askest

And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?

Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

Why askest thou me? ask them which heard me, what I have said unto them: behold, they know what I said.

But as concerning the things whereof thou askest me, I will tell thee; for the evil is sown, but the destruction thereof is not yet come.

He answered me, and said, As for the tokens whereof thou askest me, I may tell thee of them in part: but as touching thy life, I am not sent to shew thee; for I do not know it.

As for me, I am unwise: how may I then speak of these things whereof thou askest me?

I will tell thee a similitude, Esdras; As when thou askest the earth, it shall say unto thee, that it giveth much mould whereof earthen vessels are made, but little dust that gold cometh of: even so is the course of this present world.

And my Lord answered me and said to me: Hast thou understood that which I said unto thee before? It is permitted unto thee to know that concerning which thou askest: but thou must not tell that which thou hearest unto the sinners lest they transgress the more, and sin. . . . My Father will give unto them all the life, the glory, and the kingdom that passeth not away, . . . It is because of them that have believed in me that I am come. It is also because of them that have believed in me, that, at their word, I shall have pity on men.

Then the angels let the soul of Gad go. And as they were putting his grave clothes upon him, his soul entered into him and he said to them that stood about him: Call my brother unto me, that I may ask one petition of him. Straightway therefore they told the king, saying: Thy brother is revived. And the king ran forth with a great company and came unto his brother and entered in and stood by his bed as one amazed, not being able to speak to him. And his brother said: I know and am persuaded, my brother, that if any man had asked of thee the half of thy kingdom, thou wouldest have given it him for my sake; therefore I beg of thee to grant me one favour which I ask of thee, that thou wouldest sell me that which I ask of thee. And the king answered and said: And what is it which thou askest me to sell thee? And he said: Convince me by an oath that thou wilt grant it me. And the king sware unto him: One of my possessions, whatsoever thou shalt ask, I will give thee. And he saith to him: Sell me that palace which thou hast in the heavens? And the king said: Whence should I have a palace in the heavens? And he said: Even that which that Christian built for thee which is now in the prison, whom the merchant brought unto thee, having purchased him of one Jesus: I mean that Hebrew slave whom thou desiredst to punish as having suffered deceit at his hand: whereat I was grieved and died, and am now revived.

And she saith to him: Thou wast with us, and didst never leave us for one hour, and askest thou how we were shut up? but if thou desirest to hear, hear. The king Misdaeus sent for me and said unto me: Not yet hath that sorcerer prevailed over thee, for, as I hear, he bewitcheth men with oil and water and bread, and hath not yet bewitched thee; but obey thou me, for if not, I will imprison thee and wear thee out, and him I will destroy; for I know that if he hath not yet given thee oil and water and bread, he hath not prevailed to get power over thee. And I said unto him: Over my body thou hast authority, and do thou all that thou wilt; but my soul I will not let perish with thee. And hearing that he shut me up in a chamber: and Charisius brought Mygdonia and shut her up with me: and thou broughtest us out and didst bring us even hither; but give thou us the seal quickly, that the hope of Misdaeus who counselleth thus may be cut off.

After these things he brought me to the Land of Edem (Heb. קֶדֶם). He placed me upon his wing of light, and he brought me to the place where the sun riseth, by the side of the fountain which supplieth water to the four rivers, Phisôn, Tigris, Gêôn (the Nile), and the Euphrates. I saw the Paradise of joy, which was filled with all kinds of trees which bore fruits of all kinds. And I said to the Cherubim, 'My Lord, I would that thou wouldst shew me the tree [of the fruit] whereof Adam ate, and became naked, and God was afterwards wroth with him.' The Cherubim answered and said unto me, 'Thou askest a question which concerneth great mysteries, but I will hide nothing whatsoever from thee. Now therefore, rise up, set thyself behind me, and I will explain to thee everything, and I will shew thee the tree [of the fruit] of which Adam ate.'

Now when the night fell, Peter, while yet waking, beheld Jesus clad in a vesture of brightness, smiling and saying unto him: Already is much people of the brotherhood returned through me and through the signs which thou hast wrought in my name. But thou shalt have a contest of the faith upon the sabbath that cometh, and many more of the Gentiles and of the Jews shall be converted in my name unto me who was reproached and mocked and spat upon. For I will be present with thee when thou askest for signs and wonders, and thou shalt convert many: but thou shalt have Simon opposing thee by the works of his father; yet all his works shall be shown to be charms and contrivances of sorcery. But now slack thou not, and whomsoever I shall send unto thee thou shalt establish in my name. And when it was light, he told the brethren how the Lord had appeared unto him and what he had commanded him:

And Jesus answered and said: Blessed art thou, Bartholomew, my beloved, because thou sawest this mystery, and now will I tell thee all things whatsoever thou askest me.

But Jesus looked upon him and said: Thou bold heart! thou askest for that which thou art not able to look upon.

"O Adam, as to the fruit of the Tree of Life, for which thou askest, I will not give it thee now, but when the 5500 years are fulfilled. Then will I give thee of the fruit of the Tree of Life, and thou shalt eat, and live for ever, thou, and Eve, and thy righteous seed.

"Then will I make thee go up into the kingdom of heaven, thee and thy righteous seed; and I will give thee and them the rest thou askest for at present.

And there came before my face another spirit, as it were a woman in the form she had. But on her shoulders she had two other heads with hands. And I asked her, and said: "Tell me, who art thou?" And she said to me: "I am Enêpsigos, who also have a myriad names." And I said her: "By what angel art thou frustrated?" But she said to me: "What seekest, what askest thou? I undergo changes, like the goddess I am called. And I change again, and pass into possession of another shape. And be not desirous therefore to know all that concerns me. But since thou art before me for this much, hearken. I have my abode in the moon, and for that reason I possess three forms. At times I am magically invoked by the wise as Kronos. At other times, in connexion with those who bring me down, I come down and appear in another shape. The measure of the element is inexplicable and indefinable, and not to be frustrated. I then, changing into these three forms, come down and become such as thou seest me; but I am frustrated by the angel Rathanael, who sits in the third heaven. This then is why I speak to thee. Yonder temple cannot contain me."

And Cenez said to the captain of fifty which had shut up those men in prison: Bring forth those men that we may hear their words. And when he had brought them forth, Cenez said to them: Tell me, what saw ye in me that ye murmured among the people? And they said: Why askest thou us? Why askest thou us? Now therefore command that we be burned with fire, for we die not for this sin that we have now spoken, but for that former one wherein those men were taken which were burned in their sins; for then we did consent unto their sin, saying: Peradventure the people will not perceive us; and then we did escape the people. But now have we been (rightly) made a public example by our sins in that we fell into slandering of thee. And Cenez said: If ye yourselves therefore witness against yourselves, how shall I have compassion upon you? And Cenez commanded them to be burned with fire, and cast their ashes into the place where they had burned the multitude of the sinners, even into the brook Phison.

And Cenez said to the captain of fifty which had shut up those men in prison: Bring forth those men that we may hear their words. And when he had brought them forth, Cenez said to them: Tell me, what saw ye in me that ye murmured among the people? And they said: Why askest thou us? Why askest thou us? Now therefore command that we be burned with fire, for we die not for this sin that we have now spoken, but for that former one wherein those men were taken which were burned in their sins; for then we did consent unto their sin, saying: Peradventure the people will not perceive us; and then we did escape the people. But now have we been (rightly) made a public example by our sins in that we fell into slandering of thee. And Cenez said: If ye yourselves therefore witness against yourselves, how shall I have compassion upon you? And Cenez commanded them to be burned with fire, and cast their ashes into the place where they had burned the multitude of the sinners, even into the brook Phison.

He said to him: Why askest thou me whence I come? for straitness encompasseth me, for Israel is fallen into affliction, and they are verily delivered into the hands of the Madianites. And where are the wonders which our fathers have told us, saying: The Lord chose Israel alone before all the peoples of the earth? Lo, now he hath delivered us up, and hath forgotten the promises which he made to our fathers. For we should have chosen rather to be delivered unto death once for all, than that his people should be punished thus time after time.

But Saul, because he was light on his feet, fled from before him; and he rent his clothes, and put ashes on his head, and came unto Heli the priest. And Heli said unto him: Tell me what hath befallen in the camp? And Saul said unto him: Why askest thou me these things? for the people is overcome, and God hath forsaken Israel. Yea, and the priests also are slain with the sword, and the ark is delivered unto the Philistines.

And I Baruch said, Behold, Lord, Thou didst show me great and wonderful things; and now show me all things for the sake of the Lord. And the angel said to me, Come, let us proceed. (And I proceeded) with the angel from that place about one hundred and eighty-five days' journey. And he showed me a plain and a serpent, which appeared to be two hundred plethra in length. And he showed me Hades, and its appearance was dark and abominable. And I said, Who is this dragon, and who is this monster around him? And the angel said, The dragon is he who eats the bodies of those who spend their life wickedly, and he is nourished by them. And this is Hades, which itself also closely resembles him, in that it also drinks about a cubit from the sea, which does not sink at all. Baruch said, And how (does this happen)? And the angel said, Hearken, the Lord God made three hundred and sixty rivers, of which the chief of all are Alphias, Abyrus, and the Gericus; and because of these the sea does not sink. And I said, I pray thee show me which is the tree which led Adam astray. And the angel said to me, It is the vine, which the angel Sammael planted, whereat the Lord God was angry, and He cursed him and his plant, while also on this account He did not permit Adam to touch it, and therefore the devil being envious deceived him through his vine. [And I Baruch said, Since also the vine has been the cause of such great evil, and is under judgement of the curse of God, and was the destruction of the first created, how is it now so useful? And the angel said, Thou askest aright. When God caused the deluge upon earth, and destroyed all flesh, and four hundred and nine thousand giants, and the water rose fifteen cubits above the highest mountains, then the water entered into paradise and destroyed every flower; but it removed wholly without the bounds the shoot of the vine and cast it outside. And when the earth appeared out of the water, and Noah came out of the ark, he began to plant of the plants which he found. But he found also the shoot of the vine; and he took it, and was reasoning in himself, What then is it? And I came and spake to him the things concerning it. And he said, Shall I plant it, or what shall I do Since Adam was destroyed because of it, let me not also meet with the anger of God because of it. And saying these things he prayed that God would reveal to him what he should do concerning it. And when he had completed the prayer which lasted forty days, and having besought many things and wept, he said: Lord, I entreat thee to reveal to me what I shall do concerning this plant. But God sent his angel Sarasael, and said to him, Arise, Noah, and plant the shoot of the vine, for thus saith the Lord: Its bitterness shall be changed into sweetness, and its curse shall become a blessing, and that which is produced from it shall become the blood of God; and as through it the human race obtained condemnation, so again through Jesus Christ the Immanuel will they receive in Him the upward calling, and the entry into paradise]. Know therefore, Baruch, that as Adam through this very tree obtained condemnation, and was divested of the glory of God, so also the men who now drink insatiably the wine which is begotten of it, transgress worse than Adam, and are far from the glory of God, and are surrendering themselves to the eternal fire. For (no) good comes through it. For those who drink it to surfeit do these things: neither does a brother pity his brother, nor a father his son, nor children their parents, but from the drinking of wine come all evils, such as murders, adulteries, fornications, perjuries, thefts, and such like. And nothing good is established by it.

And he took me and led me towards the west; and when the time of the setting came, I saw again the bird coming before it, and as soon as he came I saw the angels, and they lifted the crown from its head. But the bird stood exhausted and with wings contracted. And beholding these things, I said, Lord, wherefore did they lift the crown from the head of the sun, and wherefore is the bird so exhausted? And the angel said to me, The crown of the sun, when it has run through the day—four angels take it, and bear it up to heaven, and renew it, because it and its rays have been defiled upon earth; moreover it is so renewed each day. And I Baruch said, Lord, and wherefore are its beams defiled upon earth? And the angel said to me, Because it beholds the lawlessness and unrighteousness of men, namely fornications, adulteries, thefts, extortions, idolatries, drunkenness, murders, strife, jealousies, evil-speakings, murmurings, whisperings, divinations, and such like, which are not well-pleasing to God. On account of these things is it defiled, and therefore is it renewed. But thou askest concerning the bird, how it is exhausted. Because by restraining the rays of the sun through the fire and burning heat of the whole day, it is exhausted thereby. For, as we said before, unless his wings were screening the rays of the sun, no living creature would be preserved.

And Niblos, the son of Lucus, heard that his uncle Angeas was coming, and he went out to meet him with a heavy army, and he kissed him and embraced him, and Niblos said unto Angeas, When thou askest my father after his welfare, when I shall go with thee to fight with Turnus, ask of him to make me captain of his host, and Angeas did so, and he came unto his brother and his brother came to meet him, and he asked him after his welfare.

When Aristeus was saying thus, the king looked upon him with a cheerful and joyful countenance, and said, "How many ten thousands dost thou suppose there are of such as want to be made free?" To which Andreas replied, as he stood by, and said, "A few more than ten times ten thousand." The king made answer, "And is this a small gift that thou askest, Aristeus?" But Sosibius, and the rest that stood by, said that he ought to offer such a thank-offering as was worthy of his greatness of soul, to that God who had given him his kingdom. With this answer he was much pleased; and gave order, that when they paid the soldiers their wages, they should lay down [a hundred and] twenty drachmas for every one of the slaves? And he promised to publish a magnificent decree, about what they requested, which should confirm what Aristeus had proposed, and especially what God willed should be done; whereby he said he would not only set those free who had been led away captive by his father and his army, but those who were in this kingdom before, and those also, if any such there were, who had been brought away since. And when they said that their redemption money would amount to above four hundred talents, he granted it. A copy of which decree I have determined to preserve, that the magnanimity of this king may be made known. Its contents were as follows: "Let all those who were soldiers under our father, and who, when they overran Syria and Phoenicia, and laid waste Judea, took the Jews captives, and made them slaves, and brought them into our cities, and into this country, and then sold them; as also all those that were in my kingdom before them, and if there be any that have been lately brought thither,—be made free by those that possess them; and let them accept of [a hundred and] twenty drachmas for every slave. And let the soldiers receive this redemption money with their pay, but the rest out of the king's treasury: for I suppose that they were made captives without our father's consent, and against equity; and that their country was harassed by the insolence of the soldiers, and that, by removing them into Egypt, the soldiers have made a great profit by them. Out of regard therefore to justice, and out of pity to those that have been tyrannized over, contrary to equity, I enjoin those that have such Jews in their service to set them at liberty, upon the receipt of the before-mentioned sum; and that no one use any deceit about them, but obey what is here commanded. And I will that they give in their names within three days after the publication of this edict, to such as are appointed to execute the same, and to produce the slaves before them also, for I think it will be for the advantage of my affairs. And let every one that will inform against those that do not obey this decree, and I will that their estates be confiscated into the king's treasury." When this decree was read to the king, it at first contained the rest that is here inserted, and omitted only those Jews that had formerly been brought, and those brought afterwards, which had not been distinctly mentioned; so he added these clauses out of his humanity, and with great generosity. He also gave order that the payment, which was likely to be done in a hurry, should be divided among the king's ministers, and among the officers of his treasury. When this was over, what the king had decreed was quickly brought to a conclusion; and this in no more than seven days' time, the number of the talents paid for the captives being above four hundred and sixty, and this, because their masters required the [hundred and] twenty drachmas for the children also, the king having, in effect, commanded that these should be paid for, when he said in his decree, that they should receive the forementioned sum for every slave.

R. Berechiah said: The Congregation of Israel likewise presented her request in careless language, but the Holy One, blessed be He, answered it favorably. The Congregation of Israel said to Him: Master of the World! "Let us know, eagerly strive to know the Lord, His going forth is sure as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth" (Hos., 6.3). The Holy One, blessed be He, however, replied to her: My daughter! Thou art asking for something which is desirable at times and undesirable at others; I wish to be unto thee something that is desirable at all times, as it is said (ibid., 14.6): "I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon." The Congregation further asked and said: Master of the World! "Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm" (Cant., 8.6). The Holy one, blessed be He, replied to her: My daughter! thou askest for something that is visible at times and invisible at others; I shall make of thee something that is visible at all times, as it is said (Is., 49.16): "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me."