--- title: "Against Apion · Κατὰ Ἀπίωνος" author: "Josephus" translator: "William Whiston" languages: [grc, en] shelf: "Second Temple" section: 4 of 8 url: https://scriptura.si/works/josephus-against-apion-greek/4/ cite: "Josephus, tr. William Whiston, Against Apion · Κατὰ Ἀπίωνος, section 4. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/josephus-against-apion-greek/4/" --- # Against Apion · Κατὰ Ἀπίωνος *Josephus, tr. William Whiston* Josephus answers the Greek writers who slandered the Jews and defends the antiquity of his people and the Law of Moses: Niese’s Greek beside Whiston’s English. > Greek: ed. Benedikt Niese, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-greekLit, tlg0526.tlg003, CC BY-SA 4.0). > English: William Whiston, from the Perseus Digital Library (tlg0526.tlg003.perseus-eng2). Notes are not included. > Rows follow the references the two texts share (books, chapters and sections), cut where both reach the end of a sentence. ## 4. Book I · sections 227–312 Source: https://scriptura.si/works/josephus-against-apion-greek/4/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/josephus-against-apion-greek/4/#p-N [¶0] He also promised that he would, in the first place, bring them back to their ancient city and country Avaris, and provide a plentiful maintenance for their multitude; > Greek: ἐπάξειν μὲν οὖν αὐτοὺς ἐπηγγείλατο πρῶτον μὲν εἰς Αὔαριν τὴν προγονικὴν αὐτῶν πατρίδα καὶ τὰ ἐπιτήδεια τοῖς ὄχλοις παρέξειν ἀφθόνως, ὑπερμαχήσεσθαι δὲ ὅτε δέοι καὶ ῥᾳδίως ὑποχείριον αὐτοῖς τὴν χώραν ποιήσειν. [¶1] that he would protect them and fight for them as occasion should require, and would easily reduce the country under their dominion. These shepherds were all very glad of this message, and came away with alacrity all together, being in number two hundred thousand men; and in a little time they came to Avaris. > Greek: οἱ δὲ ὑπερχαρεῖς γενόμενοι πάντες προθύμως εἰς κ μυριάδας ἀνδρῶν συνεξώρμησαν καὶ μετʼ οὐ πολὺ ἧκον εἰς Αὔαριν. Ἀμένωφις δʼ ὁ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων βασιλεὺς ὡς ἐπύθετο τὰ κατὰ τὴν ἐκείνων ἔφοδον, οὐ μετρίως συνεχύθη τῆς παρὰ Ἀμενώφεως τοῦ Παάπιος μνησθεὶς προδηλώσεως. [¶2] And now Amenophis the king of Egypt, upon his being informed of their invasion, was in great confusion, as calling to mind what Amenophis, the son of Papis, had foretold him; and, in the first place, he assembled the multitude of the Egyptians, and took counsel with their leaders, and sent for their sacred animals to him, especially for those that were principally worshipped in their temples, and gave a particular charge to the priests distinctly, that they should hide the images of their gods with the utmost care he also sent his son Sethos, who was also named Ramesses, from his father Rhampses, being but five years old, to a friend of his. > Greek: καὶ πρότερον συναγαγὼν πλῆθος Αἰγυπτίων καὶ βουλευσάμενος μετὰ τῶν ἐν τούτοις ἡγεμόνων τά τε ἱερὰ ζῷα τὰ [πρῶτα] μάλιστα ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς τιμώμενα ὥς γʼ ἑαυτὸν μετεπέμψατο καὶ τοῖς κατὰ μέρος ἱερεῦσι παρήγγελλεν ὡς ἀσφαλέστατα τῶν θεῶν συγκρύψαι τὰ ξόανα. [¶3] He then passed on with the rest of the Egyptians, being three hundred thousand of the most warlike of them, against the enemy, who met them. > Greek: τὸν δὲ υἱὸν Σέθω τὸν καὶ Ῥαμεσσῆ ἀπὸ Ῥαψηοῦς τοῦ πατρὸς ὠνομασμένον πενταέτη ὄντα ἐξέθετο πρὸς τὸν ἑαυτοῦ φίλον. αὐτὸς δὲ διαβὰς τοῖς ἄλλοις Αἰγυπτίοις οὖσιν εἰς τριάκοντα μυριάδας ἀνδρῶν μαχιμωτάτων καὶ τοῖς πολεμίοις ἀπαντήσας οὐ συνέβαλεν, [¶4] Yet did he not join battle with them; but thinking that would be to fight against the gods, he returned back and came to Memphis, where he took Apis and the other sacred animals which he had sent for to him, and presently marched into Ethiopia, together with his whole army and multitude of Egyptians; > Greek: ἀλλὰ μέλλειν θεομαχεῖν νομίσας παλινδρομήσας ἧκεν εἰς Μέμφιν ἀναλαβών τε τόν τε Ἆπιν καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τὰ ἐκεῖσε μεταπεμφθέντα ἱερὰ ζῷα εὐθὺς εἰς Αἰθιοπίαν σὺν ἅπαντι τῷ στόλῳ καὶ πλήθει τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἀνήχθη· χάριτι γὰρ ἦν αὐτῷ ὑποχείριος ὁ τῶν Αἰθιόπων βασιλεύς. [¶5] for the king of Ethiopia was under an obligation to him, on which account he received him, and took care of all the multitude that was with him, while the country supplied all that was necessary for the food of the men. He also allotted cities and villages for this exile, that was to be from its beginning during those fatally determined thirteen years. Moreover, he pitched a camp for his Ethiopian army, as a guard to king Amenophis, upon the borders of Egypt. > Greek: ὃς ὑποδεξάμενος καὶ τοὺς ὄχλους πάντας ὑπολαβὼν οἷς ἔσχεν ἡ χώρα τῶν πρὸς ἀνθρωπίνην τροφὴν ἐπιτηδείων, καὶ πόλεις καὶ κώμας πρὸς τὴν τῶν πεπρωμένων τρισκαίδεκα ἐτῶν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀρχῆς αὐτοῦ [εἰς τὴν] ἔκπτωσιν αὐτάρκεις, οὐχ ἧττον δὲ καὶ στρατόπεδον Αἰθιοπικὸν πρὸς φυλακὴν ἐπέταξε τοῖς παρʼ Ἀμενώφεως τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπὶ τῶν ὁρίων τῆς Αἰγύπτου. [¶6] And this was the state of things in Ethiopia. But for the people of Jerusalem, when they came down together with the polluted Egyptians, they treated the men in such a barbarous manner, that those who saw how they subdued the forementioned country, and the horrid wickedness they were guilty of, thought it a most dreadful thing; > Greek: καὶ τὰ μὲν κατὰ τὴν Αἰθιοπίαν τοιαῦτα. οἱ δὲ Σολυμῖται κατελθόντες σὺν τοῖς μιαροῖς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων οὕτως ἀνοσίως καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις προσηνέχθησαν, ὥστε τὴν τῶν προειρημένων κράτησιν χρυσὸν φαίνεσθαι τοῖς τότε τὰ τούτων ἀσεβήματα θεωμένοις· [¶7] for they did not only set the cities and villages on fire but were not satisfied till they had been guilty of sacrilege, and destroyed the images of the gods, and used them in roasting those sacred animals that used to be worshipped, and forced the priests and prophets to be the executioners and murderers of those animals, and then ejected them naked out of the country. > Greek: καὶ γὰρ οὐ μόνον πόλεις καὶ κώμας ἐνέπρησαν οὐδὲ ἱεροσυλοῦντες οὐδὲ λυμαινόμενοι ξόανα θεῶν ἠρκοῦντο, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ὀπτανίοις τῶν σεβαστευομένων ἱερῶν ζῴων χρώμενοι διετέλουν καὶ θύτας καὶ σφαγεῖς τούτων ἱερεῖς καὶ προφήτας ἠνάγκαζον γίνεσθαι καὶ γυμνοὺς ἐξέβαλλον. [¶8] It was also reported that the priest, who ordained their polity and their laws, was by birth of Hellopolls, and his name Osarsiph, from Osyris, who was the god of Hellopolls; but that when he was gone over to these people, his name was changed, and he was called Moses.” > Greek: λέγεται δέ, ὅτι τὴν πολιτείαν καὶ τοὺς νόμους αὐτοῖς καταβαλόμενος ἱερεὺς τὸ γένος Ἡλιοπολίτης ὄνομα Ὀσαρσὶφ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐν Ἡλιουπόλει θεοῦ Ὀσίρεως, ὡς μετέβη εἰς τοῦτο τὸ γένος, μετετέθη τοὔνομα καὶ προσηγορεύθη Μωυσῆς. [¶9] 251. This is what the Egyptians relate about the Jews, with much more, which I omit for the sake of brevity. But still Manetho goes on, that “after this, Amenophis returned back from Ethiopia with a great army, as did his son Ahampses with another army also, and that both of them joined battle with the shepherds and the polluted people, and beat them, and slew a great many of them, and pursued them to the bounds of Syria.” These and the like accounts are written by Manetho. But I will demonstrate that he trifles, and tells arrant lies, after I have made a distinction which will relate to what I am going to say about him; for this Manetho had granted and confessed that this nation was not originally Egyptian, but that they had come from another country, and subdued Egypt, and then went away again out of it. But that. those Egyptians who were thus diseased in their bodies were not mingled with us afterward, and that Moses who brought the people out was not one of that company, but lived many generations earlier, I shall endeavor to demonstrate from Manetho's own accounts themselves. > Greek: 251. Ἃ μὲν οὖν Αἰγύπτιοι φέρουσι περὶ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ταῦτʼ ἐστὶ καὶ ἕτερα πλείονα, ἃ παρίημι συντομίας ἕνεκα. λέγει δὲ ὁ Μανεθὼς πάλιν, ὅτι μετὰ ταῦτα ἐπῆλθεν ὁ Ἀμένωφις ἀπὸ Αἰθιοπίας μετὰ μεγάλης δυνάμεως καὶ ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ Ῥάμψης καὶ αὐτὸς ἔχων δύναμιν, καὶ συμβαλόντες οἱ δύο τοῖς ποιμέσι καὶ τοῖς μιαροῖς ἐνίκησαν αὐτοὺς καὶ πολλοὺς ἀποκτείναντες ἐδίωξαν αὐτοὺς ἄχρι τῶν ὁρίων τῆς Συρίας. ταῦτα μὲν καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα Μανεθὼς συνέγραψεν. ὅτι δὲ ληρεῖ καὶ ψεύδεται περιφανῶς, ἐπιδείξω προδιαστειλάμενος ἐκεῖνο τῶν ὕστερον πρὸς ἄλλους λεχθησομένων ἕνεκα· δέδωκε γὰρ οὗτος ἡμῖν καὶ ὡμολόγηκεν ἐξ ἀρχῆς τε μὴ εἶναι τὸ γένος Αἰγυπτίους, ἀλλʼ αὐτοὺς ἔξωθεν ἐπελθόντας κρατῆσαι τῆς Αἰγύπτου καὶ πάλιν ἐξ αὐτῆς ἀπελθεῖν. ὅτι δʼ οὐκ ἀνεμίχθησαν ἡμῖν ὕστερον τῶν Αἰγυπτίων οἱ τὰ σώματα λελωβημένοι, καὶ ὅτι ἐκ τούτων οὐκ ἦν Μωυσῆς ὁ τὸν λαὸν ἀγαγών, ἀλλὰ πολλαῖς ἐγεγόνει γενεαῖς πρότερον, ταῦτα πειράσομαι διὰ τῶν ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ λεγομένων ἐλέγχειν. [¶10] 254. Now, for the first occasion of this fiction, Manetho supposes what is no better than a ridiculous thing; for he says that “King Amenophis desired to see the gods.” What gods, I pray, did he desire to see? If he meant the gods whom their laws ordained to be worshipped, the ox, the goat, the crocodile, and the baboon, he saw them already; but for the heavenly gods, how could he see them, and what should occasion this his desire? To be sure? it was because another king before him had already seen them. He had then been informed what sort of gods they were, and after what manner they had been seen, insomuch that he did not stand in need of any new artifice for obtaining this sight. However, the prophet by whose means the king thought to compass his design was a wise man. If so, how came he not to know that such his desire was impossible to be accomplished? for the event did not succeed. And what pretense could there be to suppose that the gods would not be seen by reason of the people's maims in their bodies, or leprosy? for the gods are not angry at the imperfection of bodies, but at wicked practices; and as to eighty thousand lepers, and those in an ill state also, how is it possible to have them gathered together in one day? nay, how came the king not to comply with the prophet? for his injunction was, that those that were maimed should be expelled out of Egypt, while the king only sent them to work in the quarries, as if he were rather in want of laborers, than intended to purge his country. He says further, that “this prophet slew himself, as foreseeing the anger of the gods, and those events which were to come upon Egypt afterward; and that he left this prediction for the king in writing.” Besides, how came it to pass that this prophet did not foreknow his own death at the first? nay, how came he not to contradict the king in his desire to see the gods immediately? how came that unreasonable dread upon him of judgments that were not to happen in his lifetime? or what worse thing could he suffer, out of the fear of which he made haste to kill himself? But now let us see the silliest thing of all: - The king, although he had been informed of these things, and terrified with the fear of what was to come, yet did not he even then eject these maimed people out of his country, when it had been foretold him that he was to clear Egypt of them; but, as Manetho says, “he then, upon their request, gave them that city to inhabit, which had formerly belonged to the shepherds, and was called Avaris; whither when they were gone in crowds,” he says, “they chose one that had formerly been priest of Hellopolls; and that this priest first ordained that they should neither worship the gods, nor abstain from those animals that were worshipped by the Egyptians, but should kill and eat them all, and should associate with nobody but those that had conspired with them; and that he bound the multitude by oaths to be sure to continue in those laws; and that when he had built a wall about Avaris, he made war against the king.” Manetho adds also, that “this priest sent to Jerusalem to invite that people to come to his assistance, and promised to give them Avaris; for that it had belonged to the forefathers of those that were coming from Jerusalem, and that when they were come, they made a war immediately against the king, and got possession of all Egypt.” He says also that “the Egyptians came with an army of two hundred thousand men, and that Amenophis, the king of Egypt, not thinking that he ought to fight against the gods, ran away presently into Ethiopia, and committed Apis and certain other of their sacred animals to the priests, and commanded them to take care of preserving them.” He says further, that “the people of Jerusalem came accordingly upon the Egyptians, and overthrew their cities, and burnt their temples, and slew their horsemen, and, in short, abstained from no sort of wickedness nor barbarity; and for that priest who settled their polity and their laws,” he says, “he was by birth of Hellopolis, and his name was Osarsiph, from Osyris the god of Hellopolis, but that he changed his name, and called himself Moses.” He then says that “on the thirteenth year afterward, Amenophis, according to the fatal time of the duration of his misfortunes, came upon them out of Ethiopia with a great army, and joining battle with the shepherds and with the polluted people, overcame them in battle, and slew a great many of them, and pursued them as far as the bounds of Syria.” > Greek: 254. Πρώτην δὴ τὴν αἰτίαν τοῦ πλάσματος ὑποτίθεται καταγέλαστον· ὁ βασιλεὺς γάρ φησιν Ἀμένωφις ἐπεθύμησε τοὺς θεοὺς ἰδεῖν. ποίους; εἰ μὲν τοὺς παρʼ αὐτοῖς νενομοθετημένους τὸν βοῦν καὶ τράγον καὶ κροκοδείλους καὶ κυνοκεφάλους, ἑώρα. τοὺς οὐρανίους δὲ πῶς ἐδύνατο; καὶ διὰ τί ταύτην ἔσχε τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν; ὅτι νὴ Δία καὶ πρότερος αὐτοῦ βασιλεὺς ἄλλος ἑωράκει. παρʼ ἐκείνου τοίνυν ἐπέπυστο, ποταποί τινές εἰσι καὶ τίνα τρόπον αὐτοὺς εἶδεν, ὥστε καινῆς αὐτῷ τέχνης οὐκ ἔδει. ἀλλὰ σοφὸς ἦν ὁ μάντις, διʼ οὗ τοῦτο κατορθώσειν ὁ βασιλεὺς ὑπελάμβανε. καὶ πῶς οὐ προέγνω τὸ ἀδύνατον αὐτοῦ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας; οὐ γὰρ ἀπέβη. τίνα δὲ καὶ λόγον εἶχε διὰ τοὺς ἠκρωτηριασμένους ἢ λεπρῶντας ἀφανεῖς εἶναι τοὺς θεούς; ὀργίζονται γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀσεβήμασιν, οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἐλαττώμασι τῶν σωμάτων. ὀκτὼ δὲ μυριάδας τῶν λεπρῶν καὶ κακῶς διακειμένων πῶς οἷόν τε μιᾷ σχεδὸν ἡμέρᾳ συλλεγῆναι; πῶς δὲ παρήκουσεν τοῦ μάντεως ὁ βασιλεύς; ὁ μὲν γὰρ αὐτὸν ἐκέλευσεν ἐξορίσαι τῆς Αἰγύπτου τοὺς λελωβημένους, ὁ δʼ αὐτοὺς εἰς τὰς λιθοτομίας ἐνέβαλεν, ὥσπερ τῶν ἐργασομένων δεόμενος, ἀλλʼ οὐχὶ καθᾶραι τὴν χώραν προαιρούμενος. φησὶ δὲ τὸν μὲν μάντιν αὑτὸν ἀνελεῖν τὴν ὀργὴν τῶν θεῶν προορώμενον καὶ τὰ συμβησόμενα περὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον, τῷ δὲ βασιλεῖ γεγραμμένην τὴν πρόρρησιν καταλιπεῖν. εἶτα πῶς οὐκ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ὁ μάντις τὸν αὑτοῦ θάνατον προηπίστατο; πῶς δὲ οὐκ εὐθὺς ἀντεῖπεν τῷ βασιλεῖ βουλομένῳ τοὺς θεοὺς ἰδεῖν; πῶς δʼ εὔλογος ὁ φόβος τῶν μὴ παρʼ αὐτὸν συμβησομένων κακῶν; ἦ τι χεῖρον ἔδει παθεῖν οὐδʼ ἂν ἑαυτὸν ἔσπευδεν. τὸ δὲ δὴ πάντων εὐηθέστατον ἴδωμεν· πυθόμενος γὰρ ταῦτα καὶ περὶ τῶν μελλόντων φοβηθεὶς τοὺς λελωβημένους ἐκείνους, ὧν αὐτῷ καθαρεῦσαι προείρητο τὴν Αἴγυπτον, οὐδὲ τότε τῆς χώρας ἐξήλασεν, ἀλλὰ δεηθεῖσιν αὐτοῖς ἔδωκε πόλιν, ὥς φησι, τὴν πάλαι μὲν οἰκηθεῖσαν ὑπὸ τῶν ποιμένων, Αὔαριν δὲ καλουμένην. εἰς ἣν ἀθροισθέντας αὐτοὺς ἡγεμόνα φησὶν ἐξελέσθαι τῶν ἐξ Ἡλιουπόλεως πάλαι γεγονότων ἱερέων, καὶ τοῦτον αὐτοῖς εἰσηγήσασθαι μήτε θεοὺς προσκυνεῖν μήτε τῶν ἐπʼ Αἰγύπτῳ θρησκευομένων ζῴων ἀπέχεσθαι, πάντα δὲ θύειν καὶ κατεσθίειν, συνάπτεσθαι δὲ μηδενὶ πλὴν τῶν συνομωμοσμένων, ὅρκοις τε τὸ πλῆθος ἐνδησάμενον, ἦ μὴν τούτοις ἐμμενεῖν τοῖς νόμοις, καὶ τειχίσαντα τὴν Αὔαριν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα πόλεμον ἐξενεγκεῖν. καὶ προστίθησιν, ὅτι ἔπεμψεν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα παρακαλῶν ἐκείνους αὐτοῖς συμμαχεῖν καὶ δώσειν αὐτοῖς τὴν Αὔαριν ὑπισχνούμενος, εἶναι γὰρ αὐτὴν τοῖς ἐκ τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων ἀφιξομένοις προγονικήν, ἀφʼ ἧς ὁρμωμένους αὐτοὺς πᾶσαν τὴν Αἴγυπτον καθέξειν. εἶτα τοὺς μὲν ἐπελθεῖν εἴκοσι στρατοῦ μυριάσι λέγει, τὸν βασιλέα δὲ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων Ἀμένωφιν οὐκ οἰόμενον δεῖν θεομαχεῖν εἰς τὴν Αἰθιοπίαν εὐθὺς ἀποδρᾶναι, τὸν δὲ Ἆπιν καί τινα τῶν ἄλλων ἱερῶν ζῴων παρατεθεικέναι τοῖς ἱερεῦσι διαφυλάττεσθαι κελεύσαντα. εἶτα τοὺς Ἱεροσολυμίτας ἐπελθόντας τάς τε πόλεις ἀνιστάναι καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ κατακαίειν καὶ τοὺς ἱππέας ἀποσφάττειν, ὅλως τε μηδεμιᾶς ἀπέχεσθαι παρανομίας μηδὲ ὠμότητος. ὁ δὲ τὴν πολιτείαν καὶ τοὺς νόμους αὐτοῖς καταβαλόμενος ἱερεύς, φησίν, ἦν τὸ γένος Ἡλιοπολίτης, ὄνομα δʼ Ὀσαρσὴφ ἀπὸ τοῦ ἐν Ἡλιουπόλει θεοῦ Ὀσίρεως, μεταθέμενος δὲ Μωυσῆν αὑτὸν προσηγόρευσε. τρισκαιδεκάτῳ δέ φησιν ἔτει τὸν Ἀμένωφιν, τοσοῦτον γὰρ αὐτῷ χρόνον εἶναι τῆς ἐκπτώσεως πεπρωμένον, ἐξ Αἰθιοπίας ἐπελθόντα μετὰ πολλῆς στρατιᾶς καὶ συμβαλόντα τοῖς ποιμέσι καὶ τοῖς μιαροῖς νικῆσαί τε τῇ μάχῃ καὶ κτεῖναι πολλοὺς ἐπιδιώξαντα μέχρι τῶν τῆς Συρίας ὅρων. [¶11] 267. Now Manetho does not reflect upon the improbability of his lie; for the leprous people, and the multitude that was with them, although they might formerly have been angry at the king, and at those that had treated them so coarsely, and this according to the prediction of the prophet; yet certainly, when they were come out of the mines, and had received of the king a city, and a country, they would have grown milder towards him. However, had they ever so much hated him in particular, they might have laid a private plot against himself, but would hardly have made war against all the Egyptians; I mean this on the account of the great kindred they who were so numerous must have had among them. Nay still, if they had resolved to fight with the men, they would not have had impudence enough to fight with their gods; nor would they have ordained laws quite contrary to those of their own country, and to those in which they had been bred up themselves. Yet are we beholden to Manethe, that he does not lay the principal charge of this horrid transgression upon those that came from Jerusalem, but says that the Egyptians themselves were the most guilty, and that they were their priests that contrived these things, and made the multitude take their oaths for doing so. But still how absurd is it to suppose that none of these people's own relations or friends should be prevailed with to revolt, nor to undergo the hazards of war with them, while these polluted people were forced to send to Jerusalem, and bring their auxiliaries from thence! What friendship, I pray, or what relation was there formerly between them that required this assistance? On the contrary, these people were enemies, and greatly differed from them in their customs. He says, indeed, that they complied immediately, upon their praising them that they should conquer Egypt; as if they did not themselves very well know that country out of which they had been driven by force. Now had these men been in want, or lived miserably, perhaps they might have undertaken so hazardous an enterprise; but as they dwelt in a happy city, and had a large country, and one better than Egypt itself, how came it about that, for the sake of those that had of old been their enemies, of those that were maimed in their bodies, and of those whom none of their own relations would endure, they should run such hazards in assisting them? For they could not foresee that the king would run away from them: on the contrary, he saith himself that “Amenophis's son had three hundred thousand men with him, and met them at Pelusium.” Now, to be sure, those that came could not be ignorant of this; but for the king's repentance and flight, how could they possibly guess at it? He then says, that “those who came from Jerusalem, and made this invasion, got the granaries of Egypt into their possession, and perpetrated many of the most horrid actions there.” And thence he reproaches them, as though he had not himself introduced them as enemies, or as though he might accuse such as were invited from another place for so doing, when the natural Egyptians themselves had done the same things before their coming, and had taken oaths so to do. However, “Amenophis, some time afterward, came upon them, and conquered them in battle, and slew his enemies, and drove them before him as far as Syria.” As if Egypt were so easily taken by people that came from any place whatsoever, and as if those that had conquered it by war, when they were informed that Amenophis was alive, did neither fortify the avenues out of Ethiopia into it, although they had great advantages for doing it, nor did get their other forces ready for their defense! but that he followed them over the sandy desert, and slew them as far as Syria; while yet it is rot an easy thing for an army to pass over that country, even without fighting. > Greek: 267. Ἐν τούτοις πάλιν οὐ συνίησιν ἀπιθάνως ψευδόμενος· οἱ γὰρ λεπροὶ καὶ τὸ μετʼ αὐτῶν πλῆθος, εἰ καὶ πρότερον ὠργίζοντο τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ τοῖς τὰ περὶ αὐτοὺς πεποιηκόσι κατὰ [τε] τὴν τοῦ μάντεως προαγόρευσιν, ἀλλʼ ὅτε τῶν λιθοτομιῶν ἐξῆλθον καὶ πόλιν παρʼ αὐτοῦ καὶ χώραν ἔλαβον, πάντως ἂν γεγόνεισαν πρᾳότεροι πρὸς αὐτόν. εἰ δὲ δὴ κἀκεῖνον ἐμίσουν, ἰδίᾳ μὲν ἄνω ἐπεβούλευον, οὐκ ἂν δὲ πρὸς ἅπαντας ἤραντο πόλεμον, δῆλον ὅτι πλείστας ἔχοντες συγγενείας τοσοῦτοί γε τὸ πλῆθος ὄντες. ὅμως δὲ καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις πολεμεῖν διεγνωκότες οὐκ ἂν εἰς τοὺς αὐτῶν θεοὺς πολεμεῖν ἐτόλμησαν οὐδʼ ὑπεναντιωτάτους ἔθεντο νόμους τοῖς πατρίοις αὐτῶν καὶ οἷς ἐνετράφησαν. δεῖ δὲ ἡμᾶς τῷ Μανεθῶνι χάριν ἔχειν, ὅτι ταύτης τῆς παρανομίας οὐχὶ τοὺς ἐξ Ἱεροσολύμων ἐλθόντας ἀρχηγοὺς γενέσθαι φησίν, ἀλλʼ αὐτοὺς ἐκείνους ὄντας Αἰγυπτίους καὶ τούτων μάλιστα τοὺς ἱερέας ἐπινοῆσαί τε ταῦτα καὶ ὁρκωμοτῆσαι τὸ πλῆθος. ἐκεῖνο μέντοι πῶς οὐκ ἄλογον, τῶν μὲν οἰκείων αὐτοῖς καὶ τῶν φίλων συναποστῆναι οὐδένα μηδὲ τοῦ πολέμου τὸν κίνδυνον συνάρασθαι, πέμψαι δὲ τοὺς μιαροὺς εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα καὶ τὴν παρʼ ἐκείνων ἐπάγεσθαι συμμαχίαν; ποίας αὐτοῖς φιλίας ἢ τίνος αὐτοῖς οἰκειότητος προϋπηργμένης; τοὐναντίον γὰρ ἦσαν πολέμιοι καὶ τοῖς ἔθεσι πλεῖστον διέφερον. ὁ δέ φησιν εὐθὺς ὑπακοῦσαι τοῖς ὑπισχνουμένοις, ὅτι τὴν Αἴγυπτον καθέξουσιν, ὥσπερ αὐτῶν οὐ σφόδρα τῆς χώρας ἐμπείρως ἐχόντων, ἧς βιασθέντες ἐκπεπτώκασιν. εἰ μὲν οὖν ἀπόρως ἢ κακῶς ἔπραττον, ἴσως ἂν καὶ παρεβάλλοντο, πόλιν δὲ κατοικοῦντες εὐδαίμονα καὶ χώραν πολλὴν κρείττω τῆς Αἰγύπτου καρπούμενοι, διὰ τί ποτʼ ἂν ἐχθροῖς μὲν πάλαι τὰ δὲ σώματα λελωβημένοις, οὓς μηδὲ τῶν οἰκείων οὐδεὶς ὑπέμενε, τούτοις ἔμελλον παρακινδυνεύσειν βοηθοῦντες; οὐ γὰρ δή γε τὸν γενησόμενον προῄδεσαν δρασμὸν τοῦ βασιλέως· τοὐναντίον γὰρ αὐτὸς εἴρηκεν, ὡς ὁ παῖς τοῦ Ἀμενώφιος τριάκοντα μυριάδας ἔχων εἰς τὸ Πηλούσιον ὑπηντίαζεν. καὶ τοῦτο μὲν ᾔδεισαν πάντως οἱ παραγινόμενοι, τὴν δὲ μετάνοιαν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὴν φυγὴν πόθεν εἰκάζειν ἔμελλον; εἶτα κρατήσαντάς φησι τῆς Αἰγύπτου πολλὰ καὶ δεινὰ δρᾶν τοὺς ἐκ τῶν Ἱεροσολύμων ἐπιστρατεύσαντας καὶ περὶ τούτων ὀνειδίζει καθάπερ οὐ πολεμίους αὐτοῖς ἐπαγαγὼν ἢ δέον τοῖς ἔξωθεν ἐπικληθεῖσιν ἐγκαλεῖν, ὁπότε ταῦτα πρὸ τῆς ἐκείνων ἀφίξεως ἔπραττον καὶ πράξειν ὠμωμόκεσαν οἱ τὸ γένος Αἰγύπτιοι. ἀλλὰ καὶ χρόνοις ὕστερον Ἀμένωφις ἐπελθὼν ἐνίκησε μάχῃ καὶ κτείνων τοὺς πολεμίους μέχρι τῆς Συρίας ἤλασεν. οὕτω γὰρ παντάπασίν ἐστιν ἡ Αἴγυπτος τοῖς ὁποθενδηποτοῦν ἐπιοῦσιν εὐάλωτος, καὶ οἱ τότε πολέμῳ κρατοῦντες αὐτὴν ζῆν πυνθανόμενοι τὸν Ἀμένωφιν οὔτε τὰς ἐκ τῆς Αἰθιοπίας ἐμβολὰς ὠχύρωσαν πολλὴν εἰς τοῦτο παρασκευὴν ἔχοντες οὔτε τὴν ἄλλην ἡτοίμασαν δύναμιν, ὁ δὲ καὶ μέχρι τῆς Συρίας ἀναιρῶν, φησίν, αὐτοὺς ἠκολούθησε διὰ τῆς ψάμμου τῆς ἀνύδρου, δῆλον ὅτι οὐ ῥᾴδιον οὐδὲ ἀμαχεὶ στρατοπέδῳ διελθεῖν. [¶12] 278. Our nation, therefore, according to Manetho, was not derived from Egypt, nor were any of the Egyptians mingled with us. For it is to be supposed that many of the leprous and distempered people were dead in the mines, since they had been there a long time, and in so ill a condition; many others must be dead in the battles that happened afterward, and more still in the last battle and flight after it. > Greek: 278. Κατὰ μὲν οὖν τὸν Μανεθῶν οὔτε ἐκ τῆς Αἰγύπτου τὸ γένος ἡμῶν ἐστιν οὔτε τῶν ἐκεῖθέν τινες ἀνεμίχθησαν· τῶν γὰρ λεπρῶν καὶ νοσούντων πολλοὺς μὲν εἰκὸς ἐν ταῖς λιθοτομίαις ἀποθανεῖν πολὺν χρόνον ἐκεῖ γενομένους καὶ κακοπαθοῦντας, πολλοὺς δʼ ἐν ταῖς μετὰ ταῦτα μάχαις, πλείστους δʼ ἐν τῇ τελευταίᾳ καὶ τῇ φυγῇ. [¶13] 279. It now remains that I debate with Manetho about Moses. Now the Egyptians acknowledge him to have been a wonderful and a divine person; nay, they would willingly lay claim to him themselves, though after a most abusive and incredible manner, and pretend that he was of Heliopolis, and one of the priests of that place, and was ejected out of it among the rest, on account of his leprosy; although it had been demonstrated out of their records that he lived five hundred and eighteen years earlier, and then brought our forefathers out of Egypt into the country that is now inhabited by us. But now that he was not subject in his body to any such calamity, is evident from what he himself tells us; for he forbade those that had the leprosy either to continue in a city, or to inhabit in a village, but commanded that they should go about by themselves with their clothes rent; and declares that such as either touch them, or live under the same roof with them, should be esteemed unclean; nay, more, if any one of their disease be healed, and he recover his natural constitution again, he appointed them certain purifications, and washings with spring water, and the shaving off all their hair, and enjoins that they shall offer many sacrifices, and those of several kinds, and then at length to be admitted into the holy city; although it were to be expected that, on the contrary, if he had been under the same calamity, he should have taken care of such persons beforehand, and have had them treated after a kinder manner, as affected with a concern for those that were to be under the like misfortunes with himself. Nor; was it only those leprous people for whose sake he made these laws, but also for such as should be maimed in the smallest part of their body, who yet are not permitted by him to officiate as priests; nay, although any priest, already initiated, should have such a calamity fall upon him afterward, he ordered him to be deprived of his honor of officiating. How can it then be supposed that Moses should ordain such laws against himself, to his own reproach and damage who so ordained them? Nor indeed is that other notion of Manetho at all probable, wherein he relates the change of his name, and says that “he was formerly called Osarsiph;” and this a name no way agreeable to the other, while his true name was Mosses, and signifies a person who is preserved out of the water, for the Egyptians call water Moil. I think, therefore, I have made it sufficiently evident that Manetho, while he followed his ancient records, did not much mistake the truth of the history; but that when he had recourse to fabulous stories, without any certain author, he either forged them himself, without any probability, or else gave credit to some men who spake so out of their ill-will to us. > Greek: 279. Λοιπόν μοι πρὸς αὐτὸν εἰπεῖν περὶ Μωυσέως. τοῦτον δὲ τὸν ἄνδρα θαυμαστὸν μὲν Αἰγύπτιοι καὶ θεῖον νομίζουσι, βούλονται δὲ προσποιεῖν αὐτοῖς μετὰ βλασφημίας ἀπιθάνου, λέγοντες Ἡλιοπολίτην εἶναι τῶν ἐκεῖθεν ἱερέων ἕνα διὰ τὴν λέπραν συνεξεληλαμένον. δείκνυται δʼ ἐν ταῖς ἀναγραφαῖς ὀκτωκαίδεκα σὺν τοῖς πεντακοσίοις πρότερον ἔτεσι γεγονὼς καὶ τοὺς ἡμετέρους ἐξαγαγὼν ἐκ τῆς Αἰγύπτου πατέρας εἰς τὴν χώραν τὴν νῦν οἰκουμένην ὑφʼ ἡμῶν. ὅτι δὲ οὐδὲ συμφορᾷ τινι τοιαύτῃ περὶ τὸ σῶμα κεχρημένος ἦν, ἐκ τῶν λεγομένων ὑπʼ αὐτοῦ δῆλός ἐστι· τοῖς γὰρ λεπρῶσιν ἀπείρηκε μήτε μένειν ἐν πόλει μήτʼ ἐν κώμῃ κατοικεῖν, ἀλλὰ μόνους περιπατεῖν κατεσχισμένους τὰ ἱμάτια, καὶ τὸν ἁψάμενον αὐτῶν ἢ ὁμωρόφιον γενόμενον οὐ καθαρὸν ἡγεῖται. καὶ μὴν κἂν θεραπευθῇ τὸ νόσημα καὶ τὴν αὑτοῦ φύσιν ἀπολάβῃ, προείρηκέν τινας ἁγνείας καθαρμοὺς πηγαίων ὑδάτων λουτροῖς καὶ ξυρήσεις πάσης τῆς τριχός, πολλάς τε κελεύει καὶ παντοίας ἐπιτελέσαντα θυσίας τότε παρελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ἱερὰν πόλιν. καίτοι τοὐναντίον εἰκὸς ἦν προνοίᾳ τινὶ καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ χρήσασθαι τὸν ἐν τῇ συμφορᾷ ταύτῃ γεγονότα πρὸς τοὺς ὁμοίως αὐτῷ δυστυχήσαντας. οὐ μόνον δὲ περὶ τῶν λεπρῶν οὕτως ἐνομοθέτησεν, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τοῖς καὶ τὸ βραχύτατόν τι τοῦ σώματος ἠκρωτηριασμένοις ἱερᾶσθαι συγκεχώρηκεν, ἀλλʼ εἰ καὶ μεταξύ τις ἱερώμενος τοιαύτῃ χρήσαιτο συμφορᾷ, τὴν τιμὴν αὐτὸν ἀφείλετο. πῶς οὖν εἰκὸς ἐκεῖνον ταῦτα νομοθετεῖν ἀνοήτως ἀπὸ τοιούτων συμφορῶν συνειλεγμένους πρόεσθαι καθʼ ἑαυτῶν εἰς ὄνειδός τε καὶ βλάβην νόμους συντιθεμένους; ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τοὔνομα λίαν ἀπιθάνως μετατέθεικεν· Ὀσαρσὴφ γάρ, φησίν, ἐκαλεῖτο. τοῦτο μὲν οὖν εἰς τὴν μετάθεσιν οὐκ ἐναρμόζει, τὸ δʼ ἀληθὲς ὄνομα δηλοῖ τὸν ἐκ τοῦ ὕδατος σωθέντα [Μωσῆν]· τὸ γὰρ ὕδωρ οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι μῶϋ καλοῦσιν. ἱκανῶς οὖν γεγονέναι νομίζω καὶ δῆλον δʼ ὅτι Μανεθὼς ἕως μὲν ἠκολούθει ταῖς ἀρχαίαις ἀναγραφαῖς οὐ πολὺ τῆς ἀληθείας διημάρτανεν, ἐπὶ δὲ τοὺς ἀδεσπότους μύθους τραπόμενος ἢ συνέθηκεν αὐτοὺς ἀπιθάνως ἤ τισι τῶν πρὸς ἀπέχθειαν εἰρηκότων ἐπίστευσεν. [¶14] 288. And now I have done with Manetho, I will inquire into what Cheremon says. For he also, when he pretended to write the Egyptian history, sets down the same name for this king that Manetho did, Amenophis, as also of his son Ramesses, and then goes on thus: “The goddess Isis appeared to Amenophis in his sleep, and blamed him that her temple had been demolished in the war. But that Phritiphantes, the sacred scribe, said to him, that in case he would purge Egypt of the men that had pollutions upon them, he should be no longer troubled. with such frightful apparitions. That Amenophis accordingly chose out two hundred and fifty thousand of those that were thus diseased, and cast them out of the country: that Moses and Joseph were scribes, and Joseph was a sacred scribe; that their names were Egyptian originally; that of Moses had been Tisithen, and that of Joseph, Peteseph: that these two came to Pelusium, and lighted upon three hundred and eighty thousand that had been left there by Amenophis, he not being willing to carry them into Egypt; that these scribes made a league of friendship with them, and made with them an expedition against Egypt: that Amenophis could not sustain their attacks, but fled into Ethiopia, and left his wife with child behind him, who lay concealed in certain caverns, and there brought forth a son, whose name was Messene, and who, when he was grown up to man's estate, pursued the Jews into Syria, being about two hundred thousand, and then received his father Amenophis out of Ethiopia.” > Greek: 288. Μετὰ τοῦτον ἐξετάσαι βούλομαι Χαιρήμονα· καὶ γὰρ οὗτος Αἰγυπτιακὴν φάσκων ἱστορίαν συγγράφειν καὶ προσθεὶς ταὐτὸ ὄνομα τοῦ βασιλέως ὅπερ ὁ Μανεθὼς Ἀμένωφιν καὶ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ Ῥαμεσσήν, φησὶν ὅτι κατὰ τοὺς ὕπνους ἡ Ἶσις ἐφάνη τῷ Ἀμενώφει μεμφομένη αὐτόν, ὅτι τὸ ἱερὸν αὐτῆς ἐν τῷ πολέμῳ κατέσκαπται. Φριτιβαύτην δὲ ἱερογραμματέα φάναι, ἐὰν τῶν τοὺς μολυσμοὺς ἐχόντων ἀνδρῶν καθάρῃ τὴν Αἴγυπτον, παύσεσθαι τῆς πτοίας αὐτόν. ἐπιλέξαντα δὲ τῶν ἐπισινῶν μυριάδας εἰκοσιπέντε ἐκβαλεῖν. ἡγεῖσθαι δʼ αὐτῶν γραμματέας Μωσῆν τε καὶ Ἰώσηπον καὶ τοῦτον ἱερογραμματέα, Αἰγύπτια δʼ αὐτοῖς ὀνόματα εἶναι τῷ μὲν Μωσῇ Τισιθέν, τῷ δὲ Ἰωσήπῳ Πετεσήφ. τούτους δʼ εἰς Πηλούσιον ἐλθεῖν καὶ ἐπιτυχεῖν μυριάσι τριακονταοκτὼ καταλελειμμέναις ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀμενώφιος, ἃς οὐ θέλειν εἰς τὴν Αἴγυπτον διακομίζειν· οἷς φιλίαν συνθεμένους ἐπὶ τὴν Αἴγυπτον στρατεῦσαι. τὸν δὲ Ἀμένωφιν οὐχ ὑπομείναντα τὴν ἔφοδον αὐτῶν εἰς Αἰθιοπίαν φυγεῖν καταλιπόντα τὴν γυναῖκα ἔγκυον, ἣν κρυβομένην ἔν τισι σπηλαίοις τεκεῖν παῖδα ὄνομα Ῥαμέσσην, ὃν ἀνδρωθέντα ἐκδιῶξαι τοὺς Ἰουδαίους εἰς τὴν Συρίαν ὄντας περὶ εἴκοσι μυριάδας καὶ τὸν πατέρα Ἀμένωφιν ἐκ τῆς Αἰθιοπίας καταδέξασθαι. [¶15] 293. This is the account Cheremon gives us. Now I take it for granted that what I have said already hath plainly proved the falsity of both these narrations; for had there been any real truth at the bottom, it was impossible they should so greatly disagree about the particulars. But for those that invent lies, what they write will easily give us very different accounts, while they forge what they please out of their own heads. Now Manetho says that the king's desire of seeing the gods was the origin of the ejection of the polluted people; but Cheremon feigns that it was a dream of his own, sent upon him by Isis, that was the occasion of it. Manetho says that the person who foreshowed this purgation of Egypt to the king was Amenophis; but this man says it was Phritiphantes. As to the numbers of the multitude that were expelled, they agree exceedingly well the former reckoning them eighty thousand, and the latter about two hundred and fifty thousand! Now, for Manetho, he describes those polluted persons as sent first to work in the quarries, and says that the city Avaris was given them for their habitation. As also he relates that it was not till after they had made war with the rest of the Egyptians, that they invited the people of Jerusalem to come to their assistance; while Cheremon says only that they were gone out of Egypt, and lighted upon three hundred and eighty thousand men about Pelusium, who had been left there by Amenophis, and so they invaded Egypt with them again; that thereupon Amenophis fled into Ethiopia. But then this Cheremon commits a most ridiculous blunder in not informing us who this army of so many ten thousands were, or whence they came; whether they were native Egyptians, or whether they came from a foreign country. Nor indeed has this man, who forged a dream from Isis about the leprous people, assigned the reason why the king would not bring them into Egypt. Moreover, Cheremon sets down Joseph as driven away at the same time with Moses, who yet died four generations before Moses, which four generations make almost one hundred and seventy years. Besides all this, Ramesses, the son of Amenophis, by Manetho's account, was a young man, and assisted his father in his war, and left the country at the same time with him, and fled into Ethiopia. But Cheremon makes him to have been born in a certain cave, after his father was dead, and that he then overcame the Jews in battle, and drove them into Syria, being in number about two hundred thousand. O the levity of the man! for he had neither told us who these three hundred and eighty thousand were, nor how the four hundred and thirty thousand perished; whether they fell in war, or went over to Ramesses. And, what is the strangest of all, it is not possible to learn out of him who they were whom he calls Jews, or to which of these two parties he applies that denomination, whether to the two hundred and fifty thousand leprous people, or to the three hundred and eighty thousand that were about Pelusium. But perhaps it will be looked upon as a silly thing in me to make any larger confutation of such writers as sufficiently confute themselves; for had they been only confuted by other men, it had been more tolerable. > Greek: 293. Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν ὁ Χαιρήμων. οἶμαι δὲ αὐτόθεν φανερὰν εἶναι ἐκ τῶν εἰρημένων τὴν ἀμφοῖν ψευδολογίαν· ἀληθείας μὲν γάρ τινος ὑποκειμένης ἀδύνατον ἦν διαφωνεῖν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον, οἱ δὲ τὰ ψευδῆ συντιθέντες οὐχ ἑτέροις σύμφωνα γράφουσιν, ἀλλʼ αὐτοῖς τὰ δόξαντα πλάττουσιν. ἐκεῖνος μὲν οὖν ἐπιθυμίαν τοῦ βασιλέως, ἵνα τοὺς θεοὺς ἴδῃ, φησὶν ἀρχὴν γενέσθαι τῆς τῶν μιαρῶν ἐκβολῆς, ὁ δὲ Χαιρήμων ἴδιον ὡς τῆς Ἴσιδος ἐνύπνιον συντέθεικε. κἀκεῖνος μὲν Ἀμένωφιν εἶναι λέγει τὸν προειπόντα τῷ βασιλεῖ τὸν καθαρμόν, οὗτος δὲ Φριτοβαύτην· ὁ δὲ δὴ τοῦ πλήθους ἀριθμὸς καὶ σφόδρα σύνεγγυς, ὀκτὼ μὲν μυριάδας ἐκείνου λέγοντος, τούτου δὲ πέντε πρὸς ταῖς εἴκοσιν. ἔτι τοίνυν ὁ μὲν Μανεθὼς πρότερον εἰς τὰς λιθοτομίας τοὺς μιαροὺς ἐκβαλὼν εἶτα αὐτοῖς τὴν Αὔαριν δοὺς ἐγκατοικεῖν καὶ τὰ πρὸς τοὺς ἄλλους Αἰγυπτίους ἐκπολεμώσας τότε φησὶν ἐπικαλέσασθαι τὴν παρὰ τῶν Ἱεροσολυμιτῶν αὐτοὺς ἐπικουρίαν, ὁ δὲ Χαιρήμων ἀπαλλαττομένους ἐκ τῆς Αἰγύπτου περὶ Πηλούσιον εὑρεῖν ὀκτὼ καὶ τριάκοντα μυριάδας ἀνθρώπων καταλελειμμένας ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἀμενώφιος καὶ μετʼ ἐκείνων πάλιν εἰς τὴν Αἴγυπτον ἐμβαλεῖν, φεύγειν δὲ τὸν Ἀμένωφιν εἰς τὴν Αἰθιοπίαν. τὸ δὲ δὴ γενναιότατον, οὐδὲ τίνες ἢ πόθεν ἦσαν αἱ τοσαῦται τοῦ στρατοῦ μυριάδες εἴρηκεν εἴτε Αἰγύπτιοι τὸ γένος εἴτʼ ἔξωθεν ἥκοντες, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ τὴν αἰτίαν διεσάφησε, διʼ ἣν αὐτοὺς ὁ βασιλεὺς εἰς τὴν Αἴγυπτον ἀνάγειν οὐκ ἠθέλησεν, ὁ περὶ τῶν λεπρῶν τὸ τῆς Ἴσιδος ἐνύπνιον συμπλάσας. τῷ δὲ Μωσεῖ καὶ τὸν Ἰώσηπον ὁ Χαιρήμων ὡς ἐν ταὐτῷ χρόνῳ συνεξηλελαμένον προστέθεικεν τὸν πρὸ Μωυσέως πρεσβύτερον τέσσαρσι γενεαῖς τετελευτηκότα, ὧν ἐστιν ἔτη σχεδὸν ἑβδομήκοντα καὶ ἑκατόν. ἀλλὰ μὴν ὁ Ῥαμέσσης ὁ τοῦ Ἀμενώφιος υἱὸς κατὰ μὲν τὸν Μανεθὼν νεανίας συμπολεμεῖ τῷ πατρὶ καὶ συνεκπίπτει φυγὼν εἰς τὴν Αἰθιοπίαν, οὗτος δὲ πεποίηκεν αὐτὸν μετὰ τὴν τοῦ πατρὸς τελευτὴν ἐν σπηλαίῳ τινὶ γεγενημένον καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα νικῶντα μάχῃ καὶ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους εἰς Συρίαν ἐξελαύνοντα τὸν ἀριθμὸν ὄντας περὶ μυριάδας κ. ὢ τῆς εὐχερείας· οὔτε γὰρ πρότερον οἵτινες ἦσαν αἱ τριάκοντα καὶ ὀκτὼ μυριάδες εἶπεν οὔτε πῶς αἱ εἴκοσι καὶ τρεῖς διεφθάρησαν, πότερον ἐν τῇ μάχῃ κατέπεσον ἢ πρὸς τὸν Ῥαμεσσῆ μετεβάλοντο. τὸ δὲ δὴ θαυμασιώτατον, οὐδὲ τίνας καλεῖ τοὺς Ἰουδαίους δυνατόν ἐστι παρʼ αὐτοῦ μαθεῖν ἢ ποτέροις αὐτοῖς τίθεται ταύτην τὴν προσηγορίαν, ταῖς κε μυριάσι τῶν λεπρῶν ἢ ταῖς η καὶ λ ταῖς περὶ τὸ Πηλούσιον. ἀλλὰ γὰρ εὔηθες ἴσως ἂν εἴη διὰ πλειόνων ἐλέγχειν τοὺς ὑφʼ ἑαυτῶν ἐληλεγμένους· τὸ γὰρ ὑπʼ ἄλλων ἦν μετριώτερον. [¶16] 304. I shall now add to these accounts about Manetho and Cheremon somewhat about Lysimachus, who hath taken the same topic of falsehood with those forementioned, but hath gone far beyond them in the incredible nature of his forgeries; which plainly demonstrates that he contrived them out of his virulent hatred of our nation. His words are these: “The people of the Jews being leprous and scabby, and subject to certain other kinds of distempers, in the days of Bocchoris, king of Egypt, they fled to the temples, and got their food there by begging: and as the numbers were very great that were fallen under these diseases, there arose a scarcity in Egypt. Hereupon Bocehoris, the king of Egypt, sent some to consult the oracle of [Jupiter] Hammon about his scarcity. The god's answer was this, that he must purge his temples of impure and impious men, by expelling them out of those temples into desert places; but as to the scabby and leprous people, he must drown them, and purge his temples, the sun having an indignation at these men being suffered to live; and by this means the land will bring forth its fruits. Upon Bocchoris's having received these oracles, he called for their priests, and the attendants upon their altars, and ordered them to make a collection of the impure people, and to deliver them to the soldiers, to carry them away into the desert; but to take the leprous people, and wrap them in sheets of lead, and let them down into the sea. Hereupon the scabby and leprous people were drowned, and the rest were gotten together, and sent into desert places, in order to be exposed to destruction. In this case they assembled themselves together, and took counsel what they should do, and determined that, as the night was coming on, they should kindle fires and lamps, and keep watch; that they also should fast the next night, and propitiate the gods, in order to obtain deliverance from them. That on the next day there was one Moses, who advised them that they should venture upon a journey, and go along one road till they should come to places fit for habitation: that he charged them to have no kind regards for any man, nor give good counsel to any, but always to advise them for the worst; and to overturn all those temples and altars of the gods they should meet with: that the rest commended what he had said with one consent, and did what they had resolved on, and so traveled over the desert. But that the difficulties of the journey being over, they came to a country inhabited, and that there they abused the men, and plundered and burnt their temples; and then came into that land which is called Judea, and there they built a city, and dwelt therein, and that their city was named Hierosyla, from this their robbing of the temples; but that still, upon the success they had afterwards, they in time changed its denomination, that it might not be a reproach to them, and called the city Hierosolyma, and themselves Hierosolymites.” > Greek: 304. Ἐπεισάξω δὲ τούτοις Λυσίμαχον εἰληφότα μὲν τὴν αὐτὴν τοῖς προειρημένοις ὑπόθεσιν τοῦ ψεύσματος περὶ τῶν λεπρῶν καὶ λελωβημένων, ὑπερπεπαικότα δὲ τὴν ἐκείνων ἀπιθανότητα τοῖς πλάσμασι, δῆλος συντεθεικὼς κατὰ πολλὴν ἀπέχθειαν· λέγει γὰρ ἐπὶ Βοχχόρεως τοῦ Αἰγυπτίων βασιλέως τὸν λαὸν τῶν Ἰουδαίων λεπροὺς ὄντας καὶ ψωροὺς καὶ ἄλλα νοσήματά τινα ἐχόντων εἰς τὰ ἱερὰ καταφεύγοντας μεταιτεῖν τροφήν. παμπόλλων δὲ ἀνθρώπων νοσηλείᾳ περιπεσόντων ἀκαρπίαν ἐν τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ γενέσθαι. Βόχχοριν δὲ τὸν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων βασιλέα εἰς Ἄμμωνος πέμψαι περὶ τῆς ἀκαρπίας τοὺς μαντευσομένους, τὸν θεὸν δὲ ἐρεῖν τὰ ἱερὰ καθᾶραι ἀπʼ ἀνθρώπων ἀνάγνων καὶ δυσσεβῶν ἐκβάλλοντα αὐτοὺς ἐκ τῶν ἱερῶν εἰς τόπους ἐρήμους, τοὺς δὲ ψωροὺς καὶ λεπροὺς βυθίσαι, ὡς τοῦ ἡλίου ἀγανακτοῦντος ἐπὶ τῇ τούτων ζωῇ, καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ ἁγνίσαι καὶ οὕτω τὴν γῆν καρποφορήσειν. τὸν δὲ Βόκχοριν τοὺς χρησμοὺς λαβόντα τούς τε ἱερεῖς καὶ ἐπιβωμίτας προσκαλεσάμενον κελεῦσαι ἐπιλογὴν ποιησαμένους τῶν ἀκαθάρτων τοῖς στρατιώταις τούτους παραδοῦναι κατάξειν αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν ἔρημον, τοὺς δὲ λεπροὺς εἰς μολιβδίνους χάρτας ἐνδήσαντας, ἵνα καθῶσιν εἰς τὸ πέλαγος. βυθισθέντων δὲ τῶν λεπρῶν καὶ ψωρῶν τοὺς ἄλλους συναθροισθέντας εἰς τόπους ἐρήμους ἐκτεθῆναι ἐπʼ ἀπωλείᾳ, συναχθέντας δὲ βουλεύσασθαι περὶ αὑτῶν, νυκτὸς δὲ ἐπιγενομένης πῦρ καὶ λύχνους καύσαντας φυλάττειν ἑαυτοὺς τήν τʼ ἐπιοῦσαν νύκτα νηστεύσαντας ἱλάσκεσθαι τοὺς θεοὺς περὶ τοῦ σῶσαι αὐτούς. τῇ δʼ ἐπιούσῃ ἡμέρᾳ Μωσῆν τινα συμβουλεῦσαι αὐτοῖς παραβαλλομένοις μίαν ὁδὸν τέμνειν ἄχρι ἂν ὅτου ἔλθωσιν εἰς τόπους οἰκουμένους, παρακελεύσασθαί τε αὐτοῖς μήτε ἀνθρώπων τινὶ εὐνοήσειν μήτε ἄριστα συμβουλεύσειν ἀλλὰ τὰ χείρονα θεῶν τε ναοὺς καὶ βωμούς, οἷς ἂν περιτύχωσιν, ἀνατρέπειν. συναινεσάντων δὲ τῶν ἄλλων τὰ δοχθέντα ποιοῦντας διὰ τῆς ἐρήμου πορεύεσθαι, ἱκανῶς δὲ ὀχληθέντας ἐλθεῖν εἰς τὴν οἰκουμένην χώραν καὶ τούς τε ἀνθρώπους ὑβρίζοντας καὶ τὰ ἱερὰ συλῶντας καὶ ἐμπρήσαντας ἐλθεῖν εἰς τὴν νῦν Ἰουδαίαν προσαγορευομένην, κτίσαντας δὲ πόλιν ἐνταῦθα κατοικεῖν. τὸ δὲ ἄστυ τοῦτο Ἱερόσυλα ἀπὸ τῆς ἐκείνων διαθέσεως ὠνομάσθαι. ὕστερον δʼ αὐτοὺς ἐπικρατήσαντας χρόνῳ διαλλάξαι τὴν ὀνομασίαν πρὸς τὸ ὀνειδίζεσθαι καὶ τήν τε πόλιν Ἱεροσόλυμα καὶ αὐτοὺς Ἱεροσολυμίτας προσαγορεύεσθαι. [¶17] 312. Now this man did not discover and mention the same king with the others, but feigned a newer name, and passing by the dream and the Egyptian prophet, he brings him to [Jupiter] Hammon, in order to gain oracles about the scabby and leprous people; for he says that the multitude of Jews were gathered together at the temples. Now it is uncertain whether he ascribes this name to these lepers, or to those that were subject to such diseases among the Jews only; for he describes them as a people of the Jews. What people does he mean? foreigners, or those of that country? Why then’ dost thou call them Jews, if they were Egyptians? But if they were foreigners, why dost thou not tell us whence they came? And how could it be that, after the king had drowned many of them in the sea, and ejected the rest into desert places, there should be still so great a multitude remaining? Or after what manner did they pass over the desert, and get the land which we now dwell in, and build our city, and that temple which hath been so famous among all mankind? And besides, he ought to have spoken more about our legislator than by giving us his bare name; and to have informed us of what nation he was, and what parents he was derived from; and to have assigned the reasons why he undertook to make such laws concerning the gods, and concerning matters of injustice with regard to men during that journey. For in case the people were by birth Egyptians, they would not on the sudden have so easily changed the customs of their country; and in case they had been foreigners, they had for certain some laws or other which had been kept by them from long custom. It is true, that with regard to those who had ejected them, they might have sworn never to bear good-will to them, and might have had a plausible reason for so doing. But if these men resolved to wage an implacable war against all men, in case they had acted as wickedly as he relates of them, and this while they wanted the assistance of all men, this demonstrates a kind of mad conduct indeed; but not of the men themselves, but very greatly so of him that tells such lies about them. He hath also impudence enough to say that a name, implying “Robbers of the temples,” was given to their city, and that this name was afterward changed. The reason of which is plain, that the former name brought reproach and hatred upon them in the times of their posterity, while, it seems, those that built the city thought they did honor to the city by giving it such a name. So we see that this fine fellow had such an unbounded inclination to reproach us, that he did not understand that robbery of temples is not expressed By the same word and name among the Jews as it is among the Greeks. But why should a man say any more to a person who tells such impudent lies? However, since this book is arisen to a competent length, I will make another beginning, and endeavor to add what still remains to perfect my design in the following book. > Greek: 312. Οὗτος οὐδὲ τὸν αὐτὸν ἐκείνοις εὗρεν εἰπεῖν βασιλέα, καινότερον δʼ ὄνομα συντέθεικεν καὶ παρεὶς ἐνύπνιον καὶ προφήτην Αἰγύπτιον εἰς Ἄμμωνος ἀπελήλυθεν περὶ τῶν ψωρῶν καὶ λεπρῶν χρησμὸν οἴσων· φησὶ γὰρ εἰς τὰ ἱερὰ συλλέγεσθαι πλῆθος Ἰουδαίων. ἆρά γε τοῦτο τοῖς λεπροῖς ὄνομα θέμενος ἢ μόνον τῶν Ἰουδαίων τοῖς νοσήμασι περιπεσόντων; λέγει γάρ ὁ λαὸς τῶν Ἰουδαίων. ὁποῖος; ἔπηλυς ἢ τὸ γένος ἐγχώριος; διὰ τί τοίνυν Αἰγυπτίους αὐτοὺς ὄντας Ἰουδαίους καλεῖς; εἰ δὲ ξένοι, διὰ τί πόθεν οὐ λέγεις; πῶς δὲ τοῦ βασιλέως πολλοὺς μὲν αὐτῶν βυθίσαντος εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς εἰς ἐρήμους τόπους ἐκβαλόντος, τοσοῦτοι τὸ πλῆθος ὑπελείφθησαν; ἢ τίνα τρόπον διεξῆλθον μὲν τὴν ἔρημον, ἐκράτησαν δὲ τῆς χώρας ἧς νῦν κατοικοῦμεν, ἔκτισαν δὲ καὶ πόλιν καὶ νεὼν ᾠκοδομήσαντο πᾶσι περιβόητον; ἐχρῆν δὲ καὶ τοῦ νομοθέτου μὴ μόνον εἰπεῖν τοὔνομα, δηλῶσαι δὲ καὶ τὸ γένος ὅστις ἦν καὶ τίνων, διὰ τί δὲ τοιούτους [ἂν] αὐτοῖς ἐπεχείρησε τιθέναι νόμους περὶ θεῶν καὶ τῆς πρὸς ἀνθρώπους ἀδικίας κατὰ τὴν πορείαν. εἴτε γὰρ Αἰγύπτιοι τὸ γένος ἦσαν, οὐκ ἂν ἐκ τῶν πατρίων ἐθῶν οὕτω ῥᾳδίως μετεβάλοντο, εἴτʼ ἀλλαχόθεν ἦσαν, πάντως τινὲς ὑπῆρχον αὐτοῖς νόμοι διὰ μακρᾶς συνηθείας πεφυλαγμένοι. εἰ μὲν οὖν περὶ τῶν ἐξελασάντων αὐτοὺς ὤμοσαν μηδέποτε εὐνοήσειν, λόγον εἶχεν εἰκότα, πᾶσι δὲ πόλεμον ἀνθρώποις ἀκήρυκτον ἄρασθαι τούτους, εἴπερ ἔπραττον ὡς αὐτὸς λέγει κακῶς, παρὰ πάντων βοηθείας δεομένους ἄνοιαν οὐκ ἐκείνων, ἀλλὰ τοῦ ψευδομένου πάνυ πολλὴν παρίστησιν, ὅς γε καὶ τοὔνομα θέσθαι τῇ πόλει ἀπὸ τῆς ἱεροσυλίας αὐτοὺς ἐτόλμησεν εἰπεῖν, τοῦτο δὲ μετὰ ταῦτα παρατρέψαι· δῆλον γάρ, ὅτι τοῖς μὲν ὕστερον γενομένοις αἰσχύνην τοὔνομα καὶ μῖσος ἔφερεν, αὐτοὶ δʼ οἱ κτίζοντες τὴν πόλιν κοσμήσειν αὐτοὺς ὑπελάμβανον οὕτως ὀνομάσαντες. ὁ δὲ γενναῖος ὑπὸ πολλῆς τοῦ λοιδορεῖν ἀκρασίας οὐ συνῆκεν, ὅτι ἱεροσυλεῖν οὐ κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν φωνὴν Ἰουδαῖοι τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ὀνομάζομεν. τί οὖν ἐπὶ πλείω τις λέγοι πρὸς τὸν ψευδόμενον οὕτως ἀναισχύντως; ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ σύμμετρον ἤδη τὸ βιβλίον εἴληφε μέγεθος, ἑτέραν ποιησάμενος ἀρχὴν τὰ λοιπὰ τῶν εἰς τὸ προκείμενον πειράσομαι προσαποδοῦναι.