על חיי משה, ספר ב מ״הOn the Life of Moses, Book II 45
א׳
1[246] Having completed this necessary account of the oracles of mixed character, I will proceed next to describe those delivered by the prophet himself under divine inspiration, for this was included in my promise. The examples of his possession by God’s spirit begin with one which was also the beginning of the prosperity of the nation, when its many myriads set out as colonists from Egypt to the cities of Syria.
ב׳
2[247] Men and women alike, they had traversed a long and pathless wilderness, and arrived at the Red Sea, as it is called. They were then naturally in great difficulties, as they could not cross the sea for want of boats, and did not think it safe to retrace their steps.
ג׳
3[248] When they were in this state of mind, a greater misfortune burst upon them. The king of Egypt, accompanied by a very formidable body of infantry and cavalry, came in hot pursuit, eager to overtake them and so chastise them for leaving the country. He had, indeed, permitted them to do so, induced by unmistakable warnings from God. But the disposition of the wicked is, as may be well seen, unstable, suspended as it were on a balance and swayed up and down by the slightest cause in opposite directions.
ד׳
4[249] Thus, caught between the enemy and the sea, they despaired each of his own safety. Some thought that the most miserable death would be a welcome blessing, while others, believing it to be better to perish by the elements of nature than to become a laughing-stock to their enemies, purposed to throw themselves into the sea, and, loaded with some heavy substances, sat waiting by the shore, so that when they saw the foe near at hand they might leap down and easily sink into the depths.
ה׳
5[250] But, while in these helpless straits, they were at death’s door with consternation