על חיי משה, ספר ב ל׳On the Life of Moses, Book II 30
א׳
1[152] His first step, then, is to smear the unmixed blood of the single victim called the ram of fulfilment on the three parts of the priests’ bodies named above. After this, he took some of the blood at the altar, got from all the victims, and also some of the unguent already mentioned as compounded by the perfumers, and mixed the oil with the blood. He then used the mixture to sprinkle the priests and their garments, wishing to make them partakers not only of the sanctity of the outer and open court but that of the shrine within, since they were going to minister in the inner part also, all of which had been anointed with oil.
ב׳
2[153] After other additional sacrifices had been brought, some by the priests on behalf of themselves, and others by the body of elders on behalf of the whole nation, Moses entered the tabernacle, taking his brother with him. This was on the eighth and last day of the celebration, the seven preceding days having been spent by him in initiating his nephews and their father and in acting as their guide to the sacred mysteries. After entering, he gave such instruction as the good teacher gives to an apt pupil on the way in which the high priest should perform the rites of the inner shrine.
ג׳
3[154] Then they both came out, and, stretching forth their hands in front of their faces, offered prayers which befitted the needs of the nation in all sincerity and purity of heart. And, while they were still praying, a great marvel happened. There issued suddenly from the shrine a mass of flame. Whether it was a fragment of ether, the purest of substances, or of air resolved into fire by a natural conversion of the elements, it suddenly burst right through, and, with a mighty rush, fell upon the altar and consumed all that was on it, thus giving, I hold, the clearest proof that none of these rites was without divine care and supervision.
ד׳
4[155] For it was natural that the holy place should have a special gift attached to it, over and above what human handiwork had given, through the purest of elements, fire, and thus the altar be saved from contact with the familiar fire of common use, perhaps because such a multitude of evils are associated with it.
ה׳
5[156] For its activity is applied not only to the lower animals when they are roasted or boiled, to satisfy the cruel cravings of the miserable belly, but to the human beings slaughtered by the design of others, and that not in threes or fours but in assembled multitudes.
ו׳
6[157] Ere now we have known the impact of fire-carrying arrows burn up great fully-manned fleets, and consume whole cities which have smouldered down to their very foundations and wasted away into ashes, leaving no trace to shew that they were populated in the past.
ז׳
7[158] This is the reason, I imagine, why God expelled from His most pure and sacred altar the fire of common use and rained instead an ethereal flame from heaven, to distinguish between the holy and the profane, the human and the divine. For it was fitting that fire of a more incorruptible nature than that which subserves the needs of human life should be assigned to the sacrificial offerings.