On the Ten Temptations of the People of Israel in the Desert

These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel, in the crossing of the Jordan, in the wilderness, in the plain, over against the Red Sea, between Pharan and Thophel, and Laban and Aseroth and the abundance of gold. Eleven days' journey from Horeb to mount Seir, as far as Cades-Barne. These are the words with which Moses rebuked the children of Israel for the ten temptations by which they tempted the Lord. Whence the Lord says in the book of Numbers: But all the men who have seen my majesty, and the signs which I have done in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not obeyed my voice, shall not see the land for which I swore to their fathers. These temptations Moses here briefly and obscurely enumerates, saying: In the wilderness, in which he shows that on two occasions they tempted the Lord because of lack of water.

Concerning the first temptation it is thus read in Exodus: The people, quarrelling against Moses, said: Give us water that we may drink. To whom Moses answered: Why do you quarrel against me? Why do you tempt the Lord? Concerning the second temptation it is thus said in the book of Numbers: And when the people needed water, down to the place where it says: This is the water of contradiction, where the children of Israel quarrelled against the Lord, and he was sanctified among them. The third temptation is contained in what he says: In the plain over against the Red Sea. In this place they are said to have murmured against the Lord, because, when the Egyptians had been destroyed, they did not believe Moses concerning the word of the Lord who had spoken to him, but rather feared that the Egyptians were following them. Whence it is said: Our fathers understood not thy wonders. The fourth and fifth temptation are contained in what he says: Between Pharan and Thophel, and Laban.

Pharan is interpreted "wild ass"; Thophel, "folly"; Laban, "white." This is thus understood, because the children of Israel, made like the wild ass, acted foolishly, tempting the Lord twice over the white thing, that is, over the manna. For manna is called white, as in that passage of Exodus: And the house of Israel called the name thereof Man, which was like white coriander seed. One temptation was over this same manna, as is said in Exodus: This is the word which the Lord has commanded: let each one gather of it as much as is sufficient for eating. And a little after: Moses said to them, Let no man keep any of it until the morning. But they did not listen to him, but some of them left part of it until morning. The other temptation is that of which, a little further on in the same book, it is said: Gather for six days, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord, therefore none shall be found.

But the seventh day came, and some of the people went out to gather, and found none. And the Lord said to Moses: How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my law? The sixth temptation is contained in what he says: And Aseroth. Aseroth is indeed a city near the wilderness, and is interpreted "Village," in whose territory, that is, in the graves of lust, is read to have occurred the second temptation of the flesh, in which also the first temptation of the flesh is included.

Of the first it is thus read in the book of Exodus: Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, In the evening you shall know that the Lord has brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord; for he has heard your murmuring; and your murmuring is not against us, but against the Lord; and a little after: The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel; speak to them: In the evening you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God. So it came to pass in the evening, and quails came up and covered the camp. Concerning the second it is said in Numbers: Meanwhile there arose a murmuring of the people, as of persons grieving over their hardship, against the Lord.

When the Lord heard this, he was angry, and a fire of the Lord was kindled and devoured the outermost part of the camp; and a little after: Be sanctified, for tomorrow you shall eat flesh. For I have heard you say, Who will give us flesh to eat? It was well with us in Egypt. The Lord will give you flesh, and you shall eat it not for one day, nor two, nor five, nor ten, nor even twenty, but for a whole month of days, until it comes out of your nostrils, and becomes loathsome to you; because you have rejected the Lord who is in the midst of you, and have wept before him, saying, Why did we come out of Egypt? Likewise a little after: While the flesh was yet between their teeth, and this kind of food had not yet failed, behold the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and he struck them with an exceedingly great plague.

The seventh temptation is contained in what he says: Where there is very much gold. For it is to be noted that in the Hebrew there is also "abundance of gold." By abundance of gold is understood the golden calf, which the children of Israel made for themselves as gods, while Moses tarried with the Lord on mount Sinai. Therefore it is called abundance of gold, because in the idol the mass of all sins consists, and the idol abounds for all sins. The eighth temptation is contained in what he says: Eleven days from Horeb by the way of mount Seir. Which in the Hebrew is thus: Eleven days' journey from Horeb to mount Seir. So, having made the idol at Horeb, on the eleventh day they came to mount Seir, which is in the suburb of the city Cades-Barne, where the children of Israel tempted the Lord, as is written in the Book of Numbers: How long does this most wicked multitude murmur against me?

I have heard the complaints of the children of Israel; say to them therefore, As I live, says the Lord, as you have spoken in my hearing, so will I do to you. In this wilderness your carcasses shall lie. And a little after: According to the number of forty days in which you searched the land, a year shall be reckoned for a day. Forty years shall you receive your iniquities, and you shall know my vengeance; for as I have spoken, so will I do to this most wicked multitude, which has risen up against me. In this wilderness shall they be consumed and die. And likewise: Moses spoke all these words to the children of Israel, and the people mourned exceedingly. And behold, rising up early in the morning, they went up to the top of the mountain, and said: We are ready to go up to the place of which the Lord has spoken, for we have sinned.

To whom Moses said: Why do you transgress the word of the Lord, which will not turn out well for you? Do not go up, for the Lord is not among you, lest you fall before your enemies. And likewise: But they, being blinded, went up to the top of the mountain; but the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and Moses, did not depart from the camp. The Amalekite and the Canaanite, who dwelt in the mountain, came down, and striking and cutting them down, pursued them as far as Horma. This mountain, in which the Amalekite and Canaanite are said to dwell, is understood to be mount Seir: as it is written in Deuteronomy: So the Amorite, who dwelt in the mountains, came out, and meeting you, pursued you, as bees are wont to pursue: and struck you down from Seir even unto Horma.

The tenth temptation is contained in what he says: As far as Cades-Barne; whence Moses sent spies to view the land of Chanaan, as is said in the book of Numbers: And the Lord spoke to Moses: Send men to view the land of Chanaan, which I am about to give to the children of Israel. And a little after: And the Lord said to Moses: How long will this people detract from me? How long will they not believe me, for all the signs which I have done before them? I will therefore strike them with pestilence, and consume them. But I will make you into a great nation. Likewise a little after: Yet all the men who have seen my majesty, which I have done in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now ten times, and have not obeyed my voice, shall not see the land for which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who have detracted from me look upon it.

Let no one be troubled that Moses sent the spies from the wilderness of Pharan, and not from Cades-Barne. For Cades-Barne is itself Pharan, as is thus said in the book of Joshua: Caleb spoke to Joshua: You know what the Lord spoke to Moses concerning me and you in Cades-Barne. I was forty years old, when Moses sent me to view the land.