Literal Commentary on Exodus

The literal commentary on the second book of the Torah, from the books of the commentaries, by the effort of Mar Dionysius bar Salibi. First, the reason for the title "Exodus." For what is narrated in this book, O my brother, the word "Exodus" is presented and interpreted, as the title of the work. In chapters, this book is also written, because it was plainly written in the book before this one: the literal and spiritual commentaries of the Old and New Testaments, and the doctrines of all the teachers, were contained in those books. But here, it is brief because of the simplicity of the meaning. Also, know this: that what is recorded in this book is the completion of the sacrifices that Abraham offered. Just as Abraham offered three kinds of animals, in the covenant with God, three generations were enslaved. And just as the twelve limbs, he established twelve tribes. And just as after the enslavement of the Egyptians in the desert, so also the love of the beloved ones. Like this book, the number of years from the coming of Jesus to their entry into Egypt until the Tabernacle was built. Moses wrote this book after the revelation on Mount Sinai, at the time when the nations were serving the Tabernacle. First, he wrote the book of Genesis, and after it, this one, and then the book of the priests, because after the completion of the Tabernacle, it was necessary that the priests serve, and how they should serve. But the book of Leviticus and the Law, at the end of his life, he wrote after the history of Balaam.

...these are the names of the sons of Israel who went up to Egypt with Jacob. It is not necessary to list their names, so that nothing be omitted from this book that pertains to the narrative which was not written. He placed the heading of this book after the conclusion of the first one. These are the names of the sons of Jacob, who was called Israel, and God brought them down to Egypt, and they were to be taken out of it. A man, his household, and his offspring. A new king arose, a new one, who was called that because he was the first enemy of the Hebrews. And again, new, because he issued a new decree against them, that they should be enslaved and their male children killed. This Pharaoh, whose name was Apelmeyotus, the father of Ra'usa, who raised Moses in Iopolis, that is, the City of the Sun, was deliberating. He did not know Joseph, nor did he wish to remember the kindness of Joseph toward the Egyptians; even at the end he did not know him. A hundred years had passed. However, he had heard of his goodness. Thus it became known to them: "Peace be with you, and your thoughts, and a portion of destruction was prepared for them, lest it be too great and be recounted concerning them." And they set over them evil rulers, Egyptian rulers, and these Egyptians set over them rulers from among the wicked Hebrew men themselves, so that when they wept over their brothers, they would be restrained by their own hands. And the reason was the hatred of the Egyptians toward the Hebrews, and not freedom, but rather from God, so that they would not remain there, as when their hearts were turned to hate them, to help their own people.

And the king said to the midwives secretly, “Call Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, and command her to kill the children.” But the midwives feared God more than the king’s command. They made houses for them, that is, they established a shelter for them in the caves, as one who makes a faithful house for himself. Or because Pharaoh had become angry with them and destroyed their houses, they made other houses for them. For when the word reached the Hebrews, the midwives hid in their houses, and the fathers of the children who were ordered to be killed were providing for them and clothing them. The midwives called the mothers, as those who receive the infants, and they themselves were the cause of their lives. Houses of caves, houses of concealment, and treasuries. And a man from the house of Levi went, that is, Amram. Here the story of Moses concerning his birth begins. And concerning the fact that his mother saw that he was beautiful in the beauty of his limbs, also the grace of God and his trustworthiness were with him.

They fled, being driven from the land of Egypt. The ark was of rushes, smeared with pitch. She placed the ark in the reeds, in the shallow waters, in a place of water on dry land, so that when she placed it in the depth, the sole of her foot would not be wetted by the water of the river. And Miriam, the sister of Moses, stood to see what would become of her brother. She is called his sister, according to the custom of Scripture, because Miriam was younger than Moses, and at that time she had not yet been born. Others say that she is called the sister of his mother; others say that she is called the sister of his mother; others say that she is called the sister of Miriam, because she was older than him in years. The daughter of Pharaoh who saved Moses from the water was called Thermouthis, and she was the wife of Chaphra, king of Memphis. And after the death of Thermouthis, her husband sought to kill Moses, and he sent one of the Egyptians to stir up a quarrel with Moses and kill him. But that Egyptian began to strike a certain Hebrew before Moses. Moses, however, was wearing a tunic and killed that Egyptian. And this was the cause of his flight. Others say that Chaphra, the husband of Thermouthis, was angry with Moses because he had killed the Egyptian whose name was Caeliustus. And when Thermouthis died, Moses feared Chaphra and fled. Thermouthis gave Moses a Hebrew name, so that when he grew up, he would not think that he was her son. And for this reason he was raised and educated. She named him with a name that proclaimed his Hebrew identity and the goodness that was with him. Moses is Hebrew for “water” and “saved.” She is She, or Shala, or Moses, Shala from the water, interpreted.

and saw the Egyptian, as he was striking the Hebrew, striking him. Moses, wearing a tunic, struck and killed the Egyptian with a sword or with the sword of his people, because he had made war with Aithiopes the king, and Hermopolis was subject to him. The Hebrew, however, Moses saved from the blow. Moses concealed the matter concerning himself, that with the Hebrew he had killed him; this, however, when he did not expect concealment, he went and revealed concerning Moses. Others say that Moses, having saved him, went to his parents and showed the kindness that he had done for him, and from one to another, when the word was heard and went up to Pharaoh, because the man was known, the Egyptian who was killed. Moses, however, fled to Midian, because Pharaoh had no authority over it. Moses was not guilty of murder, because he acted on behalf of his people who were being killed by their hands in the water, and on account of this he killed the Egyptian. And another thing: when this was heard, he fled from Egypt and its customs, and in the wilderness of forty years he was trained in inquiry and in the desert and in excellent conduct, and he was prepared for divine revelations, and he overthrew Pharaoh, who killed the wicked and enslaved the people of death. But another Pharaoh was condemned and drowned because of the pursuit of that one. Moses, when he went to Arabia to Jethro, took a wife, and two sons were born to him. The name of one is Gershom, that is, exile. And the other, Eliezer, that is, God helped, on account of the help that came to him from God the revealer. Jethro is a natural name; Reuel, the shepherd of God. The sons of Qenite, who are from Qenite the city; Bar Chobab, from his tribe; Shema, God heard their prayer, that is, prayer and supplication, one prayer, a groan that is from the heart.

and saw God and knew God, that this vision was of affliction and distress, and he knew what kind of judgment was prepared for them. Moses was tending the flocks of Jethro, preparing the sacrifice for the liberation of Israel, because the sacrifice of servitude had been completed for him. And he came to the mountain of God, to Horeb, which is very far, a mountain distant from the city. Horeb is called a desert waste. And concerning the desolation of the mountain, he inquires: my help is upon the name of the bush and the water, for there was water in that mountain and trees. Because the bush does not burn, except with much water, for the trees are thorny. He saw that the bush was being consumed by the fire, that is, by the bush he inquires about the weakness of the children of Israel. And by the fire and the flame, about the anger of the Egyptians against the Hebrews. This, that the bush did not burn, signifies the divine protection over the Hebrews, who were greatly oppressed by the Egyptians and were not consumed. Finally, when he was able, as if by a garment, to have destroyed the wicked Egyptians, yet with mercy he was moved toward the Egyptians who had already repented. Again, because as in a furnace of Egypt the Hebrews were cast, it is fitting that by fire and bush it was clearly shown, as a type of the vision in Moses, and he learned concerning the afflictions of his people and remembered them. Again, and concerning the fire that was shown to Abraham when he made a covenant with him.

Remove your sandals from your feet, because the holy place is the place of the divine presence. And he began to take his flock to the pastures of his father-in-law, which were the pastures of the servant, and he was circumcised and barefoot, and it was fitting for him to stand before his master. It was not an angel that spoke with Moses, but the angel of the great flock of the father. And it is known from what is said, that he saw the Lord who turned aside to see, and called him God from within the bush. And also the Son spoke with Moses, but the Father and the Spirit spoke with him because of the unity of the essence of the Godhead. For without interruption God is near to all, and also the form of the fire clothed the bush and spoke with him. But he did not remain in the bush as an angel and Lord and God. The mystery of the three hypostases was revealed in the vision, because the Son was to become incarnate and be called an angel. Concerning this, from the beginning the book begins to reveal the mystery, and it was not seen simply, but in the form of fire that appeared to Moses. The form of the fire consumed the bush, as Moses turned aside and showed a change. For the change of the form that appeared to Abraham and Isaac was like a beginning, and to Moses finally it is made known that fire is not visible except in something that is not grasped, which restrains all that hastens. Thus God is not visible and not grasped, and restrains all and hastens all. Do not approach here; it is enough for you to hear the voice, to approach the bush for sight and touch, but do not hear. Remove your sandals; remove your shoes from your worldly things and from the world by means of asceticism, even to the small things that are sought in the world. He commanded that he remove from himself not only the care of all things, even to the streets, but also the small thoughts that are cast down. The place where you stand is holy.

It is because she speaks with God. The place for which she spoke with you, O holy God, is that place for which it is fitting that I send you. It is very right that it be holy and that you drive away the earthly passions from it. In the vision in which the God of Abraham and of Isaac bound the names together with the sign of the letter waw, and showed that three persons are one substance. Again, by means of the fire, he was preparing to make the offering upon the altar, and by the bush, concerning the ground that was with the earth. Concerning the fire, whether it is natural or not. If it is not natural, then what is it? It is a mystery, and God appeared to Moses, turning others away from them, that God appeared to Abraham in a mystery, showing him three men in a vision, not in nature. Again, the bush was becoming a virgin, and the fire was for the word that began. Moses hid his face, not because of fear, but so that the fire would not consume him, which he saw was not burning the bush. Because he was afraid that the fire might burn the vision of him when he approached to burn in his work. Again, he hides his face because of fear and not because of shame, which he said, "I saw," not in a revealed manner did I perceive it, indicating his vanity, when with a standing that is not moved and the crown of his house is not shaken.

The land of milk and honey, by these two words, hints at all good things. By milk, it means the good things of animals, cattle, and the like, which are necessary; by honey, it means the good things of heaven and earth. But it is not that his power went forth to be known, but rather he mixed with them the unshakeable truth of his faith. For in that he sent him, in that he did not wish to go to Egypt, and he looked upon the smallness and hardness of the people and the wickedness of the Egyptians, and he sought to learn the name of God, because in that many mighty deeds are done, while the name of God falls upon all of them, yet each has its own proper quality. Concerning this, Moses asked to learn the proper name of God. The Lord answered him: I am who I am. That is, I am the one who is. By this he showed that the name that indicates his nature does not exist. I am who I am, that is, the one who is, and he who causes to be. I am who I am, that is, being eternally, in distinction from those who, when they are not, are called gods, nor are they anything else. But he who is, is being, to whom existence belongs. I am who I am, as it is written, the being of him who is being sends me. That name is this: the works that are made can say of them that they are, without beginning and without end. And behold, this is the name that suffices me. For the name of God is greater than the name of Lord.

The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—He is one, and He is eternal. He is not three gods, but one God, for He is one in His being. There is a distinction between the hypostases and the essence. He is the one who made the plagues; for even the plagues and the afflictions are from His nature. He brings up the cause, so that they do not think that there are other gods who perform the afflictions. And likewise, the plagues and death are not God, but the execution of a command. Thus also the cause of the afflictions. The Israelite woman asked her neighbor about the wages of their work, their requests, and the service of the Egyptians. They took vessels of gold and silver from them. And they went out to the exodus because of the love of the Egyptians. He also knew that they were about to return to Egypt, so he commanded that they not be able to take from the desert when they returned, just as with the quail, which those who had sinned feared. And that when they saw Pharaoh pursuing them as they returned from fear, they did not surrender to fear, because of salvation. For they knew that if they returned, everything they had taken would be demanded back. At the time of the third return. If they say to me, "I have not seen God," the mighty power moved toward this, just as it was confirmed in the generations of Israel. What is this that is in your hand? He does not ask because he does not know, but rather to confirm Moses' intention, that it is not when the staff changes and becomes a serpent that he thinks it is magic and sorcery. By the staff, he indicates his weakness and his initial foolishness before Pharaoh.

and by the change of the serpent, the strength and bitterness of the rod are left behind in the abandonment and trustworthiness of God; and the change of the serpent into a rod signifies its final dryness. For the rod was turned into a serpent, and not into another animal; and it is said, "one," because Pharaoh is that known tyrant, and because the Hebrew people are those who were evil in their conduct, and because of the bitter serpent. Actually, there were two races from the beginning when they took the kingship of Egypt, and one was called the house of the male. For that was the ancient god of the fathers, and the heads of the males of the small nations were subject to him in their provinces. The other race, the Egyptians, which is called the house of the serpent, or the tyrant, who, when divided into many kinds, had many heads like ancient fables. And he established different kingships in the places and cities of Egypt, and all of them were called the house of the serpent; and upon them the rod of Moses was turned into a serpent. And in the story, God said, "Stretch out your hand, take it by its tail, and put your hands on it," indicating to him about the other fall of Pharaoh at the hand of Moses. And again, it shows that it is not difficult with this tyrant. Again, with the rod he made a sign, because with it he used to tend the flocks, drive away wolves; with this he made the first sign, as if to teach that he who was formerly a shepherd of flocks is now, through the mediation of the rod and the wonders, a shepherd of Israel and a pursuer and oppressor of the Egyptians.

with the rod he strikes and disperses, just as before he struck the bears with it. And this is like the hardness of the rod, and it is not divided when it is changed into a serpent, because Moses was transformed over the people, just as they began in the hardness of the Egyptians; God began his change by the hand of the magicians. For before the hand of the magicians, the purity of the people before the entry into Egypt is examined; and by the testing, the impurity of the people who worshipped idols in Egypt is shown, and the change of the hand from its first purity signifies the future purity of the people after the exodus. For the first sign of the rod, he changed it into a hand which is one of its members; and then it becomes green, and there was no other thing that changed it; and in the change, natural signs occur; there is nothing that indicates God, who is alone the Creator, apart from the change of nature which is that which is not changed, he also changes it, even to the point that he spoke with his servant, I mean, that in the time when the vision appeared to him, his tongue was confused and his speech was renewed; and concerning her he said, "until I spoke with your servant." He did not loosen his tongue, because he did not wish to bring out the people with an empty tongue, but with signs and wonders, that his power might be exercised through the weak, and that the mystery of how Moses was perplexed might be thus, and the people were hard and small and not perfected in his laws; and you will strengthen his heart, I mean, this was revealed to Moses, just as when Pharaoh was hardened, they said that God examined her beforehand and was not divided over him; he hardens the heart of Pharaoh, just as many signs were multiplied and Israel was strengthened.

Bar Temani’e shnin hewa Moshe b-hana glaya. ‘Eraq b-sha‘t ma’a w-arba‘in d-shu‘bada: kad itaw bar arba‘in shnin d-yar ‘am Yethro, w-azal l-wath Yethro ashllem l-eh l-‘e’a w-la glal l-eh ‘al hezya ela emar d-ba‘e e’a ezal as‘ur l-ahi. Takhya hewwu qadmaya w-yadi‘a d-Yethro rish ‘amma d-Madyan hewa: w-la etkhed l-shba‘ b-natheh w-‘abed ra‘yata. Bari bukri h bara qara l-Israyel mṭul maghshiyuteh d-ahi d-it l-eh ‘ameh. B-thar halen eshta’al Moshe m- dḥalteh d-Far‘on w-etglali Marya tawb ‘alwawh b-h b-Madyan w-kad azal b-ra‘yita pliga: w-sab ‘ameh l-athteh w-l-bnawh b-hada msabranuteh d-en gdesh w-ṭpeq ‘amma ṭpeqin ‘ameh b-nawh en din la pash huw w-bayteh l-wath ‘amma. Alah kad ḥar b-mḥayiluteh d-ḥushshabwawh ‘bed ‘alwawh glaya b-yad malaka d-tar‘ita rabba d-aba. W-yadi‘a m- hi d-ktib d-pga‘ b-eh Marya: d-b-yad sayfa d-shmeṭ ‘alwawh: afkeh m- dḥalteh d-Far‘on.

The fear that she had, that great fear which would have excused her smallness, was that she thought that she was the cause of his death, because she had not circumcised her son according to the law. For one circumcision is according to the law of his fathers; the other, however, she left in his uncircumcision, as if she were a mother who had risen up against him at that hour. She took a stone, which was a sharp, smooth, and easily split flint, and circumcised her son. Very sharp was the stone for cutting, more so than sharp iron, when it is struck hard against a mountain. After she had circumcised her son, she fell at the feet of the angel and seized his hem and said, "I have a sin of blood, like sacrifices and offerings, and like the guilt of those who commit sins. Thus, does the blood of my son's circumcision please you? And thus, do you forgive Moses for the murder?" She called the circumcision a "sin of blood," as if it were a sin that is remembered and called such. And on the day of his festival, he makes a feast; the sin is covered. Those who in faith offer sacrifices to God are sinners, and even brides are called such. And joy is for me a festival on the day of my son's circumcision, as sinners rejoice. "Do not, my lord, make mourning on a day of joy." The stone is a sharp breaker of flint. Others say that it is called a "sharpener" for iron blades, for these are sharper than other blades, as sharp as a stone against a rock, because she did not feel for her son. She was compelled by her. Others say that he took his wife and his sons with him, and the Lord struck him and sought to kill him. And both are true. For he who was sent went out to the people hastily; it was not fitting that he should descend with a wife and children, that he might be seized there.

Others said that he was revealed to him while he was teaching him that he should not approach a woman again, and he performed signs before the people, those of the staff and the hand and the waters. He sent to Ammi, “Celebrate a feast for me,” for the scripture calls a feast a “khagga,” whether for a festival or for a sacrifice and offering, or for another reason the people were occupied. The rulers made the servants work hard, and they compelled him to follow, “Follow here to the festival,” he says. In this, he sacrificed the first fruits, and not the sacrifice of Tammuz of the threshing floors. And the scribes were disciplined, that is, the scribes were struck, he says, for the meanings and thoughts and writings of the heart. Others said that the scribes of the written books were struck. And Moses returned to Horeb, and he pleaded before the Lord against Pharaoh. Others said that he went to a certain place of quiet and prayed. “I, I, Lord, who was revealed, I, I, am not a man and cannot endure, who saved you from your evildoers.” “My name, Lord, I did not reveal to you,” that is, “The Lord did not reveal my name to you.” The name “I am” indicates the one who is, for at that time it was placed for him that he would see his victory in the salvation of the people through wonders. Again, “My name, Lord, that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit exist, I did not reveal to you, and whether this is not so, show that the Jews know whether this name was not revealed to Abraham and to Moses.

These heads of the house of their fathers, not all of the seventy, but those from Reuben to Levi, because he taught about the tribes of Levi and Amram that they were the fathers of Moses and Aaron. And he made known that Jochebed and Amram and Eleazar and Ithamar and Phinehas were born in Egypt. For the confirmation of this which was said to Abraham, that the fourth generation would return here to the land of the inheritance. For this reason, because he made known about the women whom Aaron took, and in them he was compelled to mention the genealogies, Amram took the daughter of his uncle, and Aaron took Elisheba, the daughter of Amminadab, from the tribe of Judah. But the hardness of Pharaoh's heart was as if God had blinded their minds, and as if God had delivered them to foul lusts, and as if he had commanded to kill his son, whom Elijah said. These things are placed causally upon God, because he was able to correct them by the power of his entire being, but he left them to their own will because of the honor of freedom. Upon him he places the cause of their actions, because he does not conceal their will. And as it is said, "But if I had done that which brought this arrogance upon my faith, and had not desired his evil, see that God gave you to Pharaoh," that he feared lest you be humbled by the wonders which you performed, as he feared from God. And as God is able to perform all powers, so he gave you powers to perform signs before Pharaoh and the chief authorities. And as he is ruler over all, so he made you ruler over Pharaoh. And Aaron, your brother, speaks on your behalf, and stands before you as you stand before me.

And he cast down the staff, and it became a serpent, but it was not a great serpent; rather, it was a small one among serpents. It did not swallow the magicians’ rods along with the signs they performed, so that Pharaoh would not be turned back and send away the people, and so that the greatness of the power of God would not be proclaimed in that place. The magicians did not perform the signs in truth, but by the deception of the eyes. Aaron’s staff swallowed their staffs; it destroyed their sorcery. And this was as if to confirm Moses’ staff, which was a true serpent. Nor were their staffs staffs of truth, for demons appeared in the serpents and clothed themselves in the staffs. Thus, by means of a serpent, Moses made the water into blood. The magicians brought water from other places, dyed it red in vessels, but not by a serpent; and the cause of that blood was demons. Demons appeared in the frogs.

went to Pharaoh in the morning, not after the day on which he performed the sign, but in the morning of the day on which he went out to the water, as though he were worshipping it or the idols in it, or as though he were bathing. He called the river Nile, and struck the waters of the river so that they became blood, just as the Egyptians had smeared their firstborn with the blood of their children. In this way they were smeared with the destruction of the waters and their corruption, and just as the Hebrews were smearing with blood on the doorposts so that they would not be harmed, so also they prepared water for drinking in doorposts. And there was a world of blood over their rivers. He calls "rivers" those that flow from the great river. He calls "cisterns" the places where water is collected. He calls "marshes" those that, from rain or river waters, are collected and become deep, and in which there are reeds. He calls "watercourses" the waters that rise in channels in springs or in small streams on mountains and high places where there is water. As for that which is in rocks and in wood, whenever rain or dew falls, or there is water either in rocks or in wood, it becomes like blood. All moisture was changed into blood. He says "rocks" like those hard ones that receive water. "Wood" is something that stands in water, and like the truth of the sign, it was not by chance that they were taking from the water, and they were standing on the water, and they were standing on the rocks that were on the wood, and they were being dyed. And if a moist piece of wood was squeezed, blood came out of it. This rebellion lasted seven days.

the blood of the magicians fell upon the land of Egypt, and the waters of the river became blood; and when he cast it, the blood was changed, so that the waters were not blood. For the Egyptians dug around the river and found water, and because of this the heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not ask that the waters be healed. The frogs in the river died, but in a pure manner the waters were blood, and when the blood became water, the heads of the frogs lived. Others said that they did not live, but that new frogs were born and came, and again others in the river at a distance. And afterwards, lice without number came up, and it seems to us that in the creation, for the evil Egyptians, the frog and the louse and their species were created, and they placed boundaries for the lice that are in the waters, that they do not change their nature and come up from the waters to the dry land to dwell with you, as if for your covering, just as you changed the young for the dry land in the waters of the river. The lice, their smell stank, just as the Egyptians were foul in the worship of idols. For the Greeks and the books call the lice "ashes." The lice are said to be new creatures of the creation, because all of Egypt was filled with them. After the lice came the flies, not like those among the evil ones, but like those among cattle and among beasts, whose sting is very hard, like that of swine.

and after the plague of the locusts, the mixture and blended species of all kinds of creeping things, such as leeches, fleas, mosquitoes, hornets, dogs' flies, and wild beasts, and he called it a plague because it spreads and mingles with many. And while the plague of the hail was still present, this plague of the locusts came. This plague and the fourth chastisement, and the three chastisements which the Egyptians suffered, the Hebrews also participated in: in the blood, the frogs, and the locusts, so that when they tasted these, they would recognize the love of God, who spares no one for the sake of the rest.

others he says did not participate in a single plague. But he says concerning these that they are complete. And it is known what is written, that God said to Moses, "And spread out on that day over the land of Goshen, where my people dwell, the inundations." He calls these "inundations" that are not worshipped, by the interpretation of those that are worshipped. For the Egyptians worshipped bulls and rams; they sacrificed to them the Hebrews, they stoned them; and dogs and mice were unclean to them; and also the animals that the Egyptians eat were considered unclean to them. For the Egyptians worshipped images of bulls, rams, and goats; they did not eat these animals; nor did they sacrifice them. And if they had seen the Hebrews sacrificing them, they would have stoned them. And after the exodus, concerning those that the Egyptians worshipped, he commanded that they should eat those that they used to eat. For the locusts and the rest of the other things did not perform sorcery; if in all that Moses did of the plagues, it would have been plausible that they changed into locusts like Moses, and one would have supposed a divine power and a demonic power. I have left off vanity in something that you should wonder at, how it is known that they did it by sorcery and did not change into locusts. After the evening, the death of cattle and of the animals of the Egyptians, and of horses, asses, camels, goats, kids, and pigs. They died by hail. And if someone says that not all of them that were struck died, or if someone says that not all of them that were struck died by the first death, it is not possible. And after this, he calls the remaining of the frogs.

the fire that was with the red-hot ember of the burning coal, that it might be like sparks of something. He sends a blow upon your heart and upon your firstborn, which is placed in your heart, that it might be a king in your stead. The blow of the seven plagues: hail and thunderclaps; thunderclaps he calls the mighty thunders; and thunders are from the collision of winds that are compressed in the hollows of clouds filled with water, when they are stretched and compressed. Others say that they are from the friction of clouds; lightning, however, is from the fire of the air, which is generated by the stretching and compression of clouds when they are compressed, or from the kindling of those that are rubbed together, like a fire that is hidden within it and goes forth, and the fire was moving upon the earth, being rolled up in the air like a wick, and striking something. And hail strikes the whole land and everything that is in the field; for that which is in houses and villages, because it was under shelter, was not struck. The hair of the strikers, the servants of the hail, reached the time of its reception. The locust bent down to that which is within it, which is called its stomach, like bundles; the locust that sits within it made the bending. Others say that the locust bent down its body; the locust did not enter the earth, for the locust has no hidden wing, but it bent down its body and the earth was filled with locusts and heard, and its hearing was not confirmed, because the hail struck it and destroyed it; the eggs and the larvae did not perish; the larvae he calls the eggs of the lice, in form like the eggs of water; but the round ones are like pearls, which were hard, and the mother brought forth Jacob.

Again, the letters of the plague of the firstborn were written, and he made seed, and in the belly he swallowed and destroyed. The letters say that in the beginning it was like a spark from the fire of the plague. The letter came out: Pray before the Lord, because the Lord is merciful, and he gave a place in the repentance of his spirit to the repentant. He brought out a wind of repentance, which the locust begot by divine command, and he commanded the wind of repentance like a swarm, and brought it to Egypt so that it would not destroy the other plagues, and Moses was praying. And a wind from the west came and cast it into the sea or into the mountains. And the eyes of the earth were covered, so that the earth could not see its face. This they saw, lest evil be thought of you, and you go and stand before your face, and the evil of enemies strike you. After the locust repentance, there came a ninth plague, which is darkness and like darkness. During these three days, lamps were not lit, because they were not lit because God was angry with all the Egyptians when he enlightened them. The darkness in Egypt, the letters say, was like the darkness of a cloud that was like a crown for the heads of the Egyptians, and thick, rising in the air, and like the height of a man's head it stood above them. Thus the crowns were thick, so that they did not allow the rays of the sun to pass through them, and they were tangible to the hands and to the light of the eyes. And concerning it, the poet says that the darkness was palpable.

Others say that the darkness of the plague of the firstborn was the darkness after the darkness departed. Pharaoh called Moses and said, "Go with the Hebrews and the cattle, and let the honor remain." Moses said, "You too will be smitten in your hands. Why do you mock, that even if your wealth is great, you will offer a sacrifice like what is yours? You will leave." And Moses, while still standing before Pharaoh, received a revelation from God that another plague would come upon Pharaoh, and after that, you will not see even a dog barking in his land, for it will not be moved, nor like a dog that barks in his land. He called the plagues "wonders" because such things had not occurred in the world before that time. Again, he called them "plagues" because when they came upon the Egyptians, they did not harm the Israelites who were dwelling with the Egyptians. That month became the beginning of the months, hinting at the exodus, because in it creation came into being, and in it the Lord rose from the tomb, and in it the people were redeemed, and in it was the renewal of all. On the tenth of the month, he commanded that they take a lamb, for when they begin to prepare on the fourteenth, everything would be ready for them. When a man takes a lamb to his house, and the lamb is for each of the houses, if the quantity of men who will eat it is not sufficient, that one will participate, and the house of his father in the quantity of souls, they will arrange how many men will eat it, and they will measure its food over the lamb, passing over as if they do not cook it and roast it. Twelve men will eat it, corresponding to the twelve tribes and the apostles, but it is not written in Scripture. On the fourteenth, he commanded that it be sacrificed, in remembrance of creation, which was illuminated, as on the fourteenth when the moon was full, creation occurred on the fourth day.

In the west of the sun, he commanded that the memory of the greatness of God be hidden, as in this time creation came into being for existence, which has no beginning, of the night of the first of the week, and that the memory of the plagues of Egypt with the bitterness of the darkness of the afflictions of their servitude be remembered. And when he remembered the covenant with Abraham, which was made concerning their exodus. The sun was setting, and silence fell upon Abraham when he was meditating upon the two covenants that were bound to the sign from the two sides: and the type of the blood of the Lord that was about to be shed. This, when it was placed in the fire: a mystery of the heavenly bread. Unleavened bread with bitter herbs, which shows that unleavened bread is separate from leavening and is sweet, just as their redemption given to them is separate from bitter things and is sweet to its recipients. Again, for the purity that is with iniquity and evil bitterness, like that which the passover makes without old leaven: and this, that they do not know that a little leaven leavens the whole mixture. This, with bitter herbs, for the sensation of their hard servitude and the memory of their sweet freedom. Again, in the bitter herbs it is hinted: when they are weak and hasten because of their sins, they approach the holy mysteries. The bitter herbs are the leaves of the field. Others say that "bitter herbs" refers to the zizania of the reed, which are not gathered with the grain, but they ate bitter bread, something that was left in the fire and burned, as it was considered in their eyes that what was left from it was not cooked like the flesh of animals.

and he commanded that the remainder of the mysteries be consumed, and that they not be left in commonness like the rest of the bread, while their loins were girded. This signified their haste and urgency, that their salvation would be swift and without delay through this fire, which is thus enacted in the Church. In the taking of the mysteries, he commanded that the lamb be bound on the tenth, because on the tenth the heavenly lamb, the Messiah, was bound, from the tenth of the former Tishri to the tenth of Nisan, six months, as Gabriel said concerning the cause of the lamb and the unleavened bread. And they said that he wished to frighten them with his fear, so that through the completion of these things they would remember his help toward them at every hour and not forget him. And it is known from what is written: "When your son asks you, 'What is this?'" and so on. And in all the plagues of the Egyptians, he made a sign that even the demons were distressed along with the firstborn of the Egyptians who were killed, because the demons had sided with the Egyptians in their crossing, when God contended with the Egyptians; also those demons contended. Again, they said that when the firstborn of the Egyptians were killed, each of them broke his own god because he had not saved his son. And this was the result of their fear, and the Egyptians were again confirmed that their gods were not gods. And at the beginning of the month was the commandment concerning the unleavened bread and Passover, and not on the fourteenth day. And they shall take the bundles of hyssop—hyssop is called the plant whose scent and leaves are sharp and resemble marjoram, and it especially draws blood through its leaves, the sprinkling of blood upon the doorposts, a mystery of the shedding of the blood of the Lord upon the face of the salvation of the world.

Then he entered upon the mystery of the taking of the blood of the paschal lambs, and just as the blood of the lamb saved the firstborn of the Hebrews from the angel of death, so also the blood of the lamb Jesus saved the people from sin and death and Satan. Passover is so named because of the joy and gladness with which it is celebrated, in the manner of a sphere of light that passes over them. And just as by means of a lamb that was mute and without speech salvation came to the Israelites, so by means of a living lamb and the Word that was incarnate salvation came to the whole world. After the command of Passover, the prophet wrote concerning the slaying of the firstborn of the Egyptians, and Pharaoh with his people went out with all his people, and they also blessed me with this prayer over me. And they took their dough while it was not leavened, because they did not believe that on that night they would go out; they did not prepare provisions, but they took the dough while it was not leavened, because of the salvation of Passover. Again, because they were going out in haste from the Egyptians, it did not leaven, because of Passover, during these seven days of Passover, only one day goes. Their dough was bound in their garments; their dough they call their unleavened bread. Their dough they took in kneading-troughs with the vessels that they had, and they carried it on their shoulders. Their dough in the evening they leavened according to the custom of the region, and in the kneading-troughs it was placed until morning, and in the morning they baked it; these they took, bound and tied, so that every one who arrived might eat of it. And they took from Rameses to Succoth; that is, from Rameses to the region in which the children of Israel dwelt, called Succoth. Succoth is a place distant from Egypt three parasangs in that region, and when they camped there, because of the abundance of their tents, it was called Succoth.

Others say that the mystery of Sukkoth is interpreted: that when the Hebrews conquered the Egyptians by divine power, they called the place Sukkoth. On the night of the first day of the week, they went out from Egypt, six hundred thousand foot soldiers, besides those bearing arms and swords, until the aged and the foreigners who were armed with iron went up with them: proselytes, a mixed people, and foreigners who were with the Law. And there were with them other nations who were slaves of the Egyptians, and they also mingled with the Israelites in the land of Goshen. Whoever wished to flee from Egypt found a place and fled with them, even the unleavened bread baked on coals of fire on a potsherd or on a stone, which is baked in the oven and called bread. They were not able to tarry and seek anything that was left behind, until it leavened, because of the haste of their departure and their settlement: they sat for four hundred and thirty years, being nourished and increased, while with the covenant of Abraham they began. Thirty years were added to the four hundred, because everything that was done in Egypt by way of affliction was inflicted upon them for three hours. Others say that at the time when Moses killed the Egyptian, it was a sign that they would be redeemed, and because they did not accept it, they were enslaved for three hours on that same day, that is, the fourteenth of Nisan. All the troops went out—he calls the troops "servants of the king." And the night was kept for the Lord, that is, this night, on which he was sharp and prepared in the thought of the Lord, prearranging the foundations of the world, on which he went out from Ur. This is the law of Passover: its boundary and this is its demonstration.

...and these ordinances are fulfilled. For you shall not break bones in it, because that would be a defect which is not fitting, and the sinews are not to be broken from its bones; and no firstborn male is to eat from it, that is, the firstborn of the Abrahamic race and the sanctified from the divine laws, and it is like the first fruits of the land; he calls the first fruits the Lord and those of the ancients; and they are lords of the land. Holy to me is every male that opens every womb; he calls the womb the spring of increase; distinguish for me every firstborn male that comes forth from a new spring; from all the Hebrews he calls it the spring, for the spring is the womb, and by the mercy and grace of God the spring is made; the source of beloved children; that which is born of cattle you shall redeem; if you do not give a substitute for your firstborn, whether of cattle or of the head, if it dies, you shall place a head upon them and kill them, as if you yourself were the cause of their deaths, that which is born of cattle is unclean; these they used to eat from them and work with them, and they did not offer them for sacrifice. For God himself made the firstborn, on account of whom he killed the firstborn of Egypt, when he brought them out; and the firstborn of Egypt, when he brought them out; and he saved his own firstborn. This which he commanded, that they be redeemed by the young of the sacrifices that are offered as offerings to God, and the cattle that gave birth was with those that did not ascend to the altar, like asses and horses; by the lamb they were redeemed, and he who did not wish to redeem would kill them, and when they were commanded to cast down the unjust in the light, until the exodus.

...the sacrifices were few, and that was the redemption and the commandment. By the vanity of God it was vain, because the people were numerous; but the servitude was not abolished, so that enmity might increase, and when the one who was to depart came, they hastened to depart. For this is what the wicked ones killed: the fruit of the freedom of Pharaoh and the Egyptians and the demons, and not the divine vanity; with a strong hand he brought forth the hand in every place to do servitude and to call it deeds, and the arm to strength. And when Pharaoh sent the people, God did not bring them by a direct route, as is the custom of the Scripture, which did not send them by the land of the Philistines, lest they fear battle and turn back to Egypt, but because their minds were bound by the worship of idols and the customs of the Egyptians; if they had entered lightly into the land of the kingdom, they would have been drawn towards Egyptian error and would have become strangers to God, and their departure would have been in vain. For this reason he brought them by a long route, so that through the opportunity of the sacrifice of the sojourn and the wonders that occurred and the giving of the law, they would be bound by the love of God. Remember, remember for you, God: Moses brought up one of Joseph's bones for the demonstration of the faith of the priest who said, "Remember." For the people, like the dead, hasten to enter the land and consider it good, and do not desire that life enter it. They went up armed and prepared; he says, "Or perhaps they were wandering in error because of the fear of the Egyptians and the priests who entered among them.

In the daytime, the pillar of cloud led them, because the cloud was called a pillar, for it was set up beneath the firmament, one of the clouds which is called a pillar. And it was this that guided them by night. And from it God spoke with Moses, as from the golden cherubim. And the cloud was spread out over them by day like a canopy, and the light of the pillar was not natural, but it was the grace that was made for the glorious people. They rested over the cloud by day so that they would not be scorched by the heat, because they were destined to travel through the wilderness from place to place. And they had no wagons for riding, nor were they able to do so yet. As for the fire by night, by which they were guided, it was necessary for them by night, because of the pillar that guided them in place of a lamp, since there was no lamp. They rested because of the pillar, so that they might be saved from wild beasts and robbers. To go by day and by night, even if they wished to travel by night, they would not be hindered by anything because of the light of the pillar. And they encamped at the mouth of the desert, that is, at the shore of the sea. They called it "desert" because it is barren and consumed by the sea. At its mouth they encamped, that is, at the edge of the water, so that the sea would not overflow upon them. They called the surface of the water "desert." Between Migdol, a place that is so called opposite the sea, before Baal-Zephon, or a tower of some kind so called. Baal-Zephon is the name of the place where and opposite which the Red Sea opened.

And Pharaoh said, "I will not let them go by the land route, nor will they work the land." And he commanded his chariots—that chariot which is driven with two horses yoked together. And upon it there is something like a seat for sitting, and it drives the chariots. He calls the wood from which wheels are made a "chariot," and four horses are yoked to it, and it is made like a kind of chest or bed, and the commander sits on his seat inside it. And above his head something like a chest is made. And he was not seen by anyone, nor did anyone see him from within it, and men and foot-soldiers sit in it with those four horses. Then the chosen ones mounted the horses that were yoked to it. It says that when they were thrown into confusion by the sound of the trumpet, and Pharaoh approached near to them, the Hebrews were drawing their swords around the sea. And the pillar of cloud took the Egyptians from the Israelites. The pillar stood, so that its side opposite the Egyptians was dark, and its side facing the Hebrews was bright. And this cloud was like the vision of a lamp that is bright in front and dark behind, so that you might say, "How can you, who received your prayer, now give you, O God, who received your prayer, and now give you to Pharaoh? And still you are afraid of him? Rise up and cast him into the sea, and know that the strong arm of God is with you." By the south wind, that is, the south wind, for this is very hot, because heat is in the south, just as cold is in the north. And this is how, in the south wind, it shows its power, because the south wind, which is the south wind, stirs up the seas and raises waves.

The beginning of the second book, on the third people, the Egyptians, this is how and where and in what manner the sea was divided. It is seen with the form of the letters in the Syriac script, how they are arranged above, and how they came upon the people and how they went out, and how the Egyptians were drowned, and upon the sea with the letters of the word "alaph" is placed. Its shores, however, for Israel, three; for the Egyptians, four; for the dry land, five. The waters, when the sea was divided, went up onto the dry land by a strong wind, like a wall of timbers, and it was closed over them, three with what they were. The Israelites, with the first ones, upon the shores of the sea, it is found that they were released, and that the Egyptians after them, and with what form of the house of Chemosh it remained when he divided the sea and the waters in it, like a wall, he brought them out onto the dry land, up to the place where D and W are placed. And that Syriac circular letter he understood. That dry land which was in the sea, on which Israel crossed, where G is placed, and the Egyptians came after them where D is placed, and Israel, when they went out from the sea, like the dry land that was in it, onto the dry land of the shore upon its banks, where G of the second is placed. The Egyptians, however, remained on the dry land in the sea, when the exit of the Israelites to the dry land of the shore was narrowed from the sea. Moses, according to the command of God, raised his hand over the sea, while standing on that place from which Israel went out.

the sea and the dry land in it; and the waters that were in the dry land were those upon which the letters of the alphabet were placed, which were like walls for Israel from the sea and the Egyptians; and the living creatures that were in the sea, and the signs that were on the dry land. For these, then, God wrought through the agency of Moses against the Egyptians, that which was in the sea being on the dry land, and they entered it after the Israelites, who were drowned in those things. The spirit of the seventh, because the sea was bitter and without signs, the people could not cross through it. And it was at the watch of the morning, at the time when the cock crows, the watch calls. The Lord appeared, the power of God was shown, by means of a pillar of cloud, while for the Egyptians it was dark, and for the Hebrews it was light; and for those it was a burning cloud, and for these it was a shelter and a cooling. After the departure of the Hebrews, they were troubled because they knew that it was not a natural light; they wanted to flee. For the power of the Lord appeared in the form of horses and mares, standing between the camp of the Hebrews and that of the Egyptians, and it was repelling the Egyptians. And it is known from what is written to Solomon, to his horse in the chariot of Pharaoh that killed you, which Gregory interprets and says that a known power appeared to the Egyptians in the form of horses, and they did not allow them to pursue after Israel; but when they wanted to flee to the rear, the waters turned upon them and drowned them, and they bound the wheels, as he says that like nails something was fixed and driven into the ground, so that they could not be moved; and those drivers were striking them as if they were walking. They say that the sea was divided into twelve parts, like the arrangement of the tribes.

the waters were a wall for them, not of stone and brick, but as they were standing, they were fixed one upon another, hard and immovable, so that the Egyptians knew it was the sea and not dry land; and that was a wonder, not a fable. Stretch out your hand over the sea, that is, the water of the sea, when Moses raised his staff in the middle of the sea, [ ] to this side, he hung his staff towards the face of the sky, as with the sword of Amalek, and when he commanded him to stretch out his hand and his staff from the height towards the face above, the sea turned to the side of morning to its place, and the Egyptians who entered after them were drowned in it; and from here each one of them at that time was praising like . . . he placed it on the mountain of praise as for their instruction; then Moses praised. This praise was for them, this praise was for the Lord . . . of praise; but the water of the sea, when the sea was divided and they entered it, they began with this praise. When they were praising God for the wonders he wrought before them, and afterwards when Moses struck one ship, called the ship of Moses, when they saw their deliverance and the drowning of the Egyptians, they began to say, "The Lord, he is our deliverer," that is, the Lord is the one who saves. Others say, "He is the one who is Lord of all; he is the giver of salvation." The Sea of Reeds is so called because of the end of the Egyptians, and the Red Sea because of the redness of the Hebrews' children, not because of the redness of the Egyptians, for it was called red because of that. By the wind of your face the waters were heaped up; at the command of your decree the waters were solidified and congealed like walls of grain and chaff. They were heaped up, that is, they were piled up and accumulated one upon another.

they stood as if in a wall, they were fixed, their souls were filled with the fear of your command; like waters that are congealed into a wall. The deep was fixed, that is, it was congealed, it says concerning them that the waters were separated and turned back to their place, that is, the waters of the sea which were set like walls, from here they were congealed to each other and fell upon the Egyptians. What is like you, prepared, O prepared one among his people, who does not separate from him, the holy dwelling of your sanctuary, O people called his dwelling, as in it he is worshipped and praised among all peoples. The mountain of your inheritance, he calls to Zion, it is established for your throne upon the foundation of the temple in Jerusalem, a sign, and upon its foundation and its wall he calls to Mary the prophetess, because the sister of the prophet is like a kind of honor, or because like a prophetess she was a sign to the world of praises to the hours, that is, they were awake and praising God, who gloriously divides, he divides the world. The fourth part of the world is that which is with its two sides. Moses led the people like a guide and leader. The wilderness of Shur, because they were wandering or turning about to seek water and did not find it, as for their own choice, they were not found that their errors might be known, and the mercy of God who led them with mercy might be revealed. And the people murmured against Moses, they were angry and said that if God were in their midst, he would not have left them to be distressed with thirst, the natural cause of the bitterness of the waters: a crown of grass, that is, like the opinion of Aristophanes, for when a crown is placed in a place, it makes the waters salty or bitter, and it is known from this that when dust is mixed with waters, it becomes so, and when Moses prayed, the Lord showed him a tree.

it is said concerning this staff, that bitter staff of Ephesus; but he says that by the staff, that is, by its power, to the understanding that it was not by his own power that Moses acted, but by that of God who commanded him. By the staff he sweetened the waters, just as the Lord distinguished himself from the servants; for he changed the waters by the word and made them into wine. There he taught the law and the judgments; he taught the laws that separate good from evil and foul from fair; he taught the judgments that show him placing a crown upon the heads of the righteous. And there he healed; he healed the people a little by the book of the letter, and found it weak and rebellious; and by the sword he approached them with the warnings that are written in this place. The twelve springs of Elim, Origen says, are the twelve apostles; and the seventy palms are the seventy evangelists. Help, my helper. And behold, the glory of the Lord appeared. He calls the glory the lightning of his rays, which with that pillar of cloud descended to the earth, from which they saw the glory, because its substance is hidden and not visible. And it was in the evening, above the head of the little child; all around it were tents, like a locust that had settled, it was a covering. And in the morning it was a likeness; he calls a likeness that which resembles a bow in the clouds, apart from forms that have no likeness: a circle of dew that was around the camp, and not within it. He calls it dew, because it was like dew. Others say that he calls a likeness the thin mist that resembles dust. The Hebrews call the cloud of dew a likeness; over the face of the desert it was thin and shifting, spread over the earth like a thin crust, so that the water above it would not be disturbed, which was like a covering of water, that is, of water.

after two or three days, one resembling the leaves of a leek and the other, the one above it, resembling a thin cucumber, for it was thin; and when a person took it on the tip of his finger from the ground, it immediately peeled. The Hebrews interpret it like almonds in honey. It is said concerning the quail of the partridge, which is in the Indian Sea, and it is like a dove, and when it is caught it is weak; but when it is kept, while covered, it hears and becomes fat. The mind, however, is also delighted by food and does not care about salt, and it gives birth and raises young. Others said that when it stops being fat, it is caught by the hunters' nets; and from hour to hour they hunt it from the river of the philosophers. Others said that the quail is a dove and is caught by hunting and resembles a sparrow and is smaller than it. Others said that it was newly created after the month of Iyar. Below the staff. He left until the end of the food, as when the staff comes and does not spread among its members. This is the great Sabbath, from Adam until here: no person was called by the name of Sabbath, but they called it the seventh day. The great Sabbath is interpreted. As it was established for rest: and holiness for the Lord, by which he separated and chose for the people the knowledge of God, which in six days is established for all, and on the Sabbath it is not moved. And when the sun saw, that is, the sign of the power of God: that by means of the staff in peace it did not interpret, and with the setting sun it was loosed, and that which remained until morning was destroyed, and that which was placed for the day of the Sabbath and that which in the chest is not corrupted. The chest in which the staff was stored was like a quarter of a kab of a child: for it was made of gold.

and a measure of one out of ten was for the seah; that measure is called a makuka. A seah was six qabs; it was newly created from the manna. Others called it "from the earth," like truffles, and also in the bulbs that are in the earth. Forty years they ate the manna. Some had much and some had little. That command of one measure per head commanded that they take, and he who was diligent and gathered more, one measure remained for him; and he who gathered little, up to one measure something of what he gathered, and this indeed is beyond nature, that is divine. And he left over from it for the morning, and worms bred on it, because they transgressed the command of him who said, "Do not leave over from it"; they did not allow that they should leave over from it as if over God, but they trusted each day and not in their own strength, and they did not worry that tomorrow, when he is not, the son would worry. And the striking of the rock by Moses in the desert, and the earth that had no water: they supposed that that was natural, and not that God did it, because from a rock he brought forth water, which are all divine, and the manna and the quails were created beyond nature. And it is known from that, that when they entered the desert, they did not find in it the earth of manna; and also from that, that in six days it was, on the seventh it was not. Every place they went, it was found until they entered the land of Moab, and also the quails of creation . . . from that which from the sea came up by command, and that which for the flight at the beginning from the water he brought out; so the water from the rock and the manna and the quails were new and beyond nature. And the Lord said to Moses that he strike the rock with his staff, commanding that they bring out water.

from the rock, all the stones were dry and hard and could not be worked with iron or steel, because of the heat of the miracle. Others said that instead of the manna, the rock showed forth: just as the rock was a hard stone in the form of manna. And at that time, men went to that place and saw the waters that flowed from that rock until now. Others said that that rock: they were taking it with them, but the miracle happened twice, and this one is from that one. And this one is from the manna of the rock, seeking water, and from the rock that was placed in the desert of the four rivers. For they said that the twelve chosen ones were seeking from the rock for the twelve tribes. And water came out, not as if new things were sought there, as others said. But water, not a little, by divine providence was being given in the rock, and it was abundant there, like the oil of the widow. The name of the place is called Sūs and Marībā, Sūsīō, and they rebelled against God. And Amalek came to do what he wanted, to destroy the blessings of Isaac that were with Jacob, and to take revenge for his elder. Behold, the head made you, and commanded Joshua son of Nun to fight with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the height. And when Moses raised his hands, for through the raising of his hands the people perceived the victory that was being given to them, and they knew that not by human power but from heaven was their victory.

His hands were in that faith, the helping hands of Israel. His hands were in the faith by which they believed from the hands of Moses. He led them to help. Others said that Moses believed, for when he stretched out his hands over the people and raised them up, the people prevailed over their enemies, a strong help and a cutting victory. Write a memorial in this book, as for the heart of the people and the fear of the nations, and also the fear of Amalek. And Moses sought an altar, whether concerning the sign that God fought for the people in the battle with Amalek, he said, or concerning the sign that Amalek fought against God, lest God be able to help the people or not, or that all the nations might see and know that the Lord is the helper of Israel, and Israel might also see that the Lord is their protector. Behold, a hand upon the throne, that is, for the altar that he sought, he calls a throne. This, which in the likeness of a throne is set up, behold, the hand of God placed upon the throne of overthrow and destruction, afterwards for Amalek, while the hand is in you, to perform a renowned service. The throne signifies kingdom and judgment. With the custom of kings, when they judge, they sit upon a throne. The battle with Amalek was with the Lord, with the generations, he calls it with the time in which the people went out from Egypt. Upon the altar they wrote these praises: Behold, a hand upon the thrones, the battle with Amalek with the generations. Egypt, the mystery of the world of errors, the crossing of the sea, baptism. The battle of Amalek: the battle with the slanderer. Moses, the place of the Lord. The staff upon the one, the mystery of the cross. Aaron and Hur, the likeness of the armies. The height, the mystery of Golgotha.

It is said that the error of Moses was that he was the husband of Miriam, and that he was the father-in-law of Bezalel the craftsman. It is said that the people stoned him when they asked him to make them a calf and he refused. When Moses was on the mountain, Jethro approached and offered sacrifices. He renounced error and was taught the truth, and like a priest he offered sacrifices to God. Others said that he was not fully taught because he was a priest of Midian, but he offered sacrifices as the pagans do, like Darius and Cyrus. Moses sat to teach the people. The people were listening; they were coming, listening, and waiting upon God and the divine commandments. Others were disputing about the matters of the commandments and the ordinances of the law and how they should approach God. For God commands you, God helps you to stand against the whole people, and the king who has no kingdom will act. The king of Jethro, and you will see men of valor who fear God, true men, and abundant bribery and deceit, and he appointed over them heads of thousands and the rest. And in the month of Iyyar, on that day they came to the desert of Sin, which is the third month for the month of Ziv. Sin is my thorn, from the name of the desert of Sin. And Moses went up, for by revelation he was commanded to go up to the mountain. You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt; I brought upon them plagues and after them frogs; and I took you as on the wings of an eagle, that by your leadership you were saved from the hands of Pharaoh and from the sword of Amalek, or concerning the ease of your salvation, it is said: this is on the wings of an eagle.

When he drew near to the mountain, he was killed, not by a human hand, but by a falling stone that struck him and set him free. Whether he was at the head or in the rear, when he rashly approached the mountain at the very hour when the deed was done, his bones were shattered like a stone that falls from a height. For this is the limit, that it is not like the custom of the Hebrews, when they heard that God was there, they were eager to see what he was like and how he was. The Hebrews said that a visible, perceptible being was there, as appeared to Abraham in the form of three men. But no: the mountain is the mountain, Moses is Moses, and the people are the people. On the third day there were sounds and flashes, sounds of thunder, and a thick cloud was there, a cloud of darkness and blackness, which he calls the cloud of the mountain. The sound of the trumpet went forth and grew strong, one after another the sound went forth, and before this thunder ceased, another came, so that they would not draw near to see the Lord. He said that they should not draw near to the foot of the mountain to approach the Lord as if to see him. No, they should not draw near from the place that was forbidden to them, to approach too close to the Lord. Even the priests who were near the Lord had not yet been separated: Aaron and the Levites for the priesthood to the Lord. So the priests who are consecrated are called the heads of the tribes. He sanctified the mountain so that no man should ascend upon it, and he hallowed it so that no man should go to it. The fire of the mountain, the coal, the flashes, and the sound were visible, not the reality of the events, and it is known from what follows the descent of God upon the mountain, that it did not cease.

of the rest of them, the sign came to them in the cloud of the covenant, not because of Moses, but because of the people's faith. And they said that Moses established the laws, not God, established the commandments and judgments. He went up to the mountain where he feared, and where the foreign gods did not change him. He commanded that they wash their garments, so that with purity and cleanliness they might be prepared for the hearing of God and for the vision of Elijah there. The descent was not peaceful, but with voices, thunders, and lightnings, as if he were shaken. But when he spoke in a peaceful voice and gentle speech, he spoke with them; they were quiet before him and not afraid of him. But after all these things, immediately they changed, as if more so when he spoke with them in peace and gentleness. He made them hear the Ten Commandments. And when fear had fled from them, with this they learned that they were not pure and holy. When God spoke with them from heaven, for he is not limited, and the heaven from which he spoke is the hiddenness of him who, with everything from which he also spoke, and with every sound that makes his voice heard, there he is, without limitation. The beginning of the words that God spoke: "I am the Lord your God; you shall not make for yourself any image, in heaven above, on earth below, like all the lights; and on earth below, like animals, birds, and stones that are like these; and that which is in the waters and below the earth, like fish and reptiles in the waters." These are the ten words; they are with two tablets, and they are divided into two sections, and on two words they depend, like the word of the Lord, in love towards creation, in mercy towards one another.

This is the one: "I am the Lord your God who brought you up." And up to the word that is remembered for the Sabbath day, the words are counted. But in one sense, this is the one: "Honor your father and your mother," up to that: "Do not covet your neighbor's wife." One sense in understanding, and it teaches in that it distances from the collision of each other and that they love and honor one another. Ten words: "You shall not make for yourself any image or likeness." 1: "Do not take the name of the Lord in vain." 2: "Keep the Sabbath day and sanctify it." 3: "Honor your father and your mother." 4: "Do not commit adultery." 5: "Do not kill." 6: "Do not steal." 7: "Do not bear false witness against your neighbor." 8: "Do not covet your neighbor's wife." 9: "Do not covet your neighbor's house." 10: "You shall not make for yourselves gods with me," this is because with me, for they were worshipping carved images. And "an altar of earth you shall make for me," that is, red earth, for that is of earth and clay. And "if an altar of stone you shall make for me, you shall not seek after hewn stones," because iron is by this, and all the service of idols ceases, because they do not come, they do not carve upon stones hewn images and likenesses as the idolaters do. "You shall not go up by steps to my altars," as that servant, that is, the priests, does. And all ceases again, that they should not make high altars in the likeness of the worshippers of demons, while the unveiling is not manifestly abolished for him. Now to warn, while not everyone who goes up on steps is revealed in his unveiling, but his mind, that he not resemble the demon-worshippers.

These are the laws that were established as warnings that were necessary for the sacrifice. They are the distinct boundaries of good and evil. Moreover, the commandments are precise and complete, and it is right that you observe them every day and in every place. For these laws concern the world and worldly things, and they are examined, and not every precise occurrence happens as the commandments intend. As for the laws, they are such as sacrifices, offerings, circumcision, festivals, baptisms, leprosy, and impurity. These are also precise, and they were established causally, but they were not able to be observed everywhere, for the commandments were fulfilled precisely in every place, because they were observed without cause. He places the laws before the commandments whenever it is necessary, because they are concerned with the laws in a general way, and they do not require that the laws of the nations be observed. And a Jewish servant was found somewhere; in that time they did not allow one another, and they said that when they were in need they would sell among themselves to one another, or they would sell themselves because of their need. And concerning this he commanded that he who has his wife with him should go out with her; but he should never leave his servants. A servant who does not wish to be freed, his master pierces his ear, the ear that did not desire freedom for the sake of redemption; by that shall be a sign that he is still enslaved by his master's will.

again, as if it were in the form of an animal that is known to have no owner and is not again permitted to be sold, because it is not permitted to receive the freedom of rational beings. If a man sells his daughter to a maidservant, because of the poverty of her parents who are selling, by the mystery of the covenant she is freed and he takes her as a wife. She shall not go out as slaves go out, and if she is a maidservant, by the eyes of her master, if he does not take her, he redeems her, he releases her as a free woman; and he shall not take the money of the remainder of the years that she has not served from the week, because he has lied to her, because he took her and sold her; and he shall not prevent her from going out free without money, nor at the end of the week of the year does it say: this is within, but it says that even the beginning of the week or in the middle of the covenant, she goes out free. If another woman takes her place, her food, her clothing, and her bed, the bed is called for a couple, so that just as clothing and food are suitable for her, so also is the couple. If a man strikes his companion with a stone or with a cudgel, the cudgel is called that which, when he clenches his fingers and strikes his companion, is with the arm. If there is a wound, that is, one that does not breathe in it a soul. Its blood is that which comes in sacrifice and offering. A wound is said about a killing that is not yet completed, it is blood. He who strikes a woman shall be released, because where there is a soul, there is a wound and also labor. The Hebrews do not complete after its form for forty days, the soul is formed in it; and thus the opinion of Ephrem, and of Aksenaya, and of Jacob of Edessa, and of Moses bar Kepha, and of other teachers of the Syrians, who do not agree with these. But Moses says of Mosul.

...that it is not possible to be formed and to be perfected in images. For it is not a form that can be moved by any injustice, because it is not perfected in images, nor because the soul is not freed together with the body at the same time. But in the case of a blow that strikes a woman, the cause is the soul along with the seed of the male, which is cast and united with it. However, it is the body that has been injured, which is not yet able to be formed in members, and everything that is not perfected in likeness and is formed in members is not distinguished from the body of non-rational animals. And when he commanded concerning the ox, he commanded that an ox that kills a man should be stoned, and its flesh not eaten, as with a beast of prey; and if it hunts non-rational beings, he commanded likewise. How much more so concerning rational beings.

...or to a slave, or to a maidservant. If it is to a slave because of an ox: the ox is killed, and thirty *isteri* are given to his master, and the slave is free. But if the master of the ox had been killed, the master of the slave would have been compensated. The reason that the master of the slave is not compensated is that he saved the master of the ox and gave him also a place of repentance through his mercy. And if in a fight a man is found, the fight calls to the gate of a man's house, or if a man is found when the gate of the house is closed and he strikes him, and the blow is fatal, there is no judgment for him, i.e., no one is permitted to pursue his killer, nor does anyone pursue the relatives of the one who committed the assault on his assault, because his debt has been paid by his blow or by his death. But if the sun has set upon him, i.e., he is among the living, there is a judgment for him: the one who assaulted pays compensation. Finally, this: that in a fight a man is found, there is no judgment for him, i.e., when he uproots the foundation with *z'* and *b'l'* with the master of the house, because when he fell, his helper saved him, (and) killed him. But if the sun has set upon him, i.e., if the assailant was killed while in the house, the one who killed him is killed, when he did not bring him to justice. The one who pays compensation pays, i.e., if the assailant is not killed, he pays, and if he has nothing to pay, he is sold. Again, if he is found in a fight and he swallows and dies, since his assault is not found, there is no judgment for him, i.e., no one pursues his relatives; his judgment is because his debt has been paid by his death. And if the sun has set upon him, i.e., he is among the living, there is a judgment for him, and he pays compensation. He delivers one of the two, i.e., he delivers one of the two: instead of "he pays," it says "they deliver, he delivers," i.e., the one who pays compensation pays.

And when the fire goes out and the coals are found, and it eats the sheaves—the sheaves of barley or wheat—it is called the firstfruits for the stalks of the standing grain that are not yet harvested. The field is for the seed, it is called. If a man seduces a virgin and lies with her, it is not right that after he has corrupted her he should abandon her, even if her father does not consent. Her *mahrā* is her *mahrā*; *mahrā* is something that is given with the bride to the wife and her parents on the day of the wedding. *Zabdā* is something that the bride brings in the dowry, whether it is a bed or coverlets or other things. And *prōyītā* is something that the bride's parents give, or something that is given to the bride. Meat that is cut from a living animal—it is called meat that is cut; for when the animal is alive, something is severed from it, such as the tail or the hump. Three times a year you shall make a festival for me at the time—these are the great festivals: Passover, Weeks, and Tabernacles. The Festival of Harvest is that which is offered at it, the first of the new grain to the altar. This is what happened in the wilderness of Sinai when the commandments were given. The Festival of Tabernacles. It is the festival of forgiveness and of the exodus of the year. This one, however, is with the tenth of Tishri before the beginning. The reason for the festivals is this: that in their midst and in the tabernacles they would remember God and his laws, thus also the Sabbath. Again it says that the Festival of Harvest is the remembrance of the descent of God upon the mountain, and the completion of the commandments that were given to them, and thanksgiving to God that he caused their seeds to grow and brought them to the point that they could harvest.

The feast of the third in the going out of the hour, when the ears of grain enter the houses: and it is known that he has poured out blessings upon them, and they offer the firstfruits and they spread out the mats. In the book of the priests, he commands that they make two other feasts: one in the seventh month, the memorial of the city, or of the trumpet, and another feast on the tenth of the month of Shebat, the fast of humility, because of the calf, for they are to remember the mourning of the calf, or that they fast on account of their transgressions. Another feast of the tabernacles, whose reason is stated above: that he shaded them by day with the cloud and by night with the pillar of fire, because they went astray after idols and did not remember the goodness of God, he bound them with feasts, so that the love of the Creator might be renewed in their hearts. You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk: you shall not cook it and its mother on the same day; you shall not boil it, lest when it hears and is pleasing, it be known concerning it, and the priests eat it, when it hints at the firstborn. This that you shall not boil: in place of completion it comes out, like that which the magi confirm, because it boils the harvest. You shall not boil a kid: not when the lamb is abundant and less than seven days old, it is bound and boiled properly, in this it urges them to mercy. Again, you shall not seek to kill the lamb of the Messiah when it cries out milk; also Herod sought after this. Again, you shall not press with the hard word of the law him who is newly taught and goes up on milk, and with this they boil him or kill him and he is condemned.

The Hebrew: "Do not kill a kid in its mother's milk." He says: "Do not cook." The woman who is pregnant: "Do not miscarry before you give birth." The kid calls to the son of a man, and the mother to the daughter-in-law: "Do not be killed while pregnant, until you give birth." "Do not cook" — it is not right for a person to envy his companion for his sins, or for the sins of his fathers. Again, the kid is sin, and its mother is error, because it is not fitting to raise it according to its first forms, when it comes to instruction. Again, the kid is the people, and the mother is Egypt: "Do not raise it according to Egyptian customs." "Do not cook" — it is "do not raise." Again, the kid is demonic thoughts; its mother is the soul, which commands that one should not raise an evil thought in the milk of the measure, but rather kill it at night. They broke their covenants — their idols. "I feared before you" — fear and trembling of mine, I raise up in my loins, these before you. Do not be destroyed in one hour, lest it increase. This is causally said, that they should not be stirred up, lest they be not completely gathered to the peoples. The reason for their being left is to be added to them for Israel, not because he does not know, but that if he does not mingle with them, they will be perfected. Now they err after them and are condemned. Again, there was among them that which was not equal among them for destruction, like those thorns, all those commandments on the mountain, God said to Moses: "The creatures that sent," God said to Moses: "The creatures that sent" — angels, that is, which were idle over them and covered them with a perceptible and knowable sweetness.

After Moses went up and came back with all these words before the people, God commanded him that he should go up and that the seventy elders should go up and offer sacrifice, and that this should be a testimony for Israel, that when the people are troubled, they hear the voice of God. He brought up the elders as if they did not hear the voice, but the words, commandments, and laws; and Moses was the mediator, not by sight. In the morning, before the altar, after he came down from the mountain, he set up twelve stones which he called the covenants, so that all the tribes would offer worship to God. And he sent young men, the young men to the Levites, or to those who were skilled in the slaughter of oxen; and they brought offerings, that is, they brought what was prepared and ready before Moses at the altar. And he took the book, that is, again, upon the tablets that he brought down, or the ten words, he called the book. He read, that is, he came back before the people with his mouth. And he took the blood and sprinkled it upon, that is, he sprinkled and cast one upon them; for he did not sprinkle upon their sisters, but while the people were standing before him, he sprinkled upon their faces towards them as if they were near. This blood of the covenant, that is, of the testament that he established with you, signified the ten words and the laws that he gave them, which were spoken to them in word.

the blood of the covenant he calls the blood of animals, because that people was not able to confirm the covenant with their own blood as the law of the world through the death of animals, and his own blood he immersed in the covenant which he gave to them. And the mystery of the blood of Christ is that which in the end of times completed the new covenant, and after it there is no further covenant, because through the death of the Son the covenant was fulfilled. And "they saw the God of Israel" — because the passage of the ascent was not completed, he turned and said that the seventy elders saw the God of Israel in a visible, perceptible manner, and beneath his feet like a servant of a brick, through a brick at their heels, the Israelites, who through the labor of bricks remember them. Again, he makes known that with the servitude of the work of bricks he freed them; beneath his feet was placed a brick, to show that he placed them also under the feet of the Egyptians under the brick of the sea, concerning the crossing of the sea he remembers. Also a brick again for the firmament of the heavens, of what? Others say that a brick is for the zodiac; the firmament of the heavens is the firmament of the heavens. Others, the vision of the firmament; the name of the firmament is taken again. Concerning insolence and arrogance, and he teaches them that they should not call the firmament insolence, the insolence of the Egyptians. Like a servant of a brick, as a brick is square, like the form of a footstool that is placed under the feet of a man. And concerning the elders, he did not answer, he did not stretch out his hand against them, as if they were innocent in this, because they thought that when they saw God, that one would be their God, but when they saw, they lived and endured the burden of sacrifice. Again, concerning the boundary that bounds: when he approached the mountain, they interpreted, they interpret.

the others say that he did not place his hand on the elders, and it is foolishness and error: for the humility and priesthood of Moses and Aaron are what they had, and not that of a man from the elders, because he did not place his hand on them. They saw God and ate that very manna which they saw, and it was not a type, and that vision and beauty and glory of the cloud: instead of food, it sufficed for them, even from this it is understood that Moses and Joshua in those forty days had that glory and vision sufficient for them instead of sustenance, and they did not lack food. And Moses went up to the mountain, his covering being the cloud, in this cloud which is the darkness that is on the mountain. Joshua the son of Nun remained at the foot of the mountain, while he was neither with the people nor with Moses. And the cloud covered Moses like darkness, because he was not visible where he was, for six days the cloud covered him. While he was being instructed with divine thoughts, as he received teaching, God taught him openly in those six days about the entire creation of the world, and as the angels saw the creatures when they were being established hand in hand, so Moses saw them, and also the foundation of the beginning and the rest on the seventh day, and also the governance of Adam until his end, all of them openly. And as in their time they were moved and spoken, he saw them, and after six days he commanded him with a perceptible word about blood, and he made the world with the filling of the natures, which are deceptive, like the example that was shown to him.

Two worlds and two modes of conduct were set for God from the beginning by his knowledge to act: through the Tabernacle he would bring the two of them to an end through Moses. And just as when he went out to the action, the world that was destined for renewal, the thoughts would be directed toward God. God commanded Moses to make the Tabernacle and to divide it into two by means of curtains, like the firmament that divides between heaven and earth, and like that in which complete knowledge and freedom from constrictions would be given to him. Thus he commanded here that in the Holy of Holies the Ark be placed, which is the filling of the place of God. The book of the Law, in which is the mystery of divine knowledge, and the golden urn above it, the mystery of the body that is united to the Word. Others say that the Ark is the mystery of the incarnation. The Apostle says this: that before God placed the mercy seat upon it, it is spoken concerning the urn that it was the mercy seat, and many sacrifices were changed, and as if it had a mouth to speak. Forty days Moses was being formed by the divine radiance; thus also Jesus: as the elders were filled with fragrance and formation by the vision. God commanded Moses to set up the Tabernacle where the fear of the idols would be removed from them, and that in the middle of the Tabernacle he would teach them that in their midst he dwells, and that if there is again a sinner in the midst of the priests, he would approach God by means of sacrifices, and even if the sin was not revealed, the sacrifice was a witness that because of the sin he offered it. And in this three things are known: 1. Confession of sin while the sinner is silent; 2. Repentance and standing before him.

And its covering: by means of the four colors that are in the Tabernacle of the Tent, it signified the four elements: the blue, the purple, the scarlet, and the white, which are like the earth; the purple, that is, and it resembles the color of the sky and the waters. The hyacinth resembles the air, the white like fire. And from the wood of the acacia, it is said, that it is incorruptible. The aspeyqā and the sūsgewānā, red and white, are not colors, but rather the hides of the Tabernacle dyed naturally. The Ark, it is said, was made of acacia wood, like the pattern of Mount Sinai, and like the mountain it was gilded. And from the wood of the ashkar‘ā, which is strong and firm, and it is called “shargā” and also “‘arqā,” it is said, by the Syrians. The Table of twelve loaves upon which were the twelve months of the year and their changes, the four seasons establish the world and complete those things that are necessary for the existence of the life of all flesh. The cover of the Ark, which was not placed upright upon the Ark or standing, but was lying upon it, is a deep mystery of the mountain, which in measurement was four cubits. The cubits are the rings or squares by which the poles, that is, the handles, enter to carry it. The rings of the Ark are not rings like those that are hung in doors, but rather of four colors like those that are set in the biers of the dead, and they are square and made of iron or brass.

And he made two cherubim of gold, which signified the angels who minister to God; the two angels who completed the service of the Lord: Gabriel and Michael. The base of the Tabernacle was on the west, and its face on the east; and one cherub stood in the south and the other in the north. A crown, when it went around, he said that he made for the table like a sort of rim upon its edge. He made, when it went around, two rings. This is the board that is with it when they are spread out. There are also made, again, four rings, when they are held together; and he made pillars and capitals; the pillars that go up to these capitals of the beams that belong to it, whose base is spread out and simple and not deep; there are some that are round and some that are square, but not deep. Small capitals with the sockets, like little dishes, he made; the face of the bread is placed upon the bread that is on the table, as before its face in the evening and in the morning, and it stands and is closed. He made a lampstand of gold, which he commanded to be made as a stand, because previously they had made a lamp like a kind of stand, and they called it a stand; as this lampstand is hollow, so that it might be lighter for carrying. Its base and its stand he calls the lower base of the lampstand. Its branches, however, go up from it like shoots. Its cups, the capitals and the spheres that are placed upon them, are twisted; the lampstand is called the house of the sun, because in the place of the sun it is filled. The seven lamps in it signify the seven days of the week, the months, and the hours.

east. The rings and hooks that are in it, as is proper, are made in it and in the lampstand. There were four branches of the lampstand; it calls the central upright the lampstand, and adds one additional branch. This is the seventh day. And they made its snuffers for those that are extinguished, with which the burning is taken away from the lamp; it calls the snuffer something like a small dog. Its base for those that are placed under the lamp, which receive the oil that drips from the lamp. Its cups, those that receive the lamps above with the lampstand. With a talent of gold they made it, with a thousand gold staters, which are darics, as in the pattern that he showed you on the mountain. In this he indicates that not only by word did he speak to him that he should make, but as in a vision he showed him the form of the ark, the lampstand, the table, and the rest. He placed the lampstand in the south of the house, opposite the table. The loaves of the showbread are placed in the south, opposite the north, arranged. And for the tabernacle, make ten curtains, a pattern of heaven and earth. He made loops for the edges of the curtain, which he calls loops, like loops for the feet. And he attached the curtain to the rings, rings like those in boots. The interpreters say that the curtains were of goat hair, not of wool. And water does not enter the rings through the loops, so that their openings and fastenings are not worn away. He made a covering for the altar of the skins of rams dyed red, which, over the showbread, signifies the redness of the firmament; the mixture that is like the color of the sky signifies within it the interior of heaven. The stands, some supports.

the boards like those of the doors, but not the thickness of the sides within them. It again calls the boards "uprights," because when they were set up and standing, and upon them were placed the beams that were spread over them and the curtains. And it calls "beams" the thick pieces of wood in which the two sides of the boards are joined, so that all of them are joined and arranged in one equality. And the boards that were placed in the corners were like something of a kind made to hold two sides, because it says that together they are bent over their head upon the hooks, one of which is fixed in their strength. And they made wooden bolts of acacia wood, five for the boards, for each side five bolts. It calls these bolts the pieces of wood that are joined to the doors. This is what the book calls "of four," two above and two below, in that on each side of the large ones, five bolts are placed, and four are made on the hooks, two above and two below. Because the crossbeams and the central one were in the middle and would bend in the pressure, as if they were more pressed. And it calls the bolts, like those pieces of wood that are joined to the door on its side. The work of the craftsman made them for the cherub, not that of a common or unskilled worker, or one who knows and is skilled in everything, but one who at the end will show you what is fitting.

the work of the cherubim is a true, solid, and powerful work. He made a covering beneath the boards, and a single covering over the entire ground of the tabernacle, both inner and outer. And he spread them not beneath the boards, and he made an altar of wood, and he made its horns—its horns for its sides, and not from another wood. The name of the altar is compounded from two names: one from "sacrifice" that is offered, and the other from that of the altar. And he made its sancta—he calls "sancta" the large cauldrons of bronze that have handles on top like the rings of spits in them. He calls "spits" those that are long, their length very great, and their handles on the edge of their height. All of these, under one name of "cauldron," are called "spit-roasts"—those that go up in them, meat with sanctity, like a grill. And he made a grating—that is, hooks, like in its length, that which is like a kind of round thing for the altar, so that no one might approach it, and it is made skillfully like a net, and it is wrapped around the sides of the altar that is placed in the court like a kind of fence. Others say that the grating is made from bronze rods like a lattice for the altar, and it resembles a net. These are one hundred cubits in its length—he calls "row" a row: the Levites who are arranged and go upon the twenty columns and their like, those of the south and also on the north side, in that which the entire tabernacle is seen. One hundred cubits its length, and its width fifty. The length of the house is thirty cubits, and its width thirty, with the western court, and up to the house twenty cubits in length, so that fifty cubits remain the length of the court. For when you subtract from them the twenty of the western court and the thirty length of the house.

the fifty cubits, and also the width of the court was fifty cubits, because the entire width of the house was fifty cubits. Then he made the boards not in a simple manner, as might be thought, but with beautiful workmanship and a finished product. The boards of the court: he made them so that they are bound together with ropes and chains, which secure the standing of the tabernacle so that it does not collapse. After the command concerning the structure of the tabernacle, he now speaks concerning the priesthood of Aaron and his sons, which resembles in every respect the order of creation: after the entire creation was completed, the first and foremost command was given concerning their garments. The ephod is from the shoulders down to the loins of the priest, like a kind of girdle. He calls the breastpiece that which is not movable in its middle, and he calls the ephod that which is above the breastpiece and is worn over it. Again, he calls the ephod that garment which, like a square cloth when folded, was a span in length and a span in width, and is placed above the one shoulder of the priest, above the breastpiece. The mitre is what the priests wear above all their turbans, not long like a turban. Again, the mitre, its form is like a long cap, and some say it resembles a helmet, but it is somewhat long. They took the gold with the rest, and they made the sacred garments; for threads of gold were superior in the weaving, along with those of twisted purple. The two shoulder-pieces are attached; he speaks concerning the breastpieces, when he calls the shoulder-pieces the breastpieces of the ephod. Others say on the side of the ephod, thus: when he calls the shoulder-pieces the breastpieces of the ephod.

the other side of the board, he says, like the planks that belong to it, according to their length, the two sides of it, and it was attached before one of the priest, like the board, with a slight movement in its middle. The stones of beryl were set and arranged, and it was to be made of gold, to be set with precious stones, like gold that is made with settings. The settings were the places of the signs that were for the precious stones, like those that are made in rings, for the reception of the seals. Again, the stones of beryl were those two hundred and seventy-two, and engravings were upon them, six names, and on the shoulder of the priest they were prepared, completed with that completion, that order of stones was arranged. And he made a spread of the diadem, that is, in this spread: four rows of precious stones arranged, the first row, red, that which is like a ruby, and a hyacinth, that which is like the inside of wine. And an emerald, to it, like the inside of an emerald, or like the inside of a beryl, when the inside of a hyacinth, but a little pale, those were arranged on the face of the shoulder of the priest, that row. The second row, that which is on the right of the priest: a sapphire, the inside of a pale blue, that which is called lapis lazuli, and a turquoise, that which is like honey, when the inside of a pale blue, but a little pale, there are those who say that it is like milk, when those three are blue, but that it is pale with its companion. The third row, on the left of the priest, a jacinth, a color like the inside of a leek and like a hyacinth, or a purple, when colored, there are those who say that jacinth is purple, but not very red, but it inclines to the inside of gold.

The qarqadā is like the honeycomb. Thus also the 'egbaglā is a little mixed with gold. Some say it is honeycomb. And some say it is red or the color of wine. A row of four rows of beryl, like green water, not very white. And some say that in the color of these four rows of stones, like the color of those from which the well-known works of the tabernacle are made, they say that these are the t‘lā, the argwānā, the zḥōrītā, and the būṣā. Their names correspond to the four elements: the first row to zḥōrītā and to fire; the second row to argwānā and to the firmament, which is water; the third row to tiklā and to earth; and the fourth row to būṣā and to air. And each one of the stones of each of the rows, when they are arranged in pairs, this one with that which precedes it, its color is like that of a man who is righteous, whose deeds are pure, from whom a little bitterness is removed again. And the rest of it is in this matter. For the sixth is one head in the plain and one in the stone, so that they do not fall. In this, therefore, which is mistaken, that priest was for the names, as the fathers of them, like that which is with the priest, they entered. He made a curtain of judgment, that is, a curtain signifying the hour. This which was spread out when it was woven was upon the weaving of the priest with the self and the body and the examination. He calls it judgment, as when the entry of the chief of the priests was a test and a judgment for the people. Again he calls it mercy, as by the mediation of that one who speaks in his place, forgiveness of sins is granted to them.

He says again that also for the ḥūsyā, the chains are twisted and in the qarqasā there are also two for the padtā that was attached to it, the qarqasē are for it two also for the padyātā and the zaqzāqātā two, and it is placed upon the spread of the diyā, šahīrā and šalmā. Take for yourself the stone of the head and engrave it, and inscribe upon it two names, šahīrā and šalmā, and by its nature this stone is in the midst of the rest of the stones by means of šahīrā, for it calls the priest "dark" as by his beauty and his brightness and his knowledge in the fear of God he illuminates the world, so that he is not despised when šalmā calls the people, in that when they are illuminated in the fear of God, as the priest teaches them, šalmā and goodness. And they receive understanding from God. These two names were inscribed upon two stones, those which are set within the spread, one of them on the right of the priest upon the edges of the spread and one on the left, and one beneath that which is above, and the fourth row on the face of the breastplate. These two stones upon which were inscribed šahīrā and šalmā, in the middle of the spread they were set. Make for yourself a pruzomā of padtā, complete, of the tklā, which is complete in its nail, and it is not possible to sin, and in the midst of the tklā it is. And its opening of its head is within it, its head is bent. Within this, however, it is not like the pruzomā which is like a house of the chests which he says exists. Again, that which is its head within it, from its neck a lip is made for it, that which enters into it is the tktā, and its lip is its mouth. The heights of the tklā are the heights as he commanded to make in them. And the zaggē of gold are the zaggē as for its heart they are made so that its voice is heard when it enters into the sanctuary.

He made a crown of gold, but the crown was not like a circlet or a crescent, but like a crown of the head, which is made with many plates, two by two, set and engraved upon it with engravings of holiness. "Take for yourself the chief stone," and engrave upon it the name of my lordship, which is holy, separate, and exalted. Place it in the crown between the eyes of the priest. Know that this name is crowned and full of those things that are performed in their midst. This name in the Hebrew language has four letters: it is YHWH. And concerning this, the Assyrian Jacob of Edessa labored, and the heretic who in the Greek language is called Pypy, a false name, but the Hebrew letters are YHWH, or rather YHYH, which are interpreted, and among the Hebrews it is not pronounced. And above, how many letters are written? "My Lord" or "Lord," and they used to call this name; they did not mention it with their lips because of its hiddenness. And it is understood that Moses received this from God, and "my Lord" and "my Lord" they called, and they hid this name in the word. And it is placed upon the thread of the tassel, in the zaqzāqātā of all the plates, which are the crown. And he made a headband of linen. He calls the headband ta'at, for the padtā, which is like a band or a lock, something that is tied on the head, like an extra that is wrapped on the head, the crown, when this is placed beneath it. Others say that the headband is a cap, and it is not true, but it is called a headband because it binds and ties on the head.

This is the crown, and it is placed upon the frontlet opposite the face of the priest. Just as the crown is placed opposite the face of the frontlet, and Aaron takes the holy sins, the holy ones, which are given in place of their sins, when by means of these holy ones the distinctions that sanctify and separate for God are hidden, their sins are concealed. And all this is done for them. As for the distinctions, and the small ones with the frontlets, and also upon the frontlet, they say that it is the cap and the fringes, but it has a crown of holiness placed above it. Others say that the frontlet resembles a headband or a long band of linen or hair. Concerning the "kallwe," they say "ashes," or the circles that the Jewish priests wind around their heads, they call them "kallwe," because the priests are crowned with them, as with a crown. For honor and glory, as is often seen, when they are adorned with the "kallwe," the priests are placed at the heads of the people, and they separate me and consecrate me and make me a priest, distinct from the rest of the people who are suitable for me for the service of the priesthood. Take a bull, a calf, which has not yet been subjected to labor, and rams without blemish, goats, large and small, and bread and unleavened bread, and other unleavened wafers baked in oil. Cakes like myrtle leaves are made, like a crescent at the beginning of the months are made. He clothed Aaron in his tunic, the mystery of Christ who clothed himself in the garment of mortality through baptism and was immersed in water. Three sacrifices, three days, garments of glory and incense with the rest of the good things that are prepared, the hands that are completed, by which their hands are made known in their completion.

and he places them, Aaron and his sons, their hands, as it is seen that in the completion of all of them, the bull is distinguished and offered in their place to God. And take all the fat that is called fat, the thin fat that is called upon the whole belly, and it is inside with the skin, while by means of the fat it is as if the whole body ascends to the altar. And also the intention that strengthens the thoughts is sacrificed with it. And again he takes the first portion from the self. The liver is called thus: for in the liver is signified the anger of the priest, as it is the generative source of blood. Again, the liver is that which expels from the whole substance, the kidneys, as the small ones that are the desire of union, and by it the thought acts; for with them both are purified together: desire, I say, and thought. And again, the liver, from that which changes the nature into blood, builds up the body; but anger and wrath, the third part of the self, are placed in the gall. Again, the fat is sacrificed, because it is the nature and the fat of the four elements, and concerning this David said: "Like the fat and like the fat, may my soul be received, may it be received by God, like the fat and like the fat that is offered to God." And it is right that souls be offered to God when they are freed from evil, for it is said that in the offering of fat there is a voice. Its flesh, its skin, and its hair are burned in fire; the hair is for the mourning of the belly, as it is not suitable for sacrifice but for burning. This, then, is placed upon its limbs and upon its head, the blood that is poured out for its belly and its inside is placed also upon them, upon the limbs of the male.

Take its blood and sprinkle it on the horn of the altar, on the horn of the altar, and on the hands and feet of the ram. With these, also for the performance of the services that are performed on the altar, by the finger that is on the tip of the hand, as if it were the cause of the services, and without it the performance is nullified. By the tip of the foot, it signifies the paths, or the evil deeds, by the horn of the altar, that you may be saved from deficient words and may observe the divine commandments. Again, one offering that is sanctified with blood. And that it may be known that they are priests, and that, as three witnesses testify concerning them, he commanded that he take the ram and the fat and the tail and the rest that is placed on the fire for the demonstration of the perfection of all that is done by them from the sacrifices for food and from them for the fire, and this because there was no portion for Levi, but sacrifices and offerings and tithes and these were for their food, for the work was equal to its reward, for these who serve in the tabernacle watch and pray on behalf of the people and are zealous for divine things, it is right that they be sustained while they serve. The coming of the sacrifice to the fire shows that it is acceptable, and not that God is pleased with this, but as the offerings of Abel and of Noah and of Abraham in the fire were known to have been accepted, so also these, for even the pagans used to burn their sacrifices in the fire, and the custom ceased for them of this practice, and there it was commanded to the children of Israel at the gate before the tabernacle of the ark, and it was sanctified in its honor openly.

... of the door of the temple, the angel appeared to Zechariah and made an altar of incense, that is, an altar of spices, which the Apostle calls the house of spices. When Aaron kindled the lamps in the house, that is, in the house of the sun, for the west of the sun he calls it, or the lampstand, like a place full of lights. Three times the lamps were kindled: one in the evening, one at midnight, and another in the morning. And when the thought of the children of Israel was received, the man of salvation gave twenty zuzim, which are called for the weight. Others say that zuzim are for the qerṭa, which are called twenty prutim; four zuzim make a shekel and a half, and there are ten qerṭa which make two zuzim. And he made a qanqa of ḥašša, that is, a hidden thing, for there are times when they make a qanqa of wood. And then he calls its qanqah, that is, the throne on which he sits, the chief of spices, that is, the chief. Qanqom, that is, the stork, which also is called esṭoqṭa, and also is called ṣiʿrarg, qanqom, that is, for the Dṛṣyāyē. And this is not suitable for the qanya spice, for the qanya that is placed in oil and spice is called qanya wood for sending, or for its slīkā. The qanya is of great value, and when it is brought, it is like a balsam from those regions, because it is not found much in the interior. The būṣā is fine, that is, its qanqom is fine and not made by the hands of men.

He says also concerning the dove: in this the worm was, others say that it was a chief beetle, that which spreads its wings when it goes out from the reeds; that which is like water and the hair of water. Take for yourself the ṭuppāṯā, but this is not the interpretation of the Messiah which he calls the head, but the knowledge of one of the trees concerning knowledge and the ṭuppāṯā, his knowledge is called ṭuppāṯā, and it is like sandarūs, or something similar, and he calls these ṭuppārē the ṭuppārē of the sea's halīzūṯā, that is, Agbarah, the ḥalbānītā for its interpretation. The elephants of the pure for the sanctuary, that is, the elephant, he calls for the west. And when these substances which are suitable for incense were mixed and combined, then it became a crown after they were ground. And he saw that it was called by name to Beṣalʾel bar ʾŪrī, as if more than his companions of Moses, and all that he did to teach the crafts, that is, not only did he know how to do everything, but he also taught others to do. The tabernacle and the ark of the testimony, that is, he calls it of the testimony, because in it are the two tablets of the testimony. Keep the Sabbath because it is holy, that is, because in it God rested from the works, and he commanded them from labor, and because they were not able to fulfill the word of mercy in word and deed, he taught them, in that the ox and the ass and the reeds rested, and Joshua heard his voice, that is, in this he showed that he was not with the people nor with Moses, but on the slopes of the mountain. And others say that from flour and water it was mixed there, forty days.

He gave him two tablets of stone; by means of stone he hinted at the truth of God, that all those things which he commanded were not done by them. Again, as for the hardness of heart and the stone of the shamir of the Jews, after all those things of the mountain of Sinai, they were not ashamed of their wickedness, nor did they again understand the mystery of that which was to be inscribed anew within the law, that the mystery of the new law was to be inscribed upon the tablets of the heart of Israel, like the echo of Isaiah and Jeremiah, and they placed my law in their minds. On the two tablets were written ten words, as were suitable for the soul and the body, the writings being on both sides. The mystery of this is that for both aspects of the beginning, the teaching concerning them is suitable. This is that which is written by the finger of God in his own works, as your servants have seen the work of your fingers. By the duality of the tablets, the commandments are written on both sides, not on one side; but they were on the other side. He indicates by this that not only are the commandments fulfilled in that which is visible, but also in the hidden, that is, corporeally they are fulfilled, and when it is also known what is within the depth of the soul. Again, that which is fulfilled openly is both openly and hiddenly. Again, when it is possible that openly, with fear, they are fulfilled, and hiddenly they are not fulfilled, thus as they are fulfilled corporeally, so also inwardly they are known intellectually in the thought which is not divided, that which the priests ought to fulfill.

When Moses delayed on the mountain, the people went astray with the slanderers, and they asked for gods, because they were accustomed to the sight of the gods of Egypt, and they had also heard that other nations had gods. But the God who is hidden from all and near to all, because of the hardness of their hearts they did not wish to know. They were troubled, however, because they had seen wonders and mighty deeds, yet they did not believe. Aaron asked them for the holy earrings of gold, which they had, when they were sparing with the gold they had taken from Egypt, and they gave them for this work. For he thought that the wrath of the holy ones would overcome the love of God. And when he commanded Aaron to make them a calf, they killed Hur because he rebuked them for not turning back after the idols. And because of this fear, Aaron feared and did not act, because God did not act for him, nor Moses. And he cried out that this calf which the Lord had made was a new thing. "This is your god who brought you up like a people," he said, and not Aaron. Again, "Your god is seen, and not like that of Moses, who is not seen." And the people commanded the holy earrings, "like a calf he made, and not another form," and they said that they were accustomed to that thing to which they worshipped in their hearts; that God abandoned coming in form and image. Others said that they asked for this form, as they saw in Egypt, and they brought to Aaron the gold for smelting in a furnace, like the work of gold, and they made a calf of bronze; the craftsmen did this, and not he. Because of fear, this was imposed on him, and not by his will.

He built an altar before it, and cried out and said, "A festival for the Lord tomorrow!" as it is said: "You seek gods, you who would serve; but know that there is one God, who is not quickly fashioned." Therefore he built an altar before it quickly, and offered a sacrifice to the Lord for salvation. "Leave me," and his anger was kindled against them. By this hand he gave them prayer and supplication of their error. Again, "Leave me," he knew that God was about to curse the people through Moses, and he asked, "What god is this that will destroy them?" And he went up to Moses before them and asked that he give counsel to the people, as one who is slow to anger until he came down to the people. And he, when he saw the angry God, asked the people for salvation. And it is known that the anger of Moses was abated by that which broke the tablets, and Moses could no longer ask destruction for the people; he left them on the mountain, for he was reconciled to them, the people not being opposed to his word. Nor was Moses justified in the breaking of the tablets, because God was angry and became wrathful when he heard the voice of sin within the camp. Again, the people were not worthy to see the tablets written by God. He broke them, moreover, because they were not worthy to see the writings of God, those who, even at the sound of his voice, fled and were troubled before him thus; they were like those who tear up tablets with writings. Moses took the calf and burned it with fire and ground it to powder until it was pulverized, and he cast its dust upon the water of the river and gave its dust to drink to a small flock that was grazing with the mountain and was passing through the entire camp, and to all who wished in the worship of the calf.

When he drank from the water, that calf was immediately dissolved. This Moses did, as it is said: "He slaughtered the calf, scattered its ashes, and cast dust into the springs," as it is written. And when they did not repent, they were struck with pain and died, for those who drank from the water in which there was poison—all of them who had been the cause of the calf—signs of putrefaction were seen in their own limbs.

Because of the shame of the golden calf which had occurred among them, they went from door to door, from street to street, and turned and went around the entire camp. And each man killed his brother, each man his relative. "When will the Lord come to me?" "When will he who did not wish to worship the calf, and did not submit, and did not bow to it, come to me?" The tribe of Levi was struck down because not all of them submitted to the worship of the calf. And in this, "When will the Lord?" shows that the Levites did not desire the calf, and the tribes of the rest submitted to the calf, but Moses did not strike them down because of that. And those who were killed were Levites. And it is known from what Moses said, "Fill your hands today," that is, with the son of his own and the brother of his own. And even all of them sinned, but the sons of Levi were killed, because it was not right for the people, and because they had been chosen for the service of the Tabernacle, and because the majority of them did not submit to the people. It was right that they should be attached to the inheritances, but "I have given you your book, the book which calls to life." And if not, "I have given you these lives which are in it," as in the book I wrote to you in your knowledge. "When he sinned against me, I gave him my books in the desert, I was filled" when they saw the calf, because of the sea they did not enter its expanse. And also that which embittered him thus, the zeal of Moses and Aaron that they did not enter the land of the kingdom.

However, the book of the living was not closed. For those who sinned with the calf were cut off from the land of the living, but the book of the living did not ascend into your house. Rather, the angel commanded you as you sought its ascent, and when you answered this, you were warned from sin, while you were chosen from among them over your people who were. Again, they desired that the Lord be with them, and he did not act like one of the angels, like the peoples and the known from that which Moses wrote, that the division of the Lord with him, Jacob, the destruction of his inheritance. That, however, was not because they feared God that they desired him with them, but because they would not perish by the sword or be saved from enemies. "Pass your weapons from you" on that day when he did not take up his weapon against him. Know that they raised the standards of Hebrew glory, and he did not take his zeal, for the Lord, with the fear of the peoples, was mightily bearing arms. And on that day they placed their weapons from them and at the head, and they were prepared to enter the land of the Canaanites. They were equipped with weapons, but they desisted from this as long as weapons do not help among the peoples when God does not help, or the weapon of the strong over their preparedness, which in the going forth he says: as on that day they remained with their goodness. Again, the nakedness of the weapons and the standards of glory is this: for they determined to go out from the camp, that concerning which the pillar of light stood and the Lord spoke with him from it. He commanded them that in the church where the Lord descended upon the tabernacle of Moses, as a mediator he spoke with him, not when they were armed and equipped, "Do not worship.

but in the manner of servants, with humility and lowliness, they worshipped the standards and the spears upon the heads of the leaders and the high ones. He also teaches that with a lowly intention they approached the worship of God, and not with pride. And he took the tent and pitched it outside the camp, and called it the Tent of the Tabernacle, because a light tabernacle served there. And afterwards, in its place, the Tent of the Tabernacle of God was pitched, that is, the Church. For as soon as Moses pitched his tent outside with the wicked people, the cloud and the pillar moved from them and rested upon the tent of Moses, teaching that he did not wish to be with them. The whole people stood and worshipped, each one worshipping toward the pillar. The Lord spoke with Moses face to face, that is, not by means of a sign, but in the likeness in which he appears in the pillar, as it is said concerning the seventy that they saw God and ate. The face of the Lord indicates the likeness that is in the pillar, it says. Again, the Lord did not speak with Moses through the mediation of an angel, but he was likened to a man and made for him a face, although in his nature he has no such thing. Again, they say that the Son is the one who speaks, and that it was the likeness that was to clothe itself in flesh that he put on and spoke with Moses, and that Moses and Elijah saw him on the Mount of Tabor with the apostles. You said to me that I know you by name, it says: that I said that I am ignorant with your scribe. But you said to me that I am not ignorant of sin, and for you, a house of shame is considered a sign for you. This is foolish: that I know you by name, and also I love you, and for this I chose you, and concerning this Moses said that these are the true things that you said.

Show me your glory and your knowledge, O God. Teach me, if you will go with me. The way, then, to the action of his going is named. This, then, that I might know you, O God, that you are God, and that you direct me with your high idleness. O, reveal yourself to me clearly, and I will show you, O Holy Spirit, that I will act in the prophet of knowledge, when God spoke with him face to face, in the likeness of this form, and not as a nature that was weary of seeing something higher than the form; and that he saw the form in its glory, like that which comes, the son of man, in his glory. Again, show me your way and teach me, O God, how you act in everything unceasingly, how you go with me while you are not distant and you are moved. Again, reveal yourself to me, O God, not in a form, but apart from forms: this, that the essence of God cannot be seen. The Spirit moved this request, how this might be proclaimed, that which was not seen or is seen, but only gifts and praise were seen by Moses and the prophets. Show me, O Lord, that even your existence is invisible, and I do not see you with head and life, but I desire to see something higher than the perceptible form, as is fitting for your nature. Go before me and prepare yourself, O Lord; go before me, and the angel with you, and I will make a way for you according to your request. I will come after you, because I dwell among this people. Moses, when he did not understand that which was said, how he accepted his request. Again, he makes known concerning God openly, how he accepted his request, and went with the people.

because I found mercy in my eyes, as I showed you that this is true, that I said to you, "I will not delay, I will come to you with my books and I will make you know by name." It is known that I remember your name, as this is known to the Lord for those who are his own. I will come when I am received by the prayer of Moses. Again, he asks for those things that are higher than the nature of created things. Show me your glory, O God, because in various revelations it appears to him. I think that he was already able to see his glory truly. I will pass before you with all my goodness, O God. I will make a revelation before you that is better and more glorious than all the revelations of your showing, and with the revelation I will also make a voice heard to you: that the Lord passes before you. I will pass before you with my own praise, O God. I will show you my own glory, that with which I am about to come and announce to the world something that is higher than those things that I promised as you asked. And I will call by the name of the Lord, O Lord, who said, "I will call the Son," who is the Word and the doer, not distant from the Father. Again, I will call, O I will make known to you that the Lord is the Lord and the Son of the Lord, this which is higher than that which you asked. For you asked to see something; I, however, will say that the Father, Son, and Spirit are the Lord, O Lord, Lord, and Lord. Again, for the goodness of the one who is good, I will be revealed at the end of the existence of the Trinity, and the reward, and the judgment, and I will have mercy on the one who has mercy. O he hints at those things that are about to be revealed and seen and believed. And I will show to those who show, O not to the whole people.

cannot see me with the senses of the body, and life—no, he cannot see me. No man can see my essence. And by this he concealed himself from the people, so that no man would dare to approach things like these. And because the Israelites did not seek a vision like this, how then did they see their gods? For they feared death, and as he said, "Those who are pure in their hearts see God"? No, it is he who is defiled because of this. But life, like the wicked? No, life, the true life. Again, I was not seen in the head, in the middle of the senses, for I am not visible. And he who is purified until he comes to me, because he gazed upon me in spirit, saw as his image was united, while with bodily life it is revealed. Because as long as he lives bodily, he cannot see me. Again, he who desires to see me does not see me as Moses desired, but when he dies to the world and leaves behind the vitality of the senses and goes out after me. And so that the prophet would not stumble and so that he would not be able to attain his divinity, he showed him the glory of his honor. Behold, the place before you, where I am revealed to you. I placed you in the cleft of the rock, so that you would not be burned by the radiance of the greatness of my glory, for the seer cannot gaze upon these things. And I placed my hand upon you; I covered you again over the weakness of the hand of my mighty ones toward the vision of glory. You will see my back, not me, but my glory, which is not examined by nature but is something above nature. And just as in these sensible things, that which is seen in the back is not the substance but the garment, so in the back of God, that which is known through it is he himself, and not his nature.

Again I pass my hand, and you see in my secret [place] the hidden knowledge of the nature that cannot be seen. You do not see my essence. I pass all my goodness, that I might show you openly all the rational natures as they are created and pass before you. He calls these "goodness," that through works it is seen, as the wise man with his wisdom and the good man with his goodness. You see in my secret [place] the secret of the creatures. He calls these that from him were created and from whom they are, and the whole of creation is hidden in the secret of God, which is from him. He also calls the face of his essence and his substantiality, but the hand of his working, and he says, "I pass before, and the angels pass after me." Then I pass my hand, which is my working, by which the angels are hidden so that they are not seen with the wicked, and you see them in the natures of the body. Others say that the angels cannot be seen as they are in this world. And the Lord calls the things that are said to be imperceptible, which Moses saw, but he did not reveal them, as much as he examined the mystery. Then the fire, the lightning, the hand, and the rest were perceptible things, and the passing of the cloud was the movement of his grace that was revealed to him while he was in the body. And after they passed, he was not able to speak about them, because there was no word that could examine them, and this is known from that which even Paul, when he reached those [realms], heard words that cannot be spoken as human [words], and he says that what was seen and heard by him was the word of the Syriac language and its utterance, while names and words cannot.

Others say that the revelation was that which was seen by Moses or by the angels, like voices, and they add further that the person of God was placed upon them, but they are the works of angels, and they bring a testimony to Stephen, who said that he who was with him and with the angels, that one spoke with him and about the fathers on Mount Sinai. And this, when the Lord passed, hints at the manifestation of the angels. It is necessary for the understanding of the first ones who are attached. That which the Lord calls "Lord, Lord" are the written voices that they say the Lord passed. His goodness and truth are abundant, his mercy and his true goodness, and he does not prevail, he does not prevail over sinners and the guilty to place at the head. Leave aside their debts and their sins, and it is necessary for you to seek forgiveness now, when he is truly judging, that you cannot see your glory. You have two foolish thoughts: thought and inheritance of what is not pure from sins; then also the inheritance stands firmly, and you also consider your inheritance and your firmness. He makes distinctions that are not to be wondered at, he hints at the wonders that were about to be performed before the people. Others say that concerning the radiance that rested upon the face of Moses, he said earlier. When Moses descended from the mountain, the skin of his face shone, for the glory of the radiance, as if fixed in a sphere upon the face of Moses; the rays of his face were like the rays of the sun, and these terrified the hearts of the people, so that they feared to approach him, because in the likeness of rays of radiance they were preserved from their eyes.

The person of Moses was not glorified in the first time, because he did not even eat and drink perceptibly, but it was known that the divine radiance was being increased like seventy elders, in the second time his abandonment of divine vanity of fasting was perceptible and also known, and the sweetness of divine glory was withheld, and through the medium of two fasts his person was glorified. Others say that because in the first time radiance and glory were divinely inscribed on the tablets, God placed them as for the wonder of visions, the radiance was hidden from the person of Moses. When, however, these were broken and Moses went up with a new beginning and fasted another forty days, the radiance and glory that were on the tablets that were broken came upon the person of Moses. And his person shone so that the people would fear and be confounded before him and would not raise a rebellion against him and would accept his words. The Ten Commandments alone were on the tablets, and because these were engraved on them plainly and were difficult, after the revelation they were interpreted spiritually and became spiritual. Because in the first descent from the mountain, due to the sin of the calf he said nothing to them about the tabernacle, now he turns to command that materials be brought for its construction: he calls beams, timbers, and long and short planks, which are placed in the middle of the curtains and support them so that they do not sag.

nment of the world was not yet complete, and the people were not yet worthy to receive the full revelation. The boards were called long and wide planks that were placed upon the head of the boards, and they were fixed in the tabernacle, like a camel's load, as it were. And every man who thought in his heart received his words with love, and many until Moses proclaimed that there was no doubt. Every man who thought in his spirit. The distinction in his spirit was in his free will, not bound and not constrained. The inner trust was the foundation. The beams were called the beams upon which the covering of the boards was placed. Five crossbeams for the boards on its side, for the likeness of the board was this: it was heavy on one side, and the other that was attached to it was also heavy, and it entered into their midst crosswise, between board and board, like the small piece of wood that is placed in the boards when they are joined together, which is called "qopya" or "aspiya." And this form was also the fifth crossbeam. The crossbeams, however, were four, and within them the pegs were inserted for them, two pegs for each board. The pegs of the crossbeams, like hands, as it were, that entered into the crossbeams, the work of the forms that he mentions. For they gathered all the forms, and at the base beneath the altar it was made, like some kind of structure that was placed. The likeness was like a cubit and a half, when with a plank or with a thick piece of wood it was made like the steps by which they ascended to the altar, because the altar was three cubits high, and the base was one and a half cubits high. He made the board of bronze, and he commanded the workers that until the board they should bring between the altar of bronze to the door of the tabernacle, the sacrifice was placed upon the board of bronze.

The Hebrews, from the visions of the revelations, say: When the people came to the Tabernacle, from the altar they looked to the west; for on the western side they used to worship, and only the priests were permitted to enter and see the Tabernacle within. The altar of incense was placed inside, before the curtain, and an angel showed it to Zechariah. The red heifer: when it is with its mother, it is like small Egyptian things. Then when it is with its mother, it is like the measure of the heifer, and the heifer is bound with it. He calls the crown of virginity that which is adorned with rings, for thus it is exalted and glorious, like one who separates himself and is sanctified and girded from all the desires of the world, and becomes a house of God. On the first of the month, the first month is called Nisan, in which they went out from Egypt and creation was established, and in it the Tabernacle of the Tent of the world was set up. Again, concerning the Tabernacle, also in the times, changes, and days of the world: on the first day of the week heaven and earth were made, and on the first day of the week the Tabernacle of the Tent was set up. The glory of the Lord fills; he calls the glory of the Lord the pillar of cloud that was spread over the Tabernacle and covered it, and it was filled with it. Again, glory. Instead of vision he says: and the cloud was removed from above it, that is, it was removed from above the Tabernacle. Completed is the book of Exodus, spiritually, and on the sinner John, son of the king, the crimson writer of the prayer.