Aggada -- Translations into English; Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends; Midrash -- Translations into English
When God saw the two tribes in the waves of the sea, He called upon
Moses, and said: "My beloved are in danger of drowning, and thou
standest by and prayest. Bid Israel go forward, and thou lift up thy
rod over the sea, and divide it." Thus it happened, and Israel passed
through the sea with its water cleft in twain.
The dividing of the sea was but the first of ten miracles connected
with the passage of the Israelites through it. The others were that the
waters united in a vault above their heads; twelve paths opened up, one
for each of the tribes; the water became transparent as glass, and each
tribe could see the others; the soil underfoot was dry, but it changed
into clay when the Egyptians stepped upon it; the walls of water
transformed into rocks, against which the Egyptians were thrown and
dashed to death, while before the Israelites could slake their thirst;
and, finally, the tenth wonder was, that this drinking water was
congealed in the heart of the sea as soon as they had satisfied their
need. [36]
And there were other miracles, besides. The sea yielded the Israelites
whatever their hearts desired. If a child cried as it lay in the arms
of its mother, she needed but to stretch out her hand and pluck and
apple or some fruit and quiet it. [37] The waters were piled up to the
height of sixteen hundred miles, and they could be seen by all the
nations of the earth. [38]
The great wonder of Israel's passage through the sea took place in the
presence of the three Fathers and the six Mothers, for God had fetched
them out of their graves to the shores of the Red Sea, to be witnesses
of the marvelous deeds wrought in behalf of their children. [39]
Wonderful as were the miracles connected with the rescue of the
Israelites from the waters of the sea, those performed when the
Egyptians were drowned were no less remarkable. First of all God felt
called upon to defend Israel's cause before Uzza, the Angel of the
Egyptians, who would not allow his people to perish in the waters of
the sea. He appeared on the spot at the very moment when God wanted to
drown the Egyptians, and he spake: "O Lord of the world! Thou are
called just and upright, and before Thee there is no wrong, no
forgetting, no respecting of persons. Why, then, dost Thou desire to
make my children perish in the sea? Canst Thou say that my children
drowned or slew a single one of Thine? If it be on account of the
rigorous slavery that my children imposed upon Israel, then consider
that Thy children have received their wages, in that they took their
silver and golden vessels from them."
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account