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him at Peira, they 264 reviled him at the water of Contradiction ". He recalled the things that had happened to him and his brother: " He who says to his father and to his mother, I have not seen you; and did not acknowledge his brothers, and disowned his sons, has kept your words and has maintained your covenant ". The Word teaches the perfection of the priests. For it is fitting for the priest to scorn all the things of this life and to devote himself to the divine ministry. For this reason he neither assigned them a lot, nor legislated that they have a possession, but that they should receive the first-fruits and the tithes from all the people, so that, freed from the cares of life, they may holily perform the sacred service entrusted to them. For instance, Aaron the first high priest was not permitted to bury his dead sons, and so he says: " Having perfected themselves, they shall declare your judgments to Jacob, and your law to Israel; they shall put incense in your wrath continually upon your altar ". This also happened when the people were being punished. For Aaron, by offering the incense, prevented the death sent by God. Then he asks for the divine blessing upon them. " Bless, Lord, his strength, and accept the works of his hands ". For physical strength is also needed by those who minister, so that nothing may stand in the way of their zeal. " Break the loins of his enemies who rise up, and let not those who hate him stand up ". And through these things he restrains the audacity of tyrants; and he also recalls what Korah and Dathan and Abiram suffered, when they stirred up sedition against the priests. 265 XLV For what reason did he place Benjamin, who was last, in the fourth position? The metropolis belonged to this tribe; and in it the temple was built. Therefore he fittingly joined the sacred place with the priestly tribe. And the blessing also foretells this. " The beloved of the Lord," he says, "shall dwell in confidence ". And he showed the reason for the confidence: " and God overshadows him all the days, and he rested between his shoulders ". For by being near the divine temple he continually enjoyed the divine care. And the phrase "he rested between his shoulders," he said concerning God, who, having commanded the temple to be built in Jerusalem, made his own appearance in it. After these tribes, he blessed Joseph, and he offered the blessing to the two tribes in the same way. " From the blessing of the Lord is his land; from the seasons of heaven and the dew, and from the deeps of the springs beneath, and in season the fruits of the sun's turnings and from the coming together of months, and from the peak of the everlasting mountains ". He asked for him the good things given from heaven, the fruits produced from the earth; which the rains water, the dews nourish, and the sun ripens according to the periods of the seasons and months. And not only the flat land bears these, but also the mountainous; and for confirmation of the blessing he recalled God who appeared in the bush. And he says that he also obtained the birthright and for this reason the tribe was divided in two and the one became two; since the firstborn received a double portion. And teaching the might of the tribes, he compared them to a unicorn and a bull; and he placed Ephraim before Manasseh 266 according to the blessing of the forefather. And for Zebulun, and for Issachar, for the one as dwelling by the sea, and for the other as neighboring it, he prayed for victory in wars, and for divine assistance, and for the good things from the sea. " For nations," he says, "they shall destroy, and they shall call there and sacrifice a sacrifice of righteousness, and they shall suck the wealth of the sea and the trade of those who dwell on the coast ". For those who are near the sea enjoy not only their own fruits, but also the good things brought from all quarters. And he compared Gad to a lion; for so also the patriarch Jacob said: " Gad, a raiding party shall raid him, but he shall raid at their heels ". And he called Dan a cub leaping from Bashan; since having suddenly attacked the city of Laish, they both took it and killed the inhabitants, and made it their own

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αὐτὸν ἐν Πείρᾳ, ἐλοι 264 δόρησαν αὐτὸν ἐφ' ὕδατος Ἀντιλογίας ". τῶν εἰς αὐτὸν καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν γεγενημένων ἀνέμνησεν· " ὁ λέγων τῷ πα τρὶ αὐτοῦ καὶ τῇ μητρὶ αὐτοῦ, οὐχ ἑώρακά σε· καὶ τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἐπέγνω, καὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ ἀπέγνω, ἐφύλαξε τὰ λόγια σου καὶ τὴν διαθήκην σου διετήρησεν ". τὸ τέλειον τῶν ἱερέων ὁ λόγος διδάσκει. πάντων γὰρ τῶν κατὰ τὸν βίον καταφρονεῖν προσήκει τὸν ἱερέα καὶ τῇ θείᾳ προσεδρεύειν ἱερουργίᾳ. τούτου χάριν οὐδὲ κλῆρον αὐτοῖς ἀπένειμεν, οὐδὲ κτῆσιν ἔχειν ἐνομοθέτησεν, ἀλλὰ τὰς ἀπαρχὰς καὶ τὰς δεκάτας παρὰ παντὸς κομίζεσθαι τοῦ λαοῦ, ἵνα τῶν βιωτικῶν ἀπηλ λαγμένοι φροντίδων, ἁγίως τὴν ἐγκεχειρισμένην ἁγιστείαν ἐπιτελῶσιν. αὐτίκα γοῦν Ἀαρὼν ὁ πρῶτος ἀρχιερεύς, οὔτε κηδεῦσαι τοὺς τεθνηκότας συνεχωρήθη παῖδας, οὕτω δὲ φησίν· " ἑαυτοὺς τελειώσαντες δηλώσουσι τὰ δικαιώματά σου τῷ Ἰακώβ, καὶ τὸν νόμον σου τῷ Ἰσραήλ· ἐπιθήσουσι θυμίαμα ἐν ὀργῇ σου διὰ παντὸς ἐπὶ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου σου ". τοῦτο καὶ τοῦ λαοῦ τιμωρουμένου γεγένηται. ὁ γὰρ Ἀαρὼν προσενεγκὼν τὸ θυμίαμα τὸν θεήλατον ἐκώλυσε θάνατον. εἶτα τὴν θείαν αὐτοῖς εὐλογίαν αἰτεῖ. " εὐλόγησον, Κύριε, τὴν ἰσχὺν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὰ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν αὐτοῦ δέξαι ". χρεία γὰρ καὶ σωματικῆς δυνάμεως τοῖς λειτουργοῦσιν, ἵνα μηδὲν ἐμπο δὼν γένηται τῇ προθυμίᾳ. " κάταξον ὀσφῦν ἐπανεστη κότων ἐχθρῶν αὐτοῦ, καὶ οἱ μισοῦντες αὐτὸν μὴ ἀναστήτωσαν ". διὰ δὲ τούτων χαλινοῖ τῶν τυραννούντων τὸ θράσος· ἀναμιμνῄσκει δὲ καὶ ὧν ἔπαθε Κορὲ καὶ ∆αθὰν καὶ Ἀβειρών, τὴν στάσιν κατὰ τῶν ἱερέων κινήσαντες. 265 XLV Τίνος χάριν ἔσχατον ὄντα τέταρτον ἔταξε τὸν Βενιαμίν; Ταύτης ἦν τῆς φυλῆς ἡ μητρόπολις· ἐν ἐκείνῃ δὲ ὁ ναὸς ἐδομήθη. τοιγάρ τοι εἰκότως τῇ ἱερατικῇ φυλῇ τὸν ἱερὸν συνέταξε τόπον. καὶ ἡ εὐλογία δὲ τοῦτο προαγορεύει. " ἠγαπημένος, γάρ φησιν, ὑπὸ Κυ ρίου κατασκηνώσει πεποιθώς ". ἔδειξε δὲ καὶ τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς πεποιθήσεως· " καὶ ὁ Θεὸς σκιάζει ἐπ' αὐτῷ πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας, καὶ ἀνὰ μέσον τῶν ὤμων αὐτοῦ κα τέπαυσε ". πελάζων γὰρ τῷ θείῳ νεῷ διηνεκῶς τῆς θείας κηδεμο νίας ἀπήλαυσε. τὸ δὲ " ἐν μέσῳ τῶν ὤμων αὐτοῦ κατέ παυσε ", περὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἔφη, ὃς ἐν τῇ Ἰερουσαλὴμ τὸν ναὸν οἰκοδομη θῆναι κελεύσας, ἐν ἐκείνῳ τὴν οἰκείαν ἐπιφάνειαν ἐποιεῖτο. μετὰ ταύτας τὰς φυλάς, τὸν Ἰωσὴφ εὐλόγησε, καὶ ταῖς δύο φυλαῖς κατὰ ταὐτὸν τὴν εὐλο γίαν προσήνεγκεν. " ἀπ' εὐλογίας Κυρίου ἡ γῆ αὐτοῦ· ἀπὸ ὡρῶν οὐρανοῦ καὶ δρόσου καὶ ἀπὸ ἀβύσσων πηγῶν κάτωθεν, καὶ καθ' ὥραν γενήματα ἡλίου τροπῶν καὶ ἀπὸ συνόδου μηνῶν, καὶ ἀπὸ κορυ φῆς βουνῶν ἀεννάων ". ᾔτησεν αὐτῷ τὰ οὐρανόθεν δωρούμενα ἀγαθά, τοὺς ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς παρεχομένους καρπούς· οὓς ἄρδουσι μὲν ὑετοί, τρέφουσι δὲ δρόσοι, πεπαίνει δὲ ἥλιος κατὰ τὰς τῶν ὡρῶν καὶ μηνῶν περιόδους. φέρει δὲ τούτους οὐ μόνον ἡ ὑπτία γῆ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὄρειος· εἰς βεβαίωσιν δὲ τῆς εὐλογίας ἀνέμνησε τοῦ ὀφθέντος ἐν τῇ βάτῳ Θεοῦ. λέγει δὲ αὐτὸν καὶ τῶν πρωτοτοκίων τετυχηκέναι καὶ τούτου χάριν διχῆ τὴν φυλὴν μερισθῆναι καὶ δύο τὴν μίαν γενέσθαι· ἐπειδὴ διπλῆν μοῖραν ἐλάμ βανον οἱ πρωτότοκοι. καὶ τὸ δυνατὸν δὲ τῶν φυλῶν διδάσκων, μονο κέρωτι καὶ ταύρῳ ἀπείκασε· καὶ προτέταχε τοῦ Μανασσῆ τὸν Ἐφραῒμ 266 κατὰ τὴν τοῦ προπάτορος εὐλογίαν. τῷ δὲ Ζαβουλών, καὶ τῷ Ἰσσαχάρ, τῷ μὲν ὡς τὴν παραλίαν οἰκοῦντι, τῷ δὲ ὡς γειτονεύοντι, καὶ τὴν ἐν πο λέμοις ἐπηύξατο νίκην, καὶ τὴν θείαν ἐπικουρίαν, καὶ τὰ ἀπὸ θαλάσσης ἀγαθά. " ἔθνη, γάρ φησι, ἐξολοθρεύσουσι καὶ ἐπικα λέσονται ἐκεῖ καὶ θύσουσι θυσίαν δικαιοσύνης, καὶ πλοῦτον θαλάσσης θηλάσουσι καὶ ἐμπορίαν παραλίαν κατοικούντων ". οἱ γὰρ θαλάττῃ πελάζοντες, οὐ μόνον τῶν οἰκείων καρπῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν πάντοθεν φερομένων ἀγα θῶν ἀπολαύουσι. τὸν δὲ Γὰδ ἀπείκασε λέοντι· οὕτω γὰρ καὶ ὁ πατριάρ χης Ἰακὼβ ἔφη· " Γὰδ πειρατήριον πειρατεύσει αὐτὸν καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ πειρατεύσει αὐτὸν κατὰ πόδας ". σκύμνον δὲ τὸν ∆ὰν ὠνόμασεν ἐκπηδῶντα ἐκ τοῦ Βασάν· ἐπειδὴ ἐξαπίνης τῇ Λαϊσσᾷ προσβαλόντες πόλει, καὶ αὐτὴν εἷλον καὶ τοὺς ἐνοικοῦντας ἀνεῖλον, καὶ οἰκεῖον ἀπέφηναν