351 Georgius Cedrenus, Σς νοψιύ ἱστοριῶν, ed. Goar; Paris, 1647. t. i. p. 27.

352 Josephus Ben-Gorion, lib. vi. c. 35, apud Fabricium, i. p. 326.

353 S. Epiphanius Hæresi, lv. c. 2.

354 Talmud, Tract. Bava Bathra.

355 Tabari, i. c. liii.

356 Tabari; Weil, Abulfeda, pp. 25-27, etc.

357 Or El Khoudr: he is identified in Arab legend with S. George and Elias.

358 Weil, pp. 94-6.

359 Tabari, i. p. 181

360 Maschmia Jeschua, fol. 19, col. 4.

361 Nezach Israel, fol. 25, col. 3.

362 Eisenmenger, ii. pp. 260, 304.

363 Gen. xxv. 22.

364 Jer. i. 5.

365 Bereschith Rabba, fol. 56, col. 2.

366 Eisenmenger, i. p. 646.

367 Ibid.

368 Ibid., pp. 650-1.

369 Targums, ed. Etheridge, i. p. 240.

370 Ibid., p. 241.

371 Ibid., also R. Bechai’s Comment. on the Five Books of Moses, fol. 35, col. 1.

372 Targum of Palestine and Jerusalem; Etheridge, i. 241, 242. The book Yaschar says the deed of transfer was written by Jacob on a leaf, and that he and Esau sealed it, p. 1151.

373 Eisenmenger, i. p. 651.

374 Gen. iii. 21.

375 Yaschar, p. 1150, where is the story of the assassination of Nimrod by Esau.

376 Ibid.

377 Eisenmenger, ii. p. 879.

378 Ibid., p. 262.

379 Targums, i. p. 250.

380 Targums, i. p. 252.

381 Pirke R. Eliezer, c. 35.

382 William Sanderson, Vita Mariæ, reg. Scot., et Jacobi, reg. Anglorum; also Beckmann, Notitiar. dignit. Dissert. 3, c. i. § 7.

383 The whole of the above is from the Targumim.

384 Jalkut Cadasch, fol. 81, col. 1; Yaschar, p. 1161 et seq.

385 Eisenmenger, i. p. 486.

386 Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 61, col. 3.

387 Jalkut Cadasch, fol. 91, col. 4.

388 Targum of Palestine, i. p. 272.

389 Jacob prepared three things against Esau—War, Gifts, and Prayer—as a token to all men that they must overcome evil by Resistance, by Alms, and by Supplication. (R. Bechai, Comm. on the Five Books of Moses, fol. 42, col. 4.)

390 Jalkut Rubeni, fol. 62, col. 2.

391 Bereschith rabba, fol. 71, col. 1 (70th Parascha).

392 Bereschith rabba, fol. 67, col. 1.

393 Jalkut Cadasch, fol. 90, col. 3.

394 Eisenmenger, i. p. 325.

395 Tabari, i. p. 206.

396 Gen. xxxiii. 20.

397 Jalkut Cadasch, fol. 91, col. 3.

398 Yaschar, pp. 1167, 1168.

399 D’ Herbelot, Bibliothèque Orientale, s. v. Ais, i. p. 142.

400 This was Sammael, and he complained to God that Jacob had neglected the duty of hospitality, therefore he was suffered to afflict him for a season.

401 Tabari, i. p. 210.

402 Targums, i. p. 287.

403 Tabari, i. p. 211.

404 Targums, i. p. 288. The account of the sale in Yaschar is very long, and full of details too numerous for insertion here (pp. 1185-8).

405 Tabari, i. p. 212.

406 Targums, i. 289.

407 Weil, p. 102.

408 Yaschar, tr. Drachs, p. 1192.

409 Tabari, i. pp. 213, 214.

410 Targums, i. 288.

411 Yaschar, pp. 1188-9; Parrascha Wajescheb. This touching incident is common to Rabbinic and Mussulman traditions. It has been gracefully versified by Dr. Le Heris, “Sagen aus der Orient;” Mannheim, 1852.

412 His name in Arabic is Aziz.

413 Zuleika is the name in Yaschar; it is that also given her by the Arabs.

414 Tract. Sota., fol. 36, col. 2. The original account of this final detail is too absurd and monstrous to be narrated more particularly.

415 Tabari, i. p. 217.

416 Yaschar, p. 1197. Nearly all these incidents in the life of Joseph are common to Jewish and Mussulman traditions.

417 Tabari, p. 220; Weil, p. 112; both taken from the Rabbinic story in Yaschar, p. 1195.

418 Weil, p. 113.

419 Targums, i. pp. 296-9; Midrash, fol. 45; Yaschar, p. 1200.

420 Midrash, fol. 45.

421 Weil, p. 116; Tabari, i. c. 44; Gen. xli.; Yaschar, pp. 1202-8.

422 This conclusion of the loves of Zuleika and Joseph completes the romance, and makes it a most popular subject for poets in the East. Both Jewish and Mussulman traditions give Zuleika a very different character from that which Holy Scripture leads one to attribute to her.

423 Midrash, Jalkut, fol. 46.

424 Midrash, Jalkut. fol. 46.

425 Weil, p. 122.

426 Tabari, i. p. 247; taken from the Rabbinic Yaschar (Sepher Hajaschar), p. 1226.

427 Midrash, Jalkut. fol. 47; Yaschar, p. 1225; Berescheth Rabba, fol. 84, col. 4.

428 Yaschar, p. 1226.

429 This was the shirt given Abraham by Gabriel, to preserve him from the fire into which Nimrod cast him; it was fragrant with the odors of Paradise.

430 Koran, Sura xii.; Tabari, i. pp. 250, 251.

431 Yaschar, p. 1227.

432 Vita Aseneth, filiæ Potipharis; a Greek apocryphal book, in Fabricius, iii. p. 85.

433 Lib. de Mensuris et Ponderibus, § 10.

434 Ephes. v. 14.

435 Thess. ii. 16.

436 Commen. in Eph. loc. cit.

437 Prolog. infin. Duarum Hom. in Cant. Canticorum.

438 Matt. Paris, Chronicle, ed. Bohn, vol. i. pp. 437, 438.

439 T. i., pp. 496-759.

440 Koran, Sura xxxviii. v. 43-4. Job in Arabic is Aïub.

441 Eisenmenger, ii. p. 439.

442 Tabari, i. p. 256.

443 Maï (Angelus), Test. Job: Romæ, 1839.

444 Maï (Angelus), Test. Job; Romæ, 1839.

445 In the “Testament of Job” she is called Sitis.

446 Tabari, i. c. lxvi; Abulfeda, pp. 27-29.

447 Testament of Job.

448 Koran, Sura xxi. v. 83.

449 Koran, Sura xxxviii. v. 41.

450 Tabari, i. p. 263.

451 Koran, Sura xxxviii. v. 43.

452 Tabari, i. c. lxvii; Abulfeda p. 31.

453 The early portion of the life of Moses has been elaborated from Rabbinic sources by Dr. B. Beer. Unfortunately he died before the work was completed, and it has been published as a fragment by his friend, G. Wolf. It extends only as far as his marriage with Zipporoh. (Leben Moses nach Auffassung der Jüdischen Sage, von Dr. B. Beer; ein Fragment. Leipzig, 1863.) It is for the most part, compiled from the Sepher Hajascher, or Book of Jasher.

454 Yaschar, pp. 1241-53. The history of Zepho is quite a romance, too long for insertion here.

455 Yaschar, pp. 1248, 1249; 1253, 1254.

456 Ibid., p. 1255.

457 Midrash, fol. 51; Yaschar, p. 1157.

458 Midrash, Jalkut, fol. 52; Yaschar, pp. 1257-9.

459 The curious passages, Isaiah vii. 15, 22, may allude to this tradition.

460 Moses’ life was shortened because he brought water out of the rock contrary to God’s command (Numb xxvii. 14), striking the rock instead of speaking to it.

461 Beer, pp. 112-6.

462 Some authorities say that Jochebed, when thrust away, married Eliphazan, the son of Parnach (Numb. xxxiv. 25), and bare him two sons, Eldad and Medad (Numb. xi. 15); but others, with more probability, assert that she married Eliphazan after the death of Amram. (Yaschar, p. 1259.)

463 Yaschar, p. 1260.

464 Targum of Palestine, i. p. 446.

465 Rabboth, fol. 118 a.

466 Exod. xv. 1.

467 The Arabic name for her is Asia; Yaschar, p. 1261.

468 Targum of Palestine, i. p. 446; Yaschar, p. 1261.

469 Midrash, fol. 51.

470 Midrash, fol. 51; Yaschar, p. 1262.

471 Midrash, fol. 52; Yaschar, p. 1263.

472 According to another version, it was Jethro who advised that the child should be proved with the basins of rubies and coals (Rabboth, fol. 118 b; Yaschar, pp. 1263, 1264).

473 Exod. iv. 10.

474 Beer, pp. 26-42. Abulfaraj says that Jannes and Jambres were the tutors of Moses in his youth (Hist. Dynast., p. 17).

475 Yaschar, p. 1265.

476 Yaschar, p. 1265.

477 Ibid., p. 1263.

478 Parascha of R. Solomon Jaschi, on Exod. ii. 12; also Targums of Palestine and Jerusalem, i. p. 447; Yaschar, pp. 1265, 1266.

479 Pirke R. Eliezer, c. 40; Rabboth, fol. 119 a; Yaschar, p. 1266.

480 This illustrates the passage 2 Kings ix. 13.

481 Midrash, fol. 52; Yaschar, pp. 1265-1274.

482 These were two of his seven names.

483 It may be noticed in this as in several other instances, such as those of Rebekah and Rachel, the Rabbis have invented stories to explain the circumstance of the damsels watering the flock, which they supposed derogated from their dignity. This indicates the late date of these traditions, when the old pastoral simplicity was lost.

484 Pirke R. Eliezer, c. 40; Yaschar, p. 1274.

485 The Targum of Palestine, “ten years;” i. p. 448.

486 Beer, pp. 42-02; Pirke R. Eliezer. The Targum of Palestine says the rod was in the chamber of Jethro, not in the garden; i. p. 448. Yaschar, pp. 1277, 1278.

487 Rabbot., fol. 120 a. It is possible that our Blessed Lord’s parable of the Good Shepherd may contain an allusion to this popular and beautiful tradition.

488 Gen. iii. 4. It was the angel Zagnugael who appeared and spoke to him from the bush. (Targum of Palestine, i. p. 449; Abulfeda, p. 31.)

489 Exod. iv. 14.

490 Tabari, i. c. lxxiii. p. 24.

491 Midrash, fol. 54.

492 Targum of Palestine, i. p. 460.

493 Yaschar, p. 1280.

494 Tabari, p. 326.

495 Some say that Pharaoh entreated Moses to spare him for the sake of Asia (Bithia), and that at the mention of his name Moses was softened (Weil, p. 159)

496 In Arabic, Risam and Rijam; and Shabun and Gabun, in Persian.

497 Midrash, fol. 56. The Targums say that the enchanters turned the water of Goshen into blood, so that there was no water to the Israelites as to the Egyptians; i. p. 462.

498 Midrash, fol. 55.

499 Targum of Palestine, i. p. 463.

500 Venomous insects (Kalma), gnats (Kinnim). See Wisdom xvi. 1, 3.

501 Targums, i. 464.

502 Targums, i. p. 467.

503 Ibid., i. p. 471.

504 Yaschar, p. 1283.

505 Tabari, i. p. 338.

506 Weil, p. 165.

507 Talmud, Sota, fol. 13.

508 Targum of Palestine, i. p. 1478.

509 Targums, i. p. 475.

510 Ibid., i. p. 485.

511 Targum of Jerusalem, i. 488; Yaschar, p. 1287.

512 Exod. xiv. 13, 14.

513 Koran, Sura xxvi. v. 63.

514 Weil, p. 168; see also Midrash, fol. 176.

515 Exod. xv. 21.

516 Tabari, p. 350.

517 Tabari, i. p. 355.

518 Both the Rabbis and the Mussulmans lay the blame, not on Aaron, but on another. The Rabbis say it was Micah who made the calf; the Mussulmans call him Samiri. (Weil, p. 170.)

519 Targum of Palestine, i. p. 552.

520 Tabari, i. p. 362.

521 Targum of Palestine, ii. p. 685.

522 Pirke R. Eliezer, c. 45.

523 Weil, pp. 172, 173.

524 Koran, Sura vii. v. 139.