mounted

And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD’s house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above.

And Jacob blessed the God of Isaac his father, and the God of Abraham his father's father, and he arose and mounted his wives and his children, and took all his possessions and crossed the river, and came to the land of Gilead, and Jacob hid his intention from Laban and told him not.

Now it came to pass, when she was fourteen years old, and on this account there was occasion for the Pharisees' saying that it was now a custom that no woman of that age should abide in the temple of God, they fell upon the plan of sending a herald through all the tribes of Israel, that on the third day all should come together into the temple of the Lord. And when all the people had come together, Abiathar the high priest rose, and mounted on a higher step, that he might be seen and heard by all the people; and when great silence had been obtained, he said: Hear me, O sons of Israel, and receive my words into your ears. Ever since this temple was built by Solomon, there have been in it virgins, the daughters of kings and the daughters of prophets, and of high priests and priests; and they were great, and worthy of admiration. But when they came to the proper age they were given in marriage, and followed the course of their mothers before them, and were pleasing to God. But a new order of life has been found out by Mary alone, who promises that she will remain a virgin to God. Wherefore it seems to me, that through our inquiry and the answer of God we should try to ascertain to whose keeping she ought to be entrusted. Then these words found favour with all the synagogue. And the lot was cast by the priests upon the twelve tribes, and the lot fell upon the tribe of Judah. And the priest said: Tomorrow let every one who has no wife come, and bring his rod in his hand. Whence it happened that Joseph brought his rod along with the young men. And the rods having been handed over to the high priest, he offered a sacrifice to the Lord God, and inquired of the Lord. And the Lord said to him: Put all their rods into the holy of holies of God, and let them remain there, and order them to come to you on the morrow to get back their rods; and the man from the point of whose rod a dove shall come forth, and fly towards heaven, and in whose hand the rod, when given back, shall exhibit this sign, to him let Mary be delivered to be kept.

And when the apostle had said these things, all the multitude that were there looked upon him, expecting to hear what he would answer to the colt. And the apostle stood a long time as it were astonied, and looked up into heaven and said to the colt: Of whom art thou and to whom belongest thou? for marvellous are the things that are shown forth by thy mouth, and amazing and such as are hidden from the many. And the colt answered and said: I am of that stock that served Balaam, and thy lord also and teacher sat upon one that appertained unto me by race. And I also have now been sent to give thee rest by thy sitting upon me: and (that) I may receive faith, and unto me may be added that portion which now I shall receive by thy service wherewith I serve thee; and when I have ministered unto thee, it shall be taken from me. And the apostle said unto him: He is able who granted thee this gift, to cause it to be fulfilled unto the end in thee and in them that belong unto thee by race: for as to this mystery I am weak and powerless. And he would not sit upon him. But the colt besought and entreated him that he might be blessed of him by ministering unto him. Then the apostle mounted him and sat upon him; and they followed him, some going before and some following after, and all of them ran, desiring to see the end, and how he would dismiss the colt.

And as these men were speaking thus, and only the accustomed shift now remained on her body, a strange spectacle was seen, such as they deserve to suffer who do such deeds. A serpent appeared from some quarter and dealt the steward a single bite and slew him: but the young man it did not strike; but coiled about his feet, hissing terribly, and when he fell mounted on his body and sat upon him.

And the Saviour appeared in their presence mounted upon the chariot of the Father of the Universe, and He cried out in the language of His Godhead, saying, 'Mari Khar Martath,' whereof the interpretation is, 'Mary, the mother of the Son of God.' Then Mary, who knew the interpretation of the words, said, 'Ḥramboune Kathiathari Miôth,' whereof the interpretation is, 'The Son of the Almighty, and the Master, and my Son.' And He said unto her, 'Hail, My mother. Hail, My holy ark. Hail, thou who hast sustained the life of the whole world. Hail, My holy garment, wherein I arrayed Myself. Hail, My water-pot, which is full of holy water. Hail, My mother, My house, My place of abode. Hail, My mother, My city, My place of refuge. [Hail, thou who hast received in thyself the Seven Aeons in one composition. Hail, thou who art the table which is set in the Paradise of the seventh heaven, the name of which is "Khômthômakh", [that is to say],] the whole of Paradise is glad because of her. I say unto thee, O My mother, "He who loveth thee loveth life." Hail, thou who didst sustain the Life of the Universe in thy womb. O My mother, [go thou] and say unto My brethren [that I have risen from the dead]. Say thou unto them: [I shall] go [unto My Father], Who is your Father, and unto My God and Lord, Who is your Lord. Keep in remembrance all our words which I have spoken unto you. For I will come to you at the hour of dawn to-morrow morning, which is also the hour wherein I am wont to stretch out My right hand of light, when the sun riseth upon the earth, and when also I am wont to shake out My spiritual garments, and to take My seat on the right hand of My Father, and when the dew of the Paradise of the seventh heaven descendeth upon the whole earth, which becometh drunk therewith, and yieldeth the fruits of life. I will come to you at that hour, and I will give unto you My peace which I have received from My holy Father. And He gave it to Me, and I brought it into the world, and I will give it unto you My disciples [and unto] every one who shall believe in My name, and [in the name of] Mary My mother, the Virgin in very truth, My spiritual womb, My treasure of pearl, the ark [of the salvation] of the sons of Adam, who sustained the Body of the Son of God, and the Blood of Him that indeed took away the sin of the world, the light of [our] …

And all the Apostles rejoiced with exceedingly great joy when they heard from Mary His mother that the Lord had risen from the dead. Now the Saviour went away to ascend into the heavens, having mounted the chariot of the Father of the Universe, and the whole of the captivity of the sons of Adam followed after Him, after the manner of a king who hath waged war successfully, and hath vanquished his enemy, and hath captured large booty. And thou shalt find it … for the sake of His men whom He had [redeemed].

And when the blessed Apostle was saying these things, he mounted upon a cloud, and it brought him to the Mount of Olives, where he found the Apostles looking out for him … He said '… the inheritance of my Lord Jesus Christ; [Who] gathered them together in the peace of the Father. Hail, my brethren the Apostles, the crown of life!' And the Apostles also answered, 'Hail, thou servant of Jesus the Christ! Thou didst go, and didst raise up a man that was dead, and didst raise up a multitude of cities in the baptism and seal of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost.'

Then the Saviour came before them, mounted upon the great chariot of the Father of the Universe, and he cried out in His divine language, 'Marikha. Marima Thiath,' which is, being interpreted, 'Thou Mary, the mother of the Son of God.' And Mary, who understood the meaning [of these words], turned herself and said, 'Rabonnei, Kathiath. Thamioth,' which is, being interpreted, 'Thou Son of God, the Almighty, and my Lord and my Son.' And the Saviour said unto her, 'Hail to thee, who hast sustained the life of the whole world. Hail, My mother, My holy ark. Hail, My mother, My city, My dwelling-place. Hail, My garment of glory wherein I did array Myself when I came into the world. Hail, My water-pot, which is full of holy water. Hail, thou who hast sustained the life of the universe in thy womb. Hail, thou who hast received in thyself the Seven Aeons in one composition. Hail, thou who art the table which is set in the Paradise of the seventh heaven, the interpretation (or, the name) of which is "Khômthômakh" [that is to say,] "the whole of Paradise is glad because of her." I say unto thee, O Mary, My mother, that he who loveth thee loveth life.'

Believe me, O my brethren the holy Apostles, I Bartholomew saw the Son of God mounted upon the chariot of the Cherubim, and thousands of thousands [of angels] stood round about ready to cry out 'Hallelujah'.

Mounted upon a foal is hastening on;

And he on hearing these things went away in wrath and straightway took mounted bowmen fifty in number and went away before them as Dan and Gad had said to him.

And Abraham asked the wife of Ishmael, saying, Where has Ishmael gone? and she said, He has gone to the field to hunt, and Abraham was still mounted upon the camel, for he would not get off to the ground as he had sworn to his wife Sarah that he would not get off from the camel.

And Abraham called to the woman to come out to him from the tent, and the woman came and stood opposite to Abraham, for Abraham was still mounted upon the camel.

And Jacob rose up at that time and he mounted his children and wives and all belonging to him upon camels, and he went forth to go to the land of Canaan to his father Isaac.

And those animals, from their middle downward, were in the shape of the children of men, and from their middle upward, some had the likeness of bears, and some the likeness of the keephas, with tails behind them from between their shoulders reaching down to the earth, like the tails of the ducheephath, and these animals came and mounted and rode upon these asses, and led them away, and they went away unto this day.

And he ran at a distance with all his might, with his drawn sword in his hand, and he sprang from the earth and by dint of his strength, mounted the wall, and his sword fell from his hand.

And Judah cried out upon the wall owing to the pain produced by the blow, when Dan heard him, and his anger burned within him, and he also rose up and went at a distance and ran and sprang from the earth and mounted the wall with his wrath-excited strength.

And they were perplexed, and they disputed with one another, and they sent off spies mounted on horses, who were to seek out King Solomon and to find out if he were actually in Jerusalem, or if he were with them [in Gaza].

And as for their wagons, no man hauled his wagon, but he himself (i.e. Michael) marched with the wagons, and whether it was men, or horses, or mules, or loaded camels, each was raised above the ground to the height of a cubit; and all those who rode upon beasts were lifted up above their backs to the height of one span of a man, and all the various kinds of baggage which were loaded on the beasts, as well as those who were mounted on them, were raised up to the height of one span of a man, and the beasts were lifted up to the height of one span of a man.

And the King himself rose up and followed the track of the road of the men of Ethiopia, and he sent out mounted horsemen, so that they might [ride on before him and] find out where they were, and might return and bring him news [of them].

But when the battering-engine was brought near, the greatest of the towers was shaken by it, and fell down, and broke down a part of the fortifications, so the enemy poured in apace; and Cornelius Faustus, the son of Sylla, with his soldiers, first of all ascended the wall, and next to him Furius the centurion, with those that followed on the other part, while Fabius, who was also a centurion, ascended it in the middle, with a great body of men after him. But now all was full of slaughter; some of the Jews being slain by the Romans, and some by one another; nay, some there were who threw themselves down the precipices, or put fire to their houses, and burnt them, as not able to bear the miseries they were under. Of the Jews there fell twelve thousand, but of the Romans very few. Absalom, who was at once both uncle and father-in-law to Aristobulus, was taken captive; and no small enormities were committed about the temple itself, which, in former ages, had been inaccessible, and seen by none; for Pompey went into it, and not a few of those that were with him also, and saw all that which it was unlawful for any other men to see but only for the high priests. There were in that temple the golden table, the holy candlestick, and the pouring vessels, and a great quantity of spices; and besides these there were among the treasures two thousand talents of sacred money: yet did Pompey touch nothing of all this, on account of his regard to religion; and in this point also he acted in a manner that was worthy of his virtue. The next day he gave order to those that had the charge of the temple to cleanse it, and to bring what offerings the law required to God; and restored the high priesthood to Hyrcanus, both because he had been useful to him in other respects, and because he hindered the Jews in the country from giving Aristobulus any assistance in his war against him. He also cut off those that had been the authors of that war; and bestowed proper rewards on Faustus, and those others that mounted the wall with such alacrity; and he made Jerusalem tributary to the Romans, and took away those cities of Celesyria which the inhabitants of Judea had subdued, and put them under the government of the Roman president, and confined the whole nation, which had elevated itself so high before, within its own bounds. Moreover, he rebuilt Gadara, which had been demolished a little before, to gratify Demetrius of Gadara, who was his freedman, and restored the rest of the cities, Hippos, and Scythopolis, and Pella, and Dios, and Samaria, as also Marissa, and Ashdod, and Jamnia, and Arethusa, to their own inhabitants: these were in the inland parts. Besides those that had been demolished, and also of the maritime cities, Gaza, and Joppa, and Dora, and Strato's Tower; which last Herod rebuilt after a glorious manner, and adorned with havens and temples, and changed its name to Cæsarea. All these Pompey left in a state of freedom, and joined them to the province of Syria.

Now these towers were very troublesome to the Jews, who otherwise opposed the Romans very courageously; for they shot at them out of their lighter engines from those towers, as they did also by those that threw darts, and the archers, and those that flung stones. For neither could the Jews reach those that were over them, by reason of their height; and it was not practicable to take them, nor to overturn them, they were so heavy, nor to set them on fire, because they were covered with plates of iron. So they retired out of the reach of the darts, and did no longer endeavor to hinder the impression of their rams, which, by continually beating upon the wall, did gradually prevail against it; so that the wall already gave way to the Nico, for by that name did the Jews themselves call the greatest of their engines, because it conquered all things. And now they were for a long while grown weary of fighting, and of keeping guards, and were retired to lodge in the night time at a distance from the wall. It was on other accounts also thought by them to be superfluous to guard the wall, there being besides that two other fortifications still remaining, and they being slothful, and their counsels having been ill concerted on all occasions; so a great many grew lazy and retired. Then the Romans mounted the breach, where Nico had made one, and all the Jews left the guarding that wall, and retreated to the second wall; so those that had gotten over that wall opened the gates, and received all the army within it. And thus did the Romans get possession of this first wall, on the fifteenth day of the siege, which was the seventh day of the month Artemisius, [Jyar,] when they demolished a great part of it, as well as they did of the northern parts of the city, which had been demolished also by Cestius formerly.

And on the Second Day God made the Lower Heaven, and called it REKi‘A [that is to say, “what is sold and fixed,” or “ firmament ”’]. This He did that He might make known that the Lower Heaven doth not possess the nature of the heaven which is above it, and that it is different in appearance from that heaven which is above it, for the heaven above it is of fire. And that second heaven is NOHRA (i.e. Light), and this lower heaven is Darpition, and because it hath the}dense nature of water mit hath been called “ Réki‘a.”’ And on the Second Day God made a separation between the waters and the waters, that is to say, between the waters which were above [Réki‘a] and the waters which were below. And the ascent of these waters which were above heaven took place on the Second Day, and they were like unto a dense black cloud of thick darkness. Thus were they raised up there, and they mounted up, and behold, they stand above the Réki‘a in the air; and they do not spread, and they make no motion to any side.

And when the Ark was lifted up from the earth by the mighty strength of the waters, all the children of men, and the wild beasts, and the feathered fowl, and the cattle, and the creeping things, and everything [living] on the face of the earth was drowned. And the waters of the Flood mounted up above all the tops of the high mountains fifteen cubits, according to the measure of the Spirit. And the flood waxed strong, and the waters thereof lifted up the Ark until it reached the skirts [of the mountain] of Paradise. And as the flood had been blessed by Paradise (i.e. had been made holy), it bowed its head, and kissed the skirts of Paradise and turned itself back to destroy the whole earth. And the Ark flew on the wings of the wind over the waters of the flood from east to west, and from north to south, and it marked out [by its path] a cross on the waters. And the Ark flew about for one hundred and fifty days, and it came to rest on the mountains of Kardé (i.e. Ararat, the Jabal al-Judi of the Arabs, near Jazirat ibn ‘Umar) in the seventh month, that is to say, in the First Teshri (October) on the seventeenth day thereof. And God commanded the waters, and they became separated from each other. The celestial waters were taken up, and ascended to their own place above the heavens, whence they came. The waters which had risen up from the earth returned to the lowermost abyss [under the earth]; and those which belonged to the Ocean [which surroundeth the whole world] returned to the innermost parts thereof. And the waters which had been on the earth, and had been assigned to it by the Divine Nod for the needs thereof from the beginning, remained upon it. And the waters diminished little by little until the tenth month, which is Shebat (February), and on the first day thereof the tops of the mountains appeared. And, forty days later, on the tenth day of the month of Adhar (March), Noah opened the east window of the Ark, and sent forth a raven to bring back tidings; and the raven departed and did not return. And after the waters had diminished a little more from the earth, Noah sent forth a dove; and it found no place to rest, and it returned to Noah to the Ark. And after seven days he sent forth another dove, and it returned to him, carrying in its beak an olive leaf. Now the dove figureth for us the Two Covenants. In the First Covenant the spirit which spake by the Prophets did not find a place of rest among that rebellious people (i.e. the Jews); and in the Second Covenant it rested on the peoples through the waters of baptism.

As touching the nature of that star, whether it was a star in its nature, or in appearance only, it is right to know that it was not of the other stars, but a secret power which appeared like a star; for all the other stars that are in the firmament, and the sun and moon, perform their course from east to west. This one, however, made its course from north to south, for Palestine lies thus, over against Persia. This star was not seen by them at night only, but also during the day, and at noon; and it was seen at the time when the sun is particularly strong, because it was not one of the stars. Now the moon is stronger in its light than all the stars, but it is immediately quenched and its light dissipated by one small ray of the sun. But this star overcame even the beams of the sun by the intensity of its light. Sometimes it appeared, and sometimes it was hidden entirely. It guided the Magi as far as Palestine. When they drew near to Jerusalem, it was hidden; and when they went forth from Herod, and began to journey along the road, it appeared and shewed itself. This was not an ordinary movement of the stars, but a rational power. Moreover, it had no fixed path, but when the Magi travelled, it travelled on also, and when they halted, it also halted; like the pillar of cloud which stopped and went forward when it was convenient for the camp of Israel. The star did not remain always up in the height of heaven, but sometimes it came down and sometimes it mounted up; and it also stood over the head of the Child, as the Evangelist tells us.

If a bird rested on it, it remains valid. If a male beast mounted it, it becomes invalid. Rabbi Judah says: if the male was made to mount, it becomes invalid; but if it did so of itself, it remains valid.

A calf born on a holiday is permitted since it permits itself by slaughter. Rebbi Ze`ira asked, in that case an animal kept outside should be permitted since it permits itself by slaughter, deer should be permitted since it permits itself by slaughter. Rebbi Ze`ira came back and said, a calf is fully formed the day before, but here it was born on the day it was fully formed. Rebbi Abba said, this follows him who said that an animal gives birth after split months; but what is for him who said, an animal gives birth after a fixed number of months? Think of it, that he knew when a male had mounted it. A pigeon chick born on a holiday is permitted since it permits itself by slaughter; did we not state, an egg which had started to develop, and chicks which do not yet have wings are forbidden as abomination, but one does not whip because of carcass meat? And Rebbi Ḥaggai said, even if he slaughtered them. Rebbi Abun said, explain it about those born with wings.

If it was filling the entire public domain, if he took it from here and put it down there he would create a “pit”. But could he take a stick and break it or step over it and if it broke, it broke? Let us hear from the following: If a bull mounted another and the [latter’s] owner came to draw away his own, or [the bull] slipped away, and [the attacker] fell down and died, he is free from payment. If he pushed [the attacker] which then fell down and died, he must pay. Could he not tell him, if you had not interferred, I would have paid your damages? But he could have answered, If I had not interferred, you would have paid me half the damage! Think of it, if it was notorious? It is not in your power to drag me through the courts.

"They who go down to the sea" — whence have we this ? For it is written, "They that go down to the sea in ships... these saw the works of the Lord... He raised the stormy wind... They mounted up to the heaven, they went down to the deeps... They reeled to and fro, and staggered like a drunken man... They cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distresses. He made the storm a calm... Then were they glad because they were quiet... Let them give thanks unto the Lord for His mercy, and for His wonderful works to the children of men" (Ps. cvii. 23-31).

After he had trimmed his hair he put the garments on him, and said to him, Mount and ride. He replied: I am not able, as I am weak from the days of fasting. So Haman stooped down and he mounted [on his back]. When he was up he kicked him. He said to him: Is it not written in your books, “Rejoice not when your enemy fails” (Proverbs 24:17)? He replied: That refers to an Israelite, but in regard to you it is written, “And you shall step on their high places” (Deuteronomy 33:29).