276- A Woman beneath the Stones

Before Moses traveled on a long business trip, he asked his brother Saul to care for his wife. This was a chance for Saul to talk to his brother’s wife about his feelings towards her. He started being friendly with her but then went beyond being friendly. She firmly reminded him that she was like a sister to him and she would not cheat on her husband and sin against God. But he ignored her words and did not fear God’s wrath. His lust for her was great that he promised her many material things. She did not relent so finally he threatened her but she ignored his threats.

One day, he sent away her slave to the market. While the slave was away, he assaulted her and tried to rape her but she screamed. When he could not get his way with her, he left the house and got two men to testify wrongly to the Sanhedrin about her. They said that they saw her commit sin with her slave and she was sentenced to be stoned. She was dragged outside Jerusalem with a rope around her neck while people mocked at her along the way. There, she was thrown into a pit and stones were thrown at her until she was completely covered with them.

The next day, a man and his son were coming to Jerusalem so that the son could learn the Torah. When it became dark, they sat next to the hill of stones where the woman was and decided to sleep there. As they slept, they heard the woman crying, “O God, I was wrongly stoned. How does evil conquer good? Does God allow the hands of sinners to hurt good people?”

When the man and his son heard the voice, they lifted the stones until they saw the woman between life and death.

“Who are you, daughter?”

“I’m the wife of a man from Jerusalem.”

“Why are you here?”

“I was wrongly stoned.”

 The man and his son took care of her and told her why they came to Jerusalem.

“If you take me to your home, I’ll serve you and teach your son the Torah (the Mosaic Law), the prophets and the rest of the books.”

“Are you specialized in that?”

“Yes, for in the Torah I meditate day and night.”

The man and his son took the lady back to their house. One day, the slave who served the man lusted for the lady. He tried to seduce her to no avail so he threatened her but she was not afraid. He then killed the man’s son and escaped. When the father came home, he found the lady in a state of shock. Because he lost his son, he told her that even though he did not blame her. Her presence reminded him of his dead son and asked her to leave the house.

She arrived at the seashore searching for a ship to go back to Jerusalem but there was a group of pirates who had just looted a ship. They kidnapped her and sailed. Suddenly, there were hit by a violent storm with very high winds that put their lives to danger. First, they cried out to their gods, then they decided to cast lots to find out who caused the storm to occur. They decided that it was the lady and they wondered who she was. She told them that she worshiped God of heaven and earth whom she loved and feared. She also told them of everything that had happened to her until then and she put her faith in God Who is the Only One who knows the purity of her life. The pirates were very touched by her story and left her on a shore.

The lady, who was very happy for God’s help, walked until she found a small cave where she stayed and did some handiwork to earn a living. Because of her piety, people loved her and felt God’s grace in her life. As a result, God gave her healing powers for the sick. One day, a man came to her with three lepers who were very unhappy and bitter and begged her to pray for their healing. She said that she would pray for them but they first had to confess their sins. They started to confess but she told them that there was one sin they did not confess yet. Two of them confessed that they falsely accused a woman of wrongdoing and she was stoned because of it. The third man confessed that he tried to rape his brother’s wife and when she fought him, he used the two men to falsely accuse her of committing sin, which led to her stoning. The fourth man, who brought the three lepers, looked bitterly at the men because he was the lady’s husband. The lady told them that she was the person they were talking about. Her husband embraced her and begged for forgiveness and the other three men wept bitterly. As for her, she said, “God forgives our sins.”

→ English translation of the story here at St-Takla.org: امرأة تحت الحجارة.

God, when the entire world is against me,

It is enough that You care for me.

You are the Only Judge and the Only Redeemer.

You are the God of all the wrongly accused.

You are the Hope of the hopeless.

A Person’s Opinion of his Father

Short Stories (Stories for the Youth) Books by Father Tadros Yacoub Malaty

Satan and his Friends