I, too, have thought of thee with secret rancor; for through thee I lost another possession harder for a man to renounce than office: the love of woman." The hot blood mounted into Hur's cheeks, as he exclaimed: "Miriam! I did not force her into marriage; nay I did not even purchase her, according to the custom of our fathers, with the bridal dowry--she became my wife of her own free will." "I know it," replied Joshua quietly, "yet there was one man who had yearned to make her his longer and more ardently than thou, and the fire of jealousy burned fiercely in his heart.

But have no anxiety; for wert thou now to give her a letter of divorce and lead her to me that I might open my arms and tent to receive her, I would exclaim: "Why hast thou done this thing to thyself and to me?
For a short time ago I learned what woman's love is, and that I was mistaken when I believed Miriam shared the ardor of my heart.

Besides, during the march with fetters on my feet, in the heaviest misfortune, I vowed to devote all the strength and energy of soul and body to the welfare of our people.

Nor shall the love of woman turn me from the great duty I have taken upon myself.

As for thy wife, I shall treat her as a stranger unless, as a prophetess, she summons me to announce a new message from the Lord." With these words he held out his hand to his companion and, as Hur grasped it, loud voices were heard from the fighting-men, for messengers were climbing the mountain, who, shouting and beckoning, pointed to the vast cloud of dust that preceded the march of the tribes..