THE LEGENDS OF THE JEWS VOLUME III BIBLE TIMES AND CHARACTERS

B >> BY LOUIS GINZBERG >> THE LEGENDS OF THE JEWS VOLUME III BIBLE TIMES AND CHARACTERS

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Prepared by David Reed haradda@aol.com or davidr@inconnect.com

THE LEGENDS OF THE JEWS VOLUME III
BIBLE TIMES AND CHARACTERS FROM THE EXODUS TO
THE DEATH OF MOSES

BY LOUIS GINZBERG

TRANSLATED PROM THE GERMAN MANUSCRIPT BY
PAUL RADIN

REVISER AND PROOF-READER OF VOLUME III, DOCTOR
ISAAC HUSIK

To MY MOTHER
ON THE OCCASION OF HER SEVENTIETH BIRTHDAY

PREFACE

"When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a People
of strange language, Jacob was His sanctuary and Israel His
dominion. Jewish legend attempts to describe how God's
sanctuary, the religion of Israel and His dominion, the beginnings
of Israel as a nation, arose in the time between the Exodus from
Egypt and the entrance into the Holy Land.

Moses is regarded not only as the greatest religious guide of Israel,
but also as its first national leader; he is "the wisest (If the wise,
the father of the prophets," as well as " king in Jeshiurun, when the
heads of the people and the tribes of Israel gathered together."
hence his unique position in Jewish legend, neither Abraham, the
friend of God, nor Solomon, the wisest of all men, nor Elijah, the
helper in time of need. can lay claim to such a position.

Great religious and national institutions like the Sabbath, the
sanctuary, and many other " commandments of God revealed to
Moses " stand in a special relation to his life and work. The
sanctification of the Sabbath became quite a living thing to him
through the miracle of the Manna, and the first sanctuary was
actually erected by Moses. The life of Moses ceased, therefore, to
be a thing of the past and became closely interwoven with the
every-day life of the nation.

The most natural way for the popular mind to connect existing
conditions with the past is the symbolic method. The present
volume contains, therefore, a number of symbolic explanations of
certain laws, as, for instance, the symbolical significance of the
Tabernacle, which, properly speaking, do not belong to the domain
of legend. The life of Moses, as conceived by Jewish legend,
would, however, have been in complete if the lines between
Legend and Symbolism had been kept too strictly. With this
exception the arrangement and presentation of the material in the
third volume is the same as that in the two preceding ones.

LOUIS G1NZBERG.
NEW YORK, March 2, 1911

CONTENTS
PREFACE
MOSES IN THE WILDERNESS.
The Long Route--Pharaoh Pursues the Hebrews--The Sea Divided
--The Passage through the Red Sea--The Destruction of the
Fgyptians--The Song at the Sea-- The Awful Desert--The Heavenly
Food--The Gathering of the Manna--Miriam' s Well--Aniaiek's
War against Israel Amalek Defeated Jethro Installation of Elders--
Jethro Rewarded--The Time is at Hand--The Gentiles Refuse the
Torah The Contest of the Mountains--The Torah Offered to
Israel-- Israel Prepares for the Revelation--The Revelation on
Mount Sinai--The First Commandment--The Other
Commandments Revealed on Sinai-- The Unity of the Ten
Commandments--Moses Chosen as Intermediator--Moses and the
Angels Strive for the Torah--Moses Receives the Torah--The
Golden Calf--Moses Blamed for Israel's Sin--The Punishment of
the Sinners-- Moses Intercedes for the People--The Inscrutable
Ways of the Lord--The Thirteen Attributes of God--The Second
Tables--The Census of the People--The Erection of the Tabernacle
Commanded--The Materials for the Construction of theTabernacle
--Bezalel--The Ark with the Cherubim--The Table and the
Candlestick--The Altar--The Symbolical Significance of the
Tabernacle--The Priestly Robes--The Stones in the
Breastplate--The Completion of the Tabernacle--The Setting up of
the Tabernacle--The Consecration of the Priests--The Day of the
Ten Crowns--The Interrupted Joy--The Gifts of the Princes--The
Revelations in theTabernacle--The Cleansing of the Camp--The
Lighting of the Candlestick--The Twelve Princes of the Tribes--
The Census of the Levites--The Four Divisions of the Levites--The
Four Standards--Thc Camp--The BIasphemer and the
Sabbath-breaker--The Ungrateful Multitude--The Flesh-pots of
Egypt--The Appointment of the Seventy Elders--Eldad and Medad
--The Quails--Aaron and Miriam Slander Moses--Miriam's
Punishment--The Sending of the Spies--Significant Names--The
Spies in Palestine--The Slanderous Report--The Night of Tears--
Ingratitude Punished--The Years of Disfavor--The Rebellion of
Korah--Korah Abuses Moses and the Torah Moses Pleads in Vain
with Korah--Korah and His Horde Punished--On and the Three
Sons of Korah Saved--Israel Convinced of Aaron's Priesthood--The
Waters of Meribah--Moses' Anger Causes His Doom--Edom's
Unbrotherly Attitude toward Israel--The Three
Shepherds--Preparing Aaron for Impending Death--Aaron's
Death--The General Mourning for Aaron--The False Friends--The
Brazen Serpent--At Arnon--Sihon, the King of the Amorites--The
Giant Og--Moses' Speech of Admonition--Balak, King of
Moab--Balaam, the Heathen Prophet--Balak's Messengers to
Bahaam-- Balaam Accepts Balak's Invitation--Baiaam's Ass--
Balaam Runs into His Own Destruction--Balaam with Balak
Balaam's Sacrifices Refused--Balaam Extols Israel--Balaam's
Hopes Disappointed--Curses Turned into Blessings--Balaam's
Wicked Counsel--Phinehas, Zealous for God--Twelve
Miracles--Phinehas Rewarded--The Daughters of Zelophmehad
The appointment of Joshua--Moses' Legacy to Joshua--Moses' last
campaign--The Complete Annihilation of Midian--The Gruesome
End of Balaam-- The Victorious Return from the War--Wealth that
Bringeth Destruction--Moses' Death Irrevocably Doomed--Moses
Prayer for Suspension of Judgment--God Tries to Comfort Moses
Concerning His Death--The Intercessions for Moses--Moses
Serves Joshua--The Last Day of Moses' Life--Moses Beholds the
Future--Moses Meets the Messiah in Heaven--The Last Hours of
Moses The Blessing of Moses--Moses Prays for Death--Samuel
Chastised by Moses--God Kisses Moses' Soul--The Mourning for
Moses--Samuel's Vain Search--Moses Excels All Pious Men.

MOSES IN THE WILDERNESS
TIlE LONG ROUTE
PHARAOH PURSUES THE HEBREWS
THE SEA DIVIDED
TIlE PASSAGE THROUGH THE RED SEA
TIlE DESTRUCTION OF THE EGYPTIANS
THE SONG AT THE SEA
THE AWFUL DESERT
THE HEAVENLY FOOD
THE GATHERING OF THE MANNA
MIRIAM'S WELL
AMALEK' WAR AGAINST ISRAEL
AMALEK DEFEATED
JETHRO
INSTALLATION OF ELDERS
JETHRO REWARDED
THE TIME IS AT HAND
THE GENTILES REFUSE THE TORAH
THE CONTEST OF THE MOUNTAINS
THE TORAH OFFERED TO ISRAEL
ISRAEL PREPARES FOR THE REVELATION
THE REVELATION ON MOUNT SINAI
THE FIRST COMMANDMENT
THE OTHER COMMANDMENTS REVEALED ON SINAI
THE UNITY OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS 104
MOSES CHOSEN AS INTERMEDIATOR
MOSES AND THE ANGELS STRIVE FOR THE TORAH
MOSES RECEIVES THE TORAH
THE GOLDEN CALF
MOSES BLAMED FOR ISRAEL'S SIN
THE PUNISHMENT OF THE SINNERS
MOSES INTERCEDES FOR THE PEOPLE
THE INSCRUTABLE WAYS OF THE LORD
THE THIRTEEN ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
THE SECOND TABLES
THE CENSUS OF THE PEOPLE
THE ERECTION OF THE TABERNACLE COMMANDED
THE MATERIALS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE
TABERNACLE
BEZALEL
THE ARK WITH THE CHERUBIM
THE TABLE AND THE CANDLESTICK
THE ALTAR
THE SYMBOLICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE TABERNACLE
THE PRIESTLY ROBES
THE STONES IN THE BREASTPLATE
THE COMPLETION OF THE TABERNACLE
THE SETTING UP OF THE TABERNACLE
THE CONSECRATION OF THE. PRIESTS
THE DAY OF THE TEN CROWNS
THE INTERRUPTED JOY
THE GIFTS OF THE PRINCES
THE REVELATIONS IN THE TABERNACLE
THE CLEANSING OF THE CAMP
THE LIGHTING OF THE CANDLESTICK
THE TWELVE PRINCES OF THE TRIBES
THE CENSUS OF THE LEVITES
THE FOUR DIVISIONS OF THE LEVITES
THE FOUR STANDARDS
THE CAMP
THE BLASPHEMER AND THE SABBATH-BREAKER
THE UNGRATEFUL MULTITUDE
THE FLESH-POTS OF EGYPT
THE APPOINTMENT OF THE SEVENTY ELDERS
ELDAD AND MEDAD
THE QUAIL
AARON AND MIRIAM SLANDER MOSES
MIRIAM' PUNISHMENT
THE SENDING OF THE SPIES
SIGNIFICANT NAMES
THE SPIES IN PALESTINE
THE SLANDEROUS REPORT
THE NIGHT OF TEARS
INGRATITUDE PUNISHED
THE YEARS OF DISFAVOR
0HE REBELLION OF KORAH
KORAH ABUSES MOSES AND THE TORAH
MOSES PLEADS IN VAIN WITH KORAH
KORAH AND HIS HORDE PUNISHED
ON AND THE THE THREE SONS OF KORAH SAVED
ISRAEL CONVINCED OF AARON'S PRIESTHOOD
THE WATERS OF MERIBAH
MOSES ANGER CAUSES HIS DOOM
EDOM'S UNBROTHHERLY ATTITUDE. TOWARD ISRAEL
THE THREE SHEPHERDS
PREPARING AARON FOR IMPENDING DEATH
AARON'S DEATH
THE GENERAL MOURNING FOR AARON
THE FAI.SE FRIENDS
THE BRAZEN SERPENT
AT ARNON
SIHON, THE KING OF THE AMORITFS
THE GIANT OG
MOSES SPEECH OF ADMONITION
BALAK, KING OF MOAB
BALAAM, THE HEATHEN PROPHET
BALAK'S MESSENGERS TO BALAAM
BALAAM ACCEPTS BALAK'S INVITATION
BALAAM'S ASS
BALAAM RUNS INTO HIS OWN DESTRUCTION
BALAAM WITH BALAK
BALAAM'S SACRIFICES REFUSED
BALAAM EXTOLS ISRAEL
BALAAM'S HOPES DISAPPOINTED
CURSES TURNED TO BLESSINGS
BALAAM'S WICKED COUNSEL
PHINEHAS, ZEALOUS FOR GOD
TWELVE MIRACLES
PHINEHAS REWARDED
THE DAUGHTERS OF ZELOPHEHAD
THE APPOINTMENT OF JOSHUA
MOSES' LEGACY TO JOSHUA
MOSES LAST CAMPAIGN
TIlE COMPLETE ANNIHILATION OF MIDIAN
THE GRUSOME END OF BALAAM
THE VICTORIOUS RETURN FROM TIlE WAR
WEALTH THAT BRINGETH DESTRUCTION
MOSES' DEATH IRREVOCABLY DOOMED
MOSES PRAYER FOR SUSPENSION OF JUDGMENT
GOD TRIES TO COMFORT MOSES CONCERING HIS DEATH
THE INTERCESSIONS FOR MOSES
MOSES SERVES JOSHUA
THE LAST DAY OF MOSES' LIFE
MOSES BEHOLDS THE FUTURE
MOSES MEETS THE MESSIAH IN HEAVEN
THE LAST HOURS OF MOSES
THE BLESSING OF MOSES
MOSES PRAYS FOR DEATH
SAMAEL CHASTISED BY MOSES
GOD KISSES MOSES' SOUL
THE MOURNING FOR MOSES
SAMAEL'S VAIN SEARCH
MOSES EXCELS ALL PIOUS MEN

The Legends of the Jews Volume III
Bible Times and Characters from the Exodus to the Death of
Moses

THE LONG ROUTE

The exodus would have been impossible if Joseph's bones had
remained behind. Therefore Moses made it his concern to seek
their resting-place, while the people had but the one thought of
gathering in the treasures of the Egyptians. [1] But it was not an
easy matter to find Joseph's body. Moses knew that he had been
interred in the mausoleum of the Egyptian kings, but there were so
many other bodies there that it was impossible to identify it.
Moses' mother Jochebed came to his aid. She led him to the very
spot where Joseph's bones lay. As soon as he came near them, he
knew them to be what he was seeking, by the fragrance they
exhaled and spread around. [2] But his difficulties were not at an
end. The question arose, how he was to secure possession of the
remains. Joseph's coffin had been sunk far down into the ground,
and he knew not how to raise it from the depths. Standing at the
edge of the grave, he spoke these words. "Joseph, the time hath
come whereof thou didst say, 'God will surely visit you, and ye
shall carry up my bones from hence.'" No sooner had this reminder
dropped from his lips than the coffin stirred and rose to the
surface.

And even yet the difficulties in Moses' way were not removed
wholly. The Egyptian magicians had stationed two golden dogs at
Joseph's coffin, to keep watch,. and they barked vehemently if
anyone ventured close to it. The noise they made was so loud it
could be heard throughout the land, from end to end, a distance
equal to a forty day's journey. When Moses came near the coffin,
the dogs emitted their warning sound, but he silenced them at once
with words, "Come, ye people, and behold the miracle! The real,
live dogs did not bark, and these counterfeit dogs produced by
magic attempt it!" [3] What he said about real, live dogs and their
refraining from barking had reference to the fact that the dogs of
the Egyptians did not move their tongues against any of the
children of Israel, through they had barked all the time the people
were engaged in burying the bodies of their smitten first-born. As a
reward God gave the Israelites the law, to cast to the dogs the flesh
they themselves are forbidden to eat, for the Lord withholds due
recompense from none of His creatures. [4] Indeed, the dogs
received a double reward, for their excrements are used in tanning
the hides from which the Torah scrolls are made, as well as the
Mezuzot and the phylacteries. [5]

Joseph's coffin in the possession of Moses, the march of the
Israelites could begin. The Egyptians put no manner of obstacle in
their way. Pharaoh himself accompanied them, to make sure that
they were actually leaving the land, [6] and now he was so angry at
his counselors for having advised against letting the Israelites
depart that he slew them. [7]

For several reasons God did not permit the Israelites to travel
along the straight route to the promised land. He desired them to
go to Sinai first and take the law upon themselves there, and,
besides, the time divinely appointed for the occupation of the land
by the Gentiles had not yet elapsed. Over and above all this, the
long sojourn in the wilderness was fraught with profit for the
Israelites, spiritually and materially. If they had reached Palestine
directly after leaving Egypt, they would have devoted themselves
entirely each to the cultivation of his allotted parcel of ground, and
no time would have been left for the study of the Torah. In the
wilderness they were relieved of the necessity of providing for
their daily wants, and they would give all their efforts to acquiring
the law. On the whole, it would not have been advantageous to
process at once to the Holy Land and take possession thereof, for
when the Canaanites heard that the Israelites were making for
Palestine, they burnt the crops, felled the trees, destroyed the
buildings, and choked the water springs, all in order to render the
land uninhabitable. Hereupon God spake, and said: "I did not
promise their fathers to give a devastated land unto their see, but a
land full of all good things. I will lead them about in the
wilderness for forty years, and meanwhile the Canaanites will have
time to repair the damage they have done." [8] Moreover, the
many miracles preformed for the Israelites during the journey
through the wilderness had made their terror to fall upon the other
nations, and their hearts melted, and there remained no more spirit
in any man. They did not venture to attack the Israelites, and the
conquest of the land was all the easier. [9]

Nor does this exhaust the list of reasons for preferring the longer
route through the desert. Abraham had sworn a solemn oath to live
at peace with the Philistines during a certain period, and the end of
the term had not yet arrived. Besides, there was the fear that the
sight of the land of the Philistines would awaken sad recollections
in the Israelites, and drive them back into Egypt speedily, for once
upon a time it had been the scene of a bitter disappointment to
them. they had spent one hundred and eighty years in Egypt, in
peace and prosperity, not in the least molested by the people.
Suddenly Ganon came, a descendant of Joseph, of the tribe of
Ephraim, and he spake, "The Lord hat appeared unto me, and He
bade me lead you forth out of Egypt." The Ephraimites were the
only ones to heed his words. Proud of their royal lineage as direct
descendants of Joseph, and confident to their valor in war, for they
were great heroes, they left the land and betook themselves to
Palestine. [10] They Carried only weapons and gold and silver.
They had taken no provisions, because they expected to buy food
and drink on the way or capture them by force if the owners would
not part with them for money.

After a day's march they found themselves in the neighborhood of
Gath, at the place where the shepherds employed by the residents
of the city gathered with the flocks. the Ephraimites asked them to
sell them some sheep, which they expected to slaughter in order to
satisfy their hunger with them, but the shepherds refused to have
business dealings with them, saying, "Are the sheep ours, or does
the cattle belong to us, that we could part with them for money?"
Seeing that they could not gain their point by kindness, the
Ephraimites used force. The outcries of the shepherds brought the
people of Gath to their aid. A violent encounter, lasting a whole
day, took place between the Israelites and the Philistines. The
people of Gath realized that alone they would not be able to offer
successful resistance to the Ephraimites, and they summoned the
people of the other Philistine cities to join them. The following
day an army of forty thousand stood ready to oppose the
Ephraimites. Reduced in strength, as they were, by their three days'
fast, they were exterminated root and branch. Only ten of them
escaped with their bare life, and returned to Egypt, to bring
Ephraim word of the disaster that had overtaken his posterity, and
he mourned many days.

This abortive attempt of the Ephraimites to leave Egypt was the
first occasion for oppressing Israel. Thereafter the Egyptians
exercised force and vigilance to keep them in their land. As for the
disaster of the Ephraimites, it was well-merited punishment,
because they had paid no heed to the wish of the father Joseph,
who had adjured his descendants solemnly on his deathbed not to
think of quitting the land until the redeemer should appear. Their
death was followed by disgrace, for their bodies lay unburied for
many years on the battlefield near Gath, and the purpose of God in
directing the Israelites to choose the longer route from Egypt to
Canaan, was to spare them the sight of those dishonored corpses.
Their courage might have deserted them, and out of apprehension
of sharing the fate of their brethren they might have hastened back
to the land of slavery. [11]

PHARAOH PURSUES THE HEBREWS

When Pharaoh permitted Israel to depart, he was under the
impression that they were going only a three days' journey into the
wilderness for the purpose of offering sacrifices. He sent officers
with them, whose duty was to bring them back at the appointed
time. The exodus took place on a Thursday. On the following
Sunday the king's watchers noticed that the Israelites, so far from
preparing for a return, were making arrangements looking to a
long sojourn in the desert. They remonstrated and urged them to go
back. The Israelites maintained that Pharaoh had dismissed them
for good, but the officers would not be put off with their mere
assertions. They said, "Willy-nilly, you will have to do as the
powers that be command." To such arrogance the Israelites would
not submit, and they fell upon the officers, slaying some and
wounding others. The maimed survivors went back to Egypt, and
report the contumacy of the Israelites to Pharaoh. Meantime
Moses, who did not desire the departure of his people to have the
appearance of flight before the Egyptians, gave the signal to turn
back to Pi-hahiroth. Those of little faith among the Israelites tore
their hair and their garments in desperation, though Moses assured
them that by the word of God they were free men, and no longer
slaves to Pharaoh. [12] Accordingly, they retraced their steps to
Pi-hahiroth, where two rectangular rocks form an opening, within
which the great sanctuary of Baal-zephon was situated. The rocks
are shaped like human figures, the one a man and the other a
woman, and they were not chiseled by human hands, but by the
Creator Himself. The place had been called Pithom in earlier
times, but later, on account of the idols set up there, it received the
name Hahiroth. Of set purpose God had left Baal-zephon
uninjured, alone of all the Egyptian idols. He wanted the Egyptian
people to think that this idol was possessed of exceeding might,
which it exercised to prevent the Israelites from journeying on. To
confirm them in their illusory belief, God caused wild beasts to
obstruct the road to the wilderness, and they took it for granted
that their idol Baal-zephon had ordained their appearance. [13]

Pi-hahiroth was famous, besides, on account of the treasures
heaped up there. The wealth of the world which Joseph had
acquired through the sale of corn he had stored up during the seven
years of plenty, he had divided into three parts. The first part he
surrendered to Pharaoh. The second part he concealed in the
wilderness, where it was found by Korah, though it disappeared
again, not to come to view until the Messianic time, and then it
will be for the benefit of the pious. The third part Joseph hid in the
sanctuary of Baal-zephon, whence the Hebrews carried it off as
booty. [14]

When Amalek and the magicians brought the information to
Pharaoh, that the Israelites had resolved not to return to Egypt, his
heart and the heart of his whole people turned against them. The
very counselors that had persuaded him to dismiss the children of
Israel spake now as follows: " If we had only been smitten with the
plaques, we could have resigned ourselves to our fate. Or if,
besides being smitten with the plagues, we had been compelled to
let the Hebrews depart from the land, that, too, we could have been
borne with patience. But to be smitten with the plagues, to be
compelled to let our slaves depart from us, and to sit by and see
them go off with our riches, that is more than we can endure."

Now that the children of Israel had gone from them the Egyptians
recognized how valuable an element they had been in their
country. In general, the time of the exodus of Israel was disastrous
for their former masters. In addition to losing their dominion over
the Israelites, the Egyptians had to deal with mutinies that broke
out among many other nations tributary to them, for hitherto
Pharaoh had been the ruler of the whole world. The king resorted
to blandishments and promises, to induce the people to make war
against the Israelites, saying, "As a rule the army marches forth
first, and the king follows in security, but I will precede you; and
as a rule the king has the first choice of the booty, and as much of
it as he desires, but I will take no more than any one of you, and on
my return from the war I will divide my treasures of silver, gold,
and precious stones among you."

In his zeal Pharaoh did not wait to have his chariot made ready for
him he did it with his own hands, and his nobles followed his
example. [15] Samael granted Pharaoh assistance, putting six
hundred chariots manned with his own hosts at his disposal. [16]
These formed the vanguard, and they were joined by all the
Egyptians, with their vast assemblages of chariots and warriors, no
less than three hundred of their men to one of the children of
Israel, each equipped with their different sorts of weapons. The
general custom was for two charioteers to take turns at driving a
car, but to overtake the Israelites more surely and speedily,
Pharaoh ordered three to be assigned to each. The result was that
they covered in one day the ground which it had taken the
Israelites three to traverse.

The mind of the Egyptians was in no wise directed toward spoil
and plunder in this expedition. Their sole and determined purpose
was to exterminate Israel, kith and kin. As the heathen lay great
stress upon omens when they are about to start out on a campaign,
God caused all their preparations to proceed smoothly, without the
slightest untoward circumstance. Everything pointed to a happy
issue. [17] Pharaoh, himself an adept in magic, had a presentiment
that dire misfortune would befall the children of Israel in the
wilderness, that they would lose Moses there, and there the whole
generation that had departed from Egypt would find its grave.
Therefore he spoke to Dathan and Abiram, who remained behind
in Egypt, saying: "Moses is leading them, but he himself knows not
whither. Verily, the congregation of Israel will lift up their voice in
the wilderness, and cry, and there they will be destroyed." He
thought naturally that these visions had reference to an imminent
future, to the time of his meeting with his dismissed slaves. But his
error was profound - he was hurrying forward to his own
destruction. [18]

When he reached the sanctuary of Baal-zephon, Pharaoh, in his joy
at finding him spared while all the other idols in Egypt had been
annihilated, lost no time, but hastened to offer sacrifices to him,
and he was comforted, "for," he said, "Baal-zephon approves my
purpose of drowning the children of Israel in the sea." [19]

When the Israelites beheld the huge detachments of the Egyptian
army moving upon them, and when they considered that in Migdol
there were other troops stationed, besides, more, indeed, than their
own numbers, men, women, and children all told, great terror
overwhelmed them. [20] What affrighted them most, was the sight
of the Angel of Egypt darting through the air as he flew to the
assistance of the people under his tutelage. They turned to Moses,
saying: "What has thou done to us? Now they will requite us for all
that hath happened - that their first-born were smitten, and that we
ran off with their money, which was thy fault, for thou didst bid up
borrow gold and silver from our Egyptian neighbors and depart
with their property."

The situation of the Israelites was desperate. Before them was the
sea, behind them the Egyptians, on both sides the wild beasts of
the desert. [21] The wicked among them spoke to Moses, saying,
"While we were in Egypt, we said to thee and to Aaron, 'The Lord
look upon you, and judge, because ye have made our savor to be
abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of his servants, to
put a sword in their hand to slay us.' Then there died many of our
brethren during the days of darkness, which was worse than the
bondage in which the Egyptians kept us. Nevertheless our fate in
the desert will be sadder than theirs. They at least were mourned,
and their bodies ere buried, but our corpses will lie exposed,
consumed in the day by drought and by frost in the night."

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