Antiquities Book 3, Chapter 5
How Moses Ascended Up To Mount Sinai, And Received Laws From God, And Delivered Them To The Hebrews.
1. Now Moses called the multitude together, and told them that he was
going from them unto mount Sinai to converse with God; to receive from
him, and to bring back with him, a certain oracle; but he enjoined them
to pitch their tents near the mountain, and prefer the habitation that
was nearest to God, before one more remote. When he had said this, he
ascended up to Mount Sinai, which is the highest of all the mountains
that are in that country 9 and is not only very difficult to be ascended
by men, on account of its vast altitude, but because of the sharpness of
its precipices also; nay, indeed, it cannot be looked at without pain of
the eyes: and besides this, it was terrible and inaccessible, on account
of the rumor that passed about, that God dwelt there. But the Hebrews
removed their tents as Moses had bidden them, and took possession of the
lowest parts of the mountain; and were elevated in their minds, in
expectation that Moses would return from God with promises of the good
things he had proposed to them. So they feasted and waited for their
conductor, and kept themselves pure as in other respects, and not
accompanying with their wives for three days, as he had before ordered
them to do. And they prayed to God that he would favorably receive Moses
in his conversing with him, and bestow some such gift upon them by which
they might live well. They also lived more plentifully as to their diet;
and put on their wives and children more ornamental and decent clothing
than they usually wore.
2. So they passed two days in this way of feasting; but on the third
day, before the sun was up, a cloud spread itself over the whole camp of
the Hebrews, such a one as none had before seen, and encompassed the
place where they had pitched their tents; and while all the rest of the
air was clear, there came strong winds, that raised up large showers of
rain, which became a mighty tempest. There was also such lightning, as
was terrible to those that saw it; and thunder, with its thunderbolts,
were sent down, and declared God to be there present in a gracious way
to such as Moses desired he should be gracious. Now, as to these
matters, every one of my readers may think as he pleases; but I am under
a necessity of relating this history as it is described in the sacred
books. This sight, and the amazing sound that came to their ears,
disturbed the Hebrews to a prodigious degree, for they were not such as
they were accustomed to; and then the rumor that was spread abroad, how
God frequented that mountain, greatly astonished their minds, so they
sorrowfully contained themselves within their tents, as both supposing
Moses to be destroyed by the Divine wrath, and expecting the like
destruction for themselves.
3. When they were under these apprehensions, Moses appeared as joyful
and greatly exalted. When they saw him, they were freed from their fear,
and admitted of more comfortable hopes as to what was to come. The air
also was become clear and pure of its former disorders, upon the
appearance of Moses; whereupon he called together the people to a
congregation, in order to their hearing what God would say to them: and
when they were gathered together, he stood on an eminence whence they
might all hear him, and said, "God has received me graciously, O
Hebrews, as he has formerly done; and has suggested a happy method of
living for you, and an order of political government, and is now present
in the camp: I therefore charge you, for his sake and the sake of his
works, and what we have done by his means, that you do not put a low
value on what I am going to say, because the commands have been given by
me that now deliver them to you, nor because it is the tongue of a man
that delivers them to you; but if you have a due regard to the great
importance of the things themselves, you will understand the greatness
of Him whose institutions they are, and who has not disdained to
communicate them to me for our common advantage; for it is not to be
supposed that the author of these institutions is barely Moses, the son
of Amram and Jochebed, but He who obliged the Nile to run bloody for
your sakes, and tamed the haughtiness of the Egyptians by various sorts
of judgments; he who provided a way through the sea for us; he who
contrived a method of sending us food from heaven, when we were
distressed for want of it; he who made the water to issue out of a rock,
when we had very little of it before; he by whose means Adam was made to
partake of the fruits both of the land and of the sea; he by whose means
Noah escaped the deluge; he by whose means our forefather Abraham, of a
wandering pilgrim, was made the heir of the land of Canaan; he by whose
means Isaac was born of parents that were very old; he by whose means
Jacob was adorned with twelve virtuous sons; he by whose means Joseph
became a potent lord over the Egyptians; he it is who conveys these
instructions to you by me as his interpreter. And let them be to you
venerable, and contended for more earnestly by you than your own
children and your own wives; for if you will follow them, you will lead
a happy life you will enjoy the land fruitful, the sea calm, and the
fruit of the womb born complete, as nature requires; you will be also
terrible to your enemies for I have been admitted into the presence of
God and been made a hearer of his incorruptible voice so great is his
concern for your nation, and its duration."
4. When he had said this, he brought the people, with their wives and
children, so near the mountain, that they might hear God himself
speaking to them about the precepts which they were to practice; that
the energy of what should be spoken might not be hurt by its utterance
by that tongue of a man, which could but imperfectly deliver it to their
understanding. And they all heard a voice that came to all of them from
above, insomuch that no one of these words escaped them, which Moses
wrote on two tables; which it is not lawful for us to set down directly,
but their import we will declare 10
5. The first commandment teaches us that there is but one God, and that
we ought to worship him only. The second commands us not to make the
image of any living creature to worship it. The third, that we must not
swear by God in a false matter. The fourth, that we must keep the
seventh day, by resting from all sorts of work. The fifth, that we must
honor our parents. The sixth that we must abstain from murder. The
seventh that we must not commit adultery. The eighth, that we must not
be guilty of theft. The ninth, that we must not bear false witness. The
tenth, that we must not admit of the desire of any thing that is
another's.
6. Now when the multitude had heard God himself giving those precepts
which Moses had discoursed of, they rejoiced at what was said; and the
congregation was dissolved: but on the following days they came to his
tent, and desired him to bring them, besides, other laws from God.
Accordingly he appointed such laws, and afterwards informed them in what
manner they should act in all cases; which laws I shall make mention of
in their proper time; but I shall reserve most of those laws for another
work, 11 and make there a distinct explication of them.
7. When matters were brought to this state, Moses went up again to Mount
Sinai, of which he had told them beforehand. He made his ascent in their
sight; and while he staid there so long a time, [for he was absent from
them forty days,] fear seized upon the Hebrews, lest Moses should have
come to any harm; nor was there any thing else so sad, and that so much
troubled them, as this supposal that Moses was perished. Now there was a
variety in their sentiments about it; some saying that he was fallen
among wild beasts; and those that were of this opinion were chiefly such
as were ill-disposed to him; but others said that he was departed, and
gone to God; but the wiser sort were led by their reason to embrace
neither of those opinions with any satisfaction, thinking, that as it
was a thing that sometimes happens to men to fall among wild beasts and
perish that way, so it was probable enough that he might depart and go
to God, on account of his virtue; they therefore were quiet, and
expected the event: yet were they exceeding sorry upon the supposal that
they were deprived of a governor and a protector, such a one indeed as
they could never recover again; nor would this suspicion give them leave
to expect any comfortable event about this man, nor could they prevent
their trouble and melancholy upon this occasion. However, the camp durst
not remove all this while, because Moses had bidden them afore to stay
there.
8. But when the forty days, and as many nights, were over, Moses came
down, having tasted nothing of food usually appointed for the
nourishment of men. His appearance filled the army with gladness, and he
declared to them what care God had of them, and by what manner of
conduct of their lives they might live happily; telling them, that
during these days of his absence he had suggested to him also that he
would have a tabernacle built for him, into which he would descend when
he came to them, and how we should carry it about with us when we remove
from this place; and that there would be no longer any occasion for
going up to Mount Sinai, but that he would himself come and pitch his
tabernacle amongst us, and be present at our prayers; as also, that the
tabernacle should be of such measures and construction as he had shown
him, and that you are to fall to the work, and prosecute it diligently.
When he had said this, he showed them the two tables, with the ten
commandments engraven upon them, five upon each table; and the writing
was by the hand of God.
going from them unto mount Sinai to converse with God; to receive from
him, and to bring back with him, a certain oracle; but he enjoined them
to pitch their tents near the mountain, and prefer the habitation that
was nearest to God, before one more remote. When he had said this, he
ascended up to Mount Sinai, which is the highest of all the mountains
that are in that country 9 and is not only very difficult to be ascended
by men, on account of its vast altitude, but because of the sharpness of
its precipices also; nay, indeed, it cannot be looked at without pain of
the eyes: and besides this, it was terrible and inaccessible, on account
of the rumor that passed about, that God dwelt there. But the Hebrews
removed their tents as Moses had bidden them, and took possession of the
lowest parts of the mountain; and were elevated in their minds, in
expectation that Moses would return from God with promises of the good
things he had proposed to them. So they feasted and waited for their
conductor, and kept themselves pure as in other respects, and not
accompanying with their wives for three days, as he had before ordered
them to do. And they prayed to God that he would favorably receive Moses
in his conversing with him, and bestow some such gift upon them by which
they might live well. They also lived more plentifully as to their diet;
and put on their wives and children more ornamental and decent clothing
than they usually wore.
2. So they passed two days in this way of feasting; but on the third
day, before the sun was up, a cloud spread itself over the whole camp of
the Hebrews, such a one as none had before seen, and encompassed the
place where they had pitched their tents; and while all the rest of the
air was clear, there came strong winds, that raised up large showers of
rain, which became a mighty tempest. There was also such lightning, as
was terrible to those that saw it; and thunder, with its thunderbolts,
were sent down, and declared God to be there present in a gracious way
to such as Moses desired he should be gracious. Now, as to these
matters, every one of my readers may think as he pleases; but I am under
a necessity of relating this history as it is described in the sacred
books. This sight, and the amazing sound that came to their ears,
disturbed the Hebrews to a prodigious degree, for they were not such as
they were accustomed to; and then the rumor that was spread abroad, how
God frequented that mountain, greatly astonished their minds, so they
sorrowfully contained themselves within their tents, as both supposing
Moses to be destroyed by the Divine wrath, and expecting the like
destruction for themselves.
3. When they were under these apprehensions, Moses appeared as joyful
and greatly exalted. When they saw him, they were freed from their fear,
and admitted of more comfortable hopes as to what was to come. The air
also was become clear and pure of its former disorders, upon the
appearance of Moses; whereupon he called together the people to a
congregation, in order to their hearing what God would say to them: and
when they were gathered together, he stood on an eminence whence they
might all hear him, and said, "God has received me graciously, O
Hebrews, as he has formerly done; and has suggested a happy method of
living for you, and an order of political government, and is now present
in the camp: I therefore charge you, for his sake and the sake of his
works, and what we have done by his means, that you do not put a low
value on what I am going to say, because the commands have been given by
me that now deliver them to you, nor because it is the tongue of a man
that delivers them to you; but if you have a due regard to the great
importance of the things themselves, you will understand the greatness
of Him whose institutions they are, and who has not disdained to
communicate them to me for our common advantage; for it is not to be
supposed that the author of these institutions is barely Moses, the son
of Amram and Jochebed, but He who obliged the Nile to run bloody for
your sakes, and tamed the haughtiness of the Egyptians by various sorts
of judgments; he who provided a way through the sea for us; he who
contrived a method of sending us food from heaven, when we were
distressed for want of it; he who made the water to issue out of a rock,
when we had very little of it before; he by whose means Adam was made to
partake of the fruits both of the land and of the sea; he by whose means
Noah escaped the deluge; he by whose means our forefather Abraham, of a
wandering pilgrim, was made the heir of the land of Canaan; he by whose
means Isaac was born of parents that were very old; he by whose means
Jacob was adorned with twelve virtuous sons; he by whose means Joseph
became a potent lord over the Egyptians; he it is who conveys these
instructions to you by me as his interpreter. And let them be to you
venerable, and contended for more earnestly by you than your own
children and your own wives; for if you will follow them, you will lead
a happy life you will enjoy the land fruitful, the sea calm, and the
fruit of the womb born complete, as nature requires; you will be also
terrible to your enemies for I have been admitted into the presence of
God and been made a hearer of his incorruptible voice so great is his
concern for your nation, and its duration."
4. When he had said this, he brought the people, with their wives and
children, so near the mountain, that they might hear God himself
speaking to them about the precepts which they were to practice; that
the energy of what should be spoken might not be hurt by its utterance
by that tongue of a man, which could but imperfectly deliver it to their
understanding. And they all heard a voice that came to all of them from
above, insomuch that no one of these words escaped them, which Moses
wrote on two tables; which it is not lawful for us to set down directly,
but their import we will declare 10
5. The first commandment teaches us that there is but one God, and that
we ought to worship him only. The second commands us not to make the
image of any living creature to worship it. The third, that we must not
swear by God in a false matter. The fourth, that we must keep the
seventh day, by resting from all sorts of work. The fifth, that we must
honor our parents. The sixth that we must abstain from murder. The
seventh that we must not commit adultery. The eighth, that we must not
be guilty of theft. The ninth, that we must not bear false witness. The
tenth, that we must not admit of the desire of any thing that is
another's.
6. Now when the multitude had heard God himself giving those precepts
which Moses had discoursed of, they rejoiced at what was said; and the
congregation was dissolved: but on the following days they came to his
tent, and desired him to bring them, besides, other laws from God.
Accordingly he appointed such laws, and afterwards informed them in what
manner they should act in all cases; which laws I shall make mention of
in their proper time; but I shall reserve most of those laws for another
work, 11 and make there a distinct explication of them.
7. When matters were brought to this state, Moses went up again to Mount
Sinai, of which he had told them beforehand. He made his ascent in their
sight; and while he staid there so long a time, [for he was absent from
them forty days,] fear seized upon the Hebrews, lest Moses should have
come to any harm; nor was there any thing else so sad, and that so much
troubled them, as this supposal that Moses was perished. Now there was a
variety in their sentiments about it; some saying that he was fallen
among wild beasts; and those that were of this opinion were chiefly such
as were ill-disposed to him; but others said that he was departed, and
gone to God; but the wiser sort were led by their reason to embrace
neither of those opinions with any satisfaction, thinking, that as it
was a thing that sometimes happens to men to fall among wild beasts and
perish that way, so it was probable enough that he might depart and go
to God, on account of his virtue; they therefore were quiet, and
expected the event: yet were they exceeding sorry upon the supposal that
they were deprived of a governor and a protector, such a one indeed as
they could never recover again; nor would this suspicion give them leave
to expect any comfortable event about this man, nor could they prevent
their trouble and melancholy upon this occasion. However, the camp durst
not remove all this while, because Moses had bidden them afore to stay
there.
8. But when the forty days, and as many nights, were over, Moses came
down, having tasted nothing of food usually appointed for the
nourishment of men. His appearance filled the army with gladness, and he
declared to them what care God had of them, and by what manner of
conduct of their lives they might live happily; telling them, that
during these days of his absence he had suggested to him also that he
would have a tabernacle built for him, into which he would descend when
he came to them, and how we should carry it about with us when we remove
from this place; and that there would be no longer any occasion for
going up to Mount Sinai, but that he would himself come and pitch his
tabernacle amongst us, and be present at our prayers; as also, that the
tabernacle should be of such measures and construction as he had shown
him, and that you are to fall to the work, and prosecute it diligently.
When he had said this, he showed them the two tables, with the ten
commandments engraven upon them, five upon each table; and the writing
was by the hand of God.