The Works of Philo Judaeus, Vol. 3

But I disregard the envious disposition of these men and shall proceed to narrate the events that befell him, having learned them from the sacred scriptures he left as marvelous memorials of his wisdom, and having heard many things from the elders of my nation. I have continually connected what I have heard with what I have read, and in this way, I believe I am acquainted with his life more accurately than others.

II. I will begin with that which is necessary to start with.

Moses was a Hebrew by birth, but he was born, raised, and educated in Egypt. His ancestors had migrated to Egypt with all their families because of the long famine that oppressed Babylon and all the surrounding countries. They were in search of food, and Egypt was a flat, fertile land, rich in soil and productive of everything human nature requires, especially corn and wheat. The river of that country The Nile. rises and overflows at the height of summer—when they say all other rivers derived from winter rains and springs are at their lowest—and irrigates the lands, turning them into one vast lake. Thus, the land, needing no rain, supplies an unlimited abundance of food every year, unless the anger of God sometimes interrupts this abundance because of the inhabitants' excessive impiety.

His father and mother were among the most excellent people of their time; they were drawn together more by a harmony of feeling than by mere blood relation. Moses is the seventh generation in succession from the original settler who founded the entire Jewish race.

III. He was deemed worthy of being raised in the royal palace, for the following reason. The king of the country, seeing the nation of the Hebrews constantly increasing in number, feared that the settlers would eventually outnumber the original inhabitants. He worried that, if they became more powerful, they would rise up, subdue the locals, and make themselves masters. Consequently, he conceived the idea of destroying their strength through…