love from me that thou mighteft be-bred up under my eye. When thy
fitter went and faid, Shall I bring you unto one who will:nurfe the-child'’ ?
So we returned thee unto thy mother, that her mind might be fet at eafe,
and that the might not be afflifted. And thou fleweft a foul, and we delivered
thee from trouble' ; and we proved thee by feveral trialsd a and
afterwards thou didft dwell fome years * among the inhabitants of M a d ia n .
Then thou cameft hither According to our decree, O -M o se s ; . and I have
chofen thee for my felf -. ' wherefore go thoh’ and thy brother f with itiy
figns •, and be not negligent in1 remembring me. Go ye unto P h a r a o h ,
for he is exceflively impious: and fpeak mildly unto him ; peradventure he will
confider, or will fear oar threats. They anfwered, O L o r d , verily we fear left
he be precipitately violent againft us, or left he tranfgrefs more exorbitantly. God
replied, Fear not; for I am with you : I will hear and will fee. Go ye: therefore
unto him, and fay, Verily we are the fneffengers of thy F o r d : whett-
fore fend the children of Is r a e l with us, and do not affiidt them. Now are.We
come unto thee with a fign from thy L o r d : and peade be upon him who'fhill
follow the true direftion. -Verily it hath been revealed unto us, that a punilh-
ment [hall be infilled on him who fhall charge us, with impofture, and fhall
turn back. And when they had delivered their mejfage, P h a r a o h faid, Who
is your L o r d , O M o se s ? He anfwered, Our L o r d is he who giveth all
things : he hath created them, and diredteth them by his' -providence. P ha.
x a o h faid, What therefore is the condition of the former generations8 ? M oses
anfwered, The knowledge thereof is with my L o r d , in the book o f his iein,
committed it to the river, a branch of which
went into Pharaoh's garden: that the ftream carried
the ark thither into a fifhpond, at the head
of which Pharaoh was then fitting, with his
wife Aft a, the daughter o f Mozabem i and
that the king, having commanded it to be
taken up and opened, and finding in it a beautiful
child, , took a fancy to it, and ordered it to
be brought up .ha- Iho -rki
Some writers mention a miraculous preferva-
tion of Mofes before he was put. into the ark ;
and tell us, that his mother having hid him from
Pharaoh's.officers in an oven, his. lifter, in her
mother’s abfence, kindled a large fire in the oven
to heat it, not knowing the child was there, but
that he was afterwards taken out unhurt 2.
a I bejlowed on thee love from me»] That is,
I infpired the love of thee into the hearts of
thofe who law thee, and particularly into the
heart of Pharaoh.
6 When tby ftfter went, &c.,] The Mohammedans
pretend that feveral nurfes were brought,-
fiut the child refufed to take the breaft of any,
till his fitter Miriam, who went to learn news of
him, told them Ihe would find a nurle, and
brought his" mother 3.
c Thou fleweft a foul, and we delivered thee from
trouble j] Mofes killed an Egyptian, in defence of
an . Ifraelitei. and efcaped the danger- of being
puniflied fof it, by flying to, Midian, which was
eight days journey diftant from Mefr
The Jews pretend he was a&ualJy imprifoned
for the faff, and condemned to be beheaded, but
that, when he Ihoiild have fuffered,,, his <neck
became as hard us ivory, and the fwçrd rebounded
on the executioner *.
A Vffe poved_ thee by various trials j], For he
was obliged" tp abandon his country and, his
friends, and to travel lèverai days, in great terror,
and want of neceflary provifions, to feek a refuge
among Étrangers j and was aft.erwards forced
to ferve for hire, to gain a livelihood..
...e Some years ;] i. e. Ten 6.
f Go thou and thy brother ;] Aaron being by
this time come out to meeçhis brother, either,by
divine infpiratioq, or having notice o f his dengn
to return to Egypt 7.
8 What is the condition, i f the former generf'
tions f j viz. As to happinefs or mifery after
death.
' A l B e i d a w i . ; 2 A b u l f e d a , fcfrv 3 Al B e i d a w i . 4 Iiem^
JIakkab. p. 11. ' 6 ^/Bei-dawi, 7 Idem.
? Sbalfh
trees: my L ord erreth not, 1 neither doth he forget. I t is he who hath
fpread the earth as a bed for you, and hath made you paths therein ; and who
fendeth down rain from heaven, whereby we caufe various kinds o f vegetables
to fpring forth ; faying, Eat o f part, and feed your cattle with other
■ part thereof. Verily herein are figns unto thofe who are indued with under-
ftanding; Out o f thé ground have we created you; and to the fame will we
caufe you to' return, and we will bring you forth from thence another time.
And we fhewed P h a r a o h all our figns which we had impowered M o s e s to
perform: but he accufed him of impofture, and refufed to believe ; and he
faid, Art thou come unto us that thou mayeft difpoflefs .us Of our
land by. thy inchantments, O M oses ? Verily we will meet thee with the like'
inchantments: wherefore fix an appointment between us-and thee ; wet will
not fail it, neither fhall thou, in an equal place. M o se s anfwered, Let your
appointment ba on the day o f your foletnn feaft * ; and let the people be
afiembled 'iri open day. And P haraoh turned away from M o s e s , and ga thered
together the moft expert magicians, to execute his ftratagem ; and then
came to the appointment. M oses faid unto them, Wo be unto you ! do not
devife a lie againft God b, left he utterly deftroy you by fome judgment; for
lie fhall not profper who devifeth lies. And the magicians difputed concerning
their affair^afoong themfelves, and difeourfed in private : and they fhid, T h ek
two are certainly 'magicians: they feek to difpoflefs you o f your land by their
forcery; and to lead away with them your chiefeft and moft confiderable men.
Wherefore coiled: all your cunning, and theft come in order’: for he fhall
profper this day, who fhall be fuperior. They faid, O1 M oses, whether wilt
thou caftdown thy rod firft, or fhall we be the firft who caft down our rods?
He anfwered, Do ye caft down your rods firfi. And behold, their cords
and’ their rods appeared urrtq him, by their inchantment, to run about like
ferpenfs c: wherefore M oses conceived fear in his heart. But we faid unto
him, Fear not ; for thou fhalt be fuperior : therefore caft down the rod
which is in thy right hand ; and it fhall fwallow up the feeming ferperits
which they have made: for what they have,made is only the deceipt o f an inchanter
; and an inchanter fhall hot profper, whitherfoever he cometh. And
the magicians, when they faw the miracle which M o se s performed, fell down
and worfhipped, faying, We believe in the L ord of A a r o n and o f M oses.
Ph a r a o h laid' unto them. Do ye believe in him before I give you’ permif-
fion? Verily this is your matter, who hath taught you magic. But I will
furely cut off your hands and your feet on the oppofite fides ; and I will
crucify you on trunks o f ï palm-treesd: and ye fhall know which o f us is
more fevere in punching, and can longer protraft your pains. They anfwer-
, ■ . L 1 % .... ed,
a The day of the foletnn fe a jl;] Whioh was by their inchantments, to run about like ferpents
probably the firft day of their new year. They rubbed them over with quicklilver, which
b Do not devife a lie againft G o d j ] By faying being wrought upon by the heat of the fun,
the miracles performed in his name are the jb£- caufed them to move h See chap 7. p. 1 28.
fetts of magic. - \ See ibid.
c Their cords and their rods feemed unto him.
1 Idem.