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| The Testament of Dan Concerning Anger and Lying.
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VII.—The Testament of
Dan Concerning Anger and Lying.
1. The record of the
words of Dan, which he spake to his sons in his last days. In the
hundred and twenty-fifth year of his life he called together his
family, and said: Hearken to my words, ye sons of Dan; give heed
to the words of the mouth of your father. I have proved in my
heart, and in my whole life, that truth with just dealing is good and
well-pleasing to God, and that lying and anger are evil, because they
teach man all wickedness. I confess this day to you, my children,
that in my heart I rejoiced concerning the death of Joseph, a true and
good man; and I rejoiced at the selling of Joseph, because his father
loved him more than us. For the spirit of jealousy and of
vainglory said to me, Thou also art his son. And one of the
spirits of Beliar wrought with me, saying, Take this sword, and with it
slay Joseph; so shall thy father love thee when he is slain. This
is the spirit of anger that counselled me, that even as a leopard
devoureth a kid, so should I devour Joseph. But the God of Jacob
our father gave him not over into my hands that I should find him
alone, nor suffered me to work this iniquity, that two tribes should be
destroyed in Israel.139
2. And now, my children, I am dying, and I tell
you of a truth, that unless ye keep yourselves from the spirit of lying
and of anger, and love truth and long-suffering, ye shall perish.
There is blindness in anger, my children, and no wrathful man regardeth
any person with truth: for though it be a father or a mother, he
behaveth towards them as enemies; though it be a brother, he knoweth
him not; though it be a prophet of the Lord, he disobeyeth him; though
a righteous man, he regardeth him not; a friend he doth not
acknowledge. For the spirit of anger encompasseth him with the
nets of deceit, and blindeth his natural eyes, and through lying
darkeneth his mind, and giveth him a sight of his own making. And
wherewith encompasseth he his eyes? In hatred of heart; and he
giveth him a heart of his own against his brother unto envy.
3. My children, mischievous is anger, for it
becometh as a soul to the soul itself; and the body of the angry man it
maketh its own, and over his soul it getteth the mastery, and it
bestoweth upon the body its own power, that it may work all iniquity;
and whenever the soul doeth aught, it justifieth what has been done,
since it seeth not. Therefore he who is wrathful, if he be a
mighty man, hath a treble might in his anger; one by the might and aid
of his servants, and a second by his wrath, whereby he persuadeth and
overcometh in injustice: and having a third of the nature of his
own body, and of his own self working the evil. And though the
wrathful man be weak, yet hath he a might twofold of that which is by
nature; for wrath ever aideth such in mischief. This spirit goeth
always with lying at the right hand of Satan, that his works may be
wrought with cruelty and lying.
4. Understand ye therefore the might of wrath,
that it is vain. For it first of all stingeth him in word:
then by deeds it strengtheneth him who is angry, and with bitter
punishments disturbeth his mind, and so stirreth up with great wrath
his soul. Therefore, when any one speaketh against you, be
not140
| 140 The reading of the
Ox. ms., μῂ
κινεῖσθε is to be
taken. | ye moved unto anger. And if any man
praiseth you as good, be not lifted up nor elated, either to the
feeling or showing of pleasure.141
| 141 Cam. ms. εις
εἰδέαν; Ox. ms. εἰς
ἀηδίαν. | For first it
pleaseth the hearing, and so stirreth up the understanding to
understand the grounds for anger; and then, being wrathful, he thinketh
that he is justly angry. If ye fall into any loss or ruin, my
children, be not troubled; for this very spirit maketh men desire that
which hath perished, in order that they may be inflamed by the
desire. If ye suffer loss willingly, be not vexed, for from
vexation he raiseth up wrath with lying. And wrath with lying is
a twofold mischief;142
and they speak one
with another that they may disturb the mind; and when the soul is
continually disturbed, the Lord departeth from it, and Beliar ruleth
over it.
5. Observe, therefore, my children, the
commandments of the Lord, and keep His law; and depart from wrath, and
hate lying, that the Lord may dwell among you, and Beliar may flee from
you. Speak truth each one with his neighbour, so shall ye not
fall into lust and confusion; but ye shall be in peace, having the God
of peace, so143
| 143 The Ox.
ms. omits from here to τοῖς
ἔθνεσι
Σωτήρ in c. 6. | shall no war
prevail over you. Love the Lord through all your life, and one
another with a true heart. For I know that in the last days ye
will depart from the Lord, and will provoke Levi unto anger, and will
fight against Judah; but ye shall not prevail against them. For
an angel of the Lord shall guide them both; for by them shall Israel
stand. And whensoever ye depart from the Lord, ye will walk in
all evil, working the abominations of the Gentiles, going144
| 144 ᾽Εκπορεύοντες
may be an error for ἐκπορνεύοντες
, which Grabe wrongly gives as the reading of the Cam. ms. | astray with women of them that are ungodly;
and the spirits of error shall work in you with all malice. For I
have read in the book of Enoch the righteous, that your prince is
Satan, and that all the spirits of fornication and pride shall be
subject unto Levi, to lay a snare for the sons of Levi, to cause them
to sin before the Lord. And my sons will draw near unto Levi, and
sin with them in all things; and the sons of Judah will be covetous,
plundering other men’s goods like lions. Therefore shall ye
be led away with them in captivity, and there shall ye receive all the
plagues of Egypt, and all the malice of the Gentiles: and so,
when ye return to the Lord, ye shall obtain mercy, and He shall bring
you into His sanctuary, calling peace upon you; and there shall arise
unto you from the tribe of Judah and of Levi the salvation of the
Lord;145
| 145 [The root idea,
p. 18, notes 5, 6, supra.] | and He shall make war against Beliar, and He
shall give the vengeance of victory to our coasts. And the
captivity shall He take from Beliar, even the souls of the saints, and
shall turn disobedient hearts unto the Lord, and shall give to them who
call upon Him everlasting peace; and the saints shall rest in Eden, and
the righteous shall rejoice in the new Jerusalem, which shall be unto
the glory of God for ever and ever. And no longer shall Jerusalem
endure desolation, nor Israel be led captive; for the Lord shall be in
the midst of her, dwelling among men,146
even the Holy
One of Israel reigning over them147
| 147 [Here is the Chiliasm
of Barnabas, vol. i. p. 146.] | in humility
and in poverty;148
and he who
believeth on Him shall reign in truth in the heavens.
6. And now, my children, fear the Lord, and
take heed unto yourselves of Satan and his spirits; and draw near unto
God, and to the Angel149
| 149 Cf. Dorner,
Doctrine of the Person of Christ, Introd., p, 15, Eng.
transl. | that intercedeth
for you, for He is a Mediator between God and man for the peace of
Israel. He shall stand up against the kingdom of the enemy;
therefore is the enemy eager to destroy all that call upon the
Lord. For he knoweth that in the day on which Israel shall
believe,150
the kingdom of the
enemy shall be brought to an end; and the very angel of peace shall
strengthen Israel, that it fall not into the extremity of evil.
And it shall be in the time of the iniquity of Israel, that the Lord
will depart from them, and will go after him that doeth His will, for
unto none of His angels shall it be as unto him. And His name
shall be in every place of Israel, and among the
Gentiles—Saviour. Keep therefore yourselves, my children,
from every evil work, and cast away wrath and all lying, and love truth
and long-suffering; and the things which ye have heard from your
father, do ye also impart to your children, that the Father of the
Gentiles may receive you: for He is true and long-suffering, meek
and lowly, and teacheth by His works the law of God. Depart,
therefore, from all unrighteousness, and cleave unto the righteousness
of the law of the Lord: and bury me near my fathers.
7. And when he had said these things he
kissed them, and slept the long sleep.151
And his sons buried him, and after that they carried up his bones to
the side of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob. Nevertheless, as Dan
had prophesied unto them that they should forget the law of their God,
and should be alienated from the land of their inheritance, and from
the race of Israel, and from their kindred, so also it came to
pass.
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