,,against ,,apion4  #a  ,by ,flavius    
,josephus   ,translated by ,william     
,whiston     ,,book #a4  #a4 ,i ,suppose
 that by my books of the ,antiquity of  
the ,jews1 most excellent ,epaphroditus1
 #b have made it evident to those who   
peruse them1 that our ,jewish nation is 
of very great antiquity1 and had a      
distinct subsistence of its own         
originally2 as also1 ,i have therein    
declared how we came to inhabit this    
country wherein we now live4 ,those     
,antiquities contain the history of five
 thousand years1 and are taken out of   
our sacred books1 but are translated by 
me into the ,greek tongue4 ,however1    
since ,i observe a considerable number  
of people giving ear to the reproaches  
that are laid against us by those who   
bear ill-will to us1 and will not       
believe what ,i have written concerning 
the antiquity of our nation1 while they 
take it for a plain sign that our nation
 is of a late date1 because they are not
 so much as vouchsafed a bare mention by

 the most famous historiographers among 
the ,grecians4 ,i therefore have thought
 myself under an obligation to write    
somewhat briefly about these subjects1  
in order to convict those that reproach 
us of spite and voluntary falsehood1 and
 to correct the ignorance of others1 and
 withal to instruct all those who are   
desirous of knowing the truth of what   
great antiquity we really are4 ,as for  
the witnesses whom ,i shall produce for 
the proof of what ,i say1 they shall be 
such as are esteemed to be of the       
greatest reputation for truth1 and the  
most skillful in the knowledge of all   
antiquity by the ,greeks themselves4 ,i 
will also show1 that those who have     
written so reproachfully and falsely    
about us are to be convicted by what    
they have written themselves to the     
contrary4 ,i shall also endeavor to give
 an account of the reasons why it hath  
so happened1 that there have not been a 
great number of ,greeks who have made   
mention of our nation in their          

histories4 ,i will1 however1 bring those
 ,grecians to light who have not omitted
 such our history1 for the sake of those
 that either do not know them1 or       
pretend not to know them already4  #b4  
,and now1 in the first place1 ,i cannot 
but greatly wonder at those men1 who    
suppose that we must attend to none but 
,grecians1 when we are inquiring about  
the most ancient facts1 and must inform 
ourselves of their truth from them only1
 while we must not believe ourselves nor
 other men2 for ,i am convinced that the
 very reverse is the truth of the case4 
,i mean this1--if we will not be led by 
vain opinions1 but will make inquiry    
after truth from facts themselves2 for  
they will find that almost all which    
concerns the ,greeks happened not long  
ago2 nay1 one may say1 is of yesterday  
only4 ,i speak of the building of their 
cities1 the inventions of their arts1   
and the description of their laws2 and  
as for their care about the writing down
 of their histories1 it is very near the

 last thing they set about4 ,however1   
they acknowledge themselves so far1 that
 they were the ,egyptians1 the          
,chaldeans1 and the ,phoenicians 7for ,i
 will not now reckon ourselves among    
them7 that have preserved the memorials 
of the most ancient and most lasting    
traditions of mankind2 for almost all   
these nations inhabit such countries as 
are least subject to destruction from   
the world about them2 and these also    
have taken especial care to have nothing
 omitted of what was remarkably done    
among them2 but their history was       
esteemed sacred1 and put into public    
tables1 as written by men of the        
greatest wisdom they had among them4    
,but as for the place where the         
,grecians inhabit1 ten thousand         
destructions have overtaken it1 and     
blotted out the memory of former        
actions2 so that they were ever         
beginning a new way of living1 and      
supposed that every one of them was the 
origin of their new state4 ,it was also 

late1 and with difficulty1 that they    
came to know the letters they now use2  
for those who would advance their use of
 these letters to the greatest antiquity
 pretend that they learned them from the
 ,phoenicians and from ,cadmus2 yet is  
nobody able to demonstrate that they    
have any writing preserved from that    
time1 neither in their temples1 nor in  
any other public monuments4 ,this       
appears1 because the time when those    
lived who went to the ,trojan war1 so   
many years afterward1 is in great doubt1
 and great inquiry is made1 whether the 
,greeks used their letters at that time2
 and the most prevailing opinion1 and   
that nearest the truth1 is1 that their  
present way of using those letters was  
unknown at that time4 ,however1 there is
 not any writing which the ,greeks agree
 to be genuine among them ancienter than
 ,homer's ,poems1 who must plainly he   
confessed later than the siege of ,troy2
 nay1 the report goes1 that even he did 
not leave his poems in writing1 but that

 their memory was preserved in songs1   
and they were put together afterward1   
and that this is the reason of such a   
number of variations as are found in    
them4 #c ,as for those who set          
themselves about writing their          
histories1 ,i mean such as ,cadmus of   
,miletus1 and ,acusilaus of ,argos1 and 
any others that may be mentioned as     
succeeding ,acusilaus1 they lived but a 
little while before the ,persian        
expedition into ,greece4 ,but then for  
those that first introduced philosophy1 
and the consideration of things         
celestial and divine among them1 such as
 ,pherceydes the ,syrian1 and           
,pythagoras1 and ,thales1 all with one  
consent agree1 that they learned what   
they knew of the ,egyptians and         
,chaldeans1 and wrote but little ,and   
these are the things which are supposed 
to be the oldest of all among the       
,greeks2 and they have much ado to      
believe that the writings ascribed to   
those men are genuine4  #c4 ,how can it 

then be other than an absurd thing1 for 
the ,greeks to be so proud1 and to vaunt
 themselves to be the only people that  
are acquainted with antiquity1 and that 
have delivered the true accounts of     
those early times after an accurate     
manner8 ,nay1 who is there that cannot  
easily gather from the ,greek writers   
themselves1 that they knew but little on
 any good foundation when they set to   
write1 but rather wrote their histories 
from their own conjectures8             
,accordingly1 they confute one another  
in their own books to purpose1 and are  
not ashamed4 to give us the most        
contradictory accounts of the same      
things2 and ,i should spend my time to  
little purpose1 if ,i should pretend to 
teach the ,greeks that which they know  
better than ,i already1 what a great    
disagreement there is between           
,hellanicus and ,acusilaus about their  
genealogies2 in how many eases          
,acusilaus corrects ,hesiod3 or after   
what manner ,ephorus demonstrates       

,hellanicus to have told lies in the    
greatest part of his history2 as does   
,timeus in like manner as to ,ephorus1  
and the succeeding writers do to        
,timeus1 and all the later writers do to
 ,herodotus nor could ,timeus agree with
 ,antiochus and ,philistius1 or with    
,callias1 about the ,sicilian ,history1 
no more than do the several writers of  
the ,athide follow one another about the
 ,athenian affairs2 nor do the          
historians the like1 that wrote the     
,argolics1 about the affairs of the     
,argives4 ,and now what need ,i say any 
more about particular cities and smaller
 places1 while in the most approved     
writers of the expedition of the        
,persians1 and of the actions which were
 therein performed1 there are so great  
differences8 ,nay1 ,thucydides himself  
is accused of some as writing what is   
false1 although he seems to have given  
us the exactest history of the affairs  
of his own time4 #d  #d4 ,as for the    
occasions of so great disagreement of   

theirs1 there may be assigned many that 
are very probable1 if any have a mind to
 make an inquiry about them2 but ,i     
ascribe these contradictions chiefly to 
two causes1 which ,i will now mention1  
and still think what ,i shall mention in
 the first place to be the principal of 
all4 ,for if we remember that in the    
beginning the ,greeks had taken no care 
to have public records of their several 
transactions preserved1 this must for   
certain have afforded those that would  
afterward write about those ancient     
transactions the opportunity of making  
mistakes1 and the power of making lies  
also2 for this original recording of    
such ancient transactions hath not only 
been neglected by the other states of   
,greece1 but even among the ,athenians  
themselves also1 who pretend to be      
,aborigines1 and to have applied        
themselves to learning1 there are no    
such records extant2 nay1 they say      
themselves that the laws of ,draco      
concerning murders1 which are now extant

 in writing1 are the most ancient of    
their public records2 which ,draco yet  
lived but a little before the tyrant    
,pisistratus4 #e ,for as to the         
,arcadians1 who make such boasts of     
their antiquity1 what need ,i speak of  
them in particular1 since it was still  
later before they got their letters1 and
 learned them1 and that with difficulty 
also4 #f  #e4 ,there must therefore     
naturally arise great differences among 
writers1 when they had no original      
records to lay for their foundation1    
which might at once inform those who had
 an inclination to learn1 and contradict
 those that would tell lies4 ,however1  
we are to suppose a second occasion     
besides the former of these             
contradictions2 it is this3 ,that those 
who were the most zealous to write      
history were not solicitous for the     
discovery of truth1 although it was very
 easy for them always to make such a    
profession2 but their business was to   
demonstrate that they could write well1 

and make an impression upon mankind     
thereby2 and in what manner of writing  
they thought they were able to exceed   
others1 to that did they apply          
themselves1 ,some of them betook        
themselves to the writing of fabulous   
narrations2 some of them endeavored to  
please the cities or the kings1 by      
writing in their commendation2 others of
 them fell to finding faults with       
transactions1 or with the writers of    
such transactions1 and thought to make a
 great figure by so doing4 ,and indeed  
these do what is of all things the most 
contrary to true history2 for it is the 
great character of true history that all
 concerned therein both speak and write 
the same things2 while these men1 by    
writing differently about the same      
things1 think they shall be believed to 
write with the greatest regard to truth4
 ,we therefore who are ,jews must yield 
to the ,grecian writers as to language  
and eloquence of composition2 but then  
we shall give them no such preference as

 to the verity of ancient history1 and  
least of all as to that part which      
concerns the affairs of our own several 
countries4  #f4 ,as to the care of      
writing down the records from the       
earliest antiquity among the ,egyptians 
and ,babylonians2 that the priests were 
intrusted therewith1 and employed a     
philosophical concern about it2 that    
they were the ,chaldean priests that did
 so among the ,babylonians2 and that the
 ,phoenicians1 who were mingled among   
the ,greeks1 did especially make use of 
their letters1 both for the common      
affairs of life1 and for the delivering 
down the history of common transactions1
 ,i think ,i may omit any proof1 because
 all men allow it so to be4 ,but now as 
to our forefathers1 that they took no   
less care about writing such records1   
for ,i will not say they took greater   
care than the others ,i spoke of1 and   
that they committed that matter to their
 high priests and to their prophets1 and
 that these records have been written   

all along down to our own times with the
 utmost accuracy2 nay1 if it be not too 
bold for me to say it1 our history will 
be so written hereafter2--,i shall      
endeavor briefly to inform you4  #g4    
,for our forefathers did not only       
appoint the best of these priests1 and  
those that attended upon the ,divine    
worship1 for that design from the       
beginning1 but made provision that the  
stock of the priests should continue    
unmixed and pure2 for he who is partaker
 of the priesthood must propagate of a  
wife of the same nation1 without having 
any regard to money1 or any other       
dignities2 but he is to make a scrutiny1
 and take his wife's genealogy from the 
ancient tables1 and procure many        
witnesses to it4 #g ,and this is our    
practice not only in ,judea1 but        
wheresoever any body of men of our      
nation do live2 and even there an exact 
catalogue of our priests' marriages is  
kept2 ,i mean at ,egypt and at ,babylon1
 or in any other place of the rest of   

the habitable earth1 whithersoever our  
priests are scattered2 for they send to 
,jerusalem the ancient names of their   
parents in writing1 as well as those of 
their remoter ancestors1 and signify who
 are the witnesses also4 ,but if any war
 falls out1 such as have fallen out a   
great many of them already1 when        
,antiochus ,epiphanes made an invasion  
upon our country1 as also when ,pompey  
the ,great and ,quintilius ,varus did so
 also1 and principally in the wars that 
have happened in our own times1 those   
priests that survive them compose new   
tables of genealogy out of the old      
records1 and examine the circumstances  
of the women that remain2 for still they
 do not admit of those that have been   
captives1 as suspecting that they had   
conversation with some foreigners4 ,but 
what is the strongest argument of our   
exact management in this matter is what 
,i am now going to say1 that we have the
 names of our high priests from father  
to son set down in our records for the  

interval of two thousand years2 and if  
any of these have been transgressors of 
these rules1 they are prohibited to     
present themselves at the altar1 or to  
be partakers of any other of our        
purifications2 and this is justly1 or   
rather necessarily done1 because every  
one is not permitted of his own accord  
to be a writer1 nor is there any        
disagreement in what is written2 they   
being only prophets that have written   
the original and earliest accounts of   
things as they learned them of ,god     
himself by inspiration2 and others have 
written what hath happened in their own 
times1 and that in a very distinct      
manner also4  #h4 ,for we have not an   
innumerable multitude of books among us1
 disagreeing from and contradicting one 
another1 as the ,greeks have1 but only  
twenty-two books1 #h which contain the  
records of all the past times2 which are
 justly believed to be divine2 and of   
them five belong to ,moses1 which       
contain his laws and the traditions of  

the origin of mankind till his death4   
,this interval of time was little short 
of three thousand years2 but as to the  
time from the death of ,moses till the  
reign of ,artaxerxes king of ,persia1   
who reigned after ,xerxes1 the prophets1
 who were after ,moses1 wrote down what 
was done in their times in thirteen     
books4 ,the remaining four books contain
 hymns to ,god1 and precepts for the    
conduct of human life4 ,it is true1 our 
history hath been written since         
,artaxerxes very particularly1 but hath 
not been esteemed of the like authority 
with the former by our forefathers1     
because there hath not been an exact    
succession of prophets since that time2 
and how firmly we have given credit to  
these books of our own nation is evident
 by what we do2 for during so many ages 
as have already passed1 no one has been 
so bold as either to add any thing to   
them1 to take any thing from them1 or to
 make any change in them2 but it is     
become natural to all ,jews immediately1

 and from their very birth1 to esteem   
these books to contain ,divine          
doctrines1 and to persist in them1 and1 
if occasion be willingly to die for     
them4 ,for it is no new thing for our   
captives1 many of them in number1 and   
frequently in time1 to be seen to endure
 racks and deaths of all kinds upon the 
theatres1 that they may not be obliged  
to say one word against our laws and the
 records that contain them2 whereas     
there are none at all among the ,greeks 
who would undergo the least harm on that
 account1 no1 nor in case all the       
writings that are among them were to be 
destroyed2 for they take them to be such
 discourses as are framed agreeably to  
the inclinations of those that write    
them2 and they have justly the same     
opinion of the ancient writers1 since   
they see some of the present generation 
bold enough to write about such affairs1
 wherein they were not present1 nor had 
concern enough to inform themselves     
about them from those that knew them2   

examples of which may be had in this    
late war of ours1 where some persons    
have written histories1 and published   
them1 without having been in the places 
concerned1 or having been near them when
 the actions were done2 but these men   
put a few things together by hearsay1   
and insolently abuse the world1 and call
 these writings by the name of          
,histories4  #i4 ,as for myself1 ,i have
 composed a true history of that whole  
war1 and of all the particulars that    
occurred therein1 as having been        
concerned in all its transactions2 for  
,i acted as general of those among us   
that are named ,galileans1 as long as it
 was possible for us to make any        
opposition4 ,i was then seized on by the
 ,romans1 and became a captive4         
,vespasian also and ,titus had me kept  
under a guard1 and forced me to attend  
them continually4 ,at the first ,i was  
put into bonds1 but was set at liberty  
afterward1 and sent to accompany ,titus 
when he came from ,alexandria to the    

siege of ,jerusalem2 during which time  
there was nothing done which escaped my 
knowledge2 for what happened in the     
,roman camp ,i saw1 and wrote down      
carefully2 and what informations the    
deserters brought out of the city1 ,i   
was the only man that understood them4  
,afterward ,i got leisure at ,rome2 and 
when all my materials were prepared for 
that work1 ,i made use of some persons  
to assist me in learning the ,greek     
tongue1 and by these means ,i composed  
the history of those transactions4 ,and 
,i was so well assured of the truth of  
what ,i related1 that ,i first of all   
appealed to those that had the supreme  
command in that war1 ,vespasian and     
,titus1 as witnesses for me1 for to them
 ,i presented those books first of all1 
and after them to many of the ,romans   
who had been in the war4 ,i also sold   
them to many of our own men who         
understood the ,greek philosophy2 among 
whom were ,julius ,archelaus1 ,herod    
king of ,chalcis1 a person of great     

gravity1 and king ,agrippa himself1 a   
person that deserved the greatest       
admiration4 ,now all these men bore     
their testimony to me1 that ,i had the  
strictest regard to truth2 who yet would
 not have dissembled the matter1 nor    
been silent1 if ,i1 out of ignorance1 or
 out of favor to any side1 either had   
given false colors to actions1 or       
omitted any of them4  #aj4 ,there have  
been indeed some bad men1 who have      
attempted to calumniate my history1 and 
took it to be a kind of scholastic      
performance for the exercise of young   
men4 ,a strange sort of accusation and  
calumny this6 since every one that      
undertakes to deliver the history of    
actions truly ought to know them        
accurately himself in the first place1  
as either having been concerned in them 
himself1 or been informed of them by    
such as knew them4 ,now both these      
methods of knowledge ,i may very        
properly pretend to in the composition  
of both my works2 for1 as ,i said1 ,i   

have translated the ,antiquities out of 
our sacred books2 which ,i easily could 
do1 since ,i was a priest by my birth1  
and have studied that philosophy which  
is contained in those writings3 and for 
the ,history of the ,war1 ,i wrote it as
 having been an actor myself in many of 
its transactions1 an eye-witness in the 
greatest part of the rest1 and was not  
unacquainted with any thing whatsoever  
that was either said or done in it4 ,how
 impudent then must those deserve to be 
esteemed that undertake to contradict me
 about the true state of those affairs6 
who1 although they pretend to have made 
use of both the emperors' own memoirs1  
yet could not they he acquainted with   
our affairs who fought against them4    
#aa4 ,this digression ,i have been      
obliged to make out of necessity1 as    
being desirous to expose the vanity of  
those that profess to write histories2  
and ,i suppose ,i have sufficiently     
declared that this custom of            
transmitting down the histories of      

ancient times hath been better preserved
 by those nations which are called      
,barbarians1 than by the ,greeks        
themselves4 ,i am now willing1 in the   
next place1 to say a few things to those
 that endeavor to prove that our        
constitution is but of late time1 for   
this reason1 as they pretend1 that the  
,greek writers have said nothing about  
us2 after which ,i shall produce        
testimonies for our antiquity out of the
 writings of foreigners2 ,i shall also  
demonstrate that such as cast reproaches
 upon our nation do it very unjustly4   
#ab4 ,as for ourselves1 therefore1 we   
neither inhabit a maritime country1 nor 
do we delight in merchandise1 nor in    
such a mixture with other men as arises 
from it2 but the cities we dwell in are 
remote from the sea1 and having a       
fruitful country for our habitation1 we 
take pains in cultivating that only4    
,our principal care of all is this1 to  
educate our children well2 and we think 
it to be the most necessary business of 

our whole life to observe the laws that 
have been given us1 and to keep those   
rules of piety that have been delivered 
down to us4 ,since1 therefore1 besides  
what we have already taken notice of1 we
 have had a peculiar way of living of   
our own1 there was no occasion offered  
us in ancient ages for intermixing among
 the ,greeks1 as they had for mixing    
among the ,egyptians1 by their          
intercourse of exporting and importing  
their several goods2 as they also mixed 
with the ,phoenicians1 who lived by the 
sea-side1 by means of their love of     
lucre in trade and merchandise4 ,nor did
 our forefathers betake themselves1 as  
did some others1 to robbery2 nor did    
they1 in order to gain more wealth1 fall
 into foreign wars1 although our country
 contained many ten thousands of men of 
courage sufficient for that purpose4    
,for this reason it was that the        
,phoenicians themselves came soon by    
trading and navigation to be known to   
the ,grecians1 and by their means the   

,egyptians became known to the ,grecians
 also1 as did all those people whence   
the ,phoenicians in long voyages over   
the seas carried wares to the ,grecians4
 ,the ,medes also and the ,persians1    
when they were lords of ,asia1 became   
well known to them2 and this was        
especially true of the ,persians1 who   
led their armies as far as the other    
continent ,europe4 ,the ,thracians were 
also known to them by the nearness of   
their countries1 and the ,scythians by  
the means of those that sailed to       
,pontus2 for it was so in general that  
all maritime nations1 and those that    
inhabited near the eastern or western   
seas1 became most known to those that   
were desirous to be writers2 but such as
 had their habitations further from the 
sea were for the most part unknown to   
them which things appear to have        
happened as to ,europe also1 where the  
city of ,rome1 that hath this long time 
been possessed of so much power1 and    
hath performed such great actions in    

war1 is yet never mentioned by          
,herodotus1 nor by ,thucydides1 nor by  
any one of their contemporaries2 and it 
was very late1 and with great           
difficulty1 that the ,romans became     
known to the ,greeks4 ,nay1 those that  
were reckoned the most exact historians 
and ,ephorus for one were so very       
ignorant of the ,gauls and the          
,spaniards1 that he supposed the        
,spaniards1 who inhabit so great a part 
of the western regions of the earth1 to 
be no more than one city4 ,those        
historians also have ventured to        
describe such customs as were made use  
of by them1 which they never had either 
done or said2 and the reason why these  
writers did not know the truth of their 
affairs was this1 that they had not any 
commerce together2 but the reason why   
they wrote such falsities was this1 that
 they had a mind to appear to know      
things which others had not known4 ,how 
can it then be any wonder1 if our nation
 was no more known to many of the       

,greeks1 nor had given them any occasion
 to mention them in their writings1     
while they were so remote from the sea1 
and had a conduct of life so peculiar to
 themselves8  #ac4 ,let us now put the  
case1 therefore1 that we made use of    
this argument concerning the ,grecians1 
in order to prove that their nation was 
not ancient1 because nothing is said of 
them in our records3 would not they     
laugh at us all1 and probably give the  
same reasons for our silence that ,i    
have now alleged1 and would produce     
their neighbor nations as witnesses to  
their own antiquity8 ,now the very same 
thing will ,i endeavor to do2 for ,i    
will bring the ,egyptians and the       
,phoenicians as my principal witnesses1 
because nobody can complain ,of their   
testimony as false1 on account that they
 are known to have borne the greatest   
ill-will towards us2 ,i mean this as to 
the ,egyptians in general all of them1  
while of the ,phoenicians it is known   
the ,tyrians have been most of all in   

the same ill disposition towards us3 yet
 do ,i confess that ,i cannot say the   
same of the ,chaldeans1 since our first 
leaders and ancestors were derived from 
them2 and they do make mention of us    
,jews in their records1 on account of   
the kindred there is between us4 ,now   
when ,i shall have made my assertions   
good1 so far as concerns the others1 ,i 
will demonstrate that some of the ,greek
 writers have made mention of us ,jews  
also1 that those who envy us may not    
have even this pretense for             
contradicting what ,i have said about   
our nation4  #ad4 ,i shall begin with   
the writings of the ,egyptians2 not     
indeed of those that have written in the
 ,egyptian language1 which it is        
impossible for me to do4 ,but ,manetho  
was a man who was by birth an ,egyptian1
 yet had he made himself master of the  
,greek learning1 as is very evident2 for
 he wrote the history of his own country
 in the ,greek tongue1 by translating   
it1 as he saith himself1 out of their   

sacred records2 he also finds great     
fault with ,herodotus for his ignorance 
and false relations of ,egyptian        
affairs4 ,now this ,manetho1 in the     
second book of his ,egyptian ,history1  
writes concerning us in the following   
manner4 ,i will set down his very words1
 as if ,i were to bring the very man    
himself into a court for a witness3     
,there was a king of ours whose name was
 ,timaus4 ,under him it came to pass1 ,i
 know not how1 that ,god was averse to  
us1 and there came1 after a surprising  
manner1 men of ignoble birth out of the 
eastern parts1 and had boldness enough  
to make an expedition into our country1 
and with ease subdued it by force1 yet  
without our hazarding a battle with     
them4 ,so when they had gotten those    
that governed us under their power1 they
 afterwards burnt down our cities1 and  
demolished the temples of the gods1 and 
used all the inhabitants after a most   
barbarous manner2 nay1 some they slew1  
and led their children and their wives  

into slavery4 ,at length they made one  
of themselves king1 whose name was      
,salatis2 he also lived at ,memphis1 and
 made both the upper and lower regions  
pay tribute1 and left garrisons in      
places that were the most proper for    
them4 ,he chiefly aimed to secure the   
eastern parts1 as fore-seeing that the  
,assyrians1 who had then the greatest   
power1 would be desirous of that        
kingdom1 and invade them2 and as he     
found in the ,saite ,nomos1 ,sethroite1 
a city very proper for this purpose1 and
 which lay upon the ,bubastic channel1  
but with regard to a certain theologic  
notion was called ,avaris1 this he      
rebuilt1 and made very strong by the    
walls he built about it1 and by a most  
numerous garrison of two hundred and    
forty thousand armed men whom he put    
into it to keep it4 ,thither ,salatis   
came in summer time1 partly to gather   
his corn1 and pay his soldiers their    
wages1 and partly to exercise his armed 
men1 and thereby to terrify foreigners4 

,when this man had reigned thirteen     
years1 after him reigned another1 whose 
name was ,beon1 for forty-four years2   
after him reigned another1 called       
,apachnas1 thirty-six years and seven   
months2 after him ,apophis reigned      
sixty-one years1 and then ,janins fifty 
years and one month2 after all these    
reigned ,assis forty-nine years and two 
months4 ,and these six were the first   
rulers among them1 who were all along   
making war with the ,egyptians1 and were
 very desirous gradually to destroy them
 to the very roots4 ,this whole nation  
was styled ,hycsos1 that is1            
,shepherd-kings3 for the first syllable 
,hyc1 according to the sacred dialect1  
denotes a king1 as is ,sos a shepherd2  
but this according to the ordinary      
dialect2 and of these is compounded     
,hycsos3 but some say that these people 
were ,arabians4 ,now in another copy it 
is said that this word does not denote  
,kings1 but1 on the contrary1 denotes   
,captive ,shepherds1 and this on account

 of the particle ,hyc2 for that ,hyc1   
with the aspiration1 in the ,egyptian   
tongue again denotes ,shepherds1 and    
that expressly also2 and this to me     
seems the more probable opinion1 and    
more agreeable to ancient history4 ,but 
,manetho goes on3 ,these people1 whom we
 have before named kings1 and called    
shepherds also1 and their descendants1  
as he says1 kept possession of ,egypt   
five hundred and eleven years4 ,after   
these1 he says1 ,that the kings of      
,thebais and the other parts of ,egypt  
made an insurrection against the        
shepherds1 and that there a terrible and
 long war was made between them4 ,he    
says further1 ,that under a king1 whose 
name was ,alisphragmuthosis1 the        
shepherds were subdued by him1 and were 
indeed driven out of other parts of     
,egypt1 but were shut up in a place that
 contained ten thousand acres2 this     
place was named ,avaris4 ,manetho says1 
,that the shepherds built a wall round  
all this place1 which was a large and a 

strong wall1 and this in order to keep  
all their possessions and their prey    
within a place of strength1 but that    
,thummosis the son of ,alisphragmuthosis
 made an attempt to take them by force  
and by siege1 with four hundred and     
eighty thousand men to lie rotund about 
them1 but that1 upon his despair of     
taking the place by that siege1 they    
came to a composition with them1 that   
they should leave ,egypt1 and go1       
without any harm to be done to them1    
whithersoever they would2 and that1     
after this composition was made1 they   
went away with their whole families and 
effects1 not fewer in number than two   
hundred and forty thousand1 and took    
their journey from ,egypt1 through the  
wilderness1 for ,syria2 but that as they
 were in fear of the ,assyrians1 who had
 then the dominion over ,asia1 they     
built a city in that country which is   
now called ,judea1 and that large enough
 to contain this great number of men1   
and called it ,jerusalem4 #i ,now       

,manetho1 in another book of his1 says1 
,that this nation1 thus called          
,shepherds1 were also called ,captives1 
in their sacred books4 ,and this account
 of his is the truth2 for feeding of    
sheep was the employment of our         
forefathers in the most ancient ages #aj
 and as they led such a wandering life  
in feeding sheep1 they were called      
,shepherds4 ,nor was it without reason  
that they were called ,captives by the  
,egyptians1 since one of our ancestors1 
,joseph1 told the king of ,egypt that he
 was a captive1 and afterward sent for  
his brethren into ,egypt by the king's  
permission4 ,but as for these matters1  
,i shall make a more exact inquiry about
 them elsewhere4 #aa  #ae4 ,but now ,i  
shall produce the ,egyptians as         
witnesses to the antiquity of our       
nation4 ,i shall therefore here bring in
 ,manetho again1 and what he writes as  
to the order of the times in this case2 
and thus he speaks3 ,when this people or
 shepherds were gone out of ,egypt to   

,jerusalem1 ,tethtoosis the king of     
,egypt1 who drove them out1 reigned     
afterward twenty-five years and four    
months1 and then died2 after him his son
 ,chebron took the kingdom for thirteen 
years2 after whom came ,amenophis1 for  
twenty years and seven months2 then came
 his sister ,amesses1 for twenty-one    
years and nine months2 after her came   
,mephres1 for twelve years and nine     
months2 after him was ,mephramuthosis1  
for twenty-five years and ten months2   
after him was ,thmosis1 for nine years  
and eight months2 after him came        
,amenophis1 for thirty years and ten    
months2 after him came ,orus1 for       
thirty-six years and five months2 then  
came his daughter ,acenchres1 for twelve
 years and one month2 then was her      
brother ,rathotis1 for nine years2 then 
was ,acencheres1 for twelve years and   
five months2 then came another          
,acencheres1 for twelve years and three 
months2 after him ,armais1 for four     
years and one month2 after him was      

,ramesses1 for one year and four months2
 after him came ,armesses ,miammoun1 for
 sixty-six years and two months2 after  
him ,amenophis1 for nineteen years and  
six months2 after him came ,sethosis1   
and ,ramesses1 who had an army of horse1
 and a naval force4 ,this king appointed
 his brother1 ,armais1 to be his deputy 
over ,egypt4 ,in another copy it stood  
thus3 ,after him came ,sethosis1 and    
,ramesses1 two brethren1 the former of  
whom had a naval force1 and in a hostile
 manner destroyed those that met him    
upon the sea2 but as he slew ,ramesses  
in no long time afterward1 so he        
appointed another of his brethren to be 
his deputy over ,egypt4 ,he also gave   
him all the other authority of a king1  
but with these only injunctions1 that he
 should not wear the diadem1 nor be     
injurious to the queen1 the mother of   
his children1 and that he should not    
meddle with the other concubines of the 
king2 while he made an expedition       
against ,cyprus1 and ,phoenicia1 and    

besides against the ,assyrians and the  
,medes4 ,he then subdued them all1 some 
by his arms1 some without fighting1 and 
some by the terror of his great army2   
and being puffed up by the great        
successes he had had1 he went on still  
the more boldly1 and overthrew the      
cities and countries that lay in the    
eastern parts4 ,but after some          
considerable time1 ,armais1 who was left
 in ,egypt1 did all those very things1  
by way of opposition1 which his brother 
had forbid him to do1 without fear2 for 
he used violence to the queen1 and      
continued to make use of the rest of the
 concubines1 without sparing any of     
them2 nay1 at the persuasion of his     
friends he put on the diadem1 and set up
 to oppose his brother4 ,but then he who
 was set over the priests of ,egypt     
wrote letters to ,sethosis1 and informed
 him of all that had happened1 and how  
his brother had set up to oppose him3 he
 therefore returned back to ,pelusium   
immediately1 and recovered his kingdom  

again4 ,the country also was called from
 his name ,egypt2 for ,manetho says1    
that ,sethosis was himself called       
,egyptus1 as was his brother ,armais    
called ,danaus4  #af4 ,this is          
,manetho's account4 ,and evident it is  
from the number of years by him set down
 belonging to this interval1 if they be 
summed up together1 that these          
shepherds1 as they are here called1 who 
were no other than our forefathers1 were
 delivered out of ,egypt1 and came      
thence1 and inhabited this country1     
three hundred and ninety-three years    
before ,danaus came to ,argos2 although 
the ,argives look upon him #ab as their 
most ancient king ,manetho1 therefore1  
hears this testimony to two points of   
the greatest consequence to our purpose1
 and those from the ,egyptian records   
themselves4 ,in the first place1 that we
 came out of another country into       
,egypt2 and that withal our deliverance 
out of it was so ancient in time as to  
have preceded the siege of ,troy almost 

a thousand years2 but then1 as to those 
things which ,manetbo adds1 not from the
 ,egyptian records1 but1 as he confesses
 himself1 from some stories of an       
uncertain original1 ,i will disprove    
them hereafter particularly1 and shall  
demonstrate that they are no better than
 incredible fables4  #ag4 ,i will now1  
therefore1 pass from these records1 and 
come to those that belong to the        
,phoenicians1 and concern our nation1   
and shall produce attestations to what  
,i have said out of them4 ,there are    
then records among the ,tyrians that    
take in the history of many years1 and  
these are public writings1 and are kept 
with great exactness1 and include       
accounts of the facts done among them1  
and such as concern their transactions  
with other nations also1 those ,i mean  
which were worth remembering4 ,therein  
it was recorded that the temple was     
built by king ,solomon at ,jerusalem1   
one hundred forty-three years and eight 
months before the ,tyrians built        

,carthage2 and in their annals the      
building of our temple is related2 for  
,hirom1 the king of ,tyre1 was the      
friend of ,solomon our king1 and had    
such friendship transmitted down to him 
from his forefathers4 ,he thereupon was 
ambitious to contribute to the splendor 
of this edifice of ,solomon1 and made   
him a present of one hundred and twenty 
talents of gold4 ,he also cut down the  
most excellent timber out of that       
mountain which is called ,libanus1 and  
sent it to him for adorning its roof4   
,solomon also not only made him many    
other presents1 by way of requital1 but 
gave him a country in ,galilee also1    
that was called ,chabulon4 #ac ,but     
there was another passion1 a philosophic
 inclination of theirs1 which cemented  
the friendship that was betwixt them2   
for they sent mutual problems to one    
another1 with a desire to have them     
unriddled by each other2 wherein        
,solomon was superior to ,hirom1 as he  
was wiser than he in other respects3 and

 many of the epistles that passed       
between them are still preserved among  
the ,tyrians4 ,now1 that this may not   
depend on my bare word1 ,i will produce 
for a witness ,dius1 one that is        
believed to have written the ,phoenician
 ,history after an accurate manner4     
,this ,dius1 therefore1 writes thus1 in 
his ,histories of the ,phoenicians3     
,upon the death of ,abibalus1 his son   
,hirom took the kingdom4 ,this king     
raised banks at the eastern parts of the
 city1 and enlarged it2 he also joined  
the temple of ,jupiter ,olympius1 which 
stood before in an island by itself1 to 
the city1 by raising a causeway between 
them1 and adorned that temple with      
donations of gold4 ,he moreover went up 
to ,libanus1 and had timber cut down for
 the building of temples4 ,they say     
further1 that ,solomon1 when he was king
 of ,jerusalem1 sent problems to ,hirom 
to be solved1 and desired he would send 
others back for him to solve1 and that  
he who could not solve the problems     

proposed to him should pay money to him 
that solved them4 ,and when ,hirom had  
agreed to the proposals1 but was not    
able to solve the problems1 he was      
obliged to pay a great deal of money1 as
 a penalty for the same4 ,as also they  
relate1 that one ,o,eabdemon1 a man of  
,tyre1 did solve the problems1 and      
propose others which ,solomon could not 
solve1 upon which he was obliged to     
repay a great deal of money to ,hirom4  
,these things are attested to by ,dius1 
and confirm what we have said upon the  
same subjects before4  #ah4 ,and now ,i 
shall add ,menander the ,ephesian1 as an
 additional witness4 ,this ,menander    
wrote the ,acts that were done both by  
the ,greeks and ,barbarians1 under every
 one of the ,tyrian kings1 and had taken
 much pains to learn their history out  
of their own records4 ,now when he was  
writing about those kings that had      
reigned at ,tyre1 he came to ,hirom1 and
 says thus3 ,upon the death of          
,abibalus1 his son ,hirom took the      

kingdom2 he lived fifty-three years1 and
 reigned thirty-four4 ,he raised a bank 
on that called the ,broad ,place1 and   
dedicated that golden pillar which is in
 ,jupiter's temple2 he also went and cut
 down timber from the mountain called   
,libanus1 and got timber ,of cedar for  
the roofs of the temples4 ,he also      
pulled down the old temples1 and built  
new ones2 besides this1 he consecrated  
the temples of ,hercules and of         
,astarte4 ,he first built ,hercules's   
temple in the month ,peritus1 and that  
of ,astarte when he made his expedition 
against the ,tityans1 who would not pay 
him their tribute2 and when he had      
subdued them to himself1 he returned    
home4 ,under this king there was a      
younger son of ,abdemon1 who mastered   
the problems which ,solomon king of     
,jerusalem had recommended to be solved4
 ,now the time from this king to the    
building of ,carthage is thus           
calculated3 ,upon the death of ,hirom1  
,baleazarus his son took the kingdom2 he

 lived forty-three years1 and reigned   
seven years3 after him succeeded his son
 ,abdastartus2 he lived twenty-nine     
years1 and reigned nine years4 ,now four
 sons of his nurse plotted against him  
and slew him1 the eldest of whom reigned
 twelve years3 after them came          
,astartus1 the son of ,deleastartus2 he 
lived fifty-four years1 and reigned     
twelve years3 after him came his brother
 ,aserymus2 he lived fifty-four years1  
and reigned nine years3 he was slain by 
his brother ,pheles1 who took the       
kingdom and reigned but eight months1   
though he lived fifty years3 he was     
slain by ,ithobalus1 the priest of      
,astarte1 who reigned thirty-two years1 
and lived sixty-eight years3 he was     
succeeded by his son ,badezorus1 who    
lived forty-five years1 and reigned six 
years3 he was succeeded by ,matgenus his
 son2 he lived thirty-two years1 and    
reigned nine years3 ,pygmalion succeeded
 him2 he lived fifty-six years1 and     
reigned forty-seven years4 ,now in the  

seventh year of his reign1 his sister   
fled away from him1 and built the city  
,carthage in ,libya4 ,so the whole time 
from the reign of ,hirom1 till the      
building of ,carthage1 amounts to the   
sum of one hundred fifty-five years and 
eight months4 ,since then the temple was
 built at ,jerusalem in the twelfth year
 of the reign of ,hirom1 there were from
 the building of the temple1 until the  
building of ,carthage1 one hundred      
forty-three years and eight months4     
,wherefore1 what occasion is there for  
alleging any more testimonies out of the
 ,phoenician histories on the behalf of 
our nation1 since what ,i have said is  
so thoroughly confirmed already8 and to 
be sure our ancestors came into this    
country long before the building of the 
temple2 for it was not till we had      
gotten possession of the whole land by  
war that we built our temple4 ,and this 
is the point that ,i have clearly proved
 out of our sacred writings in my       
,antiquities4  #ai4 ,i will now relate  

what hath been written concerning us in 
the ,chaldean histories1 which records  
have a great agreement with our books in
 oilier things also4 ,berosus shall be  
witness to what ,i say3 he was by birth 
a ,chaldean1 well known by the learned1 
on account of his publication of the    
,chaldean books of astronomy and        
philosophy among the ,greeks4 ,this     
,berosus1 therefore1 following the most 
ancient records of that nation1 gives us
 a history of the deluge of waters that 
then happened1 and of the destruction of
 mankind thereby1 and agrees with       
,moses's narration thereof4 ,he also    
gives us an account of that ark wherein 
,noah1 the origin of our race1 was      
preserved1 when it was brought to the   
highest part of the ,armenian mountains2
 after which he gives us a catalogue of 
the posterity of ,noah1 and adds the    
years of their chronology1 and at length
 comes down to ,nabolassar1 who was king
 of ,babylon1 and of the ,chaldeans4    
,and when he was relating the acts of   

this king1 he describes to us how he    
sent his son ,nabuchodonosor against    
,egypt1 and against our land1 with a    
great army1 upon his being informed that
 they had revolted from him2 and how1 by
 that means1 he subdued them all1 and   
set our temple that was at ,jerusalem on
 fire2 nay1 and removed our people      
entirely out of their own country1 and  
transferred them to ,babylon2 when it so
 happened that our city was desolate    
during the interval of seventy years1   
until the days of ,cyrus king of        
,persia4 ,he then says1 ,that this      
,babylonian king conquered ,egypt1 and  
,syria1 and ,phoenicia1 and ,arabia1 and
 exceeded in his exploits all that had  
reigned before him in ,babylon and      
,chaldea4 ,a little after which ,berosus
 subjoins what follows in his ,history  
of ,ancient ,times4 ,i will set down    
,berosus's own accounts1 which are      
these3 ,when ,nabolassar1 father of     
,nabuchodonosor1 heard that the governor
 whom he had set over ,egypt1 and over  

the parts of ,celesyria and ,phoenicia1 
had revolted from him1 he was not able  
to bear it any longer2 but committing   
certain parts of his army to his son    
,nabuchodonosor1 who was then but young1
 he sent him against the rebel3         
,nabuchodonosor joined battle with him1 
and conquered him1 and reduced the      
country under his dominion again4 ,now  
it so fell out that his father          
,nabolassar fell into a distemper at    
this time1 and died in the city of      
,babylon1 after he had reigned          
twenty-nine years4 ,but as he           
understood1 in a little time1 that his  
father ,nabolassar was dead1 he set the 
affairs of ,egypt and the other         
countries in order1 and committed the   
captives he had taken from the ,jews1   
and ,phoenicians1 and ,syrians1 and of  
the nations belonging to ,egypt1 to some
 of his friends1 that they might conduct
 that part of the forces that had on    
heavy armor1 with the rest of his       
baggage1 to ,babylonia2 while he went in

 haste1 having but a few with him1 over 
the desert to ,babylon2 whither1 when he
 was come1 he found the public affairs  
had been managed by the ,chaldeans1 and 
that the principal person among them had
 preserved the kingdom for him4         
,accordingly1 he now entirely obtained  
all his father's dominions4 ,he then    
came1 and ordered the captives to be    
placed as colonies in the most proper   
places of ,babylonia2 but for himself1  
he adorned the temple of ,belus1 and the
 other temples1 after an elegant manner1
 out of the spoils he had taken in this 
war4 ,he also rebuilt the old city1 and 
added another to it on the outside1 and 
so far restored ,babylon1 that none who 
should besiege it afterwards might have 
it in their power to divert the river1  
so as to facilitate an entrance into it2
 and this he did by building three walls
 about the inner city1 and three about  
the outer4 ,some of these walls he built
 of burnt brick and bitumen1 and some of
 brick only4 ,so when he had thus       

fortified the city with walls1 after an 
excellent manner1 and had adorned the   
gates magnificently1 he added a new     
palace to that which his father had     
dwelt in1 and this close by it also1 and
 that more eminent in its height1 and in
 its great splendor4 ,it would perhaps  
require too long a narration1 if any one
 were to describe it4 ,however1 as      
prodigiously large and as magnificent as
 it was1 it was finished in fifteen     
days4 ,now in this palace he erected    
very high walks1 supported by stone     
pillars1 and by planting what was called
 a pensile paradise1 and replenishing it
 with all sorts of trees1 he rendered   
the prospect an exact resemblance of a  
mountainous country4 ,this he did to    
please his queen1 because she had been  
brought up in ,media1 and was fond of a 
mountainous situation4  #bj4 ,this is   
what ,berosus relates concerning the    
forementioned king1 as he relates many  
other things about him also in the third
 book of his ,chaldean ,history2 wherein

 he complains of the ,grecian writers   
for supposing1 without any foundation1  
that ,babylon was built by ,semiramis1  
#ad queen of ,assyria1 and for her false
 pretense to those wonderful edifices   
thereto buildings at ,babylon1 do no way
 contradict those ancient and relating1 
as if they were her own workmanship2 as 
indeed in these affairs the ,chaldean   
,history cannot but be the most         
credible4 ,moreover1 we meet with a     
confirmation of what ,berosus says in   
the archives of the ,phoenicians1       
concerning this king ,nabuchodonosor1   
that he conquered all ,syria and        
,phoenicia2 in which case ,philostratus 
agrees with the others in that history  
which he composed1 where he mentions the
 siege of ,tyre2 as does ,megasthenes   
also1 in the fourth book of his ,indian 
,history1 wherein he pretends to prove  
that the forementioned king of the      
,babylonians was superior to ,hercules  
in strength and the greatness of his    
exploits2 for he says that he conquered 

a great part of ,libya1 and conquered   
,iberia also4 ,now as to what ,i have   
said before about the temple at         
,jerusalem1 that it was fought against  
by the ,babylonians1 and burnt by them1 
but was opened again when ,cyrus had    
taken the kingdom of ,asia1 shall now be
 demonstrated from what ,berosus adds   
further upon that head2 for thus he says
 in his third book3 ,nabuchodonosor1    
after he had begun to build the         
forementioned wall1 fell sick1 and      
departed this life1 when he had reigned 
forty-three years2 whereupon his son    
,evilmerodach obtained the kingdom4 ,he 
governed public affairs after an illegal
 and impure manner1 and had a plot laid 
against him by ,neriglissoor1 his       
sister's husband1 and was slain by him  
when he had reigned but two years4      
,after he was slain1 ,neriglissoor1 the 
person who plotted against him1         
succeeded him in the kingdom1 and       
reigned four years2 his son             
,laborosoarchod obtained the kingdom1   

though he was but a child1 and kept it  
nine mouths2 but by reason of the very  
ill temper and ill practices he         
exhibited to the world1 a plot was laid 
against him also by his friends1 and he 
was tormented to death4 ,after his      
death1 the conspirators got together1   
and by common consent put the crown upon
 the head of ,nabonnedus1 a man of      
,babylon1 and one who belonged to that  
insurrection4 ,in his reign it was that 
the walls of the city of ,babylon were  
curiously built with burnt brick and    
bitumen2 but when he was come to the    
seventeenth year of his reign1 ,cyrus   
came out of ,persia with a great army2  
and having already conquered all the    
rest of ,asia1 he came hastily to       
,babylonia4 ,when ,nabonnedus perceived 
he was coming to attack him1 he met him 
with his forces1 and joining battle with
 him was beaten1 and fled away with a   
few of his troops with him1 and was shut
 up within the city ,borsippus4         
,hereupon ,cyrus took ,babylon1 and gave

 order that the outer walls of the city 
should be demolished1 because the city  
had proved very troublesome to him1 and 
cost him a great deal of pains to take  
it4 ,he then marched away to ,borsippus1
 to besiege ,nabonnedus2 but as         
,nabonnedus did not sustain the siege1  
but delivered himself into his hands1 he
 was at first kindly used by ,cyrus1 who
 gave him ,carmania1 as a place for him 
to inhabit in1 but sent him out of      
,babylonia4 ,accordingly ,nabonnedus    
spent the rest of his time in that      
country1 and there died4  #ba4 ,these   
accounts agree with the true histories  
in our books2 for in them it is written 
that ,nebuchadnezzar1 in the eighteenth 
year of his reign1 laid our temple      
desolate1 and so it lay in that state of
 obscurity for fifty years2 but that in 
the second year of the reign of ,cyrus  
its foundations were laid1 and it was   
finished again in the second year of    
,darius4 ,i will now add the records of 
the ,phoenicians2 for it will not be    

superfluous to give the reader          
demonstrations more than enough on this 
occasion4 ,in them we have this         
enumeration of the times of their       
several kings3 ,nabuchodonosor besieged 
,tyre for thirteen years in the days of 
,ithobal1 their king2 after him reigned 
,baal1 ten years2 after him were judges 
appointed1 who judged the people3       
,ecnibalus1 the son of ,baslacus1 two   
months2 ,chelbes1 the son of ,abdeus1   
ten months2 ,abbar1 the high priest1    
three months2 ,mitgonus and             
,gerastratus1 the sons of ,abdelemus1   
were judges six years2 after whom       
,balatorus reigned one year2 after his  
death they sent and fetched ,merbalus   
from ,babylon1 who reigned four years2  
after his death they sent for his       
brother ,hirom1 who reigned twenty      
years4 ,under his reign ,cyrus became   
king of ,persia4 ,so that the whole     
interval is fifty-four years besides    
three months2 for in the seventh year of
 the reign of ,nebuchadnezzar he began  

to besiege ,tyre1 and ,cyrus the        
,persian took the kingdom in the        
fourteenth year of ,hirom4 ,so that the 
records of the ,chaldeans and ,tyrians  
agree with our writings about this      
temple2 and the testimonies here        
produced are an indisputable and        
undeniable attestation to the antiquity 
of our nation4 ,and ,i suppose that what
 ,i have already said may be sufficient 
to such as are not very contentious4    
#bb4 ,but now it is proper to satisfy   
the inquiry of those that disbelieve the
 records of barbarians1 and think none  
but ,greeks to be worthy of credit1 and 
to produce many of these very ,greeks   
who were acquainted with our nation1 and
 to set before them such as upon        
occasion have made mention of us in     
their own writings4 ,pythagoras1        
therefore1 of ,samos1 lived in very     
ancient times1 and was esteemed a person
 superior to all philosophers in wisdom 
and piety towards ,god4 ,now it is plain
 that he did not only know our          

doctrines1 but was in very great measure
 a follower and admirer of them4 ,there 
is not indeed extant any writing that is
 owned for his #ae but many there are   
who have written his history1 of whom   
,hermippus is the most celebrated1 who  
was a person very inquisitive into all  
sorts of history4 ,now this ,hermippus1 
in his first book concerning            
,pythagoras1 speaks thus3 ,that         
,pythagoras1 upon the death of one of   
his associates1 whose name was          
,calliphon1 a ,crotonlate by birth1     
affirmed that this man's soul conversed 
with him both night and day1 and        
enjoined him not to pass over a place   
where an ass had fallen down2 as also   
not to drink of such waters as caused   
thirst again2 and to abstain from all   
sorts of reproaches4 ,after which he    
adds thus3 ,this he did and said in     
imitation of the doctrines of the ,jews 
and ,thracians1 which he transferred    
into his own philosophy4 ,for it is very
 truly affirmed of this ,pythagoras1    

that he took a great many of the laws of
 the ,jews into his own philosophy4 ,nor
 was our nation unknown of old to       
several of the ,grecian cities1 and     
indeed was thought worthy of imitation  
by some of them4 ,this is declared by   
,theophrastus1 in his writings          
concerning laws2 for he says that the   
laws of the ,tyrians forbid men to swear
 foreign oaths4 ,among which he         
enumerates some others1 and particularly
 that called ,corban3 which oath can    
only be found among the ,jews1 and      
declares what a man may call ,a thing   
devoted to ,god4 ,nor indeed was        
,herodotus of ,halicarnassus            
unacquainted with our nation1 but       
mentions it after a way of his own1 when
 he saith thus1 in the second book      
concerning the ,colchians4 ,his words   
are these3 ,the only people who were    
circumcised in their privy members      
originally1 were the ,colchians1 the    
,egyptians1 and the ,ethiopians2 but the
 ,phoenicians and those ,syrians that   

are in ,palestine confess that they     
learned it from the ,egyptians4 ,and for
 those ,syrians who live about the      
rivers ,thermodon and ,parthenius1 and  
their neighbors the ,macrones1 they say 
they have lately learned it from the    
,colchians2 for these are the only      
people that are circumcised among       
mankind1 and appear to have done the    
very same thing with the ,egyptians4    
,but as for the ,egyptians and          
,ethiopians themselves1 ,i am not able  
to say which of them received it from   
the other4 ,this therefore is what      
,herodotus says1 that the ,syrians that 
are in ,palestine are circumcised4 ,but 
there are no inhabitants of ,palestine  
that are circumcised excepting the      
,jews2 and therefore it must be his     
knowledge of them that enabled him to   
speak so much concerning them4 ,cherilus
 also1 a still ancienter writer1 and a  
poet1 #af makes mention of our nation1  
and informs us that it came to the      
assistance of king ,xerxes1 in his      

expedition against ,greece4 ,for in his 
enumeration of all those nations1 he    
last of all inserts ours among the rest1
 when he says1 ,at the last there passed
 over a people1 wonderful to be beheld2 
for they spake the ,phoenician tongue   
with their mouths2 they dwelt in the    
,solymean mountains1 near a broad lake3 
their heads were sooty2 they had round  
rasures on them2 their heads and faces  
were like nasty horse-heads also1 that  
had been hardened in the smoke4 ,i      
think1 therefore1 that it is evident to 
every body that ,cherilus means us1     
because the ,solymean mountains are in  
our country1 wherein we inhabit1 as is  
also the lake called ,asphaltitis2 for  
this is a broader and larger lake than  
any other that is in ,syria3 and thus   
does ,cherilus make mention of us4 ,but 
now that not only the lowest sort of the
 ,grecians1 but those that are had in   
the greatest admiration for their       
philosophic improvements among them1 did
 not only know the ,jews1 but when they 

lighted upon any of them1 admired them  
also1 it is easy for any one to know4   
,for ,clearchus1 who was the scholar of 
,aristotle1 and inferior to no one of   
the ,peripatetics whomsoever1 in his    
first book concerning sleep1 says that  
,aristotle his master related what      
follows of a ,jew1 and sets down        
,aristotle's own discourse with him4    
,the account is this1 as written down by
 him3 ,now1 for a great part of what    
this ,jew said1 it would be too long to 
recite it2 but what includes in it both 
wonder and philosophy it may not be     
amiss to discourse of4 ,now1 that ,i may
 be plain with thee1 ,hyperochides1 ,i  
shall herein seem to thee to relate     
wonders1 and what will resemble dreams  
themselves4 ,hereupon ,hyperochides     
answered modestly1 and said1 ,for that  
very reason it is that all of us are    
very desirous of hearing what thou art  
going to say4 ,then replied ,aristotle1 
,for this cause it will be the best way 
to imitate that rule of the             

,rhetoricians1 which requires us first  
to give an account of the man1 and of   
what nation he was1 that so we may not  
contradict our master's directions4     
,then said ,hyperochides1 ,go on1 if it 
so pleases thee4 ,this man then1        
answered ,aristotle1 was by birth a     
,jew1 and came from ,celesyria2 these   
,jews are derived from the ,indian      
philosophers2 they are named by the     
,indians ,calami1 and by the ,syrians   
,judaei1 and took their name from the   
country they inhabit1 which is called   
,judea2 but for the name of their city1 
it is a very awkward one1 for they call 
it ,jerusalem4 ,now this man1 when he   
was hospitably treated by a great many1 
came down from the upper country to the 
places near the sea1 and became a       
,grecian1 not only in his language1 but 
in his soul also2 insomuch that when we 
ourselves happened to be in ,asia about 
the same places whither he came1 he     
conversed with us1 and with other       
philosophical persons1 and made a trial 

of our skill in philosophy2 and as he   
had lived with many learned men1 he     
communicated to us more information than
 he received from us4 ,this is          
,aristotle's account of the matter1 as  
given us by ,clearchus2 which ,aristotle
 discoursed also particularly of the    
great and wonderful fortitude of this   
,jew in his diet1 and continent way of  
living1 as those that please may learn  
more about him from ,clearchus's book   
itself2 for ,i avoid setting down any   
more than is sufficient for my purpose4 
,now ,clearchus said this by way of     
digression1 for his main design was of  
another nature4 ,but for ,hecateus of   
,abdera1 who was both a philosopher1 and
 one very useful ill an active life1 he 
was contemporary with king ,alexander in
 his youth1 and afterward was with      
,ptolemy1 the son of ,lagus2 he did not 
write about the ,jewish affairs by the  
by only1 but composed an entire book    
concerning the ,jews themselves2 out of 
which book ,i am willing to run over a  

few things1 of which ,i have been       
treating by way of epitome4 ,and1 in the
 first place1 ,i will demonstrate the   
time when this ,hecateus lived2 for he  
mentions the fight that was between     
,ptolemy and ,demetrius about ,gaza1    
which was fought in the eleventh year   
after the death of ,alexander1 and in   
the hundred and seventeenth olympiad1 as
 ,castor says in his history4 ,for when 
he had set down this olympiad1 he says  
further1 that in this olympiad ,ptolemy1
 the son of ,lagus1 beat in battle      
,demetrius1 the son of ,antigonus1 who  
was named ,poliorcetes1 at ,gaza4 ,now1 
it is agreed by all1 that ,alexander    
died in the hundred and fourteenth      
olympiad2 it is therefore evident that  
our nation flourished in his time1 and  
in the time of ,alexander4 ,again1      
,hecateus says to the same purpose1 as  
follows3 ,ptolemy got possession of the 
places in ,syria after that battle at   
,gaza2 and many1 when they heard of     
,ptolemy's moderation and humanity1 went

 along with him to ,egypt1 and were     
willing to assist him in his affairs2   
one of whom ,hecateus says was ,hezekiah
 #ag the high priest of the ,jews2 a man
 of about sixty-six years of age1 and in
 great dignity among his own people4 ,he
 was a very sensible man1 and could     
speak very movingly1 and was very       
skillful in the management of affairs1  
if any other man ever were so2 although1
 as he says1 all the priests of the     
,jews took tithes of the products of the
 earth1 and managed public affairs1 and 
were in number not above fifteen hundred
 at the most4 ,hecateus mentions this   
,hezekiah a second time1 and says1 that 
as he was possessed of so great a       
dignity1 and was become familiar with   
us1 so did he take certain of those that
 were with him1 and explained to them   
all the circumstances of their people2  
for he had all their habitations and    
polity down in writing4 ,moreover1      
,hecateus declares again1 what regard we
 have for our laws1 and that we resolve 

to endure any thing rather than         
transgress them1 because we think it    
right for us to do so4 ,whereupon he    
adds1 that although they are in a bad   
reputation among their neighbors1 and   
among all those that come to them1 and  
have been often treated injuriously by  
the kings and governors of ,persia1 yet 
can they not be dissuaded from acting   
what they think best2 but that when they
 are stripped on this account1 and have 
torments inflicted upon them1 and they  
are brought to the most terrible kinds  
of death1 they meet them after an       
extraordinary manner1 beyond all other  
people1 and will not renounce the       
religion of their forefathers4 ,hecateus
 also produces demonstrations not a few 
of this their resolute tenaciousness of 
their laws1 when he speaks thus3        
,alexander was once at ,babylon1 and had
 an intention to rebuild the temple of  
,belus that was fallen to decay1 and in 
order thereto1 he commanded all his     
soldiers in general to bring earth      

thither4 ,but the ,jews1 and they only1 
would not comply with that command2 nay1
 they underwent stripes and great losses
 of what they had on this account1 till 
the king forgave them1 and permitted    
them to live in quiet4 ,he adds further1
 that when the ,macedonians came to them
 into that country1 and demolished the  
old temples and the altars1 they        
assisted them in demolishing them all   
#ah but for not assisting them in       
rebuilding them they either underwent   
losses1 or sometimes obtained           
forgiveness4 ,he adds further1 that     
these men deserve to be admired on that 
account4 ,he also speaks of the mighty  
populousness of our nation1 and says    
that the ,persians formerly carried away
 many ten thousands of our people to    
,babylon1 as also that not a few ten    
thousands were removed after            
,alexander's death into ,egypt and      
,phoenicia1 by reason of the sedition   
that was arisen in ,syria4 ,the same    
person takes notice in his history1 how 

large the country is which we inhabit1  
as well as of its excellent character1  
and says1 that the land in which the    
,jews inhabit contains three millions of
 arourae1 #ai and is generally of a most
 excellent and most fruitful soil2 nor  
is ,judea of lesser dimensions4 ,the    
same man describe our city ,jerusalem   
also itself as of a most excellent      
structure1 and very large1 and inhabited
 from the most ancient times4 ,he also  
discourses of the multitude of men in   
it1 and of the construction of our      
temple1 after the following manner3     
,there are many strong places and       
villages says he in the country of      
,judea2 but one strong city there is1   
about fifty furlongs in circumference1  
which is inhabited by a hundred and     
twenty thousand men1 or thereabouts2    
they call it ,jerusalem4 ,there is about
 the middle of the city a wall of stone1
 whose length is five hundred feet1 and 
the breadth a hundred cubits1 with      
double cloisters2 wherein there is a    

square altar1 not made of hewn stone1   
but composed of white stones gathered   
together1 having each side twenty cubits
 long1 and its altitude ten cubits4     
,hard by it is a large edifice1 wherein 
there is an altar and a candlestick1    
both of gold1 and in weight two talents3
 upon these there is a light that is    
never extinguished1 either by night or  
by day4 ,there is no image1 nor any     
thing1 nor any donations therein2       
nothing at all is there planted1 neither
 grove1 nor any thing of that sort4 ,the
 priests abide therein both nights and  
days1 performing certain purifications1 
and drinking not the least drop of wine 
while they are in the temple4 ,moreover1
 he attests that we ,jews went as       
auxiliaries along with king ,alexander1 
and after him with his successors4 ,i   
will add further what he says he learned
 when he was himself with the same army1
 concerning the actions of a man that   
was a ,jew4 ,his words are these3 ,as ,i
 was myself going to the ,red ,sea1     

there followed us a man1 whose name was 
,mosollam2 he was one of the ,jewish    
horsemen who conducted us2 he was a     
person of great courage1 of a strong    
body1 and by all allowed to be the most 
skillful archer that was either among   
the ,greeks or barbarians4 ,now this    
man1 as people were in great numbers    
passing along the road1 and a certain   
augur was observing an augury by a bird1
 and requiring them all to stand still1 
inquired what they staid for4 ,hereupon 
the augur showed him the bird from      
whence he took his augury1 and told him 
that if the bird staid where he was1    
they ought all to stand still2 but that 
if he got up1 and flew onward1 they must
 go forward2 but that if he flew        
backward1 they must retire again4       
,mosollam made no reply1 but drew his   
bow1 and shot at the bird1 and hit him1 
and killed him2 and as the augur and    
some others were very angry1 and wished 
imprecations upon him1 he answered them 
thus3 ,why are you so mad as to take    

this most unhappy bird into your hands8 
for how can this bird give us any true  
information concerning our march1 who   
could not foresee how to save himself8  
for had he been able to foreknow what   
was future1 he would not have come to   
this place1 but would have been afraid  
lest ,mosollam the ,jew should shoot at 
him1 and kill him4 ,but of ,hecateus's  
testimonies we have said enough2 for as 
to such as desire to know more of them1 
they may easily obtain them from his    
book itself4 ,however1 ,i shall not     
think it too much for me to name        
,agatharchides1 as having made mention  
of us ,jews1 though in way of derision  
at our simplicity1 as he supposes it to 
be2 for when he was discoursing of the  
affairs of ,stratonice1 how she came out
 of ,macedonia into ,syria1 and left her
 husband ,demetrius1 while yet ,seleueus
 would not marry her as she expected1   
but during the time of his raising an   
army at ,babylon1 stirred up a sedition 
about ,antioch2 and how1 after that1 the

 king came back1 and upon his taking of 
,antioch1 she fled to ,seleucia1 and had
 it in her power to sail away           
immediately yet did she comply with a   
dream which forbade her so to do1 and so
 was caught and put to death4 ,when     
,agatharehides had premised this story1 
and had jested upon ,stratonice for her 
superstition1 he gives a like example of
 what was reported concerning us1 and   
writes thus3 ,there are a people called 
,jews1 and dwell in a city the strongest
 of all other cities1 which the         
inhabitants call ,jerusalem1 and are    
accustomed to rest on every seventh day 
#bj on which times they make no use of  
their arms1 nor meddle with husbandry1  
nor take care of any affairs of life1   
but spread out their hands in their holy
 places1 and pray till the evening4 ,now
 it came to pass1 that when ,ptolemy1   
the son of ,lagus1 came into this city  
with his army1 that these men1 in       
observing this mad custom of theirs1    
instead of guarding the city1 suffered  

their country to submit itself to a     
bitter lord2 and their law was openly   
proved to have commanded a foolish      
practice4 #ba ,this accident taught all 
other men but the ,jews to disregard    
such dreams as these were1 and not to   
follow the like idle suggestions        
delivered as a law1 when1 in such       
uncertainty of human reasonings1 they   
are at a loss what they should do4 ,now 
this our procedure seems a ridiculous   
thing to ,agatharehides1 but will appear
 to such as consider it without         
prejudice a great thing1 and what       
deserved a great many encomiums2 ,i     
mean1 when certain men constantly prefer
 the observation of their laws1 and     
their religion towards ,god1 before the 
preservation of themselves and their    
country4  #bc4 ,now that some writers   
have omitted to mention our nation1 not 
because they knew nothing of us1 but    
because they envied us1 or for some     
other unjustifiable reasons1 ,i think ,i
 can demonstrate by particular          

instances2 for ,hieronymus1 who wrote   
the ,history of ,alexander's            
,successors1 lived at the same time with
 ,hecateus1 and was a friend of king    
,antigonus1 and president of ,syria4    
,now it is plain that ,hecateus wrote an
 entire book concerning us1 while       
,hieronymus never mentions us in his    
history1 although he was bred up very   
near to the places where we live4 ,thus 
different from one another are the      
inclinations of men2 while the one      
thought we deserved to be carefully     
remembered1 as some ill-disposed passion
 blinded the other's mind so entirely1  
that he could not discern the truth4    
,and now certainly the foregoing records
 of the ,egyptians1 and ,chaldeans1 and 
,phoenicians1 together with so many of  
the ,greek writers1 will be sufficient  
for the demonstration of our antiquity4 
,moreover1 besides those forementioned1 
,theophilus1 and ,theodotus1 and        
,mnaseas1 and ,aristophanes1 and        
,hermogenes1 ,euhemerus also1 and       

,conon1 and ,zopyrion1 and perhaps many 
others1 for ,i have not lighted upon all
 the ,greek books1 have made distinct   
mention of us4 ,it is true1 many of the 
men before mentioned have made great    
mistakes about the true accounts of our 
nation in the earliest times1 because   
they had not perused our sacred books2  
yet have they all of them afforded their
 testimony to our antiquity1 concerning 
which ,i am now treating4 ,however1     
,demetrius ,phalereus1 and the elder    
,philo1 with ,eupolemus1 have not       
greatly missed the truth about our      
affairs2 whose lesser mistakes ought    
therefore to be forgiven them2 for it   
was not in their power to understand our
 writings with the utmost accuracy4     
#bd4 ,one particular there is still     
remaining behind of what ,i at first    
proposed to speak to1 and that is1 to   
demonstrate that those calumnies and    
reproaches which some have thrown upon  
our nation1 are lies1 and to make use of
 those writers' own testimonies against 

themselves2 and that in general this    
self-contradiction hath happened to many
 other authors by reason of their       
ill-will to some people1 ,i conclude1 is
 not unknown to such as have read       
histories with sufficient care2 for some
 of them have endeavored to disgrace the
 nobility of certain nations1 and of    
some of the most glorious cities1 and   
have cast reproaches upon certain forms 
of government4 ,thus hath ,theopompus   
abused the city of ,athens1 ,polycrates 
that of ,lacedemon1 as hath he hat wrote
 the ,tripoliticus for he is not        
,theopompus1 as is supposed by some done
 by the city of ,thebes4 ,timeils also  
hath greatly abused the foregoing people
 and others also2 and this ill-treatment
 they use chiefly when they have a      
contest with men of the greatest        
reputation2 some out of envy and malice1
 and others as supposing that by this   
foolish talking of theirs they may be   
thought worthy of being remembered      
themselves2 and indeed they do by no    

means fail of their hopes1 with regard  
to the foolish part of mankind1 but men 
of sober judgment still condemn them of 
great malignity4  #be4 ,now the         
,egyptians were the first that cast     
reproaches upon us2 in order to please  
which nation1 some others undertook to  
pervert the truth1 while they would     
neither own that our forefathers came   
into ,egypt from another country1 as the
 fact was1 nor give a true account of   
our departure thence4 ,and indeed the   
,egyptians took many occasions to hate  
us and envy us3 in the first place1     
because our ancestors had had the       
dominion over their country8 and when   
they were delivered from them1 and gone 
to their own country again1 they lived  
there in prosperity4 ,in the next place1
 the difference of our religion from    
theirs hath occasioned great enmity     
between us1 while our way of ,divine    
worship did as much exceed that which   
their laws appointed1 as does the nature
 of ,god exceed that of brute beasts2   

for so far they all agree through the   
whole country1 to esteem such animals as
 gods1 although they differ one from    
another in the peculiar worship they    
severally pay to them4 ,and certainly   
men they are entirely of vain and       
foolish minds1 who have thus accustomed 
themselves from the beginning to have   
such bad notions concerning their gods1 
and could not think of imitating that   
decent form of ,divine worship which we 
made use of1 though1 when they saw our  
institutions approved of by many others1
 they could not but envy us on that     
account2 for some of them have proceeded
 to that degree of folly and meanness in
 their conduct1 as not to scruple to    
contradict their own ancient records1   
nay1 to contradict themselves also in   
their writings1 and yet were so blinded 
by their passions as not to discern it4 
#bf4 ,and now ,i will turn my discourse 
to one of their principal writers1 whom 
,i have a little before made use of as a
 witness to our antiquity2 ,i mean      

,manetho4 #bb ,he promised to interpret 
the ,egyptian history out of their      
sacred writings1 and premised this3 that
 our people had come into ,egypt1 many  
ten thousands in number1 and subdued its
 inhabitants2 and when he had further   
confessed that we went out of that      
country afterward1 and settled in that  
country which is now called ,judea1 and 
there built ,jerusalem and its temple4  
,now thus far he followed his ancient   
records2 but after this he permits      
himself1 in order to appear to have     
written what rumors and reports passed  
abroad about the ,jews1 and introduces  
incredible narrations1 as if he would   
have the ,egyptian multitude1 that had  
the leprosy and other distempers1 to    
have been mixed with us1 as he says they
 were1 and that they were condemned to  
fly out of ,egypt together2 for he      
mentions ,amenophis1 a fictitious king's
 name1 though on that account he durst  
not set down the number of years of his 
reign1 which yet he had accurately done 

as to the other kings he mentions2 he   
then ascribes certain fabulous stories  
to this king1 as having in a manner     
forgotten how he had already related    
that the departure of the shepherds for 
,jerusalem had been five hundred and    
eighteen years before2 for ,tethmosis   
was king when they went away4 ,now1 from
 his days1 the reigns of the            
intermediate kings1 according to        
,manethe1 amounted to three hundred and 
ninety-three years1 as he says himself1 
till the two brothers ,sethos and       
,hermeus2 the one of whom1 ,sethos1 was 
called by that other name of ,egyptus1  
and the other1 ,hermeus1 by that of     
,danaus4 ,he also says that ,sethos east
 the other out of ,egypt1 and reigned   
fifty-nine years1 as did his eldest son 
,rhampses reign after him sixty-six     
years4 ,when ,manethe therefore had     
acknowledged that our forefathers were  
gone out of ,egypt so many years ago1 he
 introduces his fictitious king         
,amenophis1 and says thus3 ,this king   

was desirous to become a spectator of   
the gods1 as had ,orus1 one of his      
predecessors in that kingdom1 desired   
the same before him2 he also            
communicated that his desire to his     
namesake ,amenophis1 who was the son of 
,papis1 and one that seemed to partake  
of a divine nature1 both as to wisdom   
and the knowledge of futurities4        
,manethe adds1 how this namesake of his 
told him that he might see the gods1 if 
he would clear the whole country of the 
lepers and of the other impure people2  
that the king was pleased with this     
injunction1 and got together all that   
had any defect in their bodies out of   
,egypt2 and that their number was eighty
 thousand2 whom he sent to those        
quarries which are on the east side of  
the ,nile1 that they might work in them1
 and might be separated from the rest of
 the ,egyptians4 ,he says further1 that 
there were some of the learned priests  
that were polluted with the leprosy2 but
 that still this ,amenophis1 the wise   

man and the prophet1 was afraid that the
 gods would be angry at him and at the  
king1 if there should appear to have    
been violence offered them2 who also    
added this further1 out of his sagacity 
about futurities1 that certain people   
would come to the assistance of these   
polluted wretches1 and would conquer    
,egypt1 and keep it in their possession 
thirteen years2 that1 however1 he durst 
not tell the king of these things1 but  
that he left a writing behind him about 
all those matters1 and then slew        
himself1 which made the king            
disconsolate4 ,after which he writes    
thus verbatim3 ,after those that were   
sent to work in the quarries had        
continued in that miserable state for a 
long while1 the king was desired that he
 would set apart the city ,avaris1 which
 was then left desolate of the          
shepherds1 for their habitation and     
protection2 which desire he granted     
them4 ,now this city1 according to the  
ancient theology1 was ,typho's city4    

,but when these men were gotten into it1
 and found the place fit for a revolt1  
they appointed themselves a ruler out of
 the priests of ,hellopolis1 whose name 
was ,osarsiph1 and they took their oaths
 that they would be obedient to him in  
all things4 ,he then1 in the first      
place1 made this law for them1 ,that    
they should neither worship the         
,egyptian gods1 nor should abstain from 
any one of those sacred animals which   
they have in the highest esteem1 but    
kill and destroy them all2 that they    
should join themselves to nobody but to 
those that were of this confederacy4    
,when he had made such laws as these1   
and many more such as were mainly       
opposite to the customs of the          
,egyptians1 #bc he gave order that they 
should use the multitude of the hands   
they had in building walls about their  
,city1 and make themselves ready for a  
war with king ,amenophis1 while he did  
himself take into his friendship the    
other priests1 and those that were      

polluted with them1 and sent ambassadors
 to those shepherds who had been driven 
out of the land by ,tefilmosis to the   
city called ,jerusalem2 whereby he      
informed them of his own affairs1 and of
 the state of those others that had been
 treated after such an ignominious      
manner1 and desired that they would come
 with one consent to his assistance in  
this war against ,egypt4 ,he also       
promised that he would1 in the first    
place1 bring them back to their ancient 
city and country ,avaris1 and provide a 
plentiful maintenance for their         
multitude2 that he would protect them   
and fight for them as occasion should   
require1 and would easily reduce the    
country under their dominion4 ,these    
shepherds were all very glad of this    
message1 and came away with alacrity all
 together1 being in number two hundred  
thousand men2 and in a little time they 
came to ,avaris4 ,and now ,amenophis the
 king of ,egypt1 upon his being informed
 of their invasion1 was in great        

confusion1 as calling to mind what      
,amenophis1 the son of ,papis1 had      
foretold him2 and1 in the first place1  
he assembled the multitude of the       
,egyptians1 and took counsel with their 
leaders1 and sent for their sacred      
animals to him1 especially for those    
that were principally worshipped in     
their temples1 and gave a particular    
charge to the priests distinctly1 that  
they should hide the images of their    
gods with the utmost care he also sent  
his son ,sethos1 who was also named     
,ramesses1 from his father ,rhampses1   
being but five years old1 to a friend of
 his4 ,he then passed on with the rest  
of the ,egyptians1 being three hundred  
thousand of the most warlike of them1   
against the enemy1 who met them4 ,yet   
did he not join battle with them2 but   
thinking that would be to fight against 
the gods1 he returned back and came to  
,memphis1 where he took ,apis and the   
other sacred animals which he had sent  
for to him1 and presently marched into  

,ethiopia1 together with his whole army 
and multitude of ,egyptians2 for the    
king of ,ethiopia was under an          
obligation to him1 on which account he  
received him1 and took care of all the  
multitude that was with him1 while the  
country supplied all that was necessary 
for the food of the men4 ,he also       
allotted cities and villages for this   
exile1 that was to be from its beginning
 during those fatally determined        
thirteen years4 ,moreover1 he pitched a 
camp for his ,ethiopian army1 as a guard
 to king ,amenophis1 upon the borders of
 ,egypt4 ,and this was the state of     
things in ,ethiopia4 ,but for the people
 of ,jerusalem1 when they came down     
together with the polluted ,egyptians1  
they treated the men in such a barbarous
 manner1 that those who saw how they    
subdued the forementioned country1 and  
the horrid wickedness they were guilty  
of1 thought it a most dreadful thing2   
for they did not only set the cities and
 villages on fire but were not satisfied

 till they had been guilty of sacrilege1
 and destroyed the images of the gods1  
and used them in roasting those sacred  
animals that used to be worshipped1 and 
forced the priests and prophets to be   
the executioners and murderers of those 
animals1 and then ejected them naked out
 of the country4 ,it was also reported  
that the priest1 who ordained their     
polity and their laws1 was by birth of  
,hellopolls1 and his name ,osarsiph1    
from ,osyris1 who was the god of        
,hellopolls2 but that when he was gone  
over to these people1 his name was      
changed1 and he was called ,moses4  #bg4
 ,this is what the ,egyptians relate    
about the ,jews1 with much more1 which  
,i omit for the sake of brevity4 ,but   
still ,manetho goes on1 that after this1
 ,amenophis returned back from ,ethiopia
 with a great army1 as did his son      
,ahampses with another army also1 and   
that both of them joined battle with the
 shepherds and the polluted people1 and 
beat them1 and slew a great many of     

them1 and pursued them to the bounds of 
,syria4 ,these and the like accounts are
 written by ,manetho4 ,but ,i will      
demonstrate that he trifles1 and tells  
arrant lies1 after ,i have made a       
distinction which will relate to what ,i
 am going to say about him2 for this    
,manetho had granted and confessed that 
this nation was not originally          
,egyptian1 but that they had come from  
another country1 and subdued ,egypt1 and
 then went away again out of it4 ,but   
that those ,egyptians who were thus     
diseased in their bodies were not       
mingled with us afterward1 and that     
,moses who brought the people out was   
not one of that company1 but lived many 
generations earlier1 ,i shall endeavor  
to demonstrate from ,manetho's own      
accounts themselves4  #bh4 ,now1 for the
 first occasion of this fiction1        
,manetho supposes what is no better than
 a ridiculous thing2 for he says that1  
,king ,amenophis desired to see the     
gods4 ,what gods1 ,i pray1 did he desire

 to see8 ,if he meant the gods whom     
their laws ordained to be worshipped1   
the ox1 the goat1 the crocodile1 and the
 baboon1 he saw them already2 but for   
the heavenly gods1 how could he see     
them1 and what should occasion this his 
desire8 ,to be sure8 it was because     
another king before him had already seen
 them4 ,he had then been informed what  
sort of gods they were1 and after what  
manner they had been seen1 insomuch that
 he did not stand in need of any new    
artifice for obtaining this sight4      
,however1 the prophet by whose means the
 king thought to compass his design was 
a wise man4 ,if so1 how came he not to  
know that such his desire was impossible
 to be accomplished8 for the event did  
not succeed4 ,and what pretense could   
there be to suppose that the gods would 
not be seen by reason of the people's   
maims in their bodies1 or leprosy8 for  
the gods are not angry at the           
imperfection of bodies1 but at wicked   
practices2 and as to eighty thousand    

lepers1 and those in an ill state also1 
how is it possible to have them gathered
 together in one day8 nay1 how came the 
king not to comply with the prophet8 for
 his injunction was1 that those that    
were maimed should be expelled out of   
,egypt1 while the king only sent them to
 work in the quarries1 as if he were    
rather in want of laborers1 than        
intended to purge his country4 ,he says 
further1 that1 this prophet slew        
himself1 as foreseeing the anger of the 
gods1 and those events which were to    
come upon ,egypt afterward2 and that he 
left this prediction for the king in    
writing4 ,besides1 how came it to pass  
that this prophet did not foreknow his  
own death at the first8 nay1 how came he
 not to contradict the king in his      
desire to see the gods immediately8 how 
came that unreasonable dread upon him of
 judgments that were not to happen in   
his lifetime8 or what worse thing could 
he suffer1 out of the fear of which he  
made haste to kill himself8 ,but now let

 us see the silliest thing of all3--,the
 king1 although he had been informed of 
these things1 and terrified with the    
fear of what was to come1 yet did not he
 even then eject these maimed people out
 of his country1 when it had been       
foretold him that he was to clear ,egypt
 of them2 but1 as ,manetho says1 he     
then1 upon their request1 gave them that
 city to inhabit1 which had formerly    
belonged to the shepherds1 and was      
called ,avaris2 whither when they were  
gone in crowds1 he says1 they chose one 
that had formerly been priest of        
,hellopolls2 and that this priest first 
ordained that they should neither       
worship the gods1 nor abstain from those
 animals that were worshipped by the    
,egyptians1 but should kill and eat them
 all1 and should associate with nobody  
but those that had conspired with them2 
and that he bound the multitude by oaths
 to be sure to continue in those laws2  
and that when he had built a wall about 
,avaris1 he made war against the king4  

,manetho adds also1 that this priest    
sent to ,jerusalem to invite that people
 to come to his assistance1 and promised
 to give them ,avaris2 for that it had  
belonged to the forefathers of those    
that were coming from ,jerusalem1 and   
that when they were come1 they made a   
war immediately against the king1 and   
got possession of all ,egypt4 ,he says  
also that the ,egyptians came with an   
army of two hundred thousand men1 and   
that ,amenophis1 the king of ,egypt1 not
 thinking that he ought to fight against
 the gods1 ran away presently into      
,ethiopia1 and committed ,apis and      
certain other of their sacred animals to
 the priests1 and commanded them to take
 care of preserving them4 ,he says      
further1 that1 the people of ,jerusalem 
came accordingly upon the ,egyptians1   
and overthrew their cities1 and burnt   
their temples1 and slew their horsemen1 
and1 in short1 abstained from no sort of
 wickedness nor barbarity2 and for that 
priest who settled their polity and     

their laws1 he says1 he was by birth of 
,hellopolis1 and his name was ,osarsiph1
 from ,osyris the god of ,hellopolis1   
but that he changed his name1 and called
 himself ,moses4 ,he then says that on  
the thirteenth year afterward1          
,amenophis1 according to the fatal time 
of the duration of his misfortunes1 came
 upon them out of ,ethiopia with a great
 army1 and joining battle with the      
shepherds and with the polluted people1 
overcame them in battle1 and slew a     
great many of them1 and pursued them as 
far as the bounds of ,syria4  #bi4 ,now 
,manetho does not reflect upon the      
improbability of his lie2 for the       
leprous people1 and the multitude that  
was with them1 although they might      
formerly have been angry at the king1   
and at those that had treated them so   
coarsely1 and this according to the     
prediction of the prophet2 yet          
certainly1 when they were come out of   
the mines1 and had received of the king 
a city1 and a country1 they would have  

grown milder towards him4 ,however1 had 
they ever so much hated him in          
particular1 they might have laid a      
private plot against himself1 but would 
hardly have made war against all the    
,egyptians2 ,i mean this on the account 
of the great kindred they who were so   
numerous must have had among them4 ,nay 
still1 if they had resolved to fight    
with the men1 they would not have had   
impudence enough to fight with their    
gods2 nor would they have ordained laws 
quite contrary to those of their own    
country1 and to those in which they had 
been bred up themselves4 ,yet are we    
beholden to ,manethe1 that he does not  
lay the principal charge of this horrid 
transgression upon those that came from 
,jerusalem1 but says that the ,egyptians
 themselves were the most guilty1 and   
that they were their priests that       
contrived these things1 and made the    
multitude take their oaths for doing so4
 ,but still how absurd is it to suppose 
that none of these people's own         

relations or friends should be prevailed
 with to revolt1 nor to undergo the     
hazards of war with them1 while these   
polluted people were forced to send to  
,jerusalem1 and bring their auxiliaries 
from thence6 ,what friendship1 ,i pray1 
or what relation was there formerly     
between them that required this         
assistance8 ,on the contrary1 these     
people were enemies1 and greatly        
differed from them in their customs4 ,he
 says1 indeed1 that they complied       
immediately1 upon their praising them   
that they should conquer ,egypt2 as if  
they did not themselves very well know  
that country out of which they had been 
driven by force4 ,now had these men been
 in want1 or lived miserably1 perhaps   
they might have undertaken so hazardous 
an enterprise2 but as they dwelt in a   
happy city1 and had a large country1 and
 one better than ,egypt itself1 how came
 it about that1 for the sake of those   
that had of old been their enemies1 of  
those that were maimed in their bodies1 

and of those whom none of their own     
relations would endure1 they should run 
such hazards in assisting them8 ,for    
they could not foresee that the king    
would run away from them3 on the        
contrary1 he saith himself that         
,amenophis's son had three hundred      
thousand men with him1 and met them at  
,pelusium4 ,now1 to be sure1 those that 
came could not be ignorant of this2 but 
for the king's repentance and flight1   
how could they possibly guess at it8 ,he
 then says1 that those who came from    
,jerusalem1 and made this invasion1 got 
the granaries of ,egypt into their      
possession1 and perpetrated many of the 
most horrid actions there4 ,and thence  
he reproaches them1 as though he had not
 himself introduced them as enemies1 or 
as though he might accuse such as were  
invited from another place for so doing1
 when the natural ,egyptians themselves 
had done the same things before their   
coming1 and had taken oaths so to do4   
,however1 ,amenophis1 some time         

afterward1 came upon them1 and conquered
 them in battle1 and slew his enemies1  
and drove them before him as far as     
,syria4 ,as if ,egypt were so easily    
taken by people that came from any place
 whatsoever1 and as if those that had   
conquered it by war1 when they were     
informed that ,amenophis was alive1 did 
neither fortify the avenues out of      
,ethiopia into it1 although they had    
great advantages for doing it1 nor did  
get their other forces ready for their  
defense6 but that he followed them over 
the sandy desert1 and slew them as far  
as ,syria2 while yet it is rot an easy  
thing for an army to pass over that     
country1 even without fighting4  #cj4   
,our nation1 therefore1 according to    
,manetho1 was not derived from ,egypt1  
nor were any of the ,egyptians mingled  
with us4 ,for it is to be supposed that 
many of the leprous and distempered     
people were dead in the mines1 since    
they had been there a long time1 and in 
so ill a condition2 many others must be 

dead in the battles that happened       
afterward1 and more still in the last   
battle and flight after it4  #ca4 ,it   
now remains that ,i debate with ,manetho
 about ,moses4 ,now the ,egyptians      
acknowledge him to have been a wonderful
 and a divine person2 nay1 they would   
willingly lay claim to him themselves1  
though after a most abusive and         
incredible manner1 and pretend that he  
was of ,heliopolis1 and one of the      
priests of that place1 and was ejected  
out of it among the rest1 on account of 
his leprosy2 although it had been       
demonstrated out of their records that  
he lived five hundred and eighteen years
 earlier1 and then brought our          
forefathers out of ,egypt into the      
country that is now inhabited by us4    
,but now that he was not subject in his 
body to any such calamity1 is evident   
from what he himself tells us2 for he   
forbade those that had the leprosy      
either to continue in a city1 or to     
inhabit in a village1 but commanded that

 they should go about by themselves with
 their clothes rent2 and declares that  
such as either touch them1 or live under
 the same roof with them1 should be     
esteemed unclean2 nay1 more1 if any one 
of their disease be healed1 and he      
recover his natural constitution again1 
he appointed them certain purifications1
 and washings with spring water1 and the
 shaving off all their hair1 and enjoins
 that they shall offer many sacrifices1 
and those of several kinds1 and then at 
length to be admitted into the holy     
city2 although it were to be expected   
that1 on the contrary1 if he had been   
under the same calamity1 he should have 
taken care of such persons beforehand1  
and have had them treated after a kinder
 manner1 as affected with a concern for 
those that were to be under the like    
misfortunes with himself4 ,nor was it   
only those leprous people for whose sake
 he made these laws1 but also for such  
as should be maimed in the smallest part
 of their body1 who yet are not         

permitted by him to officiate as        
priests2 nay1 although any priest1      
already initiated1 should have such a   
calamity fall upon him afterward1 he    
ordered him to be deprived of his honor 
of officiating4 ,how can it then be     
supposed that ,moses should ordain such 
laws against himself1 to his own        
reproach and damage who so ordained     
them8 ,nor indeed is that other notion  
of ,manetho at all probable1 wherein he 
relates the change of his name1 and says
 that he was formerly called ,osarsiph2 
and this a name no way agreeable to the 
other1 while his true name was ,mosses1 
and signifies a person who is preserved 
out of the water1 for the ,egyptians    
call water ,moil4 ,i think1 therefore1  
,i have made it sufficiently evident    
that ,manetho1 while he followed his    
ancient records1 did not much mistake   
the truth of the history2 but that when 
he had recourse to fabulous stories1    
without any certain author1 he either   
forged them himself1 without any        

probability1 or else gave credit to some
 men who spake so out of their ill-will 
to us4  #cb4 ,and now ,i have done with 
,manetho1 ,i will inquire into what     
,cheremon says4 ,for he also1 when he   
pretended to write the ,egyptian        
history1 sets down the same name for    
this king that ,manetho did1 ,amenophis1
 as also of his son ,ramesses1 and then 
goes on thus3 ,the goddess ,isis        
appeared to ,amenophis in his sleep1 and
 blamed him that her temple had been    
demolished in the war4 ,but that        
,phritiphantes1 the sacred scribe1 said 
to him1 that in case he would purge     
,egypt of the men that had pollutions   
upon them1 he should be no longer       
troubled with such frightful            
apparitions4 ,that ,amenophis           
accordingly chose out two hundred and   
fifty thousand of those that were thus  
diseased1 and cast them out of the      
country3 that ,moses and ,joseph were   
scribes1 and ,joseph was a sacred       
scribe2 that their names were ,egyptian 

originally2 that of ,moses had been     
,tisithen1 and that of ,joseph1         
,peteseph3 that these two came to       
,pelusium1 and lighted upon three       
hundred and eighty thousand that had    
been left there by ,amenophis1 he not   
being willing to carry them into ,egypt2
 that these scribes made a league of    
friendship with them1 and made with them
 an expedition against ,egypt3 that     
,amenophis could not sustain their      
attacks1 but fled into ,ethiopia1 and   
left his wife with child behind him1 who
 lay concealed in certain caverns1 and  
there brought forth a son1 whose name   
was ,messene1 and who1 when he was grown
 up to man's estate1 pursued the ,jews  
into ,syria1 being about two hundred    
thousand1 and then received his father  
,amenophis out of ,ethiopia4  #cc4 ,this
 is the account ,cheremon gives us4 ,now
 ,i take it for granted that what ,i    
have said already hath plainly proved   
the falsity of both these narrations2   
for had there been any real truth at the

 bottom1 it was impossible they should  
so greatly disagree about the           
particulars4 ,but for those that invent 
lies1 what they write will easily give  
us very different accounts1 while they  
forge what they please out of their own 
heads4 ,now ,manetho says that the      
king's desire of seeing the gods was the
 origin of the ejection of the polluted 
people2 but ,cheremon feigns that it was
 a dream of his own1 sent upon him by   
,isis1 that was the occasion of it4     
,manetho says that the person who       
foreshowed this purgation of ,egypt to  
the king was ,amenophis2 but this man   
says it was ,phritiphantes4 ,as to the  
numbers of the multitude that were      
expelled1 they agree exceedingly well   
#bd the former reckoning them eighty    
thousand1 and the latter about two      
hundred and fifty thousand6 ,now1 for   
,manetho1 he describes those polluted   
persons as sent first to work in the    
quarries1 and says that the city ,avaris
 was given them for their habitation4   

,as also he relates that it was not till
 after they had made war with the rest  
of the ,egyptians1 that they invited the
 people of ,jerusalem to come to their  
assistance2 while ,cheremon says only   
that they were gone out of ,egypt1 and  
lighted upon three hundred and eighty   
thousand men about ,pelusium1 who had   
been left there by ,amenophis1 and so   
they invaded ,egypt with them again2    
that thereupon ,amenophis fled into     
,ethiopia4 ,but then this ,cheremon     
commits a most ridiculous blunder in not
 informing us who this army of so many  
ten thousands were1 or whence they came2
 whether they were native ,egyptians1 or
 whether they came from a foreign       
country4 ,nor indeed has this man1 who  
forged a dream from ,isis about the     
leprous people1 assigned the reason why 
the king would not bring them into      
,egypt4 ,moreover1 ,cheremon sets down  
,joseph as driven away at the same time 
with ,moses1 who yet died four          
generations #be before ,moses1 which    

four generations make almost one hundred
 and seventy years4 ,besides all this1  
,ramesses1 the son of ,amenophis1 by    
,manetho's account1 was a young man1 and
 assisted his father in his war1 and    
left the country at the same time with  
him1 and fled into ,ethiopia4 ,but      
,cheremon makes him to have been born in
 a certain cave1 after his father was   
dead1 and that he then overcame the     
,jews in battle1 and drove them into    
,syria1 being in number about two       
hundred thousand4 ,o the levity of the  
man6 for he had neither told us who     
these three hundred and eighty thousand 
were1 nor how the four hundred and      
thirty thousand perished2 whether they  
fell in war1 or went over to ,ramesses4 
,and1 what is the strangest of all1 it  
is not possible to learn out of him who 
they were whom he calls ,jews1 or to    
which of these two parties he applies   
that denomination1 whether to the two   
hundred and fifty thousand leprous      
people1 or to the three hundred and     

eighty thousand that were about         
,pelusium4 ,but perhaps it will be      
looked upon as a silly thing in me to   
make any larger confutation of such     
writers as sufficiently confute         
themselves2 for had they been only      
confuted by other men1 it had been more 
tolerable4  #cd4 ,i shall now add to    
these accounts about ,manethoand        
,cheremon somewhat about ,lysimachus1   
who hath taken the same topic of        
falsehood with those forementioned1 but 
hath gone far beyond them in the        
incredible nature of his forgeries2     
which plainly demonstrates that he      
contrived them out of his virulent      
hatred of our nation4 ,his words are    
these3 ,the people of the ,jews being   
leprous and scabby1 and subject to      
certain other kinds of distempers1 in   
the days of ,bocchoris1 king of ,egypt1 
they fled to the temples1 and got their 
food there by begging3 and as the       
numbers were very great that were fallen
 under these diseases1 there arose a    

scarcity in ,egypt4 ,hereupon           
,bocehoris1 the king of ,egypt1 sent    
some to consult the oracle of ,jupiter  
,hammon about his scarcity4 ,the god's  
answer was this1 that he must purge his 
temples of impure and impious men1 by   
expelling them out of those temples into
 desert places2 but as to the scabby and
 leprous people1 he must drown them1 and
 purge his temples1 the sun having an   
indignation at these men being suffered 
to live2 and by this means the land will
 bring forth its fruits4 ,upon          
,bocchoris's having received these      
oracles1 he called for their priests1   
and the attendants upon their altars1   
and ordered them to make a collection of
 the impure people1 and to deliver them 
to the soldiers1 to carry them away into
 the desert2 but to take the leprous    
people1 and wrap them in sheets of lead1
 and let them down into the sea4        
,hereupon the scabby and leprous people 
were drowned1 and the rest were gotten  
together1 and sent into desert places1  

in order to be exposed to destruction4  
,in this case they assembled themselves 
together1 and took counsel what they    
should do1 and determined that1 as the  
night was coming on1 they should kindle 
fires and lamps1 and keep watch2 that   
they also should fast the next night1   
and propitiate the gods1 in order to    
obtain deliverance from them4 ,that on  
the next day there was one ,moses1 who  
advised them that they should venture   
upon a journey1 and go along one road   
till they should come to places fit for 
habitation3 that he charged them to have
 no kind regards for any man1 nor give  
good counsel to any1 but always to      
advise them for the worst2 and to       
overturn all those temples and altars of
 the gods they should meet with3 that   
the rest commended what he had said with
 one consent1 and did what they had     
resolved on1 and so traveled over the   
desert4 ,but that the difficulties of   
the journey being over1 they came to a  
country inhabited1 and that there they  

abused the men1 and plundered and burnt 
their temples2 and then came into that  
land which is called ,judea1 and there  
they built a city1 and dwelt therein1   
and that their city was named           
,hierosyla1 from this their robbing of  
the temples2 but that still1 upon the   
success they had afterwards1 they in    
time changed its denomination1 that it  
might not be a reproach to them1 and    
called the city ,hierosolyma1 and       
themselves ,hierosolymites4  #ce4 ,now  
this man did not discover and mention   
the same king with the others1 but      
feigned a newer name1 and passing by the
 dream and the ,egyptian prophet1 he    
brings him to ,jupiter ,hammon1 in order
 to gain oracles about the scabby and   
leprous people2 for he says that the    
multitude of ,jews were gathered        
together at the temples4 ,now it is     
uncertain whether he ascribes this name 
to these lepers1 or to those that were  
subject to such diseases among the ,jews
 only2 for he describes them as a people

 of the ,jews4 ,what people does he     
mean8 foreigners1 or those of that      
country8 ,why then' dost thou call them 
,jews1 if they were ,egyptians8 ,but if 
they were foreigners1 why dost thou not 
tell us whence they came8 ,and how could
 it be that1 after the king had drowned 
many of them in the sea1 and ejected the
 rest into desert places1 there should  
be still so great a multitude remaining8
 ,or after what manner did they pass    
over the desert1 and get the land which 
we now dwell in1 and build our city1 and
 that temple which hath been so famous  
among all mankind8 ,and besides1 he     
ought to have spoken more about our     
legislator than by giving us his bare   
name2 and to have informed us of what   
nation he was1 and what parents he was  
derived from2 and to have assigned the  
reasons why he undertook to make such   
laws concerning the gods1 and concerning
 matters of injustice with regard to men
 during that journey4 ,for in case the  
people were by birth ,egyptians1 they   

would not on the sudden have so easily  
changed the customs of their country2   
and in case they had been foreigners1   
they had for certain some laws or other 
which had been kept by them from long   
custom4 ,it is true1 that with regard to
 those who had ejected them1 they might 
have sworn never to bear good-will to   
them1 and might have had a plausible    
reason for so doing4 ,but if these men  
resolved to wage an implacable war      
against all men1 in case they had acted 
as wickedly as he relates of them1 and  
this while they wanted the assistance of
 all men1 this demonstrates a kind of   
mad conduct indeed2 but not of the men  
themselves1 but very greatly so of him  
that tells such lies about them4 ,he    
hath also impudence enough to say that a
 name1 implying ,robbers of the temples1
 #bf was given to their city1 and that  
this name was afterward changed4 ,the   
reason of which is plain1 that the      
former name brought reproach and hatred 
upon them in the times of their         

posterity1 while1 it seems1 those that  
built the city thought they did honor to
 the city by giving it such a name4 ,so 
we see that this fine fellow had such an
 unbounded inclination to reproach us1  
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 ,greeks4 ,but why should a man
 say any more to a person who tells such
 impudent lies8 ,however1 since this    
book is arisen to a competent length1 ,i
 will make another beginning1 and       
endeavor to add what still remains to   
perfect my design in the following book4
     ,,apion ,,book #a ,,footnotes  #a  
,this first book has a wrong title4 ,it 
is not written against ,apion1 as is the
 first part of the second book1 but     
against those ,greeks in general who    
would not believe ,josephus's former    
accounts of the very ancient state of   
the ,jewish nation1 in his #bj books of 
,antiquities2 and particularly against  
,agatharelddes1 ,manetho1 ,cheremon1 and

 ,lysimachus4 it is one of the most     
learned1 excellent1 and useful books of 
all antiquity2 and upon ,jerome's       
perusal of this and the following book1 
he declares that it seems to him a      
miraculous thing how one that was a     
,hebrew1 who had been from his infancy  
instructed in sacred learning1 should be
 able to pronounce such a number of     
testimonies out of profane authors1 as  
if he had read over all the ,grecian    
libraries1 ,epist4 #h4 ad ,magnum2 and  
the learned ,jew1                       
,manasseh-,ben-,israel1 esteemed these  
two books so excellent1 as to translate 
them into the ,hebrew2 this we learn    
from his own catalogue of his works1    
which ,i have seen4 ,as to the time and 
place when and where these two books    
were written1 the learned have not      
hitherto been able to determine them any
 further than that they were written    
some time after his ,antiquities1 or    
some time after ,a4,d4 #ic2 which indeed
 is too obvious at their entrance to be 

overlooked by even a careless peruser1  
they being directly intended against    
those that would not believe what he had
 advanced in those books con-the great  
of the ,jewish nation ,as to the place1 
they all imagine that these two books   
were written where the former were1 ,i  
mean at ,rome2 and ,i confess that ,i   
myself believed both those              
determinations1 till ,i came to finish  
my notes upon these books1 when ,i met  
with plain indications that they were   
written not at ,rome1 but in ,judea1 and
 this after the third of ,trajan1 or    
,a4,d4 #ajj4  #b ,take ,dr4 ,hudson's   
note here1 which as it justly           
contradicts the common opinion that     
,josephus either died under ,domitian1  
or at least wrote nothing later than his
 days1 so does it perfectly agree to my 
own determination1 from ,justus of      
,tiberias1 that he wrote or finished his
 own ,life after the third of ,trajan1  
or ,a4,d4 #ajj4 ,to which ,noldius also 
agrees1 de ,herod1 ,no4 #chc            

,epaphroditus4 ,since ,florius          
,josephus1 says ,dr4 ,hudson1 wrote or  
finished his books of ,antiquities on   
the thirteenth of ,domitian1 ,a4,d4 #ic1
 and after that wrote the ,memoirs of   
his own ,life1 as an appendix to the    
books of ,antiquities1 and at last his  
two books against ,apion1 and yet       
dedicated all those writings to         
,epaphroditus2 he can hardly be that    
,epaphroditus who was formerly secretary
 to ,nero1 and was slain on the         
fourteenth or fifteenth of ,domitian1   
after he had been for a good while in   
banishment2 but another ,epaphroditas1 a
 freed-man1 and procurator of ,trajan1  
as says ,grotius on ,luke #a3c4  #c ,the
 preservation of ,homer's ,poems by     
memory1 and not by his own writing them 
down1 and that thence they were styled  
,rhapsodies1 as sung by him1 like       
ballads1 by parts1 and not composed and 
connected together in complete works1   
are opinions well known from the ancient
 commentators2 though such supposal     

seems to myself1 as well as to          
,fabricius ,biblioth4 ,grace4 ,i4 p4    
#bfi1 and to others1 highly improbable4 
,nor does ,josephus say there were no   
ancienter writings among the ,greeks    
than ,homer's ,poems1 but that they did 
not fully own any ancienter writings    
pretending to such antiquity1 which is  
trite4  #d ,it well deserves to be      
considered1 that ,josephus here says how
 all the following ,greek historians    
looked on ,herodotus as a fabulous      
author2 and presently1 sect4 #ad1 how   
,manetho1 the most authentic writer of  
the ,egyptian history1 greatly complains
 of his mistakes in the ,egyptian       
affairs2 as also that ,strabo1 ,b4 ,,xi4
 p4 #ejg1 the most accurate geographer  
and historian1 esteemed him such2 that  
,xenophon1 the much more accurate       
historian in the affairs of ,cyrus1     
implies that ,herodotus's account of    
that great man is almost entirely       
romantic4 ,see the notes on ,antiq4 ,b4 
,,xi4 ch4 #b4 sect4 #a1 and             

,hutchinson's ,prolegomena to his       
edition of ,xenophon's1 that we have    
already seen in the note on ,antiq4 ,b4 
,,viii4 ch4 #aj4 sect4 #c1 how very     
little ,herodotus knew about the ,jewish
 affairs and country1 and that he       
greatly affected what we call the       
marvelous1 as ,monsieur ,rollin has     
lately and justly determined2 whence we 
are not always to depend on the         
authority of ,herodotus1 where it is    
unsupported by other evidence1 but ought
 to compare the other evidence with his1
 and if it preponderate1 to prefer it   
before his4 ,i do not mean by this that 
,herodotus willfully related what he    
believed to be false1 as ,cteeias seems 
to have done1 but that he often wanted  
evidence1 and sometimes preferred what  
was marvelous to what was best attested 
as really true4  #e;,about the days of  
,cyrus and ,daniel4  #f ,it is here well
 worth our observation1 what the reasons
 are that such ancient authors as       
,herodotus1 ,josephus1 and others have  

been read to so little purpose by many  
learned critics2 viz4 that their main   
aim has not been chronology or history1 
but philology1 to know words1 and not   
things1 they not much entering          
oftentimes into the real contents of    
their authors1 and judging which were   
the most accurate discoverers of truth1 
and most to be depended on in the       
several histories1 but rather inquiring 
who wrote the finest style1 and had the 
greatest elegance in their expressions2 
which are things of small consequence in
 comparison of the other4 ,thus you will
 sometimes find great debates among the 
learned1 whether ,herodotus or          
,thucydides were the finest historian in
 the ,ionic and ,attic ways of writing2 
which signify little as to the real     
value of each of their histories2 while 
it would be of much more moment to let  
the reader know1 that as the consequence
 of ,herodotus's history1 which begins  
so much earlier1 and reaches so much    
wider1 than that of ,thucydides1 is     

therefore vastly greater2 so is the most
 part of ,thucydides1 which belongs to  
his own times1 and fell under his own   
observation1 much the most certain4  #g 
,of this accuracy of the ,jews before   
and in our ,savior's time1 in carefully 
preserving their genealogies all along1 
particularly those of the priests1 see  
,josephus's ,life1 sect4 #a4 ,this      
accuracy4 seems to have ended at the    
destruction of ,jerusalem by ,titus1 or1
 however1 at that by ,adrian4  #h ,which
 were these twenty-two sacred books of  
the ,old ,testament1 see the ,supplement
 to the ,essay of the ,old ,testament1  
p4 #be-bi1 viz4 those we call canonical1
 all excepting the ,canticles2 but still
 with this further exception1 that the  
book of apocryphal ,esdras be taken into
 that number instead of our canonical   
,ezra1 which seems to be no more than a 
later epitome of the other2 which two   
books of ,canticles and ,ezra it no way 
appears that our ,josephus ever saw4  #i
 ,here we have an account of the first  

building of the city of ,jerusalem1     
according to ,manetho1 when the         
,phoenician shepherds were expelled out 
of ,egypt about thirty-seven years      
before ,abraham came out of ,harsh4  #aj
 ,genesis #df2cb1 #cd2 #dg3c1 #d4  #aa  
,in our copies of the book of ,genesis  
and of ,joseph1 this ,joseph never calls
 himself a captive1 when he was with the
 king of ,egypt1 though he does call    
himself a servant1 a slave1 or captive1 
many times in the ,testament of the     
,twelve ,patriarchs1 under ,joseph1     
sect4 #a1 #aa1 #ac-af4  #ab ,of this    
,egyptian chronology of ,manetho1 as    
mistaken by ,josephus1 and of these     
,phoenician shepherds1 as falsely       
supposed by him1 and others after him1  
to have been the ,israelites in ,egypt1 
see ,essay on the ,old ,testament1      
,appendix1 p4 #ahb-ahh4 ,and note here1 
that when ,josephus tells us that the   
,greeks or ,argives looked on this      
,danaus as a most ancient1 or the most  
ancient1 king of ,argos1 he need not be 

supposed to mean1 in the strictest      
sense1 that they had no one king so     
ancient as he2 for it is certain that   
they owned nine kings before him1 and   
,inachus at the head of them4 ,see      
,authentic ,records1 ,part ,,ii4 p4     
#ihc1 as ,josephus could not but know   
very well2 but that he was esteemed as  
very ancient by them1 and that they knew
 they had been first of all denominated 
,danai from this very ancient king      
,danaus4 ,nor does this superlative     
degree always imply the most ancient of 
all without exception1 but is sometimes 
to be rendered very ancient only1 as is 
the case in the like superlative degrees
 of other words also4  #ac ,authentic   
,records1 ,part ,,ii4 p4 #ihc1 as       
,josephus could not but know very well2 
but that he was esteemed as very ancient
 by them1 and that they knew they had   
been first of all denominated ,danai    
from this very ancient king ,danaus4    
,nor does this superlative degree always
 imply the most ancient of all without  

exception1 but is sometimes to be       
rendered very ancient only1 as is the   
case in the like superlative degrees of 
other words also4  #ad ,this number in  
,josephus1 that ,nebuchadnezzar         
destroyed the temple in the eighteenth  
year of his reign1 is a mistake in the  
nicety of chronology2 for it was in the 
nineteenth4 ,the true number here for   
the year of ,darius1 in which the second
 temple was finished1 whether the second
 with our present copies1 or the sixth  
with that of ,syncellus1 or the tenth   
with that of ,eusebius1 is very         
uncertain2 so we had best follow        
,josephus's own account elsewhere1      
,antiq42,b4 ,,xi4 ch4 #c4 sect4 #d1     
which shows us that according to his    
copy of the ,old ,testament1 after the  
second of ,cyrus1 that work was         
interrupted till the second of ,darius1 
when in seven years it was finished in  
the ninth of ,darius4  #ae ,this is a   
thing well known by the learned1 that we
 are not secure that we have any genuine

 writings of ,pythagoras2 those ,golden 
,verses1 which are his best remains1    
being generally supposed to have been   
written not by himself1 but by some of  
his scholars only1 in agreement with    
what ,josephus here affirms of him4  #af
 ,whether these verses of ,cherilus1 the
 heathen poet1 in the days of ,xerxes1  
belong to the ,solymi in ,pisidia1 that 
were near a small lake1 or to the ,jews 
that dwelt on the ,solymean or          
,jerusalem mountains1 near the great and
 broad lake ,asphaltitis1 that were a   
strange people1 and spake the           
,phoenician tongue1 is not agreed on by 
the learned4 ,if is yet certain that    
,josephus here1 and ,eusebius1 ,prep4   
,,ix4 #i4 p4 #dab1 took them to be      
,jews2 and ,i confess ,i cannot but very
 much incline to the same opinion4 ,the 
other ,solymi were not a strange people1
 but heathen idolaters1 like the other  
parts of ,xerxes's army2 and that these 
spake the ,phoenician tongue is next to 
impossible1 as the ,jews certainly did2 

nor is there the least evidence for it  
elsewhere4 ,nor was the lake adjoining  
to the mountains of the ,solvmi at all  
large or broad1 in comparison of the    
,jewish lake ,asphaltitis2 nor indeed   
were these so considerable a people as  
the ,jews1 nor so likely to be desired  
by ,xerxes for his army as the ,jews1 to
 whom he was always very favorable4 ,as 
for the rest of ,cherilus's description1
 that their heads were sooty2 that they 
had round rasures on their heads2 that  
their heads and faces were like nasty   
horse-heads1 which had been hardened in 
the smoke2 these awkward characters     
probably fitted the ,solymi of ,pisidi  
no better than they did the ,jews in    
,judea4 ,and indeed this reproachful    
language1 here given these people1 is to
 me a strong indication that they were  
the poor despicable ,jews1 and not the  
,pisidian ,solymi celebrated in ,homer1 
whom ,cherilus here describes2 nor are  
we to expect that either ,cherilus or   
,hecateus1 or any other pagan writers   

cited by ,josephus and ,eusebius1 made  
no mistakes in the ,jewish history4 ,if 
by comparing their testimonies with the 
more authentic records of that nation we
 find them for the main to confirm the  
same1 as we almost always do1 we ought  
to be satisfied1 and not expect that    
they ever had an exact knowledge of all 
the circumstances of the ,jewish        
affairs1 which indeed it was almost     
always impossible for them to have4 ,see
 sect4 #bc4  #ag ,this ,hezekiah1 who is
 here called a high priest1 is not named
 in ,josephus's catalogue2 the real high
 priest at that time being rather       
,onias1 as ,archbishop ,usher supposes4 
,however1 ,josephus often uses the word 
high priests in the plural number1 as   
living many at the same time4 ,see the  
note on ,antiq4 ,b4 ,,xx4 ch4 #h4 sect4 
#h4  #ah ,so ,i read the text with      
,havercamp1 though the place be         
difficult4  #ai ,this number of arourae 
or ,egyptian acres1 #c1jjj1jjj1 each    
aroura containing a square of #ajj      

,egyptian cubits1 being about three     
quarters of an ,english acre1 and just  
twice the area of the court of the      
,jewish tabernacle1 as contained in the 
country of ,judea1 will be about one    
third of the entire number of arourae in
 the whole land of ,judea1 supposing it 
#afj measured miles long and #gj such   
miles broad2 which estimation1 for the  
fruitful parts of it1 as perhaps here in
 ,hecateus1 is not therefore very wide  
from the truth4 ,the fifty furlongs in  
compass for the city ,jerusalem         
presently are not very wide from the    
truth also1 as ,josephus himself        
describes it1 who1 ,of the ,war1 ,b4 ,v4
 ch4 #d4 sect4 #c4 makes its wall       
thirty-three furlongs1 besides the      
suburbs and gardens2 nay1 he says1 ,b4  
,v4 ch4 #ab4 sect4 #b1 that ,titus's    
wall about it at some small distance1   
after the gardens and suburbs were      
destroyed1 was not less than thirty-nine
 furlongs4 ,nor perhaps were its        
constant inhabitants1 in the days of    

,hecateus1 many more than these         
#abj1jjj1 because room was always to be 
left for vastly greater numbers which   
came up at the three great festivals2 to
 say nothing of the probable increase in
 their number between the days of       
,hecateus and ,josephus1 which was at   
least three hundred years4 ,but see a   
more authentic account of some of these 
measures in my ,description of the      
,jewish ,temples4 ,however1 we are not  
to expect that such heathens as         
,cherilus or ,hecateus1 or the rest that
 are cited by ,josephus and ,eusebius1  
could avoid making many mistakes in the 
,jewish history1 while yet they strongly
 confirm the same history in the        
general1 and are most valuable          
attestations to those more authentic    
accounts we have in the ,scriptures and 
,josephus concerning them4  #bj ,a      
glorious testimony this of the          
observation of the sabbath by the ,jews4
 ,see ,antiq4 ,b4 ,,xvi4 ch4 #b4 sect4  
#d1 and ch4 #f4 sect4 #b2 the ,life1    

sect4 #ed2 and ,war1 ,b4 ,,iv4 ch4 #i4  
sect4 #ab4  #ba ,not their law1 but the 
superstitious interpretation of their   
leaders which neither the ,maccabees nor
 our blessed ,savior did ever approve   
of4  #bb ,in reading this and the       
remaining sections of this book1 and    
some parts of the next1 one may easily  
perceive that our usually cool and      
candid author1 ,josephus1 was too highly
 offended with the impudent calumnies of
 ,manethe1 and the other bitter enemies 
of the ,jews1 with whom he had now to   
deal1 and was thereby betrayed into a   
greater heat and passion than ordinary1 
and that by consequence he does not hear
 reason with his usual fairness and     
impartiality2 he seems to depart        
sometimes from the brevity and sincerity
 of a faithful historian1 which is his  
grand character1 and indulges the       
prolixity and colors of a pleader and a 
disputant3 accordingly1 ,i confess1 ,i  
always read these sections with less    
pleasure than ,i do the rest of his     

writings1 though ,i fully believe the   
reproaches cast on the ,jews1 which he  
here endeavors to confute and expose1   
were wholly groundless and unreasonable4
  #bc ,this is a very valuable testimony
 of ,manetho1 that the laws of          
,osarsiph1 or ,moses1 were not made in  
compliance with1 but in opposition to1  
the customs of the ,egyptians4 ,see the 
note on ,antiq4 ,b4 ,,iii4 ch4 #h4 sect4
 #i4  #bd ,by way of irony1 ,i suppose4 
#be ,here we see that ,josephus esteemed
 a generation between ,joseph and ,moses
 to be about forty-two or forty-three   
years2 which1 if taken between the      
earlier children1 well agrees with the  
duration of human life in those ages4   
,see ,antheat4 ,rec4 ,part ,,ii4 pages  
#iff1 #ajai1 #ajbj4  #bf ,that is the   
meaning of ,hierosyla in ,greek1 not in 
,hebrew4     ,,book ,,ii4   #a4 ,in the 
former book1 most honored ,epaphroditus1
 ,i have demonstrated our antiquity1 and
 confirmed the truth of what ,i have    
said1 from the writings of the          

,phoenicians1 and ,chaldeans1 and       
,egyptians4 ,i have1 moreover1 produced 
many of the ,grecian writers as         
witnesses thereto4 ,i have also made a  
refutation of ,manetho and ,cheremon1   
and of certain others of our enemies4 ,i
 shall now #a therefore begin a         
confutation of the remaining authors who
 have written any thing against us2     
although ,i confess ,i have had a doubt 
upon me about ,apion #b the grammarian1 
whether ,i ought to take the trouble of 
confuting him or not2 for some of his   
writings contain much the same          
accusations which the others have laid  
against us1 some things that he hath    
added are very frigid and contemptible1 
and for the greatest part of what he    
says1 it is very scurrilous1 and1 to    
speak no more than the plain truth1 it  
shows him to be a very unlearned person1
 and what he lays together looks like   
the work of a man of very bad morals1   
and of one no better in his whole life  
than a mountebank4 ,yet1 because there  

are a great many men so very foolish1   
that they are rather caught by such     
orations than by what is written with   
care1 and take pleasure in reproaching  
other men1 and cannot abide to hear them
 commended1 ,i thought it to be         
necessary not to let this man go off    
without examination1 who had written    
such an accusation against us1 as if he 
would bring us to make an answer in open
 court4 ,for ,i also have observed1 that
 many men are very much delighted when  
they see a man who first began to       
reproach another1 to be himself exposed 
to contempt on account of the vices he  
hath himself been guilty of4 ,however1  
it is not a very easy thing to go over  
this man's discourse1 nor to know       
plainly what he means2 yet does he seem1
 amidst a great confusion and disorder  
in his falsehoods1 to produce1 in the   
first place1 such things as resemble    
what we have examined already1 and      
relate to the departure of our          
forefathers out of ,egypt2 and1 in the  

second place1 he accuses those ,jews    
that are inhabitants of ,alexandria2 as1
 in the third place1 he mixes with those
 things such accusations as concern the 
sacred purifications1 with the other    
legal rites used in the temple4  #b4    
,now although ,i cannot but think that  
,i have already demonstrated1 and that  
abundantly more than was necessary1 that
 our fathers were not originally        
,egyptians1 nor were thence expelled1   
either on account of bodily diseases1 or
 any other calamities of that sort2 yet 
will ,i briefly take notice of what     
,apion adds upon that subject2 for in   
his third book1 which relates to the    
affairs of ,egypt1 he speaks thus3 ,i   
have heard of the ancient men of ,egypt1
 that ,moses was of ,heliopolis1 and    
that he thought himself obliged to      
follow the customs of his forefathers1  
and offered his prayers in the open air1
 towards the city walls2 but that he    
reduced them all to be directed towards 
sun-rising1 which was agreeable to the  

situation of ,heliopolis2 that he also  
set up pillars instead of gnomons1 #c   
under which was represented a cavity    
like that of a boat1 and the shadow that
 fell from their tops fell down upon    
that cavity1 that it might go round     
about the like course as the sun itself 
goes round in the other4 ,this is that  
wonderful relation which we have given  
us by this grammarian4 ,but that it is a
 false one is so plain1 that it stands  
in need of few words to prove it1 but is
 manifest from the works of ,moses2 for 
when he erected the first tabernacle to 
,god1 he did himself neither give order 
for any such kind of representation to  
be made at it1 nor ordain that those    
that came after him should make such a  
one4 ,moreover1 when in a future age    
,solomon built his temple in ,jerusalem1
 he avoided all such needless           
decorations as ,apion hath here devised4
 ,he says further1 how he had heard of  
the ancient men1 that ,moses was of     
,hellopolis4 ,to be sure that was1      

because being a younger man himself1 he 
believed those that by their elder age  
were acquainted and conversed with him4 
,now this grammarian1 as he was1 could  
not certainly tell which was the poet   
,homer's country1 no more than he could 
which was the country of ,pythagoras1   
who lived comparatively but a little    
while ago2 yet does he thus easily      
determine the age of ,moses1 who        
preceded them such a vast number of     
years1 as depending on his ancient men's
 relation1 which shows how notorious a  
liar he was4 ,but then as to this       
chronological determination of the time 
when he says he brought the leprous     
people1 the blind1 and the lame out of  
,egypt1 see how well this most accurate 
grammarian of ours agrees with those    
that have written before him6 ,manetho  
says that the ,jews departed out of     
,egypt1 in the reign of ,tethmosis1     
three hundred ninety-three years before 
,danaus fled to ,argos2 ,lysimaehus says
 it was under king ,bocchoris1 that is1 

one thousand seven hundred years ago2   
,molo and some others determined it as  
every one pleased3 but this ,apion of   
ours1 as deserving to be believed before
 them1 hath determined it exactly to    
have been in the seventh olympiad1 and  
the first year of that olympiad2 the    
very same year in which he says that    
,carthage was built by the ,phoenicians4
 ,the reason why he added this building 
of ,carthage was1 to be sure1 in order1 
as he thought1 to strengthen his        
assertion by so evident a character of  
chronology4 ,but he was not aware that  
this character confutes his assertion2  
for if we may give credit to the        
,phoenician records as to the time of   
the first coming of their colony to     
,carthage1 they relate that ,hirom their
 king was above a hundred and fifty     
years earlier than the building of      
,carthage2 concerning whom ,i have      
formerly produced testimonials out of   
those ,phoenician records1 as also that 
this ,hirom was a friend of ,solomon    

when he was building the temple of      
,jerusalem1 and gave him great          
assistance in his building that temple2 
while still ,solomon himself built that 
temple six hundred and twelve years     
after the ,jews came out of ,egypt4 ,as 
for the number of those that were       
expelled out of ,egypt1 he hath         
contrived to have the very same number  
with ,lysimaehus1 and says they were a  
hundred and ten thousand4 ,he then      
assigns a certain wonderful and         
plausible occasion for the name of      
,sabbath2 for he says that when the     
,jews had traveled a six days' journey1 
they had buboes in their groins2 and    
that on this account it was that they   
rested on the seventh day1 as having got
 safely to that country which is now    
called ,judea2 that then they preserved 
the language of the ,egyptians1 and     
called that day the ,sabbath1 for that  
malady of buboes on their groin was     
named ,sabbatosis by the ,egyptians4    
,and would not a man now laugh at this  

fellow's trifling1 or rather hate his   
impudence in writing thus8 ,we must1 it 
seems1 fake it for granted that all     
these hundred and ten thousand men must 
have these buboes4 ,but1 for certain1 if
 those men had been blind and lame1 and 
had all sorts of distempers upon them1  
as ,apion says they had1 they could not 
have gone one single day's journey2 but 
if they had been all able to travel over
 a large desert1 and1 besides that1 to  
fight and conquer those that opposed    
them1 they had not all of them had      
buboes on their groins after the sixth  
day was over2 for no such distemper     
comes naturally and of necessity upon   
those that travel2 but still1 when there
 are many ten thousands in a camp       
together1 they constantly march a       
settled space in a day4 ,nor is it at   
all probable that such a thing should   
happen by chance2 this would be         
prodigiously absurd to be supposed4     
,however1 our admirable author ,apion   
hath before told us that they came to   

,judea in six days' time2 and again1    
that ,moses went up to a mountain that  
lay between ,egypt and ,arabia1 which   
was called ,sinai1 and was concealed    
there forty days1 and that when he came 
down from thence he gave laws to the    
,jews4 ,but1 then1 how was it possible  
for them to tarry forty days in a desert
 place where there was no water1 and at 
the same time to pass all over the      
country between that and ,judea in the  
six days8 ,and as for this grammatical  
translation of the word ,sabbath1 it    
either contains an instance of his great
 impudence or gross ignorance2 for the  
words ,sabbo and ,sabbath are widely    
different from one another2 for the word
 ,sabbath in the ,jewish language       
denotes rest from all sorts of work2 but
 the word ,sabbo1 as he affirms1 denotes
 among the ,egyptians the malady of a   
bubo in the groin4  #c4 ,this is that   
novel account which the ,egyptian ,apion
 gives us concerning the ,jews'         
departure out of ,egypt1 and is no      

better than a contrivance of his own4   
,but why should we wonder at the lies he
 tells about our forefathers1 when he   
affirms them to be of ,egyptian         
original1 when he lies also about       
himself8 for although he was born at    
,oasis in ,egypt1 he pretends to be1 as 
a man may say1 the top man of all the   
,egyptians2 yet does he forswear his    
real country and progenitors1 and by    
falsely pretending to be born at        
,alexandria1 cannot deny the #d pravity 
of his family2 for you see how justly he
 calls those ,egyptians whom he hates1  
and endeavors to reproach2 for had he   
not deemed ,egyptians to be a name of   
great reproach1 he would not have       
avoided the name of an ,egyptian        
himself2 as we know that those who brag 
of their own countries value themselves 
upon the denomination they acquire      
thereby1 and reprove such as unjustly   
lay claim thereto4 ,as for the          
,egyptians' claim to be of our kindred1 
they do it on one of the following      

accounts2 ,i mean1 either as they value 
themselves upon it1 and pretend to bear 
that relation to us2 or else as they    
would draw us in to be partakers of     
their own infamy4 ,but this fine fellow 
,apion seems to broach this reproachful 
appellation against us1 that we were    
originally ,egyptians1 in order to      
bestow it on the ,alexandrians1 as a    
reward for the privilege they had given 
him of being a fellow citizen with them3
 he also is apprized of the ill-will the
 ,alexandrians bear to those ,jews who  
are their fellow citizens1 and so       
proposes to himself to reproach them1   
although he must thereby include all the
 other ,egyptians also2 while in both   
cases he is no better than an impudent  
liar4  #d4 ,but let us now see what     
those heavy and wicked crimes are which 
,apion charges upon the ,alexandrian    
,jews4 ,they came says he out of ,syria1
 and inhabited near the tempestuous sea1
 and were in the neighborhood of the    
dashing of the waves4 ,now if the place 

of habitation includes any thing that is
 reproached1 this man reproaches not his
 own real country1 ,egypt1 but what he  
pretends to be his own country1         
,alexandria2 for all are agreed in this1
 that the part of that city which is    
near the sea is the best part of all for
 habitation4 ,now if the ,jews gained   
that part of the city by force1 and have
 kept it hitherto without impeachment1  
this is a mark of their valor2 but in   
reality it was ,alexander himself that  
gave them that place for their          
habitation1 when they obtained equal    
privileges there with the ,macedonians4 
,nor call ,i devise what ,apion would   
have said1 had their habitation been at 
,necropolis8 and not been fixed hard by 
the royal palace as it is2 nor had their
 nation had the denomination of         
,macedonians given them till this very  
day as they have4 ,had this man now read
 the epistles of king ,alexander1 or    
those of ,ptolemy the son of ,lagus1 or 
met with the writings of the succeeding 

kings1 or that pillar which is still    
standing at ,alexandria1 and contains   
the privileges which the great ,julius  
,caesar bestowed upon the ,jews2 had    
this man1 ,i say1 known these records1  
and yet hath the impudence to write in  
contradiction to them1 he hath shown    
himself to be a wicked man2 but if he   
knew nothing of these records1 he hath  
shown himself to be a man very ignorant3
 nay1 when lie appears to wonder how    
,jews could be called ,alexandrians1    
this is another like instance of his    
ignorance2 for all such as are called   
out to be colonies1 although they be    
ever so far remote from one another in  
their original1 receive their names from
 those that bring them to their new     
habitations4 ,and what occasion is there
 to speak of others1 when those of us   
,jews that dwell at ,antioch are named  
,antiochians1 because ,seleucns the     
founder of that city gave them the      
privileges belonging thereto8 ,after the
 like manner do those ,jews that inhabit

 ,ephesus1 and the other cities of      
,ionia1 enjoy the same name with those  
that were originally born there1 by the 
grant of the succeeding princes2 nay1   
the kindness and humanity of the ,romans
 hath been so great1 that it hath       
granted leave to almost all others to   
take the same name of ,romans upon them2
 ,i mean not particular men only1 but   
entire and large nations themselves     
also2 for those anciently named ,iberi1 
and ,tyrrheni1 and ,sabini1 are now     
called ,romani4 ,and if ,apion reject   
this way of obtaining the privilege of a
 citizen of ,alexandria1 let him abstain
 from calling himself an ,alexandrian   
hereafter2 for otherwise1 how can he who
 was born in the very heart of ,egypt be
 an ,alexandrian1 if this way of        
accepting such a privilege1 of which he 
would have us deprived1 be once         
abrogated8 although indeed these        
,romans1 who are now the lords of the   
habitable earth1 have forbidden the     
,egyptians to have the privileges of any

 city whatsoever2 while this fine       
fellow1 who is willing to partake of    
such a privilege himself as he is       
forbidden to make use of1 endeavors by  
calumnies to deprive those of it that   
have justly received it2 for ,alexander 
did not therefore get some of our nation
 to ,alexandria1 because he wanted      
inhabitants for this his city1 on whose 
building he had bestowed so much pains2 
but this was given to our people as a   
reward1 because he had1 upon a careful  
trial1 found them all to have been men  
of virtue and fidelity to him2 for1 as  
,hecateus says concerning us1 ,alexander
 honored our nation to such a degree1   
that1 for the equity and the fidelity   
which the ,jews exhibited to him1 he    
permitted them to hold the country of   
,samaria free from tribute4 ,of the same
 mind also was ,ptolemy the son of      
,lagus1 as to those ,jews who dwelt at  
,alexandria4 ,for he intrusted the      
fortresses of ,egypt into their hands1  
as believing they would keep them       

faithfully and valiantly for him2 and   
when he was desirous to secure the      
government of ,cyrene1 and the other    
cities of ,libya1 to himself1 he sent a 
party of ,jews to inhabit in them4 ,and 
for his successor ,ptolemy1 who was     
called ,philadelphus1 he did not only   
set all those of our nation free who    
were captives under him1 but did        
frequently give money for their ransom2 
and1 what was his greatest work of all1 
he had a great desire of knowing our    
laws1 and of obtaining the books of our 
sacred ,scriptures2 accordingly1 he     
desired that such men might be sent him 
as might interpret our law to him2 and1 
in order to have them well compiled1 he 
committed that care to no ordinary      
persons1 but ordained that ,demetrius   
,phalereus1 and ,andreas1 and ,aristeas2
 the first1 ,demetrius1 the most learned
 person of his age1 and the others1 such
 as were intrusted with the guard of his
 body2 should take care of this matter3 
nor would he certainly have been so     

desirous of learning our law1 and the   
philosophy of our nation1 had he        
despised the men that made use of it1 or
 had he not indeed had them in great    
admiration4  #e4 ,now this ,apion was   
unacquainted with almost all the kings  
of those ,macedonians whom he pretends  
to have been his progenitors1 who were  
yet very well affected towards us2 for  
the third of those ,ptolemies1 who was  
called ,euergetes1 when he had gotten   
possession of all ,syria by force1 did  
not offer his thank-offerings to the    
,egyptian gods for his victory1 but came
 to ,jerusalem1 and according to our own
 laws offered many sacrifices to ,god1  
and dedicated to him such gifts as were 
suitable to such a victory3 and as for  
,ptolemy ,philometer and his wife       
,cleopatra1 they committed their whole  
kingdom to the ,jews1 when ,onias and   
,dositheus1 both ,jews1 whose names are 
laughed at by ,apion1 were the generals 
of their whole army4 ,but certainly1    
instead of reproaching them1 he ought to

 admire their actions1 and return them  
thanks for saving ,alexandria1 whose    
citizen he pretends to be2 for when     
these ,alexandrians were making war with
 ,cleopatra the queen1 and were in      
danger of being utterly ruined1 these   
,jews brought them to terms of          
agreement1 and freed them from the      
miseries of a civil war4 ,but then says 
,apion ,onias brought a small army      
afterward upon the city at the time when
 ,thorruns the ,roman ambassador was    
there present4 ,yes1 do ,i venture to   
say1 and that he did rightly and very   
justly in so doing2 for that ,ptolemy   
who was called ,physco1 upon the death  
of his brother ,philometer1 came from   
,cyrene1 and would have ejected         
,cleopatra as well as her sons out of   
their kingdom1 that he might obtain it  
for himself unjustly4 #e ,for this cause
 then it was that ,onias undertook a war
 against him on ,cleopatra's account2   
nor would he desert that trust the royal
 family had reposed in him in their     

distress4 ,accordingly1 ,god gave a     
remarkable attestation to his righteous 
procedure2 for when ,ptolemy ,physco #f 
had the presumption to fight against    
,onias's army1 and had caught all the   
,jews that were in the city ,alexandria1
 with their children and wives1 and     
exposed them naked and in bonds to his  
elephants1 that they might be trodden   
upon and destroyed1 and when he had made
 those elephants drunk for that purpose1
 the event proved contrary to his       
preparations2 for these elephants left  
the ,jews who were exposed to them1 and 
fell violently upon ,physco's friends1  
and slew a great number of them2 nay1   
after this ,ptolemy saw a terrible      
ghost1 which prohibited his hurting     
those men2 his very concubine1 whom he  
loved so well1 some call her ,ithaca1   
and others ,irene1 making supplication  
to him1 that he would not perpetrate so 
great a wickedness4 ,so he complied with
 her request1 and repented of what he   
either had already done1 or was about to

 do2 whence it is well known that the   
,alexandrian ,jews do with good reason  
celebrate this day1 on the account that 
they had thereon been vouchsafed such an
 evident deliverance from ,god4         
,however1 ,apion1 the common calumniator
 of men1 hath the presumption to accuse 
the ,jews for making this war against   
,physco1 when he ought to have commended
 them for the same4 ,this man also makes
 mention of ,cleopatra1 the last queen  
of ,alexandria1 and abuses us1 because  
she was ungrateful to us2 whereas he    
ought to have reproved her1 who indulged
 herself in all kinds of injustice and  
wicked practices1 both with regard to   
her nearest relations and husbands who  
had loved her1 and1 indeed1 in general  
with regard to all the ,romans1 and     
those emperors that were her            
benefactors2 who also had her sister    
,arsinoe slain in a temple1 when she had
 done her no harm3 moreover1 she had her
 brother slain by private treachery1 and
 she destroyed the gods of her country  

and the sepulchers of her progenitors2  
and while she had received her kingdom  
from the first ,caesar1 she had the     
impudence to rebel against his son3 #g  
and successor2 nay1 she corrupted       
,antony with her love-tricks1 and       
rendered him an enemy to his country1   
and made him treacherous to his friends1
 and by his means despoiled some of     
their royal authority1 and forced others
 in her madness to act wickedly4 ,but   
what need ,i enlarge upon this head any 
further1 when she left ,antony in his   
fight at sea1 though he were her        
husband1 and the father of their common 
children1 and compelled him to resign up
 his government1 with the army1 and to  
follow her into ,egypt8 nay1 when last  
of all ,caesar had taken ,alexandria1   
she came to that pitch of cruelty1 that 
she declared she had some hope of       
preserving her affairs still1 in case   
she could kill the ,jews1 though it were
 with her own hand2 to such a degree of 
barbarity and perfidiousness had she    

arrived4 ,and doth any one think that we
 cannot boast ourselves of any thing1   
if1 as ,apion says1 this queen did not  
at a time of famine distribute wheat    
among us8 ,however1 she at length met   
with the punishment she deserved4 ,as   
for us ,jews1 we appeal to the great    
,caesar what assistance we brought him1 
and what fidelity we showed to him      
against the ,egyptians2 as also to the  
senate and its decrees1 and the epistles
 of ,augustus ,caesar1 whereby our      
merits to the ,romans are justified4    
,apion ought to have looked upon those  
epistles1 and in particular to have     
examined the testimonies given on our   
behalf1 under ,alexander and all the    
,ptolemies1 and the decrees of the      
senate and of the greatest ,roman       
emperors4 ,and if ,germanicus was not   
able to make a distribution of corn to  
all the inhabitants of ,alexandria1 that
 only shows what a barren time it was1  
and how great a want there was then of  
corn1 but tends nothing to the          

accusation of the ,jews2 for what all   
the emperors have thought of the        
,alexandrian ,jews is well known1 for   
this distribution of wheat was no       
otherwise omitted with regard to the    
,jews1 than it was with regard to the   
other inhabitants of ,alexandria4 ,but  
they still were desirous to preserve    
what the kings had formerly intrusted to
 their care1 ,i mean the custody of the 
river2 nor did those kings think them   
unworthy of having the entire custody   
thereof1 upon all occasions4  #f4 ,but  
besides this1 ,apion objects to us thus3
 ,if the ,jews says he be citizens of   
,alexandria1 why do they not worship the
 same gods with the ,alexandrians8 ,to  
which ,i give this answer3 ,since you   
are yourselves ,egyptians1 why do you   
fight it out one against another1 and   
have implacable wars about your         
religion8 ,at this rate we must not call
 you all ,egyptians1 nor indeed in      
general men1 because you breed up with  
great care beasts of a nature quite     

contrary to that of men1 although the   
nature of all men seems to be one and   
the same4 ,now if there be such         
differences in opinion among you        
,egyptians1 why are you surprised that  
those who came to ,alexandria from      
another country1 and had original laws  
of their own before1 should persevere in
 the observance of those laws8 ,but     
still he charges us with being the      
authors of sedition2 which accusation1  
if it be a just one1 why is it not laid 
against us all1 since we are known to be
 all of one mind4 ,moreover1 those that 
search into such matters will soon      
discover that the authors of sedition   
have been such citizens of ,alexandria  
as ,apion is2 for while they were the   
,grecians and ,macedonians who were ill 
possession of this city1 there was no   
sedition raised against us1 and we were 
permitted to observe our ancient        
solemnities2 but when the number of the 
,egyptians therein came to be           
considerable1 the times grew confused1  

and then these seditions brake out still
 more and more1 while our people        
continued uncorrupted4 ,these           
,egyptians1 therefore1 were the authors 
of these troubles1 who having not the   
constancy of ,macedonians1 nor the      
prudence of ,grecians1 indulged all of  
them the evil manners of the ,egyptians1
 and continued their ancient hatred     
against us2 for what is here so         
presumptuously charged upon us1 is owing
 to the differences that are amongst    
themselves2 while many of them have not 
obtained the privileges of citizens in  
proper times1 but style those who are   
well known to have had that privilege   
extended to them all no other than      
foreigners3 for it does not appear that 
any of the kings have ever formerly     
bestowed those privileges of citizens   
upon ,egyptians1 no more than have the  
emperors done it more lately2 while it  
was ,alexander who introduced us into   
this city at first1 the kings augmented 
our privileges therein1 and the ,romans 

have been pleased to preserve them      
always inviolable4 ,moreover1 ,apion    
would lay a blot upon us1 because we do 
not erect images for our emperors2 as if
 those emperors did not know this       
before1 or stood in need of ,apion as   
their defender2 whereas he ought rather 
to have admired the magnanimity and     
modesty of the ,romans1 whereby they do 
not compel those that are subject to    
them to transgress the laws of their    
countries1 but are willing to receive   
the honors due to them after such a     
manner as those who are to pay them     
esteem consistent with piety and with   
their own laws2 for they do not thank   
people for conferring honors upon them1 
,when they are compelled by violence so 
to do4 ,accordingly1 since the ,grecians
 and some other nations think it a right
 thing to make images1 nay1 when they   
have painted the pictures of their      
parents1 and wives1 and children1 they  
exult for joy2 and some there are who   
take pictures for themselves of such    

persons as were no way related to them2 
nay1 some take the pictures of such     
servants as they were fond of2 what     
wonder is it then if such as these      
appear willing to pay the same respect  
to their princes and lords8 ,but then   
our legislator hath forbidden us to make
 images1 not by way of denunciation     
beforehand1 that the ,roman authority   
was not to be honored1 but as despising 
a thing that was neither necessary nor  
useful for either ,god or man2 and he   
forbade them1 as we shall prove         
hereafter1 to make these images for any 
part of the animal creation1 and much   
less for ,god himself1 who is no part of
 such animal creation4 ,yet hath our    
legislator no where forbidden us to pay 
honors to worthy men1 provided they be  
of another kind1 and inferior to those  
we pay to ,god2 with which honors we    
willingly testify our respect to our    
emperors1 and to the people of ,rome2 we
 also offer perpetual sacrifices for    
them2 nor do we only offer them every   

day at the common expenses of all the   
,jews1 but although we offer no other   
such sacrifices out of our common       
expenses1 no1 not for our own children1 
yet do we this as a peculiar honor to   
the emperors1 and to them alone1 while  
we do the same to no other person       
whomsoever4 ,and let this suffice for an
 answer in general to ,apion1 as to what
 he says with relation to the           
,alexandrian ,jews4  #g4 ,however1 ,i   
cannot but admire those other authors   
who furnished this man with such his    
materials2 ,i mean ,possidonius and     
,apollonius the son of ,molo1 #h who1   
while they accuse us for not worshipping
 the same gods whom others worship1 they
 think themselves not guilty of impiety 
when they tell lies of us1 and frame    
absurd and reproachful stories about our
 temple2 whereas it is a most shameful  
thing for freemen to forge lies on any  
occasion1 and much more so to forge them
 about our temple1 which was so famous  
over all the world1 and was preserved so

 sacred by us2 for ,apion hath the      
impudence to pretend that1 the ,jews    
placed an ass's head in their holy      
place2 and he affirms that this was     
discovered when ,antiochus ,epiphanes   
spoiled our temple1 and found that ass's
 head there made of gold1 and worth a   
great deal of money4 ,to this my first  
answer shall be this1 that had there    
been any such thing among us1 an        
,egyptian ought by no means to have     
thrown it in our teeth1 since an ass is 
not a more contemptible animal than #i  
and goats1 and other such creatures1    
which among them are gods4 ,but besides 
this answer1 ,i say further1 how comes  
it about that ,apion does not understand
 this to be no other than a palpable    
lie1 and to be confuted by the thing    
itself as utterly incredible8 ,for we   
,jews are always governed by the same   
laws1 in which we constantly persevere2 
and although many misfortunes have      
befallen our city1 as the like have     
befallen others1 and although ,theos    

,epiphanes1 and ,pompey the ,great1 and 
,licinius ,crassus1 and last of all     
,titus ,caesar1 have conquered us in    
war1 and gotten possession of our       
temple2 yet have they none of them found
 any such thing there1 nor indeed any   
thing but what was agreeable to the     
strictest piety2 although what they     
found we are not at liberty to reveal to
 other nations4 ,but for ,antiochus     
,epiphanes1 he had no just cause for    
that ravage in our temple that he made2 
he only came to it when he wanted money1
 without declaring himself our enemy1   
and attacked us while we were his       
associates and his friends2 nor did he  
find any thing there that was           
ridiculous4 ,this is attested by many   
worthy writers2 ,polybius of            
,megalopolis1 ,strabo of ,cappadocia1   
,nicolaus of ,damascus1 ,timagenes1     
,castor the chronotoger1 and            
,apollodorus2 #aj who all say that it   
was out of ,antiochus's want of money   
that he broke his league with the ,jews1

 and despoiled their temple when it was 
full of gold and silver4 ,apion ought to
 have had a regard to these facts1      
unless he had himself had either an     
ass's heart or a dog's impudence2 of    
such a dog ,i mean as they worship2 for 
he had no other external reason for the 
lies he tells of us4 ,as for us ,jews1  
we ascribe no honor or power to asses1  
as do the ,egyptians to crocodiles and  
asps1 when they esteem such as are      
seized upon by the former1 or bitten by 
the latter1 to be happy persons1 and    
persons worthy of ,god4 ,asses are the  
same with us which they are with other  
wise men1 viz4 creatures that bear the  
burdens that we lay upon them2 but if   
they come to our thrashing-floors and   
eat our corn1 or do not perform what we 
impose upon them1 we beat them with a   
great many stripes1 because it is their 
business to minister to us in our       
husbandry affairs4 ,but this ,apion of  
ours was either perfectly unskillful in 
the composition of such fallacious      

discourses1 or however1 when he begun   
somewhat better1 he was not able to     
persevere in what he had undertaken1    
since he hath no manner of success in   
those reproaches he casts upon us4  #h4 
,he adds another ,grecian fable1 in     
order to reproach us4 ,in reply to      
which1 it would be enough to say1 that  
they who presume to speak about ,divine 
worship ought not to be ignorant of this
 plain truth1 that it is a degree of    
less impurity to pass through temples1  
than to forge wicked calumnies of its   
priests4 ,now such men as he are more   
zealous to justify a sacrilegious king1 
than to write what is just and what is  
true about us1 and about our temple2 for
 when they are desirous of gratifying   
,antiochus1 and of concealing that      
perfidiousness and sacrilege which he   
was guilty of1 with regard to our       
nation1 when he wanted money1 they      
endeavor to disgrace us1 and tell lies  
even relating to futurities4 ,apion     
becomes other men's prophet upon this   

occasion1 and says that ,antiochus found
 in our temple a bed1 and a man lying   
upon it1 with a small table before him1 
full of dainties1 from the fishes of the
 sea1 and the fowls of the dry land2    
that this man was amazed at these       
dainties thus set before him2 that he   
immediately adored the king1 upon his   
coming in1 as hoping that he would      
afford him all possible assistance2 that
 he fell down upon his knees1 and       
stretched out to him his right hand1 and
 begged to be released2 and that when   
the king bid him sit down1 and tell him 
who he was1 and why he dwelt there1 and 
what was the meaning of those various   
sorts of food that were set before him  
the man made a lamentable complaint1 and
 with sighs1 and tears in his eyes1 gave
 him this account of the distress he was
 in2 and said that he was a ,greek and  
that as he went over this province1 in  
order to get his living1 he was seized  
upon by foreigners1 on a sudden1 and    
brought to this temple1 and shut up     

therein1 and was seen by nobody1 but was
 fattened by these curious provisions   
thus set before him2 and that truly at  
the first such unexpected advantages    
seemed to him matter of great joy2 that 
after a while1 they brought a suspicion 
him1 and at length astonishment1 what   
their meaning should be2 that at last he
 inquired of the servants that came to  
him and was by them informed that it was
 in order to the fulfilling a law of the
 ,jews1 which they must not tell him1   
that he was thus fed2 and that they did 
the same at a set time every year3 that 
they used to catch a ,greek foreigner1  
and fat him thus up every year1 and then
 lead him to a certain wood1 and kill   
him1 and sacrifice with their accustomed
 solemnities1 and taste of his entrails1
 and take an oath upon this sacrificing 
a ,greek1 that they would ever be at    
enmity with the ,greeks2 and that then  
they threw the remaining parts of the   
miserable wretch into a certain pit4    
,apion adds further1 that1 the man said 

there were but a few days to come ere he
 was to be slain1 and implored of       
,antiochus that1 out of the reverence he
 bore to the ,grecian gods1 he would    
disappoint the snares the ,jews laid for
 his blood1 and would deliver him from  
the miseries with which he was          
encompassed4 ,now this is such a most   
tragical fable as is full of nothing but
 cruelty and impudence2 yet does it not 
excuse ,antiochus of his sacrilegious   
attempt1 as those who write it in his   
vindication are willing to suppose2 for 
he could not presume beforehand that he 
should meet with any such thing in      
coming to the temple1 but must have     
found it unexpectedly4 ,he was therefore
 still an impious person1 that was given
 to unlawful pleasures1 and had no      
regard to ,god in his actions4 ,but as  
for ,apion1 he hath done whatever his   
extravagant love of lying hath dictated 
to him1 as it is most easy to discover  
by a consideration of his writings2 for 
the difference of our laws is known not 

to regard the ,grecians only1 but they  
are principally opposite to the         
,egyptians1 and to some other nations   
also for while it so falls out that men 
of all countries come sometimes and     
sojourn among us1 how comes it about    
that we take an oath1 and conspire only 
against the ,grecians1 and that by the  
effusion of their blood also8 ,or how is
 it possible that all the ,jews should  
get together to these sacrifices1 and   
the entrails of one man should be       
sufficient for so many thousands to     
taste of them1 as ,apion pretends8 ,or  
why did not the king carry this man1    
whosoever he was1 and whatsoever was his
 name1 which is not set down in ,apion's
 book1 with great pomp back into his own
 country8 when he might thereby have    
been esteemed a religious person        
himself1 and a mighty lover of the      
,greeks1 and might thereby have procured
 himself great assistance from all men  
against that hatred the ,jews bore to   
him4 ,but ,i leave this matter2 for the 

proper way of confuting fools is not to 
use bare words1 but to appeal to the    
things themselves that make against     
them4 ,now1 then1 all such as ever saw  
the construction of our temple1 of what 
nature it was1 know well enough how the 
purity of it was never to be profaned2  
for it had four several courts #ab      
encompassed with cloisters round about1 
every one of which had by our law a     
peculiar degree of separation from the  
rest4 ,into the first court every body  
was allowed to go1 even foreigners1 and 
none but women1 during their courses1   
were prohibited to pass through it2 all 
the ,jews went into the second court1 as
 well as their wives1 when they were    
free from all uncleanness2 into the     
third court went in the ,jewish men1    
when they were clean and purified2 into 
the fourth went the priests1 having on  
their sacerdotal garments2 but for the  
most sacred place1 none went in but the 
high priests1 clothed in their peculiar 
garments4 ,now there is so great caution

 used about these offices of religion1  
that the priests are appointed to go    
into the temple but at certain hours2   
for in the morning1 at the opening of   
the inner temple1 those that are to     
officiate receive the sacrifices1 as    
they do again at noon1 till the doors   
are shut4 ,lastly1 it is not so much as 
lawful to carry any vessel into the holy
 house2 nor is there any thing therein1 
but the altar of incense1 the table of  
shew-bread1 the censer1 and the         
candlestick1 which are all written in   
the law2 for there is nothing further   
there1 nor are there any mysteries      
performed that may not be spoken of2 nor
 is there any feasting within the place4
 ,for what ,i have now said is publicly 
known1 and supported by the testimony of
 the whole people1 and their operations 
are very manifest2 for although there be
 four courses of the priests1 and every 
one of them have above five thousand men
 in them1 yet do they officiate on      
certain days only2 and when those days  

are over1 other priests succeed in the  
performance of their sacrifices1 and    
assemble together at mid-day1 and       
receive the keys of the temple1 and the 
vessels by tale1 without any thing      
relating to food or drink being carried 
into the temple2 nay1 we are not allowed
 to offer such things at the altar1     
excepting what is prepared for the      
sacrifices4  #i4 ,what then can we say  
of ,apion1 but that he examined nothing 
that concerned these things1 while still
 he uttered incredible words about them8
 but it is a great shame for a          
grammarian not to be able to write true 
history4 ,now if he knew the purity of  
our temple1 he hath entirely omitted to 
take notice of it2 but he forges a story
 about the seizing of a ,grecian1 about 
ineffable food1 and the most delicious  
preparation of dainties2 and pretends   
that strangers could go into a place    
whereinto the noblest men among the     
,jews are not allowed to enter1 unless  
they be priests4 ,this1 therefore1 is   

the utmost degree of impiety1 and a     
voluntary lie1 in order to the delusion 
of those who will not examine into the  
truth of matters2 whereas such          
unspeakable mischiefs as are above      
related have been occasioned by such    
calumnies that are raised upon us4  #aj4
 ,nay1 this miracle or piety derides us 
further1 and adds the following         
pretended facts to his former fable2 for
 he says that this man related how1     
while the ,jews were once in a long war 
with the ,idumeans1 there came a man out
 of one of the cities of the ,idumeans1 
who there had worshipped ,apollo4 ,this 
man1 whose name is said to have been    
,zabidus1 came to the ,jews1 and        
promised that he would deliver ,apollo1 
the god of ,dora1 into their hands1 and 
that he would come to our temple1 if    
they would all come up with him1 and    
bring the whole multitude of the ,jews  
with them2 that ,zabidus made him a     
certain wooden instrument1 and put it   
round about him1 and set three rows of  

lamps therein1 and walked after such a  
manner1 that he appeared to those that  
stood a great way off him to be a kind  
of star1 walking upon the earth2 that   
the ,jews were terribly affrighted at so
 surprising an appearance1 and stood    
very quiet at a distance2 and that      
,zabidus1 while they continued so very  
quiet1 went into the holy house1 and    
carried off that golden head of an ass1 
for so facetiously does he write1 and   
then went his way back again to ,dora in
 great haste4 ,and say you so1 sir6 as  
,i may reply2 then does ,apion load the 
ass1 that is1 himself1 and lays on him a
 burden of fooleries and lies2 for he   
writes of places that have no being1 and
 not knowing the cities he speaks of1 he
 changes their situation2 for ,idumea   
borders upon our country1 and is near to
 ,gaza1 in which there is no such city  
as ,dora2 although there be1 it is true1
 a city named ,dora in ,phoenicia1 near 
,mount ,carmel1 but it is four days'    
journey from ,idumea4 #ab ,now1 then1   

why does this man accuse us1 because we 
have not gods in common with other      
nations1 if our fathers were so easily  
prevailed upon to have ,apollo come to  
them1 and thought they saw him walking  
upon the earth1 and the stars with him8 
for certainly those who have so many    
festivals1 wherein they light lamps1    
must yet1 at this rate1 have never seen 
a candlestick6 ,but still it seems that 
while ,zabidus took his journey over the
 country1 where were so many ten        
thousands of people1 nobody met him4 ,he
 also1 it seems1 even in a time of war1 
found the walls of ,jerusalem destitute 
of guards4 ,i omit the rest4 ,now the   
doors of the holy house were seventy #ac
 cubits high1 and twenty cubits broad2  
they were all plated over with gold1 and
 almost of solid gold itself1 and there 
were no fewer than twenty #ad men       
required to shut them every day2 nor was
 it lawful ever to leave them open1     
though it seems this lamp-bearer of ours
 opened them easily1 or thought he      

opened them1 as he thought he had the   
ass's head in his hand4 ,whether1       
therefore1 he returned it to us again1  
or whether ,apion took it1 and brought  
it into the temple again1 that          
,antiochus might find it1 and afford a  
handle for a second fable of ,apion's1  
is uncertain4  #aa4 ,apion also tells a 
false story1 when he mentions an oath of
 ours1 as if we swore by ,god1 the      
,maker of the heaven1 and earth1 and    
sea1 to bear no good will to any        
foreigner1 and particularly to none of  
the ,greeks4 ,now this liar ought to    
have said directly that1 we would bear  
no good-will to any foreigner1 and      
particularly to none of the ,egyptians4 
,for then his story about the oath would
 have squared with the rest of his      
original forgeries1 in case our         
forefathers had been driven away by     
their kinsmen1 the ,egyptians1 not on   
account of any wickedness they had been 
guilty of1 but on account of the        
calamities they were under2 for as to   

the ,grecians1 we were rather remote    
from them in place1 than different from 
them in our institutions1 insomuch that 
we have no enmity with them1 nor any    
jealousy of them4 ,on the contrary1 it  
hath so happened that many of them have 
come over to our laws1 and some of them 
have continued in their observation1    
although others of them had not courage 
enough to persevere1 and so departed    
from them again2 nor did any body ever  
hear this oath sworn by us3 ,apion1 it  
seems1 was the only person that heard   
it1 for he indeed was the first composer
 of it4  #ab4 ,however1 ,apion deserves 
to be admired for his great prudence1 as
 to what ,i am going to say1 which is   
this1 ,that there is a plain mark among 
us1 that we neither have just laws1 nor 
worship ,god as we ought to do1 because 
we are not governors1 but are rather in 
subjection to ,gentiles1 sometimes to   
one nation1 and sometimes to another2   
and that our city hath been liable to   
several calamities1 while their city    

,alexandria hath been of old time an    
imperial city1 and not used to be in    
subjection to the ,romans4 ,but now this
 man had better leave off this bragging1
 for every body but himself would think 
that ,apion said what he hath said      
against himself2 for there are very few 
nations that have had the good fortune  
to continue many generations in the     
principality1 but still the mutations in
 human affairs have put them into       
subjection under others2 and most       
nations have been often subdued1 and    
brought into subjection by others4 ,now 
for the ,egyptians1 perhaps they are the
 only nation that have had this         
extraordinary privilege1 to have never  
served any of those monarchs who subdued
 ,asia and ,europe1 and this on account1
 as they pretend1 that the gods fled    
into their country1 and saved themselves
 by being changed into the shapes of    
wild beasts6 ,whereas these ,egyptians  
#ae are the very people that appear to  
have never1 in all the past ages1 had   

one day of freedom1 no1 not so much as  
from their own lords4 ,for ,i will not  
reproach them with relating the manner  
how the ,persians used them1 and this   
not once only1 but many times1 when they
 laid their cities waste1 demolished    
their temples1 and cut the throats of   
those animals whom they esteemed to be  
gods2 for it is not reasonable to       
imitate the clownish ignorance of       
,apion1 who hath no regard to the       
misfortunes of the ,athenians1 or of the
 ,lacedemonians1 the latter of whom were
 styled by all men the most courageous1 
and the former the most religious of the
 ,grecians4 ,i say nothing of such kings
 as have been famous for piety1         
particularly of one of them1 whose name 
was ,cresus1 nor what calamities he met 
with in his life2 ,i say nothing of the 
citadel of ,athens1 of the temple at    
,ephesus1 of that at ,delphi1 nor of ten
 thousand others which have been burnt  
down1 while nobody cast reproaches on   
those that were the sufferers1 but on   

those that were the actors therein4 ,but
 now we have met with ,apion1 an accuser
 of our nation1 though one that still   
forgets the miseries of his own people1 
the ,egyptians2 but it is that          
,sesostris who was once so celebrated a 
king of ,egypt that hath blinded him4   
,now we will not brag of our kings1     
,david and ,solomon1 though they        
conquered many nations2 accordingly we  
will let them alone4 ,however1 ,apion is
 ignorant of what every body knows1 that
 the ,egyptians were servants to the    
,persians1 and afterwards to the        
,macedonians1 when they were lords of   
,asia1 and were no better than slaves1  
while we have enjoyed liberty formerly2 
nay1 more than that1 have had the       
dominion of the cities that lie round   
about us1 and this nearly for a hundred 
and twenty years together1 until        
,pompeius ,magnus4 ,and when all the    
kings every where were conquered by the 
,romans1 our ancestors were the only    
people who continued to be esteemed     

their confederates and friends1 on      
account of their fidelity to them4#af   
#ac4 ,but1 says ,apion1 we ,jews have   
not had any wonderful men amongst us1   
not any inventors of arts1 nor any      
eminent for wisdom4 ,he then enumerates 
,socrates1 and ,zeno1 and ,cleanthes1   
and some others of the same sort2 and1  
after all1 he adds himself to them1     
which is the most wonderful thing of all
 that he says1 and pronounces           
,alexandria to be happy1 because it hath
 such a citizen as he is in it2 for he  
was the fittest man to be a witness to  
his own deserts1 although he hath       
appeared to all others no better than a 
wicked mountebank1 of a corrupt life and
 ill discourses2 on which account one   
may justly pity ,alexandria1 if it      
should value itself upon such a citizen 
as he is4 ,but as to our own men1 we    
have had those who have been as         
deserving of commendation as any other  
whosoever1 and such as have perused our 
,antiquities cannot be ignorant of them4

  #ad4 ,as to the other things which he 
sets down as blameworthy1 it may perhaps
 be the best way to let them pass       
without apology1 that he may be allowed 
to be his own accuser1 and the accuser  
of the rest of the ,egyptians4 ,however1
 he accuses us for sacrificing animals1 
and for abstaining from swine's flesh1  
and laughs at us for the circumcision of
 our privy members4 ,now as for our     
slaughter of tame animals for           
sacrifices1 it is common to us and to   
all other men2 but this ,apion1 by      
making it a crime to sacrifice them1    
demonstrates himself to be an ,egyptian2
 for had he been either a ,grecian or a 
,macedonian1 as he pretends to be1 he   
had not shown any uneasiness at it2 for 
those people glory in sacrificing whole 
hecatombs to the gods1 and make use of  
those sacrifices for feasting2 and yet  
is not the world thereby rendered       
destitute of cattle1 as ,apion was      
afraid would come to pass4 ,yet if all  
men had followed the manners of the     

,egyptians1 the world had certainly been
 made desolate as to mankind1 but had   
been filled full of the wildest sort of 
brute beasts1 which1 because they       
suppose them to be gods1 they carefully 
nourish4 ,however1 if any one should ask
 ,apion which of the ,egyptians he      
thinks to be the most wise and most     
pious of them all1 he would certainly   
acknowledge the priests to be so2 for   
the histories say that two things were  
originally committed to their care by   
their kings' injunctions1 the worship of
 the gods1 and the support of wisdom and
 philosophy4 ,accordingly1 these priests
 are all circumcised1 and abstain from  
swine's flesh2 nor does any one of the  
other ,egyptians assist them in slaying 
those sacrifices they offer to the gods4
 ,apion was therefore quite blinded in  
his mind1 when1 for the sake of the     
,egyptians1 he contrived to reproach us1
 and to accuse such others as not only  
make use of that conduct of life which  
he so much abuses1 but have also taught 

other men to be circumcised1 as says    
,herodotus2 which makes me think that   
,apion is hereby justly punished for his
 casting such reproaches on the laws of 
his own country2 for he was circumcised 
himself of necessity1 on account of an  
ulcer in his privy member2 and when he  
received no benefit by such             
circumcision1 but his member became     
putrid1 he died in great torment4 ,now  
men of good tempers ought to observe    
their own laws concerning religion      
accurately1 and to persevere therein1   
but not presently to abuse the laws of  
other nations1 while this ,apion        
deserted his own laws1 and told lies    
about ours4 ,and this was the end of    
,apion's life1 and this shall be the    
conclusion of our discourse about him4  
#ae4 ,but now1 since ,apollonius ,molo1 
and ,lysimachus1 and some others1 write 
treatises about our lawgiver ,moses1 and
 about our laws1 which are neither just 
nor true1 and this partly out of        
ignorance1 but chiefly out of ill-will  

to us1 while they calumniate ,moses as  
an impostor and deceiver1 and pretend   
that our laws teach us wickedness1 but  
nothing that is virtuous1 ,i have a mind
 to discourse briefly1 according to my  
ability1 about our whole constitution of
 government1 and about the particular   
branches of it4 ,for ,i suppose it will 
thence become evident1 that the laws we 
have given us are disposed after the    
best manner for the advancement of      
piety1 for mutual communion with one    
another1 for a general love of mankind1 
as also for justice1 and for sustaining 
labors with fortitude1 and for a        
contempt of death4 ,and ,i beg of those 
that shall peruse this writing of mine1 
to read it without partiality2 for it is
 not my purpose to write an encomium    
upon ourselves1 but ,i shall esteem this
 as a most just apology for us1 and     
taken from those our laws1 according to 
which we lead our lives1 against the    
many and the lying objections that have 
been made against us4 ,moreover1 since  

this ,apollonius does not do like       
,apion1 and lay a continued accusation  
against us1 but does it only by starts1 
and up and clown his discourse1 while he
 sometimes reproaches us as atheists1   
and man-haters1 and sometimes hits us in
 the teeth with our want of courage1 and
 yet sometimes1 on the contrary1 accuses
 us of too great boldness and madness in
 our conduct2 nay1 he says that we are  
the weakest of all the barbarians1 and  
that this is the reason why we are the  
only people who have made no            
improvements in human life2 now ,i think
 ,i shall have then sufficiently        
disproved all these his allegations1    
when it shall appear that our laws      
enjoin the very reverse of what he says1
 and that we very carefully observe     
those laws ourselves4 ,and if ,i he     
compelled to make mention of the laws of
 other nations1 that are contrary to    
ours1 those ought deservedly to thank   
themselves for it1 who have pretended to
 depreciate our laws in comparison of   

their own2 nor will there1 ,i think1 be 
any room after that for them to pretend 
either that we have no such laws        
ourselves1 an epitome of which ,i will  
present to the reader1 or that we do    
not1 above all men1 continue in the     
observation of them4  #af4 ,to begin    
then a good way backward1 ,i would      
advance this1 in the first place1 that  
those who have been admirers of good    
order1 and of living under common laws1 
and who began to introduce them1 may    
well have this testimony that they are  
better than other men1 both for         
moderation and such virtue as is        
agreeable to nature4 ,indeed their      
endeavor was to have every thing they   
ordained believed to be very ancient1   
that they might not be thought to       
imitate others1 but might appear to have
 delivered a regular way of living to   
others after them4 ,since then this is  
the case1 the excellency of a legislator
 is seen in providing for the people's  
living after the best manner1 and in    

prevailing with those that are to use   
the laws he ordains for them1 to have a 
good opinion of them1 and in obliging   
the multitude to persevere in them1 and 
to make no changes in them1 neither in  
prosperity nor adversity4 ,now ,i       
venture to say1 that our legislator is  
the most ancient of all the legislators 
whom we have ally where heard of2 for as
 for the ,lycurguses1 and ,solons1 and  
,zaleucus ,locrensis1 and all those     
legislators who are so admired by the   
,greeks1 they seem to be of yesterday1  
if compared with our legislator1        
insomuch as the very name of a law was  
not so much as known in old times among 
the ,grecians4 ,homer is a witness to   
the truth of this observation1 who never
 uses that term in all his poems2 for   
indeed there was then no such thing     
among them1 but the multitude was       
governed by wise maxims1 and by the     
injunctions of their king4 ,it was also 
a long time that they continued in the  
use of these unwritten customs1 although

 they were always changing them upon    
several occasions4 ,but for our         
legislator1 who was of so much greater  
antiquity than the rest1 as even those  
that speak against us upon all occasions
 do always confess1 he exhibited himself
 to the people as their best governor   
and counselor1 and included in his      
legislation the entire conduct of their 
lives1 and prevailed with them to       
receive it1 and brought it so to pass1  
that those that were made acquainted    
with his laws did most carefully observe
 them4  #ag4 ,but let us consider his   
first and greatest work2 for when it was
 resolved on by our forefathers to leave
 ,egypt1 and return to their own        
country1 this ,moses took the many tell 
thousands that were of the people1 and  
saved them out of many desperate        
distresses1 and brought them home in    
safety4 ,and certainly it was here      
necessary to travel over a country      
without water1 and full of sand1 to     
overcome their enemies1 and1 during     

these battles1 to preserve their        
children1 and their wives1 and their    
prey2 on all which occasions he became  
an excellent general of an army1 and a  
most prudent counselor1 and one that    
took the truest care of them all2 he    
also so brought it about1 that the whole
 multitude depended upon him4 ,and while
 he had them always obedient to what he 
enjoined1 he made no manner of use of   
his authority for his own private       
advantage1 which is the usual time when 
governors gain great powers to          
themselves1 and pave the way for        
tyranny1 and accustom the multitude to  
live very dissolutely2 whereas1 when our
 legislator was in so great authority1  
he1 on the contrary1 thought he ought to
 have regard to piety1 and to show his  
great good-will to the people2 and by   
this means he thought he might show the 
great degree of virtue that was in him1 
and might procure the most lasting      
security to those who had made him their
 governor4 ,when he had therefore come  

to such a good resolution1 and had      
performed such wonderful exploits1 we   
had just reason to look upon ourselves  
as having him for a divine governor and 
counselor4 ,and when he had first       
persuaded himself #ag that his actions  
and designs were agreeable to ,god's    
will1 he thought it his duty to impress1
 above all things1 that notion upon the 
multitude2 for those who have once      
believed that ,god is the inspector of  
their lives1 will not permit themselves 
in any sin4 ,and this is the character  
of our legislator3 he was no impostor1  
no deceiver1 as his revilers say1 though
 unjustly1 but such a one as they brag  
,minos #ah to have been among the       
,greeks1 and other legislators after    
him2 for some of them suppose that they 
had their laws from ,jupiter1 while     
,minos said that the revelation of his  
laws was to be referred to ,apollo1 and 
his oracle at ,delphi1 whether they     
really thought they were so derived1 or 
supposed1 however1 that they could      

persuade the people easily that so it   
was4 ,but which of these it was who made
 the best laws1 and which had the       
greatest reason to believe that ,god was
 their author1 it will be easy1 upon    
comparing those laws themselves         
together1 to determine2 for it is time  
that we come to that point4 #ai ,now    
there are innumerable differences in the
 particular customs and laws that are   
among all mankind1 which a man may      
briefly reduce under the following      
heads3 ,some legislators have permitted 
their governments to be under           
monarchies1 others put them under       
oligarchies1 and others under a         
republican form2 but our legislator had 
no regard to any of these forms1 but he 
ordained our government to be what1 by a
 strained expression1 may be termed a   
,theocracy1 #bj by ascribing the        
authority and the power to ,god1 and by 
persuading all the people to have a     
regard to him1 as the author of all the 
good things that were enjoyed either in 

common by all mankind1 or by each one in
 particular1 and of all that they       
themselves obtained by praying to him in
 their greatest difficulties4 ,he       
informed them that it was impossible to 
escape ,god's observation1 even in any  
of our outward actions1 or in any of our
 inward thoughts4 ,moreover1 he         
represented ,god as unbegotten1 #ba and 
immutable1 through all eternity1        
superior to all mortal conceptions in   
pulchritude2 and1 though known to us by 
his power1 yet unknown to us as to his  
essence4 ,i do not now explain how these
 notions of ,god are the sentiments of  
the wisest among the ,grecians1 and how 
they were taught them upon the          
principles that he afforded them4       
,however1 they testify1 with great      
assurance1 that these notions are just1 
and agreeable to the nature of ,god1 and
 to his majesty2 for ,pythagoras1 and   
,anaxagoras1 and ,plato1 and the ,stoic 
philosophers that succeeded them1 and   
almost all the rest1 are of the same    

sentiments1 and had the same notions of 
the nature of ,god2 yet durst not these 
men disclose those true notions to more 
than a few1 because the body of the     
people were prejudiced with other       
opinions beforehand4 ,but our           
legislator1 who made his actions agree  
to his laws1 did not only prevail with  
those that were his contemporaries to   
agree with these his notions1 but so    
firmly imprinted this faith in ,god upon
 all their posterity1 that it never     
could be removed4 ,the reason why the   
constitution of this legislation was    
ever better directed to the utility of  
all than other legislations were1 is    
this1 that ,moses did not make religion 
a part of virtue1 but he saw and he     
ordained other virtues to be parts of   
religion2 ,i mean justice1 and          
fortitude1 and temperance1 and a        
universal agreement of the members of   
the community with one another2 for all 
our actions and studies1 and all our    
words1 in ,moses's settlement1 have a   

reference to piety towards ,god2 for he 
hath left none of these in suspense1 or 
undetermined4 ,for there are two ways of
 coming at any sort of learning and a   
moral conduct of life2 the one is by    
instruction in words1 the other by      
practical exercises4 ,now other         
lawgivers have separated these two ways 
in their opinions1 and choosing one of  
those ways of instruction1 or that which
 best pleased every one of them1        
neglected the other4 ,thus did the      
,lacedemonians and the ,cretians teach  
by practical exercises1 but not by      
words2 while the ,athenians1 and almost 
all the other ,grecians1 made laws about
 what was to be done1 or left undone1   
but had no regard to the exercising them
 thereto in practice4  #ah4 ,but for our
 legislator1 he very carefully joined   
these two methods of instruction        
together2 for he neither left these     
practical exercises to go on without    
verbal instruction1 nor did he permit   
the hearing of the law to proceed       

without the exercises for practice2 but 
beginning immediately from the earliest 
infancy1 and the appointment of every   
one's diet1 he left nothing of the very 
smallest consequence to be done at the  
pleasure and disposal of the person     
himself4 ,accordingly1 he made a fixed  
rule of law what sorts of food they     
should abstain from1 and what sorts they
 should make use of2 as also1 what      
communion they should have with others  
what great diligence they should use in 
their occupations1 and what times of    
rest should be interposed1 that1 by     
living under that law as under a father 
and a master1 we might be guilty of no  
sin1 neither voluntary nor out of       
ignorance2 for he did not suffer the    
guilt of ignorance to go on without     
punishment1 but demonstrated the law to 
be the best and the most necessary      
instruction of all others1 permitting   
the people to leave off their other     
employments1 and to assemble together   
for the hearing of the law1 and learning

 it exactly1 and this not once or twice1
 or oftener1 but every week2 which thing
 all the other legislators seem to have 
neglected4  #ai4 ,and indeed the        
greatest part of mankind are so far from
 living according to their own laws1    
that they hardly know them2 but when    
they have sinned1 they learn from others
 that they have transgressed the law4   
,those also who are in the highest and  
principal posts of the government1      
confess they are not acquainted with    
those laws1 and are obliged to take such
 persons for their assessors in public  
administrations as profess to have skill
 in those laws2 but for our people1 if  
any body do but ask any one of them     
about our laws1 he will more readily    
tell them all than he will tell his own 
name1 and this in consequence of our    
having learned them immediately as soon 
as ever we became sensible of any thing1
 and of our having them as it were      
engraven on our souls4 ,our             
transgressors of them are but few1 and  

it is impossible1 when any do offend1 to
 escape punishment4  #bj4 ,and this very
 thing it is that principally creates   
such a wonderful agreement of minds     
amongst us all2 for this entire         
agreement of ours in all our notions    
concerning ,god1 and our having no      
difference in our course of life and    
manners1 procures among us the most     
excellent concord of these our manners  
that is any where among mankind2 for no 
other people but the ,jews have avoided 
all discourses about ,god that any way  
contradict one another1 which yet are   
frequent among other nations2 and this  
is true not only among ordinary persons1
 according as every one is affected1 but
 some of the philosophers have been     
insolent enough to indulge such         
contradictions1 while some of them have 
undertaken to use such words as entirely
 take away the nature of ,god1 as others
 of them have taken away his providence 
over mankind4 ,nor can any one perceive 
amongst us any difference in the conduct

 of our lives1 but all our works are    
common to us all4 ,we have one sort of  
discourse concerning ,god1 which is     
conformable to our law1 and affirms that
 he sees all things2 as also we have but
 one way of speaking concerning the     
conduct of our lives1 that all other    
things ought to have piety for their    
end2 and this any body may hear from our
 women1 and servants themselves4  #ba4  
,and1 indeed1 hence hath arisen that    
accusation which some make against us1  
that we have not produced men that have 
been the inventors of new operations1 or
 of new ways of speaking2 for others    
think it a fine thing to persevere in   
nothing that has been delivered down    
from their forefathers1 and these       
testify it to be an instance of the     
sharpest wisdom when these men venture  
to transgress those traditions2 whereas 
we1 on the contrary1 suppose it to be   
our only wisdom and virtue to admit no  
actions nor supposals that are contrary 
to our original laws2 which procedure of

 ours is a just and sure sign that our  
law is admirably constituted2 for such  
laws as are not thus well made are      
convicted upon trial to want amendment4 
#bb4 ,but while we are ourselves        
persuaded that our law was made         
agreeably to the will of ,god1 it would 
be impious for us not to observe the    
same2 for what is there in it that any  
body would change8 and what can be      
invented that is better8 or what can we 
take out of other people's laws that    
will exceed it8 ,perhaps some would have
 the entire settlement of our government
 altered4 ,and where shall we find a    
better or more righteous constitution   
than ours1 while this makes us esteem   
,god to be the ,governor of the         
universe1 and permits the priests in    
general to be the administrators of the 
principal affairs1 and withal intrusts  
the government over the other priests to
 the chief high priest himself8 which   
priests our legislator1 at their first  
appointment1 did not advance to that    

dignity for their riches1 or any        
abundance of other possessions1 or any  
plenty they had as the gifts of fortune2
 but he intrusted the principal         
management of ,divine worship to those  
that exceeded others in an ability to   
persuade men1 and in prudence of        
conduct4 ,these men had the main care of
 the law and of the other parts of the  
people's conduct committed to them2 for 
they were the priests who were ordained 
to be the inspectors of all1 and the    
judges in doubtful cases1 and the       
punishers of those that were condemned  
to suffer punishment4  #bc4 ,what form  
of government then can be more holy than
 this8 what more worthy kind of worship 
can be paid to ,god than we pay1 where  
the entire body of the people are       
prepared for religion1 where an         
extraordinary degree of care is required
 in the priests1 and where the whole    
polity is so ordered as if it were a    
certain religious solemnity8 ,for what  
things foreigners1 when they solemnize  

such festivals1 are not able to observe 
for a few days' time1 and call them     
,mysteries and ,sacred ,ceremonies1 we  
observe with great pleasure and an      
unshaken resolution during our whole    
lives4 ,what are the things then that we
 are commanded or forbidden8 ,they are  
simple1 and easily known4 ,the first    
command is concerning ,god1 and affirms 
that ,god contains all things1 and is a 
,being every way perfect and happy1     
self-sufficient1 and supplying all other
 beings2 the beginning1 the middle1 and 
the end of all things4 ,he is manifest  
in his works and benefits1 and more     
conspicuous than any other being        
whatsoever2 but as to his form and      
magnitude1 he is most obscure4 ,all     
materials1 let them be ever so costly1  
are unworthy to compose an image for    
him1 and all arts are unartful to       
express the notion we ought to have of  
him4 ,we can neither see nor think of   
any thing like him1 nor is it agreeable 
to piety to form a resemblance of him4  

,we see his works1 the light1 the       
heaven1 the earth1 the sun and the moon1
 the waters1 the generations of animals1
 the productions of fruits4 ,these      
things hath ,god made1 not with hands1  
nor with labor1 nor as wanting the      
assistance of any to cooperate with him2
 but as his will resolved they should be
 made and be good also1 they were made  
and became good immediately4 ,all men   
ought to follow this ,being1 and to     
worship him in the exercise of virtue2  
for this way of worship of ,god is the  
most holy of all others4  #bd4 ,there   
ought also to be but one temple for one 
,god2 for likeness is the constant      
foundation of agreement4 ,this temple   
ought to be common to all men1 because  
he is the common ,god of all men4 ,high 
priests are to be continually about his 
worship1 over whom he that is the first 
by his birth is to be their ruler       
perpetually4 ,his business must be to   
offer sacrifices to ,god1 together with 
those priests that are joined with him1 

to see that the laws be observed1 to    
determine controversies1 and to punish  
those that are convicted of injustice2  
while he that does not submit to him    
shall be subject to the same punishment1
 as if he had been guilty of impiety    
towards ,god himself4 ,when we offer    
sacrifices to him1 we do it not in order
 to surfeit ourselves1 or to be drunken2
 for such excesses are against the will 
of ,god1 and would be an occasion of    
injuries and of luxury2 but by keeping  
ourselves sober1 orderly1 and ready for 
our other occupations1 and being more   
temperate than others4 ,and for our duty
 at the sacrifices #bb themselves1 we   
ought1 in the first place1 to pray for  
the common welfare of all1 and after    
that for our own2 for we are made for   
fellowship one with another1 and he who 
prefers the common good before what is  
peculiar to himself is above all        
acceptable to ,god4 ,and let our prayers
 and supplications be made humbly to    
,god1 not so much that he would give us 

what is good1 for he hath already given 
that of his own accord1 and hath        
proposed the same publicly to all1 as   
that we may duly receive it1 and when we
 have received it1 may preserve it4 ,now
 the law has appointed several          
purifications at our sacrifices1 whereby
 we are cleansed after a funeral1 after 
what sometimes happens to us in bed1 and
 after accompanying with our wives1 and 
upon many other occasions1 which it     
would be too long now to set down4 ,and 
this is our doctrine concerning ,god and
 his worship1 and is the same that the  
law appoints for our practice4  #be4    
,but1 then1 what are our laws about     
marriage8 ,that law owns no other       
mixture of sexes but that which nature  
hath appointed1 of a man with his wife1 
and that this be used only for the      
procreation of children4 ,but it abhors 
the mixture of a male with a male2 and  
if any one do that1 death is its        
punishment4 ,it commands us also1 when  
we marry1 not to have regard to portion1

 nor to take a woman by violence1 nor to
 persuade her deceitfully and knavishly2
 but to demand her in marriage of him   
who hath power to dispose of her1 and is
 fit to give her away by the nearness of
 his kindred2 for1 says the ,scripture1 
,a woman is inferior to her husband in  
all things4 #bc ,let her1 therefore1 be 
obedient to him2 not so that he should  
abuse her1 but that she may acknowledge 
her duty to her husband2 for ,god hath  
given the authority to the husband4 ,a  
husband1 therefore1 is to lie only with 
his wife whom he hath married2 but to   
have to do with another man's wife is a 
wicked thing1 which1 if any one ventures
 upon1 death is inevitably his          
punishment3 no more can he avoid the    
same who forces a virgin betrothed to   
another man1 or entices another man's   
wife4 ,the law1 moreover1 enjoins us to 
bring up all our offspring1 and forbids 
women to cause abortion of what is      
begotten1 or to destroy it afterward2   
and if any woman appears to have so     

done1 she will be a murderer of her     
child1 by destroying a living creature1 
and diminishing human kind2 if any one1 
therefore1 proceeds to such fornication 
or murder1 he cannot be clean4          
,moreover1 the law enjoins1 that after  
the man and wife have lain together in a
 regular way1 they shall bathe          
themselves2 for there is a defilement   
contracted thereby1 both in soul and    
body1 as if they had gone into another  
country2 for indeed the soul1 by being  
united to the body1 is subject to       
miseries1 and is not freed therefrom    
again but by death2 on which account the
 law requires this purification to be   
entirely performed4  #bf4 ,nay1 indeed1 
the law does not permit us to make      
festivals at the births of our children1
 and thereby afford occasion of drinking
 to excess2 but it ordains that the very
 beginning of our education should be   
immediately directed to sobriety4 ,it   
also commands us to bring those children
 up in learning1 and to exercise them in

 the laws1 and make them acquainted with
 the acts of their predecessors1 in     
order to their imitation of them1 and   
that they might be nourished up in the  
laws from their infancy1 and might      
neither transgress them1 nor have any   
pretense for their ignorance of them4   
#bg4 ,our law hath also taken care of   
the decent burial of the dead1 but      
without any extravagant expenses for    
their funerals1 and without the erection
 of any illustrious monuments for them2 
but hath ordered that their nearest     
relations should perform their          
obsequies2 and hath showed it to be     
regular1 that all who pass by when any  
one is buried should accompany the      
funeral1 and join in the lamentation4   
,it also ordains that the house and its 
inhabitants should be purified after the
 funeral is over1 that every one may    
thence learn to keep at a great distance
 from the thoughts of being pure1 if he 
hath been once guilty of murder4  #bh4  
,the law ordains also1 that parents     

should be honored immediately after ,god
 himself1 and delivers that son who does
 not requite them for the benefits he   
hath received from them1 but is         
deficient on any such occasion1 to be   
stoned4 ,it also says that the young men
 should pay due respect to every elder1 
since ,god is the eldest of all beings4 
,it does not give leave to conceal any  
thing from our friends1 because that is 
not true friendship which will not      
commit all things to their fidelity3 it 
also forbids the revelation of secrets1 
even though an enmity arise between     
them4 ,if any judge takes bribes1 his   
punishment is death3 he that overlooks  
one that offers him a petition1 and this
 when he is able to relieve him1 he is a
 guilty person4 ,what is not by any one 
intrusted to another ought not to be    
required back again4 ,no one is to touch
 another's goods4 ,he that lends money  
must not demand usury for its loan4     
,these1 and many more of the like sort1 
are the rules that unite us in the bands

 of society one with another4  #bi4 ,it 
will be also worth our while to see what
 equity our legislator would have us    
exercise in our intercourse with        
strangers2 for it will thence appear    
that he made the best provision he      
possibly could1 both that we should not 
dissolve our own constitution1 nor show 
any envious mind towards those that     
would cultivate a friendship with us4   
,accordingly1 our legislator admits all 
those that have a mind to observe our   
laws so to do2 and this after a friendly
 manner1 as esteeming that a true union 
which not only extends to our own stock1
 but to those that would live after the 
same manner with us2 yet does he not    
allow those that come to us by accident 
only to be admitted into communion with 
us4  #cj4 ,however1 there are other     
things which our legislator ordained for
 us beforehand1 which of necessity we   
ought to do in common to all men2 as to 
afford fire1 and water1 and food to such
 as want it2 to show them the roads2 not

 to let any one lie unburied4 ,he also  
would have us treat those that are      
esteemed our enemies with moderation2   
for he doth not allow us to set their   
country on fire1 nor permit us to cut   
down those trees that bear fruit2 nay1  
further1 he forbids us to spoil those   
that have been slain in war4 ,he hath   
also provided for such as are taken     
captive1 that they may not be injured1  
and especially that the women may not be
 abused4 ,indeed he hath taught us      
gentleness and humanity so effectually1 
that he hath not despised the care of   
brute beasts1 by permitting no other    
than a regular use of them1 and         
forbidding any other2 and if any of them
 come to our houses1 like supplicants1  
we are forbidden to slay them2 nor may  
we kill the dams1 together with their   
young ones2 but we are obliged1 even in 
an enemy's country1 to spare and not    
kill those creatures that labor for     
mankind4 ,thus hath our lawgiver        
contrived to teach us an equitable      

conduct every way1 by using us to such  
laws as instruct us therein2 while at   
the same time he hath ordained that such
 as break these laws should be punished1
 without the allowance of any excuse    
whatsoever4  #ca4 ,now the greatest part
 of offenses with us are capital2 as if 
any one be guilty of adultery2 if any   
one force a virgin2 if any one be so    
impudent as to attempt sodomy with a    
male2 or if1 upon another's making an   
attempt upon him1 he submits to be so   
used4 ,there is also a law for slaves of
 the like nature1 that can never be     
avoided4 ,moreover1 if any one cheats   
another in measures or weights1 or makes
 a knavish bargain and sale1 in order to
 cheat another2 if any one steals what  
belongs to another1 and takes what he   
never deposited2 all these have         
punishments allotted them2 not such as  
are met with among other nations1 but   
more severe ones4 ,and as for attempts  
of unjust behavior towards parents1 or  
for impiety against ,god1 though they be

 not actually accomplished1 the         
offenders are destroyed immediately4    
,however1 the reward for such as live   
exactly according to the laws is not    
silver or gold2 it is not a garland of  
olive branches or of small age1 nor any 
such public sign of commendation2 but   
every good man hath his own conscience  
bearing witness to himself1 and by      
virtue of our legislator's prophetic    
spirit1 and of the firm security ,god   
himself affords such a one1 he believes 
that ,god hath made this grant to those 
that observe these laws1 even though    
they be obliged readily to die for them1
 that they shall come into being again1 
and at a certain revolution of things   
shall receive a better life than they   
had enjoyed before4 ,nor would ,i       
venture to write thus at this time1 were
 it not well known to all by our actions
 that many of our people have many a    
time bravely resolved to endure any     
sufferings1 rather than speak one word  
against our law4  #cb4 ,nay1 indeed1 in 

case it had so fallen out1 that our     
nation had not been so thoroughly known 
among all men as they are1 and our      
voluntary submission to our laws had not
 been so open and manifest as it is1 but
 that somebody had pretended to have    
written these laws himself1 and had read
 them to the ,greeks1 or had pretended  
that he had met with men out of the     
limits of the known world1 that had such
 reverent notions of ,god1 and had      
continued a long time in the firm       
observance of such laws as ours1 ,i     
cannot but suppose that all men would   
admire them on a reflection upon the    
frequent changes they had therein been  
themselves subject to2 and this while   
those that have attempted to write      
somewhat of the same kind for politic   
government1 and for laws1 are accused as
 composing monstrous things1 and are    
said to have undertaken an impossible   
task upon them4 ,and here ,i will say   
nothing of those other philosophers who 
have undertaken any thing of this nature

 in their writings4 ,but even ,plato    
himself1 who is so admired by the       
,greeks on account of that gravity in   
his manners1 and force in his words1 and
 that ability he had to persuade men    
beyond all other philosophers1 is little
 better than laughed at and exposed to  
ridicule on that account1 by those that 
pretend to sagacity in political        
affairs2 although he that shall         
diligently peruse his writings will find
 his precepts to be somewhat gentle1 and
 pretty near to the customs of the      
generality of mankind4 ,nay1 ,plato     
himself confesseth that it is not safe  
to publish the true notion concerning   
,god among the ignorant multitude4 ,yet 
do some men look upon ,plato's          
discourses as no better than certain    
idle words set off with great artifice4 
,however1 they admire ,lycurgus as the  
principal lawgiver1 and all men         
celebrate ,sparta for having continued  
in the firm observance of his laws for a
 very long time4 ,so far then we have   

gained1 that it is to be confessed a    
mark of virtue to submit to laws4 #bd   
,but then let such as admire this in the
 ,lacedemonians compare that duration of
 theirs with more than two thousand     
years which our political government    
hath continued2 and let them further    
consider1 that though the ,lacedemonians
 did seem to observe their laws exactly 
while they enjoyed their liberty1 yet   
that when they underwent a change of    
their fortune1 they forgot almost all   
those laws2 while we1 having been under 
ten thousand changes in our fortune by  
the changes that happened among the     
kings of ,asia1 have never betrayed our 
laws under the most pressing distresses 
we have been in2 nor have we neglected  
them either out of sloth or for a       
livelihood4 #be if any one will consider
 it1 the difficulties and labors laid   
upon us have been greater than what     
appears to have been borne by the       
,lacedemonian fortitude1 while they     
neither ploughed their land1 nor        

exercised any trades1 but lived in their
 own city1 free from all such           
pains-taking1 in the enjoyment of       
plenty1 and using such exercises as     
might improve their bodies1 while they  
made use of other men as their servants 
for all the necessaries of life1 and had
 their food prepared for them by the    
others2 and these good and humane       
actions they do for no other purpose but
 this1 that by their actions and their  
sufferings they may be able to conquer  
all those against whom they make war4 ,i
 need not add this1 that they have not  
been fully able to observe their laws2  
for not only a few single persons1 but  
multitudes of them1 have in heaps       
neglected those laws1 and have delivered
 themselves1 together with their arms1  
into the hands of their enemies4  #cc4  
,now as for ourselves1 ,i venture to say
 that no one can tell of so many2 nay1  
not of more than one or two that have   
betrayed our laws1 no1 not out of fear  
of death itself2 ,i do not mean such an 

easy death as happens in battles1 but   
that which comes with bodily torments1  
and seems to be the severest kind of    
death of all others4 ,now ,i think those
 that have conquered us have put us to  
such deaths1 not out of their hatred to 
us when they had subdued us1 but rather 
out of their desire of seeing a         
surprising sight1 which is this1 whether
 there be such men in the world who     
believe that no evil is to them so great
 as to be compelled to do or to speak   
any thing contrary to their own laws4   
,nor ought men to wonder at us1 if we   
are more courageous in dying for our    
laws than all other men are2 for other  
men do not easily submit to the easier  
things in which we are instituted2 ,i   
mean working with our hands1 and eating 
but little1 and being contented to eat  
and drink1 not at random1 or at every   
one's pleasure1 or being under          
inviolable rules in lying with our      
wives1 in magnificent furniture1 and    
again in the observation of our times of

 rest2 while those that can use their   
swords in war1 and can put their enemies
 to flight when they attack them1 cannot
 bear to submit to such laws about their
 way of living3 whereas our being       
accustomed willingly to submit to laws  
in these instances1 renders us fit to   
show our fortitude upon other occasions 
also4  #cd4 ,yet do the ,lysimachi and  
the ,molones1 and some other writers1   
unskillful sophists as they are1 and the
 deceivers of young men1 reproach us as 
the vilest of all mankind4 ,now ,i have 
no mind to make an inquiry into the laws
 of other nations2 for the custom of our
 country is to keep our own laws1 but   
not to bring accusations against the    
laws of others4 ,and indeed our         
legislator hath expressly forbidden us  
to laugh at and revile those that are   
esteemed gods by other people8 on       
account of the very name of ,god        
ascribed to them4 ,but since our        
antagonists think to run us down upon   
the comparison of their religion and    

ours1 it is not possible to keep silence
 here1 especially while what ,i shall   
say to confute these men will not be now
 first said1 but hath been already said 
by many1 and these of the highest       
reputation also2 for who is there among 
those that have been admired among the  
,greeks for wisdom1 who hath not greatly
 blamed both the most famous poets1 and 
most celebrated legislators1 for        
spreading such notions originally among 
the body of the people concerning the   
gods8 such as these1 that they may be   
allowed to be as numerous as they have a
 mind to have them2 that they are       
begotten one by another1 and that after 
all the kinds of generation you can     
imagine4 ,they also distinguish them in 
their places and ways of living as they 
would distinguish several sorts of      
animals2 as some to be under the earth2 
as some to be in the sea2 and the       
ancientest of them all to be bound in   
hell2 and for those to whom they have   
allotted heaven1 they have set over them

 one1 who in title is their father1 but 
in his actions a tyrant and a lord2     
whence it came to pass that his wife1   
and brother1 and daughter which daughter
 he brought forth from his own head made
 a conspiracy against him to seize upon 
him and confine hint1 as he had himself 
seized upon and confined his own father 
before4  #ce4 ,and justly have the      
wisest men thought these notions        
deserved severe rebukes2 they also laugh
 at them for determining that we ought  
to believe some of the gods to be       
beardless and young1 and others of them 
to be old1 and to have beards           
accordingly2 that some are set to       
trades2 that one god is a smith1 and    
another goddess is a weaver2 that one   
god is a warrior1 and fights with men2  
that some of them are harpers1 or       
delight in archery2 and besides1 that   
mutual seditions arise among them1 and  
that they quarrel about men1 and this so
 far1 that they not only lay hands upon 
one another1 but that they are wounded  

by men1 and lament1 and take on for such
 their afflictions4 ,but what is the    
grossest of all in point of             
lasciviousness1 are those unbounded     
lusts ascribed to almost all of them1   
and their amours2 which how can it be   
other than a most absurd supposal1      
especially when it reaches to the male  
gods1 and to the female goddesses also8 
,moreover1 the chief of all their gods1 
and their first father himself1         
overlooks those goddesses whom he hath  
deluded and begotten with child1 and    
suffers them to be kept in prison1 or   
drowned in the sea4 ,he is also so bound
 up by fate1 that he cannot save his own
 offspring1 nor can he bear their deaths
 without shedding of tears4 ,these are  
fine things indeed6 as are the rest that
 follow4 ,adulteries truly are so       
impudently looked on in heaven by the   
gods1 that some of them have confessed  
they envied those that were found in the
 very act4 ,and why should they not do  
so1 when the eldest of them1 who is     

their king also1 hath not been able to  
restrain himself in the violence of his 
lust1 from lying with his wife1 so long 
as they might get into their bedchamber8
 ,now some of the gods are servants to  
men1 and will sometimes be builders for 
a reward1 and sometimes will be         
shepherds2 while others of them1 like   
malefactors1 are bound in a prison of   
brass4 ,and what sober person is there  
who would not be provoked at such       
stories1 and rebuke those that forged   
them1 and condemn the great silliness of
 those that admit them for true8 ,nay1  
others there are that have advanced a   
certain timorousness and fear1 as also  
madness and fraud1 and any other of the 
vilest passions1 into the nature and    
form of gods1 and have persuaded whole  
cities to offer sacrifices to the better
 sort of them2 on which account they    
have been absolutely forced to esteem   
some gods as the givers of good things1 
and to call others of them averters of  
evil4 ,they also endeavor to move them1 

as they would the vilest of men1 by     
gifts and presents1 as looking for      
nothing else than to receive some great 
mischief from them1 unless they pay them
 such wages4  #cf4 ,wherefore it        
deserves our inquiry what should be the 
occasion of this unjust management1 and 
of these scandals about the ,deity4 ,and
 truly ,i suppose it to be derived from 
the imperfect knowledge the heathen     
legislators had at first of the true    
nature of ,god2 nor did they explain to 
the people even so far as they did      
comprehend of it3 nor did they compose  
the other parts of their political      
settlements according to it1 but omitted
 it as a thing of very little           
consequence1 and gave leave both to the 
poets to introduce what gods they       
pleased1 and those subject to all sorts 
of passions1 and to the orators to      
procure political decrees from the      
people for the admission of such foreign
 gods as they thought proper4 ,the      
painters also1 and statuaries of        

,greece1 had herein great power1 as each
 of them could contrive a shape proper  
for a god2 the one to be formed out of  
clay1 and the other by making a bare    
picture of such a one4 ,but those       
workmen that were principally admired1  
had the use of ivory and of gold as the 
constant materials for their new statues
 whereby it comes to pass that some     
temples are quite deserted1 while others
 are in great esteem1 and adorned with  
all the rites of all kinds of           
purification4 ,besides this1 the first  
gods1 who have long flourished in the   
honors done them1 are now grown old     
while those that flourished after them  
are come in their room as a second rank1
 that ,i may speak the most honorably of
 them ,i can3 nay1 certain other gods   
there are who are newly introduced1 and 
newly worshipped as we1 by way of       
digression1 have said already1 and yet  
have left their places of worship       
desolate2 and for their temples1 some of
 them are already left desolate1 and    

others are built anew1 according to the 
pleasure of men2 whereas they ought to  
have their opinion about ,god1 and that 
worship which is due to him1 always and 
immutably the same4  #cg4 ,but now1 this
 ,apollonius ,molo was one of these     
foolish and proud men4 ,however1 nothing
 that ,i have said was unknown to those 
that were real philosophers among the   
,greeks1 nor were they unacquainted with
 those frigid pretensions of allegories 
which had been alleged for such things2 
on which account they justly despised   
them1 but have still agreed with us as  
to the true and becoming notions of     
,god2 whence it was that ,plato would   
not have political settlements admit to 
of any one of the other poets1 and      
dismisses even ,homer himself1 with a   
garland on his head1 and with ointment  
poured upon him1 and this because he    
should not destroy the right notions of 
,god with his fables4 ,nay1 ,plato      
principally imitated our legislator in  
this point1 that he enjoined his        

citizens to have he main regard to this 
precept1 ,that every one of them should 
learn their laws accurately4 ,he also   
ordained1 that they should not admit of 
foreigners intermixing with their own   
people at random2 and provided that the 
commonwealth should keep itself pure1   
and consist of such only as persevered  
in their own laws4 ,apollonius ,molo did
 no way consider this1 when he made it  
one branch of his accusation against us1
 that we do not admit of such as have   
different notions about ,god1 nor will  
we have fellowship with those that      
choose to observe a way of living       
different from ourselves1 yet is not    
this method peculiar to us1 but common  
to all other men2 not among the ordinary
 ,grecians only1 but among such of those
 ,grecians as are of the greatest       
reputation among them4 ,moreover1 the   
,lacedemonians continued in their way of
 expelling foreigners1 and would not    
indeed give leave to their own people to
 travel abroad1 as suspecting that those

 two things would introduce a           
dissolution of their own laws3 and      
perhaps there may be some reason to     
blame the rigid severity of the         
,lacedemonians1 for they bestowed the   
privilege of their city on no           
foreigners1 nor indeed would give leave 
to them to stay among them2 whereas we1 
though we do not think fit to imitate   
other institutions1 yet do we willingly 
admit of those that desire to partake of
 ours1 which1 ,i think1 ,i may reckon to
 be a plain indication of our humanity1 
and at the same time of our magnanimity 
also4  #ch4 ,but ,i shall say no more of
 the ,lacedemonians4 ,as for the        
,athenians1 who glory in having made    
their city to be common to all men1 what
 their behavior was ,apollonius did not 
know1 while they punished those that did
 but speak one word contrary to the laws
 about the gods1 without any mercy2 for 
on what other account was it that       
,socrates was put to death by them8 ,for
 certainly he neither betrayed their    

city to its enemies1 nor was he guilty  
of any sacrilege with regard to any of  
their temples2 but it was on this       
account1 that he swore certain new oaths
 #bf and that he affirmed either in     
earnest1 or1 as some say1 only in jest1 
that a certain demon used to make signs 
to him what he should not do4 ,for these
 reasons he was condemned to drink      
poison1 and kill himself4 ,his accuser  
also complained that he corrupted the   
young men1 by inducing them to despise  
the political settlement and laws of    
their city3 and thus was ,socrates1 the 
citizen of ,athens1 punished4 ,there was
 also ,anaxagoras1 who1 although he was 
of ,clazomente1 was within a few        
suffrages of being condemned to die1    
because he said the sun1 which the      
,athenians thought to be a god1 was a   
ball of fire4 ,they also made this      
public proclamation1 ,that they would   
give a talent to any one who would kill 
,diagoras of ,melos1 because it was     
reported of him that he laughed at their

 mysteries4 ,protagoras also1 who was   
thought to have written somewhat that   
was not owned for truth by the          
,athenians about the gods1 had been     
seized upon1 and put to death1 if he had
 not fled away immediately4 ,nor need we
 at all wonder that they thus treated   
such considerable men1 when they did not
 spare even women also2 for they very   
lately slew a certain priestess1 because
 she was accused by somebody that she   
initiated people into the worship of    
strange gods1 it having been forbidden  
so to do by one of their laws2 and a    
capital punishment had been decreed to  
such as introduced a strange god2 it    
being manifest1 that they who make use  
of such a law do not believe those of   
other nations to be really gods1        
otherwise they had not envied themselves
 the advantage of more gods than they   
already had4 ,and this was the happy    
administration of the affairs of the    
,athenians6 ,now as to the ,scythians1  
they take a pleasure in killing men1 and

 differ but little from brute beasts2   
yet do they think it reasonable to have 
their institutions observed4 ,they also 
slew ,anacharsis1 a person greatly      
admired for his wisdom among the        
,greeks1 when he returned to them1      
because he appeared to come fraught with
 ,grecian customs4 ,one may also find   
many to have been punished among the    
,persians1 on the very same account4    
,and to be sure ,apollonius was greatly 
pleased with the laws of the ,persians1 
and was an admirer of them1 because the 
,greeks enjoyed the advantage of their  
courage1 and had the very same opinion  
about the gods which they had4 ,this    
last was exemplified in the temples     
which they burnt1 and their courage in  
coming1 and almost entirely enslaving   
the ,grecians4 ,however1 ,apollonius has
 imitated all the ,persian institutions1
 and that by his offering violence to   
other men's wives1 and gelding his own  
sons4 ,now1 with us1 it is a capital    
crime1 if any one does thus abuse even a

 brute beast2 and as for us1 neither    
hath the fear of our governors1 nor a   
desire of following what other nations  
have in so great esteem1 been able to   
withdraw us from our own laws2 nor have 
we exerted our courage in raising up    
wars to increase our wealth1 but only   
for the observation of our laws2 and    
when we with patience bear other losses1
 yet when any persons would compel us to
 break our laws1 then it is that we     
choose to go to war1 though it be beyond
 our ability to pursue it1 and bear the 
greatest calamities to the last with    
much fortitude4 ,and1 indeed1 what      
reason can there be why we should desire
 to imitate the laws of other nations1  
while we see they are not observed by   
their own legislators #bg ,and why do   
not the ,lacedemonians think of         
abolishing that form of their government
 which suffers them not to associate    
with any others1 as well as their       
contempt of matrimony8 ,and why do not  
the ,eleans and ,thebans abolish that   

unnatural and impudent lust1 which makes
 them lie with males8 ,for they will not
 show a sufficient sign of their        
repentance of what they of old thought  
to be very excellent1 and very          
advantageous in their practices1 unless 
they entirely avoid all such actions for
 the time to come3 nay1 such things are 
inserted into the body of their laws1   
and had once such a power among the     
,greeks1 that they ascribed these       
sodomitical practices to the gods       
themselves1 as a part of their good     
character2 and indeed it was according  
to the same manner that the gods married
 their own sisters4 ,this the ,greeks   
contrived as an apology for their own   
absurd and unnatural pleasures4  #ci4 ,i
 omit to speak concerning punishments1  
and how many ways of escaping them the  
greatest part of the legislators have   
afforded malefactors1 by ordaining that1
 for adulteries1 fines in money should  
be allowed1 and for corrupting #bh      
virgins they need only marry them as    

also what excuses they may have in      
denying the facts1 if any one attempts  
to inquire into them2 for amongst most  
other nations it is a studied art how   
men may transgress their laws2 but no   
such thing is permitted amongst us2 for 
though we be deprived of our wealth1 of 
our cities1 or of the other advantages  
we have1 our law continues immortal2 nor
 can any ,jew go so far from his own    
country1 nor be so aftrighted at the    
severest lord1 as not to be more        
aftrighted at the law than at him4 ,if1 
therefore1 this be the disposition we   
are under1 with regard to the excellency
 of our laws1 let our enemies make us   
this concession1 that our laws are most 
excellent2 and if still they imagine1   
that though we so firmly adhere to them1
 yet are they bad laws notwithstanding1 
what penalties then do they deserve to  
undergo who do not observe their own    
laws1 which they esteem so far superior 
to them8 ,whereas1 therefore1 length of 
time is esteemed to be the truest       

touchstone in all cases1 ,i would make  
that a testimonial of the excellency of 
our laws1 and of that belief thereby    
delivered to us concerning ,god4 ,for as
 there hath been a very long time for   
this comparison1 if any one will but    
compare its duration with the duration  
of the laws made by other legislators1  
he will find our legislator to have been
 the ancientest of them all4  #dj4 ,we  
have already demonstrated that our laws 
have been such as have always inspired  
admiration and imitation into all other 
men2 nay1 the earliest ,grecian         
philosophers1 though in appearance they 
observed the laws of their own          
countries1 yet did they1 in their       
actions1 and their philosophic          
doctrines1 follow our legislator1 and   
instructed men to live sparingly1 and to
 have friendly communication one with   
another4 ,nay1 further1 the multitude of
 mankind itself have had a great        
inclination of a long time to follow our
 religious observances2 for there is not

 any city of the ,grecians1 nor any of  
the barbarians1 nor any nation          
whatsoever1 whither our custom of       
resting on the seventh day hath not     
come1 and by which our fasts and        
lighting up lamps1 and many of our      
prohibitions as to our food1 are not    
observed2 they also endeavor to imitate 
our mutual concord with one another1 and
 the charitable distribution of our     
goods1 and our diligence in our trades1 
and our fortitude in undergoing the     
distresses we are in1 on account of our 
laws2 and1 what is here matter of the   
greatest admiration1 our law hath no    
bait of pleasure to allure men to it1   
but it prevails by its own force2 and as
 ,god himself pervades all the world1 so
 hath our law passed through all the    
world also4 ,so that if any one will but
 reflect on his own country1 and his own
 family1 he will have reason to give    
credit to what ,i say4 ,it is therefore 
but just1 either to condemn all mankind 
of indulging a wicked disposition1 when 

they have been so desirous of imitating 
laws that are to them foreign and evil  
in themselves1 rather than following    
laws of their own that are of a better  
character1 or else our accusers must    
leave off their spite against us4 ,nor  
are we guilty of any envious behavior   
towards them1 when we honor our own     
legislator1 and believe what he1 by his 
prophetic authority1 hath taught us     
concerning ,god4 ,for though we should  
not be able ourselves to understand the 
excellency of our own laws1 yet would   
the great multitude of those that desire
 to imitate them1 justify us1 in greatly
 valuing ourselves upon them4  #da4 ,but
 as for the distinct political laws by  
which we are governed1 ,i have delivered
 them accurately in my books of         
,antiquities2 and have only mentioned   
them now1 so far as was necessary to my 
present purpose1 without proposing to   
myself either to blame the laws of other
 nations1 or to make an encomium upon   
our own2 but in order to convict those  

that have written about us unjustly1 and
 in an impudent affectation of          
disguising the truth4 ,and now ,i think 
,i have sufficiently completed what ,i  
proposed in writing these books4 ,for   
whereas our accusers have pretended that
 our nation are a people of very late   
original1 ,i have demonstrated that they
 are exceeding ancient2 for ,i have     
produced as witnesses thereto many      
ancient writers1 who have made mention  
of us in their books1 while they had    
said that no such writer had so done4   
,moreover1 they had said that we were   
sprung from the ,egyptians1 while ,i    
have proved that we came from another   
country into ,egypt3 while they had told
 lies of us1 as if we were expelled     
thence on account of diseases on our    
bodies1 it has appeared1 on the         
contrary1 that we returned to our       
country by our own choice1 and with     
sound and strong bodies4 ,those accusers
 reproached our legislator as a vile    
fellow2 whereas ,god in old time bare   

witness to his virtuous conduct2 and    
since that testimony of ,god1 time      
itself hath been discovered to have     
borne witness to the same thing4  #db4  
,as to the laws themselves1 more words  
are unnecessary1 for they are visible in
 their own nature1 and appear to teach  
not impiety1 but the truest piety in the
 world4 ,they do not make men hate one  
another1 but encourage people to        
communicate what they have to one       
another freely2 they are enemies to     
injustice1 they take care of            
righteousness1 they banish idleness and 
expensive living1 and instruct men to be
 content with what they have1 and to be 
laborious in their calling2 they forbid 
men to make war from a desire of getting
 more1 but make men courageous in       
defending the laws2 they are inexorable 
in punishing malefactors2 they admit no 
sophistry of words1 but are always      
established by actions themselves1 which
 actions we ever propose as surer       
demonstrations than what is contained in

 writing only3 on which account ,i am so
 bold as to say that we are become the  
teachers of other men1 in the greatest  
number of things1 and those of the most 
excellent nature only2 for what is more 
excellent than inviolable piety8 what is
 more just than submission to laws8 and 
what is more advantageous than mutual   
love and concord8 and this so far that  
we are to be neither divided by         
calamities1 nor to become injurious and 
seditious in prosperity2 but to contemn 
death when we are in war1 and in peace  
to apply ourselves to our mechanical    
occupations1 or to our tillage of the   
ground2 while we in all things and all  
ways are satisfied that ,god is the     
inspector and governor of our actions4  
,if these precepts had either been      
written at first1 or more exactly kept  
by any others before us1 we should have 
owed them thanks as disciples owe to    
their masters2 but if it be visible that
 we have made use of them more than any 
other men1 and if we have demonstrated  

that the original invention of them is  
our own1 let the ,apions1 and the       
,molons1 with all the rest of those that
 delight in lies and reproaches1 stand  
confuted2 but let this and the foregoing
 book be dedicated to thee1             
,epaphroditus1 who art so great a lover 
of truth1 and by thy means to those that
 have been in like manner desirous to be
 acquainted with the affairs of our     
nation4     ,,apion ,,book #b           
,,footnotes  #a ,the former part of this
 second book is written against the     
calumnies of ,apion1 and then1 more     
briefly1 against the like calumnies of  
,apollonius ,molo4 ,but after that1     
,josephus leaves off any more particular
 reply to those adversaries of the      
,jews1 and gives us a large and         
excellent description and vindication of
 that theocracy which was settled for   
the ,jewish nation by ,moses1 their     
great legislator4  #b ,called by        
,tiberius ,cymbalum ,mundi1 ,the drum of
 the world4  #c ,this seems to have been

 the first dial that had been made in   
,egypt1 and was a little before the time
 that ,ahaz made his first dial in      
,judea1 and about anno #gee1 in the     
first year of the seventh olympiad1 as  
we shall see presently4 ,see #b ,kings  
#bj3aa2 ,isaiah #ch3h4  #d ,the         
burial-place for dead bodies1 as ,i     
suppose4  #e ,here begins a great defect
 in the ,greek copy2 but the old ,latin 
version fully supplies that defect4  #f 
,what error is here generally believed  
to have been committed by our ,josephus 
in ascribing a deliverance of the ,jews 
to the reign of ,ptolemy ,physco1 the   
seventh of those ,ptolemus1 which has   
been universally supposed to have       
happened under ,ptolemy ,philopater1 the
 fourth of them1 is no better than a    
gross error of the moderns1 and not of  
,josephus1 as ,i have fully proved in   
the ,authentic4 ,rec4 ,part ,i4 p4      
#bjj-bja1 whither ,i refer the          
inquisitive reader4  #g ,sister's son1  
and adopted son4  #h ,called more       

properly ,molo1 or ,apollonius ,molo1 as
 hereafter2 for ,apollonins1 the son of 
,molo1 was another person1 as ,strabo   
informs us1 lib4 xiv4  #i ,furones in   
the ,latin1 which what animal it denotes
 does not now appear4  #aj ,it is great 
pity that these six pagan authors1 here 
mentioned to have described the famous  
profanation of the ,jewish temple by    
,antiochus ,epiphanes1 should be all    
lost2 ,i mean so far of their writings  
as contained that description2 though it
 is plain ,josephus perused them all as 
extant in his time4  #aa ,it is         
remarkable that ,josephus here1 and1 ,i 
think1 no where else1 reckons up four   
distinct courts of the temple2 that of  
the ,gentiles1 that of the women of     
,israel1 that of the men of ,israel1 and
 that of the priests2 as also that the  
court of the women admitted of the men1 
,i suppose only of the husbands of those
 wives that were therein1 while the     
court of the men did not admit any women
 into it at all4  #ab ,judea1 in the    

,greek1 by a gross mistake of the       
transcribers4  #ac ,seven in the ,greek1
 by a like gross mistake of the         
transcribers4 ,see of the ,war1 ,b4 ,v4 
ch4 #e4 sect4 #d4  #ad ,two hundred in  
the ,greek1 contrary to the twenty in   
the ,war1 ,b4 ,,vii4 ch1 #e4 sect4 #c4  
#ae ,this notorious disgrace belonging  
peculiarly to the people of ,egypt1 ever
 since the times of the old prophets of 
the ,jews1 noted both sect4 #d already1 
and here1 may be confirmed by the       
testimony of ,isidorus1 an ,egyptian of 
,pelusium1 ,epist4 lib4 i4 ,ep4 #dhi4   
,and this is a remarkable completion of 
the ancient prediction of ,god by       
,ezekiel #bi3ad1 #ae1 that the          
,egyptians should be a base kingdom1 the
 basest of the kingdoms1 and that1 it   
should not exalt itself any more above  
the nations4  #af ,the truth of which   
still further appears by the present    
observation of ,josephus1 that these    
,egyptians had never1 in all the past   
ages since ,sesostris1 had one day of   

liberty1 no1 not so much as to have been
 free from despotic power under any of  
the monarchies to that day4 ,and all    
this has been found equally true in the 
latter ages1 under the ,romans1         
,saracens1 ,mamelukes1 and ,turks1 from 
the days of ,josephus till the present  
ago also4  #ag ,this language1 that     
,moses1 persuaded himself that what he  
did was according to ,god's will1 can   
mean no more1 by ,josephus's own        
constant notions elsewhere1 than that he
 was firmly persuaded1 that he had fully
 satisfied himself that so it was1 viz4 
by the many revelations he had received 
from ,god1 and the numerous miracles    
,god had enabled him to work1 as he both
 in these very two books against ,apion1
 and in his ,antiquities1 most clearly  
and frequently assures us4 ,this is     
further evident from several passages   
lower1 where he affirms that ,moses was 
no impostor nor deceiver1 and where he  
assures that ,moses's constitution of   
government was no other than a          

theocracy2 and where he says they are to
 hope for deliverance out of their      
distresses by prayer to ,god1 and that  
withal it was owing in part to this     
prophetic spirit of ,moses that the     
,jews expected a resurrection from the  
dead4 ,see almost as strange a use of   
the like words1 to persuade ,god1       
,antiq4 ,b4 ,,vi4 ch4 #e4 sect4 #f4  #ah
 ,that is1 ,moses really was1 what the  
heathen legislators pretended to be1    
under a ,divine direction2 nor does it  
yet appear that these pretensions to a  
supernatural conduct1 either in these   
legislators or oracles1 were mere       
delusions of men without any demoniacal 
impressions1 nor that ,josephus took    
them so to be2 as the ancientest and    
contemporary authors did still believe  
them to be supernatural4  #ai ,this     
whole very large passage is corrected by
 ,dr4 ,hudson from ,eusebius's citation 
of it1 ,prep4 ,evangel4 viii4 #h1 which 
is here not a little different from the 
present ,,mss4 of ,josephus4  #bj ,this 

expression itself1 that ,moses ordained 
the ,jewish government to be a          
theocracy1 may be illustrated by that   
parallel expression in the ,antiquities1
 ,b4 ,,iii4 ch4 #h4 sect4 #i1 that      
,moses left it to ,god to be present at 
his sacrifices when he pleased2 and when
 he pleased1 to be absent4 ,both ways of
 speaking sound harsh in the ears of    
,jews and ,christians1 as do several    
others which ,josephus uses to the      
heathens2 but still they were not very  
improper in him1 when he all along      
thought fit to accommodate himself1 both
 in his ,antiquities1 and in these his  
books against ,apion1 all written for   
the use of the ,greeks and ,romans1 to  
their notions and language1 and this as 
far as ever truth would give him leave4 
,though it be very observable withal1   
that he never uses such expressions in  
his books of the ,war1 written          
originally for the ,jews beyond         
,euphrates1 and in their language1 in   
all these cases4 ,however1 ,josephus    

directly supposes the ,jewish           
settlement1 under ,moses1 to be a       
,divine settlement1 and indeed no other 
than a real theocracy4  #ba ,these      
excellent accounts of the ,divine       
attributes1 and that ,god is not to be  
at all known in his essence1 as also    
some other clear expressions about the  
resurrection of the dead1 and the state 
of departed souls1 etc41 in this late   
work of ,josephus1 look more like the   
exalted notions of the ,essens1 or      
rather ,ebionite ,christians1 than those
 of a mere ,jew or ,pharisee4 ,the      
following large accounts also of the    
laws of ,moses1 seem to me to show a    
regard to the higher interpretations and
 improvements of ,moses's laws1 derived 
from ,jesus ,christ1 than to the bare   
letter of them in the ,old ,testament1  
whence alone ,josephus took them when he
 wrote his ,antiquities2 nor1 as ,i     
think1 can some of these laws1 though   
generally excellent in their kind1 be   
properly now found either in the copies 

of the ,jewish ,pentateuch1 or in       
,philo1 or in ,josephus himself1 before 
he became a ,nazarene or ,ebionite      
,christian2 nor even all of them among  
the laws of catholic ,christianity      
themselves4 ,i desire1 therefore1 the   
learned reader to consider1 whether some
 of these improvements or               
interpretations might not be peculiar to
 the ,essens among the ,jews1 or rather 
to the ,nazarenes or ,ebionites among   
the ,christians1 though we have indeed  
but imperfect accounts of those         
,nazarenes or ,ebionite ,christians     
transmitted down to us at this day4  #bb
 ,we may here observe how known a thing 
it was among the ,jews and heathens1 in 
this and many other instances1 that     
sacrifices were still accompanied with  
prayers2 whence most probably came those
 phrases of the sacrifice of prayer1 the
 sacrifice of praise1 the sacrifice of  
thanksgiving4 ,however1 those ancient   
forms used at sacrifices are now        
generally lost1 to the no small damage  

of true religion4 ,it is here also      
exceeding remarkable1 that although the 
temple at ,jerusalem was built as the   
only place where the whole nation of the
 ,jews were to offer their sacrifices1  
yet is there no mention of the          
sacrifices themselves1 but of prayers   
only1 in ,solomon's long and famous form
 of devotion at its dedication1 #a      
,kings #h42 #b ,chronicles #f4 ,see also
 many passages cited in the ,apostolical
 ,constitutions1 ,,vii4 #cg1 and ,of the
 ,war1 above1 ,b4 ,,vii4 ch4 #e4 sect4  
#f4  #bc ,this text is no where in our  
present copies of the ,old ,testament4  
#bd ,it may not be amiss to set down    
here a very remarkable testimony of the 
great philosopher ,cicero1 as to the    
preference of laws to philosophy3--,i   
will1 says he1 boldly declare my        
opinion1 though the whole world be      
offended at it4 ,i prefer this little   
book of the ,twelve ,tables alone to all
 the volumes of the philosophers4 ,i    
find it to be not only of more weight1' 

but also much more useful4--,oratore4   
#be we have observed our times of rest1 
and sorts of food allowed us during our 
distresses4  #bf ,see what those novel  
oaths were in ,dr4 ,hudson's note1 viz4 
to swear by an oak1 by a goat1 and by a 
dog1 as also by a gander1 as say        
,philostratus and others4 ,this swearing
 strange oaths was also forbidden by the
 ,tyrians1 ,b4 ,i4 sect4 #bb1 as        
,spanheim here notes4  #bg ,why         
,josephus here should blame some heathen
 legislators1 when they allowed so easy 
a composition for simple fornication1 as
 an obligation to marry the virgin that 
was corrupted1 is hard to say1 seeing he
 had himself truly informed us that it  
was a law of the ,jews1 ,antiq4 ,b4     
,,iv4 ch4 #h4 sect4 #bc1 as it is the   
law of ,christianity also3 see ,horeb   
,covenant1 p4 #fa4 ,i am almost ready to
 suspect that1 for1 we should here read1
 and that corrupting wedlock1 or other  
men's wives1 is the crime for which     
these heathens wickedly allowed this    

composition in money4  #bh ,or for      
corrupting other men's wives the same   
allowance4