Mary the daughter of David

REHOBOAM reigned

ZADOK the priest took REHOBOAM and made him king, and he anointed him and performed for him whatsoever the Law demanded. And REHOBOAM laid a tablet of wood upon the Tabernacle, and he found it with the name of his father SOLOMON [written upon] it, and then they set him upon the king’s mule, and said unto him, “All hail! Long live the royal father!” and the city resounded with cries, and the trumpet was blown. And before REHOBOAM could return to his father SOLOMON died. And they laid SOLOMON in the tomb of his father DAVID, and they mourned for him with great mourning, for there was not found his like in wisdom in those days.

When seven days had passed REHOBOAM made the mourning for his father to cease. And the people of Israel gathered themselves together to REHOBOAM, and they said unto him, “Lighten for us [our] labor, for thy father made it very heavy in the hewing of wood, and in the dressing of stone, and in making wagons for bringing down cedarwood.” And REHOBOAM took counsel with the councilors and the elders of the house of the king, and they said unto him, “Answer them graciously. For at this present thou art like a young animal and thy loins are not able to bear the yoke. And now, speak unto them graciously, and say unto them, ‘I will do for you everything ye wish.’ And when thy hand hath gotten power over them thou canst do with thy people what thou wishest.” And REHOBOAM drove out the elders and brought in the foolish young men who had been brought up with him. And he took counsel with them and told them of the message which the house of Israel had sent to him and what the elders of the house of the king had counseled him to do. And those foolish young men said unto him, “An aged man giveth the counsel of an aged man, and the elder giveth the counsel of an elder, and a man struck in years giveth the counsel of the man who is stricken in years, and a young man like thyself giveth the counsel which appertaineth to youth. As for these men who are stricken in years, their loins are as tender as those of a young animal that cannot walk.

As concerning this matter of which thou speakest, who can dispute the command of our Lord the King?” And one of them leaped up into the air before REHOBOAM, and another drew his sword, and another brandished his spear, and another seized his bow and quiver. And when they had made an end of their playing they counseled him, saying, “O our Lord, may we be with thee, and thou with us! Now thy father in wisdom gave us, the sons of men of Israel who are learned in the art of war, to grow up with thee that thy kingdom might be strong after him. O our Lord, show not a timid face to those men, lest they think that thou art weak and art not able to make war against them and against thine enemies. For if they see in us an attitude of weakness in word and indeed, we shall be held in contempt by them, and they will not give us gifts, or presents, or slaves, or tribute, and thy kingdom will be destroyed. But address them with bold words, and speak unto them haughtily, saying, ‘In respect of my father ye say in wood and in stone, but I will make you serve me with chains of iron and with scorpion-whips. For my thin flank shall be stronger than the thickest part of my father’s body, and my counsel is greater than the counsel of my father who begot me. None shall diminish for you the labor and the forced service, nay it shall be increased for you in every particular.

If ye will not do my command, I will make your cattle my plunder, and your children shall be captives, and my knife of slaughter shall consume you. And I will seize your cities and your fields, and your plantations, and your wells, and your gardens, and your lands, and your fruit (or, crops), and I will bind your honorable ones in chains of iron, and your riches shall [provide] food for my servants, and your women shall be for the adornment of the house of my nobles. And I will not alter this my decision, and will not diminish it, and I will neither make it tea lienor to have no effect, and I will carry it out quickly and will write it down forever. For the whole of this land was given to DAVID my grandfather for his kingdom, and to my father SOLOMON after him. And [God] hath given it to me after my fathers as to them, and I will make you serve me as ye served them, and now take counsel and obey me.'”

Thus also did REHOBOAM speak unto the elders of Israel. And the people all rose up together in their full number, and they said, “Get back to [your] house[s], O ISRAEL. Have we none else whom we can make king save in the house of Judah and in the house of BENJAMIN? We will reject their houses and the men of both of them, and we will make as our king and governor the man whom we wish for and in whom our soul delighteth.” And they took up their weapons of war, and fled in a body, and came to the city of Samaria of BÊTH ÊFRÂTÂ, where they took counsel and were gathered together in a body. And the house of Israel cast lots among themselves so that they might make king the man whom they chose from the house of the father of the man wherein the lot fell. And the lot fell on the house of EPHRAIM, on the son of NÂBÂT, and they chose a man from the house of his father and made JEROBOAM king. And thus was the kingdom separated from REHOBOAM, the son of Solomon, and there were left to it only the house of Benjamin and the house of JUDAH his father.

The word which God spake unto David His servant was not made a lie, “Of the fruit of thy body I will make to sit upon thy throne”; and again He said, “Ordained like the moon forever”; and again He said, “God sware unto DAVID truly and will not repent.” He Who reigned on the throne of David His father was JESUS CHRIST, his kinsman in the flesh by a virgin, Who sat upon the throne of His Godhead; and upon earth, He granted to reign upon His throne the King of Ethiopia, SOLOMON’S firstborn. To REHOBOAM God gave only two stems (or, roots); and the King of RÔMÊ is the youngest son of Solomon. And God did this in order that foolish people might not call us JEWS, because of SOLOMON and because of REHOBOAM his son—now God knoweth the heart—and He did this that they might not imagine such a thing.

They called REHOBOAM “King of JUDAH“, and they called the King of Samaria “King of Israel“. And of the generations of REHOBOAM, from REHOBOAM to ’ÎYÂḲÊM (JOACHIM) were forty-one generations. And there were born to MALKΠtwo children, LEVI and SHEM, the begetter of HÔNÂSÊ. And HÔNÂSÊ begat ḲALÂMYÔS, and ḲALÂMYÔS begat JOACHIM, and JOACHIM begat MARY, the daughter of DAVID. And again ’ÎLΠbegat MALKÎ, and MALKΠbegat MÂTÎ, and MÂTΠbegat ’ÊLΠand JACOB, and ḤANNA, the wife of JOACHIM. And ’ÊLΠtook a wife and died without children. And JACOB took to wife YÔḤADÂ, the wife of ’ÊLÎ, and he begat by her JOSEPH the carpenter, who was the betrothed of MARY. And JOSEPH was the son of JACOB in the flesh and the son of ’ÊLΠaccording to the Law; now God had commanded Moses that the Israelites were to marry their kinsfolk, each in the house of his fathers and that they were not to marry alien women.

MARY, the daughter of DAVID

From this, it is evident that Mary was the daughter of DAVID, and that JOSEPH was the son of DAVID. Therefore was MARY betrothed to JOSEPH her kinsman, as it is said in the Gospel, “O JOSEPH, son of David, fear thou not to take to wife MARY thy betrothed, for that which is to be born of her is of the Holy Spirit, the Word of God.” And there was born of her God, the Word, Light of Light, God of God, Son of the Father, Who came and delivered His creation; from the hand of SHEÔL, and from SATAN, and from death He hath delivered all of us who have believed in Him, He hath drawn us to His Father and hath raised us up into heaven His throne to become His heirs; for He is a lover of man, and unto Him praise belongeth forever. Amen.

The King of RÔMÊ (CONSTANTINOPLE)

We will begin to tell you what we have heard, and what we have found written, and what we have seen concerning the King of RÔMÊ. The kingdom of RÔMÊ was the portion and dominion of JAPHET, the son of NOAH. And sitting down they made twelve great cities, and DARIUS built the greatest cities of their kingdoms: ’ANṬÔKY (ANTIOCH), DÎRESY (TYRE ?), and BÂRTONY (PARTHIA ?), and RÂMY (ROMA ?), and those who reigned dwelt there; and King CONSTANTINE built CONSTANTINOPLE after his own name. Now the sign of the Cross having appeared to him during the battle in the form of stars cut in the heavens, he was delivered out of the hands of his enemy; and from that time onwards the Kings of RÔMÊ made their habitation there. And that DARIUS had many descendants, and from DARIUS to the days of SOLOMON were eighteen generations. And of his seed was born a man whose name was ZANBARÊS, and he made in wisdom a drawing of the astrolabe and placed stars therein, and [he made also] a balance (i.e., clock) for the sun. And be [fore]saw what would come after, and that the kingdom would not remain to the children of JAPHET, but would depart to the seed of David, of the tribe of Shem.

When he thus saw, he sent a message to David the King, saying, “Take my daughter for thy son”; and David the King took her and gave her to SOLOMON his son, and SOLOMON begat a son by her and called his name “’ADRÂMΓ. And ZANBARÊS died before [this] and BALṬASÔR, who was of his kinsmen, became king. And he lacked male offspring to reign after him upon his throne, and he was jealous lest the children of his father should reign after him. And he sent a written message to SOLOMON the King, saying, “Hail to the greatness of thy kingdom, and to thine honorable wisdom! And now, give me thy son, whom I will make king over the city of RÔMÊ. For I have not been able to beget male children, but only three daughters. And I will give him whichever of my daughters he pleaseth, and I will give him my throne, and he shall be king, he and his seed after him in the city of RÔMÊ forever.”

When King SOLOMON had read this letter, he meditated, saying, “If I keep back my son he will send to the King of the East, who will give him his son, and that which I have planned will be made void; therefore I will give him my son.” And he took counsel with his course counselors house of Israel, and he said unto them, “We have already given our son and our children to the country of Ethiopia, and Israel hath a kingdom there. And now, so that we may have a third kingdom, the country of RÔMÊ, I will send thither ’ADRÂMÎS my youngest son. Hold ye not it against me as an evil thing that formerly I took away your sons, for it is a pleasing thing to God that the men of Ethiopia had His Name, and have become His people. In like manner, the men of RÔMÊ, if we give them our children, will become the people of God, and unto us moreover shall be given the name of ‘People of God’, being spoken of thus and called thus: The people of Israel have taken the kingdom of Ethiopia and the kingdom of RÔMÊ. Give ye your youngest sons as before [ye gave the eldest], and let those of middle age stay in our city.”

They rose up, and took counsel, and returned, and said unto him, “We will speak this matter unto the King, and he shall do his will.” And he said unto them, “Make me hear what ye would say.” And they said unto him, “Thou hast already taken the eldest of our houses, and now take the youngest of their children.” And he was pleased with this counsel, and he did for them as they wished. And he set forward ’ADRÂMΠhis son, who took some of the nobles of the lower grades of the house of Israel, and the lot fell upon him in the name of his father Solomon; and they gave him a priest of the tribe of the LEVITES whose name was ’AKÎMÎḤÊL, and they set ’ADRÂMΠupon the king’s mule, and cried out to him, “Hail! [Long] live the royal father!” And all the people said, “It is right and proper.” And they anointed him with the oil of kingship and commanded him to keep all the laws of the kingdom, and they made him swear that he would worship no other god except the God of Israel. And they blessed him as they had blessed David his brother, and admonished ’ADRÂMΠeven as they had admonished DAVID, and they accompanied him on his way as far as the sea coast.

SOLOMON the King wrote and sent a letter, saying, “Peace be to BALṬASÔR, the King of RÔMÊ! Take my son ’ADRÂMÎ, and give him thy daughter, and make him king in the city of RÔMÊ. Thou didst wish for a king of the seed of David my father, and I have done thy will. And I have sent unto thee his nobles, fourteen on his right hand and fourteen on his left, who shall keep the Law with him and be subject unto thee according to thy will.”

They arrived there with the ambassadors of the King of RÔMÊ, together with much splendor and all the equipment that was requisite for the country of RÔMÊ. And they came to the city of RÔMÊ, to BALṬÂSÂR the King, and they repeated all that SOLOMON had sent them to say and delivered over to him his son. And BALṬÂSÂR rejoiced exceedingly, and gave him his eldest daughter, whose name was ’ADLÔNYÂ; and he made a great marriage feast according to the greatness of his kingdom, and established him over all his city of RÔMÊ. And he blessed him, for he was noble in stature, and his wisdom was marvelous, and he was exceedingly mighty in his strength.

One day BALṬÂSÂR wished to test his knowledge in the trying of cases, a man, the possessor of a vineyard, having come to him and appealed to him, saying, “My lord, ’ARSÂNÎ, the son of YÔDÂD, hath transgressed thy word, and hath laid waste my vineyard with his sheep. And behold, I have seized his sheep and they are in my house; what decision wilt thou come to in respect of me?” And the owner of the sheep came to the King and made an appeal to him, saying, “Give me back my sheep, for he hath carried them off because they went into his vineyard.” And the King said unto them, “Go ye and argue your case before your King ’ADRÂMÎ, and whatsoever he shall say unto you that do.” And they went and argued their case before him. And ’ADRÂMΠasked him, saying, “How much of the vineyard has the sheep eaten? The leaves, or the tendrils, or the young grapes, or the shoots by the roots?” And the owner of the vineyard answered and said unto him, “They have eaten the tendrils and the branches that had grapes upon them, and there is nothing left of the vines except the twigs by the root.” And ’ADRÂMΠasked the owner of the sheep, saying, “Is this true?” And the owner of the sheep answered and said unto him, “My lord, they ate [only] the tendrils with leaves on them.” And ’ADRÂMΠanswered and said, “This man saith that they ate the grapes: is this true?” And the owner of the sheep answered and said, “No, my lord, but they ate the blossoms before they had formed into grapes.”

The first judgment of ’ADRÂMÎ, King of RÔMÊ

’ADRÂMΠsaid unto them, “Hearken ye to the judgment which I will declare unto you. If the sheep have destroyed all the shoots from the root of the vine, then they all belong to thee. And if they have eaten the leaves of the branches, and the blossoms of the grapes, take the sheep, shear their wool, and [take also] the young of those which have not yet brought forth. But the sheep which have already brought forth young for the first time left to the owner of the sheep.” And all those who heard the judgment which he pronounced marveled, and BALṬÂSÂR said, “Verily, this judgment is a judgment of the people of the God of Israel. Henceforward judge him that hath a case at law, wage war with him that would wage war, rule him that would be ruled, keep alive him that should be kept alive, and pass the judgment that ought to be passed according to as men would be judged, and take this city to thyself and to thy seed after thee.” And all the men of the city of RÔMÊ were well pleased, and they made ’ADRÂMΠking over them, and they rejoiced in him with a great joy; for it happened thus by their will and by the Will of God. And [then] a fever seized BALṬÂSÂR, and thereupon he sent ’ADRÂMΠto the war, and into everything that he wished, whilst he himself remained in the city, and after this BALṬÂSÂR died, and ’ADRÂMΠdirected the kingdom. And the city of RÔMÊ became the possession of ’ADRÂMΠand of his generations after him, for by the Will of God the whole of the kingdom of the world was given to the seed of SHEM, and slavery to the seed of HAM, and the handicrafts to the seed of JAPHET.

 The King of MEDYÂM

The king of MEDYÂM was of the seed of Shem. For of the seed of ISAAC was ESAU, who went forth from his mother’s womb with JACOB clinging to the sole of his foot; and JACOB carried away the right of the firstborn from ESAU for the sake of a mess of pottage. And the name of ESAU’S kingdom was called, according to his name of contempt, “EDOM“, for the interpretation of “EDOM” is “lentils”; and because of this the seed of ESAU was called “EDOMITES“. For through the greed of his belly he forsook and lost the right of the firstborn of the seed of Shem. For unless the soul is restrained by temperance, it will bring down into a net the whole of the lust of the belly which is of the body. For the body is greedy, but temperance restraineth the soul, and therefore Paul said, “That which the soul doth not wish the body wisheth; and that which the body doth not wish the soul wisheth, and each contendeth against the other.” If a man willeth a thing and his soul bandeth itself with the desire of his body he becometh like the Devil, but if he restraineth his body, and his soul bandeth itself with his desire he becometh like CHRIST. For the Apostles say that Christ is the Head of every man who travelleth upon the straight road. And our Lord said unto His disciples, “Walk in the Spirit, and perform ye not the lust of your bodies.” And when they heard this they forsook all the lust of the flesh, and they said unto our Lord, “Behold now, we have forsaken everything and followed Thee; what is our reward?” And our Saviour said unto them, “Ye have made your bodies like unto those of the angels and shall do mighty deeds even as do I. And behold, I have given you authority to raise the dead, and I have given you the power to heal the sick, and ye shall trample upon all the power of the Enemy. And at My second coming ye shall judge and shall put to shame the Twelve Tribes of Israel, because they have not believed on Me, and have treated My glory with contempt. And as for those who believe in Me, ye shall magnify them and shall make them rejoice with you in My kingdom.”

The King of BABYLON

Now the King of BABYLON is of the seed of Shem, and we will show you clearly that the King of BABYLON is of the seed of Shem. It came to pass in days of old that there lived in the kingdom of MANASSEH, the King of Israel, a certain man whose name was KARMÎN, and he was a fearer of God, and he gave many alms and oblations to the poor of ISRAEL. And when he made offerings to the house of God, he did so with sincerity, and his tithe he gave twofold; and he was good in all his ways, and there was no evil whatsoever before him. And SATAN, the enemy of all good, became envious of him, for he saw that his course of life was good. And that man was exceedingly rich in camels and horses, and flocks of sheep, and herds of cattle, and gold and silver, and fine apparel, and he used to feed the mule of the king in ’ARMÂTÊM, a city of Israel. Now his native place was the country of JUDAH, his fathers’ portion, but because of [his] love for wealth he departed into ’ARMÂTÊM to dwell there, and ISRAEL allowed him to settle there because of his riches; for he was exceedingly rich and had many possessions, and the governors [of JUDAH] were afraid of him.