Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets: And Other Old Testament Characters from Various SourcesBaring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Religion
Legends of the Patriarchs and Prophets: And Other Old Testament Characters from Various Sources
Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)
Bible. Old Testament -- Legends
It is asserted by the Rabbis that Moses learnt the whole law in the
forty days that he was in the Mount, but as he descended from the
immediate presence of God, he entered the region where stood the angels
guarding the Mount, and when he saw the Angel of Fear, the Angel of
Sweat, the Angel of Trembling, and the Angel of Cold Shuddering, he
was so filled with consternation, that he forgot all that he had
learnt. Then God sent the Angel Jephipha, who brought back all to his
remembrance; and, armed with the law, Moses passed the ranks of all the
angels, and each gave him some secret or mystery; one the art of mixing
simples, one that of reading in the stars, another that of compounding
antidotes, a fourth the secret of name, or the Kabalistic mystery.[530]
It is said by the Mussulmans, that when the law was declared to the
children of Israel by Moses, they refused to receive it; then Mount
Sinai rose into the air, and moved above them, and they fled from it;
but it followed them, and hung over their heads ready to crush them.
And Moses said, “Accept the law, or the mountain will fall on you and
destroy you.”
Then they fell on their faces and placed the right side of the brow and
right cheek against the ground and looked up with the left eye at the
mountain that hung above them, and said, “We will accept the law.” This
is the manner in which the Jews to this day perform their worship, says
Tabari; they place the brow and right cheek and eye upon the ground,
and turn the left cheek and eye to heaven, and in this position they
pray.[531]
7. THE MANNA. (Exod. xvi.)
All the time that Israel wandered in the wilderness they were given
manna, or angels’ food. This food is ground by the angels in heaven, as
Moses saw when he was there. For when Moses was in heaven, he knew not
when it was night and when it was day, till he listened to the song of
the angels; and when they sang “Holy God,” then he knew it was morning
below on earth; and when they sang “Blessed be thou,” he knew it was
evening below. Also he observed the angels grinding the manna and
casting it down; and then he knew it was night, and they were strewing
it for the Israelites to gather in the morning.[532] It is in the third
firmament, called Schechakim (clouds), that the mills are in which
manna is ground.[533] Along with the manna fell pearls and diamonds,
and on the mountain it was heaped so high that it could be seen from
afar.[534]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account