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The Antiquities of the Jews - Table of Contents
The Antiquities of the Jews
Written by Flavius Josephus
Translated by William Whiston
Book One
Chapter 7
How Abram Our Forefather Went Out Of The Land
Of The Chaldeans, And Lived In The Land Then Called Canaan But
Now Judea.
1. Now Abram, having no son of his own, adopted Lot, his brother
Haran's son, and his wife Sarai's brother; and he left the land
of Chaldea when he was seventy-five years old, and at the
command of God went into Canaan, and therein he dwelt himself,
and left
it to his posterity. He was a person of great sagacity, both for
understanding all things and persuading his hearers, and not
mistaken in his opinions; for which reason he began to have
higher notions of virtue than others had, and he determined to
renew and to change the opinion all men happened then to have
concerning God; for he was the first that ventured to publish
this notion, That there was but one God, the Creator of the
universe; and that, as to other [gods], if they contributed any
thing to the happiness of men, that each of them afforded it
only according to his appointment, and not by their own power.
This
his opinion was derived from the irregular phenomena that were
visible both at land and sea, as well as those that happen to
the
sun, and moon, and all the heavenly bodies, thus: - "If [said
he] these bodies had power of their own, they would certainly
take
care of their own regular motions; but since they do not
preserve such regularity, they make it plain, that in so far as
they
co-operate to our advantage, they do it not of their own
abilities, but as they are subservient to Him that commands
them,
to whom alone we ought justly to offer our honor and
thanksgiving." For which doctrines, when the Chaldeans, and
other
people of Mesopotamia, raised a tumult against him, he thought
fit to leave that country; and at the command and by the
assistance of God, he came and lived in the land of Canaan. And
when he was there settled, he built an altar, and performed a
sacrifice to God.
2. Berosus mentions our father Abram without naming him, when he
says thus: "In the tenth generation after the Flood, there was
among the Chaldeans a man righteous and great, and skillful in
the celestial science." But Hecatseus does more than barely
mention him; for he composed, and left behind him, a book
concerning him. And Nicolaus of Damascus, in the fourth book of
his History, says thus: "Abram reigned at Damascus, being a
foreigner, who came with an army out of the land above Babylon,
called the land of the Chaldeans: but, after a long time, he got
him up, and removed from that country also, with his people, and
went into the land then called the land of Canaan, but now the
land of Judea, and this when his posterity were become a
multitude; as to which posterity of his, we relate their history
in another work. Now the name of Abram is even still famous in
the country of Damascus; and there is shown a village named from
him, The Habitation of Abram."
Continue on to
Book One,
Chapter 8, The Antiquities of the Jews by
Flavius Josephus
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The Antiquities of the Jews - Table of Contents
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