登陆注册
5450400000020

第20章

34. I shall now add to these accounts about Manethoand 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."35. 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,"(26) 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.

同类推荐
  • 佛说枯树经

    佛说枯树经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 归潜志

    归潜志

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 思陵翰墨志

    思陵翰墨志

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说炽盛光大威德消灾吉祥陀罗尼经

    佛说炽盛光大威德消灾吉祥陀罗尼经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • RIDGWAY OF MONTANA

    RIDGWAY OF MONTANA

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 学校管理的改进与创新

    学校管理的改进与创新

    本书是教育部与联合国儿基会合作项目,主要内容是从学校生活主体的儿童的视角关注学校管理应该如何改进与创新,并结合项目实施的经验,给与学校管理如何改进与创新以实际的指导,可与已出版的《爱生学校与学校管理》成为姊妹篇。
  • 全世界有钱人都在读的赚钱故事

    全世界有钱人都在读的赚钱故事

    本书精选了很多成功人士的经验故事与大家分享,以供借鉴。这些故事覆盖了多个方面和层次,归为28类,分上下两篇,上篇以成功者的经历来讲述追求财富必备的一些主要素质和必知的方式方法;下篇则分别讲述各类商业发达的地方人群致富的故事。
  • 甘泉先生续编大全

    甘泉先生续编大全

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 拐个相公来种田

    拐个相公来种田

    睁眼闭眼之间,木柔桑挂完又穿越了。身世凄惨,家徒四壁,上无父母,下无弟妹只有个唯二的哥哥相依为命。
  • 老板经典:中小企业做大做强的八项修炼(超值金版)

    老板经典:中小企业做大做强的八项修炼(超值金版)

    韩冰编著的《老板经典——中小企业做大做强的八项修炼》是专门为年轻企业家编写,非主流MBA经典培训课程的精华本。《老板经典——中小企业做大做强的八项修炼》中的培训教练来自全世界最有人气的成功及商业大师——拿破仑·希尔、戴尔·卡耐基、松下幸之助、乔·吉拉德、比尔·盖茨、史蒂芬·柯维、卡耐基夫人和李嘉诚。《老板经典——中小企业做大做强的八项修炼》中的思想精髓包括:激励、经营、推销、效能、财富、演说、商业谋略和魅力等八个方面。
  • 无辜穿越,拐个王爷回现代

    无辜穿越,拐个王爷回现代

    还有没有天理了,睡个觉都能睡穿!第二天还嫁个王爷,好吧,看在美男的面子上就认了吧。可谁能解释一下,为毛她又穿回来了?玥漓无辜扶额→_→顺带“被拐来”的某王爷:“漓漓,你拐都拐了,你要负责!”【女主携带现代高科技穿古代,拐个王爷穿回现代,男女主身心干净,欢迎入坑】不喜勿喷,谢谢。
  • 一号追妻令

    一号追妻令

    三年前一场误会,让他们生死不见。三年后却因为一场命案,再次纠缠。改头换面的她只想躲闪,执着当年的他步步紧逼。她装晕、装醉、装可怜,全被他见招拆招。凌沐星忍无可忍,“我不是你前女友!”他凑不要脸,“是不是查过才知道!”--情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 炙手可热

    炙手可热

    梅根·奥·法雷尔继承了叔叔的房产。这栋房子位于爱尔兰一个偏僻的县,即多风的大西洋海岸边。她期望这房子能成为自己的庇护所,借以走出刚刚失婚的阴影。但这所房子形同废墟,修复需要一大笔钱,因此她决定卖掉它。如果她没有发现过去的一宗家族丑闻,也没有萌生出对这片美丽土地的热爱,并对一位英俊的克里男子产生了爱意,这会是个简单的决定……她不仅困在了乡村生活中,必须面对农事带来的重重阻碍,还不得不与意图逼迫她离开的阴谋展开一场无间道。
  • 修真小学徒

    修真小学徒

    身为一个会修真的好学生,不开玩笑,如果惹了我,你就摊上大事儿了!
  • 大唐曹妃传

    大唐曹妃传

    一座小小沙岛,负载着一段悠远的历史回声;一片寻常土地,记录了一个不朽的爱的传奇。一位胸怀大志的少女,从这里走出——走进村塾寒窗苦读,走进山门拜师学艺,继而有了惩恶扬善、扶危济贫的一系列侠义之举。一个偶然的机缘,她与一代圣君李世民邂逅相爱,遂演绎了一场荡气回肠的人间悲喜剧。《大唐曹妃传》,带你读懂传奇人物曹妃以及她所处时代的历史。情节虚构,请勿模仿