The Works of Philo (complete)

For thus God allotted three days to eternity before the appearance of the sun, and those which came after the sun he allotted to time ; the sun being an imitation of eternity, and time and eternity being the two primary powers of the living God ; the one his beneficent power, in accordance with which he made the world, and in respect of which he is called God ; the other his chastening power, according to which he rules and governs what he has created, in respect of which he is further denominated Lord, and these two he here states to be divided in the middle by him standing above them both. " For," says he, " I will speak to you from above the mercy-seat, in the midst, between the two cherubims; "* that he might show that the most ancient powers of the living God are equal ; that is to say, his beneficent and his chastising power, being both divided by the same dividing Word.

But what are the pillars of the ten generic laws which he calls tables ? They are two ; equal in number to the parts of the soul, the rational and irrational part, which must be instructed and corrected, being again divided by the Lawgiver; "for the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraven on the tables. "f And, indeed, of the ten commandments engraved on these tables which are properly and especially laws, there is an equal division into two numbers of five ; the first of which contains the principle of justice relating to God, and the second those relating to man. Now of those principles of justice relating to God, the first law enunciated is one which opposes the polytheistic doctrine, and teaches us that the world is ruled over by one sole governor. The second is one forbidding men to make gods of things which are not the causes of anything, by means of the treacherous arts of painters and sculptors, whom Moses banished from his own constitution which he proposed to establish, condemning them to everlasting banishment, in order that the only true God might be honoured in truth and simplicity.

The third law is one about the name of the Lord, not about that name which has not yet reached his creatures ; for that name is unspeakable, but about the name which is constantly applied to him as displayed in his powers ; for it is commanded that we shall not take his name in vain. The fourth commandment is concerning the seventh day, always virgin, and without any mother, in order that creation, taking care that it may be always free from labour, may in this way come to a recollection of him who does everything without being seen. The fifth commandment is about the honour due to parents. For this also is a sacred command ; having reference not to men, but to him who is the cause of birth and existence to the universe, in accordance with whom it is that fathers and mothers appear to generate children ; not generating them themselves, but only being the instruments of generation in his hands. And this command is placed, as it were, on the borders between the two tables of laws relating to God and those relating to man, and so it bounds the five which concern piety, and that five also which comprehend a prevention of injury to one's fellows.

Since mortal parents are the boundaries of the immortal powers, which, generating everything according to nature, have permitted this lowest and mortal race to imitate their own powers of generation, and so to propagate its own seed ; for God is the beginning of all generation, and the mortal species of mankind, being the lowest and least honoured of all, is the end. The other table of five is the prohibition of adultery, of murder, of theft, of false witness, and of covetousness. These are generic rules, comprehending nearly all offences whatever, and to one of these rules each particular and special action is naturally referrible.

But you see also that the regularly occurring daily sacrifices are divided into equal portions ; one portion being the sacrifice which the priests offer in their own behalf, consisting of the finest wheat-flour, and the other being that which they offer on behalf of the whole nation ; consisting of two lambs, which they are especially commanded to offer.* For the law commands them to offer one half of the sacrifices abovementioned early in the morning, and the other half at the time of the evening twilight, in order that God may receive his proper tribute of thanks for the blessings which are showc rod upon all men during the night. You see also that the loaves which are placed upon the sacred table are divided by the twelve into equal parts, so as to be distributed to each company of six in number, and are so placed as a memorial of the tribes which are of a corresponding number ; one half of whom, virtue, that is Leah, received as her share, having become the mother of six leaders of tribes ; and the other half fell to the lot of Eachel's children and those of the other women.

You see also that the twelve stones of an emerald upon the garment which reached down to the priests' feet are divided equally on the right and on the left side of the garment ; on which, being divided into equal numbers of six, the names of the twelve patriarchs of the tribes were engraved, being divine characters engraved on pillars, memorials of divine natures. What more need I say ? Has he not also, taking two mountains symbolically to mean two races, and having again divided them on principles of the equality of proportion, allotted one to those who bless, and the other to those who curse ; appointing leaders of tribes over each in order to give admonitions to those who have need of them, and to show them that the curses are equal in number to the blessings, and nearly, if it may be lawful to say so, of equal value ? For the praises of the good and the reproaches of the wicked are of equal service, since to avoid evil and to choose good are, among all persons of sound sense, looked upon as one and the same thing.

A great impression is made upon me by the selection and division of the two goats which are brought as an offering for the purpose of atonement, and which are divided by an obscure and uncertain principle of division, namely, by lot. For of two principles, the one which is occupied about the affairs of divine virtue is consecrated and set apart to be offered to God ; but that which devotes itself to the concerns of human unhappiness is appropriated to the banished creature, for the share which that has obtained the sacred scriptures call the scape-goat, since it is removed from its place, and pursued and driven away to a great distance from virtue.

And, as is the ease with respect to good and unadulterated money, so also, as there are many things in nature, does not the invisible divider appear to you to divide them into equal portions, and to distribute the good money which has stood the test to the lover of instruction, and that which has not been properly coined, and which is bad, to the man who is ignorant ? for, says Moses, " that which had no mark belonged to Laban, and that which was marked belonged to Jacob."* For the soul, being as some ancient writer has said, a waxen tablet, while it is hard and resisting, repels and refuses the impressions which are attempted to be stamped upon it ; and remains of necessity undistinguished by any figure. But when it becomes tractable and yielding in a moderate degree, it then receives deep impressions, and having taken off the stamp given by the seal, it preserves accurately the appearances which are impressed upon it, so that they cannot be effaced

Moreover, the equal division of the sacrifices of blood is certainly calculated to excite our admiration : which division the chief priest Moses, having nature for his teacher, made ; for, says the scripture, " He, taking the half of the blood, poured it into the bowls ; and the other half he poured out upon the altar. "f In order to show that the sacred genus of wisdom is of a twofold nature, the one kind being divine, and the other human : and the divine kind is unmingled and unadulterated, on which account it sacrifices to the pure, and unalloyed, and only God existing in unity ; but the human kind is of a mixed and alloyed nature, and therefore dissipates the unanimity and community of our mixed, and combined, and compound race, and effects any thing rather than a proper harmony of either melodies or morals.

But the unmixed and unadulterated portion of the soul is the pure mind, which, being inspired by heaven from above, when it is preserved in a state free from all disease and from all mishap is very suitably all poured forth and resolved into the elements of a sacred libation, and so restored in a fitting manner to God, who inspired it and preserved it free from any infliction of evil ; but the mixed portion is entirely that of the outward senses, and for this part nature has made suitable craters. Now, the craters of the sense of seeing are the eyes, those of hearing are the ears, those of smelling are the nostrils, and so on with the appropriate receptacles for each of the senses. On these craters the sacred word pours a portion of blood, thinking it right that the irrational part of us should become endowed with soul and vitality, and should in some manner become rational ; following the guidance of admonition, and purifying itself from the deceitful alluring powers of the objects of the outward sense which aim to overcome it.

Was it not in the same manner that the holy double-drachm was divided'?* That we should purify the half of it, namely, a drachm, offering it as the ransom for our souls : which the only free, the only delivering God, when addressed in the voice of supplication, and sometimes even without any supplication, by force delivers from the cruel and bitter despotism of the passions and iniquities ; but the other portion we may leave to the race which is never free, but which is of a slavish disposition ; of which class was the man who said, " I have loved my lord;"f that is to say, the mind which is the master in me ; " and my wife," that is to say, the outward sense which is dear to him, and the housekeeper of his passions ; ' and my children," that is to say, the evils which are the offspring of them ; " I will not depart free." For it is quite inevitable that such a description of persons as this must obtain a lot which is no lot, and that the scapegoat bought with the double drachm, must be given to them, which is just the opposite of the drachm and of unity which is offered up to G~od.

And it is the nature of unity not to be capable of either addition or subtraction, inasmuch as it is the image of the only complete God ; for all other things are intrinsically and by their own nature loose ; and if there is any where any thing consolidated, that has been bound by the word of God, for this word is glue and a chain, filling all tilings with its essence And the word, which connects together and fastens every thing, is peculiarly full itself of itself, having no need whatever of any thing beyond.

Very naturally therefore does Moses say, " He who is rich will not add anything, and he who is poor will not diminish anything of the half of the double drachm," J which is, as I have said before, a drachm, and a unit ; to which every member might quote that line of the poet : With thee I'll end, with thee I will begin. For even an infinitely infinite number, being made of a continuation of other numbers, when dissolved must end in a unit : and again it must begin with a unit, being afterwards compounded so as to make an illimitable multitude ; on which account those who have made the investigation of such matters their study, have not called the unit a number, but rather an element, and the beginning of number. Again this heavenly food of the soul which Moses calls manna, the word of God divides in equal portions among all who are to use it ; taking care of equality in an extraordinary degree. And Moses bears witness to this where he says, "

He who had much had not too much, and he who had but little was in no want ;"* since they all used that wonderful and most desirable measure of proportion. On which account it happened to the Israelites to learn that each of them was collecting not more for the men who were related to him than for the. reasonings and manners which were akin to him. For as much as was sufficient for each man, that he was allotted in a prudent manner, so as neither to feel any want or any superfluity.

And we may find something very much resembling this equality, according, to analogy in the case of the festival which is called the passover ; and the passover is when the soul is anxious to unlearn its subjection to the irrational passions, and willingly submits itself to a reasonable mastery over them. For it is expressly said, " If there be few that are in thy house, so as not to be sufficient in number for a sheep, then thou shalt take thy nearest neighbour in addition, according to the number of souls," f so that each person may receive a sufficient share in proportion to the number of his family, being such as he is found to be worthy of and to have need of. But when, as if it were some country, he wishes to divide out virtue among its inhabitants, he then allows the more numerous body to have more, and the less numerous to have less, thinking it reasonable not to allot a larger share to a K 2 smaller number, nor a smaller share to a larger number ; for in such a case they would neither of them be suited to their respective portions.

But the most manifest instance of equality in respect of number, is exhibited in the sacred offerings of the twelve princes, and again in the portions of those offerings which are distributed among the chiefs. For, says the scripture, " There shall be an equal share allotted to each of the sons of Aaron."* Equality is also very beautifully displayed in respect of the composition of spices for purposes of fumigation ; for we read, " Take to thyself sweet odours, stacte, onycha, galbanum, these sweet spices with pure frankincense, all of the most chosen kinds, all of equal weight and thou shalt make of it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, a pure composition, a holy work."t For the Lord enjoins here that each of the separate portions shall be equal to each, with a view to the proper composition of the whole.

And as I imagine these four ingredients of which the entire perfume is composed are emblems of the four elements of which the whole world is made ; he likens the stacte to water, the onycha to land, the galbanum to the air, and the pure transparent frankincense to fire ; for stacte, which derives its name from the drops (srayovsg) in which it falls is liquid, and onycha is dry and earth-like, the sweet smelling galbanum is added by way of giving a representation of the air, for there is fragrance in the air ; and the transparency which there is in frankincense serves for a representation of fire. On which account also, he has separated the things which have weight from those which are light, uniting the one class by a closely connecting combination, and bringing forth the other in a disunited form ; as where he says, " Take to thyself sweet odours, stacte, onycha," these things being weighty he mentions unconnectedly, being the symbols of earth and water. Afterwards he begins afresh with the other class, which he mentions in combination, saying, " And the sweet spice of galbanum and the transparent frankincense," these again being in their own nature emblems of the light things, air and fire.

And the harmonious composition and mixture of these things is truly his most ancient and most perfect holy work, ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 1G3 namely, the world ; which, speaking of it under the emblem of perfume, he thinks is bound to show gratitude to its Creator. So that in name the composition which has been carefully fabricated by the art of the apothecary may be offered up, but in real fact the whole world which was created by divine wisdom may be consecrated and dedicated, being made a burnt offering of early in the morning and also in the evening. For such a life as this becomes the world, namely, continually and without ceasing to be giving thanks to its Father and Creator, so as to stop short of nothing but evaporating and reducing itself into its origiual element, in order to show that it stores up and conceals nothing, but dedicates itself wholly as a pious offering to God wbo created it. XL1I. And I marvel also at tbat sacred word which runs on with zeal, in one continued course, without taking breath, "

In order to stand in the midst between the dead and the living ; and immediately," says Moses, " tbe plague was stayed.'"* But the evils which grind down and break to pieces and crush our souls were not likely either to be stayed or lightened, unless the reasoning, dear to God, had separated off the holy men who live in sincerity, from the unholy who in real truth are dead ; for, owing to the mere fact of being near those who are sick, it has often happened that those who were in perfect health have caught their disease, and have been at the point of death : and it was impossible for them any longer to be exposed to this affliction if they once separated by a strong boundary fixed in the middle between them, which will preserve the better part by keeping off the inroads and attacks of the worse.

And I marvel still more, when listening to the sacred oracles I learn from them in what manner " a cloud came in the midst f" between the army of the Egyptians and the company of the children of Israel; for the cloud no longer permitted the race, which is temperate and beloved by God, to be persecuted by that which was devoted to the passions and a foe to God ; being a covering and a protection to its friends, but a weapon of vengeance and chastisement against its enemies ; for it gently showers down wisdom on the minds which study virtue — wisdom which cannot be visited by any evil. But on those minds which are ill-disposed and unproductive of knowledge, it pours forth a whole body of punishments, bringing upon them the most pitiable destruction of the deluge. And the Father who created the universe has given to his archangelic and most ancient Word a pre-eminent gift, to stand on the confines of both, and separated that which had been created from the Creator. And this same Word is continually a suppliant to the immortal God on behalf of the mortal race, which is exposed to affliction and misery ; and is also the ambassador, sent by the Ruler of all, to the subject race.

And the Word rejoices in the gift, and, exulting in it, announces it and boasts of it, saying, " And I stood in the midst, between the Lord and you;"* neither being uncreate as God, nor yet created as you, but being in the midst between these two extremities, like a hostage, as it were, to both parties : a hostage to the Creator, as a pledge and security that the whole race would never fly off and revolt entirely, choosing disorder rather than order ; and to the creature, to lead it to entertain a confident hope that the merciful God would not overlook his own work. For I will proclaim peaceful intelligence to the creation from him who has determined to destroy wars, namely God, who is ever the guardian of peace.

Therefore the sacred Word, having given us instruction respecting the division into equal parts, leads us also to the knowledge of opposites, saying that God placed the divisions " opposite to one another ;"f for in fact nearly all the things that exist in the world, are by nature opposite to one another. And we must begin with the first. Hot is opposite to cold, and dry to wet, and light to heavy, and darkness to light, and night to day ; also in heaven that which is fixed is opposite to the wandering planetary motion, and in the air a clear sky is opposite to clouds, winter to summer, autumn to spring, for the one is blooming and the other fading. Again, of things on earth, sweet water is opposite to bitter, and barren to fertile land.

Again, there are other things contrary to one anqther, as visible bodies to incorporeal, things endowed with vitality to things inanimate, rational to irrational, mortal to immortal, things discernible by the outward sense to things perceptible only by the intellect ; things comprehensible to things incomprehensible, elements to things concrete and perfected, beginning to end, generation to destruction, life to death, disease to health, white to black, the right to the left, justice to injustice, wisdom to folly, courage to cowardice, temperance to intemperance, virtue to vice ; and all the species of one class to all the species of the other class. Again, grammatical knowledge is contrary to ignorance of the same subject, musical science to unacquaintance with music, an educated to an illiterate condition ; and, in short, skill in art to want of skill. Again, in the different arts there are vocal elements and mute elements, there are sharp and flat sounds, there are straight and circular lines. Once more, in animals and plants, there are some barren and some productive ; some very prolific, others which yield but small increase ; animals oviparous and animals viviparous ; animals with soft skins, and others with hard shells ; some wild and some tractable creatures ; some fond of solitude, and others gregarious.

To go on further : poverty is opposite to wealth, glory to want of reputation, baseness of birth to nobility, want to abundance, war to peace, law to lawlessness, a bad to a good disposition, inactivity to labour, youth to old age, power to want of power, weakness to strength. And why need I enumerate every class separately, when these are unlimited and indescribable by reason of their multitude ? Very beautifully, therefore, has the interpreter of the writings of nature, taking pity upon our idleness aud want of consideration, taught every one of us in an invisible manner, as he does now, to arrange everything in such a way as to produce an exact opposition, not arranging them in wholes, but in equal divisions ; for one thing consists of the two opposite parts ; and when that one thing is bisected then the opposite parts are easily known. Is not this the thing which the Greeks say that Heraclitus, that great philosopher who is so celebrated among them, put forth as the leading principle of his whole philosophy, and boasted of it as if it were a new discovery ?

For it is in reality an ancient discovery of Moses, that out of the same thing opposite things are produced having the ratio of parts to the whole, as has here been shown. XLVI. These matters then we will examine into accurately on another occasion ; but there is this other point also, which does not deserve to be passed over in silence. For the divisions into" two equal parts which have been mentioned become six in number, since three animals were divided, so that the Word which divided them made up the number seven, dividing the two triads and establishing itself in the midst of them. And a thing very similar to this appears to me to be very clearly shown in the matter of the sacred candlestick ; for that also was made having six branches, three on each side, and the main candlestick itself in the middle made the seventh, dividing and separating the two triads ; for it is made of carved work, a divine work of exquisite skill and highly admired, being made of one solid piece of pure gold. For the unit, being one and single and pure, begot the number seven, which had no mother but is born of itself alone, without taking any additional material whatever to aid him.

But those who praise gold say a great many other things by way of panegyric on it, but dwell on two especial points as most particularly important and excellent ; one that it does not receive poison, the other that it can be beaten out or melted out into the thinnest possible plates, while still remaining unbroken. Therefore it is very naturally taken as an emblem of that greater nature, which, being extended and diffused every where so as to penetrate in every direction, is wholly full of everything, and also connects all other things with the most admirable arrangement.

Concerningthe candlestick above mentioned, the artist speaks a^ain a second time and says, that from its different branches there are three arms projecting out on each side, equals in all respects to one another, and having on the top lamps like nuts, in the shape of flowers supporting the lights ; * the seventh flower being fashioned on the top of the candlestick of solid gold, and having seven golden places for lights above them ; so that in many accounts it has been believed to be fashioned in such a manner because the number six is divided into two triads by the Word, making the seventh and being placed in the midst of them ; as indeed is the case now. For the entire candlestick with its six most entire and principal parts was made so as to consist of seven lamps, and seven flowers, and seven lights ; and the six lights are divided by the seventh. And in like manner the flowers are divided by that which comes in the middle ; and in the same manner also the lamps are divided by the seventh which comes in the middle. But the six branches, and the equal number of arms which shoot out are divided by the main trunk itself which makes up the number seven.

But the long discussion which some people start with respect to each of these, must be postponed to a subsequent opportunity. Thus much alone we must remind our readers of at this moment, that the sacred candlestick and the seven lights upon it are an imitation of the wandering of the seven planets through the heaven. How so ? some one will say. Because, we will reply, in the same manner as the lights, so also does every one of the planets shed its rays. They therefore, being more brilliant, do transmit more brilliant beams to the earth, and brilliant beyond them all is he who is the centre one of the seven, the sun. And I call him the centre, not merely because he has the central position, as some have thought, but also because he has on many other accounts a right to be ministered unto and attended by the others accompanying him as bodyguards on each side, by reason of his dignity and his magnitude, and the great benefits which he pours upon all earthly things. But men, being unable completely to comprehend the arrangement of the planets (and in fact what other of the heavenly bodies can they understand with certainty and clearness?) speak according to their conjectures.

And these persons appear to me to form the best conjectures on such subjects, who, having assigned the central position to the sun, say that there is an equal number of planets, namely, those above him and below him. Those above him being Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars ; then comes the Sun himself, and next to him Mercury, Venus, and the Moon, which last is close to the air. The Creator therefore, wishing that there should be a model upon earth among us of the seven-lighted sphere as it exists in heaven, ordained this exquisite work to be made, namely, this candlestick. And its likeness to the soul is often pointed out too ; for the soul is divisible into three parts, and each of the parts, as has been already pointed out, is divided into two more. And thus there being six divisions, the sacred and divine Word, the divider of them all, very naturally makes up the number seven.

This other point also is too important to deserve to be passed over in silence : that, as there are three vessels among the sacred furniture, a candlestick , a bath, and an altar of incense ; the altar of incense has reference to that gratitude which is exhibited for the bestowal of the elements, as has been shown before, since it does itself also receive a portion from these four, receiving wood from the earth, and the spices which are burnt from the water ; for, being first of all liquefied, they are dissolved into drops of moisture, and vapour from the air, and form the fire the spark which kindles the whole; and the composition of frankincense, and galbanum, and onycha, and stacte, is a symbol of the four elements ; and the table is referred to the gratitude which is displayed for the mortal things which are made out of the elements, for loaves and libations are placed upon it, which the creatures who stand in need of nourishment must of necessity use.

And the candlestick has reference to the gratitude exhibited for all the things existing in heaven, in order that no portion of the world may lie under the imputation of ingratitude ; but that we may see that every single part of it gives thanks, the elements, the things made of them, and not those only which are made on earth, but also those in heaven. XL VI I. And it is worth while to consider why, after having explained the measures of the table and of the altar of incense, he has given no such description of the candlestick ; may it not be, perhaps, for the reason that the elements and all the mortal things which are compounded of them, of which the table and the altar of incense are symbols, have been measured, inasmuch as they are terminated in heaven ?

For that which surrounds anything is invariably the measure of that which is surrounded ; but the heaven, of which the candlestick is the symbol, is of infinite magnitude ; for it is indeed surrounded, but not, according to the account of Moses, by a vacuum, nor by any substance, nor by anything which is of equal magnitude with itself, nor by anything of unlimited size, in accordance with the marvellous fables which we touched upon when speaking of the building of the tower ; but its boundary is God, and he also is its ruler and the director of its course. As, therefore, the living God is incomprehensible, so also that which is bounded by him is not measured by any measures which come within the range of our intellect"; and, perhaps, inasmuch as it is of circular form and skilfully fashioned into a perfect square, it has no participation in either length or breadth. XL VIII. Therefore, after he has said what is becoming on this subject, he proceeds to add, "

But the birds he did not divide ; " * meaning, by the term birds, the two reasonings which are winged and inclined by nature to soar to the investigation of sublime subjects ; one of them being the archetypal pattern and above us, and the other being the copy of the former and abiding among us. And Moses calls the one which is above us the image of God, and the one which abides among us the impression of that image, " For," says he, "God made man," not an image, " but after the image."f So that the mind which is in each of us, which is in reality and truth the man, is a third image proceeding from the Creator. But the intermediate one is a model of the one and a copy of the other. But by nature our mind is indivisible ; for the Creator, having divided the irrational part of the soul into six portions, has made six divisions of it, namely, sight, taste, hearing, smelling, touch, and voice ; but the rational part, which is called the mind he has left undivided, according to the likeness of the entire heaven.

For in this, also, there is is a report that the outermost sphere, which is destitute of motion, is preserved without being divided, but that the inner one is divided into six portions, and thus completes the seven circles of what are called the planets ; for I imagine the heaven is in the world the same thing that the soul is in the human being. They say, therefore, that these two natures, full of reason and comprehension — that, I mean, which exists in man and that which exists in the world — are both at all times entire and indivisible. On this account, therefore, it is that the scriptures tell us, " He did not divide the birds."

For our own mind is here compared to a dove, since that is a creature which is tame and domesticated among us ; and the turtle dove is compared to the model presented by the other, that is to say, by the mind of the world, the heaven; for the word of God is fond of retirement, and solitude, and privacy ; not mixing itself up with the crowd of things which have been created and will be destroyed, but being at all times accustomed to roam on high, and being anxious to be an attendant only on the one supreme Being. Therefore, the two natures are indivisible ; the nature, I mean, of the reasoning power in us, and of the divine Word above us ; but though they are indivisible themselves, they divide an innumerable multitude of other things. For it is the divine Word which divided and distributed every thing in nature ; and it is our own mind which divides every thing and every body which it comprehends, by the exertion of its intellect in an infinite manner, into an infinite number of parts, and which, in fact, never ceases from dividing.

And this happens by reason of its resemblance to the Creator and Father of the universe ; for the divine nature, being unmingled, uncombined with any thing else, and most completely destitute of parts, has been to the whole world the cause of mixture, and combination, and of an infinite variety of parts : so that, very naturally, the two things which thus resemble each other, both the mind which is in us and that which is above us, being without parts and indivisible, will still be able in a powerful manner to divide and distribute all existing things. XLIX. Therefore, after Moses has mentioned the facts of birds not being cut in two pieces or divided, he proceeds to say, " And the birds came down and descended upon the bodies which were divided;"* using indeed expressions which are synonymous, but still representing the variance which exists in the facts in a most visible manner to those who are able to see. For it is contrary to nature that birds should come down, when they have been given wings for the purpose of soaring on high.

For, as the earth is the most appropriate place for land animals, and above all for reptiles, which do not endure even to crawl upon it, but seek caves and lurking places, avoiding the regions which are above, on account of their kindred with the things which are below ; so, in the same manner, the air is the appropriate abode for the winged race, the element which is by nature light is the proper home for those creatures which are light by reason of their being feathered. When, therefore, those creatures, whose nature it is to traverse the air and who ought to roam through the aether, descend and come down upon the land, they are unable to live a life according to their nature. On the other hand, Moses approves, in no ordinary degree, of whatever reptiles are able to take a leap in an upward direction.

At all events he says, "Ye shall eat of these winged reptiles which go upon four feet, and which have legs above their feet so as to be able by them to leap up from the ground.""1 But these reptiles are the emblems of souls, which like reptiles being rooted in the earthly body, when they are raised up, get strength to soar on high, taking the heaven in exchange for the earth, and immortality in exchange for destruction. We must, therefore, think that they are full of every description of misery, which, having been brought up in the air, and in the aether which is the purest of all things, have changed their abode (not being able to bear the satiety of divine things), and have descended to that mortal and evil district, the earth. And there are innumerable imaginations concerning an innumerable variety of things which roam about upon it also ; some voluntary, and some out of ignorance, which are in no respect different from winged creatures, and which Moses compares to the birds that come down. And of these imaginations those which take the upward course belong to the better class, since virtue, which conducts the mind towards heaven and the divine country, travels with them.

But those which take the downward course belong to the worse class, since wickedness guides them and. drags them in the contrary direction by force. And their very names do, to a great extent, show the opposite character of the places. For virtue (upsrri) has derived its name not only from the word (ahid/g) choice, but also from the fact of its being lifted up (rara to aioscOai), for it is lifted up (a/'gsra/) and borne on high because it always loves heavenly things ; but wickedness (xaxia) is so called from its tendency to go downwards (u-b <roZ xaru y.-yjji^y.hai). and also because it compels those who practise it to iall down to the bottom (■/.uruTiK-siv). Accordingly the thoughts of the soul which are at variance with one another, flying towards and descending upon the earth, both come down themselves and also throw the mind down too, mingling with bodies in a disgraceful degree, and with things which are perceptible by the outward senses, not discernible by the intellect, imperfect not entire, perishable and not living. For they mix themselves up not only with bodies, but also with the divisions of the bodies which have been divided in two parts.

And it is quite impossible that things which have been divided in this way should ever again admit of adaptation and union ; since the nerves of the spirit, which were the strongest natural bond in them, are cut in two. L. Moreover, Moses introduces a very true opinion when he teaches us that justice and every virtue loves the soul, but that wickedness and every vice is attached to the body ; ' and that what is friendly to the one is in every case of necessity hostile to the other, as is the case even now. For having figuratively represented the wars of the soul, he then introduces birds as eager to involve themselves with and to cling to the bodies, and to satiate themselves with the flesh, the inroads and attacks of which the virtuous man, desiring to check, is said to sit by them as if he were a sort of curator or overseer of them.

For when his domestic affairs were thrown into confusion by domestic sedition, and when the armies of the enemy were proceeding against him, he collected a wise council and deliberated with respect to the adversaries ; in order that if he could possibly do so, using persuasion he might both put an end to the foreign war, and also remove the domestic confusion; for it was desirable to disperse those enemies who were gathering over him like a cloud, and who were full of irreconcileable enmity to him ; and equally so to re-establish with the other party the relations which had previously existed. Now those who are irreconcilable and implacable enemies are set down thus ; the follies and intemperances of the soul, cowardice and injustice, and all the other irrational appetites which are accustomed to be generated by luxuriant and impotent appetite, raising their heads high and becoming restiff, and preventing the mind from proceeding in its straight course ; and very often throwing its whole system into confusion and beating it down. But the attacks and conflicts of those powers which are not irreconcilable resemble the frequent effect of the discussions and quarrels about doctrines which arise among the Sophists.

For inasmuch as they all labour for one end, namely the contemplation of the things of nature, they may be said to be friends; but inasmuch as they do not agree in their particular investigations they may be said to be in a state of domestic sedition ; as, for instance, those who affirm the universe to be uncreated are. at variance with those who insist upon its creation ; and again those who urge that it will be destroyed are at strife with those who affirm that it is indeed perishable by nature but that it never will be destroyed, because it is held together by a more powerful chain, the will of the Creator. And again, those who affirm that there is nothing self-existent, but that everything has been created, are at variance with those who are of a contrary opinion, Those too, who say that man is he measure of all things, differ from those who would restrain the judicial faculties of the outward senses and of the intellect. And, in short, to sum up all these differences in a few words, those who represent everything as incomprehensible are at variance with those who say that a great number of things are properly understood.

And the sun, and the moon, and the whole heaven, and the earth, and the air, and the water, and all the things that are connected with them, afford subject for strife and contention to those who are fond of examining into such subjects, and who investigate their essences, and distinctive qualities, and changes, and alterations, and moreover their origin and the method of their destruction ; and making no superficial investigation into the magnitude and motion of the heavenly bodies, they adopt all sorts of different opinions, never agreeing together, until some man, who is at the same time skilful at disentangling controversies and calculated to judge, takes his seat on the tribunal, and comes to a clear perception of the progeny of each individual's soul, and discards those which do not deserve to be maintained, and preserves those which are good, and which be pronounces worthy of suitable providential care. And all the controversies of philosophy are full of disagreement, since the truth escapes the intellect which is given to plausibilities and conjectures : for it is the very difficulty of discovering and seizing hold of the nature of truth that, in my opinion, has given rise to so many quarrels. - LI.

"And about the setting of the sun a trance fell upon Abraham, and, behold, fear with great darkness fell upon him."* Now there is one kind of trance which is a sort of frantic delirium, causing infirmity of mind, either through old age, _ or melancholy, or some other similar cause. There is another kind which is excessive consternation, arising usually from things which happen suddenly and unexpectedly. Another kind is mere tranquillity of the mind, arising when it is inclined by nature to be quiet : but that which is the best description of all is a divinely inspired and more vehement sort of enthusiasm, which the race of prophets is subject to. Now the first kind Moses mentions in the curses which are recorded in Deuteronomy : for he says that, " delirium and blindness, and aberration of mind shall seize on the impious,"* so that they shall differ in no respect from blind persons at mid-day, being like people feeling their way in deep darkness. The second kind he mentions in many places ; for he says, "And Isaac was astonished with a great astonishment, and said, Who, then, is it who went out to hunt for game for me, and who brought it to me ?

And I ate of it all before you come, and I have blessed him ; yea, and he shall be blessed. "f And, again, with reference to Jacob, who disbelieved those w;ho told him that " Joseph is alive, and is ruler over the whole land of Egypt ; for he," says the scripture, " was amazed in his mind, for he believed them not." J And, again, in Exodus, in the assembly of the people, we read : " For the whole of the mountain of Sinai was enveloped in smoke, because God descended upon it in fire. And the smoke went up as the vapour of a furnace, and the whole people was greatly astonished.'^ Also, in Leviticus, when speaking of the consecration of the priests on the eighth day, when fire came out from heaven and licked up what was on the altar, and the burnt-offerings and the fat, the historian proceeds immediately to tell us, " And the whole people saw it and were astonished, and fell upon their faces ;"|| for such astonishment as this causes alarm and consternation.

And ought we not especially to wonder in the case of Esau, that he who was skilful in hunting was nevertheless himself continually caught and supplanted, having acquired his skill to his own injury and not to his advantage, and that he never used any great care to catch anything in his hunts ? And also in the case of Jacob, that he hunts without having acquired any skill by learning, but only as he is moved by nature ; and that he brings what he has caught to the examiner, who will distinguish whether it deserves to be approved; on which account he " eateth of it all.''* For everything that relates to meditation is wholesome food, whether it be investigation, or consideration, or hearing, or reading, or prayer, or self-restraint, or a contempt for things indifferent : and he ate, as I imagine, the first fruits of them all, but he did not eat the whole of all ; for some appropriate food must be left for him who meditates as a reward for his pains. And the words, "before you came," are added out of regard for the nature of the thing ; for if passion enters into the soul, we shall not enjoy temperance.

And it convicts the worthless man as slow, and hesitating, and procrastinating, as to the works of instruction, but not as to those of intemperance. Therefore Egypt contains inspectors of works, who devote themselves with energy to securing the enjoyment of the passions. But Moses, on the other hand, commands the Israelites to eat the passover in haste, and to celebrate the migration from these passions in this way. And Judah says : " For if we had not delayed, we should by this time have returned, and have arrived again in Egypt ; aye, and a second time should we have returned safe from thence."f And very naturally did Jacob wonder whether the mind was still in the body; that is to say, whether Joseph was alive to virtue and ruling over the body, and not being ruled over by it. And any one who chooses to go through all the other instances, would be able to trace out the truth. But our present subject does not require any accurate discussion of these matters ; on which account we had better return to the point from which we set out. With respect to the third kind of trance, he philosophises in this manner when speaking of the creation of the woman ; "

For the Lord God," says Moses, "cast a trance upon Adam, and he slept. "$ Here calling the quietness and tranquillity of mind a trance ; for the slumber of the mind is the awaking of the outward sense : and, again, the awaking of the intellect is the reducing of the outward senses to a state of inactivity. LII. An instance of the fourth kind of trance is the one which we are now considering : " And about the setting of the sun a trance fell upon Abraham," he being thrown into a state of enthusiasm and inspired by the Deity. But this is not the only thing which shows him to have been a prophet, but also the express words which are engraven in the sacred scriptures as on a pillar. When some one endeavoured to separate Sarah, that is, the virtue which is derived from nature, from him, as if she had not been the peculiar property of the wise man alone, but had also belonged to every one who made any pretence to wisdom, God said, "

Give the man back his wife, because he is a prophet, and he will pray for thee, and thou shalt live ;''* and the sacred scriptures testify in the case of every good man, that he is a prophet ; for a prophet says nothing of his own, but everything which he says is strange and prompted by some one else ; and it is not lawful for a wicked man to be an interpreter of God, as also no wicked man can be properly said to be inspired ; but this statement is only appropriate to the wise man alone, since he alone is a sounding instrument of God's voice, being struck and moved to sound in an invisible manner by him. Accordingly, all those whom Moses describes as just persons he has also represented as inspired and prophesying. Noah was a just man; was he not also by that fact a prophet? or did he, without being possessed by any divine inspiration, litter those prayers and curses which he applied to the generations which should come hereafter, and all of which were eventually confirmed by the reality of the facts ? Why should festly found to have been prophets by many other circumstances, and especially by their addresses to their children. For the annunciation, "

Assemble yourselves together, that I may tell you what shall happen to you in the last days,"{ was the expression of a man possessed by inspiration ; for the knowledge of the future is not appropriate to, or natural to, man. What shall we say of Moses ? is he not celebrated everywhere as a prophet? For the scripture says, " If there shall be among you a prophet of the Lord, I will make myself known unto him in a vision, "J but to Moses God appeared in his actual appearance and not by a riddle. And again we read, " There arose not any more any prophet like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face."§ Very admirably, therefore, does the historian here point out, that Abraham was under the influence of inspiration when he says that, " About the setting of the sun a trance fell upon him." J Numbers xii. 6, § Deuteronomy xxxiv. 10. LIII. And under the symbol of the sun he intimates our mind : for what reasoning is in us, that the sun is in the world.

Since each of them gives light, the one casting a light which is perceptible by the outward senses, to shine upon tbe universe ; and the other shedding their beams, discernible only by the intellect by means of our apprehensions, upon ourselves. As long therefore as our mind still shines around and hovers around, pouring as it were a noontide light into the whole soul, we, being masters of ourselves, are not possessed by any extraneous influence; but when it approaches its setting, then, as is natural, a trance, which proceeds from inspiration, takes violent hold of us, and madness seizes upon us, for when the divine light shines the human light sets, and when the divine light sets this other rises and shines, and this very frequently happens to the race of prophets ; for the mind that is in us is removed from its place at the arrival of the divine Spirit, but is again restored to its previous habitation when that Spirit departs, for it is contrary to holy law for what is mortal to dwell with what is immortal. On this account the setting of our reason, and the darkness which surrounds it, causes a trance and a heaven-inflicted madness.

After that the historian connects with his preceding account what follows in consistency with it, saying, " And it was said to Abraham — for in real truth the prophet, even when he appears to be speaking, is silent, and another being is employing his vocal organs, his mouth and tongue, for the explanation of what things he chooses ; and operating on these organs by some invisible and very skilful act, he makes them utter a sweet and harmonious sound, full of every kind of melody. LIV. And it is well to hear what the things are which are thus said to have been predicted to Abraham. In tbe first place, that God does not grant to the man who loves virtue to dwell in the body as in his own native land, but only to sojourn in it as in a foreign country. " For knowing," says the scripture, "thou shalt know that thy seed shall be sojourners in a land which is not theirs."* But the district of the body is akin to every bad man. and in it he is desirous to abide as a dweller, not as a sojourner.

Accordingly, these words contain this as one lesson ; another is, that the things which bring L 2 slavery and disaster and bitter humiliation, as the prophet himself tells us, upon the soul are the dwellings upon earth. For the affections of the body are truly spurious and foreign, being produced by the flesh, in which they are rooted. And this slavery lasts four hundred years in accordance with the powers of the four passions. For when pleasure rules, the mind is elated and puffed up, being carried away by empty vanity. Again, when appetite gets the upper hand, a desire for absent things is engendered, which suspends the mind upon unaccomplished hopes, as if in a halter ; for then the mind is always thirsting and yet is unable to drink, enduring the punishment of Tantalus. Again, when under the influence of grief, the mind is tortured and contracted, like trees the leaves of which are falling off and withering ; for all its flourishing and nutritious particles are dried up. Also, when fire obtains the supremacy, no one any longer chooses to remain, but betakes to flight and running away, thinking that that is the only way in which he can be saved.

For appetite, having an attractive power even if the object which is desired retreats, compels one to pursue it ; and fear, on the other hand, causing alienation, separates one from it, and makes one remove to a distance from what is presented to one's view. LV. But the supremacy of these different passions before mentioned inflicts terrible slavery on those who are ruled over by them, until God, the umpire and judge of all things, separates that which is ill treated from that which is inflicting ill treatment, and delivers the former and blesses it with perfect freedom, and inflicts upon the other a retribution for the wickedness which it has committed. For we« read in the next verse, "And the nation to which they shall be slaves I will judge, and after that they shall go forth with great substance."* For it is inevitable that a mortal man must obey the nature of the passions, and that a man who has been born must endure the fate which is allotted to him as appropriate ; but it is the will of God to lighten the evils which are planted contemporaneously with our birth.

So that even if we at the beginning suffer such evils as are properly assigned to us, become slaves of cruel masters, and if God also performs what is his peculiar work, proclaiming emancipation and freedom to Genesis xv. 14. the souls which address their supplications to him, then he not only gives men a release from their bondage and a means of departure from their prison all guarded round as it is, but he also gives them the means of travelling, which he here calls substance. And what is this ? When the mind having come down from above from heaven becomes entangled in the necessities of the body, then, although it is not allured by any of these, still, like a eunuch or impotent person, it embraces pleasant evils. But if it remains in its own nature, then, being truly a man, it resists and discards them instead of being overthrown by them, being initiated in all the parts of complete encyclical learning ; from which it derives a desire for contemplation, and acquires temperance and patience, very vigorous virtues, leaving its former abode, and finding a means of return back to its own country, and bringing witli it all the lessons of instruction, which are here called supplies for the journey. LVI.

Having said thus much on these subjects, the historian proceeds : " And thou shalt depart to thy fathers, having lived in peace, in a good old age."* Therefore we, who are imperfect, are made war upon, and we become slaves, and only with difficulty do we find any relief from the dangers which impend over us. But the perfect race, exempt from slavery and free from the perils of war, is bred up in peace and the firmest freedom. And there is a particular lesson to be learnt from his representing the good man not as dying but departing, in order to show that the race of the soul, which is completely purified, cannot be extinguished and cannot die, but only departs in the way of migration from this earth to heaven, not undergoing that dissolution and destruction which death appears to bring with it And after the words, " Thou shalt depart," he adds, " to thy fathers. It is here worth while to consider what kind of fathers is meant ; for God can never mean those who had passed their lives in the country of the Chaldeans, among whom alone he had lived as being his relations, because he had been commanded by a sacred oracle to depart from those who were his kinsmen by blood.

For, says the historian, " The Lord said unto Abraham, Depart from out of thy land, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, to a land which I will show thee ; and I will make thee into a great nation."* For how can it be reasonable for him who was once been removed from his abode by the interference of Divine Providence, to return and dwell again in the same place ? And how could it be reasonable for another race to be again assigned to his ancient one ? For God would never have given to him a new character, and a new nation and family, if he had not wholly and entirely separated him from his ancient one. For that man is truly a chief of a nation and ruler of a family, from whom, as from a root, sprang that branch so fond of investigating and contemplating the affairs of our nature, by name Israel, since an express command has been given " to remove the old things from before the face of those which are new."

J For where is any longer the use of investigations into antiquity, and ancient, and longestablished customs, to those in whom on a sudden, when they have no such expectation, God rains all kinds of new blessings in a mass ? LVII. Therefore, when he says " fathers," he means not those whose souls have departed from them, and who are buried in the tombs of the land of Chaldea ; but, as some say, the sun, and the moon, and the other stars : for some affirm that it is owing to these bodies that the nature of all the things in the world has its existence. But as some other persons think he means the archetypal ideas, those models of these things which are perceptible by the outward senses and visible ; which models, however, are only perceptible by the intellect and invisible ; and that it is to these that the mind of the wise man emigrates. Some, again, have fancied that by " fathers," are here meant the four principles and powers of which the world is composed — the earth, the water, the air, and the fire ; for they say, that all created things are very properly dissolved into these elements.

For as nouns, and verbs, and all the other parts of speech, consist of the elements of grammar, and again are resolvable into these ultimate principles, so, in the same manner, each individual among us, being compounded of the four elements, and borrowing small portions from each essence, does, at certain fixed periods, repay what he has borrowed, giving what he has dry to the earth, what moisture he has to the water, what heat he has to the fire, and what cold he has to the air. These then are the things of the body; but the intellectual and heavenly race of the soul will ascend to the purest aether as to its father. For the fifth essence, as the account of the ancients tells us, may be a certain one, which brings things round in a cycle, differing from the other four as being superior to them, from which the stars and the whole heavens appear to be generated, and of which, as a natural consequence, one must lay it down that the human soul is a fragment. LVIII. And the expression, "After having lived in peace," is used with much propriety ; because nearly all or the greater portion of the human race lives rather in war and among all the evils of war.

And of wars, one kind proceeds from external enemies, and is brought on by want of reputation, and by lowness of origin, and by other things of that kind. But another kind arises from one's domestic enemies : some about the body, such as weaknesses, stains, all kinds of mutilations, and a whole body of other unspeakable evils ; and others affecting the soul, such as passions, diseases, infirmities, terrible and most grievous inflictions, and incurable calamities arising from folly and injustice, and other similar evils. Therefore he speaks of him who has lived in peace, who has enjoyed a serene and tranquil life, as a man truly happy and blessed. When then shall this happen ? When all external things prosper with me, in such a way as to tend to my abundance and to my glory. When the things relating to the body are in a favourable state, so as to give me good health and strength ; and when the things relating to my soul are in a similar state, so as to enable it to enjoy the virtues. For each of these requires its owu appropriate body-guards.

Now the body is attended in that capacity by glory, and abundance, and a sufficient provision of wealth ; and the soul by the wholeness, and soundness, and thoroughly healthy state of the body ; and the mind by those speculations which are concerned about the sciences. Since it is plain to all those who are versed in the holy scriptures, that when peace is here mentioned, it is not that peace which cities enjoy. For Abraham bore a part in many terrible wars, out of which he appears to have come triumphantly. And indeed the being forced to depart from his native country, and to leave his home, and his inability to dwell in his native city, and his being driven hither and thither, and wandering about by desolate and unfrequented roads, would have been a terrible war for one who had not put his trust in certain divine oracles and promises. There was also a third calamity, of a formidable nature, also to be borne by him, a famine, worse than the departure from his home, or than all the evils of war. What peace then did he enjoy ?

For I imagine to be driven from his former home, and to have no settled abode, and to be unable to make any effectual resistance to very powerful monarchs, and to be oppressed with hunger, seem like indications, not of one war, but of many wars of various kinds. But, according to those interpretations which are figurative, every one of these events is an instance and proof of unalloyed peace. For an absence of the passions, and a complete scarcity of them, and the destruction of inimical acts of iniquity, and a departure from the opinions of the Chaldreans to the doctrine which loves God, that is to say, from the created being, perceptible by the outward senses, to the great Cause and Creator of all things, who is appreciable only by the intellect, are things which supply a good system of laws and stability. And God promises the man who enjoys such a peace as tins a glorious old age, not indeed oue which shall last an exceeding time, but he promises him a life with wisdom. For tranquillity and happiness are better than length of years, in proportion as a short period of light is better than everlasting darkness. For well did one of the prophets say : "

He had rather live one day in company with virtue, than ten thousand years in the shadow of death ; "* under this figurative expression of shadow, intimating the life of the wicked. And Moses says the very same thing, intimating it by his actions rather than by his words. For the man who he says shall enjoy a glorious old age, he has at the same time represented as more short-lived than almost any one of those who preceded him. Speaking in a philosophical manner, and teaching us who it is who does truly enjoy a happy old age, that we may not conceive pride respecting old age from anything that affects the visible body, as such pride is full of shame and many disgraceful circumstances. But, that keeping our eyes fixed on wisdom of counsel, and steadiness of soul, we may ascribe to such men and testify in their favour that they have a glorious old a^e, (yr,oag) akin to, and bearing nearly the same name as honour (yi^ac).

Listen, therefore, in such a spirit as to think his words a good lesson, to this statement of the lawgiver, that the good man alone has a happy old age, and that he is the most long-lived of men ; but that the wicked man is the most short-lived of men, living only to die. or rather having already died as to the life of virtue. LIX. In the next verses it is said, " And in the fourth generation they shall return hither," not merely in order that the time may be exactly marked out to him, in which his descendants shall become inhabitants of the holy land, but also in order to represent to him the perfect and complete re-establishment of virtue ; and this takes place as it were in the fourth generation, but how it does so it is worth while to consider.

The child, after it is brought forth, during its age of infancy, till it has completed its first period of seven years, has a pure unmixed nature, very like a smooth waxen tablet, which has not yet been stamped with the indelible impressions of good or evil ; for all the things which appear to be engraved upon it are soon confused and effaced by reason of its moisture : this is as it were the first age of the soul. The second is that which, after the age of infancy is passed, begins to live among evils, some of which it is also accustomed to generate from itself, and others it cheerfully receives from other sources, for the teachers of evil deeds are infinite in number ; nurses, and tutors, and parents, and the laws in different states, whether written or unwritten, which make objects of admiration out of things which ought to be laughed at; and even without teachers nature itself is easily inclined to learn what is improper, so as to be continually weighed down by the abundance of its evils ; "

For," says the scripture, " tho mind of man is carefully devoted to evil from his youth."* This is that most accursed period which is figuratively called an age, but also especially the age of youth, in which the body is full of youthful vigour, and the soul is puffed up; the passions, which have hitherto lain hid, being now fanned into a flame, and burning up the threshing-floors, and crops, and fields, and whatever they meet with. This diseased generation or age must be remedied by some third age, acting towards it the part of medical philosophy, so that it shall be charmed with salutary and saving words, by means of which it will receive an evacuation of the immoderate satiety of evil actions, and a fulness of a sort of hungry emptiness, and terrible desolation of good deeds. Therefore, alter the application of this cure, there comes first the age, in which power and vigour grow up in the soul, in accordance with the most certain comprehension of wisdom, and the undeviating and solid character which exists in all the virtues. This is the meaning of the expression, " And in the fourth generation they shall return hither."

For according to the fourth number thus pointed ]out the soul, which has turned away from doing evil, is proclaimed as the inheritor of wisdom ; for the first number is that into which it is not possible to receive any idea of either good or evil, since the soul is as yet destitute of all impressions ; and the second is that in which we indulge in a rapid course of the passions ; and the third is that in which we are healed, repelling the infections of disease, and at last ceasing to feel the evil vigour of the passions ; the fourth is that in which we acquire complete and perfect health and vigour, when rejecting what is bad we appear to endeavour to apply to what is good, which previously was not in our power. LX. But up to what time this is to be he tells us himself, when he says, "

For the wickednesses of the Amorites are not yet fulfilled."* And such words as these give an occasion to weaker brethren to fancy, that Moses represents fate and necessity as the causes of all things that exist or take place : but we must not be ignorant that he was well acquainted with the consequences, and connection, and reciprocal dependence of the causes of things, inasmuch as he was a philosophical man, accustomed to converse with God : and he does not attribute the causes of things which exist, or which take place, to these powers ; for he imagined to himself some other more ancient power, mounted upon the universe, like a charioteer, or like the pilot of a ship ; for this power steers the whole common vessel of the world in which all things sail, and he bridles the course of the winged chariot, the entire heaven, exerting an independent and absolute sovereign authority. What then are we to say about these subjects ? The name Amorites, being interpreted, means " talkers ;" and numbers of those who have received that greatest of all the blessings bestowed upon man by nature, namely speech, have abused and corrupted it, employing it ungratefully and treacherously, to the injury of her who has bestowed it.

Such are flatterers, impostors, devisers of plausible sophistries, men who rather cultivate the skill to delude and to cheat, and who have no care to speak truly, and these men study indistinctness. Now indistinctness is equivalent to deep darkness in discourse ; and darkness is the great assistant of robbers, on which account Moses has adorned the chief priest with distinct demonstration and truth ; thinking it proper that the discourse of the virtuous man should be clear, and perspicuous, and true ; but men in general pursue that which is indistinct and false, under the banner of which the whole misguided multitude of ordinary careless men enrols itself. Therefore, as long as " the offences of the Amorites are not fulfilled," that is to say, the evils of sophistical arguments by reason of their not having been refuted, but while they still influence us, having an attractive power by reason of their plausibility, we being unable to turn away and forsake them, remain in their power from being allured by them.

But if once, all unreal plausibilities are convicted and refuted by true proofs, and if their offences are shown to be full and running over, then we shall flee away without ever turning back, and as it were slipping our cables we shall set sail from the region of falsehoods and sophistries, hastening to cast anchor in the safe harbours and havens of truth. And in this way, I look upon it as sufficiently proved in the spirit of my original proposition that it is impossible for a man to reject, and to hate, and to forsake plausible falsehood, unless the evils arising from it are seen to be full and complete ; and they will be shown to be so, by its being refuted in no superficial way, by the establishment on the other hand, and by the complete confirmation of truth. LXI. In the next verse the historian proceeds to say, "and when the sun approached its setting, there was a flame;"* showing that virtue is a thing which is not horn till late, and indeed which, as some persons have said, is only confirmed and established at the very setting of life.

And he compares virtue to a flame ; for as the flame consumes whatever materials are exposed to it, and gives light to all the air in its neighbourhood, in the same manner does virtue burn up all the offences, and fills the whole mind with light. But while discourses, which are neither divided nor properly distributed, prevail over us by reason of their plausibilities, which he here calls the Amorites, we are not able to see the most brilliant and unshaded light. But we are like a furnace which has not a pure flame, but, as he himself says, emits only smoke, being gradually kindled by the sparks of knowledge, but not as yet being able to stand the hardening and test of pure fire. But we owe great gratitude to him who has scattered those sparks, in order that our mind may not become cold like a lifeless corpse, but being warmed and vivified by the gentle increasing heat of virtue, may feel a glow until it receives the change to holy fire, like Nadab and Abihu. But smoke exists before fire, and compels those who come near it to weep ; but both fire and smoke often come together.

For, being delighted at the messengers of virtue, we hope to attain perfection therein, and if we are not yet able to arrive at it, then we can scarcely through our grief forbear from tears. For when an excessive desire is implanted in our breasts, they hasten to pursue the desired object, and our faces are full of chagrin until we attain it. And how he has compared the soul of the man, who loves instruction and who cherishes a hope of arirving at perfection, to a furnace, because each is a vessel in which food is cooked, the one being the vessel in which those meats which are perishable are prepared, and the other that suited to the reception of the imperishable virtues. And the burning torches of fire which are lighted up are the judgments of God who bears the torch, being bright and radiant, which are accustomed to be always placed in the middle between the divided portions ; I mean by this the portions set in opposition to one another, of which the whole world is composed. For we read in the scripture, "

The lamps of fire which were in the midst between the divided portions,''* that you may know that the divine powers which go through the middle of both bodies and things, destroy none of them ; for both the divisions remain unhurt, but only divide and discriminate in a most excellent manner between the natures of each. LXIL Therefore, the wise man has now been sufficiently proved to be the inheritor of the knowledge of the subjects above mentioned. " For,'' says the historian, " on that day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying, to thy seed will I give this land."* But what land does he mean but that which has been already mentioned, to which he is now making reference ? The fruit of which is the safe and most certain comprehension of the wisdom of God, according to which it preserves for its dividers all the good things which exist without any admixture or taint of evil, as if they had been incorruptible from their very beginning. After this he proceeds to add, "from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates."

Showing that those men who are perfect have their beginnings in the body, and the outward sense, and the organic parts, without which we cannot live , for they are useful for instruction in the life which is in union with the body ; but they have their end with the wisdom of God, which is truly the great river, overflowing with joy, and cheerfulness, and all other blessings. For he has not described the country as reaching from the river Euphrates to the river of Egypt (for he would never have brought over virtue towards the passions of the body), but on the contrary, he has said from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates. For the migrations are from mortal thiugs to things incorruptible.

" But Sarah the wife of Abraham had not borne him any child. And she had an Egyptian handmaiden, whose name was Hagar. And Sarah said unto Abraham, Behold, the Lord has closed me up, so that I should not bear children ; go in unto my handmaiden that thou mayest have children by her."* The name Sarah, being interpreted, means "my princedom." And the wisdom which is in me, and the temperance which is in me, and the particular justice, and each of the other virtues which belong to me alone, are the princedom of me alone. For such virtue, being a queen from its birth, rules over and governs me who have determined on obeying it. Now this virtue, Moses (making a most paradoxical assertioTi) reports, as being both barren and also most prolific, since he affirms that the most populous of all nations is sprung from it. For, in real truth, virtue is barren with respect to all things which are evil, but is so exceedingly prolific of good things, that it stands in no need of the art of the midwife, for it anticipates it by bringing forth before its arrival.

Therefore animals and plants, after considerable intervals and interruptions, bring forth their appropriate fruits, once, or at most twice a year ; according to the number of times which nature has appointed each of them, and which is properly adapted to the seasons of the year. But virtue without any interruption, without any interval or any cessation, is continually bringing forth at all times and on all occasions, not indeed childreu, but virtuous reasonings, and irreproachable counsels, and praiseworthy actions.

But neither is wealth, which it is not possible to employ, of any advantage to its possessors, nor is the fertility of wisdom of any service to us, unless it also brings forth such things as are serviceable to us. For some persons it judges to be in every respect worthy of living in its company ; but others appear to have not yet arrived at such an age, as to be able to support so highly praised and well regulated a charge ; whom, however, it permits to enter upon the preliminaries of marriage, holding out to them a hope that they may hereafter consummate the wedlock. Sarah therefore, the virtue which rules over my soul, has brought forth, but, she has not brought forth for me (for I should never as yet have been able, since I am quite young, to receive her offspring) ; she has brought forth, I say, wisdom, and the doing of just actions, and piety, by reason of the multitude of illegitimate children whom the vain opinions have brought forth to me. For the education of the offspring, and the constant superintendence and incessant care which they require, have compelled me to neglect the legitimate children, who are really citizens.

It is well, therefore, to pray that virtue may not only bring forth, since she is prolific even without a prayer, but that she also may bring for us ; in order that we, receiving a share of her seed and of her offspring, may be happy. For she is accustomed to bring forth children to God alone, restoring with burning gratitude the first fruits of all the blessings which she has received, to him, who, as Moses says, "opened her womb,"* which was at all times virgin. For he also says that the lamp, that archetypal model after which the copy is made, shines in one part, that is to say, in the part which is turned towards God.t For since that completes the number of seven, and stands in the middle of the six branches, which are divided into two lots of three each, acting as body-guards to it on either side, it sends its rays upwards toward that one being, namely God, thinking its light too brilliant for mortal sight to be able to stand its proximity.

On this account he does not say that Sarah did not bring forth at all, but only that she did not bring forth for him, for Abraham. For we are not as yet capable of becoming the fathers of the offspring of virtue, unless we first of all have a connection with her handmaiden ; and the handmaiden of wisdom is the encyclical knowledge of music and logic, arrived at by previous instruction. For as in houses there are vestibules placed in front of staircases, and as in cities there are suburbs, through which one must pass in order to enter into the cities ; so also the encyclical branches of instruction are placed in front of virtue, for they are the road which conducts to her.

And as you must know that it is common for there to be great preludes to great propositions, and the greatest of all propositions is virtue, for it is conversant about the most important of all materials, namely, about the universal life of man ; very naturally, therefore, that will not employ any short preface, but rather it will use as such, grammar, geometry, astronomy, rhetoric, music, and all the other sorts of contemplation which proceed in accordance with reason ; of which Hagar, the handmaid of Sarah, is an emblem, as we will proceed to show. " For Sarah," says Moses, "said unto Abraham, Behold, the Lord has closed me up, so that I may not bear children. Go in unto my handmaiden, that thou mayest have children by her." Now, we must take out of the present discussion those conjunctions and connections of body with body which have pleasure for their end. For this is the connection of the mind with virtue, which is desirous to have children by her, and which, if it cannot do so at once, is at all events taught to espouse her handmaid, namely, intermediate instruction.

And here it is worth while to admire wisdom, by reason of its modesty, which has not thought fit to reproach us with the slowness of our generation, or our absolute barrenness. And this, too, though the oracle says truly that she brought forth no child, not out of envy, but because of the unsuitableness of our own selves. For, says she, " The Lord has closed me up so, that I may not bear children." And she no longer adds the words, " to you," that she may not appear to mention the misfortunes of others, or to reproach them with theirs. " Therefore," says she, " go thou in to my handmaiden," that is to say, to the intermediate instruction of the intermediate and encyclical branches of knowledge, " that you may first have children by her;" for hereafter you shall be able to enjoy a connection with her mistress, tending to the procreation of legitimate children.

For grammar, by teaching you the histories which are to be found in the works of the poets and historians, will give you intelligence and abundant learning ; and, moreover, will teach you to look with contempt on all the vain fables which erroneous opinions invent, on account of the ill success which history tells us that the heroes and demigods who are celebrated among those writers, meet with. And music will teach what is inharmonious in the way of rhythm, and what is ill arranged in harmony, and, rejecting all that is out of tune and all that is inconsistent with melody, will guide what was previously discordant to concord. And geometry, sowing the seeds of equality and just proportion in the soul, which is fond of learning, will, by means of the beauty of continued contemplation, implant in you an admiration of justice. And rhetoric, having sharpened the mind for contemplation in general, and having exercised and trained the faculties of speech in interpretation and explanation, will make man really rational, taking care of that peculiar and especial duty which nature has bestowed upon it, but upon no other animal whatever.

And dialectic science, which is the sister, the twin sister of rhetoric, as some persons have called it, separating true from false arguments, and refuting the plausibilities of sophistical arguments, will cure the great disease of the soul, deceit. It is profitable, therefore, to abide among these and other sciences resembling them, and to devote one's especial attention to them. For perhaps, I say, as has happened to many, we shall become known to the queenly virtues by means of their subjects and handmaidens. Do you not see that our bodies do not use solid and costly food before they have first, in their age of infancy, used such as had no variety, and consisted merely of milk ? And, in the same way, think also that infantine food is prepared for the soul, namely the encyclical sciences, and the contemplations which are directed to each of them ; but that the more perfect and becoming food, namely the virtues, is prepared for those who are really fuil-^rown men.

Now the first characteristics of the intermediate instruction are represented by two symbols, the race and the name. As to race, the handmaiden is an Egyptian, and her name is Hagar ; and this name, being interpreted, means "emigration." For it follows of necessity that the man who delights in the encyclical contemplations, and who joins himself as a companion to varied learning, is as such enrolled under the banners of the earthly and Egyptian body ; and that he stands in need of eyes in order to see and to read, and of ears in order to attend and to hear, and of his other external senses, in such a manner as to be able to unfold each of the objects of the external sense. For it is not natural to suppose that the subject of judgment can possibly be comprehended without some power which is to judge ; and the power which judges of the objects of the external sense is the external sense, so that without the external sense it would not be possible for any thing in that world which is perceptible by the external sense to be accurately known, though those are the matters which are the principal field for philosophical speculation.

But the external sense, being that portion of the soul which most resembles the body, is deeply rooted in the entire vessel of the soul ; and the vessel of the soul is, by a figurative way vol. n. M of speaking, called Egypt. And there is this one characteristic derived from her race, which the handmaiden of virtue possesses. But what or what kind of characteristic that is which is derived from the name, we must now proceed to consider. The intermediate instruction has the same rank and classification as a sojourner. For all knowledge, and wisdom, and virtue, are the only real native and original inhabitants and citizens of the universe. And all the other kinds of instruction, which obtain the second, and third, and lowest honours, are on the confines, between foreigners and citizens. For they are not connected with either race without some alloy, and yet again they are connected with both according to a certain community and participation. For they are sojourners from the fact of their passing their time among citizens ; but from the fact of their not being settled inhabitants, they also resemble foreigners.

In the same manner, according to my idea, as adopted children, inasmuch as they inherit the property of those who have adopted them, resemble real legitimate children ; but inasmuch as they were not begotten by them, they resemble strangers. The same relation, then, that a mistress has to her handmaidens, or a wife, who is a cititzn, to a concubine, that same relation has virtue, that is Sarah, to education, that is Hagar. So that very naturally, 6ince the husband, by name Abraham, is one who has an admiration for contemplation and knowledge ; virtue, that is Sarah, would be his wife, and Hagar, that is all kinds of encylical accomplishment, would be his concubine. Whoever, therefore, has acquired wisdom from his teachers, would never reject Hagar. For the acquisition of all the preliminary branches of education is wholly necessary.

But if any one, having determined on perseveringly enduring labours in the cause of virtue, devotes himself to continued study, practising and meditating without intermission, that man will marry two citizens, and also an equal number of concubines, the handmaidens of the citizens. And each of these has a different appearance and a different nature. For instance, of the two citizen wives, one is a most healthy and well established and peaceful motion, whom from the circumstances the historians called Leah : and the other resembles a whetstone and is called Rachel, in the pursuit of ■whom the mind, which is fond of labour and fond of exercises, is inuch sharpened' and excited ; and the name, being interpreted, means the "sight of profanation ;" not because she sees profanely, but, on the contrary, because she thinks the things which are seen and which are the objects of the external senses, not brilliant but common and profane in comparison of the pure and untainted nature of those things which are invisible and which are only discernible by the intellect.

For since our soul is composed of two parts, and since the one contains the rational faculties, and the other the irrational ones, it follows that each part must have its own peculiar virtue, Leah being the virtue of the rational part, and Rachel of the irrational. For the one trains us, by means of the external senses and the parts of speech, to look contemptuously upon all things which it is proper to disregard, such as glory, and wealth, and pleasure, which the principal and general multitude of common men look upon as things to be admired and striven for, their sense of hearing being corrupted, and the tribunal of all the other external senses being corrupted likewise. But the other teaches us to turn away from that uneven and rough road which is never approached by souls that love virtue, and to go smoothly along the smooth road without any stumbling and without meetiug any hindrances in the path. Therefore the handmaiden of the former of the two citizen wives will necessarily be the power of interpretation as exercised by means of the organs of speech, and also the rational invention of sophisms, deceiving man by a well-imagined plausibility ; and its necessary nourishment is meat and drink.

The historian has recorded for us the names of the two handmaidens, calling them Zilpah and Billah.* The name Zilpah, being interpreted, means "a mouth going forth," a symbol of that nature which interprets and speaks. But Billah means " a swallowing," which is the first and most necessary support of all mortal animals. For it is by swallowing that our bodies are established firmly, and the cables of life are attached to this action as to a sure foundation. Accordingly the practiser of virtue lives with all the aforesaid powers, with some as with free women and citizens, and with others as slaves and concubines. For he is enamoured of the motion of Leah ; and a smooth (Xs/a) motion existing in a body would Genesis xxx. 1. M 2 be calculated to produce health, and, when existing in a soul, it •would produce virtue and justice. But he loves Rachel, wrestling with his passions, and preparing himself for a struggle of temperance, arraying himself in opposition to all the objects of the external senses. For there are two kinds of advantage, either that according to which we enjoy blessings, as in peace, or else that which comes from arraying one's self in opposition to and from removing evils as in war.

Now Leah is the wife according to whom it happens to the husband to enjoy the elder, and more important, and dominant blessings; and Rachel the wife, according to whom he obtains what resemble the sports of war. Such then is his way, if left with his citizen wives. But the practiser of virtue also wants Billah, that is, swallowing, but as a slave and a concubine ; for without food and vitality, living well could not possibly be the lot of the man, since things indifferent are always the foundation of what is better ; and he also wants Zilpah, that is to say, interpretation by means of utterance, in order that the rational part itself may, in a twofold manner, contribute to perfection, both from the fountain existing in the intellect, and also from the stream flowing therefrom in the organ of the voice.

But these men were husbands of many wives and concubines, not only of such as were citizens, as the sacred scriptures tell us. But Isaac had neither many wives nor any concubine at all, but only his first and wedded wife, who lived with him all his life. Why was this ? Because the virtue acquired by teaching, which Abraham pursues, requires many things, both such as are legitimate according to prudence, and such also as are illegitimate according to the exegetieal contemplations of preliminary instruction. And there is also a virtue which is made perfect by practice, to which Jacob appears to have been devoted ; for exercises consist of many and various dogmas and doctrines, some leading and others following, some leading the way, and others arriving later, and bringing at one time more serious, and at other times lighter labours.

But the self-instructed race, of which Isaac was a partaker, the excellent country of the mastery over the passions, has received as its share a nature simple, and unmixed, and unalloyed, standing in no need of either practice or instruction in which there is need of the concubine sciences, and not only of the citizen wives.; for when God has showered down from above that most requisite benefit of knowledge, selftaught, and having no need of a preceptor, it would be impossible any longer for a man to live with the slavish and concubine arts, having a desire for bastard doctrines as his children. For the man who has arrived at this honour, is inscribed as the husband of the mistress and princess virtue ; and she is called in the Greek language, perseverance, but among the Hebrews her name is Bebekkak.

For he who, by reason of the happy constitution of his own nature and by the prolific fertility of his soul, has attained to wisdom without encountering labour or enduriug hardship, stands in need of no further improvement ; for he has at hand the perfect gifts of God, inspired by means of those most ancient graces, and he wishes and prays that they may remain lasting. In reference to which, it appears to me to be that the Author of all goodness gave him perseverance as his wife, in order that his mercies might endure for ever to the man' who had her for his wife.

Now recollection only comes in the second rank after memory, as inferior to it ; and he who recollects is inferior to him who remembers ; for the latter resembles a man in an uninterrupted state of good health, but the other is like a man recovering from a disease, for forgetfulness is a disease of the memory ; and it follows inevitably that the man who exerts his recollection has previously forgotten what he now recollects. Therefore the sacred scriptures call memory Ephraim, which name, being interpreted, means " fruit-bearing.'' But the Hebrews call recollection, after forgetfulness, Manasseh ; for, in good truth, the soul of the man who remembers does bear as fruit the things which he has learned, losing nothing of them ; but the soul of the man who exerts recollection, is only escaping from forgetfulness, by which it was detained before it recollected ; therefore a citizen wife, memory, lives with the man who is endowed with remembrance. But the concubine recollection, a Syrian by birth, insolent and overbearing, lives with the man who forgets ; for the meaning of the name Syria, is " sublimity ;" and the son of the concubine recollection is Machir, as the Hebrews call him ; but the Greeks interpret the name to mean " of the father."

For those who recollect a thing think that the mind is the father and cause of their recollecting, and do not consider that this same en- [66 PJIILO JUD.ETJS. dowment of the mind did also before contain " forge tfalness," though it never would have received it if it had had memory in its power. For it is said in the scripture, " And the sons of Manasseh were Ashriel whom she bare, but his concubine, the Aramitess, bare Machir; and Machir was the father of Gileacl."* And Nachor, also, the brother of Abraham, had two wives, one a citizen and the other a concubine. And the name of the citizen was Milcah ; and the name of the concubine was Rumah. But let no one who is in his senses suspect that the wise legislator recorded this as a historical genealogy, but it is rather an explanation of things which are able to benefit the soul by means of symbols. And when we have translated the names into our own language, we shall understand the real meanings intended to be conveyed by them. Come, then, let us now investigate each of them. II. The name Nachor, being interpreted, means " a rest from light;" and Milcah means "princess;" and Rumah means "she who sees something."

Therefore, to have light in the mind is good ; but cessation from light, and tranquillity, and immobility is not perfect good, for it is advantageous to have evils tranquil, but it is desirable to have blessings in motion ; for what advantage is there in a man's having a tuneful voice, if he keeps silent? or in his having the skill of a flute player, if he does not play the flute ? or of his knowing the harp, if he does not strike it? or, in short, what good is there in any artist whate\ er, if he does not exercise Iris art ? for theoretical knowledge, without putting it in practice, is of no advantage whatever to those who possess it. For a man, though skilful in the contest of the pancratium, or in boxing, or in wrestling, would derive no advantage from his athletic prowess if his hands were tied behind him ; and he who was thoroughly practised in running would derive no advantage from his fleetness of foot if he were afflicted with the gout, or if he were to meet with any other injury to his feet.

And the light of the soul, which is the most brilliant and the most like the sun, is knowledge ; for as the eyes are lightened up by beams, so is the mind made brilliant by wisdom, and becomes gradually accustomed to see more acutely from being continually anointed with new speculations. Therefore, Nachor is interpreted " a cessation from light," very naturally ; for, inasmuch as he is a relation of the wise Abraham, he partakes of that light which is according to wisdom ; but inasmuch as he did not join him in his emigration from the created to the uncreated being, from the world to the Creator of the world, he has acquired only a lame and imperfect knowledge, intermittent and delaying, or rather put together like a lifeless statue ; for he does not depart and quit his abode in the Chaldoean country, that is to say, he does not separate himself from the speculations concerning astronomy ; honouringthat which is created rather than him who created it, and the world in preference to God ; or rather, I should say, looking on the world itself as an absolute independent God, and not as the work of an absolute God.

And he takes Milcah for his wife, not being some queen who by the dispensations of fortune governs some nation of men, or some city, but only one who bears a common name, the same as here. For, just as a person would not be widely wrong who called the world, as being the most excellent of all created things, the king of the objects of the external sense ; so, also, one may call the knowledge which is conversant about the heaven, which knowledge those who study astronomy and the Chaldseans possess in an eminent degree, the queen of all the sciences. This, therefore, is the wife who is a citizen ; but the concubine is she who sees one only of all existing things at a time, even though it may be the most worthless of all. It is given, therefore, to the most excellent race to see the most excellent of things, namely, the really living God ; for the name Israel, being interpreted, means " seeing God." But to him who aims at the second prize, it is allowed to see that which is second best, namely, the heaven which is perceptible by the external senses, and the harmonious arrangement of the stars therein, and their truly musical and well-regulated motion.

The third class are the sceptics, who do not apply themselves to the most excellent objects, either of the intellect or of the external senses, which exist in nature, because they are always occupying themselves with petty sophistries, and small cavils, and criticisms. These have for their companions the concubine Rumah, who sees something which is very minute, because they are unable to approach the investigation of better things, by means of which they might benefit their own life.

For, as among physicians that which is called theoretical medical skill, is a long way from doing any good to by operations, and by regimen, and not by discussions or theories ; so also in philosophy, there is a set of wordtraffickers and word-eaters, who have neither the will nor the skill to heal a life which is full of infirmities, but who, from their very earliest infancy to the extremity of old age, are not ashamed to cavil, and quibble, and wrangle about figurative expressions, as if happiness consisted in an interminable and profitless minuteness of accuracy in the matter of nouns and verbs, and not in the improving and ameliorating the moral character, the true fountain of the persons' disposition ; and in expelling the vices, and driving them out of its boundaries, and establishing the virtues as settlers within them.