The Works of Philo (complete)

Now the wicked also have a desire for concubines, that is, for vain opinions and doctrines ; accordingly Moses tells us that Thimna, the concubine of Eliphah the son of Esau, bore Amalek to Eliphah.* Alas, for the eminent ignobleness of the descendant ! And you will see this ignobleness the more clearly, if you abandon the idea that this expression is used about a man, and rather consider the soul, with a kind of anatomical dissection. The historian then calls the irrational and immoderate desires and impetuosity of the passions, Amalek ; now the name Amalek, being interpreted, means " the people looking up." For as the power of fire consumes the materials which are offered to it, so in the same manner does passion, when boiling over lick up and destroy everything with which it meets. And the father of this passion is very properly described as Eliphah ; for this name, being interpreted, means " God has scattered me." But does it not follow that when God scatters, and disperses, and discards the soul, banishing it from himself, irrational passion is at once engendered ?

For He plants the mind which can really behold him, and which is really attached to God, the vine of a good kind, stretching out its roots so as to make them everlasting, and giving it abundance of fruit for the acquisition and enjoyment of the virtues. On which account Moses prays, saying, '* Bring them in and plant them in,"t in order that those divine shoots may not be ephemeral, but long-lived and lasting for ever and ever. And banishing the unjust and ungodly soul, he disperses it and drives it to a distance from himself to the region of the pleasures and appetites and acts of injustice ; and this region is, with exceeding appropriateness, called the region of the impious, more fitly than that one which is fabled as existing in the shades below. For indeed, the real hell is the life of the wicked, which is audacious, and flagitious, and liable to all kinds of curses.

There is also in another place the following sentence deeply engraven : " When the Most High came down to scatter the nations, as he dispersed the sons of Adam,"* he drove out all earthly dispositions, which had no desire to see any good thing from heaven ; depriving them of house and city, and rendering them truly wanderers on the face of the earth. For no house, nor city, nor anything else which relates to society and participation, is preserved for any one of the wicked ; but they are deprived of all settled habitation, and dispersed abroad, being moved in every direction, and living a life of continued emigration, and not being able to become settled any where. Therefore the wicked man has for his children, wickedness, by his wife who is a citizen, and passion by his concubine ; for the whole soul, like a free citizen, is a companion of reason, but that which is open to reproach brings forth wickedness. But the nature of the body is a concubine, by means of whom the birth of the passion is beheld ; and the body is the region of the pleasures and passions, and it is called Thamnah, which name, being interpreted, signifies a " fluctuating abandonment."

For the soul becomes faint and powerless by reason of the passions having received much tossing about and agitation from the body, on account of the violent storm which bursts forth from immoderate impetuosity. But as the head is the chief of all the aforementioned parts of an animal, so is Esau the chief of this race, whose name is at one time interpreted " an oak," and at another, " a thing made." It is interpreted an oak, in reference to his being unbending, and implacable, and obstinate, and stiff-necked by nature, and having folly for his chief fellow counsellor, and being as such of a truly oaken character.

And it is interpreted "a thing made," inasmuch as a life according to folly is an invention and a fable, full of tragic pomp and vain boasting ; and, on the other hand, of mockery and comic ridicule, having in it nothing sound, being full of falsehood, having utterly cast off truth, and disregarding as a thing of no value, that nature which is void of distinctive qualities, or of particular species, but plain and sincere, which the practiser of virtue loves. And Mcses bears witness to this, when he says that " Jacob was a man without artifice, dwelling in a house ;"* so that he who is contrary to him, must necessarily be destitute of a house, the companion of invention, and of things made, and of fabulous nonsense, or rather bring himself a theatre and a fable.

The connection therefore between the reason which is devoted to contemplation and those powers which are citizen wives, or concubines, has here been explained to the best of my power. We must now proceed to investigate what follows, and endeavour to frame a proper connection for an argument. " Abraham, " says the sacred historian, "listened to the voice of Sarah." t For it is necessary for him who is a learner to be obedient to the injunctions of virtue: but yet all men are not so obedient, but only those who are inspired with an exceedingly vehement love for knowledge. Since almost every day the places where there is anything to hear and the theatres are crowded, and those who study philosophy go on without ever stopping to take breath in one long continued discussion about virtue. But still what advantage is derived from all that is said ?

For men, instead of attending, turn their mind in other directions, some to marine and mercantile affairs, others to rents and agriculture ; some to public honours and affairs of state, some to the gains to be derived from each different profession and art, others to revenging themselves upon their enemies, others again to the enjoyments to be derived from the indulgence of the amorous appetites, and in short every body is under the influence of some distracting idea or other : so that, as fai as the subjects of the discussion are concerned, they are completely deaf, and are present with their bodies only, but are at a distance as to their minds, being in no particular different from images or statues. And if any persons do attend, they sit all that time only listening, and when they have departed they do not recollect a word of what has been said, but they have come in fact rather to be pleased through the medium of their hearing than with the view of deriving any solid advantage ; so that their soul has not been able to comprehend anything or to become pregnant with any new idea, and even the cause which at first excited their pleasure soon ceases and their attention is extinguished.

There is a third kind of persons to whom what is said is for a time attended to and remembered, as if still sounding in their ears : but still they are found to be sophists rather than philosophers : of these men the language indeed is praiseworthy but the life is blameable ; for they are powerful at speaking, but have no ability to do what is best. It is therefore hardly possible to find a man who is inclined to attend and endowed with a good memory, honouring deeds rather than words ; as is testified to in the praise of the man fond of hearing in the the words, " He listened to the voice of Sarah." For he is not represented merely as hearing but also as listening to : and this last is a particularly felicitous expression to indicate one who approves of and is influenced by what he hears. And the expression, "to the voice," is not inconsiderately or incorrectly used in preference to saying — he listened to Sarah speaking. For it is the especial character of a learner to listen to the voice and words of his teacher; for by these alone is he taught.

But he who acquires what is good by practice, and solitary meditation, and not by instruction, does not attend to what is said but rather to those who say it, imitating the lives of those men in their actions which are in each particular irreproachable. For it is said, in the case of Jacob when he was sent away to form a marriage among his kinsmen, "Jacob listened to his mother and his father, and went into Mesopotamia.""9 He listened not to their voice, nor to their words, for it was fitting that he who was an imitator of their actions should be a practiser of virtue not a listener to speeches. For this is the peculiar character of one who is being taught, but the other is the mark of one who is enduring labours, in order that from this instance we may comprehend the difference between a practiser and a learner, the one being regulated with regard to him who is speaking, and the other wtih regard to his speech.

Therefore, continues the sacred historian, Sarah, the wife of Abraham, having taken Hagar, the Egyptian woman, her own handmaiden, ten years after Abraham had begun to dwell in the laud of Canaan, gave her to Abraham her " husband, to be his wife." * Wickedness is by nature an envious, and bitter, and evil disposed thing, but virtue is gentle, and inclined to communion, and friendly ; wishing in every possible manner to benefit those who are well disposed, either by its own power or by the means of others. So now accordingly, as we are not able to become the fathers of children by prudence, she espouses us to her own handmaiden, encyclical instruction, as I have said before, and all but endures to be the bridesmaid and manager of the marriage ; for it is said that Sarah herself took this woman and gave her to her own husband. And here it is worth while to raise the question why it is that now again Moses calls the wife of Abraham Sarah, when he had already repeatedly told us what her name was before ; for he was not a writer who ever indulged in that worst description of prolixity, tautology. What, then, are we to say?

Since she is about to betroth to him the handmaiden of wisdom, encyclical instruction, he says that she did not forget the duty which sbe owed to her mistress, but knew that she was, both in law and in her master's feelings, his wife, and that she herself was only such because of necessity and the force of opportunity. And this happens to every man who is fond of learning. And he who has experienced it may be looked upon as the most trustworthy witness to this fact. At all events I, when I was first excited by the stimulus of philosophy to feel a desire for it, when I was very young connected myself with one of her handmaidens, namely, grammar ; and all the offspring of which I became the father by her, such as writing, reading, and the acquaintance with the works of the poets and historians, I attributed to the mistress. And at a subsequent time, forming connection with another of her handmaidens, geometry, and admiring her beauty (for she had beautiful symmetry and proportions in all her parts), I still appropriated none of the offspring, but carried them to the citizen wife, and bestowed them on her.

I was desirous also to form a similar connection with a third, and she was full of good rhythm, well arranged, and well limbed, and was called music. And by her I became the parent of diatonic, and chromatic, and harmonic, and combined and separate melodies, and all the different concords belonging to fourths and to fifths, and to the diapason. And, again, I concealed none of all these things, in order that my legitimate citizen wife might become wealthy, being ministered unto by a multitude of ten thousand servants; for some men, being attracted by the charms of handmaidens, have neglected their true mistress, philosophy, and have grown old, some in poetry, and others in the study of painting, and others in the mixture of colours, and others in ten thousand other pursuits, without ever being able to return to the proper mistress ; for each act has its own peculiar brilliancies, certain attractive powers, by which some persons are allured and overcome, forgetting all the covenants which they have made with philosophy ; but he who abides by the agreements which he has made, provides every thing from all quarters with a view to pleasing her.

Very appropriately, therefore, does the sacred scripture, admiring his good faith in respect of his legitimate wife, say that even now Sarah was his true wife, inasmuch as he only took his handmaid into his bed out of complaisance towards her ; and, indeed, in the same manner as the encyclical branches of education contribute to the proper comprehension of philosophy, so also does philosophy aid in the acquisition of wisdom ; for philosophy is an attentive study of wisdom, and wisdom is the knowledge of all divine and human things, and of the respective causes of them. Therefore, just as encyclical accomplishments are the handmaidens of philosophy, so also is philosophy the handmaiden of wisdom ; but philosophy teaches temperance with regard to the belly, and temperance with regard to the parts below the belly, and also temperance and restraint of the tongue.

Now these qualities are said to be worthy of praise for their own sakes, but they would appear more respectable still if they were cultivated for the sake of doing honour to and giving pleasure to God. We must, therefore, always remember the legitimate mistress when we are about to espouse her handmaidens ; and let us be said indeed to be the husbands of the latter, but still let our legitimate mistress be our real wife, and not be merely called such.

Again, she gives Hagar to him, not the first moment that he arrives in the country of the Canaauites, but after he has abode there ten years. And what the meaning of this statement is we must investigate in no careless manner. Now, at the beginning of our existence, our soul dwelt among the passions alone as its foster-brethren, griefs, pains, fears, desires, and pleasures, which reach it through the medium of the external senses, before reason was as yet able to see good and evil, and to distinguish accurately the points wherein these things differ from one another, but while it was still wavering and hesitating, and as it were closing its eyes in profound sleeep ; but as time advances., when advancing out of the age of infancy we are on the point of becoming young men, then, without auy delay, the double trunk of virtue and wickedness springs forth out of one root, and we attain to a comprehension of them both, but still we by all means choose one of the two ; those who are well disposed choosing virtue, and those of the contrary character choosing wickedness.

These things, now, being previously sketched out in this manner, we must become aware that Egypt is the symbol of the passions aud the land of the Canaanites, the emblem of the wickednesses ; so that it is in strict accordance with natural probability that God, after having roused his people' and made them depart from Egypt, leads them into the country of the Canaanites : for the man, as I have said before, at his very earliest birth had the Egyptian passions assigned him to dwell among, being deeply rooted in pleasures and in pains ; and at a subsequent time he departs as if to found a colony, and migrates towards wickedness. His reason now being inclined to a more acute sight, and comprehending accurately both the opposite extremes of good and of evil, but nevertheless choosing the worse part, because it has a great, share in mortal nature, to which what is evil is in some degree akin, as also the contrary, namely, good, is akin to the divine nature.

But these are the different countries of each respective nature ; passions, that is to say, Egypt, being the country of the age of childhood ; and wickedness, that is the land of Canaan, being the country of the age of youth. But the sacred scripture, although it is well acquainted with the different countries of the mortal race, suggests to us what ought to be done and what will be advantageous to us, enjoin' ing us to hate the heathen, and their laws, and their customs, in that passage where he says, " And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the Lord your God ; ye shall not behave according to the customs of Egypt in which ye dwelt among them, and ye shall not walk in their laws. Ye shall do my judgments, and ye shall not do according to the customs of the land of Canaan, into which I am leading you to dwell there. And ye shall keep my commandments, and ye shall walk in them. I am the Lord your God. And ye shall keep all my commandments and my judgments, and ye shall do them. He that doeth them the same shall live in them.

I am the Lord your God : aud ye shall keep all my commandments and my judg merits."* Therefore, real true life, above everything else, consists in the judgments and commandments of God, so that the customs and practices of the impious must be death : but there are some races which take no note of passions and of wickednesses, from whom the multitudes of impious persons and wickedness are sprung. Therefore, ten years after our departure to settle in the land of the Canaanites let us marry Hagar, since from the first moment that we become rational beings, we seek for ignorance and a deficiency of knowledge which is pernicious in its own nature ; but at a subsequent period, and at a perfect number, namely, the legal number of the decade, we come to feel a desire for that instruction which is able to benefit us.

But the sons of the musicians have accurately and carefully investigated the question respecting the decade ; and the most sacred Moses has composed a hymn, with no slight degree of skill, attributing the most excellent things to this number of the decade, such as prayers, first-fruits, the continual and unceasing offerings of the priests, the observance of the passover, the atonement,! the remission of debts, and the return to the ancient allotments of property at the end of every fifty years ; \ the preparation and furnishing of the indissoluble tabernacle, § and ten thousand other things which it would take a long time to enumerate. However, we must not pass over the most important poiuts.

In the first place he represents Noah to us (and this man is the first who is specially entitled just, in the holy scriptures), as the tenth in succession from him who was formed out of the earth, not intending by this statement to indicate the number J Leviticua xxv. 9. § Exodus xxvi. 1. of years that had elapsed, bat rather to show clearly that as the decade is the most perfect boundary and end of the num. bers which proceed onwards from the unit, so also just in the soul is the perfection and true end of the actions of human life. For the number three when multiplied by itself so as to make nine, the oracles have pronounced to be the most warlike of numbers ; but when one is added to it so as to complete the number ten, then they receive it as a friendly one.

And as a proof of this, they allege the kingdoms of the nine kings,* (when the civil war was fanned into a flame, the four passions rising up against the five outward senses, and when the entire soul, like a city, was in danger of being subjected to an utter overthrow and destruction,) which the wise Abraham, appearing as the tenth king, put an end to, by joining in the warfare. He then caused a calm instead of a storm, and health instead of disease, and life, if one may speak the plain truth, instead of death, showing himself as the trophy-bearer of God who giveth the victory, to whom also he consecrated the tenths as a gmteful offering on account of his victory. Moreover, he also separates off the tenth of all the cattle which come " under the rod,"f I mean by this under instruction, and of all those which are of a tame and tractable sort, pronouncing them to be holy by an express provision of the law. In order that so, by many concurrent testimonies, we may learn the particular and especial appropriateness of the number ten to God, and of the number nine to our mortal race.

But also it is expressly ordered, that men should offer as first fruits the tenths, not only of animals, but also of all the things which grow up out of the earth ; " For," says the scripture, " every tenth of the earth from the seed and from the fruit of every tree, is holy to the Lord : and every tenth of oxen and sheep, and everything of any cattle which passes under the rod, of all these the tenth shall be holy to the Lord." You see that hs thinks that it is proper to make an offering, by way of first fruits from the corporeal mass that is around us, which is really earthly and wooden ; for life, and durability, and increase, and good health, fall to his share through the divine grace. You see also, that again an express command is given to offer first-fruits from all the irrational animals that are around ourselves ; and by these are meant the outward senses. For to see, and to hear, and to smell, and to taste, and also to touch are divine gifts, for which it is our duty to give thanks.

But not only are we taught to thank the giver of all good ness for these earthly, and wooden, and corporeal things, and for the irrational animals, the outward senses, but also for the mind, which, to speak with strict propriety, is man in man, the better in the worse, the immortal in the mortal. On this account I think it is, that God ordered to be consecrated the whole of the first-born, the tenth, I mean the tribe of Levi, taking them in exchange for the first-born, for the preservation and protection of holiness, and piety, and sacred ministrations, which all have reference to the honour of God. For the first and best thing in ourselves is our reason, and it is very proper to offer up the first-fruits of our cleverness, and acuteness, and comprehension, and prudence, and of all our other faculties which we have in connection with our reason as first-fruits to God, who has bestowed upon us this great abundance of power of exerting our intelligence. From this consideration it was, that Jacob, the practiser of virtue, at the beginning of his prayers, says : "

Of all that thou givest me, I will set apart and consecrate a tenth to thee."* And the sacred scripture, which was written after the prayers on occasion of victory, which Melchisedek, who had received a self-instructed and selftaught priesthood, makes, says : " For he gave him a tenth of all the things, "f assigning to him the outward senses the faculty of feeling properly, and by the sense of speech the faculty of speaking well, and by the senses connected with the mind the faculty of thinking well. Veiy beautifully, therefore, and at the same time most unavoidably, does the sacred historian tell us in the fashion of an incidental narrative, when the memorial of that heavenly and divine food was consecrated in the golden urn, that " gomor was the tenth part of three measures."]; For in us men there appear to be three measures, the outward senses, and speech, and mind.

The outward sense being the measure of the objects of outward sense, speech being the measure of nouns and verbs, and of whatever is said ; and the mind being the measure of those things which can only be perceived by the intellect. We must therefore offer first-fruits of each of these three measures as a sacred tenth, in order that our powers of speaking, and of feeling, and of comprehending, may be seen to be irreproachable and sound, in reference to and in connection with God. For this is the true and just measure, and the things that relate to ourselves are false and unjust measures.

Very appropriately, therefore, in the case of sacrifices also, the tenth part of the measure of fine wheat flour will be brought upon the altar, together with the victims. But the number of nine, which is what is left of the number ten, will remain among us. And the daily sacrifice of the priests corresponds also to these facts. For it is expressly commanded to them to offer every day the tenth part of an ephah *of fine wheat flour. For, passing over the ninth number, the god who was only discernible by the outward senses and by opinion, they learnt to worship the tenth, who is the only living and true God. For the world had nine portions assigned to it, eight in heaven, namely the portion of the fixed stars and the seven planets which are all borne forward in the same arrangement, and the ninth being the earth in conjunction with the air and water. For of these things there is only one bond and connection, though they admit all kinds of various changes and alterations. Therefore men in general have paid honours to these nine portions, and to the world which is compounded of them.

But the perfect man honours only that being who is above the nine, and who is their creator, being the tenth portion, namely God. For having examined into the whole of his works, he has felt a love for the creator of them, and he has become anxious to be his suppliant and servant. On this account the priest offers up a tenth every day to the tenth, the only and everlasting God. This is, to speak properly, the spiritual passover of the soul, the passing over of all the passions and of every object of the outward senses to the tenth, which is the proper object of the intellect, and which is divine. For it is said in the scripture : "

On the tenth day of this month let each of them take a sheep according to his house ; "f in order that from the tenth, there may be consecrated to the tenth, that is to God, the sacrifices which have been preserved in the soul, which is illuminated in two portions out of the three, until it is entirely changed in every part, and becomes a heavenly brilliancy like a full moon, at the height of its iucrease at the end of the second week, and so is able not only to guard, but even to sacrifice uninjured and faultless improvements, that is to say, propitiations. For this propitiation also is established in the tenth day of the month, when the soul addresses its supplications to the tenth portion, namely to God, and has learnt, by its own sagacity and acuteness, the insignificance and nothingness of the creature, and also the excessive perfection and pre-eminent excellence in ail good things of the uncreated God. Therefore God becomes at once propitious, and propitious too, even without any supplications being addressed to him, to those who abase and humble themselves, and who are not puffed up with vain arrogance and self-opinion.

This is remission and deliverance, this is complete freedom of the soul, shaking off the wanderings in which it wandered, and fleeing for a secure anchorage to the one nature which cannot wander, and which rises up to return to the lot which it formerly received when it had brilliant aspirations, and when it vigorously toiled in labours which had virtuous ends for their object. For then admiring it for its exertions, the holy scripture honoured it, giving it a most especial honour, an immortal inheritance, a place namely in the imperishable race. This is what the wise Abraham supplicates for, when that which in word indeed is the land of Sodom, but in real fact is the soul made barren of all good things and blinded as to its reason, is about to be burnt up, in order that if the memorial of justice, namely the tenth* part be found in it, it may obtain a sort of amnesty. Therefore he begins his supplication with a prayer for pardon, connected with the number fifty, and terminates with the number ten, the lowest number for whose deliverance he can dare to entreat.

From which consideration it appears to me to have been, that Moses, after the appointment of chiliarchs, or commanders of thousands, and of centuriaiis, and of captains of fifties,! thought proper to appoint captains of ten over all, in order that if the mind was not able to be improved by means of the elder orders, it might at least be purified by these last in order. And the son of the man who was devoted to learning, learnt a very beautiful doctrine when he went on that admirable embassy, asking in marriage for the self-taught wise man that N 2 most appropriate sister, namely, perseverance. For he takes ten camels,* a reminding of the number ten, that is to say, of right instruction, from among many and, indeed, infinite memorials of the Lord.

He also takes of his good things, evidently not silver, nor any gold, nor any other of those things which consist of perishable materials ; for Moses never gave the favourable appellation of good to any of these things, but those genuine good things which are the only good things of the soul ; and those he appropriates for the use of his journey, and for his purposes of traffic, namely, instruction, improvement, study, desire, admiration, enthusiasm, prophecy, and the love of doing good actions ; to which objects, a man who devotes all his care, and who practises the actions calculated to ensure their attainment, when he is about, as it were, to anchor in a safe harbour after having been tossed in a stormy sea, will take two earrings, each of a drachm in weight, and two golden armlets of ten shekels weight of gold for the arms of her who is sought in marriage, f Oh the divine ornament !

We may understand that the drachm means the faculty of hearing, and the unbroken unit, and the attractive nature ; for it is not becoming for hearing to have leisure to attend to anything except to that speech alone which sets forth in a suitable manner the virtues of the one and only God. And the ten shekels weight of gold mean attempts at works ; for the actions, in accordance with wisdom, are established in perfect numbers, and every one of them is more precious than gold.

Something of this kind, now, is the contribution made by the princes, selected and appointed with reference to worth and merit, which they made when the soul being properly prepared and adorned by philosophy, was celebrating the festival of the dedication in a sacred and becoming manner, giving thanks to God its teacher and its guide ; for it " offers up a censer full of frankincense, ten golden shekels in weight," J in order that the wise man alone may judge of the odours which are exhaled by prudence and by every virtue. But when they appear to be made propitious, then Moses will sing a sacred hymn over them, saying, " The Lord has smelt the smell of a sweet savour," using the word to smell here as equivalent to approving of ; for God is not • Genesis xxiv. 10. + Genesis xxiv. 22. 1 Numbers vii, 14. formed like a man, nor has he any need of nostrils, or of any other organic parts. But as he proceeds onwards he speaks alsoo f the divine abode, the tabernacle, and its ten curtains ; "* for, in fact, the compound edifice of entire wisdom has been assigned the perfect number, the number ten.

And wisdom is the court and palace of the all governing and only absolute and independent king. Accordingly, this is his abode, discernible only by the intellect ; but the world is perceptible by the outward senses; since Moses made the curtains of such things as are symbols of the four elements, for they were made of fine flax, and of hyacinthine colour, and of purple, and of scarlet, — four numbers, as I have said before. Now the fine flax is an emblem of the earth, for the flax grows out of the earth ; and the hyacinthine colour is a symbol of the air, for it is black by nature ; purple (vogpvga), again, is a symbol of the water ; for the cause of this dye is derived from the sea, being the shell-fish of the same name (rj -roocpvga) ; and scarlet is a symbol of fire, for it most nearly resembles a flame. Again, that omnipotent overseer and ruler of the universe reproved the state of Egypt, when rebellious against the rein, when it was extolling with grandiloquent words the mind as an adversary of God, and bestowing on it all the ensigns of kingly authority, such as the throne, the sceptre, the diadem ; and chastised it with ten stripes and severe punishment.

And in the same manner, also, he promises the wise Abraham that he will work for him the overthrow and complete destruction of ten nations f exactly, neither more nor less, and that he will give the country of those who are thus destroyed to his descendants ; in every instance choosing to employ the number ten, both for praise and for blame, and also for honour and for punishment. And yet why do we mention these things ? For what is more important than this is the fact, that Moses gave laws to that sacred and divine assembly in a code of ten commandments in all. And these are the commandments which are the generic heads, and roots, and principles of the infinite multitude of particular laws ; being the everlasting source of all commands, and containing every imaginable injunction and prohibition to the great advantage of those who use them.

Very naturally, therefore, is the connection of Abraham with Hagar, placed at the end of ten years after his arrival in the land of the Chaldseans. For it does not follow that the first moment that we become endowed with reason, while our intellect is still in a somewhat fluid state, we are able at once to derive encyclical instruction. But when we have attained to intelligence and acuteness of comprebension, then we no longer have a light and superficial mind, but rather a firm and solid intellect which we can exercise on every subject. And it is for this reason that the expression which follows is added, in connection with the former statement, " And he went in unto Hagar." For it was becoming for the scholar to go to his teacher, who was a man of learning, in order to learn such branches of instruction as are suited to the nature of man.

For now, also, the pupil is represented as going to the place where he may obtain learning ; but learning very often anticipates him and runs forward to meet him, having driven out envy from her habitation, and she attracts those towards her who are well inclined to her. Accordingly, one may read that virtue, that is Leah, went forward to meet the practiser of virtue, and said unto him, "To-day you shall come in to me,"* when he was returning from the fields. For where was the man who had the care of the seeds and plants of knowledge found to come, except to that virtue which he himself had cultivated ?

But there are times when virtue, as if making experiment of those who come to her as pupils, to see how much eagerness and earnestness they have, does not come forward to meet them, but veiling her face like Tamar, sits down in the public road, giving room to those who are travelling along the road to look upon her as a harlot, in order that those who are over curious on the subject may take off her veil and disclose her features, and may behold the untouched, and unpolluted, and most exquisite, and truly virgin beauty of modesty and chastity. Who then is he who is fond of investigating, and desirous of learning, and who thinks it not right to leave any of those things which are disguised or concealed unconsidered and unexamined? Who is he, I say, but the chief captain and king, he who abides by and rejoices in the agreements which he has made with God, by name Judah?

For says the scripture, "He turned aside out of his road to Ler, and said unto her, Suffer me to come in unto thee." (but he was not inclined to offer her any violence), and to see what is that power which is thus veiled, and for what purpose it is thus adorned ; and after they had corne together it is written, " And she conceived ; " but the name of the person is not expressly mentioned. For art conceives and carries along with it him who is learning it, persuading him to feel amorously inclined towards her ; and also he who is learning carries with him her who is teaching him, whenever he is fond of learning. And it often happens that he who professes some one of the indifferent branches of knowledge, when he meets with a pupil of good natural qualifications, boasts of his success in teaching, thinking that he, by himself and alone, is the cause of his pupil's facility in learning.

And then, becoming elated and puffing himself, up he holds his head high, and draws up his eyebrows and becomes full of pride, and asks very high terms from those who desire to become his pupils ; but those whom he perceives to be poor but still to be eager for instruction, he rejects and repels, as if he were the only person who had found a treasure of wisdom. This is the meaning of the expression, " to conceive," namely, to be full of pride, and to be puffed up with arrogance beyond all moderation, on which account some persons have appeared to dishonour the queen of all the intermediate and indifferent branches of knowledge, virtue, who deserves to be honoured, even for her own sake.

All the souls, therefore, which, in connection with prudence, are pregnant of real things, do nevertheless bring forth, separating and distinguishing between things previously in confusion, like Rebekkah ; for she having conceived in her womb ideas of two nations, the knowledge of virtue and the knowledge of wickedness, having a fortunate labour separated and distinguished between the nature of each ; but those which have conceived without prudence either miscaiTy or else bring forth an offspring inclined to evil contention and sophistry, always either aiming darts and arrows at others, or having darts and arrows aimed at themselves. And may we not say that this is natural ? for some fancy that they are just conceiving, and others that they are actually pregnant, which is a very different thing ; for those who think that they are already pregnant attribute their pregnancy and the birth of their offspring to themselves, and pride themselves upon it ; but those who look upon themselves as now conceiving, admit that they have of themselves nothing which they can call peculiarly their own, but they receive the seed and the prospects of posterity which are showered upon them from without, and they admire him who bestows it, and repel the greatest of evils, namely self-love, by that perfect good, piety towards the gods.

In this manner also the seeds of the legislative wisdom, which exists among men, were sown, "

For there was," says the same historian, " a man of the tribe of Levi, named Amram, who took to wife one of the daughters of Levi, and had her, and she conceived and brought forth a male child ; and seeing that he was a goodly child they concealed him for three months."* This is Moses, the purest mind, the child that is really goodly ; the child that received at the same time all legislative and prophetic skill by the means of inspired and heaven-bestowed wisdom ; who, being by birth a member of the tribe of Levi, and being flourishing both in the things relating to his mother and in those affecting his father, clings to the truth ; and the greatest profession ever made by the author and chief of this tribe is this, for he makes bold to say, that " the only God is alone to be honoured by me ;" and nothing besides of all the things that are inferior to Him, neither earth, nor sea, nor rivers, nor the nature of the air, nor the nature of the winds, nor the changes of the atmosphere, nor the appearances of any animals or plants, nor the sun, nor the moon, nor the multitude of the stars moving about in well-arranged revolutions, nor the whole heaven, nor the entire world.

This is a boast of a great and magnanimous soul, to rise above all creation, and to overleap its boundaries, and to cling to the great uncreated God alone, according to his sacred commands, in which we are expressly enjoined " to cleave unto him."f Therefore he, in requital, bestows himself as their inheritance upon those who do cleave unto him, and who serve him without intermission ; and the sacred scripture bears its testimony in behalf of this assertion, where it says, " The Lord himself is his inheritance. "J Thus the souls which are already pregnant are naturally likely to bring forth children, rather than those which are now receiving the seed.

But as the eyes of the body do oftentimes see obscurely, and often on the other hand see clearly, so in the same manner does the eye of the soul, at times, receive the particular impressions conveyed to it by things in a most confused and indistinct manner, and at other times it beholds them with the greatest purity and clearness ; therefore an indistinct and not clearly manifested conception resembles an embryo which has not yet received any distinct character or similitude within the womb : but that which is clear and distinctly visible, is like one which is completely formed, and which is already fashioned in an artistic manner as to both its inward and its outward parts, and which has already received its suitable character. And with respect to these matters the following law has been enacted with great beauty and propriety : " If while two men are fighting one should strike a woman who is great with child, and her child should come from her before it is completely formed, he shall be mulcted in a fine, according to what the husband of the woman shall impose upon him, and he shall pay the fine deservedly.

But if the child be fully formed, he shall pay life for life."* For it was not the same thing, to destroy a perfect and an imperfect work of the mind, nor is what is only likened by a figure similar to what is really comprehended, nor is what is only hoped for similar to what really exists. On this account, in one case, an uncertain penalty is affixed to an uncertain action ; in another, a definite punishment is enacted by law against an act which is perfected, but which is perfected not with respect to virtue, but with reference to what is done in an irreproachable manner, according to some act. For it is not she who has just received the seed, but she who has been for some time pregnant, who brings forth this offspring, professing boasting rather than modesty. For it is impossible that she who has been pregnant some time should miscarry, since it is fitting that the plant should be conducted to perfection by him who sowed it; but it is not strange if some mishap should befall the woman who was pregnant, since she was afflicted with a disease beyond the art of the physician.

And do not suppose that Hagar is represented as beholding herself as pregnant, by the words, " seeing that she had conceived," but as beholding her mistress Sarah ; for afterwards she speaks of herself, and says, " Seeing that she was pregnant, she was despised before her.'"* Why so? Because the intermediate and indifferent arts, and the sciences in accord ance with them, see indeed of what they are pregnant, but they nevertheless see in every respect but dimly ; but the sciences comprehend clearly and very distinctly. For science is something beyond art, having derived from reason a certain firmness and exemption from error ; for this is the definition ot art, a system of comprehensions well practised with reference to some desirable end, the word desirable being very properly added by reason of the abundance of evil arts. But the definition of science is a safe and firm comprehension, which, through reason, is not liable to any error. Therefore we call music and grammar, and other pursuits, arts ; for those also who are made perfect in them, as musicians, or grammarians, are called artists.

But we call philosophy and the other virtues, sciences, and those who are possessed of the knowledge of them we call scientific ; for they are prudent, and temperate, and philosophical, not one of whom is ever deceived in the doctrines of a philosophy which he himself has cultivated, any more than the artists, whom I have mentioned before, err in their speculations with respect to their indifferent arts. For as the eyes see, and still the mind sees more clearly by means of the eyes ; and as the ears hear, but nevertheless the mind hears better through the medium of the ears ; and as the nostrils smell, and yet the soul smells more precisely through the instrumentality of the nostrils ; and in like manner, as the other external senses comprehend their respective appropriate objects, still the mind comprehends them also more purely and distinctly by their ministration. For to speak properly, it is the mind which is the eye of eyes, the hearing of hearing, and the more pure external sense of each of the external senses, using them as ministers in a court of justice, and itself deciding on the nature of the objects submitted to it, so as to approve of some and to reject others.

In the same way, those that are called the intermediate arts, resembling the faculties of the body, indulge in contemplations according to certain simple observations of them, but the sciences do so with greater accuracy and with an exceedingly careful investigation. For the same relation that the mind bears to the outward sense, that same does science bear towards art ; for, as has been said before, the soul is as it were the outward sense of the outward sense ; therefore each of them has attracted to itself some slight things of nature, concerning which it labours and occupies itself, geometry having appropriated lines, and music sounds, and philosophy the whole nature of existing things. For this world is its subject matter, and so is the whole essence, both visible and invisible, of existing things. What then is there wonderful if the soul, which sees both the whole and the parts, sees them too better than they do, as if it were furnished with larger and more acute eyes "? Very naturally, therefore, proper philosophy will behold intermediate instruction its handmaiden, and see that she is pregnant, more than the other will see that she is.

And yet even this is not unknown to any one, namely, that philosophy has bestowed upon all the particular sciences their first pi'inciples and seeds, from which speculations respecting them appear to arise. For it is geometry which invented equilateral and scalene triangles, and circles, and polygons, and all kinds of other figures. But it was no longer geometry that discovered the nature of a point, and a line, and a superficies, and a solid, which are the roots and foundations of the aforementioned figures. For from whence could it define and pronounce that a point is that which has no parts, that a line is length without breadth ; that a superficies is that which has only length and breadth ; that a solid is that which has the three properties, length, breadth, and depth ? For these discoveries belong to philosophy, and the consideration of these definitions belongs wholly to the philosopher. Again, to write and read is the undertaking of this more imperfect kind of grammar, which some people, perverting the name of, call grammatistica. But to the more perfect kind of grammar belongs the explanation of the great works of the poets and historians.

When, therefore, men are going through the different parts of speech, are they not in so doing trying to drag over to themselves and appropriate as a kind of accessory the discoveries of philosophy? For it is the peculiar province of philosophy to inquire what a conjunction, what a noun, what a verb, what a common noun, what a particular noun, what is deficient in a speech, what is superfluous, what is an affirmatlve, what an interrogative, what an indirect question, what is a comprehensive expression, what is a supplicatory form of address. For this is a science which has been compounded for the purpose of the investigation of independent propositions, and axioms, and categorems. But, moreover, has not the whole question of semi-vowels, or vowels, or such elements as are completely mute, and the consideration of the sense in which each of these expressions is ordinarily used, and in short every notion connected with the voice, and the elements, and the parts of speech, been thoroughly worked out and brought to an accurate system by philosophy ? And those thieves, after having as it were carried off a few drops from her torrent, and having sought to impregnate their own shallow souls with what they have stolen, are not ashamed to bring forth her resources as their own.

On which account, being elated and proud, they disregard the mistress to whom in reality the authority and the complete confirmation of their contemplations belong. But she, perceiving their neglect, will convict them, and will speak freely to them, and say, "I am treated unjustly, and in utter violation of pur agreement, as far as depends on you who transgress the covenants entered into between us ; for from the time that you first took to your bosom the elementary branches of education, you have honoured above measure the offspring of my handmaiden, and have respected her as your wife, and you have so completely repudiated me that you never by any chance came to the same place with me. And perhaps this may be only a suspicion of mine respecting you, arising from your open connection with my servant, which leads me to conjecture your alienation from myself, though it is not really manifest. But if your disposition is contrary to that which I suspect, still it is impossible for any one else to know this, but it is easy to God alone." On which account she says very appropriately, "

May God judge between thee and me ;* not making haste to condemn him beforehand as having done her wrong, but intimating a doubt, that perhaps he may speedily do her right, which in point of fact is seen to be the case not long afterwards, when he, excusing himself and remedying her doubts, says to her, " Behold thy handmaiden is in thy hands, do unto her as it seemeth good to thee." ON SEEKING INSTRUCTION. ]89 For also, when he calls her her handmaiden, he confesses both facts, both that she is a slave and also that she is a child ; for the name of the handmaiden (■raidicry.r,) suits both these circumstances. At the same time also, he confesses the contrary things, opposing the child to the full-grown woman, and the mistress to her slave, all but crying out in plain words : I embrace indeed encyclical instruction as a younger maiden and as a handmaiden, but I honour knowledge and prudence as full-grown and a mistress. And the expression, " She is in thy bands," means, she is in thy power and subject to thee.

And this is also a symbol of something else of this nature, namely, that the qualities of the handmaiden come to the hands of the' body ; for the encyclical branches of knowledge have need of the bodily organs and faculties ; but the qualities of the mistress reach the soul ; for the things which belong to prudence and knowledge come under the province of reason ; so that in proportion as the mind is more powerful and more efficacious than, and in short superior to, the hand, in the same proportion also do I look upon knowledge and wisdom as more admirable than encyclical accomplishment, and I honour them in a higher degree. Do thou, therefore, O thou who both art the mistress, and who art so accounted by me, take all my encyclical instruction and use it as thy handmaid, doing to it as it shall seem good to thee ; for I am not unaware that whatever pleases thee is in all respects good even though it may not always he pleasant, and is useful even though it be far removed from being agreeable. But admonition and reproof are both good and profitable to those who stand in need of correction, which indeed the holy scriptures call by another name, and denominate affliction.

On which account the historian presently adds, " And she afflicted her ;" an expression equivalent to, she admonished and corrected her. For a sharp spear is very profitable for those who are corrupted by over security and indolences, just as it is of use with restive horses ; since they can scarcely be subdued and made manageable by the whip and by gentle leading. Do you not see how they are utterly unaffected by the prizes proposed to them?* They are fat, they are stout, they are sleek, they breathe hard ; then they take up the actions of impiety, miserable and wretched men that they are, seeking a melancholy reward, being proclaimed and crowned as conquerors by ungodliness. For by reason of the prosperity which was constantly flowing gently towards them, they looked upon themselves as silver or golden gods, after the fashion of adulterated money, forgetting the real and true coinage. And Moses testifies to this view of the matter when he says, "

He got fat, he became stout, he became swollen, and forsook God who had created him."* So that if excessive relaxation begets the greatest of all evils, impiety, its contrary, affliction, in accordance with the law produces that perfect good, much praised correction ; and proceeding outward from this point, he also calls the unleavened bread the symbol of the first festival, " the bread of affliction."t And yet who is there who does not know that feasts and festivals produce cheerful joy and delectation, and not affliction ? But it is plain that he is here using in a perverted sense this word for the labour of him who is the corrector. For the most numerous and greatest blessings are usually acquired by laborious practice and exercise, and by vigorously excited labour.

But the festival of the soul is emulation, which is labour to attain those things which are most excellent and which are brought to perfection ; on which account it is expressly commanded to " eat the unleavened bread with bitter herbs ;"| not by way of an additional dish, but because men in general look upon the fact of being prevented from swelling and boiling over with their appetites, but being forced to contract and restrain them as a grievous thing, thinking it a bitter thing to unlearn the indulgence of their passions, which is the real feast and festival of a mind which loves honourable contests.

It is for this reason that the law, as it appears to me, was given in a place which is called Bitterness ; for to do wrong is pleasant, but to act justly is laborious. And this is the most unerring law ; for the sacred history says, " And after they had gone out from the passions of Egypt they came to is corrupt. Mangey proposes one or two emendations, but they are not very satisfactory. J Exodus xii. 8. Marah : and they were not able to drink of the water at Marah, for it was bitter. On this account the name of that pJace was called Bitterness. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink ? And Moses cried unto the Lord ; and the Lord showed him a stick, and he cast it into the water, and the water was made sweet.

And then he gave him justification and judgment, and then he tempted him."* For the invisible trial and proofs of the soul are in labouring and in enduring bitterness ; for then it is hard to know which way it will incline ; for many men are very speedily fatigued and fall away, thinking labour a terrible adversary, and they let their hands fall out of weakness, like tired wrestlers, determining to return to Egypt to the indulgence of their passions. But others, with much endurance and great vigour, supporting the fearful and terrible events of the wilderness pass through the contest of life, keeping their life safe from overthrow and from destruction, and rising up in vigorous contestagainst the necessities of nature, such as hunger, thirst, cold, and heat, which are in the habit of reducing other persons to slavery, and subduing them with great exuberance of strength. And the cause of this is not merely labour, but also the sweetness with which it is combined ; for the scripture says, " And the water was made sweet."

But sweet and pleasant labour is called by another name, fondness for labour; for that which is sweet in labour is the love of, and desire for, and admiration of, and friendship for, what is honourable. Let no one, therefore, reject such affliction as this, and let no one think that the table of festivity and cheerfulness is called the bread of affliction for injury rather than for advantage ; for the soul which is rightly admonished is supported by the doctrines oi instruction.

This unleavened cake is so sacred that it is enjoined in the holy scriptures, " to place in the innermost part of the temple, on the golden table, twelve loaves of unleavened bread, corresponding in number to the twelve tribes ; and those loaves shall be called the shew-bread."f And, again, it is in the law expressly " forbidden to offer any leaven or any honey upon the altar;" J for it is a difficult thing to consecrate as holy either the sweetnesses of the pleasures according to the body, or the light and unsubstantial elations of the soul, since they are by their own intrinsic nature profane and unholy. Does not, then, the prophetic word, by name Moses, very rightly speak in dignified language wben he says, " Thou shalt remember all the road by which the Lord God led thee in the wilderness, and how he afflicted thee, and tried thee, and proved thee, that he might know what was in thy heart, and whether thou wouldest keep his commandments.

Did he not afflict thee and oppress thee with hunger, and feed thee with manna which thy fathers knew not, that he might make thee know that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God ?"* "Who, then, is so impious as to conceive that God is one who afflicts, and who brings that most pitiable death of hunger upon those who are not able to live without food ? For God is good, and the cause of good things, bounteous, the saviour, the supporter, the giver of wealth, the giver of great gifts, driving out wickedness from the sacred boundaries ; for thus did he drive out the burdens of the earth, Adam and Cain, from paradise. Let us, then, not be led aside by words, but let us consider and examine what meaning is intended to be conveyed under figurative expressions, and pronounce that the words " he afflicted," are equivalent to " he instructed, and he admonished, and he corrected."

And when it is said that he oppressed them with hunger, it does not mean that he caused a deficiency of meat and drink, but of pleasures, and desires, and fear, and grief, and acts of injustice, and, in short, of all things which are the works of wickedness or of the passions. And what is said immediately afterwards is an evidence of this : " He fed thee with manna." Is it, then, proper to call that food which, without any exertion or hardship on his part, and without any trouble of his is given to mau, not out of the earth as is usual, but from heaven, a marvellous work, afforded for the benefit of those who are to be permitted to avail themselves of it, the cause of hunger and affliction, and not rather, on the contrary, the cause of prosperity and happiness, of freedom from fear, and of a happy state of orderly living? But men in general and the common herd think that those who are nourished on the word of God live in a miserable and wretched manner ; for they are without the taste of the all-nourishing food of wisdom ; but they are not aware that they are living in the height of happiness.

Thus, therefore, there is a certain description of affliction which is profitable, so that its very most humiliating form, even slavery, is accounted a great good. And there is a lather who is recorded in the sacred writings as having prayed for this, for his son, namely, the most excellent Isaac for the foolish Esau ; for he says somewhere, " By thy sword shalt thou live, and thou shalt serve thy brother."* Judging that destiny to be the most advantageous one for a man who had chosen war rather than peace, and who was as it were constantly armed and engaged in battle, by reason of the sedition and disorder constantly existing in his soul, the destiny namely of being a subject and a servant, and of obeying all the commands which the lover of temperance should lay upon him. And it is from this consideration, as it appears to me that one of the disciples of Moses, by name the peaceful, who in his native language is called Solomon, says, "

My son, neglect not the instruction of God, and be not grieved when thou art reproved by him ; for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth ; and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."t Thus, then, scourging and reproof are looked upon as good, so that by means of it agreement and relationship with God arise. For what can be more nearly related than a son is to his father, and a father to his son ? But, that we may not seem to be too prolix connecting one argument with another, we will, besides what we have already said, just add one most evident proof that a certain description of affliction is the work of virtue. For there is such a law as this, " Thou shalt not afflict any widow or orphan, but if thou dost afflict them with wickedness." What does this mean ? Is it then possible to be afflicted by something else? For if afflictions were the work of wickedness alone, then it would be superfluous to add what would be admitted by all, and which would be understood without any such addition.

But, you will most certainly say, I know that men are reproved by virtue, and instructed by wisdom ; on which account I do not blame every kind of affliction, but I very greatly admire that which is the work of justice and of the law ; for that corrects by means of punishment, but that which proceeds from folly and wickedness and is pernicious, I do, as becomes me, detest, and pronounce real evil. When, therefore, you hear that Hagar was afflicted by Sarah, you must not suppose that any of those things befell her, which arise from rivalry and quarrels among women ; for the question is not here about woman, but about minds ; the one being practised in the branches of elementary instruction, and the other being devoted to the labours of virtue.

" And Sarah afflicted her, and she fled from before her face. And the angel of the Lord found her sitting by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by a fountain which is in the way to Shur. And the angel of the Lord said unto her : 'Thou handmaiden of Sarah, whence art thou come? and whither art thou going?' And she answered and said : ' I am fleeing from the face of Sarah, my mistress.' And the angel of the Lord said unto her : ' lleturn unto thy mistress, and be thou humbled beneath her hands.' And the angel of the Lord said unto her : ' Behold, thou art with child, and thou shalt bring forth a son, and shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has heard the cry of thy humiliation. He shall be a rude man ; his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him.' "* Having in our former treatise spoken what was becoming respecting the preliminary branches of education, and respecting affliction, we will now proceed in regular order to discuss the topic of fugitives. Now Moses often mentions persons who flee, as here he says concerning Hagar, that being afflicted she fled from the face of her mistress.

I think therefore that there are three causes for flight — hatred, fear, and shame. Now women leave their husbands out of hatred, and for the same reason men desert their wives. But children flee from their parents, and servants from their masters, out of fear. And lastly, friends avoid their companions out of shame, wheu they have done anything which is displeasing to them And before now I have known iustances of fathers who have led a life of effeminate luxury, reverencing the austere and philosophical lives of their sons, and out of shame preferring to live in the country rather than in the city. Now of all these three causes, one may find instances revealed in the sacred scriptures Accordingly, Jacob, the practiser of virtue, fled from his father-in-law Laban out of hatred, and from his brother Esau out of fear, as I shall show presently. But Hagar flees out of shame. And a proof of this is, that the angel, that is the word of God, met her, with the intent to recommend her what she ought to do, and to guide her in her return to her mistress's house. For he encouraged her, and said unto her:

"The Lord has heard the cry of thy humiliation," which you uttered, not out of fear, nor yet out of hatred. For the one is the feeling of an ignoble soul, and the other of one which loves contention, but under the influence of that copy of temperance and modesty, shame. For it was natural, if she had fled out of fear, that he would have encouraged her mistress, who was holding out threats to alarm her, to comfort her, and to restore her to tranquillity. For then it would have been safe for the fugitive to return, and not before. But no one intercedes for her to her mistress, inasmuch as she was already appeased by herself. But this angel, who is reproof, at the same time friendly and full of advice, out of his good-will teaches her not to feel only shame, but also to entertain confidence, for that modesty is but half a virtue, when separated from proper boldness.

Therefore the account which follows will show these characteristics more accurately. But we must return to the heads of the question which we have already set forth, and begin with those who flee under the influence of hatred. " For," says the scripture, "Jacob concealed his purpose from Laban the Syrian, so as not to tell him that he was fleeing, and he fled, he and all that he had."* What then was the cause of his hatred '? For perhaps you are desirous to hear this. There are some persons who make to themselves gods of substance destitute of all distinctive quality, and species, and shape, neither knowing the cause which puts things in motion, nor showing any anxiety to learn of those who do know, but o 2 19P PHILO JUD.EUS. being contented -with their ignorance and want of understanding of the most important kind of learning, which was in fact the first and only thing of which it was absolutely necessary to labour for the understanding. Laban now is one of this kind of persons ; for the sacred scriptures attribute to him a flock devoid of all distinctive marks.

And matter, without any distinctive characteristics, is without any marks in the universe, and so is in men the soul, which is destitute of learning and which has no instructors. But there are others who belong to a better portion, who say that the mind has come and arranged everything, bringing the disorder which arose from an ochlocracy among all existing things, into the order established by the legitimate authority of kingly power. Of this company Jacob is a follower, who presides over the marked and partycoloured flock. On the other hand the species in the universe is distinguished by marks and is of varied colour, and so also in men is the mind which has been well instructed and which is fond of learning. And he who is marked, and who is the companion of true kingly power, having received a great deal of the social affection from nature, goes to him who has no distinguishing marks, and who, as I have said, makes himself gods of the material powers, and who thinks that besides them there is no effectual cause of anything, to teach him that his opinions are not correct. For the world has been created, and has by all means derived its existence from some extraneous cause.

But the word itself of the Creator is the seal by which each of existing things is invested with form. In accordance with which fact perfect species also does from the very beginning follow things when created, as being an impression and image of the perfect word. For the animal when first created is imperfect as to quantity ; and a proof of this is the gradual growth which takes place at each successive age. But it is perfect as to quality. For the same quality remains in it, as having been stamped upon it by the divine word which abides permanently and never charges.

But seeing that he is dumb with respect to learning and to all desirable and legitimate authority, he very naturally thinks of flight. For he is afraid that in addition to not being able to derive any advantage, he may even be injured. For all connections with the foolish injures us, and very often the soul against its will becomes stamped with the impression of their insanity of mind. And, in truth, instruction is naturally a thing inimical to ignorance, and so is industry to indifference. In reference to which fact the powers devoted to practice and meditation, when they are set free, cry out, giving a full account of the causes of their hatred : " Have we not any longer a share and an inheritance in the house of our father? Are we not now accounted aliens by him ? For he has sold us, and he has eaten up and devoured our money.

All the wealth and all the glory which God took from our father shall belong to us and to our children." * For those who are free both in name and also in their minds do not consider any foolish person as either rich or glorious, but look upon all such persons, so to say, as inglorious and poor, even if they exceed the fortune of wealthy kings. For they do not saythat they will have the riches of their father, but the riches which have been taken away ; nor do they say that they shall possess his glory, but the glory which has been taken away from him. But the wicked man is deprived of all genuine riches and of all true and honourable glory ; for these blessings are procured by wisdom, and temperance, and the kindred dispositions of the soul, and are inherited by those souls which love virtue. Therefore, it is not the things which belong to the wicked man, but those of which he is destitute, that are the abundance and the glory of the good. And he is destitute of virtues which are their possession, in order that what is said in another place may be consistent with the passage alreadv quoted : "

Let us sacrifice the abominations of Egypt to the Lord our God."f For the virtues are perfect and blameless offerings, and so are the actions in accordance with virtue, which the Egyptian body, being devoted to the passions, abominates ; for, as in this passage, those things which, according to the principles of natural philosophy, are reckoned profane among the Egyptians are called sacred by the Israelites who see acutely, and are all offered as sacrifices ; so, in the same manner, the man who is the companion of virtue will be the heir of those things of which every foolish man is deprived and destitute. And these things are true glory, which in fact differs in no respect from knowledge, and wealth, not blind wealth, but that which is the most sharp-sighted of all existing things, which never receives any base money, not even anything whatever devoid of life unless it be thoroughly tried and approved. Very naturally, therefore, that person will flee from him who has no participation in divine blessings, who even in the matters in which he accuses another does without perceiving it accuse himself also, when he says, "

If thou hadst told me I would have sent thee away."* For this very thing was a worthy cause for your being deserted, if you, being the servant of an infinite number of masters, pretending to have been invested with command and authority, proclaimed liberty to others. But I, says he, did not take a man as my assistant in the road which leads to virtue, but I listened to the divine oracles which enjoined me to depart from hence, and which even now continues to direct my course.

And how would you have sent me away? surely, as you boast, using pompous language, with a joy which to me would have been sorrowful, with music which would have been no music, with dances, and noises destitute of articulate sound and of reason, striking blows on the soul through the medium of the ears, and with the harp, and with sounds unsuited to the lyre, and unsuited to harmony, not being so much organs, as the actions of a whole life. But these are the tilings by reason of which I meditated flight ; but you, as it seems, contemplated dragging me back from my flight, in order that I might return on account of the deceitful and seductive nature of the external senses, by which I was scarcely able to permit myself to be carried forward.

Hatred then, was the cause of the flight which I have been here describing ; but fear was the cause of the one which I am about to mention. For, says the sacred historian, Rebekkah said unto Jacob, " Behold, Esau thy brother threatened to kill thee : now therefore, my son, hear my voice, and rise up, and flee to Laban my brother, to Charran, and dwell with him certain days, until the anger of thy brother is turned away, and he forget what thou hast done unto him ; and then I will send again, and fetch thee back from thence, "f For it was worth while to fear, lest the worse portion of the soul, lying in an ambuscade, or else moving forwards openly to the attack, might overthrow and cast down the better part ; and so the counsel of the rightniinded perseverance, Rebekkak, was very good.

But she says, when you see the bad man coming in with great impetuosity, against virtue, and making great account of those things which it is more proper to disregard, such as wealth, glory, and pleasure, and praising the performance of actions of injustice, as being the cause of all the advantages before mentioned: for we see that those who act unjustly, are, for the most part, men possessed of much silver, and of much gold, and of high reputation. Do not then, turn away to the opposite road, and devote yourself to a life of penury, and abasement, and austerity, and solitude ; for, by so doing, you will irritate your adversary, and arm a more bitter enemy against yourself. Consider, therefore, now by what conduct you may avoid his attacks ; apply yourself to the same things, I do not mean the same pursuits, but to the same things which are the efficient causes of those things which have been mentioned ; to honours, to offices of authority, to silver, to gold, to possessions, to money, to colours, to forms, to exceeding nicety ; and when you meet with such things, then, like a skilful workman, impress the most beautiful appearance on the material substances : and perfect a most excellent work.

Do you not know, that if a man unacquainted with navigation, takes the management of a ship, which might otherwise have reached the harbour in safety, he overturns it ? but that a man, skilful as a pilot, has often saved a ship which otherwise must have been lost ? And also, some sick persons, owing to the unskilfulness of their medical attendants, have been severely afflicted with disease ; while others, through the skill of their doctors, have escaped from dangerous sicknesses? And why need I have been prolix on this point ; for always the things which are done with skill, are a conviction of those which are done unskilfully ; and the true praise of the one is an unerring accusation of the other.

If therefore, you wish to convict a wicked man, who is also possessed of great wealth, do not disdain an abundance of money ; for the unhappy man will soon show himself in his true colours, either as an illiberal and slavish-minded skin-flint, and parer of people by usury, or else as a profligate and intemperate spendthrift, very ready to devour and to squander, and a most zealous companion of harlots and brothel-keepers, and pimps, and of every kind of profligate company. But you will rather bestow your contributions on those who are in want of friends, and will do favours to, and bestow your liberality on, your country, and will assist to portion out the daughters of needy parents, giving them, in addition to their inheritance, a most sufficient dowry ; and in fact, very nearly throwing all your own property into the common stock, you will invite to a participation in it all who are worthy of favour.

And, in the same manner, when you wish to reprove any wicked man who is mad with a high opinion of himself and full of boasting, while you are able yourself to attain to distinguished honours, do not disdainfully reject the praise of the multitude : for by so doing you will trip up and supplant the miserable man who takes long strides, and who gives himself airs. For he will abuse his own renown for the purpose of behaving with insolence and contumely to others who are better than he, promoting those who are worse, so as to set them above them ; while you, on the contrary, will give all worthy persons a share in your renown, giving in this manner security to those who are good, and by your admonitions improving those who are not so good. And if you ever go to a drinking party or to a costly entertainment, go with a good confidence ; for you will put to shame the intemperate man by your own dexterity. For he, falling on his belly, and opening his insatiable desires even before he opens his mouth, will glut himself in a most shameless and indecorous manner, and will seize the things belonging to his neighbour, and will lick up everything without thinking.

And when he is completely sated with eating, then drinking, as the poets say, with his mouth open, he will make himself an object for the laughter and ridicule of all those who behold him. But do you adopt a moderate course without being compelled thereto, and if ever you are constrained to indulge yourself in things beyond moderation, still make reason the governor of the necessity, and never go so far as to change pleasure into unpleasantness, but, if we may speak in such a manner, be drunk in a sober manner.

And here therefore truth may not unreasonably blame those who, without any examination, abandon the business and means of regulating a civil life, and who say that they have learnt to despise glory and pleasure ; for those men are behaving insolently, and do not really despise these things, making an open boast of their sordid, and melancholy, and stem appearance, and putting forth their austere and dirty way of living as a bait, as if they were lovers of orderly behaviour, and modesty, and endurance ; but they are not able to deceive those who look into them with greater accuracy, and who pierce within their disguise, and who are not led astray by outward show ; for having removed these veils and coverings from the others, they see what is treasured up and concealed within, and learn what kind of qualities and nature are theirs : and if they are good they admire them, and if they are evil they ridicule them, and hate them because of their hypocrisy. Let us then say to such persons, " Are ye zealous admirers and imitators of a life which hates mixing with and joining in the society of others, a solitary and uncompanionable life ?

For what specimen of virtue have you ever exhibited while living in the society of others ? Do ye disdain money ? Have you, then, who have been professed money-dealers, been desirous to act justly ? Professing to disregard the pleasures of the belly and of the parts beneath the belly, have you behaved with moderation when you have had abundant opportunities of indulging these appetites ? Do you despise glory ? Then, when you have been placed in situations of authority, have you cultivated an affable humility ? Perhaps you have ridiculed a participation in the affairs of state, not considering how useful an employment that is. Have you then first exercised yourselves in, and directed your attention to, the public and the private business of life? and having become skilful politicians and experienced economists by means of the kindred virtues of economical and political science, have you, in your exceeding abundance of these things, prepared for your migration to another and a better kind of life ? For it is proper to go through a practical life before beginning the theoretical one : as being a sort of rehearsal of the more perfect contest and exhibition. In this way it is possible to escape from the charge of hesitation and indolence.

Thus also an express injunction is given to the Levites to fulfil their works till the time that they are fifty years of age ; and after they are released from all active ministrations, to consider and contemplate each particular thing, receiving as a reward for their well-doing in active life, another life which delights only in knowledge and contemplation. And at other times it is necessary that those who think themselves worthy to claim the just things of God, should first of all fulfil their human duties ; for it is great folly to expect to attain to what is of greater importance, while one is unable properly to discharge what is of less consequence. First of all, therefore, be ye known for your virtue among men, that you may also become established by that which relates to God." This is the advice which perseverance gives to the man inclined to the practice of virtue ; but we must now examine her several expressions with accuracy.

" Behold," says she, " Esau thy brother threatens thee." But is it not natural for that disposition, hard as oak and obstinate through ignorance, by name Esau, who offers the baits of mortal life to lead you to your destruction ; such baits, I mean, as wealth, glory, pleasure, and other kindred temptations, to seek to kill thee ? But do you, 0 my child ! flee from this contest at present, for you have not as yet had complete strength for it given to you, but still the nerves of your soul, like those of a child, are somewhat soft and weak. And it is for this reason that she calls him " my child," which is a name of affection, and also one which indicates his tender age ; for we look upon the disposition which is inclined to the practice of virtue, and which is young, as worthy of affection in comparison of the full-grown man. But such a person is worthy to carry off the prizes which are proposed for children, but he is not yet able to win the prizes offered for the men. But the best contest for men to engage in is the service of the only God.

Therefore if, even before we have been completely purified, but while we appear only to have proceeded so far as to wash off the things which defile our life, we have arrived at the vestibule of God's service, we departed again more quickly than we approached, not being able to endure the austere way of living dictated by that service, nor the sleepless desire to please God, nor the continual and unwearied labour ; flee, therefore, at this present time from what is best and from what is worst. What is worst are the fabulous inventions, the unmetrical and inharmonious poems, the conceptions and persuasions which from ignorance are hard and stubborn, of which Esau is the namesake. What is best is the offering ; for the race inclined to service is an offering meet for God, being consecrated to him alone in the great chief priesthood ; for to dwell with what is evil is most pernicious, and to dwell with perfect good is most dangerous. Accordingly Jacob both flees from Esau, aud also dwells apart from his parents ; for being fond of practising virtue and still labouring at it, he flees from wickedness, and yet is unable to live in company with perfect virtue so as to have no need of an instructor.

On which account we read, " He will depart to Laban," not to him as the Syrian, but as the brother of his mother ; that is to say, he will go to the brilliancies of life ; for Laban, being interpreted, means " white." And when he has arrived there he will not hold his head too high, from being puffed up with the happy events of fortune ; for the word Syrian, being translated, means " sublime." But now he does not recollect the Syrian Laban, but the brother of Rebekkah ; for the means of life being given to a bad man, inflate and raise up to a great height the mind which is devoid of wisdom, which is called the Syrian ; but if they are bestowed on a lover of instruction, then they make the mind inclined to abide by the steady and solid doctrines of virtue and excellence. This is the brother of Rebekkah, that is to say, of perseverance, and he dwells in Charran, which name, being interpreted, means "holes," a symbol of the external senses; for he who is still moving about in mortal life has need of the organs of the external senses. "

Dwell, therefore," says she, " 0 my child, with him," not all thy life, but " certain days ;" that is to say, learn to be acquainted with the country of the external senses ; know thyself and thy own parts, and what each is, and for what end it was made, and how it is by nature calculated to energise, and who it is who moves those marvellous things, and pulls the strings, being himself invisible, in an invisible manner, whether it is the mind that is in thee, or the mind of the universe. And when you have become thoroughly acquainted with yourself, then examine accurately also the peculiar qualities of Laban ; the things which are accounted brilliant instances of the success of empty glory ; but do not you be deceived by any one of them, but like a good workman adapt them all in a skilful manner to your own necessities ; for if, while immersed in this political and much confused life, you display a stable and well-instructed disposition, I will send for you from thence that you may receive the same prize which also your parents received : and the prize is the unchangeable and unhesitating service of the only wise God.

And his father also gives him similar precepts, adding a few trifling injunctions ; for he says, " Rise up and flee into Mesopotamia, to the house of Bethuel, the father of thy mother, and from thence take a wife to thyself of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother."* Again, he also forbears to speak of Laban as a Syrian, but he calls him Rebekkah's brother, who is about to form a connection with the practiser of virtue by means of intermarriage. Flee, therefore, into Mesopotamia, that is to say, into the middle of the rapid torrent of life, and take care not to be washed away and swollowed up by its whirlpools, but standing firmly, vigorously repel the violent, impetuous course of affairs which overflows and rushes upon thee from above, from both sides, and from every quarter ; for you will find the house of wisdom a calm and secure haven, which will gladly receive you when you are anchored within it.

But Bethuel in the sacred scriptures is called wisdom ; and this name, being translated, means " the daughter of God ;" and the legitimate daughter, always a virgin, having received a nature which shall never be touched or defiled, both on account of her own orderly decency, and also because of the high dignity of her Father. And he calls Bethuel the father of Rebekkah. How, then, can the daughter of God, namely, wisdom, be properly called a father ? is it because the name indeed of wisdom is feminine but the sex masculine ? For indeed all the virtues bear the names of women, but have the powers and actions of most full-grown men, since whatever is subsequent to God, even if it be the most ancient of all other things, still has only the second place when compared with that omnipotent Being, and appears not so much masculine as feminine, in accordance with its likeness to the other creatures ; for as the male always has the precedence, the female falls short, and is inferior in rank.

We say, therefore, without paying any attention to the difference here existing in the names, that wisdom, the daughter of good, is both male and a father, and that it is that which sows the seed of, and which begets learning in, souls, and also education, and knowledge, and prudence, all honourable and praiseworthy things. And from this source it is that Jacob, the practiser of wisdom, seeks to procure a wife for himself; for from what other quarter should he seek a partner rather than from the house of wisdom ? and where else should he find an opinion free from all reproach, with which to live all his life ? .... *

But Moses has spoken more accurately about flights when he was establishing the law with respect to homicides, in which he goes through every species of homicide, that of intentional murder, that of unintentional slaying, that of murder by deliberate attack, or by crafty treachery. Kepeat the law : " If any man strike another and he die, the striker shall die the death. And if a man do it not intentionally, but if God delivers him into his hand, then I will give thee a place to which he who has slain another shall flee. And if any one set upon his neighbour to slay him by treachery, and flee away, thou shalt drag him even from the altar to put him to death. "f Knowing very well that the law is here adding no superfluous word from any indescribable impetuosity in its description of the matter, I doubted within myself why it does not merely say that he who has slain another shall die, and why it has added, that he shall die the death ; for how else does any one die, who dies at all, except dying the death ?

Therefore, betaking myself for instruction to a wise woman, whose name is Consideration, I was released from my difficulty, for she taught me that some persons who are living are dead, and that some who are dead still live : she pronounced that the wicked, even if they arrive at the latest period of old age, are only dead, inasmuch as they are deprived of life according to virtue ; but that the good, even if they are separated from all union with the body, live for ever, inasmuch as they have received an immortal portion.

Moreover, she confirmed this opinion of hers by the sacred scriptures, one of which ran in this form : " You who cleave unto the Lord your God are all alive to this day : " X for she saw that those who sought refuge with God and became t Exodus xxi. 12. J Deuteronomy iv. 4. his suppliants, were the only living persons, and that all others were dead. And Moses, it seems, testifies to the immortality of those persons, when he adds, " You are all alive to this day ;" and this day is interminable eternity, from which there is no departure ; for the periods of months, and years, and, in short, all the divisions of time, are only the inventions of men doing honour to number. But the unerring proper name of eternity is " to-day ; " for the sun is always the same, without ever changing, going at one time beneath the earth, and at another time above the earth, and by him it is that day and night, the measures of time, are distinguished. She also confirmed her statement by another passage in scripture of the following purport : " Behold, I have set all-wise man, good and virtue mean life, and evil and wickedness mean death.

And in another passage we read, " This is thy life, and thy length of days, to love the Lord thy God."f This is the most admirable definition of immortal life, to be occupied by a love and affection for God unembarrassed by any connection with the flesh or with the body. Thus, the priests, Nadab and Abihu, die in order that they may live ; taking an immortal existence in exchange for this mortal life, and departing from the creature to the uncreated God. And it is with reference to this fact that the symbols of incorruptibility are thus celebrated : " Then they died before the Lord ; "J that is to say, they lived ; for it is not lawful for any dead person to come into the sight of the Lord. And again, this is what the Lord himself has said, " I will be sanctified in those who come nigh unto me."§ " But the dead," as it is also said in the Psalms, " shall not praise the Lord, "|| for that is the work of the living ; but Cain, that shameless man, that fratricide, is no where spoken of in the law as dying ; but there is an oracle delivered respecting him in such words as these : "

The Lord God put a mark upon Cain, as a sign that no one who found him should kill him."^[ Why so? Because, I imagine, wickedness is an evil which can never end, but which is kindled and is never able to be J Leviticu' x. 2. § Leviticus x. 3. |i Psalm cxiii. 25. II Genesis iv. !:». extinguished ; so that the lines of the poet may well be applied to wickedness — And she is of no mortal race, But an immortal foul disgrace. Immortal, indeed, as to the life among us on earth, since with reference to the life with God it is lifeless and dead, and as some one has said, more worthless and odious than dung.

But it was by all means necessary that different regions should be assigned to different things, the heaven to good things, the earth to what is evil ; for the tendency of good is to soar on high, and if it ever comes down to us, for its Father is very bounteous, it still is very justly anxious to return again to heaven. But evil remains here, living at the greatest possible distance from the divine choir, always hovering around mortal life, and unable to die from among the human race. This, too, one of the most eminent among the men who have been admired for their wisdom has asserted, speaking in a magnificent strain in the Theaetetus, where he says, " But it is impossible for evils to come to an end. For it is indispensable that there should always be something in opposition to God. And it is equally impossible that it should have its place in the divine regions ; but it must of necessity hover around mortal nature and this place where we live ; on which account we ought to endeavour to flee from this place as speedily as possible.

And our flight will be a likening of ourselves to God, to the best of our power. And such a likening consists of being just and holy in conjunction with prudence.''* Very naturally, therefore, Cain, the symbol of wickedness, will not die, for wickedness must of necessity be always alive in the mortal race of mankind ; so that the expression, " to die the death," is not incorrectly spoken of the homicide, for the reasons which have here been given.