give thee silver and gold for his this, I will send and slay all thou value; what shall I do with silver hast in thy house, so that thou shalt and gold after the death of my son ? not even have a dog remaining. who shall inherit me? surely then at 33. And Terah hastened, (as the my death, the silver and gold will re-thing was urgent from the king), and turn to my king who gave it. he took a child from one of his ser 27. And when the king heard the vants, which his handmaid had born words of Terah, and the parable to him that day, and Terah brought which he brought concerning the the child to the king and received king, it grieved him greatly and he value for him. was vexed at this thing, and his anger 34. And the Lord was with Terah burned within him. in this matter, that Nimrod might not 28. And Terah saw that the an- cause Abram's death, and the king ger of the king was kindled against took the child from Terah and with him, and he answered the king, say- all his might dashed his head to the ing, all that I have is in the king's ground, for he thought it had been power; whatever the king desireth Abram; and this was concealed from to do to his servant, that let him do, him from that day, and it was forgotyea, even my son, he is in the king's ten by the king, as it was the will of power, without value in exchange, he Providence not to suffer Abram's and his two brothers that are older death. than he. 29. And the king said to Terah, no, but I will purchase thy younger son for a price. 35. And Terah took Abram his son secretly, together with his mother and nurse, and he concealed them in a cave, and he brought them 30. And Terah answered the their provisions monthly. king, saying, I beseech thee my lord 36. And the Lord was with Abram and king to let thy servant speak a in the cave and he grew up, and word before thee, and let the king Abram was in the cave ten years, hear the word of his servant, and and the king and his princes, soothTerah said, let my king give me sayers and sages, thought that the three days time till I consider this king had killed Abram. matter within myself, and consult with my family concerning the words of my king; and he pressed the king greatly to agree to this. CHAPTER IX. 1. AND Haran, the son of Terah, Abram's oldest brother, took a wife in those days. 2. Haran was thirty-nine years old when he took her; and the wife of Haran conceived and bare a son, and he called his name Lot. 31. And the king hearkened to Terah, and he did so and he gave him three days time, and Terah went out from the king's presence, and he came home to his family and spoke to them all the words of the king; and the people were greatly afraid. 3. And she conceived again and 32. And it was in the third day bare a daughter, and she called her that the king sent to Terah, saying, name Milca; and she again conceived send me thy son for a price as I spoke and bare a daughter, and she called to thee; and shouldst thou not do her name Sarai. 4. Haran was forty-two years old but they forsook the Lord who had when he begat Sarai, which was in created them. the tenth year of the life of Abram; and in those days Abram and his mother and nurse went out from the cave, as the king and his subjects had forgotten the affair of Abram. 10. And there was not a man found in those days in the whole earth, who knew the Lord (for they served each man his own God) except Noah and his household, and all those who were under his counsel knew the Lord in those days. 5. And when Abram came out from the cave, he went to Noah and his son Shem, and he remained with 11. And Abram the son of Terah them to learn the instruction of the was waxing *great in those days in Lord and his ways, and no man knew the house of Noah, and no man where Abram was, and Abram serv-knew it, and the Lord was with him. ed Noah and Shem his son for a long 12. And the Lord gave Abram an time. understanding heart, and he knew all 6. And Abram was in Noah's the works of that generation were house thirty-nine years, and Abram vain, and that all their gods were knew the Lord from three years old, vain and were of no avail. and he went in the ways of the Lord 13. And Abram saw the sun until the day of his death, as Noah shining upon the earth, and Abram and his son Shem had taught him; said unto himself surely now this and all the sons of the earth in those sun that shines upon the earth is God, days greatly transgressed against the and him will I serve. Lord, and they rebelled against him 14. And Abram served the sun in and they served other gods, and they that day and he prayed to him, and forgot the Lord who had created when evening came the sun set as them in the earth; and the inhabi- usual, and Abram said within himtants of the earth made unto them- self, surely this cannot be God? selves, at that time, every man his God; gods of wood and stone which could neither speak, hear, nor deliver, and the sons of men served them and they became their gods. 7. And the king and all his servants, and Terah with all his household were then the first of those that served gods of wood and stone. 15. And Abram still continued to speak within himself, who is he who made the heavens and the earth? who created upon earth? where is he? 16. And night darkened over him, and he lifted up his eyes toward the west, north, south and east, and he saw that the sun had vanished from the earth, and the day became dark. 8. And Terah had twelve gods of large size, made of wood and stone, 17. And Abram saw the stars and after the twelve months of the year, moon before him, and he said, surely and he served each one monthly, and this is the God who created the every month Terah would bring his whole earth as well as man, and meat offering and drink offering to his behold these his servants are gods gods; thus did Terah all the days. around him; and Abram served the 9. And all that generation were moon and prayed to it all that night. wicked in the sight of the Lord, and * In divine truths, as is explained in the next they thus made every man his god, verse. 18. And in the morning when it was light and the sun shone upon the earth as usual, Abram saw all the things that the Lord God had made upon earth. two days' walk, and they journeyed there and they dwelt there. 24. And they began to make bricks and burn fires to build the city and the tower that they had imagined to complete. 19. And Abram said unto himself, surely these are not gods that made 25. And the building of the tower the earth and all mankind, but these was unto them a transgression and are the servants of God; and Abram a sin, and they began to build it, and remained in the house of Noah and whilst they were building against there knew the Lord and his ways, the Lord God of heaven, they imaginand he served the Lord all the days ed in their hearts to war against him of his life, and all that generation and to ascend into heaven. forgot the Lord, and served other 26. And all these people and all gods of wood and stone, and rebel- the families divided themselves in led all their days. three parts; the first said we will as 20. And king Nimrod reigned se-cend into heaven and fight against curely, and all the earth was under him; the second said, we will ascend his control, and all the earth was of to heaven and place our own gods one tongue and words of union. there and serve them; and the third 21. And all the princes of Nimrod part said, we will ascend to heaven and his great men took counsel to- and smite him with bows and spears; gether; Phut, Mitzraim, Cush and and God knew all their works and Canaan with their families, and they all their evil thoughts, and he saw said to each other, come let us build the city and the tower which they ourselves a city and in it a strong were building. tower, and its top reaching heaven, 27. And when they were building and we will make ourselves famed, they built themselves a great city and so that we may reign upon the whole a very high and strong tower; and on world, in order that the evil of our account of its height the mortar and enemies may cease from us, that we bricks did not reach the builders in may reign mightily over them, and their ascent to it, until those who went that we may not become scattered up had completed a full year, and over the earth on account of their after that, they reached to the builders and gave them the mortar and bricks; thus was it done daily. wars. 22. And they all went before the king, and they told the king these words, and the king agreed with them in this affair, and he did so. 28. And behold these ascended and others descended the whole day; and if a brick should fall from their 23. And all the families assembled hands and get broken, they would all consisting of about six hundred weep over it, and if a man fell and thousand men, and they went to died, none of them would look at him. seek an extensive piece of ground 29. And the Lord knew their to build the city and the tower, and thoughts, and it came to pass when they sought in the whole earth and they were building they cast the they found none like one valley at arrows toward the heavens, and all the east of the land of Shinar, about the arrows fell upon them filled with blood, and when they saw them and the third division of those who they said to each other, surely we said, we will ascend to heaven and have slain all those that are in heaven. fight against him, the Lord scattered 30. For this was from the Lord them throughout the earth. in order to cause them to err, and in order to destroy them from off the face of the ground. 36. And those who were left amongst them, when they knew and understood the evil which was com31. And they built the tower and the ing upon them, they forsook the city, and they did this thing daily until building, and they also became scatmany days and years were elapsed. tered upon the face of the whole earth. 32. And God said to the seventy 37. And they ceased building the angels who stood foremost before city and the tower; therefore he him, to those who were near to him, called that place Babel, for there saying, come let us descend and con- the Lord confounded the language of fuse their tongues, that one man shall the whole earth; behold it was at not understand the language of his the east of the land of Shinar. neighbor, and they did so unto them. 38. And as to the tower which the 33. And from that day following, sons of men built, the earth opened they forgot each man his neighbor's its mouth and swallowed up one third tongue, and they could not under-part thereof, and a fire also descendstand to speak in one tongue, and ed from heaven and burned another when the builder took from the hands third, and the other third is left to this of his neighbor lime or stone which day, and it is of that part which was he did not order, the builder would aloft, and its circumference is *three cast it away and throw it upon his days' walk. neighbor, that he would die. 39. And many of the sons of men died in that tower, a people without number. CHAPTER X. 35. And the Lord smote the three divisions that were there, and he punished them according to their 1. AND Peleg the son of Eber works and designs; those who said, died in those days, in the fortywe will ascend to heaven and serve eighth year of the life of Abram son our Gods, became *like apes and of Terah, and all the days of Terah elephants; and those who said, we were two hundred and thirty nine will smite the heaven with arrows, years. the Lord killed them, one man through the hand of his neighbor; *A long note I have upon this, as it might be translated, "and they became apes and elephants," this being the example of the work in the hands of Mr. Adam of Calcutta, sent to me by the royal Asiatic society, to see if it were like mine. The words are "and his heart died within him, and he became” (not a stone) but “like unto a stone," as it is rightly translated in the English Bible. *This cannot be the tower that Herodotus saw, though it might be erected on the same spot; reckoning a day's walk 10 miles, as is supposed by the best Christian commentators, its circumference will be 30 miles. This will not appear so very astonishing when it is considered that six hundred thousand men were employed in erecting it, and, as Jasher tells, they were many years engaged in this infamous work; and it will not exceed credibility, when it is remembered that the wall of China is 1500 miles in length. 2. And when the Lord had scat- 10. And the children of Tugarma tered the sons of men on account of are ten families, and these are their their sin at the tower, behold they names; Buzar, Parzunac, Balgar, spread forth into many divisions, and Elicanum, Ragbib, Tarki, Bid, Zeall the sons of men were dispersed buc, Ongal and Tilmaz; all these into the four corners of the earth. spread and rested in the North and built themselves cities. 3. And all the families became each according to its language, its land, or its city. 4. And the sons of men built many cities according to their families, in all the places where they went, and throughout the earth where the Lord had scattered them. 11. And they called their cities after their own names, those are they who abide by the rivers Hithlah and Italac unto this day. 12. But the families of Angoli, Balgar and Parzunac, they dwell by the great river Dubnee; and the 5. And some of them built cities in names of their cities are also acplaces from which they were after-cording to their own names. ward extirpated, and they called these 13. And the children of Javan are cities after their own names, or the the Javanim who dwell in the land names of their children, or after their of Makdonia, and the children of particular occurrences. Madai are the Orelum that dwell in 6. And the sons of Japheth the the land of Curson, and the children son of Noah went and built them- of Tubal are those that dwell in the selves cities in the places where they land of Tuskanah by the river Pawere scattered, and they called all shiah. their cities after their names, and the sons of Japheth were divided upon the face of the earth into many divisions and languages. 7. And these are the sons of Japheth according to their families, Gomer, Magog, Medai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech and Tiras; these are the children of Japheth according to their generations. 14. And the children of Meshech are the Shibashni and the children of Tiras are Rushash, Cushni, and Ongolis; all these went and built themselves cities; those are the cities that are situate by the sea Jabus by the river Cura, which empties itself in the river Tragan. 15. And the children of Elishah are the Almanim, and they also went 8. And the children of Gomer, ac- and built themselves cities; those cording to their cities, were the Fran- are the cities situate between the cum who dwelt in the land of Franza mountains of Job and Shibathmo; by the river Franza by the river Senah. and of them were the people of 9. And the children of Rephath Lumbardi who dwell opposite the are the Bartonim, who dwell in the mountains of Job and Shibathmo, land of Bartonia by the river Ledah and they conquered the land of Italia which empties its waters in the great and remained there unto this day. *sea Gihon, that is, oceanus. * This is the same as the river Gihon mentioned in ch. 5, which overflowed and destroyed part of the earth. In the Hebrew sea, and a river are frequently put for each other. 16. And the children of Chittim are the Romim who dwell in the valley of Canopia by the river Tibreu. 17. And the children of Dudonim |