102. Concerning the Beginning

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will come of making her to live with you, but ye shall continue to be punished until ye are destroyed.’

“And their kings and governors said unto their priests, ‘What gift now say ye that we ought to give her, and how shall we send her back? Find out, and tell us what we must do.’ And the priests of the Philistines took counsel together again, and they said unto their kings and governors, ‘Make for her according to the heads of your houses, sixty figures of mice in gold, since mice have destroyed your land, and sixty figures of the member of a man, since your own persons have suffered from sores and boils on your members.’55 And the Philistines made as they commanded them one hundred and twenty offerings of gold, and gave them to Zion. And again they said unto the priests, ‘How shall we send her away? And whom do ye say shall set her in her city?’ And again the magicians of the Philistines said unto them,’ Let them bring two she-camels56 that brought forth their firstborn at the same time, and let them attach a wagon57 to them—and they must keep back their young ones and shut them up in the house—and they must yoke the two she-camels together, and then set them free and let them go where they will. And if they march straight for Jerusalem we shall know that peradventure God hath had compassion on our land; but if they wander about, and go hither and thither, and wish to turn back to the place whence they started, then we shall know that God is (still] wroth with us, and that He will not remove His punishment until He hath blotted out ourselves and our city.’

“And the Philistines did as the priests commanded their governors, and they sent away Zion, and prostrated themselves before her. And those camels made their way straight to the country of Judah, and they came to the threshing floor and the house of thy kinsfolk received them. And those who did not receive them were the men of the house of Dân, and they did not do homage to Zion, for they regarded her in anger as their destroyed

55Five mice and five emerods; see I Sam. vi, 4. 56“Two milch kine,” I Sam. vi, 7. 57“A new cart,” I Sam. vi, 7.

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(?) God. And they cut up the pieces of wood of the wagon, and they made those camels to be sacrifices, and Zion returned to her place. And whilst Zion was in [her] house Samuel the Prophet ministered unto her, and vision and prophecy were revealed unto him, and he pleased God in all his actions, and he ruled Israel for forty-eight years.

“And after him our people entreated God to give them a king like the nations that were round about them. And Samuel the Prophet anointed Saul king, and he reigned forty years. And he was of the tribe of Benjamin, which was the youngest branch of the peoples of Israel. And Samuel the Prophet also anointed thy father David. And when the Philistines fought with Saul the King, Saul was conquered and died with [Yô]nâthân his son. And those of his sons who were left wished to carry away Zion, when they knew that their father and their brother were dead. And then when they wished to hide her and to transfer her to the Valley of Gêlâbûh.ê (Gilboa) in order that thy father David might not carry them off, she would not let them carry her away until thy father came and carried her away from their city, but not with offerings, and not with incense and burnt offerings. For it was impossible to carry Zion away unless she wished it and God wished it. And again, when thy father reigned rightly over Israel he took her from the city of Samaria and brought her here to Jerusalem, dancing on his feet before her, and clapping his hands because of joy for her; for she was taken by him that she might come to the city of David thy father. And as for that which thou sayest concerning the going of Zion to their city, to the country of Ethiopia, if God willed it and she herself willed it, there is no one who could prevent her; for of her own will she went, and of her own will she will return if God pleaseth. And if she doth not return it will be God’s good pleasure. And as for us, if God hath willed it Jerusalem shall remain to us wherein thou hast built for us a house of God. And now, let not thine heart be sad, but comfort thou thyself with what we have said unto thee. And the wisdom, which the Lord God of Israel hath given thee, hath sprouted from thee. For wisdom is a strange thing. As a lamp is not the sun, and as vinegar and aloes are neither profitable nor useful additions to honey, even so the words of fools are not beneficial to the wise man. And as smoke is to

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the eye, and unripe fruit to the tooth, even so the words of fools are not beneficial to the wise.”

62. Concerning the Answer which Solomon Made to them

And Solomon the King answered and said unto them, “Hearken ye unto me and to what I shall say unto you. Supposing He had taken me away whilst I was carrying Zion—what is impossible to God? And supposing He had taken you away whilst ye were carrying her—what is impossible to God? And supposing He were to make them to inherit our city, and destroy us—what is impossible to God? For everything is His, and none can gainsay His Will, and there is none who can transgress His command in heaven above or on earth below. He is the King Whose kingdom shall never, never pass away, Amen. But now let us go and kneel in the House of God.”

And the elders of Israel together with their King went into the House of God, and they entered the Holy of Holies, and they made supplication, and prostrated themselves, and ascribed blessing to God. And Solomon wept in the habitation of the heavenly Zion, the Tabernacle of the Law of God, and they all wept with him, and after a little while they held their peace. And Solomon answered and said unto them, “Cease ye, so that the uncircumcised people may not boast themselves over us, and may not say unto us, ‘Their glory is taken away, and God hath forsaken them.’ Reveal ye not anything else to alien folk. Let us set up these hoards, which are lying here nailed together, and let us cover them over with gold, and let us decorate them after the manner of our Lady Zion, and let us lay the Book of the Law inside it. Jerusalem the free that is in the heavens above us, which Jacob our father saw, is with us, and below it is the Gate of Heaven, this Jerusalem on the earth. If we do the Will of God and His good pleasure, God will be with us, and will deliver us out of the hand of our enemy, and out of the hand of all those who hate us; God’s Will, and not our will, be done, and God’s good pleasure, and not our good pleasure, be done. Through this He hath made us sorrowful. Henceforward His wrath will cool in respect of us, and He will not abandon us to our enemies, and He

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will not remove His mercy far from us, and He will remember the covenant with our fathers Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. He will not make His word to be a lie, and will not break His covenant so that our fathers’ seed shall be destroyed.”

63. How the Nobles of Israel Agreed [with the King]

And then the elders of Israel made answer and said unto him, “May thy good pleasure be done, and the good pleasure of the Lord God! As for us, none of us will transgress thy word, and we will not inform any other people that Zion hath been taken away from us.” And they established this covenant in the House of God—the elders of Israel with their King Solomon unto this day. And Solomon lived [thus] for eleven years after the taking away of Zion from him, and then his heart turned aside from the love of God, and he forgot his wisdom, through his excessive love of women. And he loved very greatly the daughter of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, whose name was Mâ˚shârâ, and he brought her into the house which he had made; and there were figures of the sun, moon, and stars in the roof thereof, and it was illumined by night as brightly as by day. Its beams were made of brass, and its roof of silver) and its panels (?) of lead, and its walls of stone, red with black, and brown with white [and] green; and its floor was of blocks of sapphire stone and sardius. And he used to go and dwell therein through his love for his house and his wife Mâ˚shârâ, the daughter of Pharaoh the king of Egypt.

Now the queen possessed certain idols which her father had given her to bow down before, and because, when Solomon saw her sacrificing to them and worshipping them, he did not rebuke her or forsake her, God was wroth with him, and made him to forget his wisdom. And she multiplied her sacrifices, and her worship, and her folly, according to the stupidity of the Egyptians, and all the people of her house worshipped the idols, and learned the foolish service of idols. And enjoying the pleasure of their foolish service they worshipped with the daughter of Pharaoh, and the children of Israel joined themselves to her, and the women and their handmaidens joined themselves unto her in the worship and foolish

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