After This The King Held A Great Council Of His Princes And
Ministers, To Consult How To Put An End To This Insurrection Of The Jews,
And David Made His Appearance There, Unseen Of Any But The King.
The king
asked, "Who hath delivered thee from prison and brought thee here?" To whom
David answered, "Mine own
Wisdom, for I fear not thee or any of thy
servants." Then the king commanded his servants to seize him; but they said
the voice was heard by all, but they saw not David. Then David cried out
with a loud voice, "Lo! I go my way." And he walked out, and the king
followed him, and all his servants followed the king, but they saw no one.
Coming to the bank of the river, David spread his handkerchief on the
waters, and he passed over dry, and then he was seen of all who were
present; and they endeavoured to pursue him in boats, but all in vain; and
every one marvelled, and said that no enchanter could be compared to this
man.
David during that day travelled a ten days journey, and, coming to Omaria,
related all that had befallen him; and when the people were amazed, he
attributed all that had befallen him to his knowledge of the ineffable name
of Jehovah[13]. The king sent messengers to inform the caliph of Bagdat of
what had happened, requesting that he would get David restrained from his
seditious practices, by order from the head of the captivity, and the chief
rulers of the assembly of the Jews; otherwise threatening total destruction
to all the Jews in his dominions. All the synagogues in Persia, being in
great fear, wrote to the head of the captivity, and the assembly of elders
at Bagdat, to the same purpose; and they wrote to David, commanding him to
desist from his enterprize, under pain of being excommunicated and cut off
from among the people of Israel. But all was in vain, for David persisted
in his wicked course; till at length Zinaldin, a king of the Togarmim, or
Turks, in subjection to the king of Persia, persuaded the father-in-law of
David, by a bribe of ten thousand pieces of gold, to kill him privately,
and he thrust David through with a sword in his bed, while asleep. Yet was
not the anger of the king of Persia pacified towards the Jews of the
mountains, until the head of the captivity went and appeased him with mild
and wise speeches, and by the gift of an hundred talents of gold; since
which time there has been peace and quiet in the land.
From these mountains it is twelve days journey to Hamadan, the chief city
of Media, in which there are 50,000 Jews, and near one of their synagogues
are the sepulchres of Mordecai and Esther. Dabrestan, near the river Gozan,
is four days journey from Hamadan, and 4000 Jews dwell there. From thence
it is seven days journey to Ispahan, which is a very great city and the
capital of the whole country, being twelve miles in circumference.
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