Georgius Syncellus, Chronographical Selection

his charges and the charges of the sons of Israel and to perform the works of the tent of testimony, in place of the firstborn of the twelve tribes they were accounted to God; who, when they were numbered, were found to be 22,000. At this time are numbered the things offered for the dedication of the altar by the rulers of the twelve tribes in twelve days and the purification of the Levites; and the two silver trumpets were made of hammered work and their signals were appointed for the departure of the camps and for against the enemies. On the twentieth day of the same second month of the second year of the exodus, the sons of Israel departed from the desert of Sinai and came to the desert of Paran, when the cloud had lifted from the tent of testimony. The ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them for three days. Therefore the Israelites murmured against God and some were consumed by lightning; whence the place was called Taberah. And the rest wept out of a desire for the meats and fish in Egypt, and for the cucumbers and melons and leeks and onions and garlic, hating the manna. Then seventy men are given to help Moses, having shared in the spirit with him from God, of whom two, Eldad and Medad, being of those enrolled by Moses among the seventy, not being found in the tent with the sixty-eight, prophesied while absent in the camp. Then a covey of quail 159 is given to them, though Moses doubted infinitely, so that being stuffed, they were struck by God for their insatiability and very many died. And the name of the place was called Graves of Craving, because there they buried the people who craved. From the Graves of Craving they came to Hazeroth, and his sister Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, complaining that Moses had taken an Ethiopian woman, and that God had spoken also to us as to him. And the Lord heard and rebuked them. And Miriam became leprous, until Moses, the meekest of all men then living, prayed to the Lord, and she was healed; nevertheless she was set apart outside the camp for seven days. From Hazeroth they came to the desert of Paran and Moses sent, according to the command of the Lord, twelve men, leaders, one from each tribe, among whom was Caleb of the tribe of Judah, one of the twelve, and Hoshea, that is, Joshua son of Nun, from the tribe of Ephraim, to spy out the land of Canaan; who, having gone, returned after forty days, carrying of the fruit of the land a cluster of grapes with its branch on a pole and pomegranates and figs on others, showing the people the excellence of the land. But the other ten terrified the people, saying the land was evil, devouring its inhabitants, and that fearsome men lived in it, compared to whom they said they seemed like grasshoppers. And the whole congregation took up a lament and wept all night, murmuring against Moses and Aaron and crying out, "Would that we had died in Egypt, or even in this desert," and they took counsel concerning the return to Egypt, who would be their general. And Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the people. But only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb, tearing their clothes at the irrational cowardice, said that the land was wonderful and its inhabitants would be food for them, because the Lord had departed from them. But these men were about to be stoned for speaking the truth, and the Lord was angered against the people to destroy them, if Moses had not propitiated God. Nevertheless He swore that all of them would not see it, all who had already tested the Lord in this way, having seen 160 his glory and the signs in Egypt and in the desert, all these would not see the promised land, except Caleb and Joshua and the children of the people who did not know wickedness, but that all would be consumed in that same desert for another thirty-eight years, as they had asked. But the other ten men, the fellow spies of Joshua and Caleb, died by a divine plague as having lied against God and His promise. At this the people mourned greatly and went up against the will of Moses to make war

φυλακὰς αὐ τοῦ καὶ τὰς φυλακὰς τῶν υἱῶν Ἰσραὴλ καὶ ἐργάζεσθαι τὰ ἔργα τῆς σκη νῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου, ἀντὶ πρωτοτόκων τῷ θεῷ ἐλογίσθησαν τῶν ιβʹ φυ λῶν· οἳ καὶ ἐπισκεπέντες εὑρέθησαν χιλιάδες κβʹ. ἐφ' οἷς ἀριθμοῦνται τὰ προσενεχθέντα εἰς τὸν ἐγκαινισμὸν τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου παρὰ τῶν ἀρχόντων τῶν ιβʹ φυλῶν ἐν ἡμέραις ιβʹ καὶ ὁ τῶν Λευιτῶν ἀφαγνισμός· καὶ αἱ δύο σάλπιγγες αἱ ἀργυραῖ γεγόνασιν ἐλαταὶ καὶ αἱ σημασίαι αὐτῶν ἐτάχθησαν πρὸς τὸ ἐξαίρειν τὰς παρεμβολὰς καὶ πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους. Τῇ δὲ εἰκάδι τοῦ αὐτοῦ δευτέρου μηνὸς ἔτους δευτέρου τῆς ἐξόδου ἀπ άραντες οἱ υἱοὶ Ἰσραὴλ ἀπὸ τῆς ἐρήμου Σιναῒ ἦλθον εἰς τὴν ἔρημον Φαράν, ἀναβάσης τῆς νεφέλης ἀπὸ τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου. ἡ δὲ κιβωτὸς δια θήκης κυρίου προεπορεύετο αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τρεῖς ἡμέρας. διεγόγγυζον οὖν οἱ Ἰσραηλῖται κατὰ θεοῦ καὶ ἀνηλώθησάν τινες κεραυνοῖς· ὅθεν ὁ τόπος ἐμπυρισμὸς ἐκλήθη. ἔκλαιόν τε οἱ λοιποὶ δι' ἐπιθυμίαν κρεῶν καὶ ἰχθύων τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, σικύων τε καὶ πεπόνων καὶ πράσων κρομμύων τε καὶ σκόρδων, μισοῦντες τὸ μάννα. Τότε δίδονται πρὸς βοήθειαν Μωυσέως ἄνδρες οʹ κατὰ πνεῦμα θεόθεν κοινωνήσαντες αὐτῷ, ὧν δύο τινὲς Ἐλδὰδ καὶ Μωδὰδ τῶν καταγεγραμ μένων ὄντες ὑπὸ Μωυσέως ἐν τοῖς οʹ μὴ εὑρεθέντες ἐν τῇ σκηνῇ σὺν τοῖς ξηʹ προεφήτευσαν ἀπόντες ἐν τῇ παρεμβολῇ. τότε δίδοται αὐτοῖς ὀρτυγο 159 μήτρα, καίτοι Μωυσέως διστάζοντος ἀπείρως, ὡς ἐμφορηθέντες πληγῆναι διὰ τὸ ἀκόρεστον ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἀποθανεῖν πολλοὺς σφόδρα. τὸ δὲ ὄνο μα τοῦ τόπου μνήματα κληθῆναι ἐπιθυμίας, ὅτι ἐκεῖ ἔθαψαν τὸν ἐπιθυμη τὴν λαόν. Ἀπὸ μνημάτων ἐπιθυμίας ἦλθον εἰς Ἀσηρώθ, καὶ ἐλάλησαν κατὰ Μωυσέως ἡ ἀδελφὴ αὐτοῦ Μαριὰμ καὶ Ἀαρὼν μεμφόμενοι ὅτι γυναῖκα ἔλαβεν Αἰθιόπισσαν Μωυσῆς, καὶ ὅτι λελάληκεν ὁ θεὸς καὶ ἡμῖν ὡς κἀ κείνῳ. καὶ ἤκουσε κύριος καὶ ἐξήλεγξεν αὐτούς. καὶ Μαριὰμ ἐλεπρώθη, ἕως Μωυσῆς ὁ πάντων τῶν τηνικαῦτα ἀνθρώπων πραότατος ἐδεήθη κυ ρίου, καὶ ἰάθη· πλὴν ἠφορίσθη ἔξω τῆς παρεμβολῆς ἡμέρας ζʹ. Ἐξ Ἀσηρὼθ ἦλθον πρὸς τῇ ἐρήμῳ Φαρὰν καὶ ἀπέστειλε Μωυσῆς κατὰ πρόσταγμα κυρίου ἄνδρας ιβʹ ἀρχηγούς, ἕνα κατὰ φυλήν, ἐν οἷς ἦν Χαλὲβ τῆς φυλῆς Ἰούδα, εἷς τῶν ιβʹ, καὶ Αὐσῆς, ἤγουν Ἰησοῦς υἱὸς Ναυή, ἐκ φυλῆς Ἐφραίμ, κατασκοπῆσαι τὴν γῆν Χαναάν· οἳ πορευθέντες μεθ' ἡμέ ρας μʹ ἐπανῆλθον, φέροντες τοῦ καρποῦ τῆς γῆς βότρυν σὺν τῷ κλήματι ἐπ' ἀναφορέως καὶ ῥόας καὶ σῦκα ἐπ' ἄλλων, δεικνύντες τῷ λαῷ τὴν τῆς γῆς ἀρετήν. οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι δέκα κατεπτόησαν τὸν λαόν, τὴν γῆν εἰπόντες πονηρὰν κατεσθίουσαν τοὺς οἰκήτορας, καὶ ἄνδρας οἰκεῖν ἐν αὐτῇ φοβε ρούς, πρὸς οὓς ἑαυτοὺς ὡς ἀκρίδας φαίνεσθαι ἔλεγον. Ἀναλαβοῦσα δὲ θρῆνον ἡ πᾶσα συναγωγὴ παννύχιον ἔκλαιον καταγογ γύζοντες Μωυσέως καὶ Ἀαρὼν καὶ «ὤφελον ἀπεθάνομεν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ» βοῶντες «ἢ κἂν ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ταύτῃ», ἐβουλεύοντό τε τὰ περὶ τῆς εἰς Αἴγυ πτον ἐπανόδου, τίς ὁ στρατηγήσων ἔσται αὐτοῖς. Μωυσῆς τε καὶ Ἀαρὼν ἐπὶ πρόσωπον ἔπεσον ἐνώπιον τοῦ λαοῦ. μόνοι δὲ Ἰησοῦς ὁ τοῦ Ναυὴ καὶ Χαλὲβ διαρρήξαντες τὰ ἱμάτια ἐπὶ τῇ ἀλόγῳ δειλίᾳ τήν τε γῆν ἔλεγον θαυμαστὴν καὶ τοὺς οἰκοῦντας ἐν αὐτῇ κατάβρωμα ἔσεσθαι αὐτοῖς, ὅτι κύριος ἀφέστηκεν ἀπ' αὐτῶν. ἀλλ' οὗτοι μὲν ἔμελλον καταλιθοβολεῖσθαι λέγοντες τὰ ἀληθῆ, καὶ ἐθυμώθη κύριος ἐπὶ τὸν λαὸν τοῦ ἐκτρῖψαι αὐτόν, εἰ μὴ ἐξιλεώσατο Μωυσῆς τὸν θεόν. πλὴν ὤμοσε μὴ ὄψεσθαι αὐτοὺς πάν τας, ὅσοι δὲ κατὰ τοῦτον ἤδη τὸν τρόπον ἐπείρασαν τὸν κύριον, ἰδόντες 160 τὴν δόξαν αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ σημεῖα τὰ κατ' Αἴγυπτον καὶ ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, τούτους πάντας μὴ ἰδεῖν τὴν ἐπηγγελμένην γῆν, πλὴν Χαλὲβ καὶ Ἰησοῦ καὶ τῶν παίδων τοῦ λαοῦ τῶν μὴ εἰδότων κακίαν, ἀλλὰ πάντας κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν ἔρημον ἀναλωθήσεσθαι ἐπὶ ἄλλα ἔτη ληʹ, ὡς ᾐτήσαντο. οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι δέκα ἄνδρες οἱ συγκατάσκοποι Ἰησοῦ καὶ Χαλὲβ ἀπέθανον θείᾳ πληγῇ ὡς ψευσάμενοι κατὰ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τῆς αὐτοῦ ἐπαγγελίας. Ἐπὶ τούτοις ἐπένθησεν ὁ λαὸς σφόδρα καὶ ἀνέβησαν παρὰ γνώμην Μωυσέως πολεμῆσαι