of the Lord to a stranger. Now when this book came to the hands of Ptolemy he read it and it pleased him greatly, and he searched therein in his wisdom, and he examined it and found therein what he had desired, and he neglected all the other books which they had collected for him, and he blessed him who had advised him to this thing.
After some time the persecutors of Israel became aware of this, that the Israelites had not sent the book of the law to the king, and they came and said unto him, O king, the Israelites have treated thee with contempt, for they did not send to thee the book of the law which we had mentioned to thee, but they sent to thee another book which they had in their hands, therefore send to them that they may forward unto thee the book of their law, for from that book thou wilt obtain thy desire much more than from the book which they have sent to thee; so when the king heard their words he became exceedingly wroth against the Israelites, and his anger burned within him until he sent again to them for them to forward to him the book of the law. Fearing that they might still continue to scorn him, he acted prudently with them and sent to seventy of their elders and placed them in seventy houses, that each should write the book of the law, so that no alteration might be found in them, and the divine spirit rested upon them, and they wrote for him seventy books and they were all of one version, without addition or diminution. At this the king rejoiced greatly and he honored the elders, together with all the Jews, and he sent offerings and gifts to Jerusalem as it is written there.[1] At his death, the Israelites acted cunningly with his son and took from his treasures the book of the law, but left this book there and look it not away, in order that every future king might know the wonders of the Lord, blessed be his name, and that he had chosen Israel from all nations, and that there is no God beside him.
This book is therefore in Egypt unto this day, and from that time it became circulated throughout the earth, until it reached us in our captivity this day in the city of Napuli, which is under the rule of the king of Spain. Now thou wilt find in this book that some of the kings of Edom, of Chittim and the kings of Africa who were in those days, are mentioned, although it might appear that such was not the aim or intent of this book; but the reason of this was to show to every person obtaining this book the contrast between the wars of Israel and the wars of the Gentiles, for the conquest of Gentile kings one over the otherwas by accident, which is not so in the conquest of the kings of Israel over the Gentiles, which is by a miracle from our blessed Lord as long as the Israelites trust in his exalted name.
Now the uses of this book are many, all of which lead us to confidence in God, (whose name be exalted,) and to our adherence unto him and his ways.
The first use is the additional information it affords us upon the subjects of the creation of man and the deluge, recording also the years of the twenty generations and their misdeeds; also at what period, they were
- ↑ In the book of the Asmoneans mentioned above.
