Aggada -- Translations into English; Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends; Midrash -- Translations into English
Moses, Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, together with the seventy elders of
Israel, carrying with them the sacred Ark, hastened to welcome Jethro
kindly; and Moses so honored his father-in-law as to make an obeisance
before him and kiss him. Before Moses told his father-in-law of the
great miracles God had wrought for Egypt, such as the exodus from
Egypt, the cleaving of the sea, the rain of manna, and the rest, he
offered him the greeting of peace; for great is peace, that precedes
event he praise of God. [155] After the peace-greeting, Moses, to draw
his father-in-law nearer to true faith in God and His revelation, began
to relate to him the miracles that God had wrought for them at the
exodus from Egypt, during the passing through the Red Sea, and during
the war with Amalek. He said, moreover, "In the manna that God gives us
we perceive the taste of bread, of meat, of fish, in short, of all the
dishes there are. Out of the well that God gives us we draw a drink
that possesses the taste of old wine as well as new, of milk and of
honey, in short, of all the beverages that exist." "We shall," Moses
continued, "receive six other gifts from God, the land of Israel, the
future world, the new world, the sovereignty of David, the institution
of priests, and of Levites."
When Jethro heard all this, he determined to become a Jew and to
believe in the only God, and although he felt a pang at heart upon
hearing that the Egyptians had perished - for no one should scoff at a
heathen before a proselyte who is not a Jew of ten generation's
standing - still he burst into a song of praise to God for the deeds He
had one for His people. In truth, it reflects shame upon Moses and the
sixty myriads of Jews that they had not given thanks to God for the
release from Egypt, until Jethro came and did so. He said: "Praised be
God who delivered Moses and Aaron, as well as the whole nation of
Israel, from the bondage of Pharaoh, that great dragon, and of the
Egyptians. Truly, great is the Lord before all gods, for whereas
formerly not a single slave succeeded in escaping from Egypt, He led
sixty myriads out of Egypt. There is no god whom I had not, at some
time in my life, worshipped, but not I must admit that none is like the
God of Israel. This God had not been unbeknown to me heretofore, but
now I know Him better, for His fame will sound throughout the world,
because He visited upon the Egyptians exactly what they had planned to
undertake against Israel. They wanted to destroy Israel by water, and
by water were they destroyed." [156]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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