The Chronicles of Jerahmeel: Or, the Hebrew Bible Historiale. Being a Collection of Apocryphal and Pseudo-Epigraphical Books Dealing With the History of the World from the

LXII. THE TEN BANISHMENTS OF

THE SANHEDRIM

(1) The Levites, the sons of Moses, made ten journeys and encamped on the

other side of the river Sabbatyon. Our sages say that when the Israelites were

exiled to Babylon, and came to the Euphrates, as it is said, 'We sat by the waters

of Babylon,' etc., they said to them, 'O Levites, stand up before our gods, and

sing a song just as you sang in the temple.' But they replied, 'O ye fools, if we

had sung a song of thanksgiving for every miracle which God wrought for us,

we should not have been exiled from our land, but would, on the contrary, have

added honour upon honour; and shall we now sing a song to your idols?' Being

angered at this reply, they immediately rose up and slew the Jews in heaps, and

although the slaughter was so great, yet their joy had ceased, because the Jews

did not worship idols. Therefore it is said, 'Their joy was turned into wailing.'

The remaining Levites then cut off their fingers that they might avoid playing on

their harps; so that when they were told to play and sing on their harps, just as

they had done in the temple, they showed them their mutilated fingers.

(2) When night came on a cloud covered them, together with their wives,

and sons, and daughters, and the Lord gave them light by a pillar of fire, which

showed them the way the whole night until the dawn of day, and brought them to

the seashore. When the sun rose the cloud departed as well as the pillar of fire.

And the Lord extended the length of the river Sabbatianus, so that it surrounded

them completely. It hems them in so that no one can cross over to them, and He

extended it all round to a distance of nine months’ journey. The river surrounds

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them from three sides, and on the fourth is the sea. The depth of the river is 200

cubits, and it is full of sand and stones. The noise is that of an earthquake, and

reaches the distance of half a day's journey, and causes the sand and stones to

roll all the six days of the week.

(3) But on the Sabbath it rests, and immediately a fire bursts forth from the

western side, which lasts from the eve of Sabbath until the end. Its flames shoot

out in every direction, so that one can not approach nearer the river than a

distance of thirty-four miles, and this fire burns all round and consumes

everything. There is not seen among them any unclean animal or bird, and no

creeping thing, but only their flocks and herds. There are six fountains, which

gather together and form one pool. From these they water the land and obtain in

abundance all kinds of clean fishes, and all kinds of birds and fruits. They sow

one seed and reap a hundredfold. They are men of faith, students of the Law, the

Scripture, Mishna and Agadah. They are pious and pure and never swear falsely.

They attain the ripe old age of 120 years, nor does a son or daughter die in the

lifetime of their father. (4) They see three successive generations and build for

themselves houses; they sow and plough themselves, because they have no

manservants or maidservants. They do not close their houses in the night-time,

and a young child walks fearlessly with the cattle for many a day, without

having any fear either of robbers or of any possible injury, because they are holy

and remained in the holiness of Moses our teacher. Therefore God gave them all

this and chose them. They do not see any man, nor does any of the sons of men

see them, except the four tribes, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher, all of whom

dwell on the other side of the rivers of Kush, with the Sabbatyon between them,

and there they will remain until the end of the world. Concerning them it is said,

'To say to the captives "Go out,"' viz., referring to those behind the river

Sabbatyon.

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(5) There the tribes of Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher, were enclosed. The

question as to how they arrived at that place our sages have thus answered:

When Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, sinned, and caused Israel to sin, and the

house of David became separated from the ten tribes of Israel, he said to the

people, 'Go ye forth and fight with Rehoboam and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.'

But they said, 'Wherefore should we go to war against our brethren, against the

house of our master, David, King of Israel and Judah?' And the elders of Israel

said to him, 'In all the land of Israel there do not exist such mighty warriors and

men so trained to battle as those of the tribe of Dan.' Then, commanding them

forthwith to wage war with Judah, they said, 'By the life of Dan, our forefather,

we shall never go to battle with our brethren, and we shall not shed their blood

without any cause.' And immediately afterwards the sons of Dan, taking up their

swords and spears and bows, determined to fight unto death with Jeroboam, but

God saved them from the crime of shedding the blood of their brethren. (6) They

spread the news then throughout the whole tribe of Dan, and the sons of Dan

took counsel together to depart from Canaan and to go down to Egypt to destroy

it and kill all its inhabitants. But their princes asked, 'Why will you go to Egypt?

Is it not written in the Torah, "Ye shall never again behold them"?' At this they

gave way, but again took counsel concerning Edom, Moab, and the Ammonites.

When, however, they heard that God had withheld Israel from fighting them they

again gave up their intentions, until the Lord advised them better what to do. So

they went to the brook of Pishon, and journeyed on their camels until they

arrived at the other side of the river Pishon. There they discovered that the

country was fruitful and extensive, containing fruitful fields and gardens. The

sons of Dan therefore determined to dwell there, and made a covenant with the

inhabitants, the sons of Kush, who paid them tribute, and also dwelt among them

until they increased and multiplied exceedingly.

(7) On the death of Sennacherib the three tribes of Gad, Asher, and Naphtali

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left the country, and travelled until they arrived near the border of that tribe,

when they slaughtered the Kushites, a distance of four days’ journey. They war

with six Kushite kings, which every tribe continues to do for three months in the

year until this very day, each tribe separately, but the descendants of Simeon go

with those of Dan. (8) The Levites journeyed and encamped in Havila, which

abounds in gold, that is as common as stones, also in sheep, cattle, camels, asses,

and horses. There they sow and reap, and dwell in tents made of skin. They

journey from one border to another, a distance of four days each way; and where

they encamp there no man dares enter, and they only stay in the fields and

vineyards, and punish in accordance with the different kinds of capital

punishments meted out by the Jewish Law. Concerning them it is said, 'Those on

the other side of the mountains of Kush,' etc.

(9) The tribe of Isaachar dwell on the mountains of the great deep in the

nethermost parts of Media and Persia, and there they fulfil the commandment,

'the book of the Torah shall not depart from their mouth;' nor do they take upon

themselves the yoke of any earthly kingdom, but only the yoke of Heaven and

the yoke of the Law. They have many captains of the army, but never fight with

man, but discuss the Torah. They dwell in peace and tranquillity, and no

rebellious thought or evil of any kind enters their minds. They possess a country

whose area covers land of ten days’ journey, and they have an abundance of

cattle, camels, and servants, but do not breed horses, nor do they possess any

warlike instruments, except knives for preparing food, and to kill the animals for

that purpose. They are men of great faith, hating oppression or robbery. If even

their servant finds money by the way they will not stretch forth their hand to take

it. (10) But their wicked neighbours worship fire, and take their mothers and

their sisters to wives. They neither till the ground, nor reap, nor gather in the

harvest, but they purchase it for money. They have a judge and a chief who

metes out the four capital punishments. They speak the Hebrew and Persian

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languages, and that of Kedar.

(11) The children of Zebulun encamp on the mountains of Paran, and pitch

tents made of the hair of Armania (###) and stretch as far as the Euphrates. The

tribe of Reuben dwells opposite them behind the mountains of Paran, and

between them there is love, unity, and peace. They infest the roads leading to

Mecoth (###) and the way to Babylon. All their spoil they divide equally

between them, and food is so cheap that two camel-loads can be bought for two

drachmas. They speak among themselves the language of Kedar, and possess the

Bible, Mishna, Talmud, and Agadoth. But every Sabbath a lecture is given in

Hebrew, and interpreted in the language of Kedar. (12) The tribe of Ephraim and

half the tribe of Menasseh dwells opposite the city of Meyuqa (###). They have

to toil for their living by the sweat of their brow, and are hard-hearted. They are

riders of horses, infesting the roads, and having pity on no man. They possess no

money, but only the spoil they acquire from their enemies. They are a distance of

six months’ march from the temple, and their numbers are incalculable and

without number. They exact tribute from twenty-five kingdoms, as well as from

a portion of Ishmael, but the tribes of Judah and Benjamin are scattered over the

whole world. May the Rock of Israel gather together our dispersed brethren.

Amen.'

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