The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-10-22
,ruARKABLE NEW DISCOVERY.
oVrcLEs OF JERAHMELI.
WRITTEN IN PALESTINE.

Of the Tower of Babel; What
,,me of the Lost Ten Tribes;
,,o,, Abraham Was saved From
,he Fiery Furnace. and Many 9th
interesting Legends.
,..-. york. oct 2O.-A most remarkable
nnious manuscript has been discov-
in The famous Bodlein library by the
u Known Hebrew scholar, DR.. NJ. Gas
Il, is nothing less than a chronicle
..a7g from about century before the
a CHRISTIAN era.
mr. Caster in publishing translation of
80. s,5 for the Royal Asiatic Society, calls
& ,,5e chronicles of Jerahmeli."
n -,.,r,. reader of the Bible has felt, from
& lime to time. as if there were gaps in the
q ..-r,tiye This feeling was responded to
n !. ,be ancient Hebrews in the creation of
4 si,r.e number of legends, which are scat
..r.l through infinite volumes of Rabbin-
ical law.
r,s chronicles of Jerahmen embody
many of these ancient legends and include
.a , large number of interesting tales
hitherto unknown.
4 ,..iot is due to certain Eleasar ben ASH
,r the Levite. who lived at the beginning
nj the fourteenth century; but his chief
3 .ourre of information was Jerahmell, The
most ancient of those who attempted to
Il IN out the iacuuae in the biblical MARIA
NE
He did not repeat the Bible stories At all
III rooee he knew, were in the reach of eV-
I'M vfaa=e 20 mir
nbst seemed TO him lacking in those sto-
-ss He took up the problems which sus-
rssf themselves to the minds of most
readers of the Bible and for which they
look 10 the Bible for light and very often
IN vain. There is no detail of life too
mail for a legend, and one of the most in
isresttng of these is that relating to the
seven ages of man.
The seven Ages of Man.
And why does the child cry at birth?
Because of the world it has left behind?
For al that moment seven new worlds are
awaiting it, in the first world it is like
81 mt1 a king after whose welcome all
reope ask. all desire to see il and en-
brace il and kiss it, because it is in the
first wear. In the second world il is like
unto a swine which wallows in mire;
child does the same until il reaches two
years. In The third world it is like unto
kid that skips and gambols about on the
meadows Thus a child skips about mere
and there until it is five years of age. In
the fourth world it is like unto a horse,
who strives along haughtily. In the same
way does a child walk along, proud of his
youth until he is is years old. In the fifth
world he is like unto an ass, upon whose
shoulders burdens are placed. In the same
manner burdens are heaped upon mans
4 shoulders; he is given a wife and children.
" f,., a.,
obtain food for them until he is about 20
Years old. In the sixth stage he is like
unto a dog. insolent and wandering about
TO all places for food stealing and rob-
hns in one place and enjoying it in anoth-
4 er In the seventh stage he is like unto
an ape whose appearance is changed in
every respect. All the household cuCse
him and desire his death; even the young
children make fun of him and even the
smallest bird wakes him from his sleep."
Paradise Described.
description of Paradise. nowhere plain
" mentioned in the Old Testament, is most
81 striking
n Paradise has two gates of carbuncle
q and sixty myriads of ministering angels
q keep watch over them. Each of these
angels shines with a luster of the heaven
a When the just man approaches them they
a dvest him of the clothes i'm which he had
A been buried and clothe him with eight
cloths woven out of clouds of glory and
q place upon mis- head two crowns, one Of
q precious stones and pearls and the other
o. gold, and they place eight myrtles in
bis hand and praise him and say to him,
Il 90 and eat thy bread with joy And
they lead him to a place full of rivers sur
rounded by 500 species of roses and myr-
Ties Each one has canopy according
to his merits, as it is said lin the Bible
nv oil fsaa rr1op hail h. cod n
canopy
And through it flow four rivers, one of
n oil, the other of basam, the third of wine
and the fourth of honey. Every canopy
le overgrown by a vine of gold and thirty
pearls hang down from it, each of them
Smning like the morning stars. In every
canopy there is a table of precious stones
and pearls and sixty angels stand at the
& mead OF every just man, saying 10 him:
NO and eat with joy of the honey, for
a '.ou hast worked assiduously In the law
4 o. which il is said, And it is sweeter
"an honey and drink of the wine pre-
n served from the sixth day Of creation, for
n nou mast worked in the law which is
Il IMPAIRED with the wine as il is said, L
Would cause thee to drink of spiced wine
tHe ledst fair of them is as beautiful as
n 'oSepn and Johanan, and as the grains
VI 'Ae pomegranate lit up by the rays Of
we sun. There is no night, as it is said.
ana the light of the righteous is as of
me shining light
q Ana they undergo four transforma tons
1-coIding 10 the four watches of the day.
wv 'ne hrst watch the dust is changed
n1o child, nd he enters the compart-
HeH, OF children and tastes the joy of
Suudnood. In the second watch he is
t''usea INTO a youth, and there he enjoys
He uehghts of youth. In the third watch
becomes middle aged man. and re-
- accordingly. In the fourth watch
4 ~ is changed into an old man; he enters
NV impairment of the old, and enjoys
n ''' pleasure of mature age"
The Tower of Babel.
q me process of the confusion of Ian
q 2Na9es al the Tower of Babel has always
4 7,'1 an interesting question, and Jerah-
.,,r, supplies the following account as
s,,'eHentlng the Bible story: "And il
1nI5 20 pass when they commenced 90
,o, '-' INC tower that God confused their
NJ oes and changed their form into that
on '.1oHlheys' so that one could not rec
Il ma ma, AIS own brother, nor could one man
q So T,' s'dhd the language of his neighbor,
4 ME vat "nen the builders ordered the peo-
ana w uHnS stones, they brought water.