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was, whose water was undrinkable because of its bitterness. And the book of Exodus calls the name of the place Merra, but Josephus writes that it was called Mar by the Hebrews, saying that the Hebrews call what is bitter "mar." And they murmured against their leader, but he, having first prayed to God, took a piece of wood, threw it into the well, and sweetened the water. But Josephus, seeming not to believe that the sweetening of the water was a miracle, but thinking it was sweetened naturally, says that Moses, having cast the wood into the water, ordered them to bail out the well, and as they toiled, the water, having been agitated and purified by the continuous drawing, was now drinkable. He cured the lack of food, having prayed to God, by means of quails. For a multitude of quails flew down upon the camp of the Hebrews, which they caught and ate. And in addition to these things God rained manna upon them, in sweetness similar to honey, and in size like a coriander seed, and it was called manna by them, as they were at a loss as to what it might be; for "man" also signifies a question in their dialect. So Josephus also relates these things. And each one was commanded to gather an assaron of it every day, and the assaron is a measure, and if anyone gathered more, it was inedible the next day, having been corrupted by both worms and bitterness. And this was so arranged, so that when the strong gathered much, there would not be a lack for the weak. And they used this 1.48 food for forty years, as long as they were in the desert. Then again they came to a waterless place called Rephidim, and being thirsty they were stirred up against Moses. But he, having prayed to God, is ordered to strike the rock with his staff, and he strikes it, from which immediately much and very clear water gushed forth. And the Amalekites advanced against the Hebrews, having called on their neighbors as allies. But Moses, having separated the fighting men of the people from the others, and having appointed Joshua the son of Nun over them, and leaving a certain part of the army to guard the water, he himself withdrew to the mountain, and commanded Joshua to trust in God and to lead the army out against the enemy. And so the war broke out; and as long as Moses held his hands up high, the Hebrews dealt badly with the Amalekites, but as often as Moses lowered his hands, being weary from holding them up, it happened then that the Hebrews were defeated. Therefore, having placed his brother Aaron on one side and Hur the husband of his sister Mariam on the other, he commanded them to hold up his hands. And thus the Hebrews, conquering the Amalekites, would have destroyed them all, if night had not held them back. And not one of the Hebrews died. From there they went forward, and in the third month after the exodus from Egypt they arrived at Mount Sinai, and Moses sacrificed there to God. where Raguel his father-in-law also met him, and seeing his son-in-law in a throng of affairs, with everyone coming to him, he advised 1.49 to entrust the hearing of lawsuits to others, and for him to provide for the greater affairs and the salvation of the people, and to appoint rulers over tens of thousands, then over thousands, and to set others over five hundreds, and in addition to these to make centurions and rulers of fifty, and to set up those who would keep order over thirty and twenty and ten. When Raguel had advised these things, Moses acted according to his suggestion. Then, having commanded the people to encamp near Mount Sinai, he himself went up to the mountain; and the people moved their camp, purifying themselves with the other purifications and from intercourse with a woman for the third day. But on the third day in the morning a cloud surrounded the camp of the Hebrews, and there were terrifying lightnings and a violence of winds, which frightened the Hebrews as they waited in their tents. But Moses appears full of courage, and being seen he relieves them of their fear and announces to them what God had commanded and what laws they would observe, and he brings the people together with their wives and children, so that they might hear God. And they heard a voice coming from on high. Then again

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ην, ου τὸ υδωρ διὰ πικρίαν αποτον. καὶ τὸ ονομα τοῦ τόπου ἡ μὲν τῆς ̓Εξόδου βίβλος Μερρὰν ὀνομάζει, ὁ δ' ̓Ιώσηπος Μὰρ αὐτὸν κληθῆναι παρὰ τῶν ̔Εβραίων συγγράφεται, μὰρ τὸ πικρὸν λέγων τοὺς ̔Εβραίους καλεῖν. καὶ τοῦ δημαγωγοῦ κατεγόγγυζον, ὁ δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ πρότερον δεηθεὶς ξύλον λαβὼν εἰς τὸ φρέαρ ἐνέβαλε καὶ τὸ υδωρ ἐγλύκανεν. ὁ δὲ ̓Ιώσηπος εοικε μὴ πιστεύων ὡς θαύματι τῇ γλυκάνσει τοῦ υδατος, ἀλλὰ φυσικῶς αὐτὸ γλυκανθῆναι δοξάζων λέγει οτι τὸ ξύλον ὁ Μωυσῆς εἰς τὸ υδωρ βαλὼν ἐξαντλεῖν τὸ φρέαρ ἐκέλευε, καὶ οἱ μὲν ἐπόνουν, τὸ δ' ὑπὸ τῶν συνεχῶν πληγῶν γεγυμνασμένον καὶ κεκαθαρμένον ηδη πότιμον ην. τὴν δὲ τῶν τροφῶν ενδειαν ἰάσατο, τοῦ θεοῦ δεηθείς, δι' ὀρτύγων. ἐφίπταντο γὰρ τῇ τῶν ̔Εβραίων παρεμβολῇ πλῆθος ὀρτύγων, ους συλλαμβάνοντες ησθιον. καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις τὸ μάννα υσεν αὐτοῖς ὁ θεός, μέλιτι μὲν τὴν ἡδονὴν ἐμφερές, τὸ δὲ μέγεθος κοριάνδρου σπέρματι ομοιον, μάννα δὲ παρ' ἐκείνων κληθέν, ὡς ἀπορούντων τί τοῦτο αν ειη· τὸ γὰρ μὰν καὶ ἐπερώτησιν δηλοῖ κατὰ τὴν ἐκείνων διάλεκτον. ουτω καὶ ταῦτα ̓Ιώσηπος. ἐνετέταλτο δὲ ἀσσάρωνα εκαστον ἐκ τούτου καθ' ἑκάστην συλλέγειν, ὁ δὲ ἀσσάρων μέτρον ἐστίν, εἰ δέ τις πλέον συνέλεξεν, εἰς τὴν αυριον αβρωτον ην, ὑπό τε σκωλήκων καὶ πικρίας διεφθαρμένον. τοῦτο δὲ ᾠκονόμητο, ινα μὴ τῶν ἐρρωμένων πολὺ συναγόντων ἐπιλείπῃ τοῖς ἀσθενέσι. τῇ δὲ 1.48 τροφῇ ταύτῃ τεσσαράκοντα ἐχρήσαντο ετεσιν, ἐφ' οσον ησαν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ. αυθις ουν εἰς ανυδρον ηλθον τόπον καλούμενον ̔Ραφιδίν, καὶ διψῶντες κατὰ Μωυσέως κεκίνηντο. ὁ δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ δεηθεὶς κελεύεται ῥάβδῳ τὴν πέτραν πλῆξαι, καὶ πλήττει, ης αὐτίκα υδωρ ἐξεβλύσθη πολύ τε καὶ διαυγέστατον. οἱ δὲ ̓Αμαληκῖται κατὰ τῶν ̔Εβραίων ἐχώρουν, τοὺς περιοίκους συμμάχους προσκαλεσάμενοι. Μωυσῆς δὲ τὸ μάχιμον τοῦ λαοῦ τῶν αλλων ἀποδιελών, καὶ ̓Ιησοῦν τὸν τοῦ Ναυῆ ἐπιστήσας αὐτοῖς, μέρος δέ τι τῆς στρατιᾶς καταλιπὼν εἰς τὴν τοῦ υδατος φυλακήν, αὐτὸς μὲν ἀνεχώρει πρὸς τὸ ορος, ̓Ιησοῦ δ' ἐνετέλλετο πεποιθέναι θεῷ καὶ τὸ στράτευμα κατὰ τῶν ἐναντίων ἐξάγειν. ηδη ουν ὁ πόλεμος συνερρήγνυτο· καὶ μέχρι μὲν Μωυσῆς τὰς χεῖρας ειχεν ὑψοῦ, τοὺς ̓Αμαληκίτας οἱ ̔Εβραῖοι κακῶς διετίθεντο, ὁσάκις δὲ τὰς χεῖρας καθίει ὁ Μωυσῆς τῇ ἀνατάσει τούτων πονούμενος, ἡττᾶσθαι τότε τοὺς ̔Εβραίους συνέβαινεν. ἑκατέρωθεν ουν τὸν ἀδελφὸν ̓Ααρὼν καὶ Ωρ τὸν ανδρα τῆς ἀδελφῆς Μαριὰμ στήσας ἀνέχειν τὰς χεῖρας αὐτοῦ ἐνετείλατο. καὶ ουτω τοὺς ̓Αμαληκίτας νικῶντες ̔Εβραῖοι πάντας ἀπώλεσαν αν, εἰ μὴ νὺξ ἐπέσχεν αὐτούς. ̔Εβραίων δὲ τέθνηκεν οὐδὲ εις. ̓Εκεῖθεν ἀπῄεσαν εἰς τὸ πρόσω, καὶ ἐν τριμήνῳ μετὰ τὴν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἐξέλευσιν παρῆσαν ἐπὶ τὸ ορος Σινᾶ, καὶ εθυσε Μωυσῆς ἐκεῖ τῷ θεῷ. οπου καὶ ̔Ραγουὴλ ὁ πενθερὸς αὐτοῦ ἀπήντησεν αὐτῷ, θεασάμενος δὲ τὸν γαμβρὸν αὐτοῦ ἐν οχλῳ πραγμάτων οντα, πάντων ἐπ' αὐτὸν βαδιζόντων, συνεβούλευε 1.49 τὴν μὲν τῶν δικῶν ζήτησιν ἑτέροις ἐπιτρέπειν, αὐτὸν δὲ τῶν μειζόνων προνοεῖν πραγμάτων καὶ τῆς τοῦ λαοῦ σωτηρίας, καὶ κατὰ μυρίους αρχοντας ἀποδεικνύειν, ειτα κατὰ χιλίους, καὶ κατὰ πεντακοσίους ἑτέρους ἐφιστᾶν, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἑκατοντάρχους καὶ πεντηκοντάρχους ποιεῖν, καὶ ἐν τριάκοντα καὶ εικοσι καὶ δέκα ἐφιστᾶν τοὺς διακοσμήσοντας. ταῦτα τοῦ ̔Ραγουὴλ συμβουλεύσαντος, Μωυσῆς κατὰ τὴν ὑποθήκην ἐκείνου ποιεῖ. ειτα πλησίον μετασκηνῶσαι τοῦ ορους Σινᾶ τῷ λαῷ ἐντειλάμενος, αὐτὸς εἰς τὸ ορος ἀνῄει· καὶ ὁ λαὸς μετεσκήνωσεν, ἁγνεύων τήν τε αλλην ἁγνείαν καὶ ἀπὸ γυναικὸς συνουσίας τρίτην ἡμέραν. κατὰ δὲ τὴν τρίτην εωθεν νεφέλη περιεκύκλου τὸ τῶν ̔Εβραίων στρατόπεδον, ἀστραπαί τε ησαν φοβεραὶ καὶ πνευμάτων σφοδρότης, α τοὺς ̔Εβραίους ἐδείμαινε ταῖς σκηναῖς προσμένοντας. ἐπιφαίνεται δὲ Μωυσῆς εμπλεως θάρσους, καὶ ὀφθεὶς ἀπαλλάττει τοῦ δέους αὐτοὺς καὶ μηνύει σφίσιν α ὁ θεὸς ἐνετείλατο καὶ οσα φυλάξουσι νόμιμα, καὶ προσάγει τὸν λαὸν αμα γυναιξὶ καὶ τέκνοις, ὡς ἀκούσαιεν τοῦ θεοῦ. καὶ ηκουον φωνῆς ὑψόθεν γινομένης. ειτ' αυθις