על המידות הטובות ז׳On the Virtues 7
א׳
1[34] A very clear proof of these statements is included in the sacred books. The Arabians, whose name in old times was Midianites, are a very populous nation. They were disposed to be hostile to the Hebrews, the main reason being the reverence and honour which that people, dedicated to the Maker and Father of all, pays to the supreme and primal Cause. Accordingly they contrived all possible devices and made all possible attempts to turn them away from honouring the One, the truly Existent, and to change their religion to impiety. For if they succeeded in this, they thought they would make an easy conquest. But when after countless efforts of word and deed they were utterly exhausted, like men in peril of death, where there is no hope of salvation, they as a last resource devised a scheme of the following kind.
ב׳
2[35] They sent for the most exquisitely beautiful among their women and said to them, “You see how unlimited is the number of the Hebrews, but their number is not so dangerous and menacing a weapon as their unanimity and mutual attachment. And the highest and greatest source of this unanimity is their creed of a single God, through which, as from a fountain, they feel a love for each other, uniting them in an indissoluble bond.
ג׳
3[36] Now man is easily led captive by pleasure, and particularly by the pleasure of intercourse with women. You are exceedingly comely; beauty is naturally seductive, and youth easily lapses into incontinence.
ד׳
4[37] Do not fear the names of harlotry or adultery as likely to bring disgrace, but set against them the benefits arising from your action—benefits which will enable you to convert the transient disrepute into a renown which knows no old age or death. For though in outward appearance you prostitute your bodies, to outwit and out-general our enemies, you will keep your souls virgin, and crown them with a chastity which will last into the future.
ה׳
5[38] And this war will have a glory without precedent in that it was brought to a successful conclusion by women and not by men, for it is our sex, we confess, which will suffer defeat, because our opponents are more distinguished in all warlike qualities, while yours will be completely victorious, and in addition to victory will have also the high excellence that your exploits have entailed no dangers. For you have merely to be seen, and at that first appearance, without bloodshed or rather without an effort, the day will be yours.”
ו׳
6[39] When they heard these words, the women, who had never dreamt of such a thing as purity of life, nor had a taste of sound education, gave their consent. For their hitherto assumed modesty of character was mere hypocrisy. They decked themselves with costly garments and necklaces, and with everything else with which women are accustomed to bedizen themselves and took great pains to make their natural beauty still more comely. For the prize they aimed at was of no small magnitude, the capture of the youths who had hitherto been uncaptured.
ז׳
7[40] They then openly presented themselves, and when they were near at hand, with meretricious glances and wheedling talk and lewd attitudes and movements, they set their bait before the weaker-minded part of the younger men, whose character had no ballast or stability. And when by the shameful use of their bodies they had got the souls of their lovers on their hook, they summoned them to join in offering to the works of men’s hands, sacrifices which were no sacrifices, and libations which brought no peace. Thus they estranged them from the service of the One, the truly existing God, and having effected this, reported the good news to the men.
ח׳
8[41] And they would have enticed others also of the less stable kind had not God the beneficent and merciful, taking pity for their sad condition, lost no time in punishing the mad folly of the offenders, 24,000 in number, and restrained those who were like to be overwhelmed as by a torrent, but were brought by Him to their senses through fear.
ט׳
9[42] The leader of the nation pouring into the ears of his subjects the truths that uphold piety, and with them persuading their souls, selected and enlisted a thousand of the best from each tribe, in order to exact retribution for the snare which the enemy had contrived with the women for their instrument, and by which they hoped to dash the whole multitude down to destruction from the high pinnacle of holiness, though they were only able to succeed with those mentioned above.