The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs.

I.—The Testament of Reuben Concerning Thoughts.

1. The copy of the Testament of Reuben, what things he charged his sons before he died in the hundred and twenty-fifth year of his life. When he was sick two years after the death of Joseph, his sons and his sons’ sons were gathered together to visit him. And he said to them, My children, I am dying, and go the way of my fathers. And when he saw there Judah and Gad and Asher, his brethren, he said to them, Raise me up, my brethren, that I may tell to my brethren and to my children what things I have hidden in my heart, for from henceforth my strength faileth me. And he arose and kissed them, and said, weeping: Hear, my brethren, give ear to Reuben your father, what things I command you. And, behold, I call to witness against you this day the God of heaven, that ye walk not in the ignorance of youth and fornication wherein I ran greedily, and I defiled the bed of Jacob my father. For I tell you that He smote me with a sore plague in my loins for seven months; and had not Jacob our father prayed for me to the Lord, surely the Lord would have destroyed me. For I was thirty years old when I did this evil in the sight of the Lord, and for seven months I was sick even unto death; and I repented for seven years in the set purpose of my soul before the Lord. Wine and strong drink I drank not, and flesh entered not into my mouth, and I tasted not pleasant food,  1  There seems a reminiscence here of the words of Dan. x. 3, LXX. [For proofs of penitence, see p. 11, note 3, infra.] mourning over my sin, for it was great. And it shall not so be done in Israel.

2. And now hear me, my children, what things I saw in my repentance concerning the seven spirits of error. Seven spirits are given against man from Beliar, and they are chief of the works of youth; and seven spirits are given to him at his creation, that in them should be done every work of man.  2  For this use of πνεύματα as applied to the senses, we may cite Plutarch (De placitis philosophorum, iv. 21), who, speaking with reference to the Stoic philosophy, says, ἡ μὲν ὅρασις ἐστὶ πνεῦμα διατεινον ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡγεμονικοῦ μέχρις ὀφθαλμῶν. The first (1) spirit is of life, with which man’s whole being is created. The second (2) spirit is of sight, with which ariseth desire. The third (3) spirit is of hearing, with which cometh teaching. The fourth (4) spirit is of smelling, with which taste is given to draw air and breath. The fifth (5) spirit is of speech, with which cometh knowledge. The sixth (6) spirit is of taste, with which cometh the eating of meats and drinks; and by them strength is produced, for in food is the foundation of strength. The seventh (7) spirit is of begetting and sexual intercourse, with which through love of pleasure sin also entereth in: wherefore it is the last in order of creation, and the first of youth, because it is filled with ignorance, which leadeth the young as a blind man to a pit, and as cattle to a precipice.

3. Besides all these, there is an eighth (8) spirit of sleep, with which is created entrancement of man’s nature, and the image of death. With these spirits are mingled the spirits of error. The first (1), the spirit of fornication, dwelleth in the nature and in the senses; the second (2) spirit of insatiateness in the belly; the third (3) spirit of fighting in the liver and the gall. The fourth (4) is the spirit of fawning and trickery, that through over-officiousness a man may be fair in seeming. The fifth (5) is the spirit of arrogance, that a man may be stirred up and become high-minded. The sixth (6) is the spirit of lying, in perdition and in jealousy to feign words, and to conceal  3  This clause is only found in Cd. Oxon.; it seems demanded by the following ἀπό words from kindred and friends. The seventh (7) is the spirit of injustice, with which are theft and pilferings, that a man may work the desire of his heart; for injustice worketh together with the other spirits by means of craft. Besides all these, the spirit of sleep, the eighth (8) spirit, is conjoined with error and fantasy. And so perisheth every young man, darkening his mind from the truth, and not understanding the law of God, nor obeying the admonitions of his fathers, as befell me also in my youth.

And now, children, love the truth, and it shall preserve you. I counsel you, hear ye Reuben your father. Pay no heed to the sight of a woman, nor yet associate privately with a female under the authority of a husband, nor meddle with affairs of womankind. For had I not seen Bilhah bathing in a covered place, I had not fallen into this great iniquity.  4  Cf. Gen. xxxv. 22. The Gader mentioned below is the Edar of ver. 21, the Hebrew ע being reproduced, as often, by γ. For my mind, dwelling on the woman’s nakedness, suffered me not to sleep until I had done the abominable deed. For while Jacob our father was absent with Isaac his father, when we were in Gader, near to Ephratha in Bethlehem, Bilhah was drunk, and lay asleep uncovered in her chamber; and when I went in and beheld her nakedness, I wrought that impiety, and leaving her sleeping I departed. And forthwith an angel of God revealed to my father Jacob concerning my impiety, and he came and mourned over me, and touched her no more.  5  [This section is censured by Lardner as unsuitable to dying admonitions. He forgets Oriental simplicity.]

4. Pay no heed, therefore, to the beauty of women, and muse not upon their doings; but walk in singleness of heart in the fear of the Lord, and be labouring in works, and roaming in study and among your flocks, until the Lord give to you a wife whom He will, that ye suffer not as I did. Until my father’s death I had not boldness to look stedfastly into the face of Jacob, or to speak to any of my brethren, because of my reproach; and even until now my conscience afflicteth me by reason of my sin. And my father comforted me; for he prayed for me unto the Lord, that the anger of the Lord might pass away from me, even as the Lord showed me. From henceforth, then, I was protected, and I sinned not. Therefore, my children, observe all things whatsoever I command you, and ye shall not sin. For fornication is the destruction of the soul, separating it from God, and bringing it near to idols, because it deceiveth the mind and understanding, and bringeth down young men into hell before their time. For many hath fornication destroyed; because, though a man be old or noble, it maketh him a reproach and a laughing-stock with Beliar and the sons of men. For in that Joseph kept himself from every woman, and purged his thoughts from all fornication, he found favour before the Lord and men. For the Egyptian woman did many things unto him, and called for magicians, and offered him love potions, and the purpose of his soul admitted no evil desire. Therefore the God of my fathers delivered him from every visible and hidden death. For if fornication overcome not the mind, neither shall Beliar overcome you.

5. Hurtful are women, my children; because, since they have no power or strength over the man, they act subtilly through outward guise how they may draw him to themselves; and whom they cannot overcome by strength, him they overcome by craft. For moreover the angel of God told me concerning them, and taught me that women are overcome by the spirit of fornication more than men, and they devise in their heart against men; and by means of their adornment they deceive first their minds, and instil the poison by the glance of their eye, and then they take them captive by their doings, for a woman cannot overcome a man by force.

Therefore flee fornication, my children, and command your wives and your daughters that they adorn not their heads and their faces; because every woman who acteth deceitfully in these things hath been reserved to everlasting punishment. For thus they allured the Watchers  6  This name, occurring once again in the Testaments (Naph. 3), is one frequently found applied to the angels as the custodians of the world and of men. Thus, in the Chaldee of Daniel (iv. 10, 14, 20: 13, 17, 23, Eng. Ver.), we find the expression עִִיר, which Aquila and Symmachus render ἐγρήγορος. The corresponding Ethiopic term is of frequent occurrence in the book of Enoch, not only of the fallen angels (e.g., x. 9, 15, xvi. 1, etc.), but of the good (xii. 2, 3, etc., ed. Dillmann). See also Gesenius, Thesaurus, s.v. עִִיר. before the flood; and as these continually beheld them, they fell into desire each of the other, and they conceived the act in their mind, and changed themselves into the shape of men, and appeared to them in their congress with their husbands; and the women, having in their minds desire toward their apparitions, gave birth to giants, for the Watchers appeared to them as reaching even unto heaven.  7  [Gen. vi. 4; Revised margin, 1 Cor. xi. 10; Jude 6, 7.]

6. Beware, therefore, of fornication; and if you wish to be pure in your mind, guard your senses against every woman. And command them likewise not to company with men, that they also be pure in their mind. For constant meetings, even though the ungodly deed be not wrought, are to them an irremediable disease, and to us an everlasting reproach of Beliar; for fornication hath neither understanding nor godliness in itself, and all jealousy dwelleth in the desire thereof. Therefore ye will be jealous against the sons of Levi, and will seek to be exalted over them; but ye shall not be able, for God will work their avenging, and ye shall die by an evil death. For to Levi the Lord gave the sovereignty, and to Judah,  8  [See Lardner on this root idea of our author, vol. ii. p. 353; but he is wrong as to Levi and Mary. Also Joseph, sec. 19, note 2, infra.] and to me also with them,  9  The reading of Cd. Oxon., μετ᾽ αὐτόν, is doubtless to be preferred. and to Dan and Joseph, that we should be for rulers. Therefore I command you to hearken to Levi, because he shall know the law of the Lord, and shall give ordinances for judgment and sacrifice for all Israel until the completion of the times of Christ, the High Priest whom the Lord hath declared. I adjure you by the God of heaven to work truth each one with his neighbour; and draw ye near to Levi in humbleness of heart, that ye may receive a blessing from his mouth. For he shall bless Israel; and  specially Judah, because him hath the Lord chosen to rule over all the peoples. And worship we his Seed, because He shall die for us in wars visible and invisible, and shall be among you an everlasting king.

7. And Reuben died after that he had given command to his sons; and they placed him in a coffin until they bore him up from Egypt, and buried him in Hebron in the double  10  i.e., Machpelah, which in Hebrew means double, and is so rendered by the LXX., e.g., Gen. xxiii. 9. cave where his fathers were.

 ΔΙΑΘΗΚΑΙ ΤΩΝ ΙΒ ΠΑΤΡΙΑΡΧΩΝ ΤΩΝ ΥΙΩΝ ΙΑΚΩΒ   ΔΙΑΘΗΚΗ ΡΟΥΒΗΜ ΠΕΡΙ ΕΝΝΟΙΩΝ 

[1] Ἀντίγραφον διαθήκης Ῥουβὴμ ὅσα ἐνετείλατο τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτοῦ, πρὶν ἀποθανεῖν αὐτόν, ἐν ἑκατοστῷ εἰκοστῷ πέμπτῳ ἔτει τῆς ζωῆς αὐτοῦ. Μετὰ ἔτη δύο τῆς τελευτῆς Ἰωσήφ, ἀρρωστοῦντι συνήχθησαν ἐπισκέψασθαι αὐτὸν οἱ υἱοὶ καὶ υἱοὶ τῶν υἱῶν αὐτοῦ. Καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, Τεκνία μου, ἐγὼ ἀποθνήσκω καὶ πορεύομαι ὁδὸν πατέρων μου. Καὶ ἰδὼν ἐκεῖ Ἰούδαν καὶ Γὰδ καὶ Ἀσήρ, τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς αὐτοῦ, εἶπεν αὐτοῖς: Ἀναστήσατέ με, ἀδελφοί, ὅπως εἴπω τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς μου καὶ τοῖς τέκνοις μου, ὅσα ἔχω ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ μου κρυπτά: ἐκλιπὼν γὰρ ἐγώ εἰμι ἀπὸ τοῦ νῦν. Καὶ ἀναστὰς κατεφίλησεν αὐτοὺς καὶ κλαύσας εἶπεν: Ἀκούσατε, ἀδελφοί μου, ἐνωτίσασθε Ῥουβὴμ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν ὅσα ἐντέλλομαι ὑμῖν. Καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐπιμαρτύρομαι ὑμῖν τὸν Θεὸν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ σήμερον, τοῦ μὴ πορευθῆναι ἐν ἀγνοίᾳ νεότητος, καὶ πορνείᾳ, ἐν ᾗ ἐξεχύθην ἐγὼ καὶ ἐμίανα τὴν κοίτην τοῦ πατρός μου Ἰακώβ. Λέγω γὰρ ὑμῖν, ὅτι ἐνέπληξέ με πληγὴν μεγάλην ἐν ταῖς λαγῶσί μου ἐπὶ μῆνας ἑπτά: καὶ εἰ μὴ Ἰακὼβ ὁ πατὴρ ἡμῶν προσηύξατο περὶ ἐμοῦ πρὸς Κύριον, ὅτι ἤθελε Κύριος ἀνελεῖν με. Ἤμην γὰρ ἐτῶν τριάκοντα ὅτε ἔπραξα τὸ πονηρὸν ἐνώπιον Κυρίου: καὶ ἑπτὰ μῆνας ἐμαλακίσθην ἕως θανάτου: καὶ ἐν προαιρέσει ψυχῆς μου ἑπτὰ ἔτη μετενόησα ἐνώπιον Κυρίου. Οἶνον καὶ σίκερα οὐκ ἔπιον, καὶ κρέας οὐκ εἰσῆλθεν εἰς τὸ στόμα μου: καὶ πᾶν ἄρτον ἐπιθυμίας οὐκ ἐγευσάμην, πενθῶν ἐπὶ τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ μου, μεγάλη γὰρ ἦν: καὶ οὐ μὴ γένηται ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ οὕτως.

[2] Καὶ νῦν ἀκούσατέ μου, τέκνα, ἃ εἶδον περὶ τῶν ἑπτὰ πνευμάτων τῆς πλάνης ἐν τῇ μετανοίᾳ μου. Ἑπτὰ πνεύματα ἐδόθη κατὰ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀπὸ τοῦ Βελίαρ καὶ αὐτά εἰσι κεφαλὴ τῶν ἔργων τοῦ νεωτερισμοῦ: καὶ ἑπτὰ πνεύματα ἐδόθη αὐτῷ ἐπὶ τῆς κτίσεως, τοῦ εἶναι ἐν αὐτοῖς πᾶν ἔργον ἀνθρώπου. Πρῶτον πνεῦμα ζωῆς, μεθ' ἧς ἡ σύστασις κτίζεται. Δεύτερον πνεῦμα ὁράσεως, μεθ' ἧς γίνεται ἐπιθυμία. Τρίτον πνεῦμα ἀκοῆς, μεθ' ἧς γίνεται διδασκαλία. Τέταρτον πνεῦμα ὀσφρήσεως, μεθ' ἧς ἐστι γεῦσις δεδομένη εἰς συνολκὴν ἀέρος καὶ πνοῆς. Πέμπτον πνεῦμα λαλιᾶς, μεθ' ἧς γίνεται γνῶσις. Ἕκτον πνεῦμα γεύσεως μεθ' ἧς γίνεται βρῶσις βρωτῶν καὶ ποτῶν, καὶ ἰσχὺς ἐν αὐτοῖς κτίζεται: ὅτι ἐν βρώμασίν ἐστιν ἡ ὑπόστασις τῆς ἰσχύος. Ἕβδομον πνεῦμα σπορᾶς καὶ συνουσίας, μεθ' ἧς συνεισέρχεται διὰ τῆς φιληδονίας ἡ ἁμαρτία. Διὰ τοῦτο ἔσχατόν ἐστι τῆς κτίσεως καὶ πρῶτον τῆς νεότητος, ὅτι ἀγνοίας πεπλήρωται, καὶ αὕτη τὸν νεώτερον ὁδηγεῖ ὡς τυφλὸν ἐπὶ βόθρον καὶ ὡς κτῆνος ἐπὶ κρημνόν.

[3] Ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις ὄγδοον πνεῦμα τοῦ ὕπνου ἐστί, μεθ' οὗ ἐκτίσθη ἔκστασις φύσεως, καὶ εἰκὼν τοῦ θανάτου. Τούτοις τοῖς πνεύμασι συμμίγνυται τὸ πνεῦμα τῆς πλάνης. Πρῶτον τὸ τῆς πορνείας ἐν τῇ φύσει καὶ ταῖς αἰσθήσεσιν ἔγκειται. Δεύτερον πνεῦμα ἀπληστείας ἐν τῇ γαστρί. Τρίτον πνεῦμα μάχης ἐν τῷ ἥπατι καὶ τῇ χολῇ. Τέταρτον πνεῦμα ἀρεσκείας καὶ μαγγανίας, ἵνα διὰ περιεργείας ὡραῖος ὠφθῇ. Πέμπτον πνεῦμα ὑπερηφανείας, ἵνα κινῆται καὶ μεγαλοφρονῇ. Ἕκτον πνεῦμα ψεύδους, ἐν ἀπωλείᾳ καὶ ζήλῳ τοῦ πλάττειν λόγους αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ γένους καὶ οἰκείων. Ἕβδομον πνεῦμα ἀδικίας, μεθ' ἧς κλοπὴ καὶ γριπίσματα, ἵνα ποιήσῃ φιληδονίαν καρδίας αὐτοῦ. Ἡ γὰρ ἀδικία συνεργεῖ τοῖς λοιποῖς πνεύμασι διὰ τῆς δολολειψίας. Ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις τὸ πνεῦμα τοῦ ὕπνου, τὸ ὄγδοον πνεῦμα, συνάπτεται πλάνῃ καὶ φαντασίᾳ. Καὶ οὕτως ἀπόλλυται πᾶς νεώτερος, σκοτίζων τὸν νοῦν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀληθείας, καὶ μὴ συνιὼν ἐν τῷ νόμῳ τοῦ Θεοῦ, μήτε ὑπακούων νουθεσίας πατέρων αὐτοῦ: ὥσπερ κἀγὼ ἔπαθον ἐν τῷ νεωτερισμῷ μου. Καὶ νῦν, τέκνα, τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἀγαπήσατε καὶ αὕτη φυλάξει ὑμᾶς. Διδάσκω ὑμᾶς, ἀκούσατε Ῥουβὴμ τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν. Μὴ προσέχετε ἐν ὄψει γυναικός, μηδὲ ἰδιάζετε μετὰ θηλείας ὑπάνδρου, μηδὲ περιεργάζεσθε πρᾶξιν γυναικῶν. Εἰ μὴ γὰρ εἶδον ἐγὼ Βάλλαν λουομένην ἐν σκεπινῷ τόπῳ, οὐκ ἐνέπιπτον εἰς τὴν ἀνομίαν τὴν μεγάλην. Συλλαβοῦσα γὰρ ἡ διάνοιά μου τὴν γυναικείαν γύμνωσιν, οὐκ εἴασέ με ὑπνῶσαι, ἕως οὗ ἔπραξα τὸ βδέλυγμα. Ἀπόντος γὰρ Ἰακὼβ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν πρὸς Ἰσαὰκ τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ, ὄντων ἡμῶν ἐν Γαδέρ, πλησίον Ἐφραθὰ οἴκου Βηθλεέμ, Βάλλα ἦν μεθύουσα καὶ κοιμωμένη ἀκάλυφος κατέκειτο ἐν τῷ κοιτῶνι: κἀγὼ εἰσελθὼν καὶ ἰδὼν τὴν γύμνωσιν αὐτῆς, ἔπραξα τὴν ἀσέβειαν, καὶ καταλείπων αὐτὴν κοιμωμένην, ἐξῆλθον. Καὶ εὐθέως ἄγγελος τοῦ θεοῦ ἀπεκάλυψε τῷ πατρί μου Ἰακὼβ περὶ τῆς ἀσεβείας μου: καὶ ἐλθὼν ἐπένθει ἐπ' ἐμοί, μηκέτι ἁψάμενος αὐτῆς.

[4] Μὴ οὖν προσέχετε κάλλος γυναικῶν, μηδὲ ἐννοεῖσθε τὰς πράξεις αὐτῶν: ἀλλὰ πορεύεσθε ἐν ἁπλότητι καρδίας, ἐν φόβῳ Κυρίου, καὶ μοχθῶντες ἐν ἔργοις, καὶ ἀποπλανώμενοι ἐν γράμμασι, καὶ ἐν τοῖς ποιμνίοις ὑμῶν, ἕως ὁ Κύριος δῴη ὑμῖν σύζυγον, ἣν αὐτὸς θέλει, ἵνα μὴ πάθητε, ὡς κἀγώ. Ἀχρὶ τελευτῆς τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν οὐκ εἶχον παρρησίαν ἀτενίσαι εἰς πρόσωπον Ἰακώβ, ἢ λαλῆσαί τινι τῶν ἀδελφῶν, διὰ τοὺς ὀνειδισμούς. Καὶ ἕως νῦν ἡ συνείδησίς μου συνέχει με περὶ τῆς ἁμαρτίας μου. Καίγε παρεκάλεσέ με ὁ πατήρ μου, ὅτι ηὔξατο περὶ ἐμοῦ πρὸς Κύριον, ἵνα παρέλθῃ ἀπ' ἐμοῦ ἡ ὀργὴ Κυρίου, καθὼς ἔδειξέ μοι Κύριος. Ἀπὸ τότε οὖν παρεφυλαξάμην, καὶ οὐχ ἥμαρτον. Διὰ τοῦτο, τέκνα μου, φυλάξασθε πάντα, ὅσα ἐντέλλομαι ὑμῖν, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἁμαρτήσητε. Ὄλεθρος γὰρ ψυχῆς ἐστὶν ἡ πορνεία, χωρίζουσα Θεοῦ, καὶ προσεγγίζουσα τοῖς εἰδώλοις, ὅτι αὕτη ἐστὶ πλανῶσα τὸν νοῦν καὶ τὴν διάνοιαν, καὶ κατάγει νεανίσκους εἰς ᾅδην, οὐκ ἐν καιρῷ αὐτῶν. Καὶ γὰρ πολλοὺς ἀπώλεσεν ἡ πορνεία: ὅτι κἂν ᾖ τις γέρων, ἢ εὐγενής, ὄνειδος αὐτὸν ποιεῖ καὶ γέλωτα παρὰ τῷ Βελίαρ καὶ τοῖς υἱοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐφύλαξεν ἑαυτὸν Ἰωσὴφ ἀπὸ πάσης γυναικός, καὶ τὰς ἐννοίας ἐκαθαίρισεν ἀπὸ πάσης πορνείας, εὗρεν χάριν ἐνώπιον Κυρίου καὶ ἀνθρώπων. Καὶ γὰρ πολλὰ ἐποίησεν αὐτῷ ἡ Αἰγυπτία, καὶ μάγους παρεκάλεσε, καὶ φάρμακα αὐτῷ προσήνεγκε: καὶ οὐκ ἐδέξατο τὸ διαβούλιον τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ ἐπιθυμίαν πονηράν. Διὰ τοῦτο ὁ Θεὸς τῶν πατέρων μου ἐρρύσατο αὐτὸν ἀπὸ παντὸς ὁρατοῦ καὶ κεκρυμμένου θανάτου. Ἐὰν γὰρ μὴ κατισχύσῃ ἡ πορνεία τὴν ἔννοιαν, οὐδὲ Βελίαρ κατισχύσει ὑμῶν.

[5] Πονηραί εἰσιν αἱ γυναῖκες, τέκνα μου, ὅτι μὴ ἔχουσαι ἐξουσίαν ἢ δύναμιν ἐπὶ τὸν ἄνθρωπον, δολιεύονται ἐν σχήμασι, πῶς αὐτὸν πρὸς αὐτὰς ἐπισπάσονται: καὶ ὃν διὰ δυνάμεως οὐκ ἰσχύει καταγωνίσασθαι, τοῦτον δι' ἀπάτης καταγωνίζεται. Ὅτι καίγε περὶ αὐτῶν εἶπέ μοι ὁ ἄγγελος τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ ἐδίδαξέ με, ὅτι αἱ γυναῖκες ἡττῶνται τῷ πνεύματι τῆς πορνείας ὑπὲρ τὸν ἄνθρωπον, καὶ ἐν καρδίᾳ μηχανῶνται κατὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ διὰ τῆς κοσμήσεως πλανῶσιν αὐτῶν πρῶτον τὰς διανοίας, καὶ διὰ τοῦ βλέμματος τὸν ἰὸν ἐνσπείρουσι, καὶ τότε τῷ ἔργῳ αἰχμαλωτίζουσιν: οὐ γὰρ δύναται γυνὴ ἄνθρωπον βιάσασθαι. Φεύγετε οὖν τὴν πορνείαν, τέκνα μου, καὶ προστάσσετε ταῖς γυναιξὶν ὑμῶν καὶ ταῖς θυγατράσιν, ἵνα μὴ κοσμῶνται τὰς κεφαλὰς καὶ τὰς ὄψεις αὐτῶν, ὅτι πᾶσα γυνὴ δολιευομένη ἐν τούτοις εἰς κόλασιν τοῦ αἰῶνος τετήρηται. Οὕτως γὰρ ἔθελξαν τοὺς Ἐγγρηγόρους πρὸ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ: κἀκεῖνοι συνεχῶς ὁρῶντες αὐτάς, ἐγένοντο ἐν ἐπιθυμίᾳ ἀλλήλων, καὶ συνέλαβον τῇ διανοίᾳ τὴν πρᾶξιν καὶ μετεσχηματίζοντο εἰς ἀνθρώπους, καὶ ἐν τῇ συνουσίᾳ τῶν ἀνδρῶν αὐτῶν συνεφαίνοντο αὐταῖς: κἀκεῖνοι ἐπιθυμοῦσαι τῇ διανοίᾳ τὰς φαντασίας αὐτῶν, ἔτεκον γίγαντας. Ἐφαίνοντο γὰρ αὐταῖς οἱ Ἐγγρήγορες ἕως τοῦ οὐρανοῦ φθάνοντες.

[6] Φυλάσσεσθε οὖν ἀπὸ τῆς πορνείας: καὶ εἰ θέλετε καθαρεύειν τῇ διανοίᾳ, φυλάσσετε τὰς αἰσθήσεις ἀπὸ πάσης θηλείας. Κἀκείναις δὲ ἐντείλασθε μὴ συνδυάζειν ἀνθρώποις, ἵνα καὶ αὐταὶ καθαρεύωσι τῇ διανοίᾳ. Αἱ γὰρ συνεχεῖς συντυχίαι, κἂν μὴ πραχθῇ τὸ ἀσέβημα, αὐταῖς μέν ἐστι νόσος ἀνίατος, ἡμῖν δὲ ὄνειδος τοῦ Βελίαρ αἰώνιον: ὅτι ἡ πορνεία οὔτε σύνεσιν οὔτε εὐσέβειαν ἔχει ἐν ἑαυτῇ καὶ πᾶς ζῆλος κατοικεῖ ἐν τῇ ἐπιθυμίᾳ αὐτῆς. Διὰ τοῦτο ζηλώσατε τοὺς υἱοὺς Λευί, καὶ ζητήσατε ὑψωθῆναι ὑπὲρ αὐτούς, ἀλλ' οὐ δυνήσεσθε. Ὁ γὰρ Θεὸς ποιήσει τὴν ἐκδίκησιν αὐτῶν, καὶ ἀποθανεῖσθε θανάτῳ πονηρῷ. Τῷ γὰρ Λευὶ ἔδωκε Κύριος τὴν ἀρχὴν καὶ τῷ Ἰούδᾳ, μετ' αὐτῶν κἀμοί, καὶ Δὰν καὶ Ἰωσήφ, τοῦ εἶναι ἐπὶ ἄρχοντας. Διὰ τοῦτο ἐντέλλομαι ὑμῖν ἀκούειν τοῦ Λευί, ὅτι αὐτὸς γνώσεται νόμον Κυρίου, καὶ διαστέλλει εἰς κρίσιν καὶ θυσίας ὑπὲρ παντὸς Ἰσραήλ, μέχρι τελειώσεως χρόνων ἀρχιερέως χριστοῦ, ὃν εἶπε Κύριος. Ὁρκῶ ὑμᾶς τὸν Θεὸν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ποιῆσαι ἀλήθειαν ἕκαστος πρὸς τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ, καὶ πρὸς τὸν Λευὶ ἐγγίσατε ἐν ταπεινώσει καρδίας, ἵνα δέξησθε εὐλογίαν ἐκ τοῦ στόματος αὐτοῦ. Αὐτὸς γὰρ εὐλογήσει τὸν Ἰσραὴλ καὶ τὸν Ἰούδαν: ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐξελέξατο Κύριος βασιλεῦσαι πάντων τῶν λαῶν. Καὶ προσκυνήσατε τῷ σπέρματι αὐτοῦ, ὅτι ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν ἀποθανεῖται ἐν πολέμοις ὁρατοῖς καὶ ἀοράτοις καὶ ἔσται ἐν ὑμῖν βασιλεὺς αἰώνων.

[7] Καὶ ἀπέθανε Ῥουβήμ, ἐντειλάμενος τοῖς υἱοῖς αὐτοῦ. καὶ ἔθεντο αὐτὸν ἐν σορῷ, ἕως ὅτε ἀνενέγκαντες αὐτὸν ἐξ Αἰγύπτου ἔθαψαν ἐν Χεβρών, ἐν τῷ σπηλαίῳ τῷ διπλῷ, ὅπου οἱ πατέρες αὐτοῦ.