THE EVOLUTION OF HEBREW RELIGION. 593 



and drink." Once more, Exod. xxiv. 4-7, Moses himself writes down 

 the words of revelation in a book of covenant. Exod. xxiv. 12, not 

 Moses hut God writes them ; and, elsewhere, " Two tahles of stone in- 

 scribed by the linger of God." 



Exod. xx. enjoins the observance of the sabbath-day as a memorial 

 of the repose of the Maker of heaven and earth on the sabbath of crea- 

 tion. Deut. v., the fourth commandment is enjoined because of the 

 redemption of Israel from Egyptian bondage. Exod. xxxiv., a new 

 version of the decalogue, differing in most respects from the one com- 

 monly received, is promulgated. 1 The first commandment is to wor- 

 ship no strange god ; the second, to make no graven images ; the 

 third, to observe the feast of unleavened bread ; the fourth, to deliver 

 the first-born unto Jehovah ; the fifth, to observe the sabbath, etc. 



In Exod. xx. we read that the guilt of the fathers will be avenged 

 upon the children down even to the third and fourth generation ; in 

 Deut. xxiv., the children shall not die for their fathers. Every one 

 for his own sin shall die. 



In Deut. xxv. the marrying of a deceased brother's wife is under 

 certain conditions enjoined as a duty. In Levit. xviii. it is uncon- 

 ditionally prohibited as a crime. 



Exod. xxxiii., Moses removes the tabernacle beyond the camp. 

 Num. ii., the tabernacle rests in the very heart of the carq,p, with all 

 the tribes of Israel grouped round about it, according to their stand- 

 ards and divisions. 



Num. xvi., the sons of Korah, the leader of the great Levitical 

 sedition, perish with their father. Num. xxvi., the sons of Korah do 

 not perish. 2 



Of the forty years which the Israelites are said to have dwelt in 

 the desert, not more than two are covered by the events of the nar- 

 rative. The remainder are wrapped in dense obscurity. There is, 

 however, a significant fact which deserves mention in this connection. 

 The death of Aaron marks, as it were, the close of Israel's journey. 

 Now, while in Num. xxxiii. the death of the high-priest is described 

 as occurring in the fortieth year, in Deut. x. it is actually referred to 

 the second year of the Exodus. 3 



A brief digression beyond the borders of the Pentateuch will show 



'Compare De Wette's " Einleitung in das alte Testament " (Schrader's edition), p. 

 286, note 53. 



4 Num. xxvi. 11. Indeed, had the sons of Korah and every human being related to 

 him perished, as Xum. xvi. avers, how could we account for the fact that Korah's de- 

 scendants filled high offices in the Temple at Jerusalem later on ? The celebrated singer, 

 Heman, himself was a lineal descendant of Korah. To the descendants of Korah also 

 are ascribed the following Psalms: Ps. xlii., xliv.-xlix., lxxxiv., lxxxv., lxxxvii., lxxxviii. 



3 In connection with this subject it is of interest to compare Goethe's argument on the 

 duration of the desert journey in the " Westostlicher Divan." Here, as in so many other 

 instances, the intuitive perception of the great poet anticipated the tardy results of sub- 

 sequent investigation. 



vor.. ix. 38 



