The Works of Philo (complete)

When they had received these orders, they went forth to spy out the land, being conducted on their way by the whole multitude who feared lest they might be taken prisoners and so be put to death, and lest in that way two great evils might happen to them, namely, the slaughter of the men who were the eye of each tribe, and also ignorance of what was being done by their enemies who were plotting against them, the knowledge of which was most desirable. So, taking with them scouts to examine the road and guides to show them them the way, they accompanied them at their first setting out.

And when they approached the borders of the country they ran up to the highest mountain of all those in that district, and from thence thej' surveyed the land, part of which was an extensive champaign district, fertile in barley, and wheat, and herbage ; and the mountain region was not less productive of vines, and all kinds of other trees, and rich in every kind of timber, full of dense thickets, and girdled by rivers and fountains so as to be abundantly well watered, so that even from the foot of the mountain district to the highest summit of the hills themselves, the whole region was covered closely with a net-work of shady trees, and more especially the lower ridges, and the deep valleys and glens. They also surveyed all the strongest cities, looking upon them in two points of view ; first, with reference to their advantages of situation, and also to the strength of their fortification ; also, when they inquired respecting the inhabitants, they saw that they were very numerous indeed, and giants of exceeding tallness with absolutely gigantic bodies, both as to their magnitude and their strength.

When they had seen thus much they waited to get a more accurate knowledge of E 2 everything: for first impressious are not trustworthy, but require the slow confirmation of time. They also took great care to gather specimens of the productions of the land, though they were uot as yet ripe aud solid, but only just beginning to be properly coloured, that they might show them to all the multitude, for which reason they selected such as would not be easily spoiled ; but what above all things astonished them was the fruit of the vines, for the 1 (ranches were of unrivalled sizes, stretching aloug all tlie young shoots and branches in a way that seemed almost incredible. Therefore, having cut off one branch, and having suspended it on a stick by the middle, the ends of which they gave to two young men, placing one on one side and one on the other, and others succeeding them as bearers of it as the former bearers got tired, for the weight was very great, they carried it so, the whole body of the spies not at all agreeing witli respect to some points of necessary importance. XLIl.

Accordingly, there were a great many contests between them even before they returned to the camp, but not very serious ones, in order that there might not be seditions between them from any of them adhering very contentiously to his own opinion, or from different persons giving different accounts, Init they became more violent after their return ; for some of ihem brought back fi)rmidable stories of the strength of the different cities, and the great populousness and opulence of each of them, exaggerating and making the most of everything in their description so as to cause excessive consternation among tlieir liearers ; while others, on the contrary, disparaged and luade light of all thac they saw, and exhorted their fellow countrymen not to faint but to |)ersevere in their design of colonising that country, iis they would subdue the natives with a mere shout; for that no city whatever would be able to resist the onset of so mighty a power attacking it with its united force, but would be overwhelmed with its might and and submit at once. Moreover, each of the spies infused into the souls of his I hearers some portion of his own spirit, the cowardly spreadmg cowardice, and the indomitable and bold diffusing confidence united with sanguine hope.

But these last made but a fifth part of those wlio wore frightened out of their senses, while! they, on the other hand, were five times as numerous as the! high-spirited ; and the small number of those who displayed any courage, is often beaten down by the vast number of those who behaved in a cowardly manner, as they say was the case at this time also ; for they who maintained the better side of the question were onlj^ two, while those who made the contrary report were ten ; and these last so entirely prevailed over the two former, that they led away the whole multitude after them, alienating them from the two, and binding them wholly to themselves. But about the countrv' itself they all brought back the same report with perfect unanimity, praising the beauty both of the champaign and of the mountainous district. But then they further cried out, " But what is the advantage to us of those good things which belong to others, when they are guarded by a mighty force, so that they can never be taken from their owners ? "

And so, attacking the two who brought the opposite report, they were very near stoning them, preferring to hear pleasant rather than useful things, and also preferring deceit to truth. At which their leader was indignant, and he was also at the same time afraid lest some heaven-inflicted evil might descend upon them, since they so obstinately persisted in despairing and in disbelieving the word of God, which indeed took place. For of the spies, the ten who brought back cowardly tidings all perished by a pestilential disease, with those of the multitude who united in their feelings of despondency, and only the two who had agreed and counselled the people not to fear but to persevere in the plan of the colony were saved, because they were obedient to the word of God, on which account they received the especial honour of not being involved in the destruction of the others.

This was the reason why they did not ai'rive sooner in the land which they went forth to colonize ; for though they jnight, in the second year after their departure from Egvpt, have conquered all the cities in Syria, and divided the inheritance amongst themselves, still they turned aside from the direct and short road, and wandered about, using one long, and difficult, and pathless line of march after another, so as to be incessantly toiling l>oth in soul and body, and enduring the necessary and deserved punishment of their excessive impiety: accordingly, for eight and thirty years more, after the two years which I have already mentioned as having elapsed, the life of a complete generation of mankind did they wander up and down, traversing the pathless wilderness; and at last hi the fortieth year, they with difficulty came to the borders of the country which they had reached so many years before.

And at the entrance to this country there dwelt other tribes akin to themselves, who they thought would cheerfully join them in the war against their neighbours, and would co-operate in everything necessary for the estabhshment of the colony ; and 'if they hesitated to do that, they thought that at all events they would range themselves on neither side, but would preserve a strict neutrality, holding up theh hands; for in fact the ancestors of both nations, both of the Hebrews and of those who dwelt on the skirts of the country, were brethren descended from the same father and the same mother, and moreover were twins ; for it was from two brothers, who had thus increased with numerous descendants, and had enjoyed a great productiveness of offspring, that each of their families had grown into a vast and numerous nation.

But one of these nations had clung to its original abodes ; but the other, as has been already mentioned, having migrated to Egypt by reason of the famine, at this subsequent period was now returning, and one of the two preserved its respect for its Idndred though it had been for such a length of time separated from it, still having a regard for those who no longer preserved any one of their ancestral customs, but who had in every respect departed from their ancient habits and constitutions, thinking that it became those who claimed to be of civilised natures, to give and yield something to the name of relationship. But the other utterly overturned all notions of friendship and affection, giving in to fierce, and unfriendly, and irreconcilable dispositions, and language, and counsels, and actions ; and thus keeping alive the ill-will of their original ancestor to his lirotlier ; for the first founder of their race, though he had himself given up his birthright to his brother, yet a short time afterwards endeavoured to assert his claim to what he had iibuudoned voluntarily, violating his agreement, and he sought to slay his brother, threatening him with death if he did not Burreuder what ho had purchased.

And now the whole nation • Tho brotliLT.-* are Jacob and Esau, Jacob being the father of the Israelites ami Esau of the Edomites. after the interval of so many generations, renewed the ancient enmity between one individual and another. Therefore Moses, the leader of the Hebrews, although he might with one single effort, aye with the mere shout of his army, have subdued the whole nation, still, by reason of the aforesaid relationship did not think fit to do so ; but desired only to use the road through their country, promising that he would in every respect observe the treaties between them, and not despoil them of territory, or cattle, or of any booty, that he would even pay a price for water if there should be a scarcity of drink, and for anything else that they might require to buy, as not being supplied with it ; but they violently rejected their peaceful invitations, threatening them with war, if they heard of their crossing over their borders or even of their setting foot upon them.

But as the Hebrews received their answer with great indignation, and prepared at once to oppose them, Moses stood in a place from whence he would be well heard, and said, " 0 men, your indignation is reasonable and just ; for though we, in a peaceable disposition, have made them good and friendly offers, they have made us an evil reply out of their evil and perverse disposition.

But it does not follow that because they deserve to pay the penalty for their cruelty, therefore it is desir able for us to proceed to take vengeance upon them, by reason of the honour due to our own nation, that we may show that in this particular we are good and different from wicked men, inasmuch as we consider not only whether such and such persons deserve to be punished, but whether also it is proper that they should receive their punishment from us.'' On this he turned aside and led his army by another road, since he knew that all the roads in that district were surrounded with garrisons, by those who were not in danger of receiving any injury, but who were out of envy and jealousy ■would not allow them to proceed by the shortest road ; and this was the most manifest proof of their sorrow, which they felt in consequence of the nation having obtained their liberty, namely when they rejoiced when they were enduring that bitter slavery of theirs in Egypt ; for it follows of necessity that those men to whom the good fortune of their neighbours causes grief, do also rejoice at thenevil fortune, even if lliey do not admit that they do so ; for they had already related to their neighbours, as to persons in accordance with themselves, and cherishing the same thoughts, all the misfortunes and also all the agreeable pieces of good fortune which had happened to them, not knowing that they had proceeded to a great degree of iniquity, and that they were full of unfriendly, and hostile, and malicious thoughts towards them, so that they were hke to grieve at their good fortune, but to rejoice at any thing of a contrary tendency.

But when their malevolence was fully revealed, the Hebrews were nevertheless restrained from coming to open war with them by their ruler, who thus displayed two most excellent qualities at the same time ; namely prudence and a compassionate disposition ; for to take care that no evil should happen to any one is the part of wisdom, and not to be willing even to repel one's own kinsmen is a proof of a humane disposition.

Therefore he passed by the cities of these nations ; but a certain king of the neighbouring countiy, Canaan by name, when his spies reported to him that the army of the Hebrews, which was making in his direction was at no great distance, thinking that it was in a state of confusion and disorder, and that he should be able easily to conquer it if he were to attack it at once, proceeded forth with the youth of his nation well armed and equipped, and mai'ched with all speed, and put the van of their host to flight as soon as he encountered them, inasmuch as they were not arrayed or prepared for battle; and having taken many prisoners, and being elated at the prosperity beyond his hopes which he had met with, he marched on thinking that he should defeat all tlio others also. Jiut the Hebrews, for they were not dismayed at the defeat of tlieir advanced guard, but had rather derived even more confidence than they had felt before, being eager also to make amends by tlieir eagerness for battle for the loss of those of their number who had been taken prisoners, exhorted one another not to faint nor to yield. "

Let us rise up," said they ; "let us at once nivadc their land. Let us show that we are in no wise alarmed or depressed, by our vigour in action and our confiiloiice. The end is very often judged of by the beginning. Let us seize the keys of tlic country and strike terror into the inIml.Uants as deriving prosperity from ciries, and inflicting upon ii»em lu return the want of necessary things which we bring with US out of the -wilderness." And they, at the same time, exhorted one another often with these words, and Hkewise began to dedicate to God, as tlie first fruits of the land, the cities of the king and all the citizens of each city. And he accepted their views and inspired the Hebrews with courage, and prepared the army of the enemy to be defeated. Accordingly, the Hebrews defeated them with mighty power, and fulfilled the agreement of gratitude which they had made, not appropriating to themselves the slightest portion of the booty.

And they dedicated to God the cities with all the men and treasures that were in them, and, from what had thus taken place, they called the whole country an offering to God ; for, as eveiy pious man offers unto God the first fruits of the fruits of the year, which he collects from liis own possessions, so in the same manner did the Hebrews dedicate the whole nation of this mighty country into which they had come as settlers, and that great spoil, the kingdom which they had so speedily subdued, as a sort of first-fruit of their colony ; for they did not think it consistent with piety to distribute the land among themselves, or to inherit the cities, before they had offered up to God the first fruits of that countiy and of those cities. XL VI.

A short time afterwards, having found a copious spring of water which supplied drink to all the multitude, and the spring was in a well and on the borders of the country, drawing it up and drinking it as though it had been not water but pure wine, they were refreshed in their souls, and those among the people who loved God established choruses and dances in a circle around the well, out of their cheerfulness and joy, and sang a new song to God, the possessor and giver of their inheritance and the real leader of their colony, because now at the first moment of their coming forth from the direction in which they had so long been dwelling in to the inhabited land which they were ordamed to possess, they had found abundant drink, and therefore they thought it right not to pass this spring by without due honour.

For this well had been originally cut not by the hands of private individuals, but of kings, who had laboured in rivalry of one another, as the tale went, not only in the discovery of the water, but hkewise in the digging of the well, in order that by its magnificence it might be seen to be a royal work, and that the power and magnanimity of those who built it might appear from the begiDning. And Moses, rejoicing at the unexpected blessings ^'hich from time to time ^ere presenting themselves to him, advanced further, dividmg the youth ot his people into the vanguard and the rearguard, and placing the old men and the women, and the children in the centre, that they might be protected by those who were thus at each extremity, in the case of their having to encounter any force of the enemy either in front or behind. XL VI I. A few days afterwards he entered the country ot the Amorites, and sent ambassadors to the king, whose name was Sihon, exhorting him to the same measures to which he had previously invited his kinsman.

But he not only replied to these ambassadors when they came with gi-eat insolence, but he very nearly put them to death, and would have done so if the law with respect to ambassadors had not hindered him ; but he did collect an army and made against them, thinking that he should immediately be able to subdue them in war. But when he encountered them he then found that he had to fight not men who had no experience or practice ui the art of war, but men skilful in all warfare and truly invincible, who only a short time before had done many and important valiant achievements, displaying great personal valour, and great wisdom, and excellence of sense and virtue. Owing to which qualities they subdued these their enemies with great ease and defeated them with great loss, but they took no part of the spoil, desiring to dedicate to God the first booty which they gained ; and, on this occasion, they guarded their own camp vigorously, and then, with one accord and with equally concerted preparation, rushed forwai'd in opposition to the enemy as he advanced and charged them, availing themselves of the invincible alliance of the just God, in consequence of which they had the greatest boldness, and became cheerful and sanguine combatants.

Aud the proof of this was clear ; there was no need of any second buttle, but the first was also the only one, and in it the whole power of the enemy was frustrated for ever. And it was utterly overtlirown, and immediately it disappeared for ever. And aljout the same time the cities were both empty and full ; empty of their ancient uihabitants, and full of those who now succeeded to their dominions over them. In the same manner, also, the stables of cattle in the fields, being made desolate, received instead men who were in all respects better than their former masters. XLVIII. This war struck all the Asiatic nations with terrible consternation, and especially all those who were near the borders of the Amorites, inasmuch as they looked upon the dangers as being nearer to themselves.

Accordingly, one of the neighbouring kings, by name Balak, who ruled over a large and thickly inhabited country of the east, before he met them in battle, feeling great distrust of his own power, did not think fit to meet them in close combat, being desirous to avoid carrying on a war of extermination by open arms ; but he had recourse to inquiries and divination, thinking that by some kind of ruse or other he might be able to overthrow the irresistible power of the Hebrews. Now there was a man at that time very celebrated for his skill in divination, dwelling in Mesopotamia, who was initiated in every branch of the sootlisayers' art. And he was celebrated and renowned above all men for his experience as a diviner and prophet, as he had in many instances foretold to many people incredible and most important events ; for, on one occasion, he had predicted heavy rain to one nation at the height of summer ; to another he had foretold a drought and burning heat in the middle of winter. Others he had forewarned of a dearth which should follow a season of abundance ; and, on the other hand, plenty after famine.

In some instances he had predicted tlie inundations of rivers ; or, on the contrary, their falling greatly and becoming dried up ; and the departure of pestilential diseases, and ten thousand other things. From all which he had obtained a name of wide celebrity, as he was believed to have foreseen them all, and so he had attained to great renown and his glory had spread everywhere and was continually increasing. So this man, Balak, now sent some of his companions, entreating him to come to him, and he gave him some presents at once, and he promised to give him others also, explaining to him the necessity which he was in, on account of which he had sent for him. But he did not treat the messengers with any noble or consistent disposition, but with great courtesy and civility evaded their request, as if he were one of the most celebrated prophets, and as such was accustomed to do nothing whatever without first consulting the oracle, and so he declined. saying that the Deity would not permit him to go with them. So the messengers returned back to the king, without having succeeded in their errand.

And immediately other messengei-s of the highest rank in the whole land were sent on the same business, bringing with them more abundant presents of money, and promising still more ample rewards than the former ambassadors had promised. And Balak, being allured by the gifts which were already proffered to him, and also by the liopes for the future which they held out to him, and being influenced also by the rank of those who invited him, began to yield, again alleging the commands of the Deity as his excuse, "but no longer with sincerity. Accordingly, on the next day lie prepared for his departure, relating some dreams by which he said he had been influenced, affirming that he had been compelled by their manifest \-isions not to remain, but to follow the ambassadors. XLIX.

But when he was on his road a very manifest sign met him in the way, showing him plainly that the purpose for which he was travelling was displeasing to God, and illomened ; for the beast on which he was riding, while proceeding onwards in the straight road, at first stopped suddenly, then, as if some one was forcibly resisting it, or standing in front and driving it back by force, it retreated, moving first to tlie right and then to the left, and could not stand still, but kept moving, first to one side and then to the other, as if it had been under the influence of wine and intoxication ; and though it was repeatedly beaten, it disregarded the blows, so that it very nearly threw its rider, and though he stuck on did still hurt him considerably; for close on each side of the path there were walls and strong fences ; therefore, when the beast in its violent motions struck heavily against the walls, the owner liad liis knee, and leg, and foot pressed and crushed, and was a good deal lacerated.

The truth is, that there was, as it seems, a divine vision, which, as tlie beast, on which the diviner was seeking, saw at a great distance as it was coming towards him, and it was friglitoned at it; but the man did not see it, which was a l'ro<,f of his insensibility, for he was thus shown to be inferior to a brute beast in the power of sight,' at a time when he was honsting that be could see, not onlv the whole world, but also the Creator of the world. Accordingly, having after some time seen the angel opposing him, not because he was desiring to see so astonishing a spectacle, but that he might become acquainted with his own insignificance and nothingness, he betook himself to supplications and prayers, entreating to be pardoned, on the ground that he had acted as he had done out of ignorance, and had not sinned of deliberate purpose.

Then, as he said that he ought to return back again, he asked of the vision which appeared to him, whether he should go back again to liis own house ; but the angel beholding his insincerity, and being indignant at it (for what need was there for him to ask questions in a matter wliich was so e\ddent, which had its answer plain in itself, and which did not require any more positive information by means of words, unless a person's ears are more to be trusted than his eyes, and words than things), said, " Go on in the journey in which you have set out, for you shall do no good to those who have sent for you, and you must say what I prompt you, without any thoughts of your own, finding utterance, as I will guide the organs of your speech in the way that shall be just and expedient, for I will direct your words, predicting all that shall happen thi'ough the agency of your tongue, though you yourself understand nothing of it. L.

But when the king heard that he was now near at hand, he went forth with his guards to meet him ; and when they met at first there were, as was natural, greetings and salutations, and then a brief reproof of his tardiness and of his not having C(nne more readily. After this there were feastings and costly entertainments, and all those other things which are usually prepared on the occasion of the reception of strangers, everything with royal magnificence being prepared, so as to give an exaggerated idea of tlie power and glory of the king. The next day at the rising of the sun, Balak took the prophet and led him up to a high hill, where it also happened that a pillar had been erected to some deity which the natives (.f the country had been accustomed to worsliip ; and from thence there was seen a portion of the camp of the Hebrews, which was shown to the magician from this point, as if from a watch tower. And he when he bclield it said : " Do thou. them a bullock and a ram. And I will turn aside and inquire of God what I am to say."

So, having gone forth, immediately he became inspired, the prophetic spirit having entered into liim, wliich drove all his artificial system of divination and cunning out of his soul ; for it was not"^ possible that holy inspiration should dwell in the same abode with magic. Then, returning back to the king, and beholding the sacrifices and the altars flaming, he became like the interpreter of some other being who was prompting his words, and spoke in prophetic strain as follows : " Balak has sent for me from Mesopotamia, having caused me to take a long journey from the east, that he might chastise the Hebrews by means of curses. But in what maimer shall I be able to curse those who have not been cursed by God? For I shall behold them with my eyes from the loftiest mountains, and I shall see them with my mind ; and I shall never be able to injure the people which shall dwell alone, not being numbered among the other nations, not in accordance with the inheritance of any particular places, or any apportionment of lands, but by reason of the peculiar nature of their remarkable customs, as they will never mingle with any other nation so as to depart from their national and ancestral ways.

Who has ever discovered with accuracy the first origin of the birth of these people? Their bodies, indeed, may have been fashioned according to human means of propagation ; but their souls have been brought forth by divine agency, wherefore they ai'e nearly related to God. May my soul die as to the death of the body, that it may be remembered among the souls of the righteous, such as the souls of these men are." LI. When Balak heard these words he was grieved within liimself ; and after he had stopped speaking, not being able to contain his sorrow, he said : " You were invited hither to curse my enemies, and are you not ashamed to offer up prayers for thoir pood ? I must, without knowing it, have been deceiving myself, tliinking you a friend; who were, on the contrary. without my being aware of it. enrolled among the ranks of the enemy, as is now plain. Perhaps, too, you made all the delay HI commg to me by reason of tlie regard for them, which you were secretly cherishing in your soul, a'd vour secret dislike to me and to my people ; for, as the old proverb says, what is apparent affords the best means of judging of what is not visible."

But Balaam, liis moment of inspiration being now past, replied : " I am exposed in this to a most unjust charge, and am undeservedly accused ; for I am saying nothing of my own, but whatever the Deity prompts me to say. And this is not the first time that I have said and that you have heard this, but I declared it on the former occasion when you sent the ambassadors, to whom I made the same answer." But as the king thought either that the prophet was deceiving him, or that the Deity might change his mind, and the consequence of a change of place might alter the firmness of his decision, he led him off to another spot, where, from an e.xceedingly long, and high, and distant hill, he might be able to show him a part of the army of his enemies. Then, again, he built seven altars and sacrificed the same number of victims that he had sacrificed at first, and sent the prophet to look for favourable omens and predictions. And he, as soon as he was by himself, was again suddenly filled by divine inspiration, and, without at all understanding the words which he uttered, spoke everything that was put into his mouth, prophesying in the following manner : — "

Rise up and listen, 0 king ! prick up thy ears and hear. God is not able to speak falsely as if he were a man, nor does he change his purpose like the son of man. When he has once spoken, does he not abide by his word ? For he will say nothing at all which shall not be completely brought to pass, since his word is also his deed. I, indeed, have been brought hither to bless this nation, and not to curse it. There shall be no labour or distress among the Hebrews. God visibly holds his shield over them, who also dissipated the violence of the Egyptian attacks, leading forth all these myriads of people as one man. Therefore they disregarded auguries and every other part of the prophetic art, trusting to the one sole Governor of the world alone. And I see the people rising up like a young lion, and exulting as a lion. He shall feast on the prey, and for drink he shall drink the blood of the wounded ; and, when he is satisfied, he shall not turn to sleep, but he shall be awake and sing the song of victory." LIl.

But Balak, being very indignant at finding that all the assistance wliich lie expected to derive from diviuatiou was turning out contraiy to his hopes, said : " O man, neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all ; for silence, which is free from danger, is better than unpleasant speeches." And when he had said tliis, as if he had forgotten what he had said, owing to the inconstancy of his mind, he led the prophet to another place, from which he could show him a part of the Hebrew army ; and again he invited him to curse them. But the prophet, as being even more wicked than the king, although he had always replied to the accusations which were brought against him with one true excuse, namely, that he was saying nothing out of his own head, but was only interpreting the words of another, being himself carried away and inspired, when he ought no longer to have accompanied him but to have gone away home, ran forward even more eagerly than his conductor, although in his secret thoughts he was oppressed by a hea\7 feeling of evil, yet still desired in his mind to curse this people, though he was forbidden to do so with his mouth.

So, coming to a mountain greater than any of those on which he had stood before, and which reached a very long way, he bade the king perform the same sacrifices as before, again building seven altars, and again offering up fourteen victims, on each altar two, a bullock and a ram. And he himself did no longer, according to his usual custom, go to seek for divination and auguries, since he nuich loathed his art, looking upon it as a picture which had become defaced through age, and had been obscured, and lost its felicity of conjecture. But he now, though witli difTu'ulty, understood the fvct that the designs of the king, who had hired him, did not correspond with the will of God. Therefore, turning to the wilderness, he saw the Hebrews encamped in their tribes, and he saw their numbers and their array, and admired it as being hke the order of a city rather than of a cuin[i, and, becoming inspired, he again spoke. What, then, said the man who saw truly, who in his sleep saw a clear vision of God with the ever open and sleepless eyes of his soul ?

"How goodly ai-e thy abodes, O army of Hebrews; thy touts are shady as groves, as a paradise on'the bank of a rivei-, as a cedar by the waters. A man shall hereafter come forth out of tliec who shall rule over many nations, and his kingdom shall iui-rease every day and bo raised up to heaven. This people hath God for its guide all the way from Egypt, who leads on their multitude in one line. Therefore they shall devour many nations of their enemies, and they sliall take all their fat as far as their very marrow, and shall destroy their enemies with their far-shooting arrows. He shall lie down to rest like a lion, and like a lion's whelp, fearing no one, but showing great contempt for every one, and causing fear to all other nations. Miserable is he who shall stir up and rouse him to anger. Blessed are they that bless thee, and cursed are they that curse thee." LIII. And the king, being very indignant at these words, said : " Having been invited hither to curse my enemies, you have now prayed for and blessed them these three times. FI3', therefore, quickly, passion is a hasty affection, lest I be compelled to do something more violent than usual.

Of what a vast amount of money, O most foolish of men, of how man}"- presents, and of how much renown, and celebrity, and glory, hast thou deprived thyself in thy madness ! Now you will return to thy home from a foreign land, bearing with thee no good thing, but only reproaches and (as it seems likely) great disgrace, being ridiculed and despised for that knowledge on which you formerly so greatly prided yourself." And Balaam replied: "All that I have hitherto uttered have been oracles and words of God ; but what I am going to say are merely the suggestions of my own mind : and taking him by the right hand, he, while they two were alone, gave him advice, by the adoption of which he might, as far as possible, guard against the power of his enemies, accusing himself of the most enormous crimes. For why, some one may perhaps say, do you thus retire into solitude and give counsel suggesting things contrary to the oracles of God, unless indeed that your counsels are more powerful than his decrees ?" LIV. Come, then, let us examine into his fine recommendations, and see how cunningly they were contrived with reference to the most certain defeat of those who had hitherto always been able to conquer.

As he knew that the only way by which the Hebrews could be subdued was by leading them to violate the law, he endeavoured to seduce them by means of debauchery and intemperance, that mighty evil, to the still greater crime of impiety, putting pleasure before them as a bait ; for, said he, " 0 king ! the women of the country surpass VOL. in. P 6G PHILO JUD.EUS. all other women in beauty, and there are no means by which a man is more easily subdued than by the beauty of a woman ; therefore, if you enjoin the most beautiful of them to grant their favours to them and to prostitute themselves to them, they will allure and overcome the youth of your enemies. But you must warn them not to surrender their beauty to those who desire them with too great facility and too speedily, for resistance and coyness will stimulate the passions and excite them more, and will kindle a more impetuous desire ; and so, being wholly subdued by tlieir appetites, they will endui^e to do and to suffer anything. " And let any damsel who is thus prepared for the sport resist, and say, wantonly, to a lover who is thus influenced, "

It in not fitting for you to enjoy my society till you have first abandoned your native habits, and have changed, and learnt to honour the same practices that I do. And I must have a conspicuous proof of your real change, which I can only have by your consenting to join me in the same sacrifices and libations which I use, and which we may then offer together at the same images and statues, and other erections in honour of my gods. And the lover being, as it were, taken in the net of her manifold and multiform snares, not being able to resist her beauty and seductive conversation, will become wholly subdued in his reason, and, like a miserable man, will obey all the commands which she lays upon him, and will be enrolled as the slave of passion." LV. This, then, was the advice which Balaam gave to Balak. And he, thinking that what he said to him did not want sense, repealed the law against adulteries, and having abrogated all the enactments which had been established against seduction and harlotry, as if they had never been enacted at all, exhorted the women to admit to their favours, without any restraint, every man whom they chose.

Accord ingly, when licence was thus given, they brought over a multitude of young men, having already long before this si;dm-e(l their minrls, and having by their tricks and allurements perverted them to impiety ; until Phinehas, the son of the chief priest, being exceedingly indignant at all that was tiiking place (for it appeared to him to be a most scandalous thnig for his countrymen to give up at one time both their bodies and aouls— their bodies to pleasure, and their souls to transgression of the law, and to works of wickedness), undertook a bold and impetuous action, such as was becoming to a young, and brave, and virtuous man.

For when he saw a man of his nation sacrificing with and then entering into the tent of a harlot, and that too Avithout casting !his eyes down on the ground and seeking to avoid the notice of the multitude, but making a display of his licentiousness with shameless boldness, and giving himself airs as if he were about to engage in a creditable action, and one deserving of smiles — Phinehas, I say, being very indignant and being filled with a just anger, ran in, and while they were still lying on the bed, slew both the lover and the harlot, cutting them in two pieces in the middle, because they thus indulged in illicit connections.

When some persons of those who admired temperance, and chastity, and piety, saw this example, they, at the command of Moses, imitated it, and slew all their own relations and friends, even to a man, who had sacrificed to idols made with hands, and thus they effaced the stain which was defiling the nation by this implacable revenge which they thus wreaked on those who had set the example of wrong doing, and so saved the rest, who made a clear defence of themselves, demonstrating their own piety, showing no compassion on any one of those who were justly condemned to death, and not passing over their offences out of pity, but looking upon those who slew them as pure from all sin. Therefore they did not allow any escape whatever to those who sinned in this way, and such conduct is the truest praise ; and they say that twenty-four thousand men were slain in one day, the common pollution, which was defiling the whole army, being thus at onc# got rid of.

And when the works of purification were thus accomplished, Moses began to seek how he might give an honour worthy of him who had displayed such permanent excellence to the son of the chief priest, who was the first who hastened to inflict chastisement on the offenders. But God was beforehand with him, giving to Phinehas, by means of his holy word, the greatest of all good things, namely, peace, which no man is able to bestow ; and also, in addititm to this peace, he gave him the perpetual possession of the priesthood, an inheritance to his family, which could not be taken from it. „ LVI.

But when none of the civil and intestine 'evils remained any longer, but when all the men who were suspected of having either forsaken the ways of their ancestors or of treacheiy had perished, it appeared to be a most favourable opportunity for making an expedition against Balak, a man who had both planned to do, and had also executed an innumerable host of evil deeds, since he had planned them through the agency of the prophet, who he hoped would be able, by means of his curses, to destroy the power of the Hebrews, and who had executed his purpose by the agency of the licentiousness and incontinence of the women, who destroyed the bodies of those who associated with thsm by debauchery, and their souls by impiety.

Therefore Moses did not think fit to carry on war against him with his whole army, knowing that superfluous numbers are apt to meet with disaster in consequence of those very numbers ; and also, at the same time, thinking it useful to have stations of reserve, to be assistants to those of their allies who appeared likely to fail ; but he selected a thousand picked men of the youth of the nation, selected man by man, out of each tribe, twelve thousand in all, for that was the number of the tribes, and he appointed Phinehas to be the commander in the war, as he had already given proof of the happy daring which becomes a general ; and after he had offered up sacrifices of good omen, he sent forth his warriors, and encouraged them in the following words : — " The present contest is not one for dominion or sovereignty, nor is it waged for the sake of acquiring the property of others, though these are the objects for which alone, or almost invariably, wars take place ; but this war is undertaken in the cause of piety and holiness, from which the enemy has alienated our relations and friends, being the causes of bitter destruction to those who have been brought under their yoke.

It is therefore absurd for us to be the slayers of our own countrymen, for having offended against the law, and to spare our enemies, who have violated it in a much worse degree, and to slay, with every circumstance of violence, those who were only learning and beginning to sin, but to leave those who taught thctn to do 80 unpunished, who are, in reality, the guilty causes of nil that has taken place, and of all the evils which; i-ur countrymen have either done or suffered." LVIl. Therefore being nerved by these exhortations, and being kindled and filled with noble courage which was indeed in their souls already, they went forth to that contest with invincible spirit as to a certain victory ; and when they engaged with the enemy, they displayed such incredible vigour and courage that they slew all their enemies, and returned themselves unhurt, every one of them, not one of their number having been slain or even wounded.

An}' one who did not know what had taken place, might have supposed, when he saw them returning, that they were coming in, not from war and from a pitched battle, but rather from a display and field-day of exercise under arms, such as often take place in time of peace ; and these field-days are days of exercise and practice, while the men train themselves among friends to attack their enemies. Therefore they destroyed all their cities, razing tliem to the ground or else burning them, so that no one could tell that any cities had ever been inhabited in that land.

And they led away a perfectly incalculable number of prisoners, of whom they chose to slay all the full-grown men and women, the men because they had set the example of wicked counsels and actions, and the women because they had beguiled the youth of the Hebrews, becoming the causes to them of incontinence and impiety, and at the last of death ; but they pardoned all the young male children and all the virgins, their tender age procuring them forgiveness ; and as they had taken a vast booty from the king's palace, and from private houses, and also from the dwellings of all kinds in the open country (for there was not less booty in the country places than in the cities), they came to the camp, laden with all the wealth which they had taken from the enemy.

And Moses praised Phinehas their general, and those who had served under him for their good success, and also because they had not been covetous of their own advantage, running after booty and thinking of nothing, but appropriating the spoil to themselves, but because they had brought it all into the common stock, so that they who had staid behind in the tents might share in the booty ; and he ordered those men to remain outside the camp for some days, and the high priest he commanded to purify both the men themselves, and those of their alUes who had returned from fighting by their side, of bloodshed; for even though the slaughter of the enemies of one's country is according to law, still he who kills a man, even though justly and in self-defence, and because he has been attacked, still appears to be guilty of blood by reason of his supreme and coromon relationship to a common father ; on which account those who had slain enemies were in need of rites of purification, to cleanse them from what was looked upon as a pollution. LVIII.

However, after no long lapse of time he divided the booty among those who had taken a part in the expedition, and they were but a small number, giving one half among those who had remained inactive at home, and the other half to those who were still in the camp ; for he looked upon it as iust and equitable to give the share of the advantages gained, to those who had shared in the contest, if not with their souls, at all events with their bodies ; for as the spectators were not inferior to the actual combatants in their zeal, they were inferior only in point of time aud in respect of their being anticipated.

And as the smaller body had received each a larger share of the booty, by reason of their having been the foremost in encountering danger, and the larger body had received each a smaller share, by reason of their having remained at home ; it appeared indispensable that they should consecrate the first fruits of the whole of the booty ; those therefore who had remained at home brought a fiftieth, and those who had been actually engaged in the war, brought and contributed a five hundredth part ; and of ten first fruits Moses commanded that portion which came from those who had borne a part in the expedition, to be given to the high priest, and that portion which came from those who had remained in the camp, to the keepers of the temple whose name were the Levites.

And the captains of thousands, and centurions, and all the rest of the multitude of commanders of battalions and companies willingly contributed special first fruits, as an offering for their own safety, and that of those who had gone out to war, and for the victory wliich had been gained in a manner beyond all hope, giving up all the golden oraaments which Imd fallen to the lot of each individual, in the apportionment of tlic booty, and the most costly vessels, of which the material was gold.

All which things Moses took, and, admiring the piety of those who contributed them, dedicated them in the consecrated tabernacle as a memorial of the gratitude of the men ; and the division of the first fruits was very beautiful ; those which had been given by the men who had borne their share in the war, he distributed among the keepers of the temple as among men who had only displayed one half of virtue, namely eagerness without action ; but the first fruits of those who had warred and fought, who had encountered danger with their bodies and lives, and thus had displayed perfect and complete excellence, he allotted to him who presided over the keepers of the temple, namely to the high priest; and the first fruits of the captains, as being the offerings of chiefs and rulers, he allotted to the great ruler of all, namely to God. LIX.

All these wars were carried on and brought to an end before the Hebrews had crossed Jordan, the river of the country, being wars against the inhabitants of the country on the other side of Jordan, which was a rich and fertile land, in which there was a large champaign fertile in corn, and also very productive of herbage and fodder for catle ; and when the two tribes who were occupied in feeding cattle saw this country, the two tribes being a sixth part of the whole Hebrew host, they besought Moses to permit them to take their inheritance in that district, where in fact they were already settled ; for they said that the place was very suitable for cattle to be kept, and fed, and bred in, inasmuch as it was well watered and full of good herbage, and as it produced spontaneously abundant grass for the feeding of sheep.

But as he thought that they claimed a sort of right, by some kind of pre-eminence, to receive their share and the honours due to them before their time, or else that they preferred this petition by reason of their being unwilling to encounter the wars which were impending, as there were still many kings who were making ready to attack them, and who were the possessors of all the country inside the river, he was very indignant at their request, and answered them in anger, and said, "Shall you then sit here and enjoy leisure, and yield to indolence at so improper a time ? and shall the wars which still threaten us, afflict all your countrymen, and your relations, and your friends, and shall the prizes be given to you alone, as if vou had all contributed to the success ? And shall battles and .-wars, aud distresses, and the most extreme dangers await 6ther3?

But it is not just that you should enjoy peace, and tho blessings that flow from peace, and that the rest should endure wars and all the other indescribable evils which they bring with them, aud that the whole should only be looked upon as an adjunct of a part ; while, on the contrary, it is for the sake of the whole that the parts are thought worthy of any inheritance at all. Ye are all entitled to equal honour, ye are one race, ye have the same fathers, one house, ye have the same customs, a community of laws, and an infinite number of other things, every one of which binds your kindred closer together, and cements your mutual good will ; why then when you are thought worthy of equal shares of the most important aud most necessary things, do you show a covetous spirit in the division of the lands, as if you were rulers despising your subjects as masters looking disdainfully on your slaves?" You ought to have derived instruction from the afilictions of others ; for it is the part of wise men not to wait till misfortunes come upon tliemselves.

But now, though you have domestic examples in your own fathers, who went and spied out this land, and in the calamities which befell them, and all who participated in their despondency (for they all perished except two), and when, therefore, you ought to take care and avoid resembling them in any respect whatever, still, foolishminded men that ye are, ye are imitating their cowardice, as if by such conduct you would be more strongly fortified against capture ; and you check and damp the eagerness of those who are desirous to display their manhood and valour, relaxing and depressing their spirits ; therefore, while you are hastening to do wrong, you are also hastening to incur punishment. For justice is always a long time before it can be put in motion, but when it is once put in motion it makes great haste and speedily overtakes those who flee from it.

When, therefore, all our enemies are destroyed, and when there is no other war which can be expected or feared as impending, and when all those in our present alliance have been, on examination, found to bo without reproach nor liable to any charge of desertion or treachery, or of any misconduct which could possibly luiul to our defeat, but shall be seen to have endured steadfiwtly from the beginning to the end, with their bodily exertion and with all eagerness of mind, and when the whole country is cleared of those who have previously inherited it, then rewards and prizes for valour shall be given to all the tribes with perfect fairness. LX. So they, bearing this rebuke with moderation, as being genuine sons of a very kindly-disposed father (for they knew that Moses was not a man to behave insolently because of his power and authority, but one who cared for all of them, and honoured justice and equality, and who hated wickedness, not so as to reproach or insult the wicked, but so as to be constantly endeavouring by admonition and correction to improve those who were susceptible of improvement), said to him, "

Very naturally you are indignant, if you imagine that we now are anxious to desert the alliance and to obtain our allotments before the proper time ; but you must know that we are not alarmed at any undertaking that calls for valorous and virtuous exertion, even though it may be most laborious. And we judge that the task of virtue is to obey you who are such a brave and wise ruler, and not to fear to encounter dangers, and to be willing to bear our share in all future expeditions until all our business is bi'ought to a fortunate conclusion. " We, therefore, as we have agreed before, will remain in our ranks and cross over Jordan in complete armour, giving no soldier any excuse for lagging behind. But our infant children, and our daughters, and wives, and mothers, and the bulk of our cattle, shall, if you have no objection, be left behind, after we have made houses for our children and wives, and stables for our cattle that they may not be exposed to any incursion of the enemy, and so suffer injuiy from being taken in unwalled and unprotected dwellings." And Moses answered with a mild look and even still gentler voice, "

If you speak the truth and behave honestly, the allotments which you have asked for shall remain assured to you. Leave behind you now, as you desire, your wives and children, and flocks and herds, and go yourselves across Jordan in your ranks with the rest of the soldiers in full armour, arrayed for battle, as if you were prepared to fight at once, if it should be needful. And hereafter when all our enemies are destroyed, and when, peace being established, we have made ourselves masters of the whole country, and have begun to divide it among ourselves, then you also shall return to your families to enjoy the good things which belong to you, and to possess the region which you have selected." When Moses had said this, and given them this promise, they were filled with cheerfulness and joy, and established their families in safety as well as their flocks and herds in well-fortified and impregnable strongholds, the greater part of which were artificial.

And taldng tlieir arms they marched forth more cheerfully than any of the rest of the allied forces, as if they alone had been going to fight, or at all events to fight in the first ranks as the champions of the whole army, for he who has received any gift beforehand is more eager in the cause in which he is engaged, since he thinks that he is repaying a necessary debt, and not giving a free gift. I have now, then, given an account of what was done by Moses while invested with kingly power. I must now proceed to relate in order all the actions which he performed in accordance with virtue, and also successfully as a chief priest, and also in his character as a lawgiver ; for he also exercised these two powers as very closely connected with his kingly authority. LIFE or MOSES,

The first volume of this treatise relates to the subject of the birth and bringing up of Moses, and also of his education and of his govorinncnt of his people, which he governed not merely irreproachably, but in so exceedingly praiseworthy a manner ; and also of all the afi'airs which took place in Egypt, and in the travels and journeyings of the nation, and of "the events which happened with respect to their crossing the Red Sea and in the desert, which surpass all power of description ; and, moreover, of all the lalmnrs which he conducted to a successful issue, and of the inheritances which he distributed in portions to his soldiers. But the book which we are now about to compose relates to the affairs which follow those others in due order, and bear a certain correspondence and connection with them. For some persons say, and not without some reason and propriety, that this is the only way by which cities can be expected to advance in improvement, if either the kings cultivate philosophy, or if philosophers exercise the kingly power.

But Moses will be seen not only to have displayed all these powers — I mean the genius of the philosopher and of the king — in an extraordinary degree at the same time, but three other powers likewise, one of which is conversant about legislation, the second about the way of discharging the duties of high priest, and the last about the prophetic office ; and it is on these subjects that I have now been constrained to choose to enlarge ; for I conceive that all these things have fitly been united in him, inasmuch as in accordance with the providential will of God he was both a king and a lawgiver, and a high priest and a prophet, and because in each office he displayed the most eminent wisdom and virtue. We must now show how it is that every thing is fitly united in him. It becomes a king to command what ought to be done, and to forbid what ought not to be done ; but the com manding what ought to be done, and the prohibition of what ought not to be done, belongs especially to the law, so that the king is at once a living law, and the law is a just king.

But a king and a lawgiver ought to pay attention not only to human things, but also to divine ones, for the affairs of neither kings nor subjects go on well except by the intervention of divine providence ; on which account it was necessary that such a man as Moses should enjoy the first priesthood, in order that he might with perfectly conducted sacrifices, and with a perfect knowledge of the proper way to serve God, entreat for a deliverance from evil and for a participation in good, both for himself and for the people whom he was governing, from the merciful God who listens favourably to prayers. But since there is an infinite variety of both human and divine circumstances which are unknown both to king, and lawgiver, and chief priest, for a man is no less a created and mortal being from having all these offices, or because he is clothed with such a vast and boundless inheritance of honour and happiness, he was also of necessity invested with the gift of prophecy, in order that he might through the providence of God learn all those things which he was unable to comprehend by his own reason ; for what the mind is unable to attain to, that prophecy masters.

Therefore the connection of these four powers is beautiful and harmonious, for being all connected together and united one to another, they unite in concert, receiving and imparting a reciprocity of benefits from and to one another, imitating the virgin graces with whom it is an immutable law of their nature that they cannot be disunited, with respect to whom one might fairly say, what is habitually said of the virtues, that he who has one has them all.

And first of all we must speak of the matters which relate to his character and conduct as a lawgiver. I am not ignorant that the man who desires to be an excellent and perfect lawgiver ought to exercise all the virtues in their complete integrity and perfection, since in the houses of his nation some are near relations and some distant, but still they are all related to one another. And in like manner we must look upon some of the virtues as connected more closely with some matters, and on others as being more removed from them. Now these four qualities are closely connected with and related to the legislative power, namely, humility, the love of justice, the love of virtue, and the hatred of iniquity ; for every individual who has any desire for exercising his talents as a lawgiver is under the influence of each of -these feelings. It is the province of humanity to prepare for adoption such opinions as will benefit the common weal, and to teach the advantages which will proceed from them. It is the part of justice to point out how we ought to honour equality, and to assign to every man his due according to his deserts.

It is the part of the love of virtue to embrace those things which are by nature good, and to give to every one who deserves them fiieilities without limit for the most unrestrained enjoyment of happiness. It is also the province of the hatred of iniquity to reject all those who dishonour virtue, and to look upon them a.- common enemies of the human race. Therefore it is a very great thing if it has fallen to the lot of any one to arrive at any one of the qualities before mentioned, and it is a marvellous thing, as it should seem, for any one man to have been able to grasp them all, which in fact Moses appears to have been the only person who has ever done, having given a very clear description of the aforesaid virtues in the commandments which he established.

And those who are well versed in the sacred scriptures know this, for if he had not had these principles innate within him he would never have compiled those scriptures at the promptings of God. And he gave to those who were worthy to use them the most admirable of all possessions, namely, faithful copies and imitations of the original examples which were consecrated and enshrined in the soul, which became the laws which he revealed and established, displaying in the clearest manner the virtues which I have enumerated and described above.

But that he himself is the most admirable of all the lawgivers who have ever lived in any country either among the Greeks or among the barbarians, and that his are the most admirable of all laws, and truly divine, omitting no one particular which they ought to comprehend, there is the clearest proof possible in this fact, the laws of other lawgivers, if any one examines them by his reason, he will find to be put in motion in an innumerable multitude of pretexts, either because of wars, or of tyrannies, or of some other unexpected events which come upon nations through the various alterations and innovations of fortune ; and very often luxury, abounding in all kind of superfluity and unbounded extravagance, has overturned laws, from the multitude not being able to bear unlimited prosperity, but having a tendency to become insolent through satiety, and insolence is in opposition to law.

But the enactments of this lawgiver are firm, not shaken by commotions, not liable to alteration, but stamped as it were with the seal of nature herself, and they remain firm and lasting from the day on which they were first promulgated to the present one, and there may well be a hope that they will remain to all future tim.e, as being immortal, as long as the sun and the moon, and the whole heaven and the whole world shall endure. At all events, though the nation of the Hebrews experienced so many changes both in the direction of prosperity and of the opposite destiny, no one, no not even the very smallest and most unimportant of all his com.mandments was changed, since every one, as it seems, honoured their venerable and godlike character; and what neither famine, nor pestilence, nor war, nor sovereign, nor tyrant, nor the rise of any passions or evil feelings against either soul or body, nor any other evil, whether inflicted by God or deriving its rise from men, ever dissolved, can surely never be looked upon by us in any other light thau as objects of all admiration, and beyond all powers of description in respect of their excellence.

But this is not so entirely wonderful, although it may fairly by itself be considered a thing of great intrinsic importance, that his laws were kept securely and immutably from all time ; but this is more wonderful by far, as it seems, that not only the Jews, but that also almost every other nation, and especially those who make the greatest account of virtue, have dedicated themselves to embrace and honour them, for they have received this especial honour above all other codes of laws, which is not given to any other code. And a proof of this is to be found in the fact that of all the cities in Greece and in the territory of the barbarians, if one may so say, speaking generally, there is not one single city which pays any respect to the laws of another state. In fact, a city scarcely adheres to its own laws with any constancy for ever, but continually modifies them, and adapts them to the changes ol times and circumstances. The Atheuians rejected the customs and laws of the Lacedaemonians, and so did the Lacedaemonians repudiate the laws of the Athenians.

Nor, again, in the countries of the barbarians do the Egyptians keep the laws of the Scythians, nor do the Scythians keep the laws of the Egyptians ; nor, in short, do those who live in Asia attend to the laws which obtain in Europe, nor do the inhabitants of Europe respect the laws of the Asiatic nations. And, in short, it is very nearly an universal rule, from the rising of the sun to its extreme west, that every country, and nation, and city, is alienated from the laws and customs of foreign nations and states, and that they think that they are adding to the estimation in which they hold their own laws by despising those in use among other nations. But this is not the case with our laws which Moses has given to us ; for they lead after them and influence all nations, barbarians, and Greeks, the inhabitants of continents and islands, the eastern nations and the western, Europe and Asia; in short, the whole habitable world from one extremity to the other.

For what man is there who does not hononr that sacred seventh day, granting in consequence a rehef and relaxation from labour, for himself and for all those who are near to him, and that not to free mtn only, but also to slaves, and even to beasts of burden ; for the holiday extends even to every description of animal, and to every beast whatever which performs service to man, like slaves obeying their natural master, and it affects even every species of plant and tree ; for there is no shoot, and no branch, and no leaf even which it is allowed to cut or to pluck on that day, nor any fruit which it is lawful to gather ; but everything is at iberty and in safety on that day, and enjoys, as it were, perfect freedom, no one ever touching them, in obedience to a universal proclamation.

Again, who is there who does not pay all due respect and honour to that which is called " the fast," and especialy to that great yearly one which is of a more austere and venerable character than the ordinary solemnity at the full moon ? on which, indeed, much pure wine is drunk, and costly entertainments are provided, and everything which relates to eating and drinking is supplied in the most unlimited profusion, by which the insatiable pleasures of the belly are inflamed and increased. But on this fast it is not lawful to take any food or any drink, in order that no bodily passion may at all disturb or hinder the pure operations of the mind ; but these passions are wont to be generated by fulness and satiety, so that at this time men feast, propitiating the Father of the universe with holy prayers, by which they are accustomed to solicit pardon for their former sins, and the acquisition and enjoyment of new blessings.

And that beauty and dignity of the legislation of Moses is honoured not among the Jews only, but also by all other nations, is plain, both from what has been already said and from what I am about to state. In olden time the laws were written in the Chaldaeau language, and for a long time they remained in the same condition as at first, not changing their language as long as their beauty had not made them known to other nations ; but when, from the daily and uninterrupted respect shown to them by those to whom they had been given, and from their ceaseless observance of their ordinances, other nations also obtained an understanding of them, their reputation spread over all lands ; for what was really good, even though it may through envy be overshadowed for a short time, still in time shines again through the intrinsic excellence of its nature. Some persons, thinking it a scandalous thing that these laws should only be known among one half portion of the human race, namely, among the barbarians, and that the Greek nation should be \^ holly and entirely ignorant of them, turned their attention to their translation.

And since this undertaking was an important one. tending to the general advantage, not only of private persons, but also of rulei-s, of whom the number was not great, it was entrusted to kings and to the most illustrious of all lungs.

Ptolemy , surnamed Philadelphus, was the third in succession after Alexander, the monarch who subdued Egypt ; and he was, in all virtues which can be displayed in government, the most excellent sovereign, not only of all those of his time, but of all that ever lived ; so that even now, after the lapse of so many generations, his fame is still celebrated, as having left many instances and monuments of his magnanimity in the cities and districts of his kingdom, so that even now it is come to be a sort of proverbial expression to call excessive magnificence, and zeal, for honour and splendour in preparation, Philadelphian, from his name ; and, in a word, the wliole family of the Ptolemies was exceedingly eminent and conspicuous above all other royal families, and among the Ptolemies, Philadelphus was the most illustrious ; for all the rest put together scarcely did as many glorious and praiseworthy actions as this one lung did by himself, being, as it were, the leader of the herd, and in a maimer the bead of all the kings.

lie, then, being a sovereign of this character, and having conceived a great admiration for and love of the legislation of IMoses, conceived the idea of having our laws translated into the Greek language ; and innnediately he sent out ambassadors to the high priest and king of Judea, for they ■were the same person. Aiid having explained his wishes, and having requested him to pick him out a number of men, of l)eifect fitness for the task, who should translate the law, the highpriest, as was natural, being greatly pleased, and thinking lliat the king bad only felt the incliriation to undertake a work ot sucli a character from having been iufiueuced by the providence of God, considered, and with great care selected the most respectable of the Hebrews whom he had about him, who in addition to their knowledge of their national scriptures, had also beau well instructed in Grecian literature, and cheerfully sent them.

And when they arrived at the king's court they were hospitably received by the king; and while they feasted, they in return feasted their entertainer with witty and virtuous conversation ; for he made experiment of the wisdom of each individual among them, putting to them a succession of new and extraordinary questions ; and they, since the time did not allow of their being prolix in their answers, replied with great propriety and fidelity as if they were delivering apophthegms which they had already prepared. So when they had won his approval, they immediately began to fulfil the objects for which that honourable embassy had been sent ; and considering among themselves how important the affair was, to translate laws which had been divinely given by direct inspiration, since they were not able either to take away anything, or to add anything, or to alter anything, but were bound to preserve the original form and character of the whole composition, they looked out for the most completely purified place of all the spots on the outside of the city. For the places within the walls, as being filled with all kinds of animals, were held in suspicion by them by reason of the diseases and deaths of some, and the accursed actions of those who were in health.

The island of Pharos lies in front of Alexandria, the neck of which runs out like a sort of tongue towards the city, being surrounded with water of no great depth, but chiefly with shoals and shallow water, so that the great noise and roaring from the beating of the waves is kept at a considerable distance, and so mitigated. They judged this place to be the most suitable of all the spots in the neighbourhood for them to enjoy quiet and tranquillity in, so that they might associate with the laws alone in their minds ; and there they remained, and having taken the sacred scriptures, they lifted up them and their hands also to heaven, entreating of God that they might not fail in their object. And he assented to their prayers, that the greater part, or indeed the universal race of mankind might be beneiitcd, by using these philosophical and entirely beautiful commandments for the correction of their lives.

Therefore, being settled in a secret place, and nothing ever being present with them except the elements of nature, the earth the water, the air, and the heaven, concernnig the creation of which they were going in the first place to explain the sacred accomit; for the account of tlie creation ot the world is the beginning of the law ; they, like men inspired, prophesied, not one saving one thing and another anoth(3r, but every one of them emploved the self-same nouns and verbs, as if some unseen prompter had suggested all their language to them. And yet who is there who does not know that every lan-tuage, and" the Greek language above all others, is rich in a variedly of words, and that it is possible to vary a sentence and to paraphrase the same idea, so as to set it forth in a great variety of matmers, adapting many different forms of expression to it at different times.

But this, they say, did not happen at all in the case of this translation of the "law, but that, in every case, exactly corresponding Greek words were employed to translate literally the appropriate Chaldaic words, being adapted with exceeding propriety to the matters which were to be explained ; fur just as I suppose the things which are proved in geometry and logic do not admit any variety of explanation, but the proposition which was set forth from the beginning remains unaltered, in like manner I conceive did these men lind words precisely and literally corresponding to the things, which words were alone, or in the greatest possible degree, destined to explain witli clearness and force the matters which it was desired to reveal.

And there is a very evident proof of this ; for if Chaldieans wove to learn the Greek language, and if Greeks were to learn Chaldiuan, and if each were to meet with those scriptures in both languages, namely, the Chaldaic and the translated version, they would admire and reverence them both as sisters, or rather as one and the same both in their facts and in their language ; considering these translators not mere interpreters but hiernphants and prophets to whom it had been granted with their honest and guileless minds to go along with the most pure spirit of ]\Toses. On which account, even to this very day, there is every year n solemn assembly held and a festival celebrated in the island of riiuros, to which not only the Jews but a great number of persons of other nations sail across, reverencing the place in which the fust liglit of" interpretation shone forth, and thanking God for th<at ancient piece of beneficence which \vas alwaja young and fresli.

And after the prayers and the giving of thanks some of tlieni pitched their tents on the shore, and some of them lay down without any tents in the open air on the sand of the shore, and feasted with their relations and friends, thinking the shore at thnt time a more beautiful abode than tlie furniture of the king's palace. In this way those admirable, and incomparable, and most desirable laws were made known to all people, whether private individuals or kings, and this too at a period when the nation had not been pr / iperous for a long tim.e. And it is generally I he case that a cloud is thrown over the affairs of those who are not nourishing, so that but little is known of them; and then, if they make any fresh start and begin to improve, how great is the increase of their renown and glory? I think that in that case every nation, abandoning all their own individual (•ustotns, and utterly disregarding their national laws, would change and come over to the honour of such a people only ; for tlieir laws shining in connection with, and simultaneously with, tlie ])rosperity of ihe nation, will obscure all others, just as the rising sun obscures the stars. VI IT.

Now what has been here said is quite sufficient foi i\iO abundant praise of Moses as a lawgiver. ]5ut there is another more extensive praise which his own holy writings tlienisclves contain, and it is to them that we must now turn for th(! purpose of exhibiting the virtue of him who compiled Uiem. Now these writings of Moses may be divided into several parts ; one of which is the historical part, anolber is occtipied with conunands and pruliibitions, respecting wliich part we will speak at some other time when we have first of all accurately examined that ])urt which comes Hrst in the order of our division. Again, the historical part may be subdivided into the account of the creation of the world, and the genealogical part.

And the genealogical part, or the history of the dilVerent families, may be divided into the accounts of the punishment of the wicked, and of the honours bestowed on the just ; wo must also explain on what account it was that ho began his history of the giving of the law with these particulars, and placed the connnanduients and prohibitions in the second G ^! jS;4 PHILO JUD.'EUS. order; for ho was not like any oidiiiary compiler of history, studying to leave beliind liiiu records of ancient transactions as memorials to futun^ ages for the mere sake of alVordinp; pleasure ^Yithout any advantage ; but he traced back the most ancient events from the beginning of the world, commencing with the creation of the universe, in order to make known two most necessary principles. First, that the same being was the father and creator of the world, and likewise the lawgiver of truth ; secondly, that the man wlio adhered to these laws, and clung closely to a connection with and obedience to nature, would livo in a maimer corresponding to the arrangement of the universe with a perfect harmony and union, lietween his words and his actions and between his actions and his words.

Now. of all other lawgivers, some the moment that they have promulgated positive commands as to what it is I'iglit to do and wluit it is right not to do, proceed to aj)point punishments for those who transgress those laws ; but others, who appear to have pro(!Ccded on a better plai}, have not Ixjguii in this manner, but, having first of all built and establisiied their city in accordance with reason, have then adapted to this city which they have built, that constitution which they have considered the best adapted and most akin to it, and have coniirmed this constitution by the giving of laws. I>ut he, thinking the first of the two courses above mentioned to bo tyrannical and despotic, as indeed it is, namely, that of laying positive connnauds on ])ersons as it' they were not free men but slaves, without offering them any alleviation ; and that the second course was better indeed, but was not entirely to bo commended, must appear to all judges to be superior in eacii of the above considerations.

For both in his connnandments and also in his prohibitions he suggests and recommends ratlier than commands, endeavouring with many prefaces and peroratioius to suggest the greater part of the i)recepts that he desires to enforce, desiring rather to allure men to virtue than to drive them to it, and looking upon the foundation and beginning of a city made with hands, which he has made the commencement of hia work a commencement beneath the dignity of his laws, looking rather with tlie most accurate eye of liis mind at the imjwrtance and beauty of his whole legislative system, and thinking it too excellent and too divine to bo limited as it were by any circk' of things on earth ; and therefore he has related the creation of that great metropolis, the world, thinking his laws the most fruitful image and likeness of the constitution of the wliole world.

At all events if any one were inclined to examine Avith accuracy the powers of each individual and parti(;ular law, he will find them all aiming at the harmony of the universe, and c0rres])onding to the law of eternal nature : on which account those men wlio have had unbounded prosperity bestowed upon them, and all things tending to the production of health of body, and richojs, and glory, and all other external parts of good fortune, l)ut wiio liavc rejected virtue, and have chosen crafty wickedness, and all other kinds of vice, not through comi)ulsion, but of their own spontaneous free will, looking njKni that which is the greatest of all evils as the greatest possible advantage, he looks upon as enemies not of mankind only, but of the entire heaven and world, and says that they are awaiting, not any ordinary punishments, but new and extraordinary ones, whicii tiiat cojistant assessor of God, justice, who detests wickedness, invents and inflicts terribly upon them, turning against thcTu the most powerful elements of the universe, water and lire, so that at appointed times some are desroyed by deluges, others are burnt with fire, and perish in that manner The seas were raised up, and the rivers both such as flow everlastingly, and the winter torrents were swollen and washed away, and carried oiT all the cities in the plain ; and those in the mountain country were destroyed by incessant and irresistible impetuosity of rain, ceasing neither by day nor by night, and when at a subsequent period the race of mankind had again increased from those who had been spared, and had become very numerous, since the succeeding g(;uerations did not take tlie calamities which had befallen their ancestors as a lesson to teach themselves wisdom and moderation, but turned to acts of intemperance and 1 ecame studiers of evil practices, God determined to destroy them with fire. 'J'herefore on this occasion, as the holy scriptures tell us, thunderbolts fell from heaven, and burnt up those wicked men and their cities ; and even to this day there are seen in Syria nuimmients of tht? unprecedented destruction that fell upon tluMii, in the ruins, and ashes, and sulphur, and smoke, and dusky flame which still is sent up from the ground as of a fire smouldering beneath ; and in this way it came to pass that those wicked men were punislied with the aforesaid chastisements, while those who were eminent for virtue and piety were well off, receiving rewards worthy of their virtue.

But when the whole of that district was thus burnt, inhabitants and all, by the impetuous rush of the heavenly fire, cue single man in the country, a sojourner, was preserved by the providence of God because he had never shared in the transgressions of the natives, though sojourners in general were in the habit of adopting the customs of the foreign Jiations, among which they might be settled, for the sake of their own safety, since, if they despised them, they might be in danger from the inhabitants of the land. And yet this man had not attained to any perfection of wisdom, so as to be thought worthy of such an honour by reason of the perfect excellence of his nature ; but he was spared only because he did not join the multitude who were inclined to luxury and effeminacy, and who pursued every kind of pleasure and indulged every kind of appetite, gratifying them abundantly, and inflaming them as one might inflame firo by heaping upon it plenty of rough fuel. Xr.

But in the great deluge I may almost say that the whole of the human race was destroyed, while the history tells us that the house of Noah alone was preserved free from all evil, in;ismuch as the father and governor of the house was a man who had never conunitted any intentional or voluntary wickedness. And it is worth while to relate the manner of his preservation as the sacred scriptures deliver it to us, both on account of the extraordinary character of it, and also that it may lead to an improvement in our own dispositions and lives.

For he, being considered a fit man, not only to be exempted from the common calamity winch was to overwhelm the world, but also to be himself the beginning of a second generation of men, in obedience to the divine commands which were conveyed to him by the word of God, built a most enormous fabric of wood, three hundred cubits in length, and fifty in width, and tliirty in height, and hiiving prepared a number of connected chambers within it, both on the ground floor and in the upper story, the whole building consisting of three, and in some parts of four stories, and having prepared food, brought into it some of every description of animals, beasts and also birds, both male and female, in order to preserve a means of propagating the different species in the times that should come hereafter ; for he knew that the nature of God was merciful, and that even if the subordinate species were destroyed, still there would be a germ in the entire genus which should be safe from destruction, for the sake of preserving a similitude to those animals wliich had hitherto existed, and of preventing anything that had been deliberately called into existence fi'om being utterly destroyed.

On which account everything was now made obedient to Noah ; and even beasts, which up to that time had been savage, became gentle, and being tamed, followed him as their shepherd and superintendent ; and after they had all entered into the ark, if any one had beheld the entire collection, he would not have been wrong if he had said that it was a representation of the whole earth, containing, as it did, every kind of animal, of which the whole earth had previously produced innumerable species, and will hereafter produce such again. And what was expected happened at no long period after ; for the evil abated, and the destruction caused by the deluge was diminished every day, the rain being checked, and the water which had been spread over the whole earth, being partly dried up by the flame of the sun, and partly returning into the chasms and rivers, and other channels and receptacles in the earth ; for, as if God had issued a command to that effect, every nature received back, as a necessary repayment of a loan, what it had lent, that is, every sea, and fountain, and river, received baciv their waters ; and every stream returned into its appropriate channel.

But after tlie purification, in this way, of all the things beneath the moon, the earth being thus waslied and appearing new again, and such as it appeared to be when it was at first crented, along with the entire universe, Noah came forth out of his wooden edifice, himself and his wife, and his sons and their wives, and with his family there came forth likewise, in one company, all the races of animals which had gone in with them, in order to the generation and propagation of similar creatures in future. These are the rewards and honours for pre-eminent excellence given to good men, by means of which, not only did they themselves and their famihcs obtain safety, having escaped from the greatest dangers which were thus aimed against all men all over the earth, by the change in the character of the elements ; but they became also the founders of a new generation, and the chiefs of a second period of the world, being left beliind as sparks of the most excellent kind of creatures, namely, of men, man having received the supremacy over all earthly creatures whatsoever, being a kind of copy of the powers of God, a visible image of his invisible nature, a created image of an uncreated and immortal original.

We have already, then, gone through two parts of the life of Moses, discussing his character in his capacity of a king and of a lawgiver. "We must now consider him in a third light, as fulClling the office of the priesthood. Now this man, Moses, practised beyond all other men that which is the most important and most indispensable virtue in a chief priest, namely, piety, partly because he was endowed with most admirable natural qualities ; and philosophy, receiving his nature like a fertile field, cultivated and improved it by the contemplation of excellent and beautiful doctrines, and did not dismiss it until all the fruits of virtue were brought to perfection in him, in respect of words and actions. Therefore he, with a few other men, was dear to God and devoted to God. being inspired by heavenly love, and honouring the I'atlier of the universe above all things, and being in return honoured by him in a particular manner. And it was an honour well adapted to the wise man to be allowed to serve the true and living God. Now tlie priesthood has for its duty the service of God. Of this honour, then, Moses was thought worthy, than which there is no greater honour in the whole world, being instructed by the sacred oracles of God in everything that related to the sacred offices and ministrations.

But, in the first place, before assuming that office, it was necessary for him to purify not only his soul but also his body, so that it should be connected with and defiled by no passion, but should be pure from everything which is of a mortal nature, from all meat and drink, and from all connection with women. And this last thing, indeed, he had despised for a long time, and almost from the first moment that he began to prophesy and to feel a divine inspiration, thinking that it was proper that he should at all times be ready to give his whole attention to the commands of God. And how he neglected all meat and drink for forty days together, evidently because he had more excellent food than that in those contemplations with which he was inspired from above from heaven, by which also he was improved in the first instance in his mind, and, secondly, in his body, through his soul, increasing in strength and health both of body and soul, so that those who saw him afterwards could not believe that he was the same person.

For, having gone up into the loftiest and most sacred mountain in that district in accordance with the divine commands, a mountain which was very difficult of access and very hard to ascend, he is said to have remained there all that time without eating any of that food even which is necessarj' for life ; and, as I said before, he descended again forty days afterwards, being much more beautiful in his face than when he went up, so that those who saw him wondered and were amazed, and could no longer endure to look upon him with their eyes, inasmuch as his countenance shone like the light of the sun.

And while he was still abiding in the mountain he was initiated in the sacred will of God, being instructed in all the most important matters which relate to his priesthood, those which come first in order being the commands of God respecting the building of a temple and all its furniture. If, then, they had already occupied the country into which they were migrating, it would have been necessary for them to have erected a most magnificent temple of the most costly stone in some place unincumbered with wood, and to have built vast walls around it, and abundant and well-furnished houses for the keepers of the temple, calling the place itself the holy city. But, as they were still wandering in the wilderness, it was more suitable for people who had as yet no settled habitation to have a moveable temple, that so, in all their journeyings, and military expeditions, and encampments, they might be able to offer, up sacrifices, and might not feel the want of any of the things which related to their holy ministrations, and which those who dwell in cities require to have.

Therefore Moses now determined to build a tabernacle, a most holy edifice, tlie furniture of which he was instructed how to supply by precise commands from God, given to him while he was on the mount, contemplating with his soul the incorporeal patterns of bodies which were about to be made perfect, in due similitude to which he was bound to make the furniture, that it might be an imitation perceptible by the outward senses of an archetypal sketch and pattern, appre- (-■iable only by the intellect ; for it was suitable and consistent for the task of preparing and furnishing the temple to be entrusted to the real high priest, that he might with all due perfection and propriety make all his ministrations in the perftirmauce of his sacred duties correspond to the works which he was now to make. n''. Therefore the general form of the model was stamped upon the mind of the prophet, being accurately painted and fashioned beforehand invisibly without any materials, in species whicli were not apparent to the eye ; aud the completion of the work was made in tlie similitude of the model, the maker giving an accurate representation of the i'mpression in material substances corresponding to each part of the model, and the fasliion of the building was as follows.

There were eight and forty pillars of cedar, which is the most incorruptible of all woods, cut out of solid trunks of great beautv, and thev were all veneered with gold of irreat tluckncss. Then under each pillar there were placed two silver pedestals to support it, and on the top of each was placed one golden capital ; and of these pillars the architect arranged forty along the length of the tabernacle, cue half of them, or twenty, on each side, placing nothing between them. but arranging them and uniting them all in regular order, and close together, so that they might present the appearance of one sohd wall ; and he ranged the other eight along the inner breadth, placing six in the middle space, and two at the extreme corners, one on each side at the right and left of the centre. Again, at the entrance he placed four others, like the first in all other respects except that they had only one pedestal instead of two, as those opposite to them had, and behind them he placed five more on the outside differing only in the pedestals, for the pedestals of these last were made of brass.

So that all the pillars of the tabernacle taken together, besides the two at the corners which could not be seen, were fiftj-five in number, all conspicuous, being the number made by the addition of all the numbers from the unit to the comTjJete and perfect decade. And if any were inclined to count those five pillars of the outer vestibule in the open air separately, as being in the outer court as it was called, there will then be left that most holy number of fifty, being the power of a rectangular triangle, which is the foundation of the creation of the universe, and is here entirely completed by the pillars inside the tabernacle ; there being first of all forty, twenty on either side, and those in the middle being six, without counting those which were out of sight and concealed at the corners, and those opposite to tlie entrance, from which the veil was suspended, being four; and the reason for which I reckon the other five with the first fifty, and again why I separate them from the fifty, I will now explain.

The number five is the number of the external senses, and the external sense in man at one time inclines towards external things, and at another time comes back again upon the mind, being as it were a kind of handmaid of the laws of its nature ; on which account it is that tlie architect has here allotted a central position to the five pillars, for those which are inside of them leant towards the innermost shrine of the tabernacle, which under a symbol is appreciable only by tlie intellect ; and the outermost pillars, which are in the open air, and in the outer courtyard, and which are also perceptible by the external senses, in reference to which fact it is that they are said to have differed from the others only in the pedestals, for they were made of brass.