from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment."

And they fell upon their faces, and said: "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation?" And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying: "Speak unto the congregation, saying, Get you up from about the tabernacle." So they gat them up from the tabernacle, on every side. And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense.1

The Plague and the Budding of Aaron's Rod (Num. xvi. 41-xvii. 11). But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying: "Ye have killed the people of the Lord.”

1 The story of Korah's punishment for asserting the claim that all Israel should share the privileges of Levi, is in the received text expanded so as to further represent Korah as a Levite claiming that all the Levites should share in the priesthood of the house of Aaron. For the sake of clearness, the passages that show this further view of the story are here given separately:

And Moses said unto Korah : “Hear, I pray you, ye sons of Levi: seemeth it but a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself to do the service of the tabernacle of the Lord, and to stand before the congregation to minister unto them? And he hath brought thee near to him, and all thy brethren the sons of Levi with thee and seek ye the priesthood also? For which cause both thou and all thy company are gathered together against the Lord and what is Aaron, that ye murmur against him?"

And Moses said unto Korah: "Be thou and all thy company before the Lord, thou, and they, and Aaron, to-morrow and take every man his censer, and put incense in them, and bring ye before the Lord every man his censer, two hundred and fifty censers; thou also, and Aaron, each of you his censer." And they took every man his censer, and put fire in them, and laid incense thereon, and stood in the door of the tabernacle of the congregation with Moses and Aaron.

[The fire from the Lord then destroys Korah and his company.]

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying: "Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed. The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar for they offered them before the Lord, therefore they are hallowed : and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel."

And Eleazar the priest took the brazen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar: to be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the Lord; that he be not as Korah, and as his company as the Lord said to him by the hand of Moses.

And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying: "Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment." And they fell upon their faces. And Moses said unto Aaron: "Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the Lord; the plague is begun." And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah. And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying: "Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod, a rod for each father's house, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon his rod. And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you."

And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness. And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. And Moses brought out all the rods from be

fore the Lord unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. And the Lord said unto Moses : "Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not." And Moses did so: as the Lord commanded him, so did he.

VI

FROM KADESH TO THE EAST OF JORDAN

The Edomites Refuse Israel Passage (Num. xx. 14-21). And Moses sent messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom: "Thus saith thy brother Israel, Thou knowest all the travail that hath befallen us: how our fathers went down into Egypt, and we have dwelt in Egypt a long time; and the Egyptians vexed us, and our fathers: and when we cried unto the Lord, he heard our voice, and sent an angel, and hath brought us forth out of Egypt: and behold, we are in Kadesh, a city in the uttermost of thy border: let us pass, I pray thee, through thy country: we will not pass through the fields, or through the vineyards, neither will we drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's high way, we will not turn to the right hand nor to the left, until we have passed thy borders." And Edom said unto him: "Thou shalt not pass by me, lest I come out against thee with the sword." And the children of Israel said unto him: "We will go by the high way: and if I and my cattle drink of thy water, then I will pay for it: I will only, without doing any thing else, go through on my feet." And he said: "Thou shalt not go through." And Edom came out against him with much people, and with a strong hand. Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his border: wherefore Israel turned away from him.

Death of Aaron (Num. xx. 22-xxi. 4). And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadesh, and came unto mount Hor. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in mount Hor, by the coast of the land of Edom, saying: "Aaron shall be gathered unto his people: for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah. Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto mount Hor: and strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there." And Moses did as the Lord commanded:

and they went up into mount Hor in the sight of all the congre gation. And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar his son; and Aaron died there in the top of the mount: and Moses and Eleazar came down from the mount. And when all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead, they mourned for Aaron thirty days, even all the house of Israel.

And when king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south, heard tell that Israel came by the way of Atharim, then he fought against Israel, and took some of them prisoners. And Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said: "If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities." 1

2

And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.

The Brazen Serpent (Num. xxi. 5-20). And the people spake against God, and against Moses: "Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread." And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said: “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us." And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses: "Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live." And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.3

And the children of Israel set forward, and pitched in Oboth. And they journeyed from Oboth, and pitched at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness which is before Moab, toward the sunrising. From thence they removed, and pitched in the valley of Zared.

1 For the fulfilment of this vow see the note on Hormah, p. 165. 2 Red Sea. That is, the Gulf of Akaba.

8 "Apollonius of Tyana is said to have freed Antioch from scorpions by making a bronze image of a scorpion, and burying it under a small pillar in the middle of the city." J. G. Frazer (The Golden Bough). See also p. 219.