על חיי משה, ספר א נ״טOn the Life of Moses, Book I 59
א׳
1[319] All these wars were fought and won without crossing the river of the land, the Jordan, against the inhabitants of the rich and deep-soiled country on the outer side, where there was much expanse of plain fit for growing corn and providing excellent fodder for cattle.
ב׳
2[320] When the two cattle-breeding tribes, who were a sixth part of the whole host, surveyed this country, they besought Moses to let them take their allotments there and settle down at once; for the region, they said, was very well suited to give pasturage and grazing to cattle, being well supplied with water and grassland and producing of itself abundance of herbage for maintaining sheep.
ג׳
3[321] Moses, however, considered that they were either claiming to have precedence in the distribution and to take their prizes before they were due, or else were shirking the wars which awaited them, where more kings, whose possessions were situated on the inner side of the river, were still lying ready to resist them. Consequently, he was greatly incensed, and answered them angrily in these words:
ד׳
4[322] “Are you, then, to settle down here to enjoy an undeserved leisure and idleness, leaving your kinsfolk and friends to the agony of the wars which still remain? And are the prizes to be given to you alone, as though success was complete, while battles and labours and tribulation and supreme dangers await the others?
ה׳
5[323] Nay, it is not just that you should reap peace and its blessings, while the others are struggling with wars and countless ills, or that the whole should be a mere appendage to the parts, whereas, on the contrary, it is only on the merits of the whole that the parts are held deserving of their portion.
ו׳
6[324] You have all equal rights with us; one race, the same fathers, one house, the same customs, community of laws, and other things innumerable, each of which strengthens the tie of kinship and the harmony of goodwill. Why, then, when you have been adjudged an equal share in the greatest and most vital matters, should you seek an unfair preference in the distribution, with the arrogance which a ruler might shew to his subjects or a master to his slaves?
ז׳
7[325] You ought, indeed, to have learnt a lesson from the blows which others have suffered; for wise men do not wait till the calamity is upon them. As it is, though your own kin supplies you with examples of warning in your fathers who inspected this land, and in the misfortune of them and those who shared their craven-heartedness, all of whom perished save two, though you should not let your name be associated with any such as these, so senseless are you that you follow after cowardice and forget that it will make you an easier prey. And you upset the ardent resolution of those who are fully disposed to manliness, whose spirits you paralyse and unnerve. Therefore, in hastening to sin,
ח׳
8[326] you will be hastening to punishment also; for it is the way of justice to be slow to move, but, when it is once moved, it overtakes and seizes the fugitives.
ט׳
9[327] When all the enemies are destroyed, and there is no prospect of war still awaiting us; when all the confederates have on scrutiny been found guiltless of desertion from the ranks or from the army, or of any other action which is the sequel of defeat, but have proved their constancy both of body and spirit from first to last; when finally the whole country has been cleared of its former inhabitants, then will the prizes and rewards for valour be given to the tribes on equal terms.”