much older and, after Abraham's death, might harm Isaac. So she urged Abraham to send Ishmael and his mother away to a distant country.

At first, Abraham refused. He thought it cruel to send away a young boy and a woman who had no supplies. But at last he agreed, because God approved of Sarah's decision. Abraham gave Ishmael to his mother, since the boy was not yet able to walk on his own, and sent them away with a flask of water and a loaf of bread. They had to make do with what they had.

When their provisions ran out, Hagar was in desperate trouble. With their water nearly gone and Ishmael close to death, she laid him beneath a fig tree and walked farther away so she would not have to watch him die. Then an angel from God came to her, pointed out a nearby spring, and told her to care for the boy and raise him. Ishmael's survival, the angel said, would bring her great happiness. Encouraged by this promise, Hagar found shepherds who helped her escape the distress she had faced.

When Ishmael grew up, he married an Egyptian woman, from the country where his mother had originally come from. She bore him twelve sons: Nabaioth, Kedar, Abdeel, Mabsam, Idumas, Masmaos, Masaos, Chodad, Theman, Jetur, Naphesus, and Cadmas.

Their descendants lived throughout the country between the Euphrates River and the Red Sea, which they called Nabatene. They are an Arabian people, and they name their tribes after these sons, honoring both their own worth and the dignity of Abraham, their father.

CHAPTER 13

Concerning Isaac, Abraham's Legitimate Son

Abraham loved Isaac dearly. He was his only legitimate son, born to him by God's favor when Abraham was already old. Isaac also became more beloved to his parents as he grew in virtue, honored them, and served God with devotion. Abraham's greatest hope was that he would leave his son safe and secure when he died. God granted him this, but first wished to test Abraham's devotion. He appeared to him and recalled the blessings he had given him, including victory over his enemies. Isaac, he said, was the greatest part of Abraham's happiness, yet God now required him as a sacrifice and holy offering. He commanded Abraham to take Isaac to Mount Moriah, build an altar, and offer him as a burnt offering. Abraham's devotion would be clear if he chose what pleased God over the life of his own son.

Abraham believed he must obey God in everything and serve him throughout his life, since all living creatures owed their lives to God's care and kindness. He kept God's command, and his intention to sacrifice Isaac, from his wife and servants, in case they tried to stop him. He took Isaac and two servants with him, loaded the supplies for the sacrifice onto a donkey, and set out for the mountain. The servants traveled with him for two days. On the third day, when Abraham saw the mountain, he left them on the plain and continued with Isaac alone. It was the mountain where King David later built the Temple. They had brought everything needed for the sacrifice except the animal itself. Isaac was twenty-five years old. As Abraham built the altar, Isaac asked what they would offer, since they had brought no animal. Abraham answered, "God will provide the offering. He can give people what they lack, and take away what they already have when they place too much trust in it. If God is pleased to be present at this sacrifice, he will provide the offering himself."

When the altar was ready, Abraham laid the wood on it and prepared everything. Then he said to his son, "My son, I prayed many times that I might have you. When you were born, I worried over everything you needed, and nothing made me happier than seeing you grow into a man. I hoped that when I died, you would inherit my position. But God willed that I become your father, and now he wills that I give you up. So offer yourself to God with a willing heart. I give you to the one who has chosen to ask this act of devotion from me, after all the kindness he has shown and the protection he has given me. My son, you will die now, but not as people usually die. Your own father will send you to God, the Father of all, as a sacrifice. I believe God considers you worthy to leave this world without illness, war, or any other painful death. He will receive your soul with prayers and sacred rites, place you near himself, and make you my help and support in old age. I raised you above all else, and now God will comfort me in your place."

Isaac had the noble spirit of his father and welcomed his words. He said, "I would not deserve to have been born if I rejected God's decision and yours, or refused to submit to you both. It would have been wrong to disobey even if only my father had decided this." He went at once to the altar to be sacrificed. Abraham would have carried out the act if God had not stopped him. God called Abraham by name and forbade him to kill his son. He said, "I did not command you to kill your son because I desired human blood, nor did I wish to take from you the son I had made you father to. I wanted to test your heart and see whether you would obey such a command. Now I have seen your willingness and the remarkable devotion you have shown, and I am pleased to have blessed you. I will continue to care for you and give you other children. Your son will live to a great age and enjoy a happy life. He will leave a great inheritance to his good and legitimate descendants." God also foretold that Abraham's family would grow into many nations, that the patriarchs would be remembered forever, and that their descendants would possess the land of Canaan and be envied by all. After God had spoken, a ram appeared, and Abraham offered it in sacrifice. Abraham and Isaac embraced, grateful to have received such great promises. After the sacrifice, they returned to Sarah and lived happily together, with God granting them all they desired.

CHAPTER 14

Sarah, Abraham's Wife, and How She Ended Her Days

Sarah died not long afterward, at the age of one hundred and twenty-seven. They buried her in Hebron, where the Canaanites publicly granted them a place for her burial. Abraham bought the land from Ephron, a man of Hebron, for four hundred shekels. Abraham and his descendants built their tombs there.

CHAPTER 15

How the Troglodyte Nation Descended from Abraham Through Keturah

After Abraham married Keturah, she bore him six sons. They were brave men with wise minds: Zambran, Jazar, Madan, Madian, Josabak, and Sous. Sous had two sons, Sabathan and Dadan. Dadan's sons were Latusim, Assur, and Luom. Madiau's sons were Ephas, Ophren, Anoch, Ebidas, and Eldas.

Abraham settled all these sons and grandsons in colonies. They took possession of Troglodytis and the region of Arabia the Happy, extending as far as the Red Sea. It is said that Ophren made war on Libya and conquered it. His descendants later settled there and named the country Africa after him.

Alexander Polyhistor confirms this account. He writes:

"Cleodemus the prophet, also called Malchus, wrote a history of the Jews that agrees with the history of Moses, their lawgiver. He says that Abraham had many sons by Keturah, and names three of them: Apher, Surim, and Japhran. The land of Assyria was named after Surim, and Africa was named after the other two, Apher and Japhran. They helped Hercules in his war against Libya and Antaeus. Hercules married Apher's daughter, and she bore him a son named Diodorus. Diodorus's son was Sophon, from whom the barbarian people called the Sophacians took their name."

CHAPTER 16

How Isaac Took Rebeka to Wife

Abraham, Isaac's father, decided that his son should marry Rebeka, the granddaughter of his brother Nahor. Isaac was about forty years old. Abraham sent his oldest servant to arrange the marriage, after requiring him to give the strongest assurances of his faithfulness. They gave these assurances in the following way: each placed his hand under the other's thigh, and then they called on God to witness their agreement. Abraham also sent gifts for the household, items held in high regard because they were rarely, if ever, seen in that country.

The servant's journey took a long time. Traveling through Mesopotamia was difficult, both in winter, when the roads were deep in mud, and in summer, when water was scarce. There were also many robbers, and travelers could avoid them only by taking precautions in advance. At last the servant reached Haran. As he came to the outskirts of the city, he saw a large number of young women going to draw water. He prayed that Rebeka, the woman Abraham had sent him to seek for Isaac, would be among them, if it was God's will that the marriage should take place. He asked for a sign: while the others refused him water, she would offer him some to drink.

With this hope, he went to the well and asked the young women for water. The others refused, saying they needed all the water for their own households and could spare none. But one of them rebuked the others for treating a stranger so rudely. "What will you ever give to anyone," she said, "if you won't even offer this man water?" Then she kindly gave him a drink.

The servant began to hope that his important mission would succeed. Still, he wanted to be sure. He praised her generosity and kindness, since she had drawn enough water for him, though it had cost her effort. Then he asked who her parents were and wished them joy in having such a daughter. "May you be married," he said, "with their blessing, to a worthy husband, and may you bear him lawful children."

She answered his questions without hesitation and told him about her family. "My name is Rebeka," she said. "My father was Bethuel, but he is dead. Laban is my brother, and he and my mother manage the affairs of our household and guard my honor."

When the servant heard this, he rejoiced at what had happened and at what she had told him. He saw that God had plainly guided his journey. He brought out bracelets and other ornaments considered proper for young women to wear, and gave them to her in thanks for her kindness in offering him water. He said she deserved them because she had been more generous than the others.

She then asked him to stay with her family, since night was coming and there was no time for him to travel farther. He brought out precious ornaments for women and said he could entrust them to no one more safely than to her. From the virtue he had seen in her, he believed her mother and brother would be just as kind. He would not be a burden, he said, but would pay for his lodging and provide for himself.

She replied that he had judged her family rightly, but asked why he thought they were so greedy that they would take payment. He would be their guest without charge. Still, she said she would first tell her brother Laban, and, if he agreed, she would bring the servant inside.

When she had finished speaking, she brought the stranger into the house. Laban's servants led in the camels and cared for them, while Laban invited the servant to supper. After the meal, the servant spoke to Laban and the young woman's mother:

"Abraham is the son of Terah and your kinsman. Nahor, the grandfather of these children, was Abraham's brother by both father and mother. Abraham has sent me to ask for this young woman as a wife for his son. Isaac is his lawful son and has been raised as his only heir. Abraham could have chosen a wife for him from among the most fortunate women in that country, but he did not wish his son to marry any of them. He wanted him to marry among his own relations, and I ask you not to reject his wish or Isaac's affection.

"God's favor has guided the events of my journey. When I came near the city, I saw many young women going to a well. I prayed that I might meet this young woman, and so it happened. Give your consent, then, to this marriage, whose betrothal has already been confirmed by a sign from God. Show your respect for Abraham, who sent me here with such concern, by agreeing to give your daughter in marriage."

They understood this to be God's will, approved of the proposal, and sent their daughter as requested. Isaac married her, and the inheritance now passed to him, since Abraham's children by Keturah had gone to distant lands.

CHAPTER 17

The Death of Abraham

Some time afterward, Abraham died. He was a man of unmatched virtue, and God honored him according to his devotion. He lived 175 years and was buried at Hebron beside his wife, Sarah. His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him.

CHAPTER 18

Concerning Isaac's Sons, Esau and Jacob, Their Birth and Upbringing

After Abraham's death, Isaac's wife became pregnant. When her pregnancy grew difficult, Isaac was troubled and prayed to God. God answered that Rebecca would have twins, and that each son would become the father of a nation. The younger son, God said, would surpass the elder. Before long, Rebecca gave birth to twins, just as God had foretold. The elder was hairy all over, from head to foot, while the younger came out holding his brother's heel. Isaac loved the elder, whose name was Esau, a name suited to his rough, hairy appearance. The Hebrews call such hairiness "Seir." Rebecca, however, loved Jacob, the younger son.

When famine struck the land, Isaac planned to go to Egypt, where food was plentiful. But God commanded him to go to Gerar instead. King Abimelech welcomed him there because Abraham had once lived with him and they had been friends. At first, Abimelech treated Isaac with great kindness. But when he saw that God was with Isaac and prospered him, envy overcame him, and he drove Isaac away. Isaac saw how envy had changed Abimelech's manner toward him, so he moved to a place called the Valley, not far from Gerar. As he dug a well, the local shepherds attacked him and tried to stop the work. Isaac did not want to quarrel with them, so he moved away and dug another well. When Abimelech's shepherds also threatened him there, he left that well too. In this way, he wisely chose peace and safety over conflict. At last, Abimelech allowed him to dig a well without interference. Isaac named it Rehoboth, which means "a broad place." He had named the earlier wells Esek, meaning "strife," and Sitnah, meaning "enmity."

Isaac's wealth and prosperity continued to grow. Abimelech saw that their growing riches could make them suspicious of one another, and he feared that Isaac might take revenge for the wrongs done to him. He therefore renewed their friendship, sending Phicol, one of his commanders, to meet with him. Isaac was good-natured and valued the kindness Abimelech had once shown him and his father more than the later hostility. He granted Abimelech all that he asked, and Abimelech returned home.

When Esau, Isaac's favorite son, was forty years old, he married Adah, the daughter of Helon, and Aholibamah, the daughter of Esebeon. Helon and Esebeon were leading men among the Canaanites. Esau acted as if he had full authority over his own marriages and did not ask his father's advice. Had Isaac been consulted, he would not have allowed him to marry into the families of that land, since he did not want an alliance with the Canaanites. But Isaac did not want to upset his son by ordering him to send his wives away, so he said nothing.

When Isaac grew old and could no longer see, he called Esau to him. He said that his blindness and failing eyes, along with his advanced age, kept him from making a sacrifice to God. He told Esau to go hunting, catch as much game as he could, and prepare him a meal. Then Isaac would pray to God to support and help him throughout the rest of his life. He did not know when he would die, he said, and wanted to pray in advance that God would show him mercy.

Esau went out to hunt. But Rebecca wanted Jacob to receive God's favor through Isaac's prayer, so she told him, without Isaac's knowledge, to kill two young goats and prepare a meal. Jacob followed all of his mother's instructions. When the meal was ready, he covered his arms with goat skins so their hairy feel would make Isaac believe he was Esau. Though the twins were alike in every other way, they differed in this one respect. Jacob feared that his father might discover the deception before praying and curse him instead. So he brought the meal to Isaac. Isaac believed he was Esau and, suspecting no trick, ate. Then he prayed to God:

"O Lord of all ages, Creator of all things, you promised my father great blessings and gave me all that I possess. You also promised to care for my descendants and grant them still greater blessings. Confirm your promises, and do not turn away from me because I am weak and old. I pray earnestly to you. Be gracious to this son of mine. Protect him from every evil, give him a happy life and all the good things your power can grant. Make him feared by his enemies, and honored and loved by his friends."

Isaac prayed in this way, believing that he had blessed Esau. He had only just finished when Esau returned from the hunt. When Isaac realized his mistake, he fell silent. Esau pleaded with him to give him the same blessing his brother had received, but Isaac refused, since he had already offered all his prayers for Jacob. Esau mourned the mistake. His father, moved by his tears, told him that he would excel in hunting, physical strength, weapons, and other such pursuits. He and his descendants would win lasting glory through these things, but they would serve his brother.

Rebecca feared that Esau would punish Jacob for receiving Isaac's blessing, so she urged Isaac to find Jacob a wife among her relatives in Mesopotamia. Esau had already married Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael, without his father's consent. Isaac disliked the Canaanites and had disapproved of Esau's earlier marriages. Esau married Basemath in an effort to please him, and Isaac grew very fond of her.

CHAPTER 19

Jacob Flees to Mesopotamia Because He Fears His Brother

At his mother's urging, Jacob set out for Mesopotamia to marry Laban's daughter. Isaac agreed to the marriage because he was eager to please his wife. Jacob traveled through Canaan, but he disliked the people there and refused to stay with any of them. Instead, he slept out in the open, resting his head on a pile of stones he had gathered.

That night, he saw a vision in his sleep. A ladder seemed to stretch from earth to heaven, and beings greater than humans descended upon it. At last, God himself stood above the ladder and appeared plainly to Jacob. Calling him by name, God said:

"Jacob, you are the son of a good man and the grandson of one whose great virtue earned him a fine reputation. You should not lose heart because of your present troubles. Hope for better days, for with my help you will have an abundance of every good thing.

"I brought Abraham here from Mesopotamia when his kinsmen drove him away. I also made your father a happy man, and I will give you no lesser share of happiness. So take courage and continue on your journey under my care. The marriage you seek so eagerly will take place.

"You will have children of good character, and their number will be beyond counting. They will pass on what they possess to an even greater number of descendants. I give all this land to them and to their descendants, who will fill the whole earth and all the sea that lies beneath the sun.

"Do not fear danger or the many hardships you must face. Through my providence, I will guide you in what you must do now, and even more in the days to come."

After God made these promises, Jacob was filled with joy at what he had seen and heard. He poured oil over the stones, because it was there that God had promised him such great blessings. He also vowed that, if he lived and returned safely, he would offer sacrifices there. If he came back in safety and prosperity, he would give God a tenth of all he had gained.

Jacob judged the place to be holy and named it Bethel, which in Greek means "House of God."

Jacob continued on his way to Mesopotamia and at last reached Haran. Near the town, he met shepherds, young men, and girls gathered around a well. Since he needed water, he stopped with them and began to talk. He asked whether they knew Laban and whether he was still alive.

They answered that they knew him well, for he was too important a man to be unknown to them. They added that his daughter was out tending her father's flock with them. They wondered why she had not yet arrived, since she could tell Jacob more about Laban's household than anyone else.

As they spoke, the young woman came with the other shepherds who had been working with her. They pointed Jacob out and told her he was a stranger who had come to ask about her father. Pleased by his arrival, as young people often are, she asked who he was, where he had come from, and what he needed. She also said she hoped they could help him with whatever had brought him there.

Jacob was overcome, not so much by their family connection or the affection that came with it, but by his love for the young woman and his amazement at her beauty. She was so lovely that few women of her time could rival her.

He said, "If you are Laban's daughter, then we were related before either of us was born. Abraham was the son of Terah, as were Haran and Nahor. Bethuel, your grandfather, was the son of Nahor. My father Isaac was the son of Abraham and Sarah, who was the daughter of Haran. But we have a closer bond as well. My mother, Rebekah, was the sister of your father Laban, for they had the same father and mother. So you and I are first cousins. I have come to greet you and renew the family bond between us."

When the young woman heard Rebekah's name, she wept, as young people often do, out of affection for her father. She embraced Jacob. Her father had told her about Rebekah, and she knew how much her parents loved to hear her name.

After greeting Jacob, she said, "You have brought my father and our whole family the greatest joy. He speaks of your mother often and is always thinking of her. This will make you as dear to him as any good fortune could."

Then she urged Jacob to go to her father and follow her there. She said he should not keep Laban waiting and deny him the pleasure of seeing him.

She brought Jacob to Laban, who welcomed his nephew and was glad to have him among his own family. Jacob's unexpected arrival brought them great joy.

Soon afterward, Laban told Jacob that he could not express how happy he was to see him. Still, he asked what had brought him there and why he had left his elderly parents, who needed his care. Laban promised to give him whatever help he needed.

Jacob explained the reason for his journey. "My father Isaac had twin sons, Esau and me. Because I received the blessing my father had prayed for, through my mother's wisdom, Esau sought to kill me. He believed I had taken the rule God meant to give him, along with the blessings our father had asked for. That is why I have come here, as my mother instructed me. We are all brothers, but my mother values an alliance with your family more than one with the families of this land. So I look to you and God to support me on my journey, and I feel safe here."

Laban promised to treat Jacob kindly, both because of his ancestors and especially for the sake of Rebekah. Though she was far away, he said, he would show his affection for her by caring for her son. He promised to put Jacob in charge of his flocks and give him the authority needed to manage them. When Jacob wanted to return to his parents, Laban would send him home with gifts in a manner worthy of their close family tie.

Jacob gladly accepted. He said he was willing to work hard for Laban for as long as he stayed, but he asked to marry Rachel as payment for his labor. He loved her for many reasons, he said, but also because she had brought him to Laban. His love for her was what had led him to make the request.

Laban welcomed the agreement. He was pleased to have Jacob as a son-in-law and agreed to give him Rachel, provided Jacob stayed with him for a time. Laban did not want his daughter to live among the Canaanites, since he already regretted the marriage he had arranged for his sister there.

Jacob agreed to serve Laban for seven years. He chose that length of time so that his conduct would show what kind of man he was. When the seven years had passed, Laban held a wedding feast. But that night, without Jacob's knowledge, he sent his older daughter Leah to Jacob instead of Rachel. Leah was not as beautiful as Rachel, and Jacob lay with her in the darkness, not realizing who she was.

When morning came, Jacob saw what had happened and accused Laban of deceiving him. Laban asked him to forgive the necessity that had compelled him. He said he had not given Leah to Jacob out of malice, but because of another pressing obligation. Even so, Jacob could still marry Rachel. If he served Laban for another seven years, Laban would give her to him.

Jacob agreed, for his love for Rachel left him no other choice. After another seven years had passed, he married her.

Each sister had a handmaid given to her by their father. Leah's handmaid was Zilpah, and Rachel's was Bilhah. They were not slaves, but they were under their mistresses' authority.

Leah was distressed because her husband loved Rachel more. She hoped he would value her more if she bore him children, so she prayed constantly to God. When she had a son, Jacob's affection for her grew. She named the boy Reuben, a name that means God had shown mercy to her by giving her a son.

After some time, she bore three more sons. The first was Simeon, a name meaning that God had heard her prayer. The next was Levi, whose name speaks of the strengthening of their bond. The fourth was Judah, a name that means thanksgiving.

Rachel feared that her sister's fertility would win more of Jacob's love. So she sent her handmaid Bilhah to Jacob, and Bilhah bore him a son named Dan, a name that may be translated into Greek as "divine judgment." She later bore another son, Naphtali, whose name suggests one skilled in struggle. Rachel chose it because she had tried to overcome her sister's fertility by this plan.

Leah then used the same method to answer her sister. She sent her own handmaid, Zilpah, to Jacob, and Zilpah bore him a son named Gad, which may be translated as "fortune." She later bore another son, Asher, meaning "happy man," because his birth added to Leah's honor.

Reuben, Leah's eldest son, once brought mandrakes to his mother. Rachel saw them and asked Leah to give them to her, because she wanted to eat them. Leah refused and reproached Rachel for taking the affection she should have received from her husband. To calm her sister, Rachel offered to let Jacob sleep with Leah that night.

Leah accepted, and Jacob lay with her by Rachel's agreement. Leah later bore two more sons. The first was Issachar, whose name means "born for hire." The next was Zebulun, whose name points to a pledge of affection. She also gave birth to a daughter named Dinah.

After some time, Rachel bore a son named Joseph, a name meaning that another child would be added to him.

Jacob tended the flocks of his father-in-law Laban for twenty years. After that, he asked Laban for permission to take his wives and return home. Laban refused, so Jacob made plans to leave in secret.

He first asked his wives what they thought of the journey. They were glad and agreed with him. Rachel took the household gods that people in their country worshiped, and she and her sister fled with Jacob. Their children, handmaids, and possessions went with them. Jacob also drove away half the livestock without telling Laban in advance.

Rachel took the household gods even though Jacob had taught her to reject their worship. She meant to use them to win her father's pardon if he pursued them and caught them.

Laban learned the next day that Jacob and his daughters had left, and he was greatly troubled. He gathered a band of men and pursued them. On the seventh day, he caught up with them as they rested on a hill. Since it was evening, he left them alone for the time being.

That night, God appeared to Laban in a dream and warned him to receive his son-in-law and daughters peacefully. He was not to act rashly or in anger, but to make an agreement with Jacob. God warned him that if he attacked them, thinking their small number made them easy prey, he would come to their aid.

After receiving this warning, Laban called Jacob to him the next day to speak with him. He told Jacob about the dream and then accused him, saying, "I took you in when you were poor and had nothing, and I gave you plenty. I gave my daughters to you in marriage, expecting that your kindness toward me would grow. But you have shown no regard for our family ties, for the bond between us through your mother, for your wives, or for the children whose grandfather I am.

"You have treated me like an enemy. You have taken my flocks and persuaded my daughters to leave their father. You have also carried away the sacred household gods that my ancestors worshiped and that I have honored as they did. You did this even though you are my kinsman, my sister's son, and the husband of my daughters. I welcomed you into my home and fed you at my table."

Jacob answered that God had given all people a natural love for their homeland, not to him alone. After living away for so long, he said, it was only right that he return there.

"As for the livestock you accuse me of taking," Jacob continued, "any fair judge would find you in the wrong. Instead of thanking me for tending your flocks and increasing them, you are unjustly angry because I have taken a small share with me. As for your daughters, they are not following me because I led them into wrongdoing. They follow me because wives naturally remain with their husbands. They are following their children as much as they are following me."

Jacob then made his own complaint against Laban. "I was your sister's son, and you gave me your daughters in marriage, yet you wore me down with harsh demands and kept me in your service for twenty years. The work you required before I married your daughters was hard, but I could bear it. The demands you placed on me afterward were worse, and even an enemy would have spared me some of them."

Laban had treated Jacob unjustly. When he saw that God gave Jacob success in everything he did, he agreed that Jacob would receive some of the newborn animals, first those that were white and then those that were black. But when many of the animals belonging to Jacob were born, Laban broke his promise. He said Jacob would receive them the following year, because he envied the size of Jacob's flocks. He had made the promise because he did not expect Jacob's flocks to increase so much. When he saw that they had, he deceived him.

As for the household gods, Jacob told Laban to search for them. Rachel heard this and hid them in the saddle of the camel she rode. She sat on the saddle and said she could not stand because she was having her monthly period. Laban stopped searching, since he did not think his daughter would sit on the household gods while she was in that condition.

Then Laban made an agreement with Jacob, swearing that he would bear no ill will toward him over what had happened. Jacob swore the same and promised to treat Laban's daughters with affection. They sealed the agreement with oaths at a place where they raised a stone pillar like an altar. The hill came to be called Gilead, and the surrounding country is still called the Land of Gilead.

After they had feasted to celebrate the agreement, Laban returned home.

CHAPTER 20

Concerning the Meeting of Jacob and Esau

As Jacob continued on his way to the land of Canaan, angels appeared to him and gave him hope for the future. He named that place the Camp of God. Wanting to learn what his brother intended to do, Jacob sent messengers to report everything to him, for he feared Esau because of the hostility between them. He told the messengers to say, "Jacob thought it wrong to live near you while you were angry with him, so he left the country. Now he believes that the many years he has been away have settled your differences, and he is returning. He brings his wives, his children, and all the possessions he has gained. He places himself, and all that is dear to him, in your hands. He would count it his greatest happiness to share with his brother the blessings God has given him."

The messengers delivered this message to Esau. Esau was glad to hear it and went to meet his brother with four hundred men. When Jacob learned that Esau was coming with so many men, he was greatly afraid. Still, he placed his hope of rescue in God and considered how to protect himself and those with him, and how to overcome his enemies if they attacked. He divided his company into groups. Some he sent ahead, while he ordered the others to follow close behind. If Esau attacked and overcame the first group, the others could serve as a refuge for those who escaped. After arranging his company in this way, Jacob sent some men ahead with gifts for his brother. The gifts included cattle and many kinds of four-footed animals, some of them rare and likely to please those who received them. The messengers traveled at intervals, one group following another, so they would seem more numerous. Jacob hoped the gifts would ease Esau's anger, if he was still angry. He also instructed the messengers to speak gently to him.

Jacob spent the day making these arrangements. When night came, he set out with his company. After they had crossed a river called Jabbok, Jacob remained behind. There he met an angel, who began wrestling with him. Jacob overcame the angel, who then spoke to him, urging him to be satisfied with what had happened and not to think his victory a small thing. He had overcome a divine angel, the angel said, and should take this victory as a sign of the great blessings to come. His descendants would never perish, and no man would be able to overcome his power. The angel also commanded that Jacob be called Israel, a Hebrew name meaning one who struggled with the divine angel.

The angel made these promises in answer to Jacob's prayer. When Jacob realized he was an angel of God, he asked him to reveal what would happen to him in the future. After telling him what has been related, the angel disappeared. Jacob was pleased and named the place Phanuel, which means "the face of God." The struggle had injured the broad sinew of Jacob's thigh. From then on, he himself avoided eating that sinew, and we still do not eat it because of him.

When Jacob learned that his brother was near, he told his wives to go ahead, each with her handmaids, so they could see what the men did if Esau chose to fight. Then Jacob went to meet Esau and bowed before him. Esau had no evil intentions toward him. He greeted Jacob and asked about the children and the women. After learning all he wanted to know, Esau asked Jacob to go with him to their father. Jacob pretended that the cattle were tired, so Esau returned to Seir, where he lived. He had named the place Roughness because of his own rough, hairy appearance.

CHAPTER 21

Concerning the Violation of Dina's Chastity

Jacob came to the place still called Tents (Succoth). From there he went to Shechem, a city of the Canaanites. While the people of Shechem were celebrating a festival, Dina, Jacob's only daughter, went into the city to see the fine clothing worn by the women there. When Shechem, the son of King Hamor, saw her, he raped her. He fell deeply in love with her and asked his father to arrange for her to become his wife.

Hamor agreed and came to Jacob, asking permission for his son Shechem to marry Dina according to their law. Jacob did not know how to refuse a man of such high rank, but he also did not believe it was right for his daughter to marry a foreigner. So he asked Hamor to give him time to discuss the matter. The king left, hoping Jacob would agree to the marriage.

Jacob told his sons that their sister had been violated and that Hamor had asked for her hand. He asked them what they thought should be done. Most of them said nothing, because they did not know what advice to give. But Simeon and Levi, Dina's brothers by the same mother, agreed on what to do.

It was festival time, and the people of Shechem were feasting and resting. Simeon and Levi attacked the city while its people slept. They entered the city and killed every male, including the king and his son, but spared the women. They did this without their father's consent, then took their sister away.

Jacob was shocked by what his sons had done and rebuked them severely. But God appeared to him and told him not to be afraid. He was to purify his household and offer the sacrifices he had vowed to make when he first went to Mesopotamia and saw the vision.

As Jacob purified his household, he found Laban's gods. Until then, he had not known that Rachel had stolen them. He buried them under an oak tree at Shechem. Then he left and offered sacrifices at Bethel, where he had seen the dream on his first journey to Mesopotamia.

After leaving Bethel, Jacob came to a place opposite Ephrata. There he buried Rachel, who died in childbirth. She was the only member of Jacob's family who was not buried at Hebron. Jacob mourned for her a long time. He named the son she bore Benjamin, because his birth had brought his mother such sorrow.

These were all Jacob's children: twelve sons and one daughter. Eight of the sons were born to his wives, six to Leah and two to Rachel. The other four were born to the handmaids, two to each. Their names have already been given.

CHAPTER 22

How Isaac Died and Was Buried in Hebron

From there, Jacob went to Hebron, a city among the Canaanites where Isaac lived. They stayed together for a short time, but Jacob did not find Rebekah alive. Isaac died not long after his son arrived. His sons buried him beside his wife in Hebron, in the tomb their ancestors had prepared for them.

Isaac was beloved by God, who showed him great kindness, as he had shown his father Abraham. He lived to a great age. After living a virtuous life for 185 years, Isaac died.