Decem tentationes populi Israel in deserto

The Ten Temptations of the People of Israel in the Desert. These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel, at the crossing of the Jordan, in the wilderness, in the plain, opposite the Red Sea, between Pharan and Thophel, and Laban and Aseroth and the abundance of gold. An eleven-day journey from Horeb to Mount Seir, as far as Cades-Barne (Deut. 1:1-2). These are the words with which Moses rebuked the children of Israel for the ten temptations with which they tempted the Lord. Whence the Lord says in the book of Numbers: "But all the men who have seen my majesty and the signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now ten times, and have not obeyed my voice, shall not see the land for which I swore to their fathers" (Num. 14:22-23). Which temptations Moses here briefly and obscurely enumerates, saying: "In the wilderness," in which he shows that they tempted the Lord twice on account of a lack of water. Concerning the first temptation, it is read thus in Exodus: "The people, quarreling against Moses, said: Give us water to drink" (Exod. 18:2). To whom Moses replied: "Why do you quarrel against me? Why do you tempt the Lord?" (Ibid.). Concerning the second temptation, it is said thus in the book of Numbers: "And when the people lacked water, etc." (Num. 20:2), up to the place where it says: "This is the water of contradiction, where the children of Israel quarreled against the Lord, and it was sanctified among them" (Ibid. 13). The third temptation is contained in what he says: "In the plain opposite the Red Sea.

In which place they are said to have murmured against the Lord, because they did not believe that the Egyptians had been slain, according to the word of the Lord speaking to Moses, but rather feared that they would follow them (Exod. 15:22). Whence it is said: Our fathers did not understand the wonders, etc. (Ps. 105:7). The fourth and fifth temptation is contained in this: Between Pharan and Thophel, and Laban. Pharan is interpreted as wild ass; Thophel, folly; Laban, white. Which is understood thus, because the children of Israel, made like a wild ass, acted foolishly, tempting the Lord twice over the white, that is, over the manna. Manna is indeed called white, as in that passage of Exodus: And the house of Israel called its name Man, which was like white coriander seed (Exod. 16:31). The temptation was over the same manna, as is said in Exodus: This is the word which the Lord commanded: let each one gather from it as much as suffices for eating (Ibid. 32). And after a little: Moses said to them, Let no one keep any of it until morning. Those who did not listen to him, but some left some of it until morning (Ibid. 16). The other temptation was that of which it is said a little later in the same book: For six days gather, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, therefore it will not be found. The seventh day came, and some of the people went out to gather, and they did not find it. And the Lord said to Moses: How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my law? etc. (Ibid. and following).

The sixth temptation is contained in what it says: "And Aseroth." Aseroth is a city near the wilderness, and it is interpreted as "Village," in whose territory, that is, in the tombs of concupiscence, the second temptation of meat is read to have taken place, in which the first temptation of meat is also included. The first is thus read in the book of Exodus: "Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel: 'In the evening you will know that the Lord has led you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord; for he has heard your murmur; nor is your murmur against us, but against the Lord'" (Exod. 16:6-8, and following); and after a little: "The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 'I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel; speak to them: In the evening you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread, and you will know that I am the Lord your God.' So it was done in the evening, and a quail came up and covered the camp" (Exod. 16:12-13, and following). Concerning the second, however, it is said in Numbers: "Meanwhile, a murmur of the people arose, as of those complaining about their labor against the Lord. When he heard this, he was angry, and the fire of the Lord, kindled, devoured the outermost part of the camp" (Num. 11:1, and following); and after a little: "Purify yourselves, for tomorrow you will eat meat. For I have heard you saying, 'Will he give us food of meat? We were well off in Egypt.'

The Lord will give you meat, and you will eat not for one day, nor two, nor five, nor ten, nor even twenty, but for a whole month of days, until it comes out through your nostrils and turns into nausea, because you have rejected the Lord who is in your midst, and you have wept before him saying, "Why did we come out of Egypt?" Likewise a little later: The meat was still between their teeth, nor had this kind of food run out, and behold, the wrath of the Lord was stirred up against the people, and he struck them with a very great plague. The seventh temptation is contained in what it says: "Where there is much gold." For it is to be noted that in Hebrew there is also an abundance of gold. For the abundance of gold is understood as the golden calf, which the children of Israel fashioned for themselves as gods while Moses was staying with the Lord on Mount Sinai. Therefore it is called an abundance of gold, because in the idol the mass of all sins consists, and the idol abounds for all sins. The eighth temptation is contained in what it says: "Eleven days from Horeb by way of Mount Seir." Which in Hebrew is thus: An eleven-day journey from Horeb to Mount Seir. So, having fashioned the idol at Horeb, on the eleventh day they came to Mount Seir, which is in the suburb of the city of Cades-Barne, where the children of Israel tempted the Lord, as is written in the book of Numbers: "How long will this worst multitude murmur against me?

I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel; therefore say to them, I live, says the Lord, just as you have spoken, with me listening, so I will do to you. In this wilderness your corpses will lie (Num. 14, ff.). And shortly after: According to the number of forty days during which you surveyed the land, a year will be counted for each day. For forty years you will receive your iniquities, and you will know my vengeance; for just as I have spoken, so I will do to this most wicked multitude, which rose up against me. In this wilderness it will fail and die (Ibid., ff.). And again: Moses spoke all these words to the children of Israel, and the people wept exceedingly. And behold, rising early in the morning, they ascended the summit of the mountain, and said: We are ready to ascend to the place of which the Lord spoke, because we have sinned. To whom Moses said, Why, he says, do you transgress the word of the Lord, which will not turn out well for you? Do not ascend, for the Lord is not in your midst, lest you fall before your enemies (Ibid., ff.). And again: But they, darkened, ascended the summit of the mountain; however, the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and Moses did not depart from the camp. The Amalekite and the Canaanite, who dwelt in the mountain, came down, and striking them and cutting them down, pursued them as far as Horma (Ibid., ff.).

This mountain, on which the Amalekites and Canaanites are said to dwell, is understood to be Mount Seir, as it is written in Deuteronomy: "So the Amorite, who dwelt in the mountains, came out and, meeting you, pursued you, as bees are wont to pursue, and fell from Seir unto Horma" (Deut. 1:44). The tenth temptation is contained in what follows: "as far as Kadesh-Barnea"; whence Moses sent spies to survey the land of Canaan, as it is said in the book of Numbers: "And the Lord spoke to Moses: Send men who shall survey the land of Canaan, which I am about to give to the children of Israel" (Num. 13:2, 3). And a little later: "And the Lord said to Moses: How long will this people revile me? How long will they not believe me in all the signs which I have performed before them? Therefore I will strike them with pestilence and consume them. But I will make you into a great nation" (Num. 14:11, 12). Again, shortly after: "Yet all the men who have seen my majesty, which I wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now ten times, and have not obeyed my voice, shall not see the land for which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any one of those who have reviled me behold it" (Num. 14:22, 23). And let no one be disturbed that Moses sent the spies from the wilderness of Paran, not from Kadesh-Barnea. For Kadesh-Barnea is itself Paran, as it is said in the book of Joshua: "Caleb spoke to Joshua: You know what the Lord said to Moses concerning me and you at Kadesh-Barnea.

I was forty years old when Moses sent me to survey the land (Joshua 14:6-7).