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WORKS
PHILO JUDJEU S,
THE CONTEMPORARY OF JOSEPHUS,
TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK,
C. D. YONGE, B,A.
VOL. III.
LONDON :
HENRY G. BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
1855.
p
683
CMMM4UB.
CONTENTS.
PAGS
On the Life of Moses, that is to say, on the Theology
and Prophetic Office of Moses. Book I. ... 1
On the Life of Moses. Book II 74
On the Life of Moses. Book III 88
Concerning the Ten Commandments, which are the
Heads of the Law 136
On Circumcision 175
On Monarchy. Book 1 177
On Monarchy. Book II 190
On the Question, What the Rewards and Honours are
which belong to the Priests 204
On Animals fit for Sacrifice, or on Victims . . . .211
On those who offer Sacrifice 229
On the Commandment that the Wages of a Harlot are
not to be received in the Sacred Treasury . . . 249
On the Special Laws which are referred to Three
Articles of the Decalogue, namely, the Third,
Fourth, and Fifth ; about Oaths, and the Eeverence
due to them ; about the Holy Sabbath ; about the
Honour to be paid to Parents 255
To show that the Festivals are Ten in Number . . . 265
On the Festival of the Basket of First-Fruits ... 291
On the Honour commanded to be paid to Parents . . 293
CONTENTS.
PAGK
On those Special Laws which are referrible to Two
Commandments in the Decalogue, the Sixth and
Seventh, against Adulterers and all Lewd Persons,
and against Murderers and all Violence .... 303
On those Special Laws which are contained under and
have reference to the Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth
Commandments 355
On Justice . , 388
On the Creation of Magistrates 392
On Three Virtues, that is to say, on Courage, Humanity,
and Repentance 412
On Eewards and Punishments 456
On Curses 485
On Nobility 496
To Prove that every Man who is virtuous is also free . 506
JWl
A TEEATISE
ON THE
LIFE OF MOSES,
THAT IS TO SAY,
ON THE THEOLOQY AND PROPHETIC OFFICE OF MOSES.
BOOK I.
I. I HAVE conceived the idea of writing the life of Moses,
who, according to the account of some persons, was the law
giver of the Jews, but according to others only an interpreter
of the sacred laws, the greatest and most perfect man that ever
lived, having a desire to make his character fully known to
those who ought not to remain in ignorance respecting him,
for the glory of the laws which he left behind him has reached
over the whole world, and has penetrated to the very furthest
limits of the universe ; and those who do really and truly
understand him are not many, perhaps partly out of envy, or
else from the disposition so common to many persons of
resisting the commands which are delivered by lawgivers in
different states, since the historians who have flourished
among the Greeks have not chosen to think him worthy of
ition, the greater part of whom have both in their poems
I also in their prose writings, disparaged or defaced the
pc ?rs which they have received through education, composing
comedies and works full of Sybaritish profligacy and licentious
ness to their everlasting shame, while they ought rather to
have employed their natural endowments and abilities in
preserving a record of virtuous men and praiseworthy lives, so
that honourable actions, whether ancient or modern, might not
be buried in silence, and thus have all recollection of them
lost, while they might shine gloriously if duly celebrated ; and
that they might not themselves have seemed to pass by more
appropriate subjects, and to prefer such as were unworthy of
being mentioned at all, while they were eager to give a specious
appearance to infamous actions, so as to secure notoriety for
disgraceful deeds.
VOL. III. B
o PHILO JUD^EUS.
But I disregard the envious disposition of these men, and
shall proceed to narrate the events which hefell him, having
learnt them both from those sacred scriptures which he has
left as marvellous memorials of his wisdom, and having also
heard many things from the elders of my nation, for I have
continually connected together what I have heard with what
I have read, and in this way I look upon it that I am acquainted
with the history of his life more accurately than other people.
II. And I will begin first with that with which it is
necessary to begin.
Moses was by birth a Hebrew, but he was born, and brought
up, and educated in Egypt, his ancestors having migrated into
Egypt with all their families on account of the long famine
which oppressed Babylon and all the adjacent countries ; for
they were in search of food, and Egypt was a champaign
country blessed with a rich soil, and very productive of every
thing which the nature of man requires, and especially of corn
and wheat, for the river of that country at the height of
summer, when they say that all other rivers which are derived
from winter torrents and from springs in the ground are
smaller, rises and increases, and overflows so as to irrigate all
the lands, and make them one vast lake. And so the land,
without having any need of rain, supplies every year an
unlimited abundance of every kind of good food, unless some
times the anger of God interrupts this abundance by reason -/of
the excessive impiety of the inhabitants.
And his father and mother were among the most excellent
persons of their time, and though they were of the same time,
still they were induced to unite themselves together more
from an unanimity of feeling than because they were related
in blood ; and Moses is the seventh generation in succession
from the original settler in the country who was the founder
of the whole race of the Jews.
III. And he was thought worthy of being bred up in the
royal palace, the cause of which circumstance was as follows.
The king of the country, inasmuch as the nation of the
Hebrews kept continually increasing in numbers, fearing lest
gradually the settlers should become more numerous than the
original inhabitants, and being more powerful should set upon
them and subdue them by force, and make themselves their
masters, conceived the idea of destroying their strength by
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 3
impious devices, and ordered that of all the children that were
born the females only should be brought up (since a woman, by
reason of the weakness of her nature, is disinclined to and
unfitted for war), and that all the male children should be
destroyed, that the population of their cities might not be
increased, since a power which consists of a number of men is
a fortress difficult to take and difficult to destroy.*
Accordingly as the child Moses, as soon as he was born,
displayed a more beautiful and noble form than usual, his
parents resolved, as far as was in their power, to disregard the
proclamations of the tyrant. Accordingly they say that for
three months continuously they kept him at home, feeding
him on milk, without its coming to the knowledge of the
multitude ; but when, as is commonly the case in monarchies,
some persons discovered what was kept secret and in darkness,
of those persons who are always eager to bring any new report
to the king, his parents being afraid lest while seeking to
secure the safety of one individual, they who were many might
become involved in his destruction, with many tears exposed
their child on the banks of the river, and departed groaning
and lamenting, pitying themselves for the necessity which had
fallen upon them, and calling themselves the slayers and
murderers of their child, and commiserating the infant too
for his destruction, which they had hoped to avert.
Then, as was natural for people involved in a miserable
misfortune, they accused themselves as having brought a
heavier affliction on themselves than they need have done.
" For why," said they, " did we not expose him at the first
moment of his birth ?" For people in general do not look
upon one who has not lived long enough to partake of salutary
food as a human being at all. " But we, in our superfluous
affection, have nourished him these three entire months, causing
ourselves by such conduct more abundant grief, and inflicting
upon him a heavier punishment, in order that he, having at last
attained to a great capacity for feeling pleasures and pains, should
at last perish in the perception of the most grievous evils."
IV. And so they departed in ignorance of the future, being
wholly overwhelmed with sad misery; but the sister of the
* The similitude of this passage to Sir William Jones Ode is very
remarkable :
" WLat constitutes a state."
B 2
4 PHILO JUD^EUS.
infant who was thus exposed, being still a maiden, out of the
vehemence of her fraternal affection, stood a little way off
watching to see what would happen, and all the events which
concerned him appear to me to have taken place in accordance
with the providence of God, who watched over the infant.
Now the king of the couptry had an only daughter, whom he
tenderly loved, and they say that she, although she had been
married a long time, had never had any children, and there
fore, as was natural, was very desirous of children, and
especially of male offspring, which should succeed to the noble
inheritance of her father s prosperity and imperial authority,
which was otherwise in danger of being lost, since the king
had no other grandsons.
And as she was always desponding and lamenting, so espe
cially on that particular day was she overcome by the weight
of her anxiety, that, though it was her ordinary custom to stay
in doors and never to pass over the threshold of her house,
yet now she went forth with her handmaidens down to the
river, where the infant was lying. And there, as she was
about to indulge in a bath and purification in the thickest part
of the marsh, she beheld the child, and commanded her hand
maidens to bring him to her. Then, after she had surveyed
him from head to foot, and admired his elegant form and
healthy vigorous appearance, and saw that he was crying, she
had compassion on him, her soul being already moved within
her by maternal feelings of affection as if he had been her own
child.
And when she knew that the infant belonged to one of the
Hebrews who was afraid because of the commandment of the
king, she herself conceived the idea of rearing him up, and
took counsel with herself on the subject, thinking that it was
not safe to bring him at once into the palace ; and while she
was still hesitating, the sister of the infant, who was still
looking out, conjecturing her hesitation from what she beheld,
ran up and asked her whether she would like that the child
should be brought up at the breast by some one of the Hebrew
women who had been lately delivered ; and as she said that
she wished that she would do so, the maiden went and fetched
her own mother and that of the infant, as if she had been a
stranger, who with great readiness and willingness cheerfully
promised to take the child and bring him up, pretending to be
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 5
tempted by the reward to be paid, the providence of God thus
making the original bringing up of the child to accord with
the genuine course of nature. Then she gave him a name,
calling him Moses with great propriety, because she had
received him out of the water, for the Egyptians call water
"mos."
V. But when the child began to grow and increase, he was
weaned, not in accordance with the time of his age, but earlier
than usual; and then his mother, who was also his nurse,
came to bring him back to the princess who had given him to
her, inasmuch as he no longer required to be fed on milk,
and as he was now a fine and noble child to look upon. And
when the king s daughter saw that he was more perfect than
could have been expected at his age, and when from his
appearance she conceived greater good will than ever towards
him, she adopted him as her son, having first put in practice
all sorts of contrivances to increase the apparent bulk of her.
belly, so that he might be looked upon as her own genuine
child, and not as a supposititious one ; but God easily brings
to pass whatever he is inclined to effect, however difficult it
may be to bring to a successful issue.
Therefore the child being now thought worthy of a royal
education and a royal attendance, was not, like a mere child,
long delighted with toys and objects of laughter and amuse
ment, even though those who had undertaken the care of him
allowed him holidays and times for relaxation, and never
behaved in any stern or morose way to him ; but he himself
exhibited a modest and dignified deportment in all his words
and gestures, attending diligently to every lesson of every
kind which could tend to the improvement of his mind. And
immediately lie had all kinds of masters, one after another,
some coming of their own accord from the neighbouring coun
tries and the different districts of Egypt, and some being even
procured from Greece by the temptation of large presents.
But in a short time he surpassed all their knowledge, antici
pating all their lessons by the excellent natural endowments
of his own genius ; so that everything in his case appeared to
be a recollecting rather than a learning, while he himself also,
without any teacher, comprehended by his instinctive genius
many difficult subjects ; for great abilities cut out for them
selves many new roads to knowledge.
6 PHILO JUD^US.
And just as vigorous and healthy bodies which are active
and quick in motion in all their parts, release their trainers
from much care, giving them little or no trouble and anxiety,
and as trees which are of a good sort, and which have a natural
good growth, give no trouble to their cultivators, but grow
finely and improve of themselves, so in the same manner the
well disposed soul, going forward to meet the lessons which are
imparted to it, is improved in reality by itself rather than by
its teachers, and taking hold of some beginning or principle of
knowledge, bounds, as the proverb has it, like a horse over the
plain.
Accordingly he speedily learnt arithmetic, and geometry,
and the whole science of rhythm and harmony and metre, and
the whole of music, by means of the use of musical instru
ments, and by lectures on the different arts, and by explana
tions of each topic ; and lessons on these subjects were given
him by Egyptian philosophers, who also taught him the philo
sophy which is contained in symbols, which they exhibit in
those sacred characters or hieroglyphics, as they are called,
and also that philosophy which is conversant about that
respect which they pay to animals which they invest with the
honours due to God.
And all the other branches of the encyclical education he
learnt from Greeks ; and the philosophers from the adjacent
countries taught him Assyrian literature and the knowledge of
the heavenly bodies so much studied by the Chaldaeans. And
this knowledge he derived also from the Egyptians, who
study mathematics above all things, and he learnt with great
accuracy the state of that art among both the Chaldseans and
Egyptians, making himself acquainted with the points in which
they agree with and differ from each other making himself
master of all their disputes without encouraging any disputa
tious disposition in himself but seeking the plain truth, since
his mind was unable to admit any falsehood, as those are accus
tomed to do who contend violently for one particular side of a
question ; and who advocate any doctrine which is set before
them, whatever it may b.e, not inquiring whether it deserves to
be supported, but acting in the same manner as those lawyers
who defend a cause for pay, and are wholly indifferent to the
justice of their cause.
VI. And when he had passed the boundaries of the age of
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES.
infancy he began to exercise his intellect ; not, as some people
do, letting his youthful passions roam at large without restraint,
although in him they had ten thousand incentives by reason of
the abundant means for the gratification of them which royal
places supply ; but he behaved with temperance and fortitude,
as though he had bound them with reins, and thus he restrained
their onward impetuosity by force. And he tamed, and ap
peased, and brought under due command every one of the other
passions which are naturally and as far as they are themselves
concerned frantic, and violent, and unmanageable. And if
any one of them at all excited itself and endeavoured to get free
from restraint he administered severe punishment to it, reprov
ing it with severity of language ; and, in short, he repressed all
the principal impulses and most violent affections of the sou 1 ,
and kept guard over them as over a restive horse, fearing lest
they might break all bounds and get beyond the power of
reason which ought to be their guide to restrain them, and so
throw everything everywhere into confusion.
For these passions are the causes of all good arid of all evil ;
of good when they submit to the authority of dominant reason,
and of evil when they break out of bounds and scorn all
government and restraint.
Very naturally, therefore, those who associated with him
and every one who was acquainted with him marvelled at him,
being astonished as at a novel spectacle, and inquiring what
kind of mind it was that had its abode in his body, and that
was set up in it like an image in a shrine ; whether it was a
human mind or a divine intellect, or something combined of
the two ; because he had nothing in him resembling the many,
but had gone beyond them all and was elevated to a more sub
lime height. For he never provided his stomach with any
luxuries beyond those necessary tributes which nature has ap
pointed to be paid to it, and as to the pleasures of the organs
below the stomach he paid no attention to them at all, except as
far as the object of having legitimate children was concerned.
And being in a most eminent degree a practiser of absti
nence and self-denial, and being above all men inclined to
ridicule a life of effeminacy and luxury (for he desired to live
for his soul alone, arid not for his body), he exhibited the
doctrines of philosophy in all his daily actions, saying pre
cisely what he thought, and performing such actions only as
8 PHILO JUD^US.
were consistent with his words, so as to exhibit a perfect har
mony between his language and his life, so that as his words
were such also was his life, and as his life was such likewise
was his language, like people who are playing together in tune
on a musical instrument.
Therefore men in general, even if the slightest breeze of
prosperity does only blow their way for a moment, become
puffed up and give themselves great airs, becoming insolent to
all those who are in a lower condition than themselves, and
calling them dregs of the earth, and annoyances, and sources of
trouble, and burdens of the earth, and all sorts of names of
that kind, as if they had been thoroughly able to establish the
imdeviating character of their prosperity on a solid foundation,
though, very likely, they will not remain in the same condition
even till to-morrow , for there is nothing more inconstant
than fortune, which tosses human affairs up and down like dice.
Often has a single day thrown down the man who was pre
viously placed on an eminence, and raised the lowly man on
high. And while men see these events continually taking
place, and though they are well assured of the fact, still they
overlook their relations and friends, and transgress the laws
according to which they were born and brought up ; and they
overturn their national hereditary customs to which no just
blame whatever is attached, dwelling in a foreign land, and by
reason of their cordial reception of the customs among which
they are living, no longer remembering a single one of their
ancient usages.
VII. But Moses, having now reached the very highest point
of human good fortune, and being looked upon as the grand
son of this mighty king, and being almost considered in the
expectations of all men as the future inheritor of his grand
father s kingdom, and being always addressed as the young
prince, still felt a desire for and admiration of the education
of his kinsmen and ancestors, considering all the things
which were thought good among those who had adopted him
as spurious, even though they might, in consequence of
the present state of affairs, have a brilliant appearance ; and
those things which were thought good by his natural parents,
even though they might be for a short time somewhat obscure,
at all events akin to himself and genuine good things.
Accordingly, like an uncorrupt judge both of his real parents
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES.
and of those who had adopted him, he cherished towards the
one a good will and an ardent affection, and he displayed grati
tude towards the others in requital of the kindness which he
had received at their hands, and he would have displayed the
same throughout his whole life if he had not heheld a great and
novel iniquity wrought in the country by the king ; for, as I
have said before, the Jews were strangers in Egypt, the
founders of their race having migrated from Babylon and the
upper satrapies in the time of the famine, by reason of their
want of food, and come and settled in Egypt, and having in a
manner taken refuge like suppliants in the country as in a
sacred asylum, fleeing for protection to the good faith of the
king and the compassion of the inhabitants ; for strangers, in
my opinion, should be looked upon as refugees, and as the sup
pliants of those who receive them in their country ; and,
besides, being suppliants, these men were likewise sojourners
in the land, and friends desiring to be admitted to equal honours
with the citizens, and neighbours differing but little in their
character from original natives.
The men, therefore, who had left their homes and come
into Egypt, as if they were to dwell in that land as in a second
country in perfect security, the king of the country reduced to
slavery, and, as if he had taken them prisoners by the laws of
war, or had bought them from masters in whose house they had
been bred, he oppressed them and treated them as slaves,
though they were not only free men, but also strangers, and
suppliants, and sojourners, having no respect for nor any awe
of God, who presides over the rights of free men, and of stran
gers, and of suppliants, and of hospitality, and who beholds all
such actions as his. Then he laid commands on them beyond
their power to fulfil, imposing on them labour after labour ;
and, when they fainted from weakness, the sword came upon
them.
He appointed overseers over their works, the most pitiless
and inhuman of men, who pardoned and made allowance for no
one, and whom they from the circumstances and from their
behaviour called persecutors of work. And they wrought with
clay, some of them fashioning it into bricks, and others collect
ing straw from all quarters, for straw is the bond which binds
bricks together ; while others, again, had the task allotted to
them of building up houses, and walls, and gates, and cutting
19 PHILO JUD.EUS.
trenches, bearing wood themselves day and night without in
terruption, having no rest or respite, and not even being allowed
time so much as to sleep, but being compelled to perform all
the works not only of workmen but also of journeymen, so that
in a short time their bodies failed them, their souls having
already fainted beneath their afflictions.
And so they died, one after another, as if smitten by a pesti
lential destruction, and then their taskmasters threw their
bodies away unburied beyond the borders of the land, not
suffering their kinsmen or their friends to sprinkle even a little
dust on their corpses, nor to weep over those who had thus
miserably perished ; but, like impious men as they were, they
threatened to extend their despotism over the passions of
the soul (that cannot be enslaved, and which are nearly the
only things which nature has made completely free), oppress
ing them with the intolerable weight of a necessity beyond
their powers.
VIII. At all these events Moses was greatly grieved and
indignant, not being able either to chastise the unjust oppres
sors of his people nor to assist those who were oppressed, but
he gave them all the assistance that was in his power, by
words, recommending their overseers to treat them with modera
tion, and to relax and abate somewhat of the oppressive nature
of their commands, and exhorting the oppressed who were
labouring thus to bear their present distresses with a noble
spirit and to be men in their minds, and not to let their souls
faint as well as their bodies, but to hope for good fortune after
their present adversity ; for that all things in this world have
a tendency to change to the opposite, cloudy weather to fine,
violent gales to calm and absence of wind, storms and heavy
billows at sea to fair weather and an unruffled surface of the
water ; and much more are human affairs likely to change, inas
much as they are more unstable than anything.
By using these charms, as it were, like a good physician, he
thought he should be able to alleviate their afflictions, although
they were most grievous. But whenever their distress abated,
then again their taskmasters returned and oppressed them
with increased severity, always after the respite adding some
new evil which should be even more intolerable than their pre
vious sufferings ; for some of their overseers were very savage
and furious men, being, as to their cruelty, not at all different
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 11
from poisonous serpents or carnivorous beasts wild beasts in
human form being clothed with the form of a human body so
as to give an appearance of gentleness in order to deceive and
catch their victim, but in reality being harder than iron or
adamant.
One of these men, then, the most violent of them, when, in
addition to yielding nothing of his purpose, he was even exas
perated at the exhortations of Moses and rendered more savage
by them, beating those who did not labour with energy and
unremittingly at the work which was imposed upon them, and
insulting them and subjecting them to every kind of ill-treat
ment, so as even to be the death of many, Moses slew, thinking
the deed a pious action ; and, indeed, it was a pious action to
destroy one who only lived for the destruction of others.
When the king heard of this action he was very indignant,
thinking it an intolerable thing, not for one man to be dead,
or for another to have killed him, whether justly or unjustly,
but for his grandson not to agree with him, and not to look
upon his friends or his enemies as his own, but to hate persons
whom the king loved, and to love persons whom the king looked
upon as outcasts, and to pity those whom he regarded with
unchangeable and implacable aversion.
IX. But when the Egyptian authorities had once got an
opportunity of attacking the young man, having already reason
for looking upon him with suspicion (for they well knew that
he would hereafter bear them ill-will for their evil practices,
and would revenge himself on them when he had an opportu
nity) they poured in, at all times and from all quarters, thousands
and thousands of calumnies into the willing ears of his grand
father, so that they even implanted in his mind an apprehen
sion that Moses was plotting to deprive him: of his kingdom,
saying to him : "He will strip you of your crown. He has
no humble designs or notions. He is continually seeking to
busy himself in what does not concern him, and to acquire some
additional power. He is eager for the kingdom before his
time. He caresses some people ; he threatens others ; he kills
others without a trial ; he hates all those who are the best
affected towards you. Why do you delay ? Why do you not
cut short all his designs and machinations? Delay on the
part of those against whom they are plotting is of the greatest
advantage to those who wish to attack them."
12 PHILO JUD^EUS.
As they urged these arguments to the king he retreated to
the contiguous country of Arabia, where it was safe to abide,
entreating God that he would deliver his countrymen from in
extricable calamities, and would worthily chastise their oppres
sors who omitted no circumstance of insolence and tyranny, and
would double his joy by allowing him to behold the accomplish
ment of both these prayers. And God heard his prayers,
looking favourably on his disposition, so devoted to what is good,
and so hostile to what is evil, and not long after he pronounced
his decision upon the affairs of that land as became a God.
But while he was preparing to display the decision which he
was about to pronounce, Moses was devoting himself to all the
labours of virtue, having a teacher within himself, virtuous
reason, by whom he had been trained to the most virtuous pur
suits of life, and had learnt to apply himself to the contempla
tion and practice of virtue and to the continual study of the
doctrines of philosophy, which he easily and thoroughly com
prehended in his soul, and committed to memory in such a
manner as never to forget them ; and, moreover, he made all
his own actions, which were intrinsically praiseworthy, to har
monise with them, desiring not to seem wise and good, but in
truth and reality to be so, because he made the right reason of
nature his only aim ; which is, in fact, the only first principle
and fountain of all the virtues.
Any one else, perhaps, fleeing from the implacable fury of
the king, and coming now for the first time into a foreign land,
when he had not as yet associated with or learnt the customs of
the natives, and not knowing with any accuracy the objects in
which they delighted or which they regarded with aversion,
would have been desirous to enjoy tranquillity and to live in
obscurity, escaping the notice of men in general ; or else, if he
had wished to come forward in public, he would have endea
voured by all means to propitiate the powerful men and those
in the highest authority in the country by persevering atten
tions, as men from whom some advantage or assistance might
be expected, if any pursuers should come after him and endea
vour to drag him away by force. But this man proceeded
by the path which was the exact opposite of that which was the
probable one for him to take, following the healthy impulses of
his soul, and not allowing any one of them to be impeded in
its progress. On which account, at times, with the fervour of
ON THE LIFE OP MOSES. 13
youth, he attempted things beyond his existing strength;
looking upon justice as an irresistible power, by which he was
encouraged so as to go spontaneously to the assistance of the
weaker side.
X. I will also mention one action which was done by him at
that time, even although it may be but a trifling one in appear
ance, but still it proceeded from a lofty spirit. The Arabs are
great breeders of cattle, and they all feed their flocks together,
not merely men, but also women, and youths, and maidens with
them, and this, too. not merely in the obscurer classes and lower
ranks of life, but also among the most eminent persons of the
nation.
Now there were seven damsels, whose father was the priest,
and they all came to a certain fountain leading their flocks,
and having loosened their vessels and let them down by thongs
they succeeded one another in drawing up the water, so as for
them all to have an equal share in the work ; and in this way
they cheerfully and rapidly filled the troughs which were at
hand. And when other shepherds came up they disregarded
the weakness of the damsels and endeavoured to drive them
away with their flocks, and then brought their own herds to
the drink that was prepared, desiring to reap the fruits of the
labour of others. But Moses, seeing what was done, for he
was at no great distance, hastened and ran up ; and, when he
had come near to them, he said : " Will not you desist from
behaving thus unjustly, thinking this solitary place a fitting
field for the exercise of your covetousness ? Are you not
ashamed to have such cowardly arms and hands ? You are
long-haired people, female flesh, and not men. The damsels
behave like vigorous youths, hesitating about nothing that they
ought to do ; but you, young men, are now behaving lazily,
like girls. Will you not depart ? Will you not be off and give
place to those who arrived first, to whom the water belongs,
and who are entitled to it ; when you ought rather to have
drawn water for them,*that so they might have had it in greater
abundance ? And are you, on the contrary, endeavouring to
to take away from them what they themselves have got ready ?
" But I swear, by the celestial eye of justice, which sees
what is done even in the most solitary places, that you shall
not take it from them. And at all events, now justice has
sent me and appointed me to bring them assistance who never
14 PHILO JUD^EUS.
expected such an officer ; for I am an ally to these damsels
who are thus injured by violence, and I come with a might
which you evil-doers and covetous people cannot face, but
you shall feel it wounding you in an invisible manner, if you
do not change your ways." He said this ; and they, being
alarmed at his words, since while he was speaking he appeared
inspired, and his appearance became changed, so that he looked
like a prophet, and fearing lest he might be uttering divine
oracles and predictions, they obeyed and became submissive,
and brought back the flock of the maidens to the troughs, first
of all removing their own cattle.
XL So the damsels went home exceedingly delighted, and
they related all that had happened to them beyond their
hopes, so that they wished their father with an earnest desire
to see the stranger. At all events he blamed them for their
ingratitude, speaking as follows : " What were ye about, that
ye let him go, when you ought at once to have brought him
hither, and to have entreated him to come if he declined ?
Or when did you see any inhospitality in me ? Or do you
expect never again to fall into difficulties? Those who are
forgetful of services must needs lack defenders, but neverthe
less hasten after him, for as yet the error which you have
committed may be repaired; and go with haste and invite
him first of all to a hospitable reception, and then endeavour
to requite his service, for great thanks are due to him."
So they made haste, and went after him, and overtook him
at no great distance from the fountain ; and when they had
delivered their father s message to him, they persuaded him
to return home with them. And their father was at once
greatly struck by his appearance, and soon afterwards he learnt
to admire his wisdom, for great natures are very easily dis
covered, and do not require a length of time to be appreciated,
and so he gave him the most beautiful of his daughters to be
his wife, conjecturing by that one action of his how completely
good and excellent he was, and testifying that what is good is
the only thing which deserves to be loved, and that it does not
require any external recommendation, but bears in itself proofs
by which it may be known and understood.
And after his marriage, Moses took his father-in-law s herds
and tended them, being thus instructed in the lessons proper
to qualify him for becoming the leader of a people, for the
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 15
business of a shepherd is a preparation for the office of a king to
any one who is destined to preside over that most manageable
of all flocks, mankind, just as hunting is a good training-school
for men of warlike dispositions ; for they who are practising
with a view to learning the management of an army, pre
viously study the science of hunting, brute animals being as
some raw material exposed to their attacks in order for them
to practise the art of commanding on each occasion of war or
of peace, for the pursuit of wild beasts is a training-school of
strategy to be developed against enemies, and the care and
management of tame animals is a royal training for the govern
ment of subjects; for which reason kings are called shepherds
of their people, not by way of reproach, but as a most especial
and pre-eminent honour.
And it appears to me, who have examined the matter not
with any reference to the opinions of the many, but solely
with regard to truth (and he may laugh who pleases), that that
man alone can be a perfect king who is well skilled in the art
of the shepherd, being thus instructed as to more important
matters by experience of the inferior animals ; for it is impos
sible for great things to be brought to perfection before small
ones.
XII. ^Therefore Moses, having become the most skilful
herdsman of his time, and the most prudent provider of all
the necessary things for his flock, and of all things which
tended to their advantage, because he never delayed or hesi
tated, but exerted a voluntary and spontaneous cheerfulness
in all things necessary for the animals under his charge, saw
his flocks increase with great joy and guileless good faith, so
that he soon incurred the envy of the other herdsmen, who
saw nothing in their own flocks resembling the condition of
his ; but they thought themselves well off if they continued as
before, while the flock of Moses would have been thought to
be falling off if it had not improved, every day, by reason of
the vast augmentations that it was in the habit of receiving
in beauty from its high condition and fatness, and in number
from the prolific character of the females, and the wholesome
way in which it was fed and managed.
And when Moses was leading his flock into a situation full
of good water and good grass, where there was also a great
deal of herbage especially suitable for sheep, he came upon a
16 PHILO JUD^EUS.
certain grove in a valley, where he saw a most marvellous
sight. There was a bush or briar, a very thorny plant, and
very weak and supple. This bush was on a sudden set in a
blaze without any one applying any fire to it, and being
entirely enveloped from the root to the topmost branch by the
abundant flame, as though it had proceeded from some fountain
showering fire over it, it nevertheless remained whole without
being consumed, like some impassible essence, and not as if it
were itself the natural fuel for fire, but rather as if it were
taking the fire for its own fuel. And in the middle of the
flame there was seen a certain very beautiful form, not resem
bling any visible thing, a most Godlike image, emitting a light
more brilliant than fire, which any one might have imagined
to be the image of the living God. But let it be called an
angel, because it merely related (^yy/XXsro) the events which
were about to happen in a silence more distinct than any voice
by reason of the marvellous sight which was thus exhibited.
For the burning bush was a symbol of the oppressed people,
and the burning fire was a symbol of the oppressors ; and the
circumstance of the burning bush not being consumed was an
emblem of the fact that the people thus oppressed would not
be destroyed by those who were attacking them, but that their
hostility would be unsuccessful and fruitless to the one party,
and the fact of their being plotted against would fail to be
injurious to the others. The angel, again, was the emblem of
the providence of God, who mitigates circumstances which
appear very formidable, so as to produce from them great
tranquillity beyond the hopes or expectation of any one.
XIII. But we must now accurately investigate the com
parison here made. The briar, as has been already said, is a
most weak and supple plant, yet it is not without thorns, so
that it wounds one if one only touches it. Nor was it con
sumed by fire, which is naturally destructive, but on the con
trary it was preserved by it, and in addition to not being
consumed, it continued just as it was before, and without
undergoing any change whatever itself, acquired additional
brilliancy.
All these circumstances are an allegory to intimate the
suggestions given by the other notions which at that time pre
vailed, almost crying out in plain words to persons in affliction,
" Do not faint ; your weakness is your strength, which shall
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES.
17
pierce and wound innumerable hosts. You shall be saved
rather than destroyed, by those who are desirous to destroy
your whole race against their will, so that you shall not be
overwhelmed by the evils with which they will afflict you, but
when your enemies think most surely that they are destroying
you, then you shall most brilliantly shine out in glory."
Again, the fire, which is a destructive essence, convicting
the men of cruel dispositions, says, Be not elated so as to rely
! on your own strength ; be admonished rather when you see
irresistible powers destroyed. The consuming power of flame
is itself consumed like firewood, and the wood, which is by its
intrinsic nature capable of being burnt, burns other things
visibly like fire.
XIV. God, having shown this prodigious and miraculous
sight, to Moses, gave him, in this way, a most visible lesson as
to the events which are about to be accomplished ; and he
begins to exhor him, by divine admonitions and predictions, to
apply himself to the government of his nation, as one who was
to be not only the author of its freedom, but also its leader in
its migration from Egypt, which should take place at no distant
period ; promising to be present with him as his coadjutor in
every thing. For says God, " I myself have had compassion
for a long time on them while ill-treated and subjected to
insolence hard to be borne, while there was no man to lighten
their sufferings, nor to pity their calamities ; for I have seen
them all, each individual privately and the whole nation, with
one accord turning to address supplications and prayers to me,
and hoping for assistance from me. And I am by nature
merciful, and propitious to all sincere suppliants. But go
thou to the king of the country, without fearing any thing
whatever ; for the former king is dead from whom you fled for
fear of his plotting against thee. And another king now
governs the land, who has no ill-will against thee on account
of any thing, and who has taken the elders of the nation into
his council ; tell him that the whole nation is called forth by
me, by my divine oracle, that in accordance with the customs
of their ancestors they may depart three days journey out of
the country, and there may sacrifice unto me."
But Moses, not being ignorant that even his own country
men would distrust his word, and also that every one else
would do so, said, " If then they ask wbat is the name of him
VOL. III. C
J& PHILO JUD.EUS.
who sent thee, and if I know not what to reply to them, shall
I not seem to be deceiving them ?" And God said, "At first
say unto them, I am that I am, that when they have learnt
that there is a difference between him that is and him that is
not, they may be further taught that there is no name what
ever that can properly be assigned to me, who am the only
being to whom existence belongs. And if, inasmuch as they
are weak in their natural abilities, they shall inquire further
about my appellation, tell them not only this one fact that I
am God, but also that I am the God of those men who have
derived their names from virtue, that I am the God of Abra
ham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, one of
whom is the rule of that wisdom which is derived from teach
ing, another of natural wisdom, and the third of that which is
derived from practice. And if they are still distrustful they
shall be taught by these tokens, and then they shall change
their dispositions, seeing such signs as no man has hitherto
either seen or heard."
Now the tokens were as follows. The rod which Moses
held in his hand God ordered him to throw down on the
ground ; and immediately it received life, and crawled along,
and speedily became the most powerful of ail the animals
which want feet, namely an immense serpent, complete in all
its parts. And when Moses retreated from the beast, and out
of fear was on the point of taking to flight, he was called back
again ; and when God laid his commands upon him, and
inspired him with courage, he laid hold of it by the tail ; and
the serpent, though still crawling onwards, stopped at his
touch, and being stretched out at its full length again returned
to its original elements and became the same rod as before, so
that Moses marvelled at both the changes, not knowing which
was the most wonderful ; as he was unable to decide between
them, his soul being overwhelmed with these appearances of
equal strangeness.
This now was the first sign.
The second miraculous token was afforded to him at no
great distance of time. God commanded him to put one of
his hands in his bosom and hide it there, and a moment after
wards to draw it out again. And when he had done what he
was commanded, his hand in a moment appeared whiter than
snow. Again, when he had put his hand a second time into
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 19
his bosom, and had a second time drawn it forth, it returned
to its original complexion, and resumed its proper appearance.
These two lessons he was taught in solitude, when he was
alone with God, like a pupil alone with his master, and having
about him the instruments with which these wonders were
worked, namely, his hand and his rod, with which indeed
he walked along the road.
But the third he could not carry about with him, nor could
he be instructed as to that beforehand ; but it was destined to
astonish him not less than the others, deriving the origin of its
existence from Egypt. And this was its character. God said,
* The water of the river, as much as you can take up in your
hand and pour upon the ground shall be dark blood, being
both in colour and in power transformed with a complete trans
formation." And, as was natural, this also appeared credible
to Moses, not merely by reason of the truth-telling nature of
the speaker, but also because of the marvels that had already
been shown to him, with respect to his hand and to his rod.
But though he believed the words of God, nevertheless he
tried to avoid the office to which God was appointing him,
urging that he was a man of a weak voice, and slow of speech,
and not eloquent, and especially so ever since he had heard
God himself speaking. For judging the greatest human
eloquence to be mere speechlessness in comparison with the
truth, and being also prudent and cautious by nature, he
shrunk from the undertaking, thinking such great matters
proper for proud and bold men and not for him. And he
entreated God to choose some one else who would be able
easily to accomplish all the commands w T hich he thus laid
upon him. But he approved of his modesty, and said, " Art
thou ignorant who it is that giveth to man a mouth, and who
has formed his windpipe and his tongue, and all the apparatus
of the articulate voice? I am he. Therefore, fear thou
nothing. For when I approve, every thing will become articu
late and clear, and will change for the better, and improve ; so
that no one shall hinder thee, but the stream of thy words
shall flow forth in a rapid and smooth current as if from a
pure fountain. And if there is any need of an interpreter,
thou shalt have thy brother, who will be a subordinate mouth
piece for thee, that he may utter to the multitude the words
c 2
20 PHILO JUD^US.
which he receives from thee, while thou utterest to him the
words that thou receivest from God."
XV. Having heard these things (for it was not at all safe
or free from danger to oppose the commands of God), he
departed and proceeded with his wife and children by the road
leading to Egypt, on which he met with his brother and per
suaded him to accompany him, announcing to him the oracu
lar commands which he had received from God. And his
brother s soul was already wrought up to obedience by divine
providence, so that he, without hesitation, agreed to his pro
posal and readily followed him. And when they thus arrived
in Egypt with one mind and soul, they first of all collected
together the elders of the nation in a secret place, and there
they laid the commands of God before them, and told them
how God had conceived pity and compassion for them, pro
mised them freedom and a departure from thence to a better
country, promising also that he himself would be their guide
on their road.
And after these events, they take courage now to converse
with the king with respect to sending forth their people from
his territories that they might sacrifice to God ; for they
said, " That it was necessary that their national sacrifices
should be accomplished in the wilderness, inasmuch as they
were not performed in the same manner as the sacred rites of
other nations, but according to a system and law removed from
the ordinary course, on account of the special peculiarities of
their habits." But the monarch, who from his cradle had had
his soul filled with all the arrogance of his ancestors, and who
had no notion in the world of any God appreciable only by the
intellect apart from those objects which are visible to the
sight, answered them with insolence, saying, " Who is it
whom I am to obey ? I know not this new Lord of whom you
are speaking. I will not let the nation go to be disobedient
and headstrong under pretence of fasts and sacrifices."
And then, like a man of cruel and passionate disposition
and implacable in his anger, he commanded the overseers
of the works to oppress them still more, because they had
previously given them some relaxation and leisure, saying
that, it was from this relaxation and leisure that their
forming designs of feasting and sacrifice had arisen ; for that
men who were in great straits did not think of these things,
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 21
but only those whose life had been spent in much ease and
luxury.
Therefore the Jews had now to endure more terrible afflic
tions than before, and were indignant at Moses and his
brother as deceivers, and accused them, sometimes secretly
and sometimes openly, and charged them with impiety in ap
pearing to have spoken falsely against God ; and accordingly
Moses began to exhibit the marvellous wonders which he had
been previously taught, thinking that thus he should be able
to bring over those who saw them from their former incredulity
to believe all that he said. And this exhibition of prodigies
was carefully displayed before the king and magistrates of the
Egyptians.
XVI. Therefore, -when all the powerful men of the state
were assembled round the king, the brother of Moses taking
his rod, and shaking it in a very remarkable and demonstrative
manner, threw it on the ground, and it immediately became
a serpent. And all those who were standing around saw it,
and marvelled, and, in alarm and terror, withdrew, and fled.
But all the sophists and magicians who were present said,
" Why are you thus alarmed ? we also are not unpractised in
such tricks as these, and we are skilled in an art which can
produce similar effects." And then each of them threw down
the rod which he held in his hand, and so there was a multi
tude of serpents which went crawling about that rod which had
first been changed. And that serpent, with the excess of his
power, raised himself up on high, and dilated his chest, and
opened his mouth, and with the violent impulse of an attrac
tive drawing in of his breath, drew them all towards him as
if he had surrounded a large cast of fishes in a net cast around
them, and then, when he had swallowed them all, he returned
to his original nature of a stick.
So now the marvellous sight thus exhibited to them wrought
a fear in the soul of every one of these wicked and malicious
men, so that they no longer fancied that what was done was
the trick or artifice of men, devised merely for deceit ; but
they saw that it was a more divine power which was the
cause of these things, to which all things are easy. But when
by the evident might of what was done they were compelled to
confess this, they still were not the less audacious, clinging to
their original inhumanity and impiety as to some inalienable
22 PHILO JUD^US.
virtue, and not pitying those who were unjustly enslaved, nor
doing any such things as they were commanded by the word
of God. And though God himself had declared his will to
them by demonstrations clearer than any verbal commands,
namely, by signs and wonders, still they required a yet more
severe impression to be made upon them, and it was necessary
for him to rise up against them with still greater power ; and
accordingly, those foolish men, whom reason and command
could not influence, are corrected by a series of afflictions ;
and ten punishments were inflicted on the land ; so that the
number of the chastisements might be complete which was in
flicted upon those who had completed their sins; and the
punishment far transcended all ordinary visitations.
XVII. For the elements of the universe, earth, water, air,
and fire, of which the world was made, were all by the com
mand of God, brought into a state of hostility against them,
so that the country of those impious men was destroyed, in
order to exhibit the height of the authority which God
wielded, who had also fashioned those same elements at the
creation of the universe, so as to secure its safety, and who
could change them all whenever he pleased, to effect the
destruction of impious men.
And he divided his punishments, entrusting three, those
which proceeded from those elements which are composed of
more solid parts, namely, earth and water, from which all the
corporeal distinctive realities are perfected, to the brother of
Moses. An equal number, those which proceeded from the
elements which are the most prolific of life, namely, air and
fire, he committed to Moses himself alone. One, the seventh,
he entrusted to both in common ; the other three, to make up
the whole number of ten, he reserved for himself.
And first of all he hegan to bring on the plagues derived
from water ; for as the Egyptians used to honour the water in
an especial degree, thinking that it was the first principle of
the creation of the universe, he thought it fitting to summon
that first to the affliction and correction of those who thus
honoured it. What then happened no long time after the
events I have already mentioned ? The brother of M oses, by
the divine command, smote with his rod upon the river, and
immediately, throughout its whole course, from Ethiopia down
to the sea, it is changed into blood ; and simultaneously with
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 23
its change, all the lakes, and ditches, and fountains, and wells,
and springs, and every particle of water in all Egypt, was
changed into blood, so that, for want of drink, they digged
round about the banks of the river, but the streams that came
up were like veins of the body in a hoemorrhage, and spirted
up channels of blood like springs, no transparent water being
seen anywhere. And all the different kinds of fish died, inas
much as all the vivifying power of the river was changed to a
destructive power, so that everything was everywhere filled
with foetid odours, from such vast numbers of bodies putrify-
iug all together. Moreover, a great number of men perished
from thirst, and their bodies lay in heaps in the roads, since
their relations had not strength to convey those who had died
to the tombs ; for this evil lasted seven days, until the Egyp
tians entreated Moses, and Moses entreated God, to show pity
on those who were thus perishing. And God, being merciful
in his nature, changed the blood back again to wholesome
water, restoring to the river its pristine clear and vivifying
streams.
XVIIT. But again, after a brief respite, the Egyptians
returned to the same cruelty and carelessness as before, as if
either justice had been utterly banished from among men, or
as if those who had endured one punishment were not wont
to be chastised a second time ; but when they suffered thev
were taught like young children, not to despise those who cor
rected them ; for the punishment which followed, on the track
of the last, was slow indeed to come, while they were also
slow, but when they hastened to do wrong, it ran after them
and overtook them.
For again, the brother of Moses, being ordered to do so,
stretched out his hand and held his rod over all the canals, arid
lakes, and marshes ; and at the holding forth of his rod, so
immense a multitude of frogs came up, that not only the
market-place, and all the spots open to the air, were filled
with them, but likewise all the stables for cattle, the houses,
and all the temples, and every building, public or private, as
if nature had designed to send forth one race of aquatic ani
mals into the opposite region of earth, to form a colony there,
for the opposite region to water is earth. Inasmuch then as
they could not go out of doors, because all the passages were
blocked up, and could not remain in -doors, for the frogs had
24 PHILO JUD^US.
already occupied all the recesses, and had crawled up to the
very highest parts of the houses, they were now in the very
greatest distress, and in complete despair of safety. Again,
therefore, they have recourse to the same means of escape by
entreating Moses, and the king now promised to permit the
Hebrews to depart, and they propitiated God with prayers.
And when God consented, some of the frogs at once returned
into the river, and there were also heaps of those which died
in the roads, and the people also brought loads of them out of
their houses, on account of the intolerable stench which pro
ceeded from them, and the smell from their dead carcases, in
such numbers, went up to heaven, especially as frogs, even
while alive, cause great annoyance to the outward senses.
XIX. And when they had a little recovered from this punish
ment, then, like wrestlers at the games, who have recovered
fresh strength after a struggle, that so they may contend
again with renewed vigour, they again returned to their
original wickedness, forgetting the evils which they had
already experienced.
And when God had put an end to the punishments which were
to proceed out of the water, he brought up others out of the
land, still employing the same minister of punishment ; and
he now, in obedience to the command which he received, smote
the ground with his rod, and an abundance of lice was poured
out everywhere, and it extended like a cloud, and covered the
the whole of Egypt. And that little animal, even though it is
very small, is exceedingly annoying; for not only does it spoil
the appearance, creating unseemly and injurious itchings,
but it also penetrates into the inmost parts, entering in at the
nostrils and ears ? And it flies into the eyes and injures the
pupils, unless one takes great care ; and what care could be
taken against so extensive a plague, especially when it was
God who was inflicting the punishment ? And perhaps some
one may here ask why God punished the land with such
insignificant and generally despised animals, omitting bears,
and lions, and leopards, and the other races of wild beasts who
devour human flesh ; and if he did not send these, at least, he
might have sent Egyptian asps, the bites of which have natu
rally the power to cause death instantly.
But if such a man really does not know, let him learn, first
of all, that Grod was desirous rather to admonish the Egyptians
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 25
than to destroy them : for if he had designed to destroy them
utterly once for all, he would not have employed animals to
be, as it were, his coadjutors in the work of destruction, but
rather such heaven-sent afflictions as famine and pestilence ;
and in the second place, let him also learn a lesson which
is necessary to be learnt, and applicable to every condition
and age of life ; and what is the lesson ? This ; that men,
when they make war, seek out the most mighty powers to gain
them over to their alliance, such as shall make amends for
their own want of power: but God, wha is the supreme and
mightiest of all powers, having need of no assistant, if. ever he
desires to use any instruments as it were for the punishments
which he desires to inflict, does not choose the most mighty
or the greatest things as his ministers, since he takes but
little heed of their capacity, but he uses insignificant and
small agents, which he renders irresistible and invincible
powers, and by their means he chastises those who do wrong,
as he does in this instance, for what can be more insignificant
than a louse? And yet it was so powerful that all Egypt
fainted under the host of them, and was compelled to cry
out, that " this is the anger of God." For all the earth put
together, from one end to the other, could not withstand the
hand of God, no nor all the universe.
XX. Such then were the chastisements which were inflicted
by the agency of the brother of Moses.
But those in which Moses himself was the minister, and
from what parts of nature they were derived, must be next
considered. Now next after the earth and the water, the air
and the heaven, which are the purest portions of the essence
of the universe, succeeded them as the medium of the correc
tion of the Egyptians : and of this correction Moses was the
minister ; and first of all he began to operate upon the air.
For Egypt almost alone, if you except those countries
which lie to the south of the equator, never is subject to that
one of the seasons of the year which is called winter, perhaps,
as some say, from the fact of its not being at any great
distance from the torrid zone, since the essence of fire flows
from that quarter in an invisible manner, and scorches every
thing all around, or perhaps it is because the river overflows
at the time of the summer solstice, and so consumes all the
clouds before they can collect for winter ; for the river begins
6 PHILO JQD^US.
to rise at the beginning of the summer, and to fall towards
the end of summer ; during which period the etesian gales
increase in violence blowing from a direction opposite to the
mouths of the Nile, and by which it is prevented from flowing
freely into the sea, and by the violence of which winds, the
sea itself is also raised to a considerable height, and erects
vast waves like a long wall, and so the river is agitated within
the country.
And then when the two streams meet together, the river
descending from its sources above, and the waters which
ought to escape abroad being turned back by the beating of
the sea, and not being able to extend their breadth, for the
banks on each side of the river confine its streams, the river,
as is natural, rises to a height, and breaks its bounds ; perhaps
also it does so because it was superfluous for winter to occur
in Egypt; for the object for which showers of rain are usually
serviceable, is in this instance provided for by the river which
overflows the fields, and turns them into one vast lake, to
make them productive of the annual crops ; but nature does
not expend her powers to no purpose when they are not
wanted, so as to provide rain for a land which does not require
it, but it rejoices in the variety and diversity of scientific
operations, and arranges the harmony of the universe from a
number of opposite qualities.
And for this reason it supplies the benefits which are
derivable from water, to some countries, by bestowing it on
them from above, namely from heaven, and to others it gives
it from below by means of springs and rivers ; though then the
land was thus arranged, and enjoyed spring during the winter
solstice, and since it is only the parts along the seacoasts that
are ever moistened with a few drops of rain, and since the
country beyond Memphis, where the palace of the king of Egypt
is, does never even see snow at all ; now, on the contrary, the air
suddenly assumed a new appearance, so that all the things
which are seen in the most stormy and wintry countries, come
upon it all together ; abundance of rain, and torrents of dense
and ceaseless hail, and heavy winds met together and beat
against one another with violence ; and the clouds burst, and
there were incessant lightnings, and thunders, and continued
roarings, and flashes which made a most wonderful and fearful
appearance.
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 27
For though the lightning and the thunderbolts penetrated
and descended through the hail, being quite a contrary sub
stance, still they did not melt it, nor were the flashes extin
guished by it, but they remained as they were before, and ran
up and down in long lines, and even preserved the hail. And
not only did the excessive violence of the storm drive all the
inhabitants to excessive despair, but the unprecedented cha
racter of the visitation tended likewise to the same point. For
they believed, as was indeed the case, that all these novel and
fearful calamities were caused by the divine anger, the air
having assumed a novel appearance, such as it had never worn
before, to the destruction and overthrow of all trees and fruits,
by which also great numbers of animals were destroyed, some
in consequence of the exceeding cold, others through the
weight of the hail which fell upon them, as if they had been
stoned, while some again were destroyed by the fire of the
lightning. And some remained half consumed, bearing the
marks of the wounds caused by the thunderbolts, for the admo
nition and warning of all who saw them.
XXI. And when this evil had abated, and when the king
and his court had again resumed their confidence, Moses
stretched forth his rod into the air, at the command of God.
And then a south wind of an uncommon violence set in, which
increased in intensity and vehemence the whole of that day
and night, being of itself a very great affliction ; for it is a
drying wind, causing headaches, and terrible to bear, calcu
lated to cause grief, and terror, and perplexity in Egypt above
all countries, inasmuch as it lies to the south, in which part of
the heaven the revolutions of the light-giving stars take place,
so that whenever that wind is set in motion, the light of the
sun and its fire is driven in that direction and scorches up
every thing. And with this wind a countless number of ani
mals was brought over the land, animals destroying all plants,
locusts, which devoured every thing incessantly like a stream,
consuming all that the thunderstorms and the hail had left, so
that there was not a green shoot seen any longer in all that
vast country.
And then at length the men in authority came, though late,
to an accurate perception of the evils that had come upon
them, and came and said to the king, " How long wilt thou
refuse to permit the men to depart ? Dost thou not under-
28 PHILO JUD^EUS.
stand, from what has already taken place, that Egypt is
destroyed ? " And he agreed to all they said, yielding as far
as appearances went at least ; hut again, when the evil was
abated at the prayer of Moses, the wind came from the sea
side, and took up the locusts and scattered them. And when
they had been completely dispersed, and when the king was
again obstinate respecting the allowing the nation to depart, a
greater evil than the former ones was descended upon him.
For while it was bright daylight, on a sudden, a thick dark
ness overspread the land, as if an eclipse of the sun more com
plete than any common one had taken place. And it conti
nued with a long series of clouds and impenetrable density, all
the course of the sun s rays being cut off by the massive thick
ness of the veil which was interposed, so that day did not at
all differ from night. For what indeed did it resemble, but
one very long night equal in length to three days and an
equal number of nights ? And at this time they say that some
persons threw themselves on their beds, and did not venture
to rise up, and that some, when any of the necessities of
nature overtook them, could only move with difficulty by feel
ing their way along the walls or whatever else they could lay
hold of, like so many blind men ; for even the light of the fire
lit for necessary uses was either extinguished by the violence
of the storm, or else it was made invisible and overwhelmed
by the density of the darkness, so that that most indispensable
of all the external senses, namely, sight, though unimpaired,
was deprived of its office, not being able to discern any thing,
and all the other senses were overthrown like subjects, the
leader having fallen down. For neither was any one able to
speak or to hear, nor could any one venture to take food, but
they lay themselves down in quiet and hunger, not exercising
any of the outward senses, but being wholly overwhelmed by
the affliction, till Moses again had compassion on them, and
besought God in their behalf. And he restored fine weather, and
produced light instead of darkness, and day instead of night.
XXII. Such, they say, were the punishments inflicted by
the agency of Moses alone, the plague, namely, of hail and
thunderstorms, the plague of locusts, and the plague of dark
ness, which rejected every imaginable description of light.
Then he himself and his brother brought on one together,
which I shall proceed to relate.
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 29
At the command of God they both took up ashes from the
furnace in their hands, which Moses on his part sprinkled in
the air. Then a dust arose on a sudden, and produced a
terrible, and most painful, and incurable ulceration over the
whole skin both of man and of the brute beasts ; and imme
diately their bodies became swollen with the pustules, having
blisters all over them full of matter which any one might
have supposed were burning underneath and ready to burst ;
and the men were, as was natural, oppressed with pain and
excessive agony from the ulceration and inflammation, and they
suffered in their souls even more than in their bodies, being
wholly exhausted with anguish. For there was one vast unin
terrupted sore to be seen from head to foot, those which
covered any particular part or any separate limb spreading so
as to become confused into one huge ulcer ; until again, at the
supplication of the lawgiver, which he made on behalf of the
sufferers, the disease became more tolerable.
Therefore, in this instance the two brothers afforded the
Egyptians this warning in unison, and very properly ; the
brother of Moses acting by means of the dust which rose up,
since to him had been committed the superintendence of the
things which proceeded from the earth ; and Moses, by means
of the air which was thus changed for the affliction of the
inhabitants, and his ministrations were assigned to the afflic
tions to be caused by the air and by the heaven.
XXIII. The remaining punishments are three in number,
and they were inflicted by God himself without any agency or
ministration of man, each of which I will now proceed to relate
as well I can.
The first is that which was inflicted by means of that animal
which is the boldest in all nature, namely, the dog-fly (xuvo/au/a)
which those persons who invent names have named with
great propriety (for they were wise men) ; combining the
name of the appellation of the most impudent of all animals, a
fly and a dog, the one being the boldest of all terrestrial, and
the other the boldest of all flying, animals. For they approach
and run up fearlessly, and if any one drives them away, they
still resist and renew their attack, so as never to yield until
they are sated with blood and flesh J
And so the dog-fly, having derived boldness from both these
animals, is a biting and treacherous creature ; for it shoots in
30 PHILO JUD^US.
from a distance with a whizzing sound like an arrow ; and
when it has reached its mark it sticks very closely with great
force. But at this time its attack was prompted by God, so
that its treachery and hostility were redoubled, since it not
only displayed all its own natural covetousness, but also
all that eagerness which it derived from the divine providence
which sent it forth, and armed it and excited it to acts of
valour against the natives.
And after the dog-fly there followed another punishment
unconnected with any human agency, namely, the mortality
among the cattle ; for all the herds of oxen, and flocks of
goats, and vast flocks of sheep, and all the beasts of burden,
and all other domestic animals of every kind died in one day
in a body, as if by some agreement or at some given signal ;
foreshowing the destruction of human beings which was about
to take place a short time afterwards as in a pestilential
disease ; for the sudden destruction of irrational animals is
said to be an ordinary prelude to pestilential diseases.
XXIV. After which the tenth and last punishment came,
exceeding in terror all that had gone before, namely, the death
of the Egyptians themselves. Not of them all, for God had not
decreed to make the whole country desolate, but only to correct
it. Nor even of the greatest number of the men and women of
every age all together, but he permitted the rest to live, and
only passed sentence of death on all the first-born, beginning
with the eldest of the king s sons, and ceasing with the first
born son of the most obscure grinder at the mill ; for, about
midnight, all those children who had been the first to address
their fathers and their mothers, and who had also been the
first to be addressed by them as their sons, though they were
in good health and in full vigour of body, all, without any
apparent cause, were suddenly slain in the flower of their
youth ; and they say that there was not a single house in the
whole land which was exempt from the visitation.
But at dawn of day, as was natural, when every one beheld
his nearest and dearest relatives unexpectedly dead, with whom
up to the evening before they had lived in one home and at one
table, being overwhelmed with the most bitter grief, filled
every place with lamentation. So that it came to pass, on
account of the universality of the calamity, as all men were
weeping altogether with one accord, that there was but one
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 31
universal sound of wailing heard over the whole land from one
end to the other. And, for a while, they remained in their
houses, no one being aware of the misfortune which had he-
fallen his neighbour, but lamenting only for his individual loss.
But when any one went out of doors and learnt the misfor
tunes of others also, he at once felt a double sorrow, grieving
for the common calamity, in addition to his own private mis
fortune, a greater and more grievous sorrow being thus added
to the lesser and lighter one, so that every one felt deprived of
all hope of consolation.
For who was likely to comfort another when he himself
stood in need of the same consolation ? But, as is usual in
such circumstances, men thinking that the present evils were
the beginning of greater ones, and being filled with fear lest
those who were still living should also be destroyed, ran weep
ing to the king s palace, and rent their clothes, and cried out
against the sovereign, as the cause of all the terrible evils that
had befallen them. " For if," said they, " immediately when
Moses at the beginning first came to him he had allowed his
nation to depart, we should never have experienced any one of
the miseries that have befallen us at all. But he yielded to his
natural obstinacy and haughtiness, and so we have reaped the
ready reward of his unreasonable contentiousness." Then one
man encouraged another to drive the Jewish people with all
speed out of the whole country, and not to allow them to remain
one day, or rather one single hour, looking upon every moment
that they abode among them as an irremediable calamity.
XXV. So they, being now driven out of the land and pur
sued, coming at last to a proper notion of their own nobility
and worth, ventured upon a deed of daring such as became the
free to dare, as men who were not forgetful of the iniquitous
plots that had been laid against them ; for they carried off
abundant booty, which they themselves collected, by means of
the hatred in which they were held, and some of it they carried
themselves, submitting to heavy burdens, and some they placed
upon their beasts of burden, not in order to gratify any love of
money, or, as any usurer might say, because they coveted their
neighbours goods. (How should they do so?) But, first of
all, because they were thus receiving the necessary wages from
those whom they had served for so long a time ; and, secondly,
because they had a right to afflict those at whose hands they
32 PHILO JUD^US.
had suffered wrong with afflictions slighter than, and by no
means equal to, what they had endured.
For how can the deprivation of money and treasures be
equivalent to the loss of liberty ? on behalf of which those who
are in possession of their senses dare not only to cast away all
their property, but even to venture their lives ? So they now
prospered in both particulars : whether in that they received
wages as if in price, which they now exacted from unwilling
paymasters, who for a long period had not paid them at all ;
and, also, as if they were at war, they looked upon it as fitting
to carry off the treasures of the enemy, according to the laws
of conquerors ; for it was the Egyptians who had set the ex
ample of acts of injustice, having, as I said before, enslaved
foreigners and suppliants, as if they had been prisoners taken
in war. And so they now, when an opportunity offered, avenged
themselves without any preparation of arms, justice itself hold
ing a shield over them, and stretching forth its hand to help
them.
XXVI. Such, then, were the afflictions and punishments
by which Egypt was corrected ; not one of which ever touched
the Hebrews, although they were dwelling in the same cities
and villages, and even houses, as t^e Egyptians, arid touching
the same earth and water, and air and fire, which are all com
ponent parts of nature, and which it is impossible to escape
from. And this is the most extraordinary and almost incredi
ble thing, that, by the very same events happening in the same
place and at the same time, one people was destroyed and the
other people was preserved. The river was changed into blood,
but not to the Hebrews ; for when these latter went to draw
water from it, it underwent another change and became
drinkable.
Frogs went up from the water upon the land, and filled all
the market-places, and stables, and dwelling-houses ; but they
retreated from before the Hebrews alone, as if they had been
able to distinguish between the two nations, and to know which
people it was proper should be punished and which should be
treated in the opposite manner.
No lice, no dog-flies, no locusts, which greatly injured the
plants, and the fruits, and the animals, and the human beings,
ever descended upon the Hebrews. Those unceasing storms
of rain and hail, and thunder and lightning, which continued
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 33
so uninterruptedly, never reached them ; they never felt, no
not even in their dreams, that most terrible liberation which
caused the Egyptians so much suffering; when that most
dense darkness descended upon the others, they were living in
bright daylight, a brilliancy as of noon-day shining all around
them ; when, among the Egyptians, all the first-born were
slain, not one of the Hebrews died ; for it was not likely, since
even that destruction of such countless flocks and herds of
cattle never carried off or injured a single flock or a single beast
belonging to the Hebrews.
And it seems to me that if any one had been present to see
all that happened at that time, he would not have conceived
any other idea than that the Hebrews were there as spectators
of the miseries which the other nation was enduring ; and, not
only that, but that they were also there for the purpose of being
taught that most beautiful and beneficial of all lessons, namely,
piety. For a distinction could otherwise have never been
made so decidedly between the good and the bad, giving
destruction to the one and salvation to the other.
XXVII. And of those who now went forth out of Egypt and
left their abodes in that country, the men of age to bear arms
were more than six hundred thousand men, and the other multi
tude of elders, and children, and women were so great that it
was not easy to calculate it. Moreover, there also went forth
with them a mixed multitude of promiscuous persons collected
from all quarters, and servants, like an illegitimate crowd with
a body of genuine citizens. Among these were those who had
been born to Hebrew fathers by Egyptian women, and who
were enrolled as members of their father s race. And, also, all
those who had admired the decent piety of the men, and there
fore joined them ; and some, also, who had come over to them,
having learnt the right way, by reason of the magnitude and
multitude of the incessant punishments which had been inflicted
on their own countrymen.
Of all these men, Moses was elected the leader ; receiving
the authority and sovereignty over them, not having gained it
like some men who have forced their way to power and supre
macy by force of arms and intrigue, and by armies of cavalry
and infantry, and by powerful fleets, but having been appointed
for the sake of his virtue and excellence and that benevolence
towards all men which he was always feeling and exhibiting ;
VOL. in.
D
34 PHILO JUD^US.
and, also, because God, who loves virtue, and piety, and excel
lence, gave him his authority as a well-deserved reward. For,
as he had abandoned the chief authority in Egypt, which he
might have had as the grandson of the reigning king, on
account of the iniquities which were being perpetrated in that
country, and by reason of his nobleness of soul and of the
greatness of his spirit, and the natural detestation of wickedness,
scorning and rejecting all the hopes which he might have con
ceived from those who had adopted him, it seemed good to the
Ruler and Governor of the universe to recompense him with
the sovereign authority over a more populous and more powerful
nation, which he was about to take to himself out of all other
nations and to consecrate to the priesthood, that it might for
ever offer up prayers for the whole universal race of mankind,
for the sake of averting evil from them and procuring them a
participation in blessings.
And when he had received this authority, he did not show
anxiety, as some persons do, to increase the power of his own
family, and promote his sons (for he had two) to any great-
dignity, so as to make them at the present time partakers in,
and subsequently successors to, his sovereignty ; for as he
always cherished a pure and guileless disposition in all things
both small and great, he now subdued his natural love and
affection for his children, like an honest judge, making these
feelings subordinate to his own incorruptible reason ; for he
kept one most invariable object always steadily before him,
namely, that of benefiting those who were subjected to his
authority, and of doing everything both in word and deed,
with a view to their advantage, never omitting any opportunity
of doing anything that might tend to their prosperity.
Therefore he alone of all the persons who have ever enjoyed
supreme authority, neither accumulated treasures of silver and
gold, nor levied taxes, nor acquired possession of houses, or
property, or cattle, or servants of his household, or revenues, or
anything else which has reference to magnificence and super
fluity, although he might have acquired an unlimited abun
dance of them all.
But as he thought it a token of poverty of soul to be
anxious about material wealth, he despised it as a blind thing,
but he honoured the far-sighted wealth of nature, and was as
great an admirer as any one in the world of that kind of riches,
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES.
35
as he showed himself to be in his clothes, and in his food, and
in his whole system and manner of life, not indulging in any
theatrical affectation of pomp and magnificence, but cultivating
the simplicity and unpretending affable plainness of a private
individual, but a sumptuousness which was truly royal, in
those things which it is becoming for a ruler to desire and to
abound in ; and these things are, temperance, and fortitude,
and continence, and presence of mind, and acuteness, and
knowledge, and industry, and patience under evil, and con
tempt of pleasure, and justice, and exhortations to virtue and
blame, and lawful punishment of offenders, and, on the con
trary, praise and honour to those who did well in accordance
with law.
XXVIII. Therefore, as he had utterly discarded all desire
of gain and of those riches which are held in the highest
repute among men, God honoured him, and gave him in
stead the greatest and most perfect wealth ; and this is the
wealth* of all the earth and sea, and of all the rivers, and of
all the other elements, and all combinations whatever; for
having judged him deserving of being made a partaker with
himself in the portion which he had reserved for himself, he
gave him the whole world as a possession suitable for his heir :
therefore, every one of the elements obeyed him as its master,
changing the power which it had by nature and submitting to
his commands. And perhaps there was nothing wonderful in
this ; for if it be true according to the proverb,
" That all the property of friends is common ;"
and if the prophet was truly called the friend of God, then it
follows that he would naturally partake of God himself and of
all his possessions as far as he had need ; for God possesses
everything and is in need of nothing ; but the good man has
nothing which is properly his own, no, not even himself; but
he has a share granted to him of the treasures of God as far
as he is able to partake of them. And this is natural enough ;
for he is a citizen of the world ; on which account he is not
spoken of as to be enrolled as a citizen of any particular city
in the habitable world, since he very appropriately has for his
inheritance not a portion of a district, but the whole world. .
What more shall I say ? Has he not also enjoyed an even
* The text here is very corrupt.
c 2
36 PHILO JUD^EUS.
greater communion with the Father and Creator of the uni
verse, being thought unworthy of being called by the same
appellation ? For he also was called the god and king of the
whole nation, and he is said to have entered into the darkness
where God was ; that is to say, into the invisible, and shape
less, and incorporeal world, the essence, which is the model of
all existing things, where he beheld things invisible to mortal
nature ; for, having brought himself and his own life into the
middle, as an excellently wrought picture, he established him
self as a most beautiful and God-like work, to be a model for
all those who were inclined to imitate him.
And happy are they who have been able to take, or have
even diligently laboured to take, a faithful copy of this excel
lence in their own souls ; for let the mind, above all other
parts, take the perfect appearance of virtue, and if that
cannot be, at all events let it feel an unhesitating and un
varying desire to acquire that appearance ; for, indeed, there
is no one who does not know that men in a lowly condition
are imitators of men of high reputation, and that what they see,
these last chiefly desire, towards that do they also direct their
own inclinations and endeavours.
Therefore, when the chief of a nation begins to indulge in
luxury and to turn aside to a delicate and effeminate life, then
the whole of his subjects, or very nearly the whole, carry their
desire for indulging the appetites of the belly and the parts
below the belly beyond all reasonable bounds, except that
there may be some persons who, through the natural goodness
of their disposition, have a soul far removed from treachery,
being rather merciful and kind.
If, on the other hand, the chief of a people adopts a more
austere and dignified course of life, then even those of his sub
jects, who are inclined to be very incontinent, change and
become temperate, hastening, either out of fear or out of
shame, to give him an idea that they are devoted to the same
pursuits and inclinations that he is ; and, in fact, the lower
orders will never, no, nor will mad men even, reject the cus
toms and habits of their superiors : but, perhaps, since Moses
was also destined to be the lawgiver of his nation, he was him
self long previously, through the providence of God, a living
and reasonable law, since that providence appointed him to be
the lawgiver, when as yet he knew nothing of his appointment.
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 37
XXIX. When then he received the supreme authority, with
the good will of all his subjects, God himself being the regu
lator and approver of all his actions, he conducted his people
as a colony into Phoenicia, and into the hollow Syria (Ccele-
syria), and Palestine, which was at that time called the land
of the Canaanites, the borders of which country were three
days* journey distant from Egypt. Then he led them forward,
not by the shortest road, partly because he was afraid lest the
inhabitants should come out to meet and to resist him in his
march, from fear of being overthrown and enslaved by such a
multitude, and so, if a war arose, they might be again driven
back into Egypt, falling from one enemy to another, and
being driven by their new foes upon their ancient tyrants, and
so become a sport and a laughing-stock to the Egyptians, and
have to endure greater and more grievous hardships than
before.
He was also desirous, by leading them through a desolate
and extensive country, to prove them, and see how obedient
they would be when they were not surrounded by any abun
dance of necessaries, but were but scantily provided and nearly
in actual want.
Therefore, turning aside from the direct road he found an
oblique path, and thinking that it must extend as far as the
Red Sea, he began to march by that road, and, they say, that
a most portentous miracle happened at that time, a prodigy
of nature, which no one anywhere recollects to have ever hap
pened before ; for a cloud, fashioned into the form of a vast
pillar, went before the multitude by day, giving forth a light
like that of the sun, but by night it displayed a fiery blaze, in
order that the Hebrews might not wander on their journey,
but might follow the guidance of their leader along the road,
without any deviation. Perhaps, indeed, this was one of the
ministers of the mighty King, an unseen messenger, a guide
of the way enveloped in this cloud, whom it was not lawful for
men to behold with the eyes of the body.
XXX. But when the king of Egypt saw them proceeding
along a pathless track, as he fancied, and marching through a
rough and untrodden wilderness, he was delighted with the
blunder they were making respecting their line of march, think
ing that now they were hemmed in, having no way of escape
whatever. And, as he repented of having let them go, ho
38 PHILO JUD^EUS.
determined to pursue them, thinking that he should either
Bubdue the multitude by fear, and so reduce them a second
time to slavery, or else that if they resisted he should slay them
all from the children upwards. Accordingly, he took all his
force of cavalry, and his darters, and his slingers, and his
equestrian archers, and all the rest of his light-armed troops,
and he gave his commanders six hundred of the finest of his
scythe-bearing chariots, that with all becoming dignity and dis
play they might pursue these men, and join in the expedition,
and so using all possible speed, he sallied forth after them and
hastened and pressed on the march, wishing to come upon
them suddenly before they had any expectation of him.
For an unexpected evil is at all times more grievous than
one which has been looked for, in proportion as that which has
been despised finds it easier to make a formidable attack than
that which has been regarded with care.
The king, therefore, with these ideas, pursued after the
Hebrew s, thinking that he should subdue them by the mere
shout of battle. And, when he overtook them, they were
already encamped along the shore of the Red Sea. And they
were just about to go to breakfast, when, at first, a mighty
sound reached them, as was natural from such a host of men
and beasts of burden all proceeding on with great haste, so
that they all ran out of their tents to look round, and stood on
tip-toes to see and hear what was the matter. Then, a short
time afterwards, the army of the enemy came in sight as it rose
over a hill, all in arms, and ready arranged in line of battle.
XXXI. Arid the Hebrews, being terrified at this extraordi
nary and unexpected danger, and not being well prepared for
defence, because of a scarcity of defensive armour and of
weapons (for they had not marched out for war, but to found A
colony), and not being able to escape, for behind was the sea,
and in front was the enemy, and on each side a vast and path
less wilderness, reviled against Moses, and, being dismayed at
the magnitude of the evils that threatened them, began, as is
very common in such calamities, to blame their governors, and
said : " Because there were no graves in Egypt in which we
could be buried after we were dead, have you brought us out
hither to kill and bury us here ? Or, is not even slavery a
lighter evil than death ? Having allured the multitude with
the hope of liberty, you have caused them to incur a still more
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES.
39
grievous danger than slavery, namely, the risk of the loss of
life. Did you not know our simplicity, and the bitterness
and cruel anger of the Egyptians ? Do you not see the magni
tude of the evils which surround us, and from which we cannot
escape? What are we to do? Are we, unarmed, to fight
against men in complete armour ? or shall we flee now that we
are hemmed in as by nets cast all around us by our pitiless
enemies hemmed in by pathless deserts and impassable seas ?
Or, even, if the sea was navigable, how are we to get any
vessels to cross over it ?"
Moses, when he heard these complaints, pardoned his people,
but remembered the oracles of God. And, at the same time, he
so divided and distributed his mind and his speech, that with
the one he associated invisibly with God, in order that God
might deliver him from otherwise inextricable calamities ; and,
with the other, he encouraged and comforted those who cried
out to him, saying : " Do not faint and despair. God does not
deliver in the same way that man does. Why do you only
trust such means of deliverance as seem probable and likely ?
God, when he comes as an assistant, stands in need of no
adventitious preparations. It is his peculiar attribute to find
a path amid inextricable perplexities. What is impossible to
every created being is possible and easy to him above."
Thus he spoke to them while yet standing still. But after a
short time he became inspired by God, and being full of the
divine spirit and under the influence of that spirit which was
accustomed to enter into him, he prophesied and animated
them thus : " This army which you behold so splendidly
equipped with arms, you shall no more see arrayed against
you ; for it shall fall, utterly and completely overthrown, so
that not a relic shall be seen any more upon the earth, and
that not at any distance of time, but this very next night."
XXXII. He then spoke thus. But when the sun had set,
immediately a most violent south wind set in and began to
blow, under the influence of which the sea retreated ; for, as it
was accustomed to ebb and flow, on this occasion it was driven
back much further towards the shore, and drawn up in a heap
as if into a ravine or a whirlpool. And no stars were visible,
but a dense and black cloud covered the whole of the heaven,
so that the night became totally dark, to the consternation of
40 PHILO JUDJEUS.
the pursuers. And Moses, at the command of God, smote the
sea with his staff. And it was broken and divided into two
parts, and one of the divisions at the part where it was broken
off, was raised to a height and mounted up, and being thus
consolidated like a strong wall, stood quiet and unshaken , and
the portion behind the Hebrews was also contracted and raised
in, and prevented from proceeding forwards, as if it were held
back by invisible reins. And the intermediate space, where
the fracture had taken place, was dried up and became a broad,
and level, and easy road.
When Moses beheld this he marvelled and rejoiced ; and,
being filled with joy, he encouraged his followers and exhorted
them to march forward with all possible speed. And when
they were about to pass over, a most extraordinary prodigy was
seen; for the cloud, which had been their guide, and which
during all the rest of the period of their march had gone in
front of them, now turned back and placed itself at the back
of the multitude to guard their rear ; and, being situated be
tween the pursuers and the pursued, it guided the one party so
as to keep them with safety and perfect freedom from danger,
and it checked and embarrassed the others, who were hastening
on to pursue them. And, when the Egyptians saw this, they
were entirely filled with disorder and confusion, and through
their consternation they threw all their ranks into disorder,
falling upon one another and endeavouring to flee, when there
was no advantage to be derived from flight.
For, at the first appearance of morning, the Hebrews passed
over by a dry path, with their wives, and families, and infant
children. But the portions of the sea which were rolled up
and consolidated on each side overwhelmed the Egyptians with
their horses and chariots, the tide being brought back by a
strong north wind and poured over them, and coming upon
them with vast waves and overpowering billows, so that there
was not even a torchbearer left to carry the news of this sudden
disaster back to Egypt.
Then the Hebrews, being amazed at this great and wonderful
event, gained a victory which they had never hoped for without
bloodshed or loss ; and, seeing the instantaneous and complete
destruction of the enemy, formed two choruses, one of men
and the other of women, on the sea shore, and sang hymns of
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 41
gratitude to God, Moses leading the song of the men, and his
sister that of the women ; for these two persons were the
leaders of the choruses.
XXXIII. And when they had departed from the sea they
went on for some time travelling, and no longer feeling any
apprehension of their enemies. But when water failed them,
so that for three days they had nothing to drink, they were
again reduced to despondency by thirst, and again began to
blame their fate as if they had not enjoyed any good fortune
previously ; for it always happens that the presence of an exist
ing and present evil takes away the recollection of the pleasure
which was caused by former good. At last, when they beheld
some fountains, they ran up full of joy with the idea that they
were going to drink, being deceived by ignorance of the truth";
for the springs were bitter.
Then when they had tasted them they were bowed down by
the unexpected disappointment, and fainted, and yielded both
in body and soul, lamenting not so much for themselves as for
their helpless children, whom they could not endure without
tears to behold imploring drink ; and some of those who were
of more careless dispositions, and of no settled notions of
piety, blamed all that had gone before, as if it had turned out
not so as to do them any good, but rather so as to lead them
to a suffering of more grievous calamities than ever ; saying
that it was better for them to die, not only once but three
times over, by the hands of their enemies, than to perish with
thirst ; for they affirmed that a quick and painless departure
from life did in no respect differ from freedom from death in
the opinion of wise men, but that that was real death which
was slow and accompanied by pain ; that what was fearful was
not to be dead but only to be dying.
When they were lamenting and bewailing themselves in
this manner, Moses again besought God, who knew the weak
ness of all creatures, and especially of men, and the necessary
wants of the body which depends for its existence on food,
and which is enslaved by those severe task-mistresses, eating
and drinking, to pardon his desponding people, and to relieve
their want of everything, and that too not after a long interval
of time, but by a prompt and undeferred liberality, since by
reason of the natural impotency of their mortal nature, they
required a very speedy measure of assistance and deliverance ;
42 PHILO JUD^JUS.
But he, by his bountiful and merciful power, anticipated
their wishes, sending forth and opening the watchful, anxious
eye of the soul of his suppliant, and showed him a piece of wood
which he bade him take up and throw into the water, which
indeed had been made by nature with such a power for that
purpose, and which perhaps had a quality which was previously
unknown, or perhaps was then first endowed with it, for the
purpose of effecting the service which it was then about to
perform : and when he had done that which he was com
manded to do, the fountains became changed and sweet and
drinkable, so that no one was able to recognise the fact of
their having been bitter previously, because there was not the
slightest trace or spark of their ancient bitterness left to
excite the recollection.
XXXIV. And so having appeased their thirst with double
pleasure, since the blessing of enjoyment when it comes
beyond one s hopes delights one still more, and having also
replenished their ewers, they departed as from a feast, as if
they had been entertained at a luxurious banquet, and as if
they were intoxicated not with the drunkenness which proceeds
from wine, but with a sober joy which they had imbibed
purely, while pledging and being pledged by the piety of the
ruler who was leading them ; and so they arrive at a second
halting place, well supplied with water, and well shaded with
trees, called Aileem, irrigated with twelve fountains, near
which were young and vigorous trunks of palm trees to the
number of seventy, a visible indication and token of good to
the whole nation, to all who were gifted with a clear-sighted
intellect.
For the nation itself was divided into twelve tribes, each of
which, if pious and religious, would be looked upon in the
light of a fountain, since piety is contniually pouring forth
everlasting and unceasing springs of virtuous actions. And the
elders and chiefs of the whole nation were seventy in number,
being therefore very naturally likened to palm trees which are
the most excellent of all trees, being both most beautiful to
behold, and bearing the most exquisite fruit, which has also
its vitality and power of existence, not buried in the roots like
other trees, but situated high up like the heart of a man, and
lodged in the centre of its highest branches, by which it
is attended and guarded like a queen as it really is, they
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 43
being spread all round it. And the intellect too of those
persons who have tasted of holiness has a similar nature;
for it has learned to look upwards and to soar on high, and is
continually keeping its eye fixed on sublime objects, and
investigating divine things, and ridiculing, and scorning all
earthly beauty, thinking the last only toys, and divine things
the only real and proper objects worthy of its attention.
XXXV. But after these events only a short time elapsed, when
they became oppressed by famine through the scarcity of pro
visions, as if one necessary thing after another was to foil
them in succession : for thirst and hunger are very cruel and
terrible mistresses, and having portioned out the afflictions
between them, attacked them by turns ; and it so fell out that
when the first calamity was relaxed the second came on, which
was most intolerable to those who had to bear it, inasmuch as
having only just fancied that they were delivered from thirst,
they now found another evil, namely famine, lying in ambush
to attack them ; and not only was their present scarcity terri
ble, but they were also in despair as to the supply of necessary
food for the future ; for when they saw the vast and extensive
desert around them, so utterly unproductive of any kind of
crop, their hearts sank within them.
For all around were rugged and precipitous rocks, or else a
salt and brackish plain, and stony mountains, or deep sands
reaching up and forming mountains of inaccessible height ;
and moreover there was no river, neither winter torrent nor
ever-flowing stream ; there were no springs, no plant growing
from seed, no tree whether for fruit or timber, no animal
whether flying or terrestrial, except some few poisonous rep
tiles born for the destruction of mankind, and serpents, and
scorpions. So then the Hebrews, remembering the plenty and
luxury which they had enjoyed in Egypt, and the abundance
of all things which was bestowed upon them there, and
contrasting it with the universal want of all things which they
were now experiencing, were grieved and indignant, and
talked the matter over with one another, saying :
" We left our former abodes and emigrated, from a hope of
freedom, happy only in the promises of our leader ; as far as
his actions go, we are of all men the most miserable. What
will be the end of this long and interminable journey ? Every
one else, whether sailing over the sea or marching on foot,
44 PHILO JUDJECS.
iias some limit before him at "which he will eventually arrive ;
some being bound for marts and harbours, others for some
city or country ; but we alone have nothing to look forward to
but a pathless desert, and a difficult journey, and terrible
hopelessness, and despair ; for as we advance, the desert lies
before us like an ever open, vast, and pathless sea which widens
and increases every day. But Moses having raised our ex
pectations, and puffed us up with fine speeches, and filled our
ears with vain hopes, racks our bodies with hunger, and does
not give us even necessary food. He has deceived this vast
multitude with the name of a settlement in a colony ; having
first of all led us out of an inhabited country into an unin
habitable district, and now sending us down to the shades
below, which is the last journey of life."
XXXVI. Moses, being reviled in this way, was nevertheless
not so much grieved at their accusations which they brought
against himself, as at the inconstancy of their own resolutions
and minds. For though they had already experienced an
infinite number of blessings which had befallen them unex
pectedly and out of the ordinary course of affairs, they ought,
in his opinion, not to have allowed themselves to be led away
by any specious or plausible complaints, but to have trusted in
him, as they had already received the clearest possible proofs
that he spoke truly about everything.
But again, when he came to take into consideration the
want of food, than which there is no more terrible evil which
can afflict mankind, he pardoned them, knowing that the mul
titude is by nature inconstant and always moved by present
circumstances, which cause it to forget what has gone before,
and despair of the future. Therefore, as they were all in the
extremity of suffering, and expecting the most fearful misery
which they fancied was lying in ambush for them and close at
hand, God, partly by reason of his natural love and compassion
for man, and partly because he desired to honour the com
mander whom he had appointed to govern them, and still
more to show his great piety and holiness in all matters
whether visible or invisible, pitied them and relieved their
distress.
Therefore he now devised an entirely new kind of benefit,
that they, being taught by manifest signs and displays of his
power, might feel reverence for him, and learn for the future
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 45
not to be impatient if anything turned out contrary to their
wishes, but to endure present evils with fortitude, in the ex
pectation of future blessings.
What then happened? The very next day, about sun-rise,
a dense and abundant dew fell in a circle all round about the
camp, which rained down upon it gently and quietly in an
unusual and unprecedented shower ; not water, nor hail, nor
snow, nor ice, for these are the things which the changes of
the clouds produce in the winter season ; but what was now
rained down upon them was a very small and light grain, like
millet, which, by reason of its incessant fall, rested in heaps
before the camp, a most extraordinary sight. And the Hebrews
marvelled at it, and inquired of the commander what this rain
was, which no man had ever seen before, and for what it was
sent.
And he was inspired, and full of the spirit of prophecy, and
spoke to them as follows : " A fertile plain has been granted
to mortal men, which they cut up into furrows, and plough,
and sow, and do everything else which relates to agriculture,
providing the yearly fruits so as to enjoy abundance of neces
sary food. But it is not one portion only of the universe, but
the whole world that belongs to God, and all its parts .obey
their master, supplying everything which he desires that they
should supply. Now therefore, it has seemed good to him
that the air should produce food instead of water, since the
earth has often brought forth rain ; for when the river in
Egypt every year overflows with inundations and irrigates all
the fields, what else is that but a rain which is showered up
from below ? " That other would have been indeed a most
surprising fact if it had stopped" there ; but now he wrought
wonders with still more surprising circumstances ; for all the
population bringing vessels one after another, collected what
fell, some putting them upon beasts of burden, others loading
themselves and taking them on their shoulders, being prudently
eager to provide themselves with necessary food for a longer
time. But it was something that would bear to be stored up
and dispensed gradually, since God is accustomed always to
give his gifts fresh.
Accordingly, they now prepared enough for their immediate
necessities and present use, and ate it with pleasure. But of
what was left till the next day they found not a morsel unhurt,
46 PH1LO JUDvEUS.
but it was all changed and fetid, and full of little animals of
the kind which usually cause putrefaction. So this they natu
rally threw away, but they found fresh quantities of it ready for
food, so that it fell out that this food was carried down every
day with the dew. But the holy seventh day had an especial
honour ; for, as it is not permitted to do anything whatever on
that day (and it is expressly commanded that men are then to
abstain from every work, great or little), so that they were not
able to collect food that day, instead of food for one day, God
rained upon them a double quantity, and ordered them to
collect what shall be food enough for two days. And what was
then collected remained sound, no portion of it becoming spoiled
as it had before.
XXXVII. I will also relate a circumstance which is more
marvellous than even this one ; for, though they were travelling
for forty years, yet during all this long period of time they had
an abundant supply of all necessary things in their appointed
order, as is the case in clubs and messes which are regularly
measured out with a view to the distribution of what is required
by each individual. And, at the same time, they learnt the
value of that long- wished for day ; for, having inquired for a
long time what the day of the creation of the world was, the
day on which the universe was completely finished, and, having
received this question from their fathers and their ancestors
undecided, they at last, though with great difficulty, did ascer
tain it, not being taught only by the sacred scriptures, but also
by a certain proof which was very distinct ; for, as that portion
of the manna (as has been already said) which was more than
was wanted on the other days of the week was spoiled, still that
portion which was rained down on the day before the seventh
not only did not change its nature, but was dispensed in a two
fold quantity. And the use was as follows.
At dawn they collected what had been showered down, and
then they ground or pounded it ; and then they roasted it and
made a very sweet food of it, like honey cheesecake, and so
they ate it, without requiring any exceeding skill on the part
of the preparers of the food. But they also had no scarcity of,
nor any great distance to go for, the means of making life even
luxurious, as if they had been in a populous and productive
!nnd, since God had determined out of his great abundance to
supply them with plenty of all things which they required even
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 47
in the wilderness ; for, in the evenings, there was an uninter
rupted cloud of quails borne to them from the sea, which over
shadowed the whole camp, flying very near the ground so as to
be easily caught. Therefore, the Hebrews, taking them and
preparing them as each individual liked, enjoyed the most
exquisite meat, pleasing themselves and varying their food
with this necessary and delicious addition.
XXXVIII. Accordingly, they had a great abundance of
these birds, as they never failed. But, a second time, a terrible
scarcity of water came upon them and afflicted them ; and, as
they again speedily began to despair of their safety, Moses,
taking his sacred rod with which he had wrought the signs in
Egypt, being inspired by God, smote the precipitous rock.
And the rock being struck this seasonable blow, whether it was
that there was a spring previously concealed beneath it, or
whether water was then for the first time conveyed into it by
invisible channels pouring in all together and being forced out
with violence, at all events the rock, I say, was cleft open by
the force of the blow and poured forth water in a stream, so
that it not only then furnished a relief from thirst, but also
supplied for a long time an abundance of drink for so many
myriads of people.
For they filled all their water vessels, as they had done
before, from the fountains which were bitter by nature, but
which, by divine providence, were changed to sweet water.
And, if any one disbelieves these facts, he neither knows God
nor has he ever sought to know him ; for, if he had, he would
have instantly known, he would have known and surely com
prehended, that all these unexpected and extraordinary things
are the amusement of God ; looking at the things which are
really great and deserving of serious attention, namely, the
creation of the heaven, and the revolutions of the planets and
fixed stars, and the shining of light of the light of the sun by
day and that of the moon by night and the position of the
earth in the most centre spot of the universe, and the vast
dominions of the different continents and islands, and the
innumerable varieties of animals and plants, and the effusion of
the sea, andt he rapid courses of the ever-flowing rivers and
winter mountain torrents, and the streams of everlasting
springs, some of which pour forth cold and others hot water,
48 PHILO JUD^EUS.
and the various changes and alterations of the air and climate,
and the different seasons of the year, and an infinite number
of other beautiful objects.
And the whole of a man s life would be too short if he wished
to enumerate all the separate instances of such things, or even
to detail fully all that is to be seen in one complete portion 01
the world ; aye, if he were to be the most long-lived man that
has ever been seen. But all these things, though they are in
truth really wonderful, are despised by us by reason of our
familiarity with them. But the things to which we are not
accustomed, even though they may be unimportant, still make
an impression upon us from our love of novelty, while we yield
to strange ideas concerning them.
XXXIX. And now, as they had gone over a vast tract of
land previously untra veiled, there appeared some boundaries of
habitable country and some suburbs, as it were, of the land to
which they were proceeding, and the Phoenicians inhabited it.
But they, hoping that a tranquil and peaceable life would now
be permitted to them, were deceived in their expectation ; for
the king of the country, being afraid lest he might be destroyed,
roused up all the youth of his cities, and collected an army,
and went forth to meet them to keep them from his borders.
And if they attempted to force their way, he showed that he
would proceed to repel them with all his forces, his army being
fresh, and now for the first time levied and marshalled for
battle, \vhile the Hebrews were wearied and worn out with
their long travelling and with the scarcity of meat and drink
which had in turns oppressed them,
But when Moses had learnt from his scouts that the army
of the enemy was marshalled at no great distance, he chose out
those men who were in the flower of their youth, and appointed
one of his subordinate officers, named Joshua, to be their
general, while he himself went to procure a more powerful
alliance ; for, having purified himself with the customary puri
fication, he rode up with speed to a neighbouring hill, and there
he besought God to hold his shield over the Hebrews and to
give them the victory and the mastery, as he had delivered
them before from more formidable dangers and from other
evils, not only dissipating the calamities with which they were
threatened at the hands of men, but also all those which the
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 49
transformation of the elements so wonderfully caused in the
land of Egypt, and from those which the long scarcity inflicted
upon them in their travels.
And just as the two armies were about to engage in battle.
a most marvellous miracle took place with respect to his hands ;
for they became by turns lighter and heavier. Then, when
ever they were lighter, so that he could hold them up on high,
the alliance between God and his people was strengthened, and
waxed mighty, and became more glorious. But whenever his
hands sank down the enemy prevailed, God showing thus by a
figure that the earth and all the extremities of it were the
appropriate inheritance of the one party, and the most sacred
air the inheritance of the other. And as the heaven is in
every respect supreme to and superior over the earth, so also
shall the nation which has heaven for its inheritance be superior
to their enemies.
For some time, then, his hands, like the balances in a scale,
were by turns light, and by turns descended as being heavy ;
and, during this period, the battle was undecided. But, on a
sudden, they became quite devoid of weight, using their fingers
as if they were wings, and so they were raised to a lofty height,
like winged birds who traverse the heaven, and they continued
at this height until the Hebrews had gained an unquestionable
victory, their enemies being slain to a man from the youth
upward, and suffering with justice what they had endeavoured
to inflict on others, contrary to what was befitting.
Then Moses erected an altar, which from the circumstances
that had taken place he named the refuge of God, on which he
offered sacrifices in honour of his victory, and poured forth
prayers of gratitude to God.
XL. After this battle he considered that it was proper to
reconnoitre the country into which the nation was being led as
a colony (and it was now the second year that they had been
travelling), not wishing that his followers should (as is often
the case) change their designs out of ignorance, but that they
should learn by accurate report, what the nature of the country
really was, availing themselves of the positive knowledge of the
inhabitants, and should then consider what was best to be
done ; and accordingly he chose out twelve men, to correspond
in number to the twelve tribes, one out of each tribe to be the
leader of it, selecting the most approved men, with reference
VOL. III. E
50 PHILO JUDJEUS.
to their excellence, in order that no quarrels might arise from
any one party being better or worse off than another, but that
they might all, by the agency of those to whom the matter was
entrusted, be equally instructed as to the state of affairs among
the inhabitants, if only the spies who were sent out brought a
true report.
And when he had selected the men he spoke to them as
follows : " The inheritance which is before us is the prize of
those labours and dangers which we have endured hitherto,
and are still enduring, and let us not lose the hope of these
things, we who are thus conducting a most populous nation to
a new settlement. But the knowledge of the places, and of
the men, and of the circumstances, is most useful, just as
ignorance of these particulars is most injurious. We have
therefore appointed you as spies, that we, by your eyes and by
your intellects, may see the state of things there ; ye, there
fore, must be the ears and eyes of all these myriads of people,
that thus they may arrive at an accurate comprehension of
what is indispensable to be known.
** Now what we wish to know consists of three points ; the
number of the inhabitants, and the strength of their cities,
whether they are planted in favourable situations, whether
they are strongly built and fortified, or the contrary. As to
the country, we wish to know whether it has a deep and rich
soil, whether it is good to bear all kinds of fruits, both of such
plants as are raised from seed and of fruit-trees ; or whether,
on the contrary, it has a shallow soil ; that so we may be pre
pared against the power and numbers of the inhabitants with
equal forces, and against the fortified state of the buildings
and cities by means of engines and machines, for the destruc
tion of cities.
" .And it is indispensable to understand the nature of the
country, and whether it is a good land or not ; for to encounter
voluntary dangers for a poor and bad land is an act of folly ;
and our weapons, and our engines, and all our power, consist
solely in our trust and confidence in God. Having this pre
paration we will yield to no danger or fear, for this is sufficient
with great superfluity of power to subdue otherwise invincible
strength, which relies only on bodily vigour and on armies, and
on courage, and skill, and numbers ; since to that too we owe
it, that even in a vast wilderness we have full supplies of
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 5]
everything, as if we were in well-stocked cities ; and the time
in which it is most easy to come to a proper understanding of
the good qualities of the land is the spring, the season which
is now present ; for in the season of spring what has been sown
is coming to perfection, and the natures of the trees are begin
ning to propagate themselves further. It will be better, there
fore, for you to enter the land now, and to remain till the
middle of the summer, and to bring back with you fruits, as
samples of what is to be procured from a prosperous and fertile
country. "
XLI. 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 dis
trict, and from thence they 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 ad
vantages of situation, and also to the strength of their fortifi
cation ; 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
52 PHILO JUD^EUS.
everything: for first impressions are not trustworthy, but
require the slow confirmation of time.
They also took great care to gather specimens of the pro
ductions of the land, though they were not as yet ripe and
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 branches were of unrivalled sizes, stretching along all
the 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
with respect to some points of necessary importance.
XLII. 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, but they became more violent after their return ; for
some of them brought back formidable stories of the strength
of the different cities, and the great populousness and opulence
of each of them, exaggerating and making the most of every
thing in their description so as to cause excessive consternation
among their hearers ; while others, on the contrary, disparaged
and made light of all time they saw, and exhorted their fellow
countrymen not to faint but to persevere in their design of
colonising that country, as 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
hearers some portion of his own spirit, the cowardly spreading
cowardice, and the indomitable and bold diffusing confidence
united with sanguine hope. But these last made but a fifth
part of those who were frightened out of their senses, while
thev, on the other hand, were five times as numerous as the
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 53
high-spirited ; and the small number of those \vho 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 only two, while those who made the con
trary 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 country 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 oppo
site 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 per
sisted 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 feel
ings of despondency, and only the tw r o 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.
XLIII. This was the reason why they did not arrive sooner
in the land which they went forth to colonize ; for though they
might, in the second year after their departure from Egypt,
have conquered all the cities in Syria, and divided the inhe
ritance 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 both 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
54 PHILO JUD^EUS.
Jife of a complete generation of mankind did they wander up
arid down, traversing the pathless wilderness; and at last in
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-ope
rate in everything necessary for the establishment 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 their 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 kindred 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 irrecon
cilable dispositions, and language, and counsels, and actions ;
and thus keeping alive the ill-will of their original ancestor to
his brother ; 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
abandoned voluntarily, violating his agreement, and he sought
to slay his brother, threatening him with death if he did not
surrender what he had purchased. And now the whole nation
* The brothers are Jacob and Esau, Jacob being the father of the
Israelites and Esau of the Edomites.
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 55
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 thev 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.
XLIV. 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,
" 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 sur
rounded 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 their evil fortune, even if they
do not admit that they do so ; for they had already related to
56 PHILO JUD^DS.
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 hap
pened 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 like 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 compas
sionate 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.
XLV. Therefore he passed by the cities of these nations ;
but a certain king of the neighbouring country, 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 dis
order, 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 marched 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
the others also.
But the Hebrews, for they were not dismayed at the defeat
of their advanced guard, but had rather derived even more confi
dence than they had felt before, being eager also to make amends
by their 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 invade their land. Let us show that we are in no wise
alarmed or depressed, by our vigour in action and our confi
dence. The end is very often judged of by the beginning. Let
us seize the keys of the country and strike terror into the in
habitants as deriving prosperity from cities, and inflicting upon
them in return the want of necessary things which we bring
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 57
with us out of the wilderness." And they, at the same time,
exhorted one another often with these words, and likewise began
to dedicate to God, as the first fruits of the land, the cities of the
J*ing 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 every pious man offers unto God the first fruits of the
fruits of the year, which he collects from his 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 country 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 direc
tion in which they had so long been dwelling in to the inhabited
land which they were ordained 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 likewise 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
58 PHILO JUD^US.
appear from the beginning. And Moses, rejoicing at the un
expected blessings which from time to time were presenting
themselves to him, advanced further, dividing the youth of 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 VII. A few days afterwards he entered the country of
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 great 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 in 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 forward in opposition to
the enemy as he advanced and charged them, availing them
selves of the invincible alliance of the just God, in consequence
of which they had the greatest boldness, and became cheerful
and sanguine combatants.
And the proof of this was clear ; there was no need of any
second battle, 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 overthrown, and immediately it disappeared for ever.
And about the same time the cities were both empty and full ;
empty of their ancient inhabitants, 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,
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES.
59
received instead men who were in all respects better than their
former masters.
XL VIII. 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 neigh
bouring 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 irre
sistible 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 soothsayers 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 the
inundations of rivers ; or, on the contrary, their falling greatlv
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,
60 PHILO JUD^EUS.
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 messen
gers 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
hopes for the future which they held out to him, and being in
fluenced 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
he prepared for his departure, relating some dreams by which
he said he had been influenced, affirming that he had been
compelled by their manifest visions 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 ill-
omened ; for the beast on which he was riding, while proceed
ing 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
the 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 had his 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 the beast, on which the diviner was seeking, saw at
a great distance as it was coming towards him, and it was
frightened at it; but the man did not see it, which was a
proof 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
boasting that he could see, not only the whole world, but also
the Creator of the world.
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 61
Accordingly, having after some time seen the angel op
posing 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 supplica
tions 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 his 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 which was so evident,
which had its answer plain in itself, and which did not require
any more positive information by means of words, unless a per
son 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 through 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 saluta
tions, and then a brief reproof of his tardiness and of his not
having come 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 the 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
of the country had been accustomed to worship ; 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 beheld it said : " Do thou,
62 PHILO JDD^US.
king, build here seven altars, and offer upon every one of
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 him, which 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 rne to take a
long journey from the east, that he might chastise the Hebrews
by means of curses. But in what manner 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 dis
covered 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 are 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
himself; 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
their good ? I must, without knowing it, have been deceiving
myself, thinking 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
in coming to me by reason of the regard for them, which you
were secretly cherishing in your soul, ar.d your secret dislike
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES.
63
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, his 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 exceedingly 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, O 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 no
thing 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."
LII. But Balak, being very indignant at finding that all the
64 PHILO JUD^IUS.
assistance which he expected to derive from divination was
turning out contrary 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 this, 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 con
ductor, although in his secret thoughts he was oppressed by a
heavy 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 divina
tion and auguries, since he much 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 with difficulty, understood the fact 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, arid he saw their numbers and their
array, and admired it as being like the order of a city rather
than of a camp, 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 are thy abodes, O army of Hebrews ; thy
tents are shady as groves, as a paradise on the bank of a river,
as a cedar by the waters. A man shall hereafter come forth
out of thee who shall rule over many nations, and his kingdom
shall increase every day and be raised up to heaven. This
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES.
65
people hath God for its guide all the way from Egypt, who
leads on their multitude iu one line. Therefore they shall
devour many nations of their enemies, and they shall take all
their fat as far as their veiy 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."
LIU. 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. Fly,
therefore, quickly, passion is a hasty affection, lest I be com
pelled to do something more violent than usual. Of what a
vast amount of money, most foolish of men, of how many
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 in
deed that your counsels are more powerful than his decrees?"
LIV. Come, then, let us examine into his fine recommenda
tions, 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 de
bauchery and intemperance, that mighty evil, to the still
greater crime of impiety, putting pleasure before them as a
bait ; for, said he, " king ! the women of the country surpass
VOL. III. F
6C PHILO JUD^EUS.
all oilier 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 their appetites, they will endure to
do and to suffer anything.
" And let any damsel who is thus prepared for the sport re
sist, and say, wantonly, to a lover who is thus influenced, " It
is 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 liba
tions 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 en
acted 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
seduced their minds, and having by their tricks and allure
ments perverted them to impiety ; until Phinehas, the son of
the chief priest, being exceedingly indignant at all that was
taking place (for it appeared to him to be a most scandalous
thing for his countrymen to give up at one time both their
bodies and souls their bodies to pleasure, and their souls to
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 67
transgression of the law, and to works of wickedness), under
took 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 without 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, demon
strating their own piety, showing no compassion on any one of
those who were justly condemned to death, and riot 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 once got rid of. And when the works of purifi
cation 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
addition to this peace, he gave him the perpetual possession of
the priesthood, an inheritance to his family, which could not
be taken from it. 2 F
68 PHILO JUD.EUS.
LVT. But when none of the civil and intestine "evils re
mained any longer, but when all the men who were suspected
of having either forsaken the ways of their ancestors or of
treachery 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 innu
merable 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 licentious
ness and incontinence of the women, who destroyed the bodies
of those who associated with thsm by debauchery, and their
souls by impiety.
Therefore MOSJS 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 Phiriehas 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 sove
reignty, 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 coun
trymen, 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
them to do so unpunished, who are, in reality, the guilty
causes of all that has taken place, and of all the evils which
our countrymen have either done or suffered."
ON THE LIFE OP MOSES. 69
LVI1. 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.
Any 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 them 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 allies who had returned from fighting by their side, of
70 PHILO JUD^JUS.
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 common 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 com
panies 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 which had been gained in a manner
beyond all hope, giving up all the golden ornaments which
had fallen to the lot of each individual, in the apportionment
of the booty, and the most costly vessels, of which the mate
rial was gold.
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES.
71
All which things Moses took, and, admiring the piety of
those who contributed them, dedicated them in the conse
crated 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
iu 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 tor 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 indig
nant at their request, and answered them in anger, and said,
"Shall you then sit here and enjoy leisure, and yield to indo
lence 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
you had all contributed to the success ? And shall battles and
72 PHILO JUD.EQS.
wars, and distresses, and the most extreme dangers await
others? But it is not just that you should enjoy peace, and
the blessings that flow from peace, and that the rest should
endure wars and all the other indescribable evils which they
bring with them, and 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
and 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 afflictions
of others ; for it is the part of wise men not to wait till mis
fortunes come upon themselves. 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, foolish-
minded 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, there
fore, 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 be without reproach nor liable to any charge of deser
tion or treachery, or of any misconduct which could possibly
tend to our defeat, but shall be seen to have endured stead
fastly from the beginning to the end, with their bodily exertion
and with all eagerness of mind, and when the whole country
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES.
73
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 riot to fear to encounter
dangers, and to be willing to bear our share in all future expe
ditions until all our business is brought to a fortunate conclu
sion.
" 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 child
ren, 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 injury from being taken
in un walled and unprotected dwellings."
And Moses answered with a mild look and even still gentler
voice, " If you speak the truth and behave honestly, the allot
ments 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
74 PHILO JUD^US.
to enjoy the good things which helong 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 taking their 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 accord
ance 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.
A TREATISE
ON THE
LIFE OE MOSES,
THAT IS TO SAY,
ON THE THEOLOGY AND PROPHETIC OFFICE OF MOSES.
BOOK II.
I. 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 government of his people, which he governed not
merely irreproachably, but in so exceedingly praiseworthy a
manner ; and also of all the affairs 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 labours which he conducted to a
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES.
75
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 culti
vate 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 7 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
76 PHILO JUD^EUS.
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 con
nected 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.
II. And first 01 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 excel
lent 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
facilities 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
at 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
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 77
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.
III. 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 clear
est 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 over
turned 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, riot 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 time, 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 commandments was
changed, since every one, as it seems, honoured their vene
rable and godlike character; and what neither famine, nor
78 PHILO JUD^EUS.
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 than as objects of all admiration, and
beyond all powers of description in respect of their excellence.
IV. But this is not so entirely wonderful, although it may
fairly by itself be considered a thing of great intrinsic import
ance, 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 con
tinually modifies them, and adapts them to the changes ol
times and circumstances.
The Athenians rejected the customs and laws of the Lace
demonians, and so did the Lacedasmonians repudiate the laws
of the Athenians. Nor, again, in the countries of the barba
rians 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.
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 79
For what man is there who does not hononr that sacred
seventh day, granting in consequence a relief and relaxation
from labour, for himself and for all those who are near to him,
and that not to free msn only, but also to slaves, and even to
beasts of burden ; for the holiday extends even to every de
scription 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 entertain
ments 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 dis
turb 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 uni
verse with holy prayers, by which they are accustomed to
solicit pardon for their former sins, and the acquisition and
enjoyment of new blessings.
V. 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 Chaldaean 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
SO PHILO JUD^US.
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 wholly 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 rulers, of whom the number was not great, it was entrusted to
kings and to the most illustrious of all kings. Ptolemy , sum amed
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 monu
ments of his magnanimity in the cities and districts of his king
dom, so that even now it is come to be a sort of proverbial ex
pression to call excessive magnificence, and zeal, for honour
and splendour in preparation, Philadelphian, from his name ;
and, in a word, the whole family of the Ptolemies was exceed
ingly eminent and conspicuous above all other royal families,
and among the Ptolemies, Philadelphus was the most illus
trious ; for all the rest put together scarcely did as many
glorious and praiseworthy actions as this one king did by
himself, being, as it were, the leader of the herd, and in a
manner the head of all the kings.
VI. He, then, being a sovereign of this character, and
having conceived a great admiration for and love of the legis
lation of Moses, conceived the idea of having our laws trans
lated into the Greek language ; and immediately he sent out
ambassadors to the high-priest and king of Judea, for they
were the same person. And having explained his wishes, and
having requested him to pick him out a number of men, of
perfect fitness for the task, who should translate the law, the
high -priest, as was natural, being greatly pleased, and thinking
that the king had only felt the inclination to undertake a work
of such a character from having been influenced by the provi
dence of God, considered, and with great care selected the
most respectable of the Hebrews whom he had about him, who
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 81
in addition to their knowledge of their national scriptures, had
also been well instructed in Grecian literature, and cheerfully
sent them.
And when they arrived at the king s court they were hospi
tably received by the king; and while they feasted, they in
return feasted their entertainer with witty and virtuous con
versation ; 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 any
thing, 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 neigh
bourhood 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 benefited, by using these
philosophical and entirely beautiful commandments for the
correction of their lives.
VII. Therefore, being settled in a secret place, and nothing
VOL. III. G
82 PHILO JUD.EUS.
ever being present with them except the elements of nature,
the earth, the water, the air, and the heaven, concerning the
creation of which they were going in the first place to explain
the sacred account; for the account of the creation of the
world is the beginning of the law ; they, like men inspired,
prophesied, not one saying one thing and another another, but
every one of them employed 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
language, and the Greek language above all others, is rich in
a variety 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 mariners, adapting many different forms of expres
sion 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 corre
sponding Greek words were employed to translate literally the
appropriate Chaldaic words, being adapted with exceeding
propriety to the matters which were to be explained ; for just
as I suppose the things which are proved in geometry and
logic do not admit any variety of explanation, but the proposi
tion which was set forth from the beginning remains unaltered,
in like manner I conceive did these men find words precisely
and literally corresponding to the things, which words were
alone, or in the greatest possible degree, destined to explain
with clearness and force the matters which it was desired to
reveal. And there is a very evident proof of this ; for if Chal-
daeans were to learn the Greek language, and if Greeks were
to learn Chaldaean, and if each were to meet with those scrip
tures in both languages, namely, the Chaldaic and the trans
lated 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 hierophants and prophets to whom it had
been granted with their honest and guileless minds to go
along with the most pure spirit of Moses.
On which account, even to this very day, there is every year
a solemn assembly held and a festival celebrated in the island
of Pharos, to which not only the Jews but a great number of
persons of other nations sail across, reverencing the place in
which the first light of interpretation shone forth, and thanking
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 83
God for that ancient piece of beneficence which was always
young and fresh.
And after the prayers and the giving of thanks some of
them 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 that time a more beautiful abode than the furni
ture 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 prosperous for a long time. And it is generally
the case that a cloud is thrown over the affairs of those who
are not flourishing, 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
customs, and utterly disregarding their national laws, would
change and come over to the honour of such a people only ; for
their laws shining in connection with, and simultaneously with,
the prosperity of the nation, will obscure all others, just as the
rising sun obscures the stars.
VIII. Now what has been here said is quite sufficient for
the abundant praise of Moses as a lawgiver. But there is
another more extensive praise which his own holy writings
themselves contain, and it is to them that we must now turn
for the purpose of exhibiting the virtue of him who compiled
them.
Now these writings of Moses may be divided into several
parts ; one of which is the historical part, another is occupied
with commands and prohibitions, respecting which part we will
speak at some other time when we have first of all accurately
examined that part which comes first in the order of our divi
sion. Apain, 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 different
families, may be divided into the accounts of the punishment
of the wicked, and of the honours bestowed on the just ; we
must also explain on what account it was that he began his
history of the giving of the law with these particulars, and
placed the commandments and prohibitions in the second
G 2
4 PHILO JUD^US.
order ; for he was not like any ordinary compiler of history,
studving to leave behind him records of ancient transactions
as memorials to future ages for the mere sake of affording
pleasure without 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 who adhered to these laws,
and clung closely to a connection with and obedience to
nature, would live in a manner corresponding to the arrange
ment of the universe with a perfect harmony and union,
between his words and his actions and between his actions and
his words.
IX. Now of all other lawgivers, some the moment that they
have promulgated positive commands as to what it is right to
do and what it is right not to do, proceed to appoint punish
ments for those who transgress those laws ; but others, who
appear to have proceeded on a better plan, have not begun in
this manner, but, having first of all built and established then-
city in accordance with reason, have then adapted to this city
which they have built, that constitution which they have con
sidered the best adapted and most akin to it, and have con-
iirmed this constitution by the giving of laws. But he,
thinking the first of the two courses above mentioned to be
tyrannical and despotic, as irfdeed it is, namely, that of laying
positive commands on persons as if 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 each
of the above considerations.
For both in his commandments and also in his prohibitions
he suggests and recommends rather than commands, endea
vouring with many prefaces and perorations to suggest the
greater part of the precepts 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 his
work a commencement beneath the dignity of his laws, looking
rather with the most accurate eye of his mind at the import
ance and beauty of his whole legislative system, and thinking
ON THE LIFE OP MOSES. 85
it too excellent and too divine to be limited as it were by any
circle 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
whole world.
X. At all events if any one were inclined to examine with
accuracy the powers of each individual and particular law, he
will find them all aiming at the harmony of the universe, and
corresponding to the law of eternal nature : on which account
those men who have had unbounded prosperity bestowed upon
them, and all things tending to the production of health of
body, and riches, and glory, and all other external parts of
good fortune, but who have rejected virtue, and have chosen
crafty wickedness, and all other kinds of vice, not through
compulsion, but of their own spontaneous free will, looking
upon that which is the greatest of all evils as the greatest pos
sible advantage, he looks upon as enemies not of mankind only,
but of the entire heaven and world, and says that they are await
ing, not any ordinary punishments, but new and extraordinary
ones, which that constant assessor of God, justice, who detests
wickedness, invents and inflicts terribly upon them, turning
against them 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 off all the cities in the plain ; and those in
the mountain country were destroyed by incessant and irresis
tible 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 generations did
not take the 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. There
fore on this occasion, as the holy scriptures tell us, thunder
bolts fell from heaven, and burnt up those wicked men and
their cities ; and even to this day there are seen in Syria
monuments of the unprecedented destruction that fell upon
them, in the ruins, and ashes, and sulphur, and smoke, and
86 PHILO JUD^US.
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 punished with the aforesaid chastise
ments, 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,
one 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
nations, 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 fire by heaping
upon it plenty of rough fuel.
XI. 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 Xoah alone was preserved free from all
evil, inasmuch as the father and governor of the house was a
man who had never committed 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 which 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 con
veyed to him by the word of God, built a most enormous
fabric of wood, three hundred cubits in length, and fifty in
width, and thirty in height, and having prepared a number of
connected chambers within it, both on the ground floor and ill
the upper story, the whole building consisting of three, and in
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 87
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 which had hitherto existed, and of preventing
anything that had been deliberately called into existence from
being utterly destroyed.
XII. 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 repre
sentation 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 back their waters ; and every stream re
turned into its appropriate channel.
But after the purification, in this way, of all the things be
neath the moon, the earth being thus washed and appearing
new acmin, and such as it appeared to be when it was at first
created, 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 excel-
88 PHILO JUD^EUS.
lence given to good men, by means of which, not only did
they themselves and their families obtain safety, having
escaped from the greatest dangers which were thus aimed
against all men all over the earth, by the change in the cha
racter 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 behind as sparks of the most excellent kind
of creatures, namely, of men, man having received the su
premacy 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.
A TREATISE
OX TIIS
LIFE OF MOSES,
THAT J.i TO SAY,
ON THE THEOLOGY AND PROPHETIC OFFICE OF MOSES.
BOOK III.
I. 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 fulfilling 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, receiv
ing 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
Father 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
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES.
89
the true and living God. Now the 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 every
thing that related to the sacred offices and ministrations.
II. 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 connec
tion 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 con
templations 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, in
creasing 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 moun
tain 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 necessary 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.
III. 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 respect
ing 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
90 PHILO JUD^US.
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 rnoveable temple, that so, in all their journeyings, and mili
tary 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, the 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
ciable 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
performance of his sacred duties correspond to the works
which he was now to make.
IV. 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
which were not apparent to the eye ; and the completion of
the work was made in the similitude of the model, the maker
giving an accurate representation of the impression in material
substances corresponding to each part of the model, and the
fashion 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 beauty, and they were all veneered with gold of great
thickness. "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, one half of
them, or twenty, on each side, placing nothing between them,
but arranging them and uniting them all in regular order, and
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES.
91
close together, so that they might present the appearance of
one solid 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
fifty-five in number, all conspicuous, being the number made
by the addition of all the numbers from the unit to the com
plete 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 the
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 the 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 the 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. But since the mind is the
92
principal thing in us, having an authority over the external
senses, and since that which is an object of the external senses
is the extremity, and as it were the pedestal or foundation of
it, the architect has likened the mind to gold, and the ohject
of the external sense to brass.
And these are the measures of the pillars, they are ten
Cubits in length, and five cubits and a half in width, in order
that the tabernacle may be seen to be of equal dimensions in
all its parts.
V. Moreover the architect surrounded the tabernacle with
very beautiful woven work of all kinds, employing work of
hyacinth colour, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen for the
tapestry ; for he caused to be wrought ten cloths, which in the
sacred scriptures he, has called curtains, of the kinds which I
have just mentioned, every one oFtEe~m being eight and twenty
cubits in length, and extending four cubits in width, in order
that the complete number of the decade, and also the number
four, which is the essence of the decade, and also the number
twenty-eight, which is likewise a perfect number, being equal
to its parts ; and also the number forty, the most prolific and
productive of all numbers, in which number they say that man
was fashioned in the workship of nature.
Therefore the eight and twenty cubits of the curtains have
this distribution : there are ten along the roof, for that is the
width of the tabernacle, and the rest are placed along the
sides, on each side nine, which are extended so as to cover and
conceal the pillars, one cubit from the floor being left uncovered
in order that the beautiful and holy looking embroidery might
not be dragged. And of the forty which are included in the
calculation and made up of the width of the ten curtains, the
length takes thirty, for such is the length of the tabernacle,
and the chamber behind takes nine. And the remaining one
is in the outer vestibule, that it may be the bond to unite the
whole circumference.
And the outer vestibule is overshadowed by the veil ; and
the curtains themselves are nearly the same as veils, riot only
because they cover the roof and the walls, but also because
they are woven and embroidered by the same figures, and with
hyacinth colour, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen. And
the veil, and that thing, too, which was called the covering,
was made of the same things That which was within was
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 93
placed along the five pillars, that the innermost shrine might
be concealed ; and that which was outside being placed along
the five pillars, that no one of those who were not holy men
might be able from any secret or distant place to behold the
holy rites and ceremonies.
VI. Moreover, he chose the materials of this embroidery,
selecting with great care what was most excellent out of an infi
nite quantity, choosing materials equal in number to the
elements of which the world was made, and having a direct
relation to them ; the elements being the earth and the water,
and the air and the fire. For the fine flax is produced^from
the earth, and the purple from the water, and the hyacinthj
colour is compared to the air (for, by nature, it is black), and
the scarlet is likened to fifeTbecause each is of a red colour ;
for it followed of necessity that those who were preparing a
temple made by hands for the Father and Ruler of the
universe must take essences similar to those of which he made
the universe itself.
Therefore the tabernacle was built in the manner that has
been here described, like a holy temple. And all around it a
sacred precinct extended a hundred cubits in length and fifty
cubits in width, having pillars all placed at an equal distance
of five cubits from one another, so that there were in all sixty
pillars ; and they were divided so that forty were placed along
the length and twenty along the breadth of the tabernacle, one
half on each side.
And the material of which the pillars were composed was
cedar within, and on the surface without silver ; and the pedes
tals of all of them were made of brass, and the height was equal
to five cubits. For it seemed to the architect to be proper to
make the height of what was called the hall equal to one half
of the entire length, that so the tabernacle might appear to be
elevated to double its real height, And there were thin cur
tains fitted to the pillars along their entire length and breadth,
resembling -so many sails, in order that no one might be able
to enter in who was not pure.
VII. And the situation was as follows. In the middle was
placed a tent, being in length thirty cubits and in width ten
cubits, including the depth of the pillars. And it was distant
from the centre space by three intervals of equal distance, two
being at the sides and one along the back chamber. And the
94 PHILO JUD.EUS.
interval between was by measurement twenty cubits. But
along the vestibule, as was natural, by reason of the number of
those who entered, the distance between them was increased
and extended to fifty cubits and more; for in this way the
hundred pillars of the hall were intended to be made up,
twenty being along the chamber behind, and those which the
tent contained, thirty in number, being included in the same
calculation with the fifty at the entrances ; for the outer vesti
bule of the tabernacle was placed as a sort of boundary in the
middle of the two fifties, the one, I mean, towards the east
where the entrance was, and the other being on the west, in
which direction the length of the tabernacle and the surround
ing wall behind was.
Moreover, another outer vestibule, of great size and exceed
ing beauty, was made at the beginning of the entrance into the
hall, by means of four pillars, along which was stretched the
embroidered curtain in the same manner as the inner curtains
were stretched along the tabernacle, and wrought also of
similar materials ; and with this there were also many sacred
vessels made, an ark, and a candlestick, and a table, and an
altar of incense, and an altar of sacrifice. Now, the altar of
sacrifice was placed in the open air, right opposite to the
entrances of the tabernacle, being distant from it just so far as
was necessary to give the ministering officers room to perform
the sacrifices that were offered up every day.
VIII. But the ark was in the innermost shrine, in the in
accessible holy of holies, behind curtains ; being gilded in a
most costly and magnificent manner within and without, the
covering of which was like to that which is called in the sacred
scriptures the mercy-seat. Its length and width are accurately
described, but its depth is not mentioned, being chiefly com
pared to and resembling a geometrical superficies ; so that it
appears to be an emblem, if looked at physically, of the merciful
power of God ; and, if regarded in a moral point of view, of a
certain intellect spontaneously propitious to itself, which is
especially desirous to contract and destroy, by means of the love
of simplicity united with knowledge, that vain opinion which
raises itself up to an unreasonable height and puffs itself up
without any grounds.
But the ark is the depository of the laws, for in that are
placed the holy oracles of God, which were given to Moses;
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 95
and the covering of the ark, which is called the mercy-seat, is
a foundation for two winged creatures to rest upon, which are
called, in the native language of the Hebrews, cherubim, but
as the Greeks would translate the word, vast knowledge and
science. Now some persons say, that these cherubim are the
symbols of the two hemispheres, placed opposite to and front
ing one another, the one beneath the earth and the other
above the earth, for the whole heaven is endowed with wings.
But I myself should say, that what is here represented
under a figure are the two most ancient and supreme powers
of the divine God, namely, his creative and his kingly power ;
and his creative power is called God ; according to which he
arranged, and created, and adorned this universe, and his
kingly power is called Lord, by which he rules over the beings
whom he has created, and governs them with justice and firm
ness ; for he, being the only true living God, is also really the
Creator of the world ; since he brought things which had no
existence into being ; and he is also a king by nature, because
no one can rule over beings that have been created more justly
than he who created them.
IX. And in the space between the five pillars and the four
pillars, is that space which is, properly speaking, the space be
fore the temple, being cut off by two curtains of woven work,
the inner one of which is called the veil, and the outer one is
called the covering : and the remaining three vessels, of
those which I have enumerated, were placed as follows : The
altar of incense was placed in the middle, between earth and
water, as a symbol of gratitude, which it was fitting should be
offered up, on account of the things that had been done for
the Hebrews on both these elements, for these elements have
had the central situation of the world allotted to them. The
candlestick was placed on the southern side of the tabernacle,
since by it the maker intimates, in a figurative manner, the
motions of the stars which give light ; for the sun, and the
moon, and the rest of the stars, being all at a great distance
from the northern parts of the universe, make all their revo
lutions in the south. And from this candlestick there pro
ceeded six branches, three on each side, projecting from the
candlestick in the centre, so as altogether to complete the
number of seven ; and in all the seven there were seven
candles and seven lights, being symbols of those seven stars
96 PHILO JUD^EUS.
which are called planets by those men who are versed in
natural philosophy ; for the sun, like the candlestick, being
placed in the middle of the other six, in the fourth rank, gives
light to the three planets which are above him, and to those
of equal number which are below him, adapting to circum
stances the musical and truly divine instrument.
X. And the table, on which bread and salt are laid, was
placed on the northern side, since it is the north which is the
most productive of winds, and because too all nourishment
proceeds from heaven and earth, the one giving rain, and the
other bringing to perfection all seeds by means of the irriga
tion of water ; for the symbols of heaven and earth are placed
side by side, as the holy scripture shows, the candlestick being
the symbol of hea rr en, and that which is truly called the altar
of incense, on which all the fumigatory offerings are made,
being the emblem of the things of earth.
But it became usual to call the altar which was in the open
air the altar of sacrifice, as being that which preserved and
took care of the sacrifices ; intimating, figuratively, the con
suming power of these things, and not the lambs and different
parts of the victims which were offered, and which were na
turally calculated to be destroyed by fire, but the intention of
him who offered them ; for if the man who made the offerings
was foolish and ignorant, the sacrifices were no sacrifices, the
victims were not sacred or hallowed, the pra} T ers were ill-
omened, and liable to be answered by utter destruction, for
even when they appear to be received, they produce not
remission of sins but only a reminding of them.
But if the man who offers the sacrifice be holy and just,
then the sacrifice remains firm, even if the flesh of the Tictim
be consumed, or rather, I might say, even if no victim be
offered up at all ; for what can be a real and true sacrifice but
the piety of a soul which loves God ? The gratitude of which
is blessed with immortality, and without being recorded in
writing is engraved on a pillar in the mind of God, being made
equally everlasting with the sun, and moon, and the universal
world.
XI. After these things the architect of the tabernacle next
prepared a sacred dress for him who was to be appointed high
priest, having in its embroidery a most exceedingly beautiful
and admirable work ; and the robe was two-fold ; one part of
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 97
which was called the under-robe, and the other the robe over
the shoulders. Now the under-robe was of a more simple form
and character, for it was entirely of hyacinthine colours, except
the lowest and exterior portions, and these were ornamented
with golden pomegranates, and bells, and wreaths of flowers ;
but the robe over the shoulders or mantle was a most beautiful
and skilful work, and was made with most perfect skill of all
the aforesaid kinds of material, of hyacinth colour, and purple,
and fine linen, and scarlet, gold thread being entwined and
embroidered in it.
For the leaves were divided into fine hairs, and woven in
with every thread, and on the collar stones were fitted in, two
being costly emeralds of exceeding value, on which the names
of the patriarchs of the tribes were engraved, six on each,
making twelve in all ; and on the breast were twelve other
precious stones, differing in colour like seals, in four rows of
three stones each, and these were fitted in what was called the
logeum and the logeum was made square and double, as a sort
of foundation, that it might bear on it, as an image, two virtues,
manifestation and truth ; and the whole was fastened to the
mantle by fine golden chains, and fastened to it so that it
might never get loose; and a golden leaf was wrought like
a crown, having four names engraved on it which may
only be mentioned or heard by holy men having their ears
and their tongues purified by wisdom, and by no one else at all
in any place whatever.
And this holy prophet Moses calls the name, a name of four
letters, making them perhaps symbols of the primary numbers,
the unit, the number two, the number three, the number four :
since all things are comprised Jin the number four, namely, a
point, and a line, and a superficies, and a solid, and the
measures of all things, and the most excellent symphonies of
music, and the diatessaron in the sesquitertial proportion, and
the chord in fifths, in the ratio of one and a half to one, and
the diapason in the double ratio/ and the double diapason in
the fourfold ratio. Moreover, * the number four has an innu
merable list of other virtues likewise, the greater part of which
we have discussed with accuracy in our dissertation on num
bers.
And in it there was a mitre, in order that the leaf might
not touch the head ; and there was also a cidaris made, for the
VOL. Ill H
98 PHILO JUD.EUS.
kings of the eastern countries are accustomed to use a cidaris,
instead of a diadem.
XII. Such, then, is the dress of the high priest. But we
must not omit to mention the signification which it conceals
beneath both in its whole and in its parts. In its whole it is
a copy and representation of the world ; and the parts are a,
representation of the separate parts of the world.
And we must begin with the long robe reaching down to the
feet of the wearer. This tunic is wholly of the colour of a
hyacinth, so as to be a representation of the air ; for by nature
the air is black, and in a measure it reaches down from the
highest parts to the feet, being stretched from the parts
about the moon, as far as the extremites of the earth, and
being diffused everywhere. On which account also, the tunic
reaches from the chest to the feet, and is spread over the whole
body, and unto it there is attached a fringe of pomegranates
round the ankles, and flowers, and bells. Now the flowers are
an emblem of the earth; for it is from the earth that all
flowers spring and bloom ; but the pomegranates (gafdfce/) are
a svmbol of water, since, indeed, they derive their name from
the* flowing (gutf/s) of water, being very appropriately named ;
and the bells are the emblem of the concord and harmony that
exist between these things ; for neither is the earth without
the water, nor the water without the earthly substance, suf-
ficent for the production of anything ; but that can only be
effected by the meeting and combination of both.
And the place itself is the most distinct possible evidence of
what is here meant to be expressed ; for as the pomegranates,
and the flowers, and the bells, are placed in the hem of the
garment which reaches to the feet, so likewise the things of
which they are the symbols, namely, the earth and water,
have had the lowest position in the world assigned to them,
and being in strict accord with the harmony of the universe,
they display their own particular powers in definite periods of
time and suitable seasons.
Now of the three elements, out of which and in which all
the different kinds of things which are perceptible by the out
ward senses and perishable are formed, namely, the air, the
water and the earth, the garment which reached down to the
feet in conjunction with the ornaments which were attached to
that part of it which was about the ankles have been plainly
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 99
shown to be appropriate symbols ; for as the tunic is one, and
as the aforesaid three elements are all of one species, since
they all have all their revolutions and changes beneath the
moon, and as to the garment are attached the pomegranates,
and the flowers ; so also in a certain manner the earth and
the water may be said to be attached to and suspended from
the air, for the air is their chariot.
And our argument will be able to bring forth twenty
probable reasons that the mantle over the shoulders is an
emblem of heaven. For in the first place, the two emeralds
on the shoulder-blades, which are two round stones, are, in the
opinion of some persons who have studied the subject, emblems
of those stars which are the rulers of night and day, namely,
the sun and moon ; or rather, as one might argue with more
correctness and a nearer approach to truth, they are the
emblems of the two hemispheres ; for, like those two stones,
the portion below the earth and that over the earth are both
equal, and neither of them is by nature adapted to be either
increased or diminished like the" moon. And the colour of the
stars is an additional evidence in favour of my view ; for to
the glance of the eye the appearance of the heaven does
resemble an emerald ; and it follows necessarily that six names
are engraved on each of the stones, because each of the hemi
spheres cuts the zodiac in two parts, and in this way compre
hends within itself six animals.
Then the twelve stones on the breast, which are not like
one another in colour, and which are divided into four rows of
three stones in each, what else can they be emblems of, except
of the circle of the zodiac ? For that also is divided into four
parts, each consisting of three animals, by which divisions it
makes up the seasons of the year, spring, summer, autumn, and
winter, distinguishing the four changes, the two solstices, and
the two equinoxes, each of which has its limit of three signs
of this zodiac, by the revolutions of the sun, according to that
unchangeable, and most lasting, and really divine ratio which
exists in numbers ; on which account they attached it to that
which is with great propriety called the logeum. For all the
changes of the year and the seasons are arranged by well-
defined, and stated, and firm reason ; and, though this seems
a most extraordinary and incredible thing, by their seasonable
H 2
100 PHILO JUD^EUS.
changes they display their undeviating and everlasting per
manence and durability.
And it is said with great correctness, and exceeding beauty
also, that the twelve stones all differ in their colour, and that
no one of them resembles the other ; for also in the zodiac
each animal produces that colour which is akin to and belongs
to itself, both in the air, and in the earth, and in the water ;
and it produces it likewise in all the affections which move
them, and in all kinds of animals and of plants.
XIII. And this logeum is described as double with great
correctness ; for reason is double, both in the universe and
also in the nature of mankind, in the universe there is that
reason which is conversant about incorporeal species whicli
are like patterns as it were, from which that world which is
perceptible only by the intellect was made, and also that which
is concerned with the visible objects of sight, which are copies
and imitations of those species above mentioned, of which the
world which is perceptible by the outward senses was made.
Again, in man there is one reason which is kept back, and
another which finds vent in utterance : and the one is, as it
were a spring, and the other (that which is uttered) flows
from it ; and the place of the one is the dominant part, that
is, the mind ; but the place of the one which finds vent in
utterance is the tongue, and the mouth, and all the rest of the
organs of the voice.
And the architect assigned a quadrangular form to the
logeum, intimating under an exceedingly beautiful figure, that
both the reason of nature, and also that of man, ought to
penetrate everywhere, and ought never to waver in any case ;
in reference to which, it is that he has also assigned to it the
two virtues that have been already enumerated, manifesta
tion and truth ; for the reason of nature is true, and calculated
to make manifest, and to explain everything ; and the reason
of the wise man, imitating that other reason, ought naturally,
and appropriately to be completely sincere, honouring truth, and
not obscuring anything through envy, the knowledge of which
can benefit those to whom it would be explained ; not but what
he has also assigned their two appropriate virtues to those
two kinds of reason which exist in each of us, namely, that
which is uttered and that which is kept concealed, attribut
ing clearness of manifestation to the tittered one, and truth to
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 101
that which is concealed in the mind ; for it is suitable to the
mind that it should admit of no error or falsehood, and to
explanation that it should not hinder anything that can
conduce to the most accurate manifestation.
Therefore there is no advantage in reason which expends
itself in dignified and pompous language, about things which are
good and desirable, unless it is followed by consistent practice
of suitable actions ; on which account the architect has affixed
the logeum to the robe which is worn over the shoulder, in
order that it may never get loose, as he does not approve of
the language being separated from the actions ; for he puts
forth the shoulder as the emblem of energy and action.
XIV. Such then are the figurative meanings which he
desires to indicate by the sacred vestments of the high priest ;
and instead of a diadem he represents a cidaris on the head,
because he thinks it right that the man who is consecrated to
God, as his high priest, should, during the time of his exer
cising his office be superior to all men, not only to all private
individuals, but even to all kings ; and above this cidaris is a
golden leaf, on which an engraving of four letters was im
pressed ; by which letters they say that the name of the living
God is indicated, since it is not possible that anything that is
in existence, should exist without God being invoked ; for it is
his goodness and his power combined with mercy that is the
harmony and uniter of all things.
The high priest, then, being equipped in this way, is properly
prepared for the performance of all sacred ceremonies, that,
whenever he enters the temple to offer up the prayers and
sacrifices in use among his nation, all the world may likewise
enter in with him, by means of the imitations of it which he
bears about him, the garment reaching to his feet, being the
imitation of the air, the pomegranate of the water, the
flowery hem of the earth, and the scarlet dye of his robe being
the emblem of fire ; also, the mantle over his shoulders being a
representation of heaven itself ; the two hemispheres being
further indicated by the round emeralds on the shoulder-blades,
on each of which were engraved six characters equivalent to
six signs of the zodiac ; the twelve stones arranged on the breast
injour rows of three stones each, namely the logeum, being
also^ an emblem of that reason which holds together and
regulates the universe.
102 PHILO JUD^EUS.
For it was indispensable that the man ."who was consecrated
to the Father of the world, should have as a paraclete, Ids son,
the being most perfect in all virtue, to procure forgiveness of
smsTanda supply of unlimited blessings ; perhaps, also, he is
thus giving a previous warning to the servant of God, even if
he is unable to make himself worthy of the Creator, of the
world, at least to labour incessantly to make himself worthy
of the world itself; the image of which he is clothed in, in a
manner that binds him from the time that he puts it on, to
bear about the pattern of it in his mind, so that he shall be in
a manner changed from the nature of a man into the nature
of the world, and, if one may say so (and one may by all
means and at all times speak the plain truth in sincerity),
become a little world himself.
XV. Again, outside the outer vestibule, at the entrance, is a
brazen laver ; the architect having not taken any mere raw
material "for the manufacture of it, as is very common, but
having employed on its formation vessels which had been con
structed with great care for other purposes ; and which the
women contributed with all imaginable zeal and eagerness,
in rivalry of one another, competing with the men themselves
in piety, having determined to enter upon a glorious contest,
and to the utmost extent of their power to exert themselves so
as not to fall short of their holiness.
For though no one enjoined them to do so, they, of their own
spontaneous zeal and earnestness, contributed the mirrors with
which they had been accustomed to deck and set off their
beauty, as the most becoming first fruits of their modesty, and
of the purity of their married life, and as one may say of the
beauty of their souls. The maker then thought it well to
accept these offerings, and to melt them down, and to make
nothing except the laver of them, in order that the priests who
were about to enter the temple might be supplied from it,
with water of purification for the purpose of performing
the sacred ministrations which were appointed for them ;
washing their feet most especially, and their hands, as a sym
bol of their irreproachable life, and of a course of conduct
which take itself pure in all kinds of praiseworthy actions,
proceeding not along the rough road of wickedness which one
may more properly call no road at all, but keeping straight
along the level and direct path of virtue.
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 103
Let him remember, says be, let him who is about to be
sprinkled with the water of purification from this laver,
remember that the materials of which this vessel was com
posed were mirrors, that he himself may look into his own
mind as into a mirror ; and if there is perceptible in it any
deformity arising from some agitation unconnected with reason
or from any pleasure which would excite us, and raise us up in
hostility to reason, or from any pain which might mislead us
and turn us from our purpose of proceeding by the straight
road, or from any desire alluring us and even dragging us by
force to the pursuit of present pleasures, he seeks to relieve
and cure that, desiring only that beauty which is genuine and
unadulterated.
For the beauty of the body consists in symmetry of parts,
and in a good complexion, and a healthy firmness of flesh,
having also but a short period during which it is in its
prime ; but the beauty of the mind consists in a harmony of
doctrines and a perfect accord of virtues, which do not fade
away or become impaired by lapse of time, but as long as they
endure at all are constantly acquiring fresh vigour and
renewed youth, being set off by the pre-eminent complexion of
truth, and the agreement of its words with its actions, and of
its actions with its words, and also of its designs with both.
XVI. And when he had been taught the patterns of the
sacred tabernacle, and had in turn himself taught those who
were gifted with acute comprehension, and well-qualified by
nature for the comprehension and execution of those works,
which it was indispensably necessary should be made ; then,
as was natural, when the temple had been built and finished,
it was fitting also, that most suitable persons should be ap
pointed as priests, and should be instructed in what manner it
was proper for them to offer up their sacrifices, and perform
their sacred ministrations.
Accordingly, Moses selected his brother, choosing him out
of all men, because of his superior virtue, to be high priest,
and his sons he appointed priests, not giving precedence to his
own family, but to the piety and holiness which he perceived
to exist in those men ; and what is the clearest proof of this
is, that he did not think either of his sons worthy of this
honour (and he had two); while he must inevitably have
appointed both of them, if he had attached any importance to
104 PHILO JUD^EUS.
love for his family ; and he appointed them with the unani
mous consent of the whole nation, as the sacred scriptures
have recorded, which was a most novel mode of proceeding,
and one especially worthy of being mentioned; and, in the
first place, he washed them all over with the most pure and
vivifying water of the fountain ; and then he gave them their
sacred vestments, giving to his brother the robe which reached
down to his feet, and the mantle which covered the shoulders,
as a sort of breast-plate, being an embroidered robe, adorned
with all kinds of figures, and a representation of the universe.
And to all his nephews he gave linen tunics, and girdles, and
trowsers ; the girdles, in order that the wearers might be un
impeded and ready for all their sacred ministrations, were
fastened up tight rcund the loose waists of the tunics ; and the
breeches, that nothing which ought to be hidden might be
visible, especially when they were going up to the altar, or
coming down from the high place, and doing everything with
earnestness and celerity.
For if their equipment had not been so accurately attended
to for the sake of guarding against the uncertain future, and
for the sake of providing for an energetic promptness in the
sacred ministrations, the men would have appeared naked, not
being able to preserve the becoming order necessary to holy
men dedicated to the service of God.
XVII. And when he had thus furnished them with proper
vestments, he took very fragrant ointment, which had been
made by the skill of the perfumer, and first of all he anointed
the altar in the open air, and the laver, sprinkling it with the
perfume seven times ; after that he anointed the tabernacle
and every one of the sacred vessels, the ark, and the candle
stick, and the altar of incense, and the table, and the censers,
and the vials, and all the other things which were either
necessary or useful for the sacrifices ; and last of all bringing
the high priest close to himself, he anointed his head with
abundant quantities of oil.
When he had done all this, he then, in strict accordance
with what was holy, commanded a heifer and two rams to be
brought ; the one that he might sacrifice it for the remission
of sins, intimating by a figure that to sin is congenital with
every created being, however good it may be, inasmuch as it is
created, and that therefore it is indispensable that God should
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 105
be propitiated in its behalf by means of prayers and sacrifices,
that he may not be provoked to chastise it. And of the rams,
one he required for a whole burnt-offering of gratitude for the
successful arrangement of all those things, of which every
individual has such a share as is suited to him, deriving benefit
from all the elements, enjoying the earth for his abode and in
respect of the nourishment which is derived from it ; the water
for drinking, and washing, and sailing on ; the air for breath
ing and for the comprehension of those things which are the
objects of our outward senses (since the air is the medium in
which they all are exerted), and for the seasons of the year ;
enjoying fire both of that kind which is used for cooking
food and for warming one s self, and also that heavenly kind
which is serviceable for light and for all the objects of sight.
The other ram he employed for the complete accomplishment
of the purification of the priests, which he appropriately called
the ram of perfection, since the priests were intended to
exercise their office in teaching proper and convenient rites
and ceremonies to the servants and ministers of God. And
he took the blood, and with some of it he poured a libation all
round the altar, and part he took, holding a vial under it to
catch it, and with it he anointed three parts of the body of the
initiated priests, the tip of the ear, the extremity of the hand,
and the extremity of the foot, all on the right side, signifying
by this action that the perfect man must be pure in every word
and action, and in his whole life, for it is the hearing which
judges of his words, and the hand is the symbol of action, and
the foot of the way in which a man walks in life ; and since
each of these members is an extremity of the body, and is
likewise on the right side, we must imagine that it is here
indicated by a figure that improvement in every thing is to be
arrived at by a certain dexterity, being a portion of supreme
felicity, and being the true aim in life, which a man must
necessarily labour to attain, and to which he ought to refer all
his actions, aiming at them in his life, as in the practice of
archery men aim at a target.
XVIII. Accordingly, he first of all anointed the three parts
before mentioned of the bodies of the priests with the unmixed
blood of one of the victims, that, namely, which was called the
ram of perfection ; and afterwards, taking some of the blood
which was upon the altar, being the blood of all the victims
106 PHILO JUDJEUS.
mingled together, and some also of the unguent which has
already been mentioned, which the ointment makers had pre
pared, and mixing some of the oil with the mingled blood of
the different victims, he sprinkled some upon the priests and
upon their garments, with the intention that they should have
a share not only in that purity which was external and in the
open air, but also of that which was in the inmost shrine, since
they were about to minister within the temple. And all the
things within the temple were anointed with oil.
And when they had brought forward other sacrifices in addi
tion to the former ones, partly the priests sacrificing for them
selves, and partly the elders sacrificing on behalf of the whole
nation, then Moses entered into the tabernacle, leading his
brother by the hanl (and it was the eighth and last day of the
festival, for the seven previous days had been devoted to the
initiation of the hierophants), he now initiated both him and
his nephews. And when he had entered in he taught him as
a learned teacher might instruct an ignorant pupil, in what
way the high priest ought to perform the ministrations which
are performed inside the temple.
Then, when they had both come out and held up their hands
in front of their head, they, with a pure and holy mind, offered
up such prayers as were suitable and becoming for the nation.
And while they were still praying a most marvellous prodigy
happened ; for from out of the inmost shrine, whether it was a
portion of the purest possible osther, or whether the air, accord
ing to some natural change of the elements, had become dis
solved with fire, on a sudden a body of flame shone forth, and
with impetuous violence descended on the altar and consumed
all that was thereon, with the view, as I imagine, of showing
in the clearest manner that none of the things which had
been done had been done without the especial providence of
God.
For it was natural that an especial honour should be assigned
to the holy place, not only by means of those things in which
men are the workmen employed, but also by that purest of all
essences, fire, in order that the ordinary fire which is used by
men might not touch the altar ; perhaps by reason of its being
defiled by ten thousand impurities. For it is concerned not
only with irrational animals when they are roasted or boiled
for the unjust appeasing of our miserable bellies, but also in the
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES.
107
case of men who are slain by hostile attack, not merely in a
small body of three or four, but in numerous hosts.
At all events, before now, arrows charged with fire have
been aimed at vast naval fleets and have burnt them ; and fire
has destroyed whole cities, which have blazed away till they
have been consumed down to their very foundations and
reduced to ashes, so that no trace whatever has remained of
their former situation.
It appears to me that this was the reason for which God re-
iected from his sacred altar the fire which is applied to common
uses, as being defiled ; and that, instead of it, he rained down
celestial flame from heaven, in order to make a distinction
between holy and profane things, and to separate the things
belonging to man from the things belonging to God ; for it was
fitting that a more incorruptible essence of fire than that which
served the common purposes of life should be set apart for
sacrifices.
XIX. And as many sacrifices were of necessity offered up
every day, and especially on all days of solemn assembly and
festival, both on behalf of each individual separately and in
common for the whole nation, for innumerable and. various
reasons, inasmuch as the nation was very populous and very
pious, there was a need also of a multitude of keepers of the
temple for the sacred and subordinate ministrations. And,
again, the election of these officers was conducted in a novel
and not in the ordinary manner. God chose out one of the
twelve tribes, having selected it for its superior excellence, and
appointed that to furnish the keepers of the temple, giving it
rewards and peculiar honours in return for its pious acting.
And the action which it had to perform was of this kind.
When Moses had gone up into the neighbouring mountain and
had remained several days alone with God, the fickle-minded
among the people, thinking that his absence was a favourable
opportunity, as if they had no longer any ruler at all, rushed
unrestrainedly to impiety, and, forgetting the holiness of the
living God, became eager imitators of the Egyptian inventions.
Then, having made a golden calf in imitation of that which
appeared to be the most sacred animal in that district, they
offered up unholy sacrifices, and instituted blasphemous dances,
and sang hymns which differed in no respect from dirges, and,
being filled with strong wine, gave themselves up to a two-fold
108 PHILO JUDJEUS.
intoxication, the intoxication of wine and that of folly, revelling
and devoting the night to feasting, and, having no foresight as
to the future, they spent their time in pleasant sins, though
justice had her eye upon them, who saw them while they could
not see, and decided what punishments they deserved.
But when the continued outcries in the camp, from men
collected in numerous and dense crowds, reached over a great
distance, so that the sound penetrated even to the summit of
the mountain, Moses, hearing the uproar, was in great per
plexity, as being at the same time a devout worshipper of God
and a friend to mankind, not being able to bring his mind to
quit the society of God with whom he was conversing, and in
which he, being alone with him, was conferring with him by
himself, nor, on th? other hand, could he be indifferent to the
multitude thus full of anarchy and wickedness; for he re
cognised the tumult, since he was a very shrewd man at
conjecturing, from inarticulate sounds of no distinct meaning,
the passions of the soul which were inaccessible to and out of
the reach of the conjectures of others, because he perceived at
once that the noise proceeded partly from intoxication, since
intemperance had produced satiety and a disposition to insult
the law.
And being drawn both ways, and under strong attraction in
both directions, he fluctuated this way and that way, and did
not know what he ought to do ; and while he was considering
the matter the following command was given to him, " Go
down quickly ; descend from this place, the people have
turned with haste to lawlessness, having fashioned a god made
with hands in the form of a bull, they are falling down before
that which is no god, and sacrificing unto him, forgetting all
the things that they have seen, and all that thay have heard,
which might lead them to piety." So Moses, being amazed,
and being also constrained by this command, believes those in
credible events, and sprung down to be a mediator and
reconciler ; not however, in a moment, for first of all he
addressed supplications and prayers on behalf of his nation to
God, entreating God that he would pardon these their sins ;
then, this governor of and intercessor for his people, having
appeased the Ruler of the universe, went down at the same
time rejoicing and feeling sorrowful ; he rejoiced indeed that
God had admitted his supplication, but he was full of anxiety
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 109
and depression, being greatly indignant at the lawless trans
gression of the multitude.
XX. And when he came into the middle of the camp, and
marvelled at the sudden way in which the multitude had for
saken all their ancient habits, and at the vast amount of false
hood which they had embraced instead of truth, he, seeing that
the disease had not extended among them all, but that some
were still sound, and still cherished a disposition which loathed
wickedness ; wishing to distinguish those who were incurable
from those who felt indignation at what had taken place, and
to know also whether any of those who had offended repented
them of their sin, caused a proclamation to be made ; and it
was indeed a shrewd test of the inclination of each individual,
to see how he was disposed to holiness, or to the contrary.
" Whoever," said he, " is on the side of the Lord, let him
come to me." It was but a brief sentence which he thus
uttered, but the meaning concealed under it was important ;
for what was intimated by his words was the following sense :
" If any one does not think anything whatever that is made by
hands, or anything that is created, a god, but believes that
there is one ruler of the universe only, let him come to me."
Now of the others, some resisted by reason of the admira
tion which they had conceived for the Egyptian pride, and
they did not attend to what he said ; others wanted courage to
come nearer to him, perhaps out of fear of punishment; or
else perhaps they dreaded punishment at the hand of Moses,
or a rising up against them on the part of the people ; for the
multitude invariably attack those who do not share in their
frenzy.
But that single tribe of the whole number which was called
the tribe of Levi, when they heard the proclamation, as if by
one preconcerted agreement, ran with great haste, displaying
their earnestness by their promptness and rapidity, and
proving the keenness of the desire of their soul for piety ;
and, when Moses saw them rushing forward as if starting from
the goal in a race, he said, " Surely it is not with your bodies
alone that you are hastening to come unto me, but you shall
soon bear witness with your minds to your eagerness ; let every
one of you take a sword, and slay those men w 7 ho have done
things worthy of ten thousand deaths, who have forsaken the
true God, and made for themselves false gods, of perishable
110 PHILO JUD^US.
and created substances, calling them by the name which
belongs only to the uncreated and everlasting God ; let every
one, I say, slay those men, whether it be his own kinsmen or
his friends, looking upon nothing to be either friendship or
kindred but the holy fellowship of good men."
And the tribe of Levi, outrunning his command with the
most eager readiness, since they were already alienated from
those men in their minds, almost from the first moment that
they beheld the beginning of their lawless iniquity, killed
them all to a man, to the number of three thousand, though
they had been but a short time before their dearest friends ;
and as the corpses were lying in the middle of the place of
the assembly of the people, the multitude beholding them
pitied them, and fearing the still fervid, and angry, and indig
nant disposition of those who had slain them, reproved them
out of fear ; but Moses, gladly approving of their exceeding
virtue, devised iri their favour and confirmed to them an
honour which was appropriate to their exploit, for it was fitting
that those who had undertaken a voluntary war for the sake of
the honour of God, and who had carried it out successfully in
a short time, should be thought worthy to receive the priest
hood and charge of officiating in his service.
XXI. But, since there is not one order only of consecrated
priests, but since to some of them the charge is committed
of attending to all the prayers, and sacrifices, and other most
sacred ceremonies, being allowed to enter into the inmost and
most holy shrine ; while others are not permitted to do any of
these things, but have the duty of taking care of and guard
ing the temple and all that is therein, both day and night,
whom some call keepers of the temple; a sedition arose respect
ing the precedency in honour, which was to many persons in
many ways the cause of infinite evils, and it broke out now
from the keepers of the temple attacking the priests, and
endeavouring to deprive them of the honour which belonged
to them ; and they thought that they should be able easily to
succeed in their object, since they were many times more
numerous than the others.
But for the sake of not appearing to be planning any innova
tions of their own heads, they persuaded also the eldest of the
twelve tribes to embrace their opinions, which last tribe was
followed by many of the more fickle of the populace, as think-
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. Ill
ing it entitled to the precedence^ and to the principal share of
authority over the whole host
Moses now knew that a great plot was in agitation against
him ; for he had appointed his brother high priest in accord
ance with the will of God, which had been declared to him.
And now false accusations were brought against him, as if he
had falsified the oracles of God, and as if he had done so and
made the appointment by reason of his family affection and
goodwill towards his brother. And he, being very naturally
grieved at this, inasmuch as he was not only distrusted by
such accusations while exhibiting his own good faith in a most
genuine manner, but he was also grieved at those actions of
his being calumniated which had for their object the honour of
God, and which were of such a nature as to deserve by them
selves that even such a man who had in other respects shown
an insincere disposition should be looked upon as behaving in
this case with truth ; for truth is the invariable attendant of
God.
But he did not think fit to give any explanation by words
respecting his appointment of his brother, knowing that it was
difficult to endeavour to persuade those who were previously
possessed by contrary opinions to change their minds ; but he
besought God to give the people a visible demonstration that
he had in no respect behaved with dishonesty respecting the
appointment to the priesthood. And he, therefore, commanded
that twelve rods should be taken, so as to be equal in number
to the tribes of the nation ;. and he commanded further that
the names of the other patriarchs of the tribes should be writ
ten on eleven of the rods, but on the remaining one the name
of his brother, the high priest, and then that they should all
be carried into the temple as far as the inmost shrine ; and the
officer who did what he had been commanded waited in expect
ation to see the result.
And on the next day, in obedience to a command from God,
he went into the temple, while all the people were standing
around, and brought out the rods, the others differing in no
respect from the state in which they were when they were put
in ; but the one on which the name of his brother was written
had undergone a miraculous change ; for like a fine plant it
suddenly put forth shoots all over, and was weighed down with
the abundance of its crop of fruit.
112 PHILO JUD^EUS.
XXII. And the fruit were almonds, which is a fruit of a
different character from any other. For in most fruit, such as
grapes, olives, and apples, the seed and the eatable part differ
from one another, and being different are separated as to their
position, for the eatable part is outside, and the seed is shut
up within ; but in the case of this fruit the seed and the eat
able part are the same, both of them being comprised in one
species, and their position is one and the same, being without
strongly protected and fortified with a twofold fence, consisting
partly of a very thick bark, and partly of what appears in no
respect short of a wooden case, by which perfect virtue is
figuratively indicated.
For as in the almond the beginning and the end are the
same, the beginning as far as it is seed, and the end as far as
it is fruit ; so also is it the case with the virtues ; for each one
of them is at the same time both beginning and end, a begin
ning, because it proceeds not from any other power, but from
itself; and an end, because the life in accordance with nature
hastens towards it. This is one reason ; and another is also
mentioned, more clear and emphatic than the former ; for the
part of the almond which looks like bark is bitter, but that
which lies inside the bark, like a wooden case, is very hard
and impenetrable, so that the fruit, being enclosed in these two
coverings, is not very easily to be got at.
This is an emblem of the soul which is inclined to the prac
tice of meditation, from which he thinks it is proper to turn it
to virtue by showing it that it is necessary first of all to
encounter danger. But labour is a bitter, and distasteful, and
harsh thing, from which good is produced, for the sake of
which one must not yield to effeminate indolence ; for he who
seeks to avoid labour is also avoiding good. And he, again,
who encounters what is disagreeable to be borne with fortitude
and manly perseverance, is taking the best road to happiness ;
for it is not the nature of virtue to abide with those who are
given up to delicacy and luxury, and who have become effemi
nate in their souls, and whose bodies are enervated by the
incessant luxury which they practise every day ; but it is sub
dued by such conduct, and determined to change its abode,
having first of all arranged its departure so as to depart to, and
abide with, the ruler of right reason.
But, if I must tell the truth, the most sacred company of
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 113
prudence, and temperance, and courage, and justice seeks the
society of those who practise virtue, and of those who admire
a life of austerity and rigid duty, devoting themselves to forti
tude and self-denial, with wise economy and abstinence ; by
means of which virtues the most powerful of all the principles
within us, namely, reason, improves and attains to a state of
perfect health and vigour, overthrowing the violent attacks of
the body, which the moderate use of wine, and epicurism, and
licentiousness, and other insatiable appetites excite against it,
engendering a fulness of flesh which is the direct enemy of
shrewdness and wisdom.
Moreover, it is said, that of all the trees that are accustomed
to blossom in the spring, the almond is the first to flourish,
bringing as it were good tidings of abundance of fruit ; and
that afterwards it is the last to lose its leaves, extending the
yearly old age of its verdure to the longest period ; in each of
which particulars it is an emblem of the tribe of the priesthood,
as Moses intimates under the figure of this tree that this tribe
shall be the first of the whole human race to flourish, and like
wise the last ; as long as it shall please God to liken our life to
the revolutions of the spring, destroying covetousness that most
treacherous of passions, and the fountain of all unhappiness.
XXIII. Since, therefore, I have now stated that in the
absolutely perfect governor there ought to be four things, royal
power, the legislative disposition, and the priesthood, and the
prophetic office (in order that by his legislative disposition he
may command such things as are right to be done, and forbid
such things as are not proper to be done, and that by his
priesthood he may arrange not only all human but likewise
all divine things; and that by his prophetic office he may
predict those things which cannot be comprehended by reason) :
having fully discussed the first three, and having shown that
Moses was a most excellent king, and lawgiver, and high
priest, I come in the last place to show that he was also the
most illustrious of prophets.
I am not unaware then that all the things which are
written in the sacred books are oracles delivered by him ; and
I will set forth what more peculiarly concerns him, when I
have first mentioned this one point, namely, that of the sacred
oracles some are represented as delivered in the person of God
by his interpreter, the divine prophet, while others are put in
VOL. III. I
114 PHILO JUD^US.
the form of question and answer, and others are delivered by
Moses in his own character as a divinely-prompted lawgiver
possessed by divine inspiration. Therefore, all the earliest
oracles are manifestations of the whole of the divine virtues,
and especially of that merciful and bounteous character by
means of which he trains all men to virtue, and especially the
race which is devoted to his service, to which he lays open the
road leading to happiness.
The second class have a sort of admixture and communica
tion in them, the prophet asking information on the subjects
as to which he is in difficulty, and God answering him and
instructing him. The third sort are attributed to the lawgiver,
God having given him a share of his prescient power, by
means of which he will be able to foretell the future.
Therefore, we must for the present pass by the first; for
they are too great to be adequately praised by any man, as,
indeed, they could scarcely be panegyrised worthily by the
heaven itself and the nature of the universe ; and they are
also uttered by the mouth, as it were, of an interpreter. But
interpretation and prophecy differ from one another. And
concerning the second kind I will at once endeavour to explain
the truth, connecting with them the third species also, in
which the inspired character of the speaker is shown, accord
ing to which it is that he is most especially and appropriately
looked upon as a prophet.
XXIV. And we must here begin with the promise. There
are four places where the oracles are given by way of question
and answer, being contained in the exposition of the law, and
having a mixed character. For, first, the prophet feels inspira
tion and asks questions, and then the father prophesies to him,
giving him a share of his discourse and replies. And the first
case where this occurs is one which would have irritated, not
only Moses, who was the most holy and pious man that ever
lived, but even any one who had only had a slight taste of piety.
A. certain man, illegitimately born of two unequal parents,
namely, an Egyptian father and a Jewish mother, and who
disregarded the national and hereditary customs which he had
learnt from her, as it is reported, inclined to the Egytian im
piety, being seized with admiration for the ungodly practices
of the men of that nation ; for the Egyptians, almost alone of
all men, set up the earth as a rival of the heaven considering
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 115
the former as entitled to honours equal with those of the gods,
and giving the latter no especial honour, just as if it were
proper to pay respect to the extremities of a country rather
than to the king s palace. For in the world the heaven is the
most holy temple, and the further extremity is the earth ;
though this too is in itself worthy of heing regarded with
honour ; but if it is brought into comparison with the air, is as
far inferior to it as light is to darkness, or night to day, or cor
ruption to immortality, or a mortal to God. For, since that
country is not irrigated by rain as all other lands are, but by
the inundations of the river which is accustomed every year to
overflow its banks ; the Egyptians, in their impious reason,
make a god of the Nile, as if it were a copy and a rival of
heaven, and use pompous language about the virtue of their
country.
XXV. Accordingly, this man of mixed race, having had a
quarrel with some one of the consecrated and well -instructed
house of Israel, becoming carried away by his anger, and unable
to restrain himself, and being also an admirer and follower of
the impiety of the Egyptians, extended his impiety from earth
to heaven, cursing it with his accursed, and polluted, and de
nied soul, and with his wicked tongue, and with the whole
power of all his vocal organs in the superfluity of his ungod
liness ; though it ought to be blessed and praised, not by all
men, indeed, but only by those who are most virtuous and
pious, as having received perfect purification. Wherefore
Moses, marvelling at his insanity and at the extravagance of
his audacity, although he was filled with a noble impetuosity
and indignation, and desired to slay the man with his own
hand, nevertheless feared lest he should be inflicting on him
too light a punishment ; for he conceived that no man could
possibly devise any punishment adequate to such enormous
impiety.
And since it followed of necessity that a man who did not
worship God could not honour his father either, or his mother,
or his country, or his benefactors, this man, in addition to not
reverencing them, dared to speak ill of them. And then what
extravagance of wickedness did he fall short of ? And yet evil-
speaking, if compared with cursing, is the lighter evil of the
two. But when intemperate language and an unbridled tongue
I 2
]]6 PfllLO JUDJBUS.
are subservient to lawless folly, then inevitably and invariably
some iniquitous conduct must follow.
O man ! does any one curse God ? What other god can he
invoke to ratify and confirm his curse ? Is it not plain that he
must invoke God to give effect to his curses against himself?
Away with such profane and impious ideas !
It would be well to cleanse that miserable soul which has
been insulted by the voice, and which has used the ears for
ministers, keeping the external senses blind. And was not
either the tongue of the man who uttered such impiety
loosened, or the ears of him who was destined to hear such
things closed up? unless, indeed, that was done inconsequence
of some providential arrangement of justice, which does not
think that either any extraordinary good or that any enormous
evil ought to be kept in darkness, but that such should be re
vealed in order to the most complete manifestation of virtue or
vice, so that it may adjudge the one to be worthy of accept
ance and the other of punishment. On this account Moses
ordered the man to be thrown into prison and bound with
chains ; and then he addressed propitiatory prayers to God,
begging him to be merciful to the necessities of the external
senses (by means of which we both see what it is not proper to
see, and hear what it is not lawful to hear), and to point out
what the author of such a strange and unprecedented blas
phemy and impiety ought to suffer.
And God commanded him to be stoned, considering, as I
imagine, the punishment of stoning to be a suitable and ap
propriate one for a man who had a stony and hardened heart,
and wishing at the same time that all his fellow countrymen
should have a share in inflicting punishment on him, as he
knew that they were very indignant and eager to slay him ;
and the only punishment which so many myriads of men could
possibly join in was that which was inflicted by throwing stones.
But after the punishment of this impious murderer, a new
commandment was enacted, which had never before been
thought worthy of being reduced to writing ; but unexpected
innovations cause new laws to be devised for the repression of
their evils. At all events, the following law was immediately
introduced : " Whoever curses God shall be guilty of sin, and
whoever names the name of the Lord shall die."* Well done,
* Levitcus xxiv. 15.
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 117
all-wise man ! You alone have drank of the cup of unalloyed
wisdom. You have seen that it was worse to name God than
even to curse him ; for you would never have treated lightly a
man who had committed the heaviest of all impieties, and
inflicted the heaviest punishment possible on those who com
mitted the slightest faults ; but you fixed death, which is the
very greatest punishment imaginable, as the penalty for the
man who appeared to have committed the heaviest crime.
XXVI. But, as it seems, he is not now speaking of that God
who was the -irst being who had any existence, and the Father
of the universe, but of those who are accounted gods in the
different cities ; and they are falsely called gods, being only
made by the ajts of painters and sculptors, for the whole
inhabited world is full of statues and images, and erections of
that kind, of whom it is necessary however to abstain from
speaking ill, in order that no one of the disciples of Moses
may ever become accustomed at all to treat the appellation of
God with disrespect ; for that name is always most deserving
to obtain the victory, and is especially worthy of love.
But if any one were, I will not say to blaspheme against the
Lord of gods and men, but were even to Jare to utter his name
unseasonably, he must endure the punishment of death ; for
those persons who have a proper respect for their parents do
not lightly bring forward the names of their parents, though
they are but mortal, but they avoid using their proper names by
reason of the reverence which they bear them, and call them
rather by the titles indicating their natural relationship, that
is ; father and mother, by which names they at once intimate
the unsurpassable benefits which they have received at their
hands, and their own grateful disposition. Therefore these
men must not be thought worthy of pardon who out of
volubility of tongue have spoken unseasonably, and being too
free of their words have repeated carelessly the most holy and
divine name of God.
XXVII. Moreover, in accordance with the honour due to
the Creator of the universe, the prophet hallowed the sacred
seventh day, beholding with eyes of more acute sight than
those of mortals its pre-eminent beauty, which had already
been deeply impressed on the heaven and the whole universal
world, and had been borne about as an image by nature itself
in her own bosom ; for first of all Moses found that day desti-
118 PHILO JUD^JUS.
tute of any mother, and devoid of all participation in the
female generation, being born of the Father alone without any
propagation by means of seed, and being born without any
conception on the part of any mother. And then he beheld
not only this, that it was very beautiful and destitute of any
mother, neither being born of corruption nor liable to corrup
tion ; and then, in the third place, he by further inquiry
discovered that it was the birthday of the world, which the
heaven keeps as a festival, and the earth and all the things in
and on the earth keep as a festival, rejoicing and delighting
in the all-harmonious number of seven, and in the sabbath
day.
For this reason the all-great Moses thought fit that all who
were enrolled in his sacred polity should follow the laws of
nature and meet in a solemn assembly, passing the time in
cheerful joy and relaxation, abstaining from all works, and
from all arts which have a tendency to the production of any
thing ; and from all business which is connected with the
seeking of the means Qf living, and that they should keep a
complete truce, abstaining from all laborious and fatiguing
thought and care, and devoting their leisure, not as some per
sons scofnngly assert, to sports, or exhibitions of actors and
dancers, for the sake of which those who run madly after the
atrical amusements suffer disasters and even encounter miser
able deaths, and for the sake of these the most dominant and
influential of the outward senses, sight and hearing, make the
soul, which should be the heavenly nature, the slave of these
senses. But, giving up their time wholly to the study of phi
losophy, not of that sort of philosophy which word-catchers and
sophists, seek to reduce to a system, selling doctrines and
reasonings as they would any other vendible thing in the
market. Men who (0 you earth and sun !) employ philoso
phy against philosophy, and yet never wear a blush on their
countenance; but who, applying themselves to the kindred
philosophy, which they make up of these component parts,
namely, of intention, and words, and actions, all united into
one species, in order to the acquisition and enjoyment of
happiness.
Now some one disregarding this injunction, even while he
yet had the sacred words of God respecting the holy seventh
day still ringing in his ears, which God had uttered without
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 119
the intervention of the prophet, and, what is the most wonder
ful thing of all, by a visible voice which affected the eyes of
those who were present even more than their ears, went forth
through the middle of the camp to pick up sticks, well know
ing that all the people in the camp were perfectly quiet and
doing nothing, and even while he was committing the iniquity
was seen and detected, all disguise being impossible ; for some
persons, having gone forth out of the gates to some quiet spot,
that they might pray in some retired and peaceful place, seeing
a most unholy spectacle, namely this man carrying a faggot of
sticks, and being very indignant, were about to put him to
death; but reasoning with themselves they restrained the
violence of their wrath, that they might not appear, as they
were only private persons, to chastise any one rather than the
magistrates, and that too uncondemned ; though indeed in
other respects the transgression was manifest and undeniable,
wishing also that no pollution arising from an execution, even
though most righteously inflicted, should defile the sacred
day.
But they apprehended him, and led him away to the magis
trate, with whom the priests were sitting as assessors ; and
the whole multitude collected together to hear the trial ; for it
was invariably the custom, as it was desirable on other days
also, but especially on the seventh day, as I have already
explained, to discuss matters of philosophy ; the ruler of the
people beginning the explanation, and teaching the multitude
what they ought to do and to say, and the populace listening
so as to improve in virtue, and being made better both in their
moral character and in their conduct through life ; in accord
ance with which custom, even to this day, the Jews hold
philosophical discussions on the seventh day, disputing about
their national philosophy, and devoting that day to the know
ledge and consideration of the subjects of natural philosophy ;
for as for their houses of prayer in the different cities, what
are they, but schools of wisdom, and courage, and temperance,
and justice, and piety, and holiness, and every virtue, by which
human and divine things are appreciated, and placed upon a
proper footing ?
XXVIII. On this day, then, the man who had done this
deed of impiety was led away to prison ; and Moses being at
a loss what ought to be done to the man (for he knew that he
120 PHILO JUD^EUS.
had committed a crime worthy of death, but did not know
what was the most suitable manner for the punishment to
be inflicted upon him), came with his invisible soul to the in
visible judgment seat, and asked of that Judge who heareth
everything before it is related to him what his sentence was.
And that Judge delivered his sentence that the man ought to
die, and in no other way than being stoned, since in his case,
as in that of the criminal mentioned above, his mind had
been changed to a dumb stone, and he had committed the
most complete of offences, in which nearly every other sin is
comprised which can be committed against the laws enacted
respecting the reverence due to the seventh day.
Why so ? Because, not only mere handicraft trades, but
also nearly all other acts and businesses, and especially all
such as have reference to any providing of or seeking for the
means of life, are either carried on by means of fire them
selves, or, at all events, not without those instruments which
are made by fire. On which account Moses, in many places,
forbids any one to handle a fire on the sabbath day, inasmuch
as that is the most primary and efficient source of things and
the most ancient and important work ; and if that is reduced
to a state of tranquillity, he thought that it would be pro
bable that all particular works would be at a stand-still like
wise. And wood is the material of fire, so that a man who
is picking up wood is committing a crime which is akin to
and nearly connected with that of burning fire, doubling his
transgression, in fact, partly in that he was collecting what
it was commanded should remain unmoved, and partly that
what he was collecting was that which is the material of fire,
the beginning of all arts.
XXIX. Therefore both those instances which I have men
tioned comprise the punishments of wicked men, appointed
and confirmed by question and answer. And there are two
other instances, not of the same, but of a different character ;
the one of which has reference to the succession of an in
heritance ; the other, as far at least as it appears to me, to a
sacrifice which was performed at an unseemly time. And
we must first discuss the latter of the two.
Moses puts down the beginning of the vernal equinox as
the first month of the year, attributing the chief honour, not
as some persons do to the periodical revolutions of the year
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 121
in regard of time, but rather to the graces and beauties of
nature which it has caused to shine upon men ; for it is
through the bounty of nature that the seeds which are sown
to produce the necessary food of mankind are brought to
perfection. And the fruit of trees in their prime, which is
second in importance only to the necessary crops, is engen
dered by the same power, and as being second in importance
it also ripens late ; for we always find in nature that those
things which are not very necessary are second to those
which are indispensable. Now wheat and barley are among
the things which are very necessary ; as, likewise, are all the
other species of food, without which it is impossible to live.
But oil, and wine, and almonds are not among necessaries,
since men often live without them to the very extremity of
old age, extending their life over a number of years.
Accordingly, in this month, about the fourteenth day of the
month, when the orb of the moon is usually about to become
full, the public universal feast of the passover is celebrated,
which in the Chaldaic language is called pascha ; at which
festival not only do private individuals bring victims to the
altar and the priests sacrifice them, but also, by a particular
ordinance of this law, the whole nation is consecrated and
officiates in offering sacrifice ; every separate individual on
this occasion bringing forward and offering up with his own
hands the sacrifice due on his own behalf. Therefore all the
rest of the people rejoiced and was of joyful countenance,
every one thinking that he himself was honoured by this
participation in the priesthood.
But the others passed the time of the festival amid tears
and groans, their own relations having lately died, whom
they were now mourning for, and were overwhelmed with a
two fold sorrow, having, in addition to their grief for their
relations who were slain, the pain also which arose from
being deprived of the pleasure and honour which .accrue
from the offering up of sacrifice, as they were not purified or
cleansed on that day, inasmuch as their mourning had not
yet lasted beyond the appointed and legitimate period of
lamentation. These men coming, after the assembly was
over, to the ruler of the people, being full of melancholy and
depression, related to him what had happened, namely, " that
the recent death of their relations was an unavoidable afflic-
122 PHILO JUD^EUS.
tion to which they could not help yielding, and that it was
a further grief that, on that account, they were unable to
bear their share in the sacrifice of the passover. And then
they besought him that they too might make their offerings
no less than the others, and that the misfortune which had
befallen them in the death of their kinsmen might not be
reckoned against them as an iniquity of theirs, so as to pro
duce them punishment instead of compassion ; for that they
thought that they were worse off than even the people who
were dead, since these last had, indeed, no sense of the
grievous privation, but they who continued alive would
appear to die the death perceptible to the outward sense."
XXX. When he heard this he saw that the justification
which they alleged was not inconsistent with reason and
truth, and that tho excuse which they alleged for not having
previously offered their sacrifice was founded in necessity,
and that they were entitled to merciful consideration. And
while he was wavering in his opinion, and incliningt his way
and that way as if in the balance of a scale, for compassion
and justice inclined him one way, and on the other side the
law of the sacrifice of the passover weighed him down, in
which the first month and the fourteenth day of the month
are appointed for the offering of the sacrifice ; accordingly,
Moses, being perplexed and balancing between consent and
refusal, besought Grod to decide the question and to announce
his decision to him by an oracular command. And Grod
listened to his entreaty and gave him an oracle bearing not
only on the circumstances which had taken place, but on all
such as should hereafter happen with reference to the same
subject, if people should ever again find themselves in a
similar case.
He likewise, out of the abundance of his providence, gave
further and general directions with respect to other indi
viduals who at any time, for one reason or other, should bo
unable to offer up their sacrifice with the whole of the rest
of the nation. We must now, therefore, proceed to relate
the oracular commands which were thus given by Grod with
reference to these cases.*
He says, " The mourning for a relation is a necessary
sorrow to those who are related by blood, and it is not set
* Numbers ix. 10.
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 123
down as a piece of guilty indifference. As long, therefore,
as it lasts, until the time that is appointed by ]aw for it to
cease, let the man be repelled from the sacred precincts, which
must be kept pure, not only from all intentional pollution,
but likewise from all such as is involuntary. But when the
legal time for mourning is expired, then let the mourners be
no longer deprived of an equal share in the performance of
the sacrifices, that those who are alive may not become an
adjunct to those who are dead. And let them, as if they
were in a second class, come again in the second month, on
the fourteenth day of the month, and let them sacrifice in
the same manner as the former sacrifices, and let them
adopt the sacrifice in the same way as they did, in a similar
manner and under similar rules."
Also, let the same regulations be observed with respect to
those who are hindered, not by mourning, but by a distant
journey, from offering up their sacrifice in common with and
at the same time with the whole nation. " For those who
are travelling in a foreign land, or dwelling in some other
country, do no wrong, so as to deserve to be deprived of
equal honour with the rest, especially since one country will
not contain the entire nation by reason of its great numbers,
but has sent out colonies in every direction."
XXXI. Having now, then, given this account of those
who were too late to sacrifice the festival of the passover with
the rest of the nation by reason of some unexpected circum
stances, but who were desirous to fulfil the duty which had
thus been omitted, even though late, still in the necessary
manner, I now proceed to the last injunction relating to the
succession to inheritances ; that being, in like manner, of a
mixed character, and consisting of question and answer.
There was a certain man, named Salpaath, a man of high
character and of a distinguished tribe. He had four daugh
ters, but not a single son. And after the death of their
father the daughters, being afraid that they should be de
prived of their father s inheritance, because the allotments
of such inheritances were given to the male heirs, came to
the ruler of the people with the modesty befitting maidens,
not because they were eager for riches, but because they
desired to preserve the name and reputation of their father.
And they said to Moses, " Our father is dead ; and he died
124 PI1ILO JUIXEUS.
without having been mixed up in any of those seditions in
which it has happened that so many thousands have been
slain ; but he was a cultivator of a life free from trouble and
notoriety ; unless, indeed, it is to be considered as a crime
that he was without male offspring. And we are now here
orphans in appearance, but in real fact desiring to find a
father in you ; for a lawful ruler is as closely connected
with his subjects as a father."*
And Moses marvelled at the wisdom of the maidens, and at
their affection for their father, nevertheless he hesitated, being-
biassed in some degree by other thoughts in accordance with
which it seemed proper for men to divide the inheritances
among themselves, that so they might receive the due reward
of their military services and of the wars which they had
gone through. Lut nature, which has given to woman pro
tection from all such contests, does likewise by so doing
plainly deprive them of their right to a share in what is put
forward as a reward for encountering them.
On which account the mind of Moses was very naturally
in a state of indecision, and was dragged different ways, so
that Moses laid his perplexities before God, whom he knew
to be the only being who could with true and unerring judg
ment decide such delicate differences with a complete display
of truth and justice. But the Creator of the universe, the
Father of the world, who holds together earth and heaven,
and the water and the air, and everything which is composed
of any one of these things, and who rules the whole world,
the King of gods and men, did not think it unbecoming for
him to take upon himself the part of arbitrator respecting
these orphan maidens. And, as arbitrator, he, in my
opinion, did more for them than if he had been merely a
judge of the law, inasmuch as he is merciful and beneficent,
and has filled all things everywhere with his beneficent power
for he gave great praise to the maidens.
^ ! Master how can any one sing your praises adequately,
with what mouth, with what tongue, with what organisation
of voice ? Can the stars become a chorus and pour forth
any melody which shall be worthy of the subject ? Even if
the whole of the heaven were to be dissolved into voice,
would it be able to recount even a portion of your virtues ?
* Numbers xxvii. 4.
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 125
" Very rightly," says God, " have the daughters of Shalpaath
spoken." Who is there who can fail to perceive how great
a praise this is when God bears witness in their favour ?
Come, now, ye who are violent ; ye, who give yourselves airs
because of your virtuous actions; ye, who hold up your
hands higher than nature justifies, and who raise your eye
brows ; ye, among whom the widowhood of woman is a cause
for laughter, though it is a most pitiable evil ; and in whose
thoughts the desolation of orphan children is ridiculed even
more shamefully than the distress before mentioned.
So now, seeing that those who appeared in such a low and
unfortunate condition were not marked by God among the
neglected and obscure, though all the kingdoms of the whole
habitable world are the most insignificant portion of his
dominion, because the whole circumference and space of the
world is but the extremity of his works, learn a necessary
lesson from this fact.
But Moses, having praised the conversation of the maidens,
did not either leave them without their due honour and
reward, nor yet, on the other hand, did he raise them to an
equal degree of honour with the men on whom the brunt of
the war falls ; but to the latter he allotted the inheritances
as the prizes which belonged to them as a reward for the
gallant exploits which they had performed. But the former
he thought worthy of grace and kindness, not of reward ; as
he showed most plainly by the expressions which he used,
speaking of "gifts" and "presents," but not of "requital"
or "recompense." For the one form of language is suited
to those who receive what they have a right to, and the
other belongs to those who are treated with gratuitous
favour.
XXXII. And having given his divine directions respect
ing the petitions which the orphan maidens had preferred,
he proceeds to lay down a more general law concerning the
succession to inheritances, summoning the sons in the first
instance to the sharing of the paternal property; and, if
there should be no sons, then the daughters in the second
place, to whom he says that it is proper to attach the inherit
ance as an external and adventitious ornament, but not as a
possession belonging to and rightly connected with them :
for that which is attached to anything has no actual relation-
126 PHILO JUD.EUS.
ship to that which is adorned by it, inasmuch as it is devoid
of all harmony and union with it. And, after the daughters,
then he invites the brothers to share it in the third place ;
and, in the fourth place, he assigns the property to the uncles
on the father s side, showing under this figure that the
fathers might, if alive, be the heirs of their sons.
Eor it is a very foolish idea to imagine that when he allots
the inheritance of the nephew to his father s brother, out of
a regard to his relationship to his father, he has excluded the
father himself from the succession. But since the law per
mits the property of parents to be inherited by the children,
but does not allow the parents themselves to inherit, he has
abstained from any express mention of the subject as one to
be deprecated and of evil omen, in order that the father and
mother might not seem to receive any gain from the incon
solable affliction of the loss of children dying prematurely ;
but he indirectly intimated their right to be invited to such
an inheritance when he conceded it to the uncles, in order
that in this way he might attain the best objects of cultivat
ing propriety and of avoiding the improper alienation of the
estate. And, after the uncles, the fifth class of inheritors
was to be composed of the nearest relations, to the first ot
whom he invariably assigns the inheritance.
XXXIII. Having now, as I was forced to do, gone through
the entire account of those sacred commands referring to a
mixed possession of an inheritance, I shall now proceed to
show the oracles which were divinely given by the inspiration
of the prophet ; for this was a subject which I promised to
explain.
Now the beginning of his divine inspiration, which was
also the commencement of prosperity to his nation, arose
when he was sent out of Egypt to dwell as a settler in the
cities of Syria, with many thousands of his countrymen ; for
both men and women, having accomplished together a long
and desolate journey through the wilderness, destitute of
any beaten road, at last arrived at the sea which is called the
Bed Sea. Then, as was natural, they were in great perplex
ity, neither being able to cross over by reason of their want
of vessels, nor thinking it safe to return back by the way by
which they had come. And while they were all in this
state of mind, a still greater evil was impending over them ;
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 127
for the king of the Egyptians, having collected a power
which was far from contemptible, a vast army of cavalry and
infantry, sallied forth in pursuit of them, and made haste to
overtake them, that he might avenge himself on them for
the departure which he had been compelled by undeniable
communications from Grod to permit them to take.
But, as it should seem, the disposition of wicked men is
unstable, so that, like any thing in a lightly-balanced scale,
it inclines on very slight causes to different directions at
different times. So now, the Hebrews being intercepted
between their enemies and the sea, despaired of their safety,
some looking on the most miserable death as a blessing to
be prayed for ; and others thinking it better to perish by
the agency of the parts of nature than to become a laughing
stock to their enemies, were inclined to throw themselves
into the sea ; and now, being laden with heavy burdens, they
sat down on the sea shore, that when they saw the enemy
near they might more readily leap into the sea. For now,
by reason of the necessity which environed them, and from
which they saw no means of extricating themselves, they
were in great agitation, being full of expectation of a mise
rable death.
XXXIY. But when the prophet saw that the whole
nation was now enclosed like a shoal of fish, and in great
consternation, he no longer remained master of himself, but
became inspired, and prophesied as follows :
" The fear is necessary, and the terror is inevitable, and
the danger is great ; in front of us is the widely open sea,
there is no retreat to which we can flee, we have no vessels,
behind are the phalanxes of the enemy ready to attack us,
which march on and pursue us, never stopping to take
breath. Where shall any one turn ? Which way can any
one look to escape ? Every thing from every quarter has
unexpectedly become hostile to us, the sea, the land, men,
and the elements of nature. But be ye of good cheer ; do
not faint ; stand still without wavering in your minds ; await
the invincible assistance of Grod ; it will be present imme
diately of its own accord ; it will fight in our behalf without
being seen. Before now you have often had experience of it,
defending you in an invisible manner. I see it now pre
paring to take part in the contest ; casting halters round
128 PHILO JUD^IUS.
the necks of the enemy, who are now, as if violently dragged
onward, going down into the depths of the sea like lead.
You now see them while still alive ; but I conceive the idea
of them as dead. And this very day you yourselves shall
also behold them dead."*
He then now said these things to them, things greater
than any hopes that could have been formed. And they
very speedily experienced in the real facts the truth of his
divine words ; for what he thus predicted by means of the
power divinely given to him, came to pass in a manner
more marvellous than can be well expressed. The sea was
broken asunder, each portion retired back, there was a con
solidation of the waves along each broken-off fragment
throughout the whole breadth and depth, so that the waves
stood up like the strongest walls ; and there was a straight
line cut of a road thus miraculously made, which was a path
for the Hebrews between the congealed waters, so that the
whole nation without any danger passed on foot through
the sea, as if on a dry road and on a stony soil ; for the sand
was dried up, and its usually fine grains were now united
into one compact substance.
Then, also, there was a rush onwards of their enemies
pursuing them, without stopping ^/o take breath, hastening
to their own destruction, and a driving forward of the cloud
that guarded the rear of the Hebrews, on which there was a
certain divine appearance of fire emitting a brilliant blaze,
and a reflux of the sea, which up to that moment had been
cut in two parts and stood asunder, and a sudden returning
of the part which had been cut off and dried up into its
original channel, and an utter destruction of the enemy,
whom the walls of the sea, which had been congealed and
which now turned back again, overwhelmed, and the sea
pouring down and hurrying into what had just been a road, as
if into some deep ravine, washed away every thing, and there
was evidence of the completeness of the destruction in the
bodies which floated on the waters, and which strewed the
surface of the sea ; and a great agitation of the waves, by
which all the dead were cast up into a heap on the opposite
shore, becoming a necessary spectacle to those who had
been delivered, and to whom it had been granted not
* Exodus xv. 1.
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES.
129
merely to escape from their dangers, but also to behold their
enemies punished, in a manner too marvellous for descrip
tion, by no human but by a divine power.
For this mercy Moses very naturally honoured his Bene
factor with hymns of gratitude. For having divided the
host into two choruses, one of men and one of women, he
himself became the leader of that of the men, and appointed
his sister to be the chief of that of the women, that they
might sing hymns to their father and Creator, joining in
harmonies responsive to one another, by a combination of
dispositions and melody, the former being eager to offer the
same requital for the mercies which they had received, and
the latter consisting of a symphony of the deep male with
the high female voices, for the tones of men are deep and
those of women are high ; and when there is a perfect and
harmonious combination of the two a most delightful and
thoroughly harmonious melody is effected. And he per
suaded all those myriads of men and women to be of one
mind, and to sing in concert the same hymn at the same
time in praise of those marvellous and mighty works which
they had beheld, and which I have been just now relating.
At which the prophet rejoicing, and seeing also the exceed
ing joy of his nation, and being himself too unable to con
tain his delight, began the song. And they who heard him
being divided into two choruses, sang with him, taking the
words which he uttered.
XXXV. This is the beginning and preface of the prophe<
cies of Moses under the influence of inspiration. After
this he prophesied about the first and most necessary of all
things, namely, food, which the earth did not produce, for it
was barren and unfruitful ; and the heaven rained down not
once only, but every day for forty years, before the dawn of
day, an ethereal fruit under the form of a dew very like
millet seed. And Moses, when he saw it, commanded them
to collect it ; and being full of inspiration, said : " You must
believe in Grod, inasmuch as you have already had experience
of his mercies and benefits in matters beyond all your hopes.
This food may not be treasured up or laid up in garners.
Let no one leave any portion of it till the morning."
"When they heard this, some of those who had no firm
piety, thinking perhaps that what was now said to them
K
130 PHILO JUD^EUS.
was not an oracle from Grod, but merely the advice of their
leader, left some till the next day. And it putrified, and at
first filled all the camp around with its foul smell, and then
it turned to worms, the origin of which always is from cor
ruption. And Moses, when he saw this, was naturally
indignant with those who were thus disobedient ; for how
could he help being so, when those who had beheld such
numerous and great actions which could not possibly be
perverted into mere fictitious and well contrived appear
ances, but which had been easily accomplished by the divine
providence, did not only doubt, but even absolutely disbe
lieved, and were the hardest of all men to be convinced ?
But the Father established the oracle of his prophet by two
most conspicuous manifestations, the one of which he gave
immediately by the destruction of what had been left, and
by the evil stench which arose, and by the change of it into
worms, the vilest of animals ; and the other demonstration
he afforded subsequently, for that which was over and above
after that which had been collected by the multitude, was
always melted away by the beams of the sun, and consumed,
and destroyed in that manner.
XXXVI. He gave a second instance of his prophetical
inspiration not long afterwards in the oracle which he deli
vered about the sacred seventh day. For though it had
had a natural precedence over all other days, not only from
the time that the world was created, but even before the
origination of the heaven and all the objects perceptible
to the outward senses, men still knew it not, perhaps
because, by reason of the continued and uninterrupted
destructions which had taken place by water and fire, suc
ceeding generations had not been able to receive from
former ones any traditions of the arrangement and order
which had been established in the connection of preceding
times, which, as it was not known, Moses, now being
inspired, declared to his people in an oracle which was
borne testimony to by a visible sign from heaven. And the
sign was this.
A smaller portion of food descended from the air on the
previous days, but a double portion on the day before the
seventh day. And on the previous days, if any portion was
left it became liquefied and melted away, until it was
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 101
entirely changed into dew, and so consumed ; but on this
day it endured no alteration, but remained in the same state
as before, and when this was reported to him, and beheld
by him, Moses did not so much conjecture as receive the
impulse of divine inspiration under which he prophesied of
the seventh day.
I omit to mention that all such conjectures are akin to
prophecy ; for the mind could never make such correct and
felicitous conjectures, unless it were a divine spirit whicli
guided their feet into the way of truth ; and the miraculous
nature of the sign was shown, not merely in the fact of the
food being double in quantity, nor in that of its remaining
unimpaired, contrary to the usual customs, but in both
these circumstances taking place on the sixth day, from the
day on which this food first began to be supplied from
heaven, from which day the most sacred number of seven
begun to be counted, so that if any one reckons he will find
that this heavenly food was given in exact correspondence
with the arrangement instituted at the creation of the
world.
For Grod began to create the world on the first day of a
week of six days : and he began to rain down the food
which has just been mentioned on the same first day; and
the two images are alike ; for as he produced that most
perfect work, the world, bringing it out of non-existence into
existence, so in the same manner did he produce plenty in
the wilderness, changing the elements with reference to the
pressing necessity, that, instead of the earth, the air might
bestow food without labour, and without trouble, to those
who had no opportunity of providing themselves with food
at their leisure.
After this he delivered to the people a third oracle of the
most marvellous nature, namely that on the seventh day the air
would not afford the accustomed food, and that not the very
slightest portion would fall upon the earth, as it did on
other days ; and this turned out to be the case in point of
fact ; for he delivered this prediction on the day before ; but
some of those who were unstable in their dispositions, went
forth to collect it, and being deceived in their expectations,
returned unsuccessful, reproaching themselves for their
unbelief, and calling the prophet the only true prophet, the
132 PHILO JUD^EUS.
only one who knew the will of God, and the only one who
had any foreknowledge of what was uncertain and future.
XXXVII. Such then are the predictions which he
delivered, under the influence of inspiration, respecting th
food which came down from heaven ; but he also delivered
others in succession of great necessity, though they appear
ed to resemble recommendations rather than actual oracles ;
one of which is that prediction, which he delivered respect
ing their greatest abandonment of their national customs, of
which I have already spoken, when they made a golden calf
in imitation of the Egyptian worship and folly, and esta
blished dances and prepared an altar, and offered up sacri
fices, forgetful of the true God and discarding the noble
disposition of their ancestors, which had been increased by
piety and holiness, at which Moses was very indignant, first
of all, at all the people having thus suddenly become blind,
which but a short time before had been the most sharp-
sighted of all nations ; and secondly, at a vain invention of
fable being able to extinguish such exceeding brilliancy of
truth, which even the sun in its eclipse or the whole com
pany of the stars could never darken ; for it is compre
hended by its own light, appreciable by the intellect and
incorporeal, in comparison of which the light, which is per
ceptible by the external senses, is like night if compared to
day.
And, moved by this cause, he no longer continued as
before, but leaped as it were out of his former appearance
and disposition, and became inspired, and said, "Who is
there who has not consented to this error, and who has not
given sanction to what ought not to be sanctioned ? Let
all such come over to me."* And when one tribe had come
over to him, and not less with their minds than with their
bodies, who indeed had some time before been eager for
the slaughter of the impious and wicked doers, and who had
sought for a leader and chief of their host who would justly
point out to them the opportunity and proper manner of
repressing their wickedness ; then he, seeing that they were
enraged and full of good confidence and courage, was
inspired still more than before, and said, " Let every one of
you take a sword, and go swiftly through the whole army,
* Exodus xxxii. 26.
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 133
and slay not any strangers, but aiso those who are nearest
and dearest to him of his own friends and relations, attacking
them all, judging his action to be a most holy one, as being
in the defence of truth and of the honour due to God, to
fight for which, and to be the champion of which objects, is
the lightest of labours."
So they rushed forth with a shout, and slew three thou
sand, especially those who were the leaders of this impiety,
and not only were excused themselves from having had any
participation in the wicked boldness of the others, but were
also enrolled among the most noble of valiant men, and
were thought worthy of an honour and reward most appro
priate to their action, to wit the priesthood.
For it was inevitable that those men should be ministers
of holiness, who had shown themselves valiant in defence
of it, and had warred bravely as its champions.
XXXVIII. I have also another still more marvellous and
prodigy-like oracle to report, which indeed I have men
tioned before, when I was relating the circumstances of the
high priesthood of the prophet, one which he himself
uttered when fully inspired by the divine spirit, and which
received its accomplishment at no long period afterwards,
but at the very moment that it was delivered.
There were two classes of ministrations concerning the
temple ; the higher one belonging to the priests, and the
lower one to the keepers of the temple ; and there were at
this time three priests, but many thousand keepers of the
temple. These men, being puffed up at the exceeding
greatness of their own numbers, despised the scanty num
bers of the priests ; and so they concerted two impious
attempts at the same time, the one of which was the de
struction of those who were superior to them, and the other
was the promotion of the inferior body, the subjects as it
were attacking the leaders, to the confusion and overthrow
of that most excellent and most beneficial thing for the peo
ple, namely order.
Then, joining together and assembling in one place, they
cried out upon the prophet as if he had given the priesthood
to his brother, and to his nephews, out of consideration for
their relationship to him, and had given a false account of
their appointment, as if it had not taken place under the
134 PHILO JUD^EUS.
direction of divine providence, as we have represented*
And Moses, being vexed and grieved beyond measure at
these things, although he was the meekest and mildest of men,
was now so excited to a just anger by his disposition, which
hated iniquity, that he besought Grod to reject their sacri
fice. Not because there was any chance of that most
righteous Judge receiving the unholy offerings of wicked
men, but because the soul of the man who loved God
could not be silent for his part, so eager was it that the
wicked should not prosper, but should always fail in
their purpose ; and while he was still boiling over and
inflamed with anger by this lawful indignation he became
inspired, and changed into a prophet, and uttered the
following oracle? .
" Apostacy is an evil thing, but these faithless men shall
be taught, not only by words but also by actions ; they
shall, by personal suffering, learn my truth and good faith,
since they would not learn it by ordinary instruction ; and
this shall be discerned in the end of their life : for if they
receive the ordinary death according to nature, then I have
invented these oracles ; but if they experience a new and
unprecedented destruction, then my truth will be testified
to ; for I see chasms of the earth opening against them, and
widened to the greatest extent, and numbers of men perish
ing in them, dragged down into the gulf with all their kin
dred, and their very houses swallowed up, and the men
going down alive into hell." And when he ceased speaking
the earth was cloven asunder, being shaken by an earth
quake, and it was burst open, especially where the tents of
those wicked men were so that they were all swallowed up
together, and so hidden from sight.
Eor the parts which were rent asunder came together
a^ain as soon as the purpose for which they had been
divided was accomplished.
And a little after this thunderbolts fell on a sudden
from heaven, and slew two hundred men, the leaders of this
sedition, and destroyed them all together, not leaving any
portion of their bodies to receive burial. And the rapid
and unintermittent character of the punishment, and the
magnitude of each infliction, rendered the piety of the pro
phet conspicuous and universally celebrated, as he thus
ON THE LIFE OF MOSES. 135
brought G-od forward as a witness of the truth of his oracu
lar denunciations.
We must also not overlook this circumstance, that both
earth and heaven, which are the first principles of the uni
verse, bore their share in the punishment of these wicked
men, for they had rooted their wickedness in the earth, and
extended it up to the sky, raising it to that vast height, on
which account each of the elements contributed its part to
their chastisement, the earth, so as to drag down and swal
low up those who were at that time weighing it down,
bursting asunder and dividing ; and the heaven, by tearing
up and destroying them, raining down a mighty storm of
much fire, a most novel kind of rain, and the end was the
same, both to those who were swallowed up by the earth
and to those who were destroyed by the thunderbolts, for
neither of them were seen any more ; the one body being
concealed by the earth, the chasm being united again and
meeting as before, so as to make solid ground; and the
other people being consumed entirely by the fire of the
thunderbolts.
XXXIX. And some time afterwards, when he was about
to depart from hence to heaven, to take up his abode there,
and leaving this mortal life to become immortal, having been
summoned by the Father, who now changed him, having
previously been a double being, composed of soul and body,
3nto the nature of a single body, transforming him wholly
and entirely into a most sun-like mind; he then, being
wholly possessed by inspiration, does not seem any longer
io have prophesied comprehensively to the whole nation
altogether, but to have predicted to each tribe separately
what would happen to each of them, and to their future
generations, some of which things have already come to
pass, and some are still expected, because the accomplish
ment of those predictions which have been fulfilled is the
clearest testimony to the future.
For it was very appropriate that those who were different
in the circumstances of their birth and in the mothers, from
whom they were descended, should differ also in the variety
of their designs and counsels, and also in the excessive
diversity of their pursuits in life, and should therefore have
for their inheritance, as it were, a different distribution of
136 PHILO JUD^US.
oracles and predictions. These things, therefore, are won
derful ; and most wonderful of all is the end of his sacred
writings, which is to the whole book of the law what the
head is to an animal.
Eor when he was now on the point of being taken away,
and was standing at the very starting -place, as it were, that
he might fly away and complete his journey to heaven, he
was once more inspired and filled with the Holy Spirit, and
while still alive, he prophesied admirably what should
happen to himself after his death, relating, that is, how he
had died when he was not as yet dead, and how he was
buried without any one being present so as to know of
his tomb, because in fact he was entombed not by mortal
hands, but by immortal powers, so that he was not placed
in the tomb of his forefathers, having met with particular
grace which no man ever saw ; and mentioning further how
the whole nation mourned for him with tears a whole
month, displaying the individual and general sorrow on
account of his unspeakable benevolence towards each indi
vidual and towards the whole collective host, and of the
wisdom with which he had ruled them.
Such was the life and such was the death of the king, and
lawgiver, and high priest, and prophet, Moses, as it is re
corded in the sacred scriptures.
A TEEATISE
CONCERNING THE TEN COMMANDMENTS,
WHICH ARE THE HEADS OF THE LAW.
I. 1 HATE in my former treatises set forth the lives of Moses
and the other Avise men down to his time, whom the sacred
scriptures point out as the founders and leaders of our
nation, and as its unwritten laws ; I will now, as seems
pointed out by the natural order of my subject, proceed to
describe accurately the character of those laws which are
recorded in writing, not omitting any allegorical meaning
which may perchance be concealed beneath the plain lan
guage, from that natural love of more recondite and laborious
ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 137
knowledge which is accustomed to seek for what is obscure
before, and in preference to, what is evident.
And to those who raise the question why the lawgiver
gave his laws not in cities but in the deep desert, we must
say, in the first place, that the generality of cities are full of
unspeakable evils, and of acts of audacious impiety towards
the Deity, and of injustice on the part of the citizens to one
another ; for there is nothing which is wholly free from
alloy, what is spurious getting the better of what is genuine,
and what is plausible of what is true ; which things in their
nature are false, but which suggest plausible imagina
tions to the engendering of deceit in cities ; from whence
also that most designing of all things, namely pride, is im
planted, which some persons admire and worship, dignifying
and making much of vain opinions, with golden crowns and
purple robes, and numbers of servants and chariots, on
which those men who are looked upon as fortunate and
happy are borne aloft, sometimes harnessing mules or horses
to their chariots, and sometimes even men, who bear their
burdens on their necks, through the excess of the insolence
of their masters, weighed down in soul even before they
faint in body.
II. Pride is also the cause of many other evils, such as
insolence, arrogance, and impiety. And these are the
beginnings of foreign and civil wars, allowing nothing what
ever to rest in peace in any part, whether it be public or
private, by sea or by land. And why need I mention the
offences of such men against one another ? Tor even divine
things are neglected by pride, even though they are gene
rally thought to be entitled to the highest honour. And
what honour can there be where there is not truth also
which has an honourable name and reality, since falsehood,
on the other hand, is by nature devoid of honour ; and the
neglect of divine things is evident to those who see clearly ;
for they, having fashioned an infinite variety of appearances
by the arts of painting and sculpture, have surrounded them
with temples and shrines, and have erected altars, and
adorned them with images and statues, and erections of
that kind, giving celestial honours to all sorts of inanimate
things, and these men the sacred scriptures very felicitously
liken to men born of a harlot.
138 PHILO JUD^EUS.
For as these men are inscribed as the children of all the
Covers whom their mothers have had and call their fathers,
from ignorance of the one who is by nature their real father,
so also these men in cities, not knowing the truly and really
existing and true God, have made deities of an innumerable
host of false gods. Then, as different beings were treated
with divine honours by different nations, the diversity of
opinions respecting the Supreme Being, begot also disputes
about all kinds of other subjects ; and it was from having a
regard to these facts in the first place that Moses decided
on giving his laws outside of the city.
He also considered this point, in the second place, that it
is indispensable that the soul of the man who is about to
receive sacred laws should be thoroughly cleansed and puri
fied from all stains, however difficult to be washed out,
which the promiscuous multitude of mixed men from all
quarters has impregnated cities with ; and this is impossible
to be effected unless the man dwells apart ; and even then
it cannot be done in a moment, but only at a much later
period, when the impressions of ancient transgressions, origi
nally deeply imprinted, have become by little and little
fainter, and gradually become more and more dim, and at
last totally effaced ; in this manner those who are skilful
in the art of medicine, save their patients ; for they do not
think it advisable to give food before they have removed the
causes of their diseases ; for while the diseases remain, food
is useless, being the pernicious materials of their sufferings.
III. Very naturally therefore, having led his people from
the injurious associations prevailing in the cities, into the
desert, that he might purity their souls from their offences
he begun to bring them food for their minds ; and what
could this food be but divine laws and reasonings ? The
third cause is this ; as men who set out on a long voyage do
not when they have embarked on board ship, and started
from the harbour, then begin for the first time to prepare
their masts, and cables, and rudders, but, while still remain
ing on the land, they make ready everything which can
conduce to the success of their voyage ; so in the same
manner Moses did not think it fit that his people, after they
had received their inheritances, and settled as inhabitants
of their cities, should then seek laws in accordance with
ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 139
which they were to regulate their cities, but that, having
previously prepared laws and constitutions, and being train
ed in those regulations, by which nations can be governed
with safety, they should then be settled in their cities, being
prepared at once to use the just regulations which were
already prepared for them, in unanimity and a complete
participation in and proper distribution of those things
which were fitting for each person.
IV. And some persons say that there is also a fourth
cause which is not inconsistent with, but as near as possi
ble to the truth ; for that, as it was necessary that a convic
tion should be implanted in the minds of men that these
laws were not the inventions of men, but the most indu
bitable oracles of God, he on that account, led the people as
far as possible from the cities into the deep wilderness,
which was barren not only of all fruits that admitted of
cultivation, but even of wholesome water, in order that,
when after having found themselves in want of necessary
food, and expecting to be destroyed by hunger and thirst,
they should on a sudden find themselves amid abund
ance of all necessary things, spontaneously springing up
around them ; the heaven itself raining down upon them
food called manna, and as a seasoning delicacy to that meat
an abundance of quails from the air ; and the bitter water
being sweetened so as to become drinkable, and the
precipitous rock pouring forth springs of sweet water ; then
they might no longer look back upon the Nile with wonder,
nor be in doubt as to whether those laws were the laws of
God, having received a most manifest proof of the fact from
the supplies by which they now found their scarcity relieved
beyond all their previous expectations ; for they would see
that he, who had given them a sufficiency of the means of life
was now also giving them a means which should contribute
to their living well ; accordingly, to live at all required meat
and drink which they found, though they had never pre
pared them ; and towards living well, and in accordance with
nature and decorum, they required laws and enactments, by
which they were likely to be improved in their minds.
V. These are the causes which may be advanced by pro
bable conjecture, to explain the question which is raised on
this point; for the true causes God alone knows. But having
140 PHILO JUD^US.
said what is fitting concerning these matters, I shall now
proceed in regular order to discuss the laws themselves with
accuracy and precision : first of all of necessity, mentioning
this point, that of his laws God himself, without having need
of any one else, thought fit to promulgate some by himself
alone, and some he promulgated by the agency of his
prophet Moses, whom he selected, by reason of his pre-emi
nent excellence, out of all men, as the most suitable man to
be the interpreter of his will.
Now those which he delivered in his own person by
himself alone, are both laws in general, and also the head s
of particular laws ; and those which he promulgated by the
agency of his prophet are all referred to those others ; and I
will explain each kind as well as I can.
And first of all, i will speak of those which rather resem
ble heads of laws, of which in the first place one must at
once admire the number, inasmuch as they are completed in
the perfect number of the decade, which contains every variety
of number, both those which are even, and those which are
odd, and those which are even-odd ;* the even numbers being
such as two, the odd numbers such as three, the even-odd
such as five, it also comprehends all the varieties of the
multiplication of numbers, and of those numbers which con
tain a whole number and a fraction, and of those which
contain several fractional parts ; it comprehends likewise all
the proportions ; the arithmetical, which exceeds and is
exceeded by an equal number : as in the case of the numbers
one, and two, and three ; and the geometrical, according to
which, as the proportion of the first number is to the second,
the same is the ratio of the second to the third, as is the
case in the numbers one, two and four ; and also in multipli
cation, which double, or treble, or in short multiply figures
to any extent ; also in those which are half as much again as
the numbers first spoken of, or one third greater, and so on.
It also contains the harmonic proportion, in accordance
with which that number which is in the middle between
two extremities, is exceeded by the one, and exceeds the
other by an equal part ; as is the case with the numbers
three, four, and six.
* Liddell and Scott explain this as meaning such even numbers as
become odd when divided, as 2, 6, 10, 14, &c.
ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 141
The decade also contains the visible peculiar properties of
the triangles, and squares, and other polygonal figures ; also
the peculiar properties of symphonic ratios, that of the diates-
saron in proportion exceeding by one fourth, as is the ratio
of four to three ; that of fifths exceeding in the ratio of half
as much again, as is the case with the proportion of three
to two. Also, that of the diapason, where the proportion is
precisely twofold, as is the ratio of two to one, or that of
the double diapason, where the proportion is fourfold, as
in the ratio of eight to two. And it is in reference to this
fact that the first philosophers appear to me to have affixed
the names to things which they have given them. For
they wei-e wise men, and therefore they very speciously
called the number ten the decade (rqv dexdda), as being that
which received every thing (ucavti ds^dda ouffav), from
receiving (ro\j ds^ffflou*) and containing every kind of num
ber, and ratio connected with number, and every proportion,
and harmony, and symphony.
Moreover, at all events, in addition to what has been
already said, any one may reasonably admire the decade for
the following reason, that it contains within itself a nature
which is at the same time devoid of intervals and capable of
containing them. Now that nature which has no connection
with inetrvals is beheld in a point alone ; but that which is
capable of containing intervals is beheld under three appear
ances, a line, and a superficies, and a solid. For that which
is bounded by two points is a line ; and that which has two
dimensions or intervals is a superficies, the line being
extended by the addition of breadth ; and that which has
three intervals is a solid, length and breadth having taken
to themselves the addition of depth. And with these three
nature is content ; for she has not engendered more inter
vals or dimensions than these three. And the archetypal
numbers, which are the models of these three are, of the
point the limit, of the line the number two, and of the
superficies the number three, and of the solid the number
four ; the combination of which, that is to say of one, and
two, and three, and four completes the decade, which dis
plays other beauties also in addition to those which are
visible.
For one may almost say that the whole infinity of num-
142 PHILO JUDJ3US.
bers is measured by tins one, because the boundaries which
make it up are four, namely, one, two, three, and four ; and
an equal number of boundaries, corresponding to them in
equal proportions, make up the number of a hundred out of
decades ; for ten, and twenty, and thirty, and forty produce
a hundred. And in the same way one may produce the
number of a thousand from hundreds, and that of a myriad
from thousands. And the unit, and the decade, and the
century, and the thousand, are the four boundaries which
generate the decade, which last number, besides what has
been already said, displays also other differences of numbers,
both the first, which is measured by the unit alone, of which
an instance is found in the numbers three, or five, qr seven ;
and the square which is the fourth power, which is an
equally equal number. Also the cube, which is the eighth
power, which is equally equal equally, and also the perfect
number, the number six, which is made equal to its compo
nent parts, three, and two, and one.
VIII. But what is the use now of enumerating the excel
lencies of the decade, which are infinite in number ; treating
our most important task as one of no importance, which is,
indeed, of itself most all-sufficient, and worthy material for
the study of those who devote themselves to mathematics ?
The other points we must pass over for the present ; but
perhaps it may not be out of place to mention one by way
of example ; for those who have devoted themselves to the
doctrines of philosophy say that what are called the catego
ries in nature are ten only in number, quality, essence,
quantity, relation, action, passion, possession, condition,
and those two without which nothing can exist, time and
place. For there is nothing which is devoid of participation
in these things ; as, for instance, I partake of essence, bor
rowing of each one of the elements of which the whole
world was made, that is to say, of earth and water, and air
and fire, what is sufficient for my own existence.
I also partake of quality, inasmuch as I am a man ; and of
quantity, inasmuch as I am a man of such and such a size.
I also partake of relation, when any one is on my right
hand or on my left. Again, I am in action when I rub or
burn any thing. I am in passion when I am cut or rubbed
by any one else. I am discerned as a possessor, when I am
ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
143
clotlied or equipped with anything. And I am seen in condi
tion, when sitting still or lying down. And I am altogether
in time and place, since not one of all the categories just
mentioned can exist without both these things.
IX. This, then, may be enough to say on these subjects ;
but it is necessary now to connect with these things what I
am about to say, namely, that it was the Father of the uni
verse who delivered these ten maxims, or oracles, or laws
and enactments, as they truly are, to the whole assembled
nation of men and women altogether. Did he then do so,
uttering himself some kind of voice ? Away ! let not such
an idea ever enter your mind ; for Grod is not like a man, in
need of a mouth, and of a tongue, and of a windpipe, but as
it seems to me, he at that time wrought a most conspicuous
and evidently holy miracle, commanding an invisible sound
to be created in the air, more marvellous than all the instru
ments that ever existed, attuned to perfect harmonies ; and
that not an inanimate one, nor yet, on the other hand, one
that at all resembled any nature composed of soul and body ;
but rather it was a rational soul filled with clearness and
distinctness, which fashioned the air and stretched it out
and changed it into a kind of naming fire, and so sounded
forth so loud and articulate a voice like a breath passing
through a trumpet, so that those who were at a great dis
tance appeared to hear equally with those who were nearest
to it.
For the voices of men, when they are spread over a very
long distance, do naturally become weaker and weaker, so
that those who are at a distance from them cannot arrive at
a clear comprehension of them, but their understanding is
gradually dimmed by the extension of the sound over a
larger space, since the organs also by which it is extended
are perishable. But the power of God, breathing forth
vigorously, aroused and excited a new kind of miraculous
voice, and diffusing its sound in every direction, made the
end more conspicuous at a distance than the beginning,
implanting in the soul of each individual another hearing
much superior to that which exists through the medium of
the ears. For the one, being in some degree a slower kind
of external sense, remains in a state of inactivity until it is
struck by the air, and so put in motion. But the sense of
144 PHILO JUD.EUS.
the inspired mind outstrips that, going forth with the most
rapid motion to meet what is said.
X. This, then, may be enough to say about the divine
voice. But a person may very reasonably raise the question on
what account it happened, when there were so vast a number
of myriads of men collected into one place that Moses chose
to deliver each of the ten commandments in such a form as
if they had been addressed not to many persons but to one,
saying :
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not kill.*
And giving the other commandments in the same form.
We must say, therefore that he is desirous here to teach
that most excellent lesson to those who read the sacred
scriptures, that each separate individual by himself when he
is an observer of the law and obedient to God, is of equal
estimation with a whole nation, be it ever so populous, or I
might rather say, with all the nations upon earth. And if I
were to think fit I might proceed further and say, with all
the world; because in another passage of the scriptures
God, praising a certain just man, says, " I am thy God."f
But the same being was also the God of the world ; so
that all those who are subject to him are arranged according
to the same classification, and, if they be equally pleasing to
the supreme Governor of them all, they partake of an equal
acceptance and honour.
And, secondly, we must say that any one addressing him
self to an assembly in common as to a multitude is not bound
to speak as if he were conversing with a single individual,
but sometimes he commands or forbids a thing in a particular
manner in such a way that whatever he commands does at
once appear requisite to be done by every one who hears
him, and does also seem to be commanded to the whole col
lective multitude together; for the man who receives an
admonition as if addressed to himself personally is more in
clined to obey it ; but he who hears it as if it were only
directed to him in common with others is, to a certain
degree, rendered deaf to it, making the multitude a kind of
veil and excuse for his obstinacy.
* Exodus xx. 13. t Genesis xvii. 1.
ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 145
A third view of the question is, that no king or tyrant
may ever despise an obscure private individual, from being full
of insolence and haughty pride ; but that such an one, coming
as a pupil to the school of the sacred laws, may relax his
eyebrows, unlearning his self-opinionativeness, and yielding
rather to true reason. For if the uncreated, and immortal,
and everlasting God, who is in need of nothing and who is
the maker of the universe, and the benefactor and King of
kings, and Grod of gods, cannot endure to overlook even the
meanest of human beings, but has thought even such worthy
of being banqueted in sacred oracles and laws, as if he were
about to give him a love-feast, and to prepare for him alone
a banquet for the refreshing and expanding of his soul in
structed in the divine will and in the manner in which the
great ceremonies ought to be performed, how can it be right
for me, who am a mere mortal, to hold my head up high and
to allow myself to be puffed up, behaving with insolence to
my equals whose fortunes may, perhaps, not be equal to
mine, but whose relationship to me is equal and complete,
inasmuch as they are set down as the children of one mother,
the common nature of all men ?
I will, therefore, behave myself in an affable, and courteous,
and conciliatory manner to all men, even if I should obtain
the dominion over the whole earth and the whole sea, and
especially to those who are in the greatest difficulties and of
the least reputation, and who are destitute of all assistance
from kindred of their own, to those who are orphaned of
either or of both their parents, to women who have expe
rienced widowhood, and to old men who have either never-
had any children at all, or who have lost at an early age
those who have been born to them ; for, inasmuch as 1 my
self am a man, I will not think it right to cherish a pompous
and tragedian-like dignity of manner, but I will keep myself
within my nature, not transgressing its boundaries, but
accustoming my mind to bear human events with compla
cency and equanimity. Not only because of the unforeseen
changes by which things of one character assume a different
appearance, both in the case of those in prosperity and of
those who are in adversity, but also because it is becoming,
even if prosperity were to remain unaltered and unshaken
that a man should not forget himself.
YOL. Ill L
146 PHTLO JUD^EUS.
For these reasons it appears to me to have been that God
expressed his oracular commandments in the singular
number, as if they were directed to a single individual.
XI. And, moreover, as was natural, he filled the whole
place with miraculous signs and works, with noises of thunder
too great for the hearing to support, and with the most ra
diant brilliancy of flashes of lightning, and with the sound o -
an invisible trumpet extending to a great distance, and with
the march of a cloud, which, like a pillar, had its foundation
fixed firmly on the earth, but raised the rest of its body even
to the height of heaven ; and, last of all, by the impetuosity
of a heavenly fire, which overshadowed everything around
with a dense smoke. For it was fitting that, when the power
of Grod came among them, none of the parts of the world
should be quiet, but that everything should be put in motion
to minister to his service.
And the people stood by, having kept themselves clean
from all connection with women, and having abstained from
all pleasures, except those which arise from a participation
in necessary food, having been purifying themselves with
baths and ablutions for three days, and having washed their
garments and being all clothed in the purest white robes,
and standing on tiptoe and pricking up their ears, in com
pliance with the exhortations of Moses, who had forewarned
them to prepare for the solemn assembly ; for he knew that
such would take place, when he, having been summoned up
alone, gave forth the prophetic commands of Grod.
And a voice sounded forth from out of the midst of the fire
which had flowed from heaven, a most marvellous and awful
voice, the flame being endowed with articulate speech in a
language familiar to the hearers, which expressed its words
with such clearness and distinctness that the people seemed
rather to be seeing than hearing it. And the law testifies to
the accuracy of my statement, where it is written, " And all
the people beheld the roice most evidently." For the
truth is that the voice of men is calculated to be heard ; but
that of Grod to be really and truly seen. Why is this ?
Because all that Grod says are not words, but actions which
the eyes determine on before the ears.
It is, therefore, with great beauty, and also with a proper
sense of what is consistent with the dignity of Grod, that the
ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 147
voice is said to have come forth out of the fire ; for the oracles
of God are accurately understood and tested like gold by
the fire. And God also intimates to us something of this
kind by a figure. Since the property of fire is partly to give
light, and partly to burn, those who think fit to show them
selves obedient to the sacred commands shall live for ever
and ever as in a light which is never darkened, having his
laws themselves as stars giving light in their soul. But all
those who are stubborn and disobedient are for ever inflamed,
and burnt, and consumed by their internal appetites, which
like flame, will destroy all the life of those who possess them.
XII. These, then, were the things which it was necessan
to explain beforehand.
But now we must turn to the commands themselves, and
investigate everything which is marked by especial import
ance or difference in them.
Now God divided them, being ten, as they are, into two
tables of five each, which he engraved on two pillars. And
the first five have the precedence and pre-eminence in honour;
but the second five have an inferior place assigned to them!
But both the tables are beautiful and advantageous to life,
opening to men wrought and level roads kept within limits
by one end, so as to secure the unwavering and secure pro
gress of that soul which is continually desiring what is most
excellent.
Now the most excellent five were of this character, they
related to the monarchial principle 011 which the world is
governed ; to images and statues, and in short to all erec
tions of any kind made by hand ; to the duty of not taking
the name of God in vain ; to that of keeping the holy seventh
day in a manner worthy of its holiness ; to paying honour to
parents both separately to each, and commonly to both So
that of the one table the beginning is the God and .Father
and Creator of the universe ; and the end are one s parents,
who imitate his nature, and so generate the particular
individuals.
And the other table of five contains all the prohibitions
against adulteries, and murder, and theft, and false witness
and covetousness. But we must consider, with all the accu
racy possible, each of these oracles separately, not looking
upon any one of them as superfluous. JNow the best beein-
L 2 *
148 PHILO JUD^EUS.
ning of all living beings is G-od, and of all virtues, piety.
And we must, therefore, speak of these two principles in the
first place.
There is an error of no small importance which has taken
possession of the greater portion of mankind concerning a
subject which was likely by itself, or, at least, above all other
subjects, to have been fixed with the greatest correctness
and truth in the mind of every one ; for some nations have
made divinities of the four elements, earth and water, and
air and fire. Others, of the sun and moon, and of the other
planets and fixed stars. Others, again, of the whole world.
And they have all invented different appellations, all of them,
false, for these false gods put out of sight that most supreme
and most ancient of all, the Creator, the ruler of the
great city, the general of the invincible army, the pilot who
always guides everything to its preservation ; for they call
the earth Proserpine, and Ceres, and Pluto. And the sea
they call Neptune, inventing besides a number of marine
deities as subservient to him, and vast companies of attend
ants, both male and female. The air they call Juno ; fire,
Vulcan ; and the sun, Apollo ; the moon, Diana ; and the
evening star, Venus ; Lucifer, they call Mercury ; and to
every one of the stars they have affixed names and given
them to the inventors of fables, who have woven together
cleverly-contrived imaginations to deceive the ear, and have
appeared to have been themselves the ingenious inventors of
these names thus given.
Again, in their descriptions, they divided the heaven into
two parts, each one hemisphere, the one being above the
earth and the other under the earth, which they called the
Dioscuri ;* inventing, besides, a marvellous story concerning
* Aioe Koupoi. Sons of Jupiter, i. e., Castor and Pollux. The
Gemini or Twins of the Zodiac. The story of their living and dying
on alternate days is alluded to by Virgil, JEn. vi. 121, where
says,
Si fratrem Pollux alterna morte redemit
Itque reditque viani toties.
Or, as it is translated by Dryden,
" If Pollux, off ring his alternate life,
Could free his brother ; and can daily go
By turns aloft, by turns descend below."
ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 149
their living on alternate days. For, as the heaven is _ ever
lasting revolving, in a circle without any cessation or inter
ruption, it follows of necessity that each of the hemispheres
must every day be in a different position from that which it
was in the day before, everything being turned upside down
as far as appearance goes, at least ; for, in point of fact, there
is no such thing as any uppermost or undermost in a spherical
figure. And this expression is only used with reference to
our own formation and position ; that which is over our head
being called uppermost, and that which is in the opposite
direction being called undermost.
Accordingly, to one who understands how to apply him
self to philosophy in a genuine, honest spirit, and who lays
claim to a guiltless and pure piety, God gives that most
beautiful and holy commandment, that he shall not believe
that any one of the parts of the world is its own master, for
it has been created ; and the fact of having been created
implies a liability to destruction, even though the thing
created may be made immortal by tho providence of the
Creator ; and there was a time once when it had no exist
ence, but it is impiety to say that there was a previous time
when God did not exist, and that he was born at some time,
and that he does not endure for ever.
XIII. But some persons indulge in such foolish notions
respecting their judgments on these points, that they not
only look upon the things which have been mentioned above
as gods, but as each separate one of them as the greatest
and first of gods, either because they are really ignorant
of the true living God, from their nature being uninstructed,
or else because they have no desire to learn, because they
believe that there is no cause of things invisible, and ap
preciable only by the intellect, apart from the objects of the
external senses, and this too, though the most distinct pos
sible proof is close at hand ; for though, as it is owing to the
soul that they live, and form designs, .and do everything
which is done in human life, they nevertheless have never
been able to behold their soul with their eyes, nor would
they be able if they were to strive with all imaginable eager
ness, wishing to see it as the most beautiful possible of all
images or appearances, from a sight of which they might,
by a sort of comparison, derive a notion of the uncreated
150 PHILO JUD^EUS.
and everlasting God, who rules and guides the whole world
in such a way as to secure its preservation, being himself
invisible.
As, therefore, if any one were to assign the honours o
the great king to his satraps and viceroys, he would appear
to be not only the most ignorant and senseless of men, but
also the most fool-hardy, giving to slaves what belongs to
the master ; in the same manner, let the man who honours
the Creator, with the same honours as those with which he
regards the creature, know that he is of all men the most
foolish and the most unjust, in giving equal things to un
equal persons, and that too not in such a way as to do
honour to the inferior, but only to take it from the superior.
There are again some who exceed in impiety, not giving
the Creator and the creature even equal honour, but assign
ing to the latter all honour, and respect, and reverence, and
to the former nothing at all, not thinking him worthy of
even the common respect of being recollected ; for they for
get him whom alone they should recollect, aiming, like
demented and miserable men as they are, at attaining to
an intentional forgetfulness. Some men again are so pos
sessed with an insolent and free-spoken madness, that they
make an open display of the impiety which dwells in their
hearts, and venture to blaspheme the Deity, whetting an
evil-speaking tongue, and desiring, at tjie same time, to vex
the pious, who immediately feel an indescribable and irre
concilable affliction, which enters in at their ears and per
vades the whole soul ; for this is the great engine of impious
men, by which alone they bridle those who love God, as
they think it better at the moment to preserve silence, for
the sake of not provoking their wickedness further.
XIY. Let us, therefore, reject all such impious dis
honesty, and not worship those who are our brothers by
nature, even though they may have received a purer an d
more immortal essence than ourselves (for all created things
are brothers to one another, inasmuch as they are created ;
since the Father of them all is one, the Creator of the uni
verse) ; but let us rather, with our mind and reason, and
with all our strength, gird ourselves up vigorously and
energetically to the service of that Being who is uncreated
and everlasting, and the maker of the universe, never
ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 151
shrinking or turning aside from it, nor yielding to a desire
of pleasing the multitude, by which even those who might
be saved are often destroyed.
Let us, therefore, fix deeply in ourselves this first com
mandment as the most sacred of all commandments, to
think that there is but one Grod, the most highest, and to
honour him alone ; and let not the polytheistical doctrine
ever even touch the ears of any man who is accustomed to
seek for the truth, with purity and sincerity of heart ; for
those who are ministers and servants of the sun, and of the
moon, and of all the host of heaven, or of it in all its inte
grity or of its principal parts, are in grievous error ; (how can
they fail to be, when they honour the subjects instead of the
prince ?) but still they sin less grievously than the others,
who have fashioned stocks, and stones, and silver, and gold,
and similar materials according to their own pleasure, mak
ing images, and statues, and all kinds of other things
wrought by the hand ; the workmanship in which, whether
by statuary, or painter, or artisan, has done great injury to
the life of man, having filled the whole habitable world.
For they have cut away the most beautiful support of the
soul, namely the proper conception of the ever-living Grod ;
and therefore, like ships without ballast, they are tossed
about in every direction for ever, being borne in every
direction, so as never once to reach the haven, and never to be
able to anchor firmly in truth, being blind respecting that
which is worth seeing, and the only object as to which it is
absolutely necessary to be sharp-sighted ; and such men
appear to me to have a more miserable life than those who
are deprived of their bodily sight; for these latter have
either been injured without their own consent, or else have
endured some terrible disease of the eyes, or else have been
plotted against by their enemies ; but those others by their
own deliberate intention, have not only dimmed the eye of
their soul, but have even chosen utterly to discard it ; on which
account pity is bestowed on the one class as unfortunate,
but the other class are justly punished as being wicked,
who in conjunction with others have not chosen to recognize
that fact which even an infant child would understand,
namely, that the Creator is better than the creature ; for ho
152 PHILO JUD^EUS.
is both more ancient in point of time, and is also in a man
ner the father of that which he has made.
He is also superior in power, for the agent is more
glorious than the patient.
And though it would be proper, if they had not com
mitted sins, to deify the painters and statuaries themselves
with exceeding honours, they have left them in obscurity,
giving them no advantage, but have looked upon the figures
which have been made, or the pictures which have been
painted by them, as gods ; and these artists have often
grown old in poverty and obscurity, dying, worn out by
incessant misfortunes, w r hile the things which they have
fabricated, are made splendid with purple, and gold, and all
sorts of costly splendour which wealth can furnish, and are
worshipped not only by freemen but even by men of noble
birth, and of the greatest personal strength and beauty.
For the race of priests is scrutinised with the greatest
rigour and minuteness, to see whether they are without
blemish, and to see whether the whole combination of the
parts of their bodies is entire and perfect ; and these are
not the worst points of all, bad as they are : but this is
entirely intolerable, for I have known before now, some of
the very men who have made the things, praying and sacri
ficing to the very things which have been made by them,
when it would have been more to their purpose to worship
either of their own hands, or, if they feared the reproach of
self-conceit, and therefore did not choose to do that, at all
events to worship their anvils, and hammers, and graving
tools, and compasses, and other instruments, by means of
which the materials have been fashioned into shape.
XV. And yet it is well for us, speaking with all proper
freedom, to say to those who have shown themselves so devoid
of sense ; " My good men, the best of all prayers, and the end,
and proper object of happiness, is to attain to a likeness to
God. Do you therefore pray to become like those erec
tions of yours, that so you may reap the most supreme
happiness, neither seeing with your eyes, nor hearing with
your ears, nor respiring, nor smelling with your nostrils,
nor speaking, nor tasting with your mouth, nor taking, nor
giving, nor doing anything with your hands, nor walking
ON TRE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 153
with your feet, nor doing anything at all with any one of
your members, but being as it were confined and guarded
in the temple, as if in a prison, and day and night continu
ally imbibing the steam from the sacrifices offered up ; for
this is the only one good thing which can be attributed to
any kind of building or erection." But 1 think that when
they hear these things, they will be indignant, as if they
were listening not to prayers, but to curses, and that they
will take refuge in such defence as chance may furnish
them with, bringing retaliatory accusations ; which may be
the greatest proof of the manifest and undesirable impiety
of those men, who look upon those beings as gods, to whom
they themselves would never wish to have their own natures
assimilated.
XVI. Let no one therefore of those beings who are
endowed w r ith souls, worship . any thing that is devoid of a
soul ; for it would be one of the most absurd things possible
for the works of nature to be diverted to the service of
those things which are made by hand ; and against Egypt,
not only is that common accusation brought, to which the
whole country is liable, but another charge also, which is of
a more special character, and with great fitness ; for besides
falling down to statues, and images they have also introduced
irrational animals, to the honours due to the gods, such as
bulls, and rams, and goats, inventing some prodigious fiction
with regard to each of them ; and as to these particular
animals, they have indeed some reason for what they do,
for they are the most domestic, and the most useful to life.
The bull, as a plougher, draws furrows for the reception
of the seed, and is again the most powerful of all animals to
thresh the corn out when it is necessary to purify it of the
chaff; the ram gives us the most beautiful garments for the
coverings of our persons ; for if our bodies were naked, they
would easily be destroyed either through heat, or through
intense cold, caused at one time by the blaze of the sun, and
at another by the cooling of the air. But as it is they go
beyond these animals, and select the most fierce, and un-
tameable of all wild animals, honouring lions, and crocodiles,
and of reptiles the poisonous asp, with temples, and sacred
precincts, and sacrifices, and assemblies in their honour, and
solemn processions, and things of that kind. -
154 PHILO JUD.EUS.
Eor if they were to seek out in both elements, among all
the things given to man for his use by G-od, searching
through earth and water, they would never find any animal
on the land more savage than the lion, or any aquatic animal
more fierce than the crocodile, both which creatures they
honour and worship ; they have also deified many other
animals, dogs, ichneumons, wolves, birds, ibises, and hawks,
and even fish, taking sometimes the whole, and sometimes
only a part ; and what can be more ridiculous than this
conduct?* And, accordingly, the first foreigners who
arrived in Egypt were quite worn out with laughing at
and ridiculing these superstitions, till their minds had
become impregnated with the conceit of the natives ; but all
those who have tasted of right instruction, are amazed and
struck with consternation, at their system of ennobling
things which are not noble, and pity those who give into it,
thinking the men, as is very natural, more miserable than
even the objects which they honour, since they in their
souls are changed into those very animals, so as to appear
to be merely brutes in human form, now returning to their
original nature.
* This was one of the things which especially excited the ridicule of
the Romans. Juvenal says, Sat. xv. 1
Quis nescit, Volusi Bithynice, qualia demens
^Egyptus portenta colat ? Crocodilon adorat
Pars hsec : ilia pavet saturam serpentibus Ibim.
Effigies sacri nitet aurca cercopitheci,
Dimidio magicse resonant ubi Memnone chordae,
Atque vetus Thebe centum jacet obruta portis.
Illic coaruleos, hie piscem fluminis, illic
Oppida tota canem venerantur, nemo Dianam.
Or, as it is translated by Gifford,
"Who knows not to what monstrous gods, my friend,
The mad inhabitants of Egypt bend ?
The snake devouring ibis, these enshrine
Those think the crocodile alone divine ;
Others, where Thebes vast ruins strew the ground
And shattered Memnon yields a magic sound,
Set up a glittering brute of uncouth shape,
And bow before the image of an ape !
Thousands regard the hound with holy fear,
Not one Diana."
ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 155
Therefore, God, removing out of his sacred legislation all
such impious deification of undeserving objects, has invited
men to the honour of the one true and living God ; not
indeed that he has any need himself to be honoured ; for
being all-sufficient for himself, he has no need of any one
else ; but he has done so, because he wished to lead the race
of mankind, hitherto wandering about in trackless deserts,
into a road from which they should not stray, that so by
following nature it might find the best end of all things,
namely, the knowledge of the true and living God, who is
the first and most perfect of all good things ; from whom,
as from a fountain, all particular blessings are showered upon
the world, and upon the things and people in it.
XVII. Having now spoken of the second commandment
to the best of our ability, let us proceed to investigate the
one which follows with accuracy, as is pointed out by the
order in which they come.
The next commandment is, " not to take the name of God
in vain."
Now the principle on which this order or arrangement
proceeds is very plain to those who are gifted with acute
mental vision ; for the name is always subsequent in order
to the subject of which it is the name; being like the shadow
which follows the body. Having, therefore, previously
spoken of the existence of God, and also of the honour to
be paid to the everlasting God; he then, following the
natural order of connection proceeds to command what is
becoming in respect of his name ; for the errors of men
with respect to this point are manifold and various, and
assume many different characters.
That being which is the most beautiful, and the most
beneficial to human life, and suitable to rational nature,
swears not itself, because truth on every point is so innate
within him that his bare word is accounted an oath. Next to
not swearing at all, the second best thing is to keep one s
oath ; for by the mere fact of swearing at all, the swearer
shows that there is some suspicion of his not being trust
worthy. Let a man, therefore, be dilatory, and stow if there
is any chance that by delay he may be able to avoid the
necessity of taking an oath at all; but if necessity compels
him to swear, then he must consider with no superficial
150 PHILO JUIXEUS.
attention, every one of the subjects, or parts of the subject,
before him; for it is not a matter of slight importance,
though from its frequency it is not regarded as it ou^ht to
be. & For an oath is the calling of God to give his testimony
concerning the matters which are in doubt ; and it is a most
impious thing to invoke God to be witness to a lie.
Come now, if you please, and with your reason look into
the mind of the man who is about to swear to a falsehood ;
and you will see that it is not tranquil, but full of disorder
and confusion, accusing itself, and enduring all kinds of
insolence and evil speaking ; for the conscience which dwells
in, and never leaves the soul of each individual, not being
accustomed to admit into itself any wicked thing, preserves
its own nature always such as to hate evil, and to love virtue,
being itself at the same time an accuser and a judge ; being
roused as an accuser it blames, impeaches, and is hostile ;
and again as a judge it teaches, admonishes, and recom
mends the accused to change his ways, and if he be able to
persuade him, he is with joy reconciled to him, but if he be
not able to do so, then he wages an endless and implacable
war against him, never quitting him neither by day, nor by
night,but pricking him, and inflicting incurable wounds on
him, until he destroys his miserable and accursed life.
XVIII. " What sayest thou ? " I should say to the per
jured man, " will you dare to go to any one of your own
acquaintances and say, My friend, come and bear witness
for me that you have seen and heard, and been present at a
whole catalogue of things which you have neither seen, nor
heard ? I think not ; for that would be an act of incurable
insanity ; with what face can you while sober, and while
appearing to be master of yourself look upon your friend,
and say, By reason of our acquaintance and companionship,
act unjustly, violate the law, commit impiety for my sake ;
for it is plain that if he heard such a request, he would
quickly renounce that companionship which you now believe
to exist, reproaching himself for having ever had any friend
ship at all with a man of such a character as you, and would
flee from you, as from a savage, and maddened, wild beast.
" Will you then, without shame call upon God, the father
and sovereign of the world, to give his testimony in favour
of those things, to witness which you will not venture even
ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 157
to bring your friend ? And if you do so, will you do it
knowing that he sees everything and hears everything, or
not knowing this fact? If you know it not you are an
atheist, and atheism is the beginning of all iniquity, and, in
addition to your atheism, you are also adding the wicked
ness of an oath, by swearing by him who in your opinion is
not attending to you, nor paying any regard to human
affairs.
But if you are well assured that he does exert his provi
dence in respect of such matters, still you are not free from
the charge of excessive impiety, saying to God, if not with
your mouth and tongue, still at all events with your con
science : Bear false witness for me, aid me in my wickedness,
assist me in my impiety. I have but one hope of preserving
u fair reputation among men, namely by concealing the
truth ; be thou wicked for another s sake, you who are the
better, for the sake of one who is worse ; you who are God,
the most excellent of all beings, for the sake of a man, and
that too a wicked one.
XIX. But there are also some people who, without any
idea of acquiring gain, do from a bad habit incessantly and
inconsiderately swear upon every occasion, even when there
is nothing at all about which any doubt is raised, as if they
were desirous to fill up the deficiency of their argument with
oaths, as if it would not be better to cut their conversation
short or I might rather say to utter nothing at all, but to
preserve entire silence, for from a frequency of oaths
arises a habit of perjury and impiety. On which account
the man who is going to take an oath ought to investigate
everything with care and exceeding accuracy, considering
whether the subject is of serious importance, and whether it
has really taken place, and whether, if it has, he has compre
hended it properly ; and considering himself, also, whether
he is pure in soul, and body, and tongue, having the first
free from all violation of the law, the second from all defile
ment, and the last from all blasphemy.
For it is an impiety for any disgraceful words to be
uttered by that mouth by which the most sacred name is
also mentioned. Let him also consider whether the place
and the time are suitable ; for before now I have known
158 PHILO JUD^US.
some persons, in profane and impure places (in which it is
not fitting that mention should be made of either their
father or their mother, or of even any old man among their
kindred who may have lived a virtuous life), swearing, and
stringing together whole sentences full of oaths, using the
name of Grod with all the variety of titles which belong to
him, when they should not, out of sheer impiety.
And let him who pays but, little heed to what has been
said here know, in the first place, that he is impure and
defiled ; and, in the second place, that the most terrible
punishments are constantly lying in wait for him ; that jus
tice who keeps her eye upon all human affairs, being impla
cable and inflexible towards all enormities of such a character;
and, when she do^s not think fit to inflict her punishments
at once, still exacting satisfaction with abundant usury
whenever the opportunity seems to offer in combination with
the general advantage.
XX. The fourth commandment has reference to the
sacred seventh day, that it may be passed in a sacred and
holy manner. Now some states keep the holy festival only
once in the month, counting from the new moon, as a day
sacred to Grod; but the nation of the Jews keep every
seventh day regularly, after each interval of six days ; and
there is an account of events recorded in the history of the
creation of the world, comprising a sufficient relation of the
cause of this ordinance ; for the sacred historian says, that
the world was created in six days, and that on the seventh
day Grod desisted from his works, and began to contemplate
what he had so beautifully created; therefore, he commanded
the beings also who were destined to live in this state, to
imitate Grod in this particular also, as well as in all others,
applying themselves to their works for six days, but desisting
from them and philosophising on the seventh day, and
devoting their leisure to the contemplation of the things of
nature, and considering whether in the preceding six days
they have done anything which has not been holy, bringing
their conduct before the judgment-seat of the soul, and sub
jecting it to a scrutiny, and making themselves give an
account of all the things which they have said or done ; the
laws sitting by as assessors and joint inquirers, in order to
ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 159
the correcting of such errors as have been committed
through carelessness, and to the guarding against any
similar offences being hereafter repeated.
But God, on one occasion, employed the six days for the
completion of the world, though he had no need of any
length of time for such a purpose ; but each man, as partak
ing of a mortal nature, and as being in need of ten thousand
things for the unavoidable necessities of life, ought not to
hesitate, even to the end of his life, to provide himself with
all requisites, always allowing himself an interval of rest on
the sacred seventh day. Is it not a most beautiful recom
mendation, and one most admirably adapted to the perfect
ing of, and leading man to, every virtue, and above all to
piety ? The commandment, in effect says : Always imitate
God; let that one period of seven days in which God
created the world, be to you a complete example of the way
in which you are to obey the law, and an all-sufficient
model for your actions.
Moreover, the seventh day is also an example from which
you may learn the propriety of studying philosophy ; as on
that day, it is said, God beheld the works which he had
made ; so that you also may yourself contemplate the works
of nature, and all the separate circumstances which con
tribute towards happiness.
Let us not pass by such a model of the most excellent
ways of life, the practical and the contemplative ; but let us
always keep our eyes fixed upon it, and stamp a visible
image and representation of it on our own minds, making our
mortal nature resemble, as far as possible, his immortal
one, in respect of saying and doing what is proper. And in
what sense it is said that the world was made by God in six
days, who never wants time at all to make anything, has
been already explained in other passages where we have
treated of allegories.
XXI. Now, those who have applied themselves to mathe
matical studies, fully explain the precedence and pre-emi
nence to which the number seven is entitled among all
existing things, tracing it out with great care and exceeding
minuteness and accuracy ; for among numbers seven is the
virgin number, the nature which has no mother, that which
is most nearly related to the unit, the foundation of all
160 PHILO JUD^EUS.
numbers ; the idea of the planets, just as the unit is of the
immovable sphere ; for of the unit and the number seven
consists the incorporeal heaven, the model of the visible
heaven, and the heaven is made up of indivisible and divi
sible nature. Now, indivisible nature has assigned to it
the first, and highest, and immovable circumference, which
the unit inspects and overlooks ; but the divisible nature
has received that circumference which is inferior both in
power and in arrangement, which the number seven inspects,
which, being divided into six parts, has produced what are
called the "seven, planets ; not indeed that any of the heavenly
bodies do really wander (VgTXavTjra/), inasmuch as they all
enjoy a divine, and happy, and blessed nature, to all of which
characteristics a freedom from wandering is most closely
akin : at all events, they always preserve a kind of identity
in a constantly similar motion, and pass a long eternity
without ever admitting any change or variation whatever.
But because they revolve in a manner contrary to the
indivisible and outermost sphere, they have been named
planets (crXavTjrsj), though without any strict propriety, by
men speaking at random, who have by such language attri
buted their own propensity to wander to the heavenly
bodies, which, in fact, never quit that position in the divine
lamp in which they have been originally placed. For all
these reasons, and more besides, the number seven is
honoured. But there is no one cause on account of which
it has received its precedence so completely, as because it is
by its means that the Creator and Father of the universe is
most especially made manifest ; for the _mini .beJuol^JJod
in this as in a mirror, acting, and creating the world, and
managing the-whole universe.
XXII. And after this commandment relating to the
seventh day he gives the fifth, which concerns the honour
to be paid to parents, giving it a position on the confines ot
the two tables of five commandments each ; for being the
concluding one of the first table, in which the most sacred
duties to the Deity are enjoined, it has also some connection
with the second table which comprehends the obligations
towards our fellow creatures ; and the cause of this, I imagine,
is as follows :
The nature of one s parents appears to be something on
ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 1C1
the confines between immortal and mortal essences. Of
mortal essence, on account of their relationship to men and
also to other animals, and likewise of the perishable nature
of the body. And of immortal essence, by reason of the
similarity of the act of generation to God the Father of the
universe. But it has often happened that men have attached
themselves to one of these divisions, and have seemed to
neglect the other ; for being filled with a sincere love for
piety, they have renounced all other occupations and con
siderations, and have devoted the whole of their lives to the
service of God.
But they who have thought that beyond their duties to their
fellow men there was no such thing as goodness, have clung
solely to their fellowship with and to the society of men, and,
being wholly occupied by a love of the society of men, have
invited all men to an equal participation in all their good
things, labouring at the same time to the best of their
power to alleviate all their disasters. Now, one may properly
call both these latter, these philanthropic men, and also the
former class, the lovers of God, but half perfect in virtue ;
for those only are perfect who have a good reputation in
both points : but those who do not attend to their duties
towards men so as to rejoice with them at their common
blessings, or to grieve with them at events of a contrary
character, and who yet do not devote themselves to piety
and holiness towards God, may be thought to have changed
into the nature of wild beasts, the very pre-eminence among
whom, in point of ferocity, those are entitled to who neglect
their parents, being hostile to both the divisions of virtue
above mentioned, namely, piety towards God, and their duty
towards men.*
XXIII. Let them, then, not be ignorant that they are
convicted before the two tribunals which are the only
ones which exist in nature, of impiety as regards their duty
towards God, as not worshipping those who have introduced
beings who do not exist into existence, and who, in this
respect, have imitated God; and as regards their duty towards
men, of misanthropy and cruelty. For to whom else will
those men do good who neglect their nearest relations and
and those who have bestowed the greatest gifts upon them,
some of which are of so great a character that they do not
YOL. III. M
162 PI1ILO JUD^EUS.
admit of any requital ? Eor how can he who has been be
gotten by a parent, in requital again beget his parents,
since nature has bestowed on parents this especial endow
ment in respect of their children, which can never be
requited or recompensed ? On which account it is becoming
to a man to feel exceeding indignation when people, because
they are unable to make a full return for the benefits which
they have received, do not choose to make the very slightest ;
to whom I might say, with perfect propriety, that wild
beasts even must be made tame towards men ; and, indeed,
I have frequently known instances of lions being domesti
cated, and bears and leopards, and made gentle, not only to
those who feed them, by reason of their gratitude for neces
saries, but also J :o others, on account, in my opinion, of their
resemblance to their feeders.
For it is always well that what is worse should follow
what is better, from a hope of deriving improvement ; but
in this case I shall be constrained to use an entirely oppo
site language. You who are men, are imitators of some
wild beasts. Even the beasts have learnt and know how to
requite with service those who have done them service.
Dogs who keep the house will defend their masters, and
encounter death for their sakes when any danger suddenly
overtakes them. And they say that the dogs employed among
nocks of sheep will fight on behalf of the flocks, and endure
till they either obtain the victory or meet with death, for
the sake of protecting the shepherds themselves from injury.
Is it not then the most shameful of all shameful things
for a man, in respect of the requital of favours, to be left
behind by a dog, for that being, which of all others is the
most gentle, to be outrun by the most audacious of beasts ?
But if we will not be taught by the land animals, let us go
across to the nature of the winged birds which traverse the
air, and learn what we have need of from them.
In the case of storks the old birds remain in their nests
because they are unable to fly ; but their children, I had
very nearly said, traverse the whole of earth and sea, and
from all quarters provide their parents with what is neces
sary for them. And so they, living in a tranquillity worthy
of their time of life, enjoy all abundance, and pass their old
age in luxury j while their children make light of all the
ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.
163
hardships they undergo to furnish them with the means of
support, under the influence both of piety and also of the
expectation that they also in their old age will receive the
same treatment from their descendants ; and so they now dis
charge the indispensable debt which they owe their parents,
knowing that in proper time, they will themselves receive
what they are now bestowing. And there are also others who
are unable to support themselves, for children are no more
able to do so at the commencement of their existence than
their parents are at the end of their lives. On which account
the children, having while young been fed in accordance with
the spontaneous promptings of nature, now with joy do in
return support the old age of their parents.
Is it not right, then, after these examples, that men who
neglect their parents should cover their faces from shame,
and reproach themselves for disregarding those things which
they ought to have cared for alone, or in preference to any
thing else whatever ? And this too, when they would not
have been so much conferring benefits as requiting them ?
For the children have nothing of their own which does not
belong to the parents, who have either bestowed it upon
them from their own substance, or have enabled them to
acquire it by supplying them with the means.
And have then these men within the borders of their souls
piety and holiness, the chiefs of all the virtues ? No ; rather
they have driven them beyond their borders, and forced
them into exile ; for parents are the servants of God for the
propagation of children, and he who dishonours the servant
dishonours also the master. ]3ut some persons, who are
rather audacious, magnify the title of parents, saying that
the father and mother are evident gods, inasmuch as they
imitate the uncreated God in their production of living ani
mals, limiting, however, their assertion in this way, that the
one is the Grod of the whole world, but the others only of
those children whom they have begotten. And it is impos
sible that the invisible God can be piously worshipped by
those people who behave with impiety towards those who
are visible and near to them.
XXIV. Having then now philosophized in this manner
aboiit the honour to be paid to parents, he closes the one
and more divine table of the first five commandments.
M 2
J64 PHILO JUD^IUS.
And being about to promulgate the second which contains
the prohibitions of those offences which are committed
against men, he begins with adultery, looking upon this as
the greatest of all violations of the law ; for, in the first place,
it has for its source the love of pleasure, which enervates
the bodies of those who indulge in it, and relaxes the tone
of the soul, and destroys the essences of it, consuming every
thing that it touches, like unquenchable fire, and leaving
nothing which affects human life uninjured, inasmuch as it
not only persuades the adulterer to commit iniquity, but
also teaches him to join others in wickedness, making an
association in things in which there ought to be no such par
ticipation. For when this violent passion seizes on a man it
is impossible for the appetites to arrive at the accomplish
ment of their object by one person alone, but it is indispen
sable that two should share in the action, the one taking the
place of the teacher, and the other that of the pupil, for the
complete confirmation of those most disgraceful evils, intem
perance and licentiousness.
Nor can one allege as an excuse that it is only the body
of the woman who is committing adultery that is corrupted,
but, if one must tell the truth, even before the corruption of
the body the soul is accustomed to alienation from virtue,
being taught in every way to repudiate and to hate its hus
band. And it would be a less grievous evil if this hatred
were displayed without disguise ; for it is easiest to guard
against what is plainly seen. But at present it is with
difficulty suspected, and difficult of detection, being con
cealed by cunning and wicked arts, and at times it assumes
the contrary appearance of love and affection, by means of
its trickery and deceit.
Accordingly, adultery exhibits the destruction of three
houses by its means ; that of the house of the man who sus
tains the violation of all the vows which were made to him
at his marriage, and the loss of all the hopes of legitimate
children, of which he is now deprived; and two others,
namely, the house of the adulterer, and that of his wife.
For each of these is filled with insolence, and dishonour, and
the most excessive disgrace. And if their connections and
families are very numerous, then by reason of their inter
marriages and the mutual connections formed with different
ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 165
houses the iniquity and injury will proceed and infect the
whole city all around. Moreover, the doubt us to the legi
timacy of the children is a most terrible evil.
For if the wife be not chaste, it is quite a matter of doubt
and uncertainty to what father the children belong. And
then, if the matter remain undiscovered, the children of
adultery enter unjustly into the classification of legitimate
children, and make a race spurious to which they have no
pretensions to belong, and receive an inheritance which in
appearance indeed is their own patrimony, but which in
reality has no connection with them. And then the adul
terer, behaving with insolence and pluming himself upon his
iniquity in having propagated an offspring full of reproach,
when he has satiated his appetites will depart, leaving the
object behind him, and turning into ridicule the ignorance
that exists of the unholy wickedness which he has commit
ted, on the part of the man against whom he has sinned.
And the husband, like a blind man, knowing nothing of
what has been going on in his own house, will be compelled
to nourish and to cherish as his own the offspring sprung
from his greatest enemies. And it is pi;; in that if such a
wickedness takes place, the most miserable of all persons
must be the wretched children, who have done no wrong
themselves, and who cannot be assigned to either family,
neither to that of the husband of the adulteress, nor to that
of the adulterer. Since, then, illicit cohabitation produces
such great calamities, adultery is very naturally a detestable
thing hated by Grod, and has been set down as the first of
all transgressions.
XXV. The second commandment of this second table is
to do no murder. For nature, having produced man as a
gregarious and sociable creature, and the most easily domes
ticated of all animals, has invited it to a fellowship of opi
nion and partnership, giving him reason, as a means to lead
to a harmony and admixture of dispositions. And he who
slays any man must not be ignorant that he is overturning
the laws and ordinances of nature, which have been beauti
fully established for the common advantage of all men.
Moreover, let him be aware that he is liable to the charge of
sacrilege as having plundered the most sacred of all the
possessions of God ; for what is a more venerable or more
166 PHILO JUD^EUS.
sublime offering to God than man ? For gold, and silver,
and precious stones, and all such, other valuable materials,
are only an inanimate ornament of inanimate erections ; but
man, who is the most excellent of all animals, in respect of
that predominant part that is in him, namely, his soul, is
also most closely related to the heaven, which is the purest
of all things in its essence, and as the common language of
the multitude affirms, to the Father of the world, inasmuch
as he has received mind, which is of all the things that are
upon the earth the closest copy and most faithful represen
tation of the everlasting and blessed idea.
XXVI. The third commandment of the second table of
five is not to steal. For he who keeps continually gaping
after the property of others is the common enemy of the
city, since, as far as his inclination goes, he would deprive all
men of their property; and in respect of his power he
actually does deprive some, because his covetousness is
extended to the greatest imaginable length, and because his
impotence, coming too late after it, is contracted into a small
space, and can scarcely extend so as to overtake more than
a few.
Therefore as many robbers as have the strength to do so
plunder whole cities, paying no attention to the punishments
with which they are threatened, because they appear to
themselves to be superior to the laws. These are those men
who are oligarchical in their natures, who have set their
hearts on tyrannies and absolute power, who commit enor
mous thefts, concealing their robbery, as it is in reality,
under the specious and imposing names of authority and
supremacy.
Let every one then learn from his earliest infancy, never
privily to steal anything that belongs to any one else, not
even though it may be the merest trifle, because the habit,
when it becomes inveterate, is more powerful than nature ;
and small things, if they are not checked, increase and grow,
becoming gradually greater and greater till they reach a for
midable magnitude.
XXVII. And after he has forbidden stealing he proceeds
in regular order to prohibit bearing false witness, knowing
that those who bear false witness are liable to many great
accusations, and in short to every kind of terrible charge ;
ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 167
for in the first place they are corrupting that holy thing,
truth, than which there is no more sacred possession among
men, which like the sun sheds a light upon all things, so
that not one of them may be kept in darkness ; and in the
second place, in addition to speaking falsely, they also as it
were envelop facts in night and dense darkness, and they
co-operate with those who oifend, and they join in attacking
those who are injured by others, affirming that they
positively know and have completely comprehended what
they in reality have not seen nor heard, and of which they
know nothing.
Moreover, they also commit a third violation of the law,
which is more grievous than either of those which have been
mentioned before ; for, when there is a scarcity of demon
strations, either by reasons or by letters, then those who
have questions in dispute betake themselves to witnesses,
whose words are rules to the judges concerning those
matters on which they are to deliver their opinion ; for it is
necessary for the judges to attend to them alone, when
there is nothing else existing which can contribute to proof
in the matter in question ; from which it arises that those
who are borne down by evidence in this way meet with in
justice when they might have won their cause, and that
those who attend to the false witnesses are recorded as un
just and illegal judges, instead of just and legal ones. ^
Moreover, this kind of crafty wickedness outstrips all
other offences in its impiety ; for it is not customary for
judges to decide without being sworn, but rather after
having taken the most fearful oaths, which those men trans
gress who deceive others, more than they do who are
deceived by them, since the error of the one is not inten
tional, but the others do deliberately plot against them, and
do of malice aforethought sin, persuading those in whose
power it is to give the decisive vote to err, not knowing
what they do, so that things which deserve no chastisement
meet with punishment and loss.
XXVIII. Last of all, the divine legislator prohibits
covetousness, knowing that desire is a thing fond of revolu
tion and of plotting against others ; for all the passions of
the soul are formidable, exciting and agitating it contrary to
nature, and not; permitting it to remain in a healthy state,
108 PHILO JUD^EUS.
but of all such passions the worst is desire. On which
account each of the other passions, coming in from without
and attacking the soul from external points, appears to be
involuntary ; but this desire alone derives its origin from
ourselves, and is wholly voluntary. But what is it that I am
saying ? The appearance and idea of a present good, or of
one that is accounted such, rouses up and excites the soul
which was previously in a state of tranquillity, and raises it
to a high degree of elation, like a light suddenly flashing
before the eyes; and this passion of the soul is called
pleasure.
But the contrary to good is evil, which, when it forces its
way in, and inflicts a mortal wound, immediately fills the
soul against its v.dll with depression and despondency ; and
the name of the passion is sorrow. But when the evil
presses upon the soul, when it has not as yet taken up its
habitation in it, but when it is only impending, being about
to come and to agitate it, it sends before it agitation and
suspense, as express messengers, to fill the soul with alarm ;
and this passion is denominated fear. And when any one,
having conceived an idea of some good which is not present,
hastens to lay hold of it, he then drives his soul forward to
a great distance, and extending it in the greatest possible
degree, from his anxiety to attain the object of his desires,
he is stretched as it were upon the rack, being anxious to
lay hold of the thing, but being unable to reach it, and
being in the same condition with those who are pursuing
people who are running away, following with an inferior
speed, but with unrivalled eagerness.
And something of the same kind appears to happen, also,
with respect to the external senses ; for very frequently the
eyes, hastening to come to the comprehension of something
which is removed to a great distance, strain themselves,
exertin gthemselves to the very fullest extent of and even
beyond their power, are unsuccessful, and grow dim in the
empty space between themselves and their object, wholly
failing in attaining to an accurate knowledge of the subject
before them, and moreover impairing and injuring their
sight by the exceeding intensity of their efforts and steady
gaze.
And, again, sometimes when an indistinct noise is borne
ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 169
towards us from a long distance, the ears are excited, and
feeling as it were a fair breeze, are eager and hasten to
approach nearer to it if possible, from a desire that the
sound should be distinctly apprehended by the sense of hear
ing. But the noise, for it is still obscure as it seems, strikes
the ear but faintly, not giving forth any more distinct tone
by which it may be understood, so that the desire of com
prehending it, being unsuccessful and unsatisfied, is excited
more and more, the desire causing a Tantalus-like kind of
punishment.
For Tantalus, whenever he seemed about to lay his hands
on any of the objects which he desired, was invariably dis
appointed, and the man who is overcome by desire, being
always thirsting for what is not present, is never satisfied,
wallowing about among vain appetites, like those diseases
which would creep over the whole body, if they were not
checked by excision or cautery, and which would overrun and
seize upon the whole composition of the body, not leaving a
single part in a sound state; in like manner, unless discourse
in accordance with philosophy did not, like a good physician,
check the influx of appetite, all the affairs of life would of
necessity be set in motion in a manner contrary to nature ;
for there is nothing exempt from such an affliction, nothing
which can escape the dominion of passion, but, when once
it has obtained immunity and license, it devours everything
and becomes by itself everything in every part.
Perhaps it is a piece of folly to make a long speech upon
matters which are so manifest, as to which there is no indi
vidual -and no city that is ignorant, that they are not only
every day, but even every hour, as one may say, supplying
a visible proof of the truth of my assertion. Is the love of
money, or of women, or of glory, or of any One of the other
efficient causes of pleasure, the origin of slight and ordinary
evils ? Is it not owing to this passion that relationships are
broken asunder, and change the good will which originates
in nature into an irreconcilable enmity ? And are not great
countries and populous kingdoms made desolate by domestic
seditions, through such causes ? And are not earth and sea
continually filled with novel and terrible calamities by naval
battles and military expeditions for the same reason ? For,
both among the Greeks and barbarians, the wars between
170 PHILO JUD^US.
one another, and between their own different tribes, which
have been so celebrated by tragedians, have all flowed from
one source, namely, desire of money, or glory, or pleasure ;
for it is on such subjects as these that the race of mankind
goes mad.
XXIX. However, enough of these matters. Still we
must not be ignorant of this fact either, that the ten
commandments are the heads of all the particular and
special laws which are recorded throughout all the history
of the giving of the law related in the sacred scriptures.
The first law is the fountain of all those concerning the
government of one supreme Ruler, and they show that
there is one first cause of the world, one Ruler and King,
who guides and governs the universe in such a way as con
duces to its preservation, having banished from the pure
essence of heaven all oligarchy and aristocracy, those treache
rous forms of government which arise among wicked men,
as the offspring of disorder and covetousness.
And the second commandment is the summary of all
those laws which can possibly be enacted, about all the
things made by hands, such as images and statues, and, in
short, erections of any kind, of which the painters and
statuaries arts are pernicious creators, for that command
ment forbids such images to be made, and prohibits the
cleaving to any of the fabulous inventions about the mar
riage of gods and the birth of gods, and the number of in
describable and painful calamities which are represented to
have ensued from both such circumstances.
By the third commandment he restrains people from
taking oaths, and limits the objects for which one may
swear, defining when and where it may be lawful, and who
may swear, and how the swearer ought to be disposed, both
in his soul and body, and many other minute particulars,
concerning those who keep their oaths, and the contrary.
XXX. And the fourth commandment, the one about the
seventh day, we must not look upon in any other light than
as a summary of all the laws relating to festivals, and of all
the purificatory rites enjoined to be observed on each of
them. But the service appointed for them was one of holy
ablutions, and prayers deserving to be heard, and perfect
sacrifices. And in speaking of the seventh here, I mean
ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 171
both that which is combined with the number six, the most
generative of all numbers, and also that which, without
being combined with the number six, is added to it, being
made to resemble the unit, each of which numbers is
reckoned among the festivals ; for the lawgiver refers to
the term, the sacred festival of the new moon, which the
people give notice of with trumpets, and the day of fasting,
on which abstinence from all meats and drinks is enjoined,
which the Hebrews call, in their native language, pascha,
on which the whole nation sacrifices, each individual among
them, not waiting for the priests, since on this occasion the
law has given, for one especial day in every year, a priest
hood to the whole nation, so that each private individual
slays his own victim on this day.
And also the day on which is offered the sheaf of corn, as
an offering of gratitude for the fertility and productiveness
of the plain, as exhibited in the fulness of the ears of corn.
And the day of pentecost, which is numbered from this day
by seven portions of seven days, in which it is the custom
to offer up loaves, which are truly called the loaves of the
first fruits, since, in fact, they are the first fruits of the pro
ductions and crops of eatable grain, which Grod has given to
mankind, as the most tractable of all his creatures.
But to the seventh day of the week he has assigned the
greatest festivals, those of the longest duration, at the
periods of the equinox both vernal and autumnal in each
year ; appointing two festivals for these two epochs, each
lasting seven days ; the one which takes place in the spring
being for the perfection of what is being sown, and the one
which falls in autumn being a feast of thanksgiving for
the bringing home of all the fruits which the trees have
produced.
And seven days have very appropriately been appointed
to the seventh month of each equinox, so that each month
might receive an especial honour of one sacred day of festi
val, for the purpose of refreshing and cheering the mind
with its holiday.
There are also other laws brought forward, enacted with
great wisdom and excellence, conducing to the production
of gentleness and fellowship among men, and inviting them
to simplicity and equality ; of these some have reference to
172 PHILO JUD^EUS.
that which is called the sabbatical year, in which it is
expressly commanded that the people shall leave the whole
land uncultivated, neither sowing, nor ploughing, nor pre
serving the trees, nor doing any other of the works which
relate to agriculture ; for God thought the land, both the
champaign and the mountainous country, after it had been
labouring for six years in the production of crops, and the
yearly yielding of its expected fruits, worthy of some relaxa
tion, for the sake of recovering its breath* as it were, and
that, becoming free again, if one may say so, it might exert
the spontaneous riches of its own nature.
There are also other laws about the fiftieth year, in which
what has been enumerated above is performed in the most
complete manner ; and, what is the most important thing of
all, the restitution is made of the different portions of land
to those families which orig : nally received them, a transac
tion full of humanity and equity.
XXXI. And the fifth commandment, that about the
honour due to parents, conceals under its brief expression,
many very important and necessary laws, some enacted as
applicable to old and young men, some as bearing on the
relations existing between rulers and subjects, others con
cerning benefactors and those who have received benefits,
others affecting slaves and masters ; for parents belong to
the superior class of all these divisions just mentioned, the
class, I mean, of elders, of rulers, of benefactors, and of
masters ; and children are in the inferior class, in which are
ranked the younger people, the subjects, those who have
received benefits, and slaves.
There are also many other commandments given, some to
the young, admonishing them to receive gladly the admoni
tions of old age ; others to the old, bidding them take care
of the young ; some to subjects, enjoining them to show
obedience to their rulers ; others to the rulers, commanding
them to consult for the advantage of those who are under
their authority ; some to those who have received benefits,
recommending them a requital of the favours which have
been conferred on them ; others to those who have set the
example of beneficence, bidding them not to exact a strict
restitution as if they were usurers ; some to servants,
encouraging them to show an affectionate service towards
ON THE TEN COMMANDMENTS. 173
their masters, others to the masters recommending them to
practise that gentleness and mildness towards their slaves,
by which the inequality of their respective conditions is in
some degree equalised.
XXXII. The first table of five, then, is completed in these
commandments, exhibiting a comprehensive character ; but
of the special and particular laws the number is very great.
Of the second table, the first commandment is that
against adulterers, under which many other commands are
conveyed by implication, such as that against seducers,
that against practisers of unnatural crimes, that against all
who live in debauchery, that against all men who indulge
in illicit and incontinent connections ; but the lawgiver has
set down all the different species of such intemperance, not
for the sake of exhibiting its manifold, and diverse, and
ever-changing varieties, but in order to cause those who live
in an unseemly manner to show most evident signs of
depression and shame, drinking in with their ears all the
reproaches heaped together which they incur, and which
may well make them blush.
The second brief commandment, the prohibition of slaying
men, is that under which are implied all those neccessary
and most universally advantageous laws, relating to acts of
violence, to insults, to assaults, to wounds, to mutilation.
The third, that which forbids stealing, is the one under
cover of which are enacted all the regulations which have
been laid down, respecting the repudiation of debts, and
those who deny what has been deposited with them, and
who form unhallowed partnerships, and indulge in shame
less acts of rapine, and, in short, in any kind of covetousness
by which some persons are induced, either openly or secretly
to appropriate the possessions of others.
The fourth, that which is concerning the duty of not
bearing false witness, is one under which many other pro
hibitions are conveyed, such as that of not deceiving, of not
bringing false accusations, of not co-operating with those
who are committing sin, of not making a pretence of good
faith a cloak for faithlessness ; for all which objects suitable
laws have been enacted.
The fifth is that which cuts off desire, the fountain of all
iniquity, from which flow all the most unlawful actions,
174 PHILO JUD^EUS.
whether of individuals or of states, whether important or
trivial, whether sacred or profane, whether they relate to
one s life and soul, or to what are called external things ;
for, as I have said before, nothing ever escapes desire, but,
like a fire in a wood, it proceeds onward, consuming and
destroying everything ; and there are a great many subor
dinate sins, which are prohibited likewise under this com
mandment, for the sake of correcting those persons who
cheerfully receive admonitions, and of chastising those
stubborn people who devote their whole lives to the indulg
ence of passion.
XXXIII. I have now spoken in this manner, at sufficient
length, concerning the second table of five commandments,
which make up the whole number of ten, which G-od him
self promulgated with the dignity befitting their holy
character ; for it was suitable to his own nature to promul
gate in his own person the heads and principles of all
particular laws, but to send forth the particular and special
laws by the most perfect of the prophets, whom he selected
for his pre-eminent excellence, and filled with his divine
spirit, and then appointed to be the interpreter of his holy
oracles.
After having explained these matters, let us now proceed
to relate the cause for which Gk>d, having pronounced these
ten commandments or laws, in simple injunctions and pro
hibitions, appointed no punishment for those who should
violate them, as lawgivers usually do. The reason is this :
he was God, and being so he was at once the good Lord,
the cause of good alone, and of no evil ; therefore, thinking
it most appropriate to his own nature to deliver saving com
mands unalloyed, and partaking of no punishment, so that
no one yielding to a foolish counsellor might accidentally
choose what is best, but might do so from wise consideration
and of his own deliberate purpose, he did not think fit to
give his oracles to mankind in connection with any denun
ciation of punishment ; not because he meant to give immu
nity to transgressors, but because he knew that justice was
sitting by him, and surveying all human affairs, and that
she would never rest, as being by nature a hater of evil and
looking upon the chastisement of sinners as her own most
appropriate task.
ON CIRCUMCISION. 175
For it is proper for all the ministers and lieutenants of
God, just as for generals in war, to put in practice severe
punishments against those deserters, who forsake the ranks
of the just one ; but it becomes the great King, that general
safety should be ascribed to him, as preserving the universe
in peace, and giving at all times, to all people, in all riches
and abundance, all the blessings of peace : for, in truth, God
is the president of peace, but his subordinate ministers are
the chiefs of war.
A TEEATISE
ON CIRCUMCISION.
I. THE genera and heads of all special laws, wnich are
called " the ten commandments," have been discussed with
accuracy in the former treatise. "We must now proceed to
consider the particular commands as we read them in the
subsequent passages of the holy scriptures ; and we will
begin with that which is turned into ridicule by people in
general. The ordinance of circumcision of the parts of
generation is ridiculed, though it is an act which is practised
to no slight degree among other nations also, and most
especially by the Egyptians, who appear to me to be the
most populous of all nations, and the most abounding in all
kinds of wisdom. In consequence of which it would be
most fitting for men to discard childish ridicule, and to
investigate the real causes of the ordinance with more pru
dence and dignity, considering the reasons why the custom
has prevailed, and not being precipitate, so as without
examination to condemn the folly of mighty nations, recol
lecting that it is not probable that so many myriads should
be circumcised in every generation, mutilating the bodies
of themselves and of their nearest relations, in a manner
which is accompanied with severe pain, without adequate
cause ; but that there are many reasons which might en
courage men to persevere and continue a custom which has
been introduced by previous generations, and that these are
from reasons of the greatest weight and importance.
176 PHILO JUD^US.
First of all, that it is a preventive of a painful disease, and
of an affliction difficult to be cured, which they call a car
buncle ;* because, I imagine, when itb ecomes inflamed it
burns ; from which fact it has derived that appellation.
And this disease is very apt to be engendered among those
who have not undergone the rite of circumcision. Secondly,
it secures the cleanliness of the whole body in a way that is
suited to the people consecrated to Grod ; with which object
the Egyptian priests, being extravagant in their case, shave
the whole of their bodies ; for some of these evils which
ought to be got rid of are collected in and lodge under the
hair and the prepuce.
Thirdly, there is the resemblance of the part that is cir
cumcised to the heart ; for both parts are prepared for the
sake of generation ; for the breath contained within the
heart is generative of thoughts, and the generative organ
itself is productive of living beings.
Therefore, the men of old thought it right to make the
evident and visible organ, by which the objects of the out
ward senses are generated, resemble that invisible and
superior part, by means of which ideas are formed. The
fourth, and most important, is that which relates to the pro
vision thus made for prolificness ; for it is said that the
seminal fluid proceeds in its path easily, neither being at all
scattered, nor flowing on its passage into what may be
called the bags of the prepuce. On which account those
nations which practise circumcision are the most prolific
and the most populous.
II. These considerations have come to our ears, having
been discussed of old among men of divine spirit and
wisdom, who have interpreted the writings of Moses in no
superficial or careless manner. But, besides what has been
already said, I also look upon circumcision to be a symbol
of two things of the most indispensable importance.
First of all, it is a symbol of the excision of the pleasures
which delude the mind ; for since, of all the delights which
pleasure can afford, the association of man with woman is
* The Greek word is avQpa, which also signifies a coal. The Latin,
from which our carbuncle is derived, carbunculus, a diminutive of
carbo, which also means a coal.
ON MONARCHY. i 77
the most exquisite, it seemed good to the lawgivers to
mutilate the organ which ministers to such connections ; by
which rite they signified figuratively the excision of all
superfluous and excessive pleasure, not, indeed, of one only,
but of all others whatever, through that one which is the
most imperious of all.
The second thing is, that it is a symbol of a man s
knowing himself, and discarding that terrible disease, the
vain opinion of the soul ; for some men, like good statuaries,
have boasted that they can make that most beautiful animal,
man ; and, being puffed up with arrogance, have deified them
selves, hiding from sight the true cause of the creation of all
things namely, Grod, although they might have corrected
that error from a consideration of other persons among
whom they live ; for there are among them many men who
have no children, and many barren women whose connec
tions lead to nothing, so that they grow old in childlessness.
We must therefore eradicate evil opinions from the mind,
and all other ideas which are not devoted to Grod.
This, then, is enough to say on these subjects. But we
must now turn to the special and particular laws ; and first
of all to those which relate to those people by whom it is
well to be governed, those which have been enacted con
cerning monarchy.
A TEEATISE
ON MONARCHY.
BOOK I.
I. SOME persons have conceived that the sun, and the
moon, and the other stars are independent gods, to whom
they have attributed the causes of all things that exist.
But Moses was well aware that the world was created, and
was like a very large city, having rulers and subjects in it ;
the rulers being all the bodies which are in heaven, such as
planets and fixed stars ; and the subjects being all the natures
]78 PHILO JUD^US.
beneath the moon, hovering in the air and adjacent to the
earth. But that the rulers aforesaid are not independent
and absolute, but are the viceroys of one supreme Being, the
Father of all, in imitation of whom they administer with
propriety and success the charge committed to their care,
as he also presides over all created things in strict accord
ance with justice and with law.
Others, on the contrary, who have not discovered the
supreme Governor, who thus rules everything, have attri
buted the causes of the different things which exist in the
world to the subordinate powers, as if they had brought them
to pass by their own independent act. But the most sacred
lawgiver changes their ignorance into knowledge, speaking
in the following manner : " Thou shalt not, when thou seest
the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and all the host oi
heaven, be led astray and fall down and worship them."*
"With great felicity and propriety has he here called the re
ception of these bodies as gods, an error ; for they who see
that the different seasons of the year owe their existence to
the advances and retreats of the sun, in which periods also
the generation of animals, and plants, and fruits, are per
fected according to well-defined times, and who see also that
the moon is the servant and successor of the sun, taking
that care and superintendence of the world by night which
the sun takes by day ; and also that the other stars, in ac
cordance with their sympathy with things on earth, labour
continually and do ten thousand things which contribute to
the duration of the existing state of things, have been led
into an inextricable error, imagining that these bodies are
the only gods.
But if they had taken pains to travel along the straight
and true road, they would soon have known that just as the
outward sense is the subordinate minister of the mind, so in
the same manner all the objects of the outward senses are
servants of that which is appreciable only by intellect, being
well contented if they can attain to the ^second place in
honour. But it is altogether ridiculous to imagine that the
mind, which is the smallest thing in us, being in fact invi
sible, is the ruler of those organs which belong to the
external senses, but that the greatest and most perfect ruler
* Deuteronomy iv. 19.
ON MONARCHY. 179
of the whole universe is not the King of kings ; that the
being who sees, is not the ruler of those who do not see.
We must, therefore, look on all those bodies in the heaven,
which the outward sense regards as gods, not as independent
rulers, since they are assigned the work of lieutenants, being
by their intrinsic nature responsible to a higher power, but
by reason of their virtue not actually called to render in an
account of their doings. So that, transcending all visible
essence by means of our reason, let us press forward to the
honour of that everlasting and invisible Being who can be
comprehended and appreciated by the mind alone ; who is
not only the God of all gods, whether appreciable only by
the intellect or visible to the outward senses, but is also the
creator of them all. And if any one gives up the service due
to the everlasting and uncreated God, transferring it to any
more modern and created being, let him be set down as mad
and as liable to the charge of the greatest impiety.
II. But there are some persons who have given gold and
silver to sculptors and statuaries, as people able to fashion
gods for them. And they, taking the lifeless materials and
using a mortal model, have (which is a most extraordinary
thing) made gods, as far as appearance went, and have built
temples and erected altars, and dedicated them to them,
honouring them with excessive pains and diligence, with
sacrifices and processions, and all kinds of other sacred cere
monies and purifications ; the priests and priestesses exciting
themselves to the very extremity of their power to extend
this kind of pride and vanity. To whom the Father of the
universe thus speaks, saying : " You shall not make to your
selves gods of silver and gold;"* all but teaching them in
express words, " You shall not make to yourselves any gods
whatever of this or of any other material, nor shall you
worship anything made with hands," being forbidden ex
pressly with respect to the two most excellent materials ; for
silver and gold are esteemed the most honourable of all
materials.
And, besides this distinct prohibition, there is another
meaning which appears to me to be intended to be figura
tively conveyed under these words, which is one of very
* Exodus xx. 20.
180 PHILO JUD^US.
great influence as contributing to the formation of the moral
character, and which convicts in no slight degree those who
are covetous of money and who seek to procure silver and
gold from all quarters, and when they have acquired it trea
sure it up, as though it were some divine image, in their
inmost shrines, looking upon it as the cause of all good things
and of all happiness. And all the poor men that are possessed
of that terrible disease, the love of money, but who, from not
having any riches of their own which they can think worthy
of their attention, fix their admiration on the wealth of their
neighbours, and, for the purpose of offering adoration to it,
come the first thing in the morning to the houses of those
who have abundance, as if they were noble temples at which
they were going to offer prayers, and to entreat blessings
from their owners as if from the gods.
And to these men, Moses says, in another passage, " You
shall not follow images, and you shall not make to yourselves
molten gods."* Teaching them, by figurative language, that
ifc is not right to pay such honours to wealth as one would
pay to the gods ; for those celebrated materials of wealth,
silver and gold, are made to be used, which, however, the
multitude follows, looking upon them as the only causes
of wealth which is proverbially called blind, and the especial
sources of happiness. These are the things which Moses
calls idols, resembling shadows and phantoms, and having
about them nothing strong, or trustworthy, or lasting ; for
they are tossed about like the unstable wind, and are subject
to all kinds of variations and changes. And the greatest
possible proof of this is that, when people have not at all
expected it, it suddenly has descended upon them ; and,
again, when they fancied that they had taken firm hold of it,
it has flown away.
And when, indeed, it is present, then images appear as in
a mirror, deceiving the outward senses and imposing upon
them with traps, and appearing as if they would last for a
long time, while in reality they do not endure. And why
need I explain how unstable the wealth and pride of men
are, which vain opinions decorate with showy colours ? For,
before now, some men have existed who have affirmed that
* Leviticus xix. 4.
ON MONARCHY. 181
all other animals and plants, of which there is any birth or
any decay, are in one continual and incessant state of transi
tion, and that the external sense of this transition is somewhat
indistinct, inasmuch as the swiftness of nature surpasses the
very quickest and most precise glance of the vision.
III. But not only are wealth, and glory, and all other
such things, mere phantoms and unsubstantial images, but
also all the other deceits which the inventors of fables have
devised, puffing themselves up by reason of their ingenuity,
while they have been raising a fortification of false opinion
in opposition to the truth, bringing in God as if by some
theatrical machine, in order to prevent the everlasting and
only true existing God from being consigned to oblivion, are
so likewise. But such men have adapted their falsehood to
melodies, and rhythm, and metres, with a reference to what
is persuasive, thinking that by these means they should easily
cajole all who read their works.
Not but what they have also joined to themselves the arts
of statuary and painting as co-partners in their system of
deceit, in order that, bringing over the spectators by well-
fabricated appearances of colours, and forms, and distinctive
qualities, and having won over by their allurements those
principal outward senses of sight and hearing, the one by the
exquisite beauty of lifeless forms, and the other by a poetical
harmony of numbers they may ravish the unstable soul and
render it feeble, and deprive it* of any settled foundation.
On this account, Moses, being well aware that pride had
by that time advanced to a very high pitch of power, and
that it was well guarded by the greater part of mankind, and
that too not from compulsion but of their own accord, and
fearing lest those men who are admirers of uncorrupted
and genuine piety may be carried away as by a torrent,
stamped a deep impression on the minds of men, engraving
piety on them, in order that the impression he thus made
might not become confused or weakened, so as at last tobecome
wholly effaced by time. And he is constantly prophesying
and telling his people that there is one God, the creator and
maker of the universe ; and at other times he teaches them
that he is the Lord of all created things, since all that is firm
and solid, and really stable and sure, is by nature so framed
as to be connected with him alone. And it is said in the
182 PHILO JUD^US.
scriptures that, " Those that are attached to the living God
do all live."*
Is not this, then, a thrice happy life, a thrice blessed
existence, to be contented with performing due service to the
most venerable Cause of all things, and not to think fit to
serve his subordinate ministers and door-keepers in prefer
ence to the King himself? And this life is an immortal
one, and is recorded as one of great duration in the pillars
of nature. And it is inevitably necessary that these writings
should last to all eternity with the world itself.
IV. But the Father and Ruler of the universe is a being
whose character it is difficult to arrive at by conjecture and
hard to comprehend ; but still we must not on that account
shrink from an investigation of it. Now, in the investiga
tions which are made into the nature of God, there are two
things of the greatest importance, about which the intellect
of the man who devotes himself to philosophy in a genuine
spirit is perplexed. One is, whether there is any Deity at
all ? this question arises from the atheism (which is the
greatest of all vices) of those men who study philosophy.
The other question is, supposing there to be a God, what he
is as to his essence ?
Now the former question it is not very difficult to deter
mine ; but the second is not only difficult, but perhaps im
possible. We must, however, consider both these matters.
It t has invariably happened that the works which they
have made have been, in some degree, the proofs of the
character of the workmen ; for who is there who, when he
looks upon statues or pictures, does not at once form an idea
of the statuary or painter himself ? And who, when he be
holds a garment, or a ship, or a house, does not in a moment
conceive a notion of the weaver, or shipbuilder, or architect,
who has made them ?
And if any one comes into a well-ordered city, in which
all parts of the constitution are exceedingly well arranged
and regulated, what other idea will he entertain but that this
city is governed by wise and virtuous rulers ? He, therefore,
who comes into that which is truly the greatest of cities,
namely, this world, and who beholds all the land, both the
* Deuteronomy iv. 4.
ON MONARCHY. 183
mountain and the champaign district full of animals, and
plants, and the streams of rivers, both overflowing and de
pending on the wintry floods, and the steady flow of the sea,
and the admirable temperature of the air, and the varieties
and regular revolutions of the seasons of the year ;
and then too the sun and moon, the rulers of day and
night, and the revolutions and regular motions of all the
other planets and fixed stars, and of the whole heaven ; would
he not naturally, or I should rather say, of necessity, conceive
a notion of the Father, and creator, and governor of all this
system ; for there is no artificial work whatever which exists
of its own accord ? And the world is the most artificial and
skilfully made of all works, as if it had been put together by
some one who was altogether accomplished and most perfect
in knowledge.
It is in this way that we have received an idea of the
existence of God.
Y. Again, even if it is very difficult to ascertain and very
hard properly to comprehend, we must still, as far as it is
possible, investigate the nature of his essence ; for there is
no employment more excellent than that of searching out
the nature of the true Grod, even though the discovery may
transcend all human ability, since the very desire and endea
vour to comprehend it is able by itself to furnish indescrib
able pleasures and delights. And the witnesses of this fact
are those who have not merely tasted philosophy with their
outermost lips, but who have abundantly feasted on its
reasonings and its doctrines ; for the reasoning of these men,
being raised on high far above the earth, roams in the air, and
soaring aloft with the sun, and moon, and all the firmament
of heaven, being eager to behold all the things that exist
therein, finds its power of vision somewhat indistinct from a
vast quantity of unalloyed light being poured over it, so that
the eye of his soul becomes dazzled and confuted by the
splendour.
But he does not on that account faint and renounce the
task which he has undertaken, but goes on with invincible
determination towards the sight which he considers attain
able, as if he were a competitor at the games, and were
striving for the second prize, though he has missed the first.
And guess and conjecture are inferior to true perception, as
184 PHILO JUD^US.
are all those notions which are classed under the description
of reasonable and plausible opinions.
Though, therefore, we do not know and cannot accurately
ascertain what each of the stars is as to its pure and real
essence, still we are eager to investigate the subject, delight
ing in probable reasonings, because of the fondness for learn
ing which is implanted in our nature. And so in the same
way, though we cannot attain to a distinct conception of the
truly living Gofl, we still ought not to renounce the task of
investigating his character, because even if we fail to make
the discovery, the very search itself is intrinsically useful
and an object of deserved ambition ; since no one ever
blames the eyes of the body because they are unable to look
upon the sun itself, and therefore shrink from the brilliancy
which is poured upon them from its beams, and therefore
look down upon the earth, shrinking from the extreme bril
liancy of the rays of the sun.
VI. Which that interpreter of the divine word, Moses,
the man most beloved by God, having a regard to, besought
God and said, " Show me thyself" all but urging him, and
crying out in loud and distinct words " that thou hast a
real being and existence the whole world is my teacher,
assuring me of the fact and instructing me as a son might of
the existence of his father, or the work of the existence of
the workman. But, though I am very desirous to know what
thou art as to thy essence, I can find no one who is able to
explain to me anything relating to this branch of learning in
any part of the universe whatever. On which account, I beg
and entreat of thee to receive the supplication of a man who
is thy suppliant and devoted to God s service, and desirous
to serve thee alone ; for as the light is not known by the
agency of anything else, but is itself its own manifestation,
so also thou must alone be able to manifest thyself. For
which reason I hope to receive pardon, if, from want of any
one to teach me, I am so bold as to flee to thee, desiring to
receive instruction from thyself."
But God replied, " I receive, indeed, your eagerness, inas
much as it is praiseworthy ; but the request which you make
is not fitting to be granted to any created being. And I
only bestow such gifts as are appropriate to him who receives
them ; for it is not possible for a man to receive all that it is
ON MONARCHY. 185
easy for me to give. On which account I give to him who is
deserving of my favour all the gifts which he is able to re
ceive. But not only is the nature of mankind, but even the
whole heaven and the whole world is unable to attain to an
adequate comprehension of me. So know yourself, and be
not carried away with impulses and desires beyond your
power ; and let not a desire of unattainable objects carry you
away and keep you in suspense. For you shall not lack
anything which may be possessed by you."
"When Moses heard this he betook himself to a second
supplication, and said, " I am persuaded by thy explanations
that I should not have been able to receive the visible ap
pearance of thy form. But I beseech thee that I may, at
all events, behold the glory that is around thee. And I look
upon thy glory to be the powers which attend thee as thy
guards, the comprehension of which having escaped me up to
the present time, worketh in me no slight desire of a thorough
understanding of it."
But God replied and said, " The powers which you seek to
behold are altogether invisible, and appreciable only by the
intellect ; since I myself am invisible and only appreciable
by the intellect. And what I call appreciable only by the
intellect are not those which are already comprehended by
the mind, but those which, even if they could be so compre
hended, are still such that the outward senses could not at
all attain to them, but only the very purest intellect. And
though they are by nature incomprehensible in their essence,
still they show a kind of impression or copy of their energy
and operation ; as seals among you, when any wax or similar
kind of material is applied to them, make an innumerable
quantity of figures and impressions, without being impaired
as to any portion of themselves, but still remaining
unaltered and as they were before ; so also you must con
ceive that the powers which are around me invest those
things whicji have no distinctive qualities with such qualities,
and those which have no forms with precise forms, and that
without having any portion of their own everlasting nature
dismembered or weakened. And some of your race, speak
ing with sufficient correctness, call them ideas (/d saty, since
they give a peculiar character (/3/<wrotou<r/) to every existing
thing, arranging what had previously no order, anc n " "
186 PHILO JUD^US.
and defining, and fashioning what was before destitute of all
limitation, and defination, and fashion ; and, in short, in all
respects changing what was bad into a better condition.
" Do not, then, ever expect to be able to comprehend me
nor any one of my powers, in respect of our essence. But,
as I have said, I willingly and cheerfully grant unto you
such things as you may receive. And this gift is to call you
to the beholding of the world and all the things that are in
it, which must be comprehended, not indeed by the eyes of
the body, but by the sleepless vision of the soul. The desire
of wisdom alone is continual and incessant, and it fills all
its pupils and disciples with famous and most beautiful
doctrines."
"When Moses heard this he did not cease from his desire,
but he still burned with a longing for the understanding of
invisible things.*
VII. And he receives all persons of a similar character
and disposition, whether they were originally born so, or
whether they have become so through any change of conduct,
having become better people, and as such entitled to be
ranked in a superior class ; approving of the one body because
they have not defaced their nobility of birth, and of the other
because they have thought fit to alter their lives so as to
come over to nobleness of conduct. And these last he calls
proselytes (crgocr^XiiT-oug), from the fact of their having come
over (Vg6<XjXv0 i<a/) to a new and God-feari T jg constitution,
learning to disregard the fabulous inventions of other nations,
and clinging to unalloyed truth.
Accordingly, having given equal rank and honour to all
those who come over, and having granted to them the same
favours that were bestowed on the native Jews, he recom
mends those who are ennobled by truth not only to treat
them with respect, but even with especial friendship and
excessive benevolence. And is not this a reasonable recom
mendation ? What he says is this.
" Those men, who have left their country, and their friends,
and their relations for the sake of virtue and holiness, ought
* Mangey thinks that there is a considerable hiatus here. What
follows relates to the regulations respecting proselytes, which as the
text stands is in no way connected with what has gone before about
the worship of God.
ON MONARCHY. 187
not to be left destitute of some other cities, and houses, and
friends, but there ought to be places of refuge always ready
for those who come over to religion ; for the most effectual
allurement and the most indissoluble bond of affectionate
good will is the mutual honouring of the one God." Moreover,
he also enjoins his people that, after they have given the
proselytes an equal share in all their laws, and privileges,
and immunities, on their forsaking the pride of their fathers
and forefathers, they must not give a license to their jealous
language and unbridled tongues, blaspheming those beings
whom the other body looks upon as gods, lest the proselytes
should be exasperated at such treatment, and in return utter
impious language against the true and holy God ; for from
ignorance of the difference between them, and by reason of
their having from their infancy learnt to look upon what was
false as if it had been true, and having been bred up with it,
they would be likely to err.
And there are some of the Gentiles, who, not attending to
the honour due to the one God alone, deserve to be punished
with extreme severity of punishment, as having forsaken the
most important classification of piety and holiness, and as
having chosen darkness in preference to the most brilliant
light, and having rendered their own intellect blind when it
might have seen clearly. And it is well that a charge should
be given to all those who have any admiration for virtue to
inflict all such punishment out of hand without any delay,
not bringing them before either any judgment seat, or any
council, or any bench of magistrates, but giving vent to their
own disposition which hates evil and loves God, so as to
chastise the impious with implacable rigour, looking upon
themselves as everything for the time being, counsellors, and
judges, and generals, and members of the assembly, and
accusers, and witnesses, and laws, and the people ; that so,
since there is no conceivable hindrance, they may with all
their company put themselves forward fearlessly to fight as
the champions of holiness.
VIII. There is, in the history of the law, a record of one
man who ventured on this exploit of noble daring, for when
he saw some men connecting themselves with foreign women,
and by reason of their allurements neglecting all their na
tional customs and laws, and practising fabulous ceremonies,
188 PHILO JUD.EUS.
he was seized with a sudden enthusiasm in the presence of
the whole multitude; and driving away all those on each
side who were collected to see the sight, he slew one man
who was so daring as to put himself forward as the leader
and chief of this transgression of the law (for the impious
deed had been already displayed and made a public exhi
bition of), and while he was openly performing sacrifices to
images and unholy idols, he, I say, without being influenced
by any^ fear, slew him, together with the woman who was
with him ; the one on account of his inclination to learn
those things which it would have been more advantageous
for him not to have learnt, and the woman because she w wa
his preceptress in evil.
This action being done of a sudden, in the warm impetu
osity of the moment, admonished a vast multitude of those
who were prepared to commit similar follies ; therefore God,
having praised this virtuous exploit done in this manner,
out of a voluntary and spontaneous zeal, recompensed the
doer with two rewards, namely, peace and the priesthood.
With the one, because he judged him who had thus volun
tarily encountered a contest for the sake of the honour of
his God worthy to enjoy a life safe from war; and with
the other, because the priesthood is the most fitting honour
for a pious man, who professes an eagerness for the service
of the Father of all, to serve whom is not only better than
all freedom, but even than royal authority.
But some men have gone to such a pitch of extravagant
madness, that they have left themselves no retreat or way
to repentance, but hasten onwards to the slavery and ser
vice of images made by hands, confessing it in distinct
characters, not written on paper, as is the custom in the
case of slaves, but branding the characters deep on their
persons with a burning iron, in order that they may remain
ineffaeebly, for these things are not dimmed or weakened
by time.
IX. And the most sacred Moses appears to have pre
served the same object and intention in all other cases
whatever^ being a lover and also a teacher of truth, which
he desires to stamp and to impress upon all his disciples,
expelling all false opinions, and compelling them to settle
far from their minds. At all events, knowing that the act
ON MONARCHY. 189
of divination co-operates in no slight degree with the errors
of the lives of the multitude, so as to lead them out of the
right way, he did not suffer his disciples to use any species
of it whatever, but drove all who paid it any observance far
from his everlasting constitution, and banished all sacrificers
and purifiers, and augurs, and soothsayers, and enchanters,
and men who applied themselves to the art of prophesying
from sounds ; for all these men are but guessers at what
is probable and likely, at different times adopting different
notions from the same appearances, because the subjects of
their art have no stable and constant character, and because
the intellect has never devised any accurate test by which
those opinions which are approved may be examined.
And all these things are but the furniture of impiety.
How so ? Because he who attends to them, and who allows
himself to be influenced by them, disregards the cause of all
things, looking upon those things alone as the causes of all
things, whether good or evil ; and he does not perceive that
he is making all the cares of life to depend upon the most
unstable supports, upon the motion of birds and feathers in
the air, in this and that direction ; and upon the paths of
reptiles, crawling along the ground, which creep forth out
of their holes in quest of food ; and even upon entrails, and
blood, and dead corpses, which, the moment that they are
deprived of life, fall to pieces and become confused ; and
being deprived of their original nature which belonged to
them, are changed, and subjected to a transformation for
the worse.
For he thinks it right, that the man who is legally en
rolled as a citizen of his constitution must be perfect, not
indeed in those things in which the multitude is educated,
such as divination, and augury, and plausible conjectures,
but in the observances due to G-od, which have nothing
doubtful or uncertain about them, but only indubitable and
naked truth.
Arid since there is implanted in all men a desire of the
knowledge of future events, and as, on account of this
desire, they have recourse to sacrifices and to other species
of divination, as if by these means they would be able to
search out and discover the truth (but these things are, in
reality, full of indistinctness and uncertainty, and are con-
190 9 PHILO JQD.EUS.
tinually being convicted by themselves). He, with great
energy, forbids his disciples to apply themselves to such
sources of knowledge ; and he says, that if they are truly pious
they shall not be deprived of a proper knowledge of the
future ; but that some other prophet* will appear to them on
a sudden, inspired like himself, who will preach and prophesy
among them, saying nothing of his own (for he who is truly
possessed and inspired, even when he speaks, is r ~unable to com
prehend what he is himself saying), but that all the words that
he shoul d utter would proceed from him as if another was
prompting him ; for the prophets are interpreters of God, who
is only using their voices as instruments, in order to explain
what he chooses.
Having now then said this, and other things like this, con
cerning the proper idea to be entertained of the one real, and
true, and living God ; he proceeds to express in what manner
one ought to pay him the honours that are his due.
A TKEATISE
ON MONARCHY,
BOOK II
I. WE ought to look upon the universal world as the highest
and truest temple of God, having for its most holy place that
most sacred part of the essence of all existing things, namely, the
heaven ; and for ornaments, the stars ; and for priests, the
subordinate ministers of his power, namely, the angels, incor
poreal souls, not beings compounded of irrational and rational
natures, such as our bodies are, but such as have the irrational
parts wholly cut out, being absolutely and wholly intellectual,
pure reasonings, resembling the unit.
But the other temple is made with hands ; for it was desira
ble not to cut short the impulses of men who were eager to
bring in contributions for the objects of piety, and desirous
* This prophecy, Deuteronomy xviii. 18, is always looked upon
one of thtvmost remarkable of the early prophecies of our Saviour.
ON MONARCHY. 191
either to show their gratitude by sacrifices for such good
fortune as had befallen them, or else to implore pardon and
forgiveness for whatever errors they might have committed. He
moreover foresaw that there could not be any great number of
temples built either in many different places, or in the same
place, thinking it fitting that as God is one, his temple also
should be one.
In the next place, he does not permit those who desire to
perform sacrifices in their own houses to do so, but he orders
all men to rise up, even from the furthest boundaries of the
earth, and to come to this temple, by which command he is at
the same time testing their dispositions most severely ; for he
who was not about to offer sacrifice in a pure and holy spirit
would never endure to quit his country, and his friends, and
relations, and emigrate into a distant land, but would be likely,
being under the influence of a more powerful attraction than
that towards piety, to continue attached to the society of his
most intimate friends and relations as portions of himself, to
which he was most closely attached. And the most evident
proof of this may be found in the events which actually took
place. .
For innumerable companies of men from a countless variety
of cities, some by land and some by sea, from east and from
west, from the north and from the south, came to the temple at
every festival, as if to some common refuge and safe asylum
from the troubles of this most busy and painful life, seeking
to find tranquillity, and to procure a remission of and respite
from those cares by which from their earliest infancy they had
been hampered and weighed down, and so, by getting breath
as it were, to pass a brief time in cheerful festivities, being
filled with good hopes and enjoying the leisure of that most
important and necessary vacation which consists in forming a
friendship with those hitherto unknown, but now initiated by
boldness and a desire to honour God, and forming a combina
tion of actions and a union of dispositions so as to join in sacri
fices and libations to the most complete confirmation of mutual
good will.
II. Of this temple the outer circuit, being the most exten
sive both in length and width, was fortified by fortifications
adorned in a most costly manner. And each of them is a
double portico, built and adorned with the finest materials of
192 PHILO JUD^US.
wood and stone, and with abundant supplies of all kinds, and
with the greatest skill of the workmen, and the most diligent
care on the part of the superintendants. But the inner circuits
were less extensive, and the fashion of their building and
adorning was more simple. And in the centre was the temple
itself, beautiful beyond all possible description, as one may
conjecture from what is now seen around on the outside ; for
what is innermost is invisible to every human creature except
the high priest alone, and even he is enjoined only to enter
that holy place once in each year.
Everything then is invisible. For he carries in a brasier
full of coals and frankincense ; and then, when a great smoke
proceeds from it, as is natural, and when everything all around
is enveloped in it, then the sight of men is clouded, and
checked, and prevented from penetrating in, being wholly
unable to pierce the cloud. But, being very large and very
lofty, although built in a very low situation, it is not inferior to
any of the greatest mountains around. The buildings of
it are of most exceeding beauty and magnificence, so as to be
universal objects of admiration to all who behold them, and
especially to all foreigners who travel to those parts, and who,
comparing them with their own public edifices, marvel both at
the beauty and sumptuousness of this one.
But there is no grove or plantation in the space wbich sur
rounds it, in accordance with the prohibitions of the law,
which for many reasons forbid this. In the first place, because
a building which is truly a temple does not aim at pleasure
and seductive allurements, but at a rigid and austere sanctity.
Secondly, because it is not proper that those things which
conduce to the verdure of trees should be introduced, such as
the dung of irrational animals and of men. Thirdly, because
those trees which do not admit of cultivation are of no use,
but are as the poets say, the burden of the earth ; while those
which do admit of cultivation, and which are productive of
wholesome fruit, draw off the attention of the fickle-minded
from the thoughts of the respect due to the holy place itself,
and to the ceremonies in which they are engaged. And
besides these reasons, shady places and dense thickets are
places of refuge for evil doers, since by their enveloping them
in darkness they give them safety and enable them, as from an
ambuscade, suddenly to fall upon any whom they choose to attack.
ON MONARCHY. 193
But wide spaces, open and uncovered in every direction, where
there is nothing which can hinder the sight, are the most
suitable for the distinct sight of all those who enter and
remain in the temple.
III. But the temple has for its revenues not only portions
of land, but also other possessions of much greater extent and
importance, which will never be destroyed or diminished ; for
as long as the race of mankind shall last, the revenues like
wise cf the temple will always be preserved, being coeval in
their duration with the universal world. For it is commanded
that all men shall every year bring their first fruits to the
temple, from twenty years old and upwards ; and this contribu
tion is called their ransom. On which account they bring in
the first fruits with exceeding cheerfulness, being joyful and
delighted, inasmuch as simultaneously with their making the
offering they are sure to find either a relaxation from slavery,
or a relief from disease, and to receive in all respects a most
sure freedom and safety for the future.
And since the nation is the most numerous of all peoples, it
follows naturally that the first fruits contributed by them must
also be most abundant. Accordingly there is in almost every
city a storehouse for the sacred things to which it is customary
for the people to come and there to deposit their first fruits,
and at certain seasons there are sacred ambassadors selected
on account of their virtue, who convey the offerings to the
temple. And the most eminent men of each tribe are elected
to this office, that they may conduct the hopes of each indivi
dual safe to their destination ; for in the lawful offering of the
first fruits are the hopes of the pious.
IV. Now there are twelve tribes of the nation, and one of
them having been selected from the others for its excellence
has received the priesthood, receiving this honour as a reward
for its virtue, and fidelity, and its devout soul, which it dis
played when the multitude appeared to be running into sin,
following the foolish choices of some persons who persuaded
their countrymen to imitate the vanity of the Egyptians, and
the pride of the nations of the land, who had invented fables
about irrational animals, and especially about bulls, making
gods of them. For this tribe did of its own accord go forth
and slay all, the leaders of this apostacy from the youth
upwards, in which they appeared to have done a holy action,
VOL. in. o
194 PHILO JUDGED S.
encountering thus a contest and a labour for the sake of
piety.
V. Now these are the laws which relate to the priests.
It is enjoined that the priest shall be entire and unmu-
tilated, having no blemish on his body, no part being defi
cient, either naturally or through mutilation; and on the
other hand, nothing having been superfluous either from his
birth, or having grown out subsequently from disease ; his
skin, also, must never have changed from leprosy, or wild
lichen, or scab, or any other eruption or breaking out; all
which things appear to me to be designed to be symbols of
the purity of his soul. For if it was necessary to examine the
mortal body of the priest that it ought not be imperfect
through any misfortune, much more was it necessary to look
into his immortal soul, which they say is fashioned in the
form of the living God.
Now the image of God is the Word, by which all the world
was made. And after enjoining that the priest is to be of pure
blood, and sprung from fathers of noble birth, and that he
must be perfect in body and soul, laws are enacted also
respecting the garments which the priest must wear when he
is about to offer the sacred sacrifices and to perform the sacred
ceremonies. And this dress is a linen tunic and a girdle, the
latter to cover those parts which must not be displayed in their
nakedness near the altar of sacrifice. And the tunic is for the
sake of promptness in performing the requisite ministrations ;
for they are but lightly clad, only in their tunics, when they
bring their victims, and the libations, and the other requisite
offerings for sacrifice, being apparelled so as to admit of unhe
sitating celerity.
But the high priest is commanded to wear a similar dress
when he goes into the holy of holies to offer incense, because
linen is not made of any animal that dies, as woollen garments
are. He is also commanded to wear another robe also, having
very beautiful embroidery and ornament upon it, so that it
may seem to be a copy and representation of the world. And
the description of the "ornament is a clear proof of this ; for in
the first place the whole of the round robe is of hyacinthine
colour, a tunic reaching to the feet, being an emblem of the
air, since the air also is by nature black, and in a manner may
be said to be reaching to the feet, as it is extended from above
ON MONARCHY.
from the regions about the moon, to the lowest places of the
earth. Next there was a woven garment in the form of a
breastplate upon it, and this was a symbol of the heaven ; for
on the points of the shoulders are two emerald stones of most
exceeding value, one on one side and one on the other each
perfectly round and single on each side, as emblems of the
hemispheres, one of which is above the earth and the other
under the earth. Then on his chest there are twelve precious
stones of different colours, arranged in four rows of three
stones in each row, being fashioned so as an emblem of the
zodiac lor the zodiac also consists of twelve animals, and
so divides the four seasons of the year, allotting three animals
to each season.
And the whole place is very correctly called the logeum
(Xoyg/ov) since every thing in heaven has been created and
arranged in accordance with right reason (Xo> c ) and propor
tion ; for there is absolutely nothing there which is devoid of
reason And on the logeum he embroiders two woven pieces
of cloth, calling the one manifestation and the other truth
And by the one which he calls truth he expresses figuratively
that it is absolutely impossible for falsehood to enter any part
of heaven, but that it is entirely banished to the parts around
the earth dwelling among the souls of impious men. And by
that which he calls manifestation he implies that the natures
in heaven make manifest every thing that takes place among
us, which of themselves would be perfectly and universally
unknown. J
And the clearest proof of this is that if there were no light
and if the sun did not shine, it would be impossible for the
indescribable variety of qualities of bodies to be seen and for
all the manifold differences of colours and forms to be distin
guished from one another. And what else could exhibit to us
the days and the nights, and the months and the years, and in
short the divisions of time, but the harmonious and inconceiv
able revolutions of the sun, and moon, and other stars ? And
what could exhibit the true nature of number, except those
same bodies just mentioned in accordance with the observation
of the combination of the parts of time ? And what else could
have cut the paths through the ocean and through such nume
rous and vast seas, and shown them to navigators, except the
changes and periodical appearances of the stars ? And wise
390 PHILO JUDJEUS.
men have observed, also, an innumerable quantity of other
circumstances, and have recorded them, conjecturing from the
heavenly bodies the advent of calm weather and of violent
storms, and the fertility or barrenness of crops, and the mild
or violently hot summers, and whether the winters will be
severe or spring-like, whether there will be droughts or abund
ance of rain, whether the flocks and trees will be fruitful, or
on the contrary barren, and all such matters as these. For
the signs of every thing on earth are engraved and firmly fixed
in heaven.
VI. And besides this, golden pomegranates are attached to
the lower parts of the tunic, reaching to the feet, and bells and
borders embroidered with flowers.
And these things are the emblems of earth and of water;
the flowers are the emblems of the earth, inasmuch as it is out
of it that they all rise and derive strength to bloom. And the
pomegranates* as above mentioned are the emblems of water,
being so named from the flowing of the stream. And the
harmony, and concord, and unison of sound of the different
parts of the world is betokened by the bells. And the arrange
ment, is a very excellent one ; for the upper garment, on which
the stones are placed, which is called the breast-plate, is a
representation of heaven, because the heaven also is the high
est of all things.
And the tunic that reaches to the feet is in every part of a
hyacinthine colour, since the air also is black, and is placed in
the second classification next in honour to the heaven. And
the embroidered flowers and pomegranates are on the hem,
because the earth and water have been assigned the lowest
situation in the universe.
This is the arrangement of the sacred dress of the high
priest, being a representation of the universe, a marvellous
work to be beheld or to be contemplated. For it has an
appearance thoroughly calculated to excite astonishment, such
as no embroidered work conceived by man ever was for variety
and costly magnificence ; and it also attracts the intellect of
philosophers to examine its different parts. For God intends
that the high priest should in the first place have a visible repre
sentation of the universe about him, in order that from the con-
* The Greek for a pomegranate is pout or pour/cof, which Philo
imagines to be derived from pt<n, " to flow."
ON MONARCHY. 197
tinual sight of it lie may be reminded to make his own life
worthy of the nature of the universe, and secondly, in order
that the whole world may co-operate with him in the perform
ance of his sacred rites.
And it is exceedingly becoming that the man who is conse
crated to the service of the Father of the world should also
bring his son to the service of him who has begotten him.
There is also a third symbol contained in this sacred dress,
which it is important not to pass over in silence. For the
priests of other deities are accustomed to offer up prayers and
sacrifices solely for their own relations, and friends, and fellow
citizens. But the high priest of the Jews offers them up not
only on behalf of the whole race of mankind, but also on behalt
of the different parts of nature, of the earth, of water, of air,
and of fire ; and pours forth his prayers and thanksgivings
for them all, looking upon the world (as indeed it really is)
as his country, for which, therefore, he is accustomed to
implore and propitiate its governor by supplications and
prayers, beseeching him to give a portion of his own merciful
and humane nature to the things which he has created.
VII. After he has given these precepts, he issues addi
tional commandments, and orders him, whenever he approaches
the altar and touches the sacrifices, at the time when it is
appointed for him to perform his sacred ministrations, not to
drink wine or any other strong drink, on account of four
most important reasons, hesitation, and forgetfulness, and
sleep and folly. For the intemperate man relaxes the powers
of his body, and renders his limbs more slow of motion, and
makes his whole body more inclined to hesitation, and compels
it by force to become drowsy. And he also relaxes the ener
gies of his soul, and so becomes the cause to it of forgetfulness
and folly. But in the case of abstemious men all the parts of
the body are lighter, and as such more active and moveable,
and the outer senses are more pure and unalloyed, and the
mind is gifted with a more acute sight, so that it is able to see
things beforehand, and never forgets what it has previously
seen ; in short, therefore, we must look upon the use of wine
to be a most unprofitable thing for all the purposes of life,
inasmuch as by it the soul is weighed down, the outward senses
are dimmed, and the body is enervated.
For it does not leave any one of our faculties free and unem
barrassed, but is a hindrance to every one of them, so as to
198 PH1LO JUD^EUS.
impede its attaining that object to which it is by nature fitted.
But in sacred ceremonies and holy rites the mischief is most
grievous of all, in proportion as it is worse and more intolera
ble to sin with respect to God than with respect to man. On
which account it probably is that it is commanded to the priest
to offer up sacrifices without wine, in order to make a differ
ence and distinction between sacred and profane things, and
pure and impure things, and lawful and unlawful things.
VIII. But since the priest was a man before he was a priest,
and since he is of necessity desirous to indulge the appetites
which prompt him to seek for the connections of love, he pro
cures for him a marriage with a pure virgin, and one who is
born of pure parents, and grandfathers, and great-grandfathers,
selected for their excellency with reference both to their virtue
and to their noble birth. For God does not allow him even
to look upon a harlot, or a profane body or soul, or upon any
one who, having put away her pursuit of gain, now wears an
elegant and modest appearance, because such a one is unholy
in respect of her former profession and way of life ; though in
other respects she may be looked upon as honourable, by reason
of her having purified herself of her former evil courses. For
repentance for past sins is a thing to be praised ; and no one
else need be forbidden to marry her, only let her not come
near a priest. For the especial property of the priesthood is
justice and purity, which from the first beginning of its crea
tion to the end, seeks a concord utterly irreproachable.
For it would be mere folly that some men should be
excluded from the priesthood by reason of the scars which
exist on their bodies from ancient wounds, which are the
emblem of misfortune indeed, but not of wickedness ; but that
those persons who, not at all out of necessity but from their
own deliberate choice, have made a market of their beauty,
when at last they slowly repent, should at once after leaving
their lovers become united to priests, and should come from
brothels and be admitted into the sacred precincts. For the
scars and impressions of their old offences remain not the less
in the souls of those who repent. On which account it is
wisely and truly said in another passage, that " One may not
bring the hire of a harlot into the temple."* And yet the
money is not in itself liable to any reproach, except by reason
of the woman who received it, and the action for which it was
* Deuteronomy xxiii. 18.
ON MONARCHY. 199
given to her. How then could one possibly admit those
women to consort with priests whose very money is looked upon
as profane and base, even though as to its material and stamp
it may be good and lawful money ?
IX. The regulations, therefore, are laid down with precision
in this manner for the high priest, so that he is not allowed
either to marry a widow, nor one who is left desolate after the
death of the man to whom she has been espoused, nor one who
has been divorced from a husband who is still alive, in order that
the sacred seed may be sown for the first time in a field which
is hitherto untrodden and pure, and that his offspring may have
no admixture of the blood of any other house. And in the
second place, in order that the pair coming together with souls
which have as yet known no defilement or perversion, may
easily form their dispositions and characters in a virtuous
manner. For the minds of virgins are easily attracted and
drawn over to virtue, being exceedingly ready to be taught.
But the woman who has had experience of another husband
is very naturally less inclined to obedience and to instruction,
inasmuch as she has not a soul perfectly pure, like thoroughly
smooth wax, so as to receive distinctly the doctrines which are
to be impressed upon it, but one which is to a certain degree
rough from the impressions which have been already stamped
upon it, which are difficult to be effaced, and so remain, and
do not easily receive any other impression, or if they do they
render it confused by the irregularity of their own surface.
Let the high priest, therefore, take a pure virgin to be his
wife; I say a virgin, meaning not only one with whom no
other man has ever been connected, but one in connection
with whom no other man has ever been named in reference to
the agreement of marriage, even though her body may be pure.
X. But besides this, injunctions are given to the particular
and inferior priests concerning their marriages, which are the
very same in most points, which are given to those who have
the supreme priesthood. But they are permitted with impu
nity to marry not only maidens but widows also ; not, indeed.
all widows, but those whose husbands are dead. For the
Jaw thinks it fitting to remove all quarrels and disputes from
the life of the priests. And if they had husbands living there
very likely might be disputes from the jealousy which is caused
by the love of men for women But when the first husband
200 PHILG JUD.EUS.
is dead, then with him the hostility which could be felt
towards the second husband dies also. And even on other
accounts he might have thought that the high priest ought to
be of superior purity and holiness, as in other matters so also
in the connection of marriage, and on this account it may
have been that God only allowed the high priest to marry a
virgin.
But to the priests of the second rank he remitted something
of the rigour of his regulations concerning the connection with
women, permitting them to marry women who have made
trials of other husbands.
XI. And besides these commands, he also denned precisely
the family of the women who might be married by the high
priest, commanding him to marry not merely a woman who
was a virgin, but also one who was a priestess,"the daughter of
a priest, that so both bridegroom and bride might be of one
house, and in a manner of one blood, so as to display a most
lasting harmony and union of disposition during the whole of
their lives. The others also were permitted to marry women
who were not the daughters of priests, partly because their
purificatory sacrifices are of but small importance, and partly
because he was not willing entirely to disunite and separate
the whole nation from the order of the priesthood ; for which
reason he did not prevent the other priests from making inter
marriages with any of their countrywomen, as that is relation
ship in the second degree ; for sons-in-law are in the place of
sons to their fathers-in-law, and fathers-in-law are instead of
fathers to their sons-in-law.
XII. These, then, are the ordinances which were established
respecting marriage, and respecting what greatly resembles
marriage, the procreation of children. But since destruction
follows creation, Moses also gave the priests laws relating to
death,* commanding them not to permit themselves to be
denied in respect of all people whatsoever, who might happen
to die, and who might be connected with them through some
bond of friendship, or distant relationship : but allowing them
to mourn for six classes only, their fathers or their mothers,
their sons or their daughters, their brothers or their sisters,
provided that these last were virgins ; but the high priest he
absolutely forbade to mourn in any case whatever ; and may we
* Leviticus ixiii. 1.
ON MONARCHY. SOI
not say that this was rightly done ? For as to the ministra
tions which belong to the other priests, one individual can per
form them instead of another, so that, even if some be in
mourning, still none of the usual observances need be omitted ;
but there is no one besides the high priest himself, who is per
mitted to perform his duties instead of him ; for which reason,
he must always be kept free from all defilement, never touch
ing any dead body, in order that, being always ready to offer up
prayers and sacrifices on behalf of the whole world at suitable
seasons,, he may continue to fulfil the duties of his office with
out hindrance.
And otherwise too, besides this consideration, the man who
has been assigned to God, and vftio has become the leader of
his sacred band of worshippers, ought to be disconnected with,
and alienated from, all things of creation, not being so much
the slave of the love of either parents, or children, or brothers,
as either to omit or to delay any one of those holy actions,
which it is by all means better should be done at once ; and
God commands the high priest neither to rend his clothes
over his very nearest relations when they die, nor to take from,
his head the ensign of the priesthood, nor in short to depart
from the holy place on any plea of mourning, that, showing
proper respect to the place, and to the sacred ornaments with
which he himself is crowned, he may show himself superior to
pity, and pass the whole of his life exempt from all sorrow.
For the law designs that he should be the partaker of a
nature superior to that of man ; inasmuch as he approaches
more nearly to that of the Deity ; being, if one must say the
plain truth, on the borders between the two, in order that men
may propitiate God by some mediator, and that God may have
some subordinate minister by whom he may offer and give his
mercies arid kindnesses to mankind.
XIII. After he has said this, he immediately proceeds to
lay down laws, concerning those who are to use the first fruits,
u lf therefore, any one,"* says he, "should mutilate the
priests as to their eyes, or their feet, or any part of their bodies,
or if he should have received any blemish, let him not partake
of the sacred ministrations by reason of the defects which
exist in him, but still let him enjoy those honours which are
common to all the priests, because of his irreproachable
* Leviticus xxi. 17.
202 PHILO JUD.EUS.
nobility of birth." " Moreover, if any leprosies break out and
attack him, or if any one of the priests be afflicted with any
flux, let him not touch the sacred table, nor any of the duties
which are set apart for his race, until the flux stop, or the
leprosy change, so that he become again resembling the com
plexion of sound flesh."*
And, if any priest do by any chance whatever touch any
thing that is unclean, or if he should have impure dreams by
night, as is very often apt to be the case, let him during all
that day touch nothing that has been consecrated, but let him
wash himself the ensuing evening, and after that let him not
be hindered from touching them. And let the sojourner in the
priest s house, and the hireling, be prevented from approaching
the first fruits ; the sojourner, because it is not every one who
is a neighbour who shares a man s hearth and eats at his
table ; f for there is reason to fear that some such person may
cast away what is hallowed, using as a cloak for his impiety
the pretence of some unseasonable humanity ; for one might
not give all men a share of all things, but only of such as are
adapted to those who are to receive them ; otherwise, that
which is the most beautiful and most beneficial of all the
things in this life, namely order, will be wasted away and
destroyed by that which is the most mischievous of all things,
namely, confusion.
For if in merchant vessels the sailors were to receive an
equal share with the pilot of the ship, and if in ships of war
the rowers and the mariners were to receive an equal share
with the captain, and if in military camps the cavalry of the
line were to receive an equal share with their officers, the
heavy armed infantry with their colonels, and the colonels
with the generals ; again, if in cities the parties before the
court were to be placed on the same footing with the judges,
the committeemen with the ministers, and in short private
individuals with the magistrates, there would be incessant
troubles and seditions, and the equality in words would pro
duce inequality in fact ; for it is an unequal measure to give
equal honour to persons who are unequal in rank or desert ;
and inequality is the root of all evil. On which account one
must not give the honours of the priests to sojourners, just as
one must not give them to any one else, who in that case,
* Leviticus xxii. 4. f Leviticus xxii. 10.
ON MONARCHY. 203
because of their proximity, would be meddling with what they
have no business ; for the honour does not belong to the
house, but to the race.
XIV. In like manner, no one must give this sacred honour
to a hireling, as his wages, or as a recompense for his service ;
for sometimes he who receives it being unholy will employ it
for illegitimate purposes, making the honours due to purity of
birth common, and profaning all the sacred ceremonies and
observances relating to the temple ; on which account the law
altogether forbids any foreigner to partake in any degree of
the holy things, even if he be a man of the noblest birth
among the natives of the land, and irreproachable as respects
both men and women, in order that the sacred honours may
not be adulterated, but may remain carefully guarded in the
family of the priests ; for it would be absurd that the sacrifices
and holy ordinances, and all the other sacred observances per
taining to the altar, should be entrusted not to all men but to
the priests alone ; but that the rewards for the performance of
those things should be common and liable to fall to the share
of any chance persons, as if it were reasonable that the priests
should be worn out with labours and toils, and nightly and
daily cares, but that the rewards for such pains should be com
mon and open to those who do nothing.
But, he proceeds, let the priest who is his master give to
the slave who is born in his house, and to him who has been
purchased with money, a share of meat and drink from the
first fruits. In the first place, because the master is the only
source of supply to the servant, and the inheritance of the
master are the sacred offices of humanity, by which the slave
must necessarily be supported. In the second place, because
it is by all means necessary that they should not do what is to
be done unwillingly ; and servants, even though we may not
like it, since they are always about us and living with us, pre
paring meat, and drink, and delicacies fo? their masters before
hand, and standing at their tables, and carrying away the
fragments that are left, even though they may not take any
openly, will at all events secretly appropriate some of the
victuals, being compelled by necessity to steal, so that instead
of one injury (if indeed it is an injury to their masters that
they should be supported at their expense), they are compelled
to add a second to it, namelv, theft ; in order that, like thieves,
204 PHILO JUD^EUS.
they may enjoy what has been consecrated by their masters
who live irreproachably themselves ; which is the most un
reasonable thing possible.
Thirdly, one ought to take this also into consideration, that
shares of the first fruits will not be neglected merely because
they are distributed to the servants, through their fear of their
masters ; for this is sufficient to stop their mouths, preventing
the arrogance of such persons from showing itself.
XV. Having said thus much he proceeds next to put forth
a law full of humanity. If, says he, the daughter of a priest,
having married a man who is not a priest, becomes a widow
by the death of her husband, or if she be left childless while
he is still alive, let her return again to her father s house, to
receive her share of the first fruits which she enjoyed when
she was a virgin ; * for in some degree and in effect she is now
also a virgin, since she has neither husband nor children, and
lias no other refuge but her father ; but if she has sons or
daughters, then the mother must of necessity be classed with
the children ; and the sons and daughters, being ranked as of
the family of their father, draw their mother also with them
into his house.
A TEEATISE
ON THE QUESTION
WHAT THE REWARDS AND HONOURS ARE WHICH
BELONG TO THE PRIESTS.
I. THE law did not allot any share of the land to the
priests, in order that they like others might derive revenues
from the land, and so possess a sufficiency of necessary
things ; but admitting them to an excessive degree of honour,
he said that God was their inheritance, having a reference to
the things offered to God ; for the sake of two objects, both
that of doing them the highest honour, since they are thus
made partners in those things which are offered up by pious
men, out of gratitude to God ; and also in order that they
* Leviticus xxii. 12.
ON THE REWARDS OF PRIESTS. 205
might have no business about which to trouble themselves
except the offices of religion, as they would have had, if they
were forced to take care of their inheritance.
And the following are the rewards and pre-eminent honours
which he assigns to them ; in the first place, that the neces
sary food for their support shall at all times be provided
for them without any labour or toil of their own ; for God
commands those who are making bread, to take of all the fat
and of all the dough, a loaf as first fruits for the use of the
priests, making thus, by this legitimate instruction, a provision
for those men who put aside these first fruits, proceeding in
the way that leads to piety ; for being accustomed at all times
to offer first fruits of the necessary food, they will thus have
an everlasting recollection of God, than which it is impossible
to imagine a greater blessing ; and it follows of necessity, that
the first fruits offered by the most populous of nations must
be very plentiful, so that even the very poorest of the priests,
must/in respect of his abundance of all necessary food, appear
to be very wealthy.
In the second place, he commands the nation also to give
them the first fruits of their other possessions ; a portion of
wine out of each winepress ; and of wheat and barley from
each threshing floor.
And in like manner they were to have a share of oil from all
the olive trees, and of eatable fruit from all the fruit trees, in
order that they might not pass a squalid existence, having
only barely enough of necessary food to support life, but that
they might have sufficient for a certain degree of comfort and
luxury, and so live cheerfully on abundant means, with all
becoming ornament and refinement.
The third honour allotted to them is an assignment of all
the first-born males, of all kinds of land animals which are
born for the service and use of mankind ; for these are the
things which God commands to be given to the men conse
crated to the priesthood ; the offspring of oxen, and sheep, and
goats, namely calvos, and lambs, and kids, inasmuch as they
both are and are considered clean, both for the purposes of
eating and of sacrifice, but he orders that money shall be given
as a ransom for the young of other animals, such as horses,
and asses and camels, and similar beasts, without disparaging
their real value ; and the supplies thus afforded them are very
206 PHILO JUD^US.
great ; for the people of this nation breed sheep, and cattle,
and flocks of all kinds above all other peoples, separating
them with great care into flocks of goats, and herds of oxen,
and flocks of sheep, and a vast quantity of other troops of
animals of all kinds.
Moreover the law, going beyond all these enactments in the
their favour, commands the people to bring them the first
fruits, not only of all their possessions of every description,
but also of their own lives and bodies ; for the children are
separable portions of their parents as one may say : but if one
must tell the plain truth, they are inseparable as being of
kindred blood,* .... and being bound to them by the
allurements of united good will, and by the indissoluble bonds
of nature.
But nevertheless, he consecrates also their own first-born
male children after the fashion of other first fruits, as a sort
of thanks-offering for fertility, and a number of children both
existing and hoped for, and wishing at the same time that
their marriages should be not only free from all blame, but
even very deserving of praise, the first fruit arising from which
is consecrated to God ; and keeping this in their minds, both
husbands and wives ought to cling to modesty, and to attend
to their household concerns, and to cherish unanimity, agree
ing with one another, so that what is called a communion and
partnership may be so in solid truth, not only in word, but
likewise in deed.
And with reference to the dedication of the first-born male
children, in order that the parents may not be separated from
their children, nor the children from their parents, he values
the first fruits of them himself at a fixed price in money, order
ing everyone both poor and rich to contribute an equal sum, not
having any reference to the ability of the contributors, nor to
the vigour or beauty of the children who were born ; but con
sidering how much even a very poor man might be able to
give ; for since the birth of children happens equally to the
most noble and to the most obscure persons of the race, he
thought it just to enact that their contribution should also be
equal, aiming, as I have already said, particularly to fix a sum
which should be in the power of everyone to give.
* The above passage is quite unintelligible in the Greek, and is given
up by Mangey as irremediably corrupt.
ON THE REWARDS OF PRIESTS. 207
II. After this he also appointed another source of reveataue
of no insignificant importance for the priests, bidding them to
take the first fruits of every one of the revenues of the nation
namely, the first fruits of the corn, and wine, and oil, and even
of the produce of all the cattle, of the flocks of sheep, and herds
of oxen, and flocks of goats, and of all other animals of all
kinds ; and how great an abundance of these animals there
must be, any one may conjecture from the vast populousness
of the nation ; from all which circumstances it is plain that
the law invests the priests with the dignity and honour that
belongs to kings ; since he commands contributions from
every description of possession to be given to them as to
rulers ; and they are accordingly given to them in a manner
quite contrary to that in which cities usually furnish them to
their rulers ; for cities usually furnish them under compulsion,
and with great unwillingness and lamentation, looking upon
the collectors of the taxes as common enemies and destroyers,
and making all kinds of different excuses at different times,
and neglecting all laws and ordinances, and with all this
iumbling and evasion do they contribute the taxes and pay
ments which are levied on them.
But the men of this nation contribute their payments to the
priests with joy and cheerfulness, anticipating the collectors,
and cutting short the time allowed for making the contribu
tions, and thinking that they are themselves receiving rather
than giving ; and so with words of blessing and thankfulness,
they all, both men and women, bring their offerings at each of
the seasons of the year, with a spontaneous cheerfulness, and
readiness, and zeal, beyond all description.
III. And these things are assigned to the priests from the
possessions of each individual, but there are also often especial
revenues set apart for them exceedingly suitable for the
priests, which are derived from the sacrifices which are offered
up ; for it is commanded that two portions from two limbs of
every victim shall be given to the priests, the arm from the
limb on the right side, and the fat from the chest ; for the
one is a symbol of strength and manly vigour, and of every
lawful action in giving, and taking, and acting : and the other
is an emblem of human gentleness as far as the angry passions
are concerned ; for it is said that these passions have their
abode in the chest, since nature has assigned them the breast
for their home as the most suitable place ; around which as
208 PHILO JUDyEUS.
around a garrison she has thrown, in order more effectually
to secure them from being taken, a very strong fence which is
called the chest, which she has made of many continuous and
very strong bones, binding it firmly with nerves which cannot
be broken.
But from the victims which are sacrificed away from the
altar, in order to be eaten, it is commanded that three portions
should be given to the priest, an arm, and a jaw-bone, and
that which is called the paunch; the arm for the reason
which has been mentioned a short time ago ; the jaw-bone as a
first fruit of that most important of all the members of the
body, namely the head, and also of uttered speech, for the
stream of speech could not flow out without the motion of
these jaws ; for chey being agitated* (and it is very likely
from this, that they have derived their name), when they are
struck by the tongue, all the organisation of the voice sounds
simultaneously ; and the paunch is a kind of excrescence of the
belly.
And the belly is a kind of stable of that irrational animal
the appetite, which, being irrigated by much wine-bibbing and
gluttony, is continually washed with incessant provision of
meat and drink, and like a swine is delighted while wallowing
in the mire ; in reference to which fact, a very suitable place
indeed has been assigned to that intemperate and most
unseemly beast, namely, the place to which all the superfluities
are conveyed. And the opposite to desire is temperance, which
one must endeavour, and labour, and take pains by every con
trivance imaginable to acquire, as the very greatest blessing
and most perfect benefit both to an individual and to the state.
Appetite therefore, being a profane, arid impure, and unholy
thing, is driven beyond the territories of virtue, and is
banished as it ought to be ; but temperance, being a pure and
unblemished virtue, neglecting everything which relates to
eating and drinking, and boasting itself as superior to the
pleasures of the belly, may be allowed to approach the sacred
altars, bringing forward as it does the excrescence of the body,
as a memorial that it may be reminded to despise all insa
tiability and gluttony, and all those things which excite the
appetites to this pitch.
And beyond all these things he also orders that the priests
* The Greek word here used is rrt iu>, and the word used for jawbone
v. which Philo appears to think may be derived from aeiw.
ON THE REWARDS OF PRIESTS. 209
who minister the offering of the sacrifices, shall receive the
skins of the whole burnt offerings (and they amount to an
unspeakable number, this being no slight gift, but one of the
most exceeding value and importance), from which circum
stances it is plain, that although he has not given to the
priesthood a portion of land as its inheritance, in the same
manner that he has to others, he has yet assigned to them a
more honourable and more untroubled share than any other
tribe, granting them the first fruits of every description of
sacrifice and offering. And to prevent anyone of those who
give the offerings, from reproaching those who receive them,
he commands that the first fruits should first of all be carried
into the temple, and then orders that the priests shall take
them out of the temple ; for it was suitable to the nature of
God, that those who had received kindness in all the circum
stances of life, should bring the first fruits as a thank-offering,
and then that he, as a being who was in want of nothing,
should with all dignity and honour bestow them on the
servants and ministers who attend on the service of the
temple ; for to appear to receive these things not from men,
but from the great Benefactor of all men, appears to be
receiving a gift which has in it no alloy of sadness.
V. Since, then, these honours are put forth for them, if any
of the priests are in any difficulty while living virtuously and
irreproachably, they are at once accusers of us as disregarding
the law, even though they may not utter a word. For if we
were to obey the commands which we have received, and if we
were to take care to give the first fruits as we are commanded,
they would not only have abundance of all necessary things,
but would also be filled with all kinds of supplies calculated
for enabling them to live in refinement and luxury. And if
ever at any subsequent time the tribe of the priests is found to
be blessed with a great abundance of all the necessaries and
luxuries of life, this will be a great proof of their common holi
ness, and of their accurate observance of the laws and ordi
nances in every particular.
But the neglect of some persons (for it is not safe to blame
every one) is the cause of poverty to those who have been
dedicated to God, and, if one must tell the truth, to the men
themselves also. For to violate the law is injurious to those
who offend, even though it may be an attractive course for a
VOL. III. P
210 PHILO JUD^US.
short time ; but to obey the ordinances of nature is most bene
ficial, even if at the time it may wear a painful appearance and
may show no pleasant character.
VI. Having given all these supplies and revenues to the
priests, he did not neglect those either who were in the second
rank of the priesthood; and these are the keepers of the
temple, of whom some are placed at the doors, at the very
entrance of the temple, as door-keepers ; and others are within,
in the vestibule of the temple, in order that no one who ought
not to do so might enter it, either deliberately or by accident.
Others, again, stand all around, having had the times of their
watches assigned to them by lot, so as to watch by turns night
and day, some being day watchmen and others night watch
men. Others, again, had charge of the porticoes and of the
courts in the open air, and carried out all the rubbish, taking
care of the cleanliness of the temple, and the tenths were
assigned as the wages of all these men ; for these tenths are
the share of the keepers of the temple.
At all events the law did not permit those who received
them to make use of them, until they had again offered up as
first fruits other tenths as if from their own private property,
and before they had given these to the priests of the superior
rank, for then it permitted them to enjoy them, but before
that time it would not allow it.
Moreover, the law allotted to them forty-eight cities, and in
every city, suburbs, extending two hundred cubits all round, for
the pasture of their cattle, and for the other necessary pur
poses of which cities have need. But of these cities, six were
set apart, some on the near side, and some on the further
side of Jordan, three on each side, as cities of refuge for those
who had committed unintentional murder. For as it was not
consistent with holiness for one who had by any means whatever
become the cause of death to any human being to come within
the sacred precincts, using the temple as a place of refuge and
as an asylum, Moses gave a sort of inferior sanctity to the
cities above mentioned, allowing them to give great security,
by reason of the privileges and honours conferred upon the
inhabitants, who were to be justified in protecting their suppli
ants if any superior power endeavoured to bring force against
them, not by warlike preparations, but by rank, and dignity,
ON ANIMALS FIT FOR SACRIFICE. 911
and honour, which they had from the laws by reason of the
venerable character of the priesthood.
But the fugitive, when he has once got within the borders of
the city to which he has fled for refuge, must be kept close
within it, because of the avengers waiting for him on the out
side, being the relations by blood of the man who has been
slain, and who, out of regret for their kinsman, even if he has
been slain by one who did not intend to do so, are still eager
for the blood of him who slew him, their individual and private
grief overpowering their accurate notions of what is right.
And should he go forth from the city, let him know that he is
going forth to undoubted destruction ; for he will not escape the
notice of any one of the slain man s relations, by whom he will
at once be taken in nets and toils, and so he will perish. And
the limit of his banishment shall be the life of the high priest ;
and when he is dead, he shall be pardoned and return to his
own city.
Moses, having promulgated these and similar laws about the
priests, proceeds to enact others concerning animals, as to what
beasts are suitable for sacrifice.
A TEEATISE
ON ANIMALS FIT FOR SACRIFICE,
OK ON VICTIMS.
I. OF the creatures which are fit to be offered as sacrifices,
some are land animals, and some are such as fly through the
air. Passing over, therefore, the infinite varieties of birds,
God chose only two classes out of them all, the turtledove and
the pigeon ; because the pigeon is by nature the most gentle of
all those birds which are domesticated and gregarious, and the
turtle-dove the most gentle of those which love solitude. Also,
passing over the innumerable troops of land animals, whose
very numbers it is not easy to ascertain, he selected these
especially as the best the oxen, and sheep, and goats ; for these
are the most gentle and the most manageable of all animals.
P 2
212 PHILO JUD.EUS.
At all events, great herds of oxen, and numerous flocks of goats
and sheep, are easily driven by any one, not merely by any
man, but by any little child, when they go forth to pasture, and
in the same way they are brought back to their folds in good
order when the time comes. And of this gentleness, there are
many other proofs, and the most evident are these : that they
all feed on herbage, and that no one of them is carnivorous,
and that they have neither crooked talons, nor any projecting
tusks or teeth whatever ; for the back parts of the upper jaw
do not hold teeth, but all the incisor teeth are deficient in
them : and, besides these facts, they are of all animals the
most useful to man. Rams are the most useful for the neces
sary covering of the body ; oxen, for ploughing the ground and
preparing the arable land for seed, and for the growth of the
crops that shall hereafter come to be threshed out, in order
that men may partake of and enjoy food ; and the hair and
fleeces of goats, where one is woven, or the other sewn
together, make movable tents for travellers, and especially for
men engaged in military expeditions, whom their necessities
constantly compel to abide outside of the city in the open
air.
II. And the victims must be whole and entire, without any
blemish on any part of their bodies, unmutilated, perfect in
every part, and without spot or defect of any kind. At all
events, so great is the caution used with respect not only to
those who offer the sacrifices, but also to the victims which are
offered, that the most eminent of the priests are carefully
selected to examine whether they have any blemishes or not,
and scrutinise them from head to foot, inspecting not only
those parts which are easily visible, but all those which are
more out of sight, such as the belly and the thighs, lest any
slight imperfection should escape notice. And the accuracy
and minuteness of the investigation is directed not so much on
account of the victims themselves, as in order that those who
offer them should be irreproachable ; for God designed to teach
the Jews by these figures, whenever they went up to the
altars, when there to pray or to give thanks, never to bring
with them any weakness or evil passion in their soul, but to
endeavour to make it wholly and entirely bright and clean,
without any blemish, so that God might not turn away with
aversion from the sight of it.
ON ANIMALS FIT FOE SACRIFICE. 213
III. And since, of the sacrifices to be offered, some are on
behalf of the whole nation, and indeed, if one should tell the
real truth, in behalf of all mankind, while others are only in
behalf of each individual who has chosen to offer them ; we
must speak first of all of those which are for the common wel
fare of the whole nation, and the regulations with respect to
this land of sacrifice are of a marvellous nature.
For some of them are offered up every day, and some on the
days of the new moon, and at the festivals of the full moon ;
others on days of fasting; and others at three different
occasions of festival. Accordingly, it is commanded that every
day the priests should offer up two lambs, one at the dawn of
day, and the other in the evening ; each of them being a
sacrifice of thanksgiving ; the one for the kindnesses which
have been bestowed during the day, and the other for
the mercies which have been vouchsafed in the night, which
God is incessantly and uninterruptedly pouring upon the race
of men. And on the seventh day he doubles the number of
victims to be offered, giving equal honour to equal things, in
asmuch as he looks upon the seventh day as equal in dignity
to eternity, since he has recorded it as being the birth-day of
the whole world. On which account he has thought fit to
make the sacrifice to be offered on the seventh day, equal to
the continuation of what is usually sacrificed in one day.
Moreover, the most fragrant of all incenses are offered up
twice every day in the fire, being burnt within the veil, both
when the sun rises and sets, before the morning and after the
evening sacrifice, so that the sacrifices of blood display our
gratitude for ourselves as being composed of blood, but the
offerings of incense show our thankfulness for the dominant part
within us, our rational spirit, which was fashioned after the
archetypal model of the divine image. And loaves are placed
on the seventh day on the sacred table, being equal in number
to the months of the year, twelve loaves, arranged in two rows
of six each, in accordance with the arrangement of the equi
noxes ; for there are two equinoxes every year, the vernal and
the autumnal, which are each reckoned by periods of six
months.
At the vernal equinox all the seeds sown in the ground begin
to ripen ; about which time, also, the trees begin to put forth
their fruit. And by the autumnal one the fruit of the trees
214 PHILO JUD^US.
lias arrived at a perfect ripeness ; and at this period, again, is
the beginning of seed time. Thus nature, going through a long-
course of time, showers gifts after gifts upon the race of man, the
symbols of which are the two sixes of loaves thus placed on the
table. And these loaves, also, do figuratively intimate that most
useful of all virtues, temperance ; which is attended by fru
gality, and economy, and moderation as so many bodyguards,
on account of the pernicious attacks which intemperance and
covetousness prepare to make upon it. For, to a lover of
wisdom, a loaf is a sufficient nourishment, keeping the bodies
free from disease, and the intellect sound, and healthy, and
sober. But high seasonings, and cheesecakes, and sweetmeats,
and all the other delicacies which the superfluous skill of con
fectioners and coolis concoct to cajole the illiterate, and unphi-
losophical, and most slavish of all the outward senses, namely,
taste, which is never influenced by any noble sight, or by any
perceptible lesson, but only by desire* to indulge the appetites
of the miserable belly, constantly engenders incurable diseases
both in the body and the mind.
And with the loaves there is also placed on the table frankin
cense and salt. The one as a symbol that there is no sweet
meat more fragrant and wholesome than economy and temper
ance, if wisdom is to be the judge ; while salt is an emblem of
the duration of all things (for salt preserves everything over
which it is sprinkled), and also of sufficient seasoning.
I know that those men who devote themselves wholly to
drinking parties and banquets, and who care only for costly
entertainments, will make a mock at these things and turn
them into ridicule, miserable slaves as they are of birds, and
fishes, and meat, and all such nonsense as that, and not bein^
able to taste of true freedom, not even in a dream. And all
such men are to be disregarded and despised by those who seek
to live in accordance with the will of God, in a manner pleas
ing to the true and living God ; who, having learnt to despise
the pleasures of the flesh, pursue the delights and luxuries of
the mind, having exercised themselves in the contemplation of
the objects of nature.
IV. After the lawgiver has given these commands with re
ference to these subjects, he begins to distinguish between the
different kinds of sacrifices, and he divides the victims into
three classes. The most important of which he makes a whole
OX ANIMALS FIT FOR SACRIFICE. 215
burnt offering ; the next an offering for preservation ; the last,
a sin-offering. And then he adapts suitable ceremonies and
rites to each, aiming, in no inadequate manner, at what is at the
same time decorous and holy. And the distinction which he
makes is one of great beauty and propriety, having a close con
nection and a sort of natural kindred with the things them
selves ; for if any one were to wish to examine minutely the
causes for which it seemed good to the first men to betake
themselves at the same time to sacrifices to show their grati
tude, and also to supplications, he will find two most especial
reasons for this conduct. Firstly, that it conduces to the
honour of God, which ought to be aimed at not for the sake of
any other reason, but for itself alone, as being both honourable
and necessary ; and, secondly, for the benefits which have been
poured upon the sacrificers themselves, as has been said before.
And the benefit they derive is also twofold, being both an
admission to a share of good things and a deliverance from
evils.
Therefore the law has assigned the whole burnt offering as
a sacrifice adequate to that honour which is suited to God, and
which belongs to God alone, enjoining that what is offered to
the all-perfect and absolute God must be itself entire and per
fect, having no taint of mortal selfishness in it. But that
sacrifice which is offered for the sake of men, since its appear
ance admits of distinction, the law has distinguished also,
appointing it to be a sacrifice for the participation in blessings
which mankind has enjoined, and calling it a thank-offering
for their preservation. And for the deliverance from evils it
has allotted the sacrifice called a sin-offering, so that these are
very appropriately their sacrifices for these causes; the whole
burnt-offering being sacrificed for God himself alone, who must
be honoured for his own sake, and not for that of any other
being or thing ; and the others for our sake ; the thank-offering
for our preservation, for the safety and amelioration of human
affairs ; and the sin-offering for the cure of those offences which
the soul has committed.
V. And we must now enumerate the laws which have been
enacted respecting each sacrifice, making our commencement
with that which is the most excellent. Now, the most excel
lent sacrifice is the whole burnt-offering. The law says, " In
the first place the victim shall be a male, carefully selected for
216 PHILO JUD^EUS.
its excellence from all the animals which are fit for sacrifice, a
calf, or a lamb, or a kid. And then let him who brings it wash
his hands, and lay his hands on the head of the victim. And
after this let some one of the priests take the victim and sacri
fice it, and let another hold a bowl under it, and, having caught
some of the blood, let him go all around the altar and sprinkle
it with the blood, and let him flay the victim and divide it into
large pieces, having washed its entrails and its feet. And
then let the whole victim be given to the fire of the altar of
God,* having become many things instead of one, and one in
stead of many."
These things, then, are comprehended in express words of
command. But there is another meaning figuratively con
cealed under the enigmatical expressions. And the words
employed are visible symbols of what is invisible and uncertain.
Now the victim which is to be sacrificed as a whole burnt offer
ing must be a male, because a male is both more akin to
domination than a female and more nearly related to the effi
cient cause ; for the female is imperfect, subject, seen more
as the passive than as the active partner. And since the
elements of which our soul consists are two in number, the
rational and the irrational part, the rational part belongs to the
male sex, being the inheritance of intellect and reason ; but the
irrational part belongs to the sex of woman, which is the lot
also of the outward senses. And the mind is in every respect
superior to the outward sense, as the man is to the woman ;
who, when he is without blemish and purified with the proper
purifications, namely, the perfect virtues, is himself the most
holy sacrifice, being wholly and in all respects pleasing to God.
Again, the hands which are laid upon the head of the victim
are a most manifest symbol of irreproachable actions, and of a
life which does nothing which is open to accusation, but which
in all respects is passed in a manner consistent with the laws
and ordinances of nature ; for the law 7 , in the first place, desires
that the mind of the man who is offering the sacrifice shall be
made holy by being exercised in good and advantageous
doctrines ; and, in the second place, that his life shall consist
of most virtuous actions, so that, in conjunction with the imposi
tion of hands, the man may speak freely out of his cleanly con
science, and may say, " These hands have never received any
* Leviticus i. 3.
ON ANIMALS FIT FOR SACRIFICE. 217
gift as a bribe to commit an unjust action, nor any division of
what has been obtained by rapine or by covetousness, nor have
they shed innocent blood, nor have they wrought mutilation,
nor works of insolence, nor acts of violence, nor have they in
flicted any wounds ; nor, in fact, have they performed any
action whatever which is liable to accusation or to reproach,
but have been ministers in everything which is honourable and
advantageous, and which is honoured by wisdom, or by the
laws, or by honourable and virtuous men."
VI. And the blood is poured out in a circle all round the
altar, because a circle is the most complete of all figures, and
also in order that no part whatever may be left empty and un
occupied by the libation of life ; for, to speak properly, the
blood is the libation of the life. Therefore the law here
symbolically teaches us that the mind, which is always per
forming its dances in a circle, is by every description of words,
and intentions, and actions which it adopts, always showing its
desire to please God.
And it is commanded that the belly and the feet shall be
washed, which command is a figurative and very expressive
one ; for, by the belly it is figuratively meant to be signified
that it is desirable that the appetites shall be purified, which
are full of stains, and intoxication, and drunkenness, being
thus a most pernicious evil, existing, and concocted, and exer
cised to the great injury of the life of mankind. And by the
command that the feet of the victim should be washed, it is
figuratively shown that we must no longer walk upon the
earth, but soar aloft and traverse the air.
For the soul of the man who is devoted to God, being eager tor
truth, springs upward and mounts from earth to heaven ; and,
being borne on wings, traverses the expanse of the air, being
ea<*er to be classed with and to move in concert with the sun,
and moon, and all the rest of the most sacred and most harmo
nious company of the stars, under the immediate command and
government of God, who has a kingly authority without any
rival, and of which he can never be deprived, in accordance
with which he justly governs the universe. ^
And the division of the animal into limbs shows plainly
that all things are but one, or that they are derived from one,
and dissolved into one ; which some persons have called satiety
and also want, while others have called it combustion and
218 PHILO JUD^US.
arrangement: combustion, in accordance with the supreme
power of God, who rules all other things in the world ; and
arrangement, according to the equality of the four elements
which they all mutually allow to one another.
And when I have been investigating these matters, this has
appeared to me to be a probable conjecture ; the soul which
honours the living God, ought for that very reason to honour
him not inconsiderately nor ignorantly, but with knowledge
and reason ; and the reasoning which we indulge in respecting
God admits of division and partition, according to each of the
divine faculties and excellencies ; for God is both all good, and
is also the maker and creator of the universe; and he also
created it having a foreknowledge of what would take place,
and being its preserver and most blessed benefactor, full of
every kind of happiness ; all which circumstances have in
themselves a most dignified and praiseworthy character, both
separately and when looked at in conjunction with their
kindred qualities ; and we must speak in the same way of
other matters.
When you wish to give thanks to God with your mind, and
to assert your gratitude for the creation of the world, give him
thanks for the creation of it as a whole, and of all its separate
parts in their integrity, as if for the limbs of a most perfect
animal ; and by the parts I mean, for instance, the heaven, and
the sun, and the moon, and the fixed stars ; and secondly the
earth, and the animals, and plants which spring from it ; and
next the seas and rivers, whether naturally springing from the
ground or swollen by rain as winter torrents, and all the
things in them : and lastly, the air and all the changes that
take place in it; for winter, and summer, and spring, and
autumn, being the seasons of the year, and being all of groat
service to mankind, are what we may call affections of the air for
the preservation of all these things that are beneath the moon.
And if ever you give thanks for men and their fortunes, do
not do so only for the race taken generally, but you shall give
thanks also for the species and most important parts of the
race, such as men and women, Greeks and barbarians, men on
the continent, and those who have their habitation in the
islands ; and if you are giving thanks for one individual, do
not divide your thankfulness in expression into gratitude for
minute trifles and inconsiderable matters, but take in vour
ON ANIMALS FIT FOR SACRIFICE. 19
view the most comprehensive circumstances, first of all, his
body and his soul, of which he consists, and then his speech,
and his mind, and his outward senses ; for such gratitude can
not of itself be unworthy of being listened to by God, when
uttered, for each of these particulars.
VII. These things are enough for us to say respecting the
sacrifice of the whole burnt-offering. We must now proceed in
due order to consider that offering which is called the sacrifice
for preservation ; for with respect to this one it is a matter of
consequence whether the victim be male or female ; and when
it is slain, these three parts are especially selected for the altar,
the fat, and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys ; and all
the other parts are left to make a feast for the sacrificer ; and
we must consider with great accuracy the reason why these
portions of the entrails are in this case looked upon as sacred,
and not pass this point by carelessly..
Often when I have been considering this matter in my own
mind, and investigating all these commandments, I have
doubted why the law selected the lobe of the liver, and the
kidneys, and the fat, as the first fruits of the animals thus
sacrificed ; and did not choose the heart or the brain, though
the dominant part of the man resides in one of these parts ;
and I think also that many other persons who read the sacred
scriptures with their mind, rather than merely with their eyes,
will ask the same question. If therefore they, when they have
considered the matter, can find anymore probable reason, they
will be benefiting both themselves and us ; but if they cannot,
let them consider the cause which has been discovered by us,
and see whether it will stand the test ; and this is it.
The dominant power alone of all those that exist in us is
able to restrain our natural folly, and injustice, and cowardice,
and our other vices, and does restrain them ; and the abode of
this dominant power is one or other of the aforesaid portions
of us, that is, it is either the brain or the heart ; therefore the
sacred commandment has thought fit that one should not
bring to the altar of God, by means of which a remission and
complete pardon of all sins and transgressions is procured,
that vessel from which the mind having at one time been
abiding in it, has gone forth on the trackless road of injustice
and impiety, having turned out of the way which leads to
220 PHILO JUIWEU3.
virtue and excellence ; for it would be folly to suppose that
sacrifices were not to procure a forgetfulness of offences, but
were to act as a reminder of them.
This it is which appears to me to be the reason why
neither of those two parts, which are of supreme importance",
namely, the brain or the heart, is brought to the altar; and the
parts which are commanded to be brought have a very suit
able reason why they should be ; the fat is brought because it is
the richest part, and that" which guards the entrails ; for it
envelops them and makes them to flourish, and benefits
them by the softness of its touch.
And the kidneys are commanded to be selected on account
of the adjacent parts and the organs of generation, which
they, as they dwtll near them, do, like good neighbours, assist
and co-operate with, in order that the seed of nature mav
prosper without anything in its vicinity being any obstacle to
it ; for they are channels resembling blood, by which that
part of the purification of the superfluities of the body which
is moist is separated from the body ; and the testicles are near
by which the seed is irrigated.
And the lobe of the liver is the first fruit of the most im
portant of the entrails, bv means of which the food is digested,
and being conveyed into the stomach is diffused through all the
veins, and so conduces to the durability of the whole body;
for the stomach, lying close to the gullet which swallows the
food, receives it as soon after it has first been chewed by the
teeth and been made smooth, and so digests it ; and the body
again receives it from the stomach and performs the second
part of the service required, to which indeed it has been des
tined by nature, giving forth a juice to aid in liquefying the
food ; and there are two pipes like channels in the belly, which
pour forth chyle into the liver, through the two channels
which are originally placed in it.
And the liver has a twofold power, a secretive one, and also
a power of making blood. Now the secretive power secretes
everything which is hard and difficult to be digested, and
removes it into the adjacent vessels of gall ; and the other
power turns all that portion of the food which is pure and
properly strained, by the means of its own innate flame, into
life-like vivifying blood ; and presses it into the heart, from
ON ANIMALS FIT FOR SACRIFICE. 221
\vhich, as has been already said, it is conveyed through the
veins and by these channels is diffused through the whole body
to which it becomes the nourishment.
We must also add to what has been here said, that the
nature of the liver being of a lofty character and very smooth,
by reason of its smoothness is looked upon as a very transpa
rent mirror, so that when the mind, retreating from the cares
of the day (while the body is lying relaxed in sleep, and
while no one of the outward senses is any hindrance or impe
diment), begins to roll itself about, and to consider the objects
of its thought by itself without any interruption, looking into
the liver as into a mirror, it then sees, very clearly and with
out any alloy, every one of the proper objects of the intellect,
and looking round upon all vain idols, and seeing that no
disgrace can accrue to it, but taking care to avoid that and to
choose the contrary, and being contented and pleased with all
that it sees, it by dreams obtains a prophetic sight of the
future.
VIII. And there are two days only during which God
permits the nation to make use of the sacrifice for preservation,
enjoining them to carve nothing of it till the third day, on
many accounts, first of all, because all the things which
are ever placed on the sacred table, ought to be made use of
in due season, while the users take care that they shall suffer
no deterioration from the lapse of time ; but the nature of
meat that has been kept is very apt to become putrid, even
though it may have been seasoned in the cooking ; secondly,
because it is fitting that the sacrifices should not be stored up
for food, but should be openly exposed, so as to afford a meal
to all who are in need of it, for the sacrifice when once placed
on the altar, is no longer the property of the person who has
offered it, but belongs to that Being to whom the victim is
sacrificed, who, being a beneficent and bounteous God, makes
the whole company of those who offer the sacrifice, partakers
at the altar and messmates, only admonishing them not to look
upon it as their own feast, for they are but stewards of the
feast, and not the entertainers ; and the entertainer is the man
to whom all the preparation belongs, which it is not lawful to
conceal while preferring parsimony and illiberal meanness to
humanity which is a noble virtue.
Lastly, this command was given because it so happens that
the sacrifice for preservation is offered up for two things, the
222 PHILO JUD.EUS.
soul and the body, to each of which the lawgiver has assigned
one day for feasting on the meats, for it was becoming that
a number of days should be allotted for this purpose equal to
the number of those parts in us which were designed to be
sacred ; so that in the first day we should, together with our
eating of the food, receive a recollection of the salvation of our
souls ; and on the second day be reminded of the sound health
of our bodies. And since there is no third object which is
naturally appointed as one that should receive preservation, he
has, with all possible strictness, forbidden the use of those
meats being reserved to the third day, commanding that if it
should so happen that, out of ignorance or forgetfulness, any
portion was left, it should be consumed with fire ; and he de-.,
clares that the man who has merely tasted of it is blameable,
saying to him, * Though thinking that you were sacrificing,
foolish man, you have not sacrificed ; I have not accepted the
unholy, unconsecrated, profane, unclean meats which you have
roasted, gluttonous man ; never, even in a dream, having a
proper idea of sacrifice."
IX. To this species of sacrifice for preservation that other
sacrifice also belongs, which is called the sacrifice of praise,
and which rests on the following principle.* The man who
has never fallen into any unexpected disaster whatever, neither
as to his body nor as to his external circumstances, but who
has passed a tranquil and peaceful life, living in happiness
and prosperity, being free from all calamity and all mishap,
steering through the long voyage of life in calmness and
serenity of circumstances, good fortune always blowing upon
the stern of his vessel, is, of necessity, bound to requite God,
who has been the pilot of his voyage, who has bestowed upon
him untroubled salvation and unalloyed benefits, and, in short,
all sorts of blessings unmingled with any evil, with hymns,
and songs, and prayers, and also with sacrifices, and all other
imaginable tokens of gratitude in a holy manner ; all which
things taken together have received the one comprehensive
name of praise.
This sacrifice the lawgiver has not commanded to be spread
like the one before mentioned over two days,t but he has con
fined it to one only, in order that these men, who meet with
ready benefits freely poured upon them, may offer up their
requital freely and without any delay.
* Leviticus xix. 1 t Leviticus vii. 5.
ON ANIMALS FIT FOR SACRIFICE. 223
X. This is sufficient to say on these subjects. We must
now proceed, in due order, to consider the third sacrifice,
which is called the sin-offering. This is varied in many
ways, both in respect to the persons and to the descrip
tion of victims offered ; in respect of persons, that is, of the
high priest, and of the whole nation, and of the ruler in his
turn, and of the private individual ; in respect of the victim
offered, whether it be a calf, or a kid, or a she-goat, or a lamb.
Also there is a distinction made, which is very necessary,
as to whether they are voluntary or involuntary, with reference
to those who, after they have erred, change for the better, con
fessing that they have sinned, and reproaching themselves for
the offences that they have committed, and turning, for the
future, to an irreproachable way of life.
The sins therefore of the high priest, and of the whole
nation, are atoned for by animals of equal value, for the priest
is commanded to offer up a calf for each. The sins of the
ruler are atoned for by an inferior animal, but still a male, for
a kid is the appointed victim. The sins of the private indi
vidual by a victim of an inferior species, for it is a female, not
a male, a she-goat, that is sacrificed ; for it was fitting that a
ruler should be ranked above a private individual, even in his
performance of sacred ceremonies also: but the nation is
superior to the ruler, since the whole must, at all times, be
superior to the part. But the high priest is accounted worthy
of the same honour as the whole nation, in respect of purifica-
"tion and of entreating a forgiveness of his sins from the
merciful power of God.
And he receives an equality of honour, not so much as it ap
pears for his own sake, as because he is a servant of the
nation, offering up a common thank-offering for them all in
his most sacred prayers and most holy sacrifices. And the
commandment given respecting these matters is one of great
dignity and admirable solemnity. "If," says the law, "the
high priest have sinned unintentionally," and then it adds,
" so that the people has sinned too," all but affirming in ex
press words that the truejngh^ priest, not^the jone incorrectly
called so, has no participation in sm -"""ancT if ever lie stumble,
this will happen to him, not for his own sake, but for the com
mon errors of the nation, and this error is not incurable, but
is one which easily admits of a remedy. When, therefore, the
224 PHILO JUD^US.
calf has been sacrificed, the lawgiver commands the sacrifice!"
to sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times in
front of the veil which is before the holy of holies, within the
former veil, in which place the sacred vessels are placed ; and
after that to smear and anoint the four horns of the altar, for
it is square ; and to pour out the rest of the blood at the foot
of the altar, which is in the open air. And to this altar they
are commanded to bring three things, the fat, and the lobe of
the liver, and the two kidneys, in accordance with the com
mandment given with reference to the sacrifice for preserva
tion ; but the skin and the flesh, and all the rest of the body
of the calf, from the head to the feet, with the entrails, they
are commanded to carry out and to burn in an open place, to
which the sacred ashes from the altar have been conveyed.
The lawgiver also gives the same command with respect to
the whole nation when it has sinned. But if any ruler has
sinned he makes his purification with a kid,* as I have said
before ; and if a private individual has sinned, he must offer a
she-goat or a lamb ; and for the ruler he appoints a male vic
tim, but to the private individual a female, making all his
other injunctions the same in both cases, to anoint the horns
of the altar in the open air with blood, to bring the fat and the
lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys, and to give the rest of
the victim to the priests to eat.
XI. But since, of offences some are committed against men,
and some against holy and sacred things ; he has hitherto
been speaking with reference to those which are unintention
ally committed against men ; but for the purification of such
as have been committed against sacred things he commands
a ram to be offered up, after the offender has first paid the
value of the thing to which the offence related, adding one
fifth to the exact value.
And after having put forth these and similar enactments
with reference to sins committed unintentionally, he proceeds
to lay down rules respecting intentional offences. " If any
one," says the law, " shall speak falsely concerning a partner
ship, or about a deposit, or about a theft, or about the finding
of something which another has lost, and being suspected and
having had an oath proposed to him, shall swear, and when he
appears to have escaped all conviction at the hands of his
* Leviticus iv. 22.
ON ANIMALS FIT FOR SACRIFICE. 225
accusers, shall himself become his own accuser, being con
victed by his own conscience residing within, and shall
reproach himself for the things which he has denied, and as to
which he has sworn falsely, and shall come and openly confess
the sin which he has committed, and implore pardon ; then
pardon shall be given to such a man, who shows the truth
of his repentance, not by promises but by works, by restoring
the deposit which he has received, and by giving up the things
which he has stolen or found, or of which in short he has in
any way deprived his neighbour, paying also in addition one
fifth of the value, as an atonement for the evil which he had
done."*
And then, after he has appeased the man who had been
injured, the law proceeds to say, " After this let him go also
into the temple, to implore remission of the sins which he has
committed, taking with him an irreproachable meditator,
namely, that conviction of the soul which has delivered him
from his incurable calamity, curing him of the disease which
would cause death, and wholly changing and bringing him to
good health." And it orders that he should sacrifice a ram, and
this victim is expressly mentioned, as it is in the case of the
man who has offended in respect of the holy things ; for the
law speaks of an unintentional offence in the matter of holy
things as of equal importance with an intentional sin in
respect of men ; if we may not indeed say that this also is
holy, since an oath is added to it, which, as having been taken for
an unjust cause, it has corrected by an alteration for the better.
And we must take notice that the parts of the victim slain
as a sin-offering which are placed upon the altar, are the
same as those which are taken from the sacrifice for preserva
tion, namely the lobe of the liver, and the fat, and the
kidneys ; for in a manner we may speak also of the man who
repents as being preserved, since he is cured of a disease of
the soul, which is worse than the diseases of the body ; but the
other parts of the animal are assigned to be eaten in a differ
ent manner ; and the difference consists in three things ; in the
place, and time, and in those who receive it.t Now the place
is the temple ; the time is one day instead of two ; and the per
sons who partake of it are the priests, and the male servants of
the priests, but not the men who offer the sacrifice. Therefore
* Leviticus v- 20. t Leviticus vi. 9.
VOL. III. Q
226 PHILO JUD^EUS.
the law does not permit the sacrifice to be brought out of the
temple, with the intent that, if the man who repents has com
mitted any previous offence also, he may not now be over
whelmed by envious and malicious men, with foolish disposi
tions and unbridled tongues, always lying in wait for reproach
and false accusation ; but it must be eaten in the sacred pre
cincts, within which the purification has taken place.
XII. And the law orders the priests to feast on what is
offered in the sacrifice for many reasons ; first of all, that by
this command it may do honour to him who has offered the
sacrifice, for the dignity of those who eat of the feast is an
honour to those who furnish it; secondly, that they may
believe the mo^e firmly that those men who feel repentance
for their sins do really have God propitious to them, for he
would never have invited his servants and ministers to a par
ticipation in such a banquet, if his forgiveness of those who
provided it had not been complete ; and thirdly, because it is
i ot lawful for any one of the priests to bear a part in the
sacred ceremonies who is not perfect, for they are rejected for
the slightest blemish.
And God comforts those who have ceased to travel by the
road of wickedness, as if they now, by means of the race of
the priesthood, had received a pure purpose of life for the
future, and had been sent forth so as to obtain an equal share
of honour with the priests. And it is for this reason that the
victim sacrificed as a sin-offering is consumed in one day,
because men ought to delay to sin, being always slow and
reluctant to approach it, but to exert all possible haste and
promptness in doing well.
But the sacrifices offered up for the sins of the high priest,
or for those of the whole nation, are not prepared to be eaten
at all, but are burnt to ashes, and the ashes are sacred as has
been said ; for there is no one who is superior to the high
priest or to the whole nation, or who can as such be an inter
cessor for them, as to the sins which they have committed.
Very naturally, therefore, is the meat of this sacrifice ordered
to be consumed by fire, in imitation of the whole burnt offer
ings, and this to the honour of those who offer it ; not because
the sacred judgments of God are given with reference to the
rank of those who come before his tribunal, but because the
offences committed by men of pre-eminent virtue and real
ON ANIMALS FIT FOB SACRIFICE. 227
holiness are accounted of a character nearly akin to the good
actions of others ; for as a deep and fertile soil, even if it at
times yields a bad crop, still bears more and better fruit than
one which is naturally unproductive, so in the same manner
it happens that the barrenness of virtuous and God-fearing
men is more full of excellence than the best actions which
ordinary people perform by chance; for these men cannot
intentionally endure to do anything blameable.
Having given these commandments about every description
of sacrifice in its turn, namely, about the burnt offering, and
the sacrifice for preservation, and the sin-offering, he adds
another kind of offering common to all the three, in order to
show that they are friendly and connected with one another ;
and this combination of them all is called the great vow ; and
why it received this appellation we must now proceed to say.
When any persons offer first fruits from any portion of their
possessions, wheat, or barley, or oil, or wine, or the best of
their fruits, or the first-born males of their flocks and herds,
they do so actually dedicating those first fruits which proceed
from what is clean, but paying a price as the value of what is
unclean ; and when they have no longer any materials left in
which they can display their piety, they then consecrate and
offer up themselves, displaying an unspeakable holiness, and a
most superabundant excess of a God-loving disposition, on which
account such a dedication is fitly called the great vow ; for
every rnan is his own greatest and most valuable possession,
and this even he now gives up and abandons.
And when a man has vowed this vow the law gives him the
following command ; first of all, to touch no unmixed wine, nor
any wine that is made of the grape, nor to drink any other strong
drink whatever, to the destruction of his reason, considering
that during this period his reason also is dedicated to God ;
for all which could tend to drunkenness is forbidden to those of
the priests who are employed in the sacred ministrations, they
being commanded to quench their thirst with water ; in the
second place they are commanded not to show their heads,
giving thus a visible sign to all who see them that they are
not debasing the pure coinage of their vow ; thirdly, they are
commanded to keep their body pure and undefiled, so as not
even to approach their parents if they are dead, nor their
* Numbers vi 2.
Q 2
228 PHILO JUDJSUS.
brothers ; piety overcoming the natural good will and affection
towards their relations and dearest friends, and it is both
honourable and expedient that piety should at all times prevail.
XIV. But when the appointed time for their being released*
from this vow has arrived, the law then commands the man
who has dedicated himself to bring three animals to procure his
release from his vow, a male lamb, and a female lamb, and a
ram ; the one for a burnt offering, the second for a sin-offer
ing, and the ram as a sacrifice for preservation ; for in some
sense the man who has made such a vow resembles all these
things. He resembles the sacrifice of the entire burnt offering,
because he is dedicating to his preserver not only a portion of
the first fruits of other things, but also of his own self. And he
resembles the sin-offering, inasmuch as he is a man ; for there
is no one born, however perfect he may be, who can wholly
avoid the commission of sin. He resembles also the offering
for preservation, inasmuch as he has recorded that God the
saviour is the cause of his preservation, and does not ascribe it
to any physician or to any power of his ; for those who have
been born themselves, and who are liable to infirmity, are not
competent to bestow health even on themselves .
Medicine does not benefit all persons, nor does it always
benefit the same persons ; but there are times even when it
does them great injury, since its power depends on different
things, both on the thing itself and also on those persons who
use it. And a great impression is made on me by the fact that
of three animals offered up in these different sacrifices, there
is no one of a different species from the others, but they are
every one of the same kind, a ram, and a male lamb, and a
female lamb ; for God wishes, as I said a little while ago,
by this commandment to point out that the three kinds of
sacrifice are nearly connected with and akin to one another ;
because, both the man who repents is saved, and the man who
is saved from the diseases of the soul repents, and because
both of them hasten with eagerness to attain to an entire and
perfect disposition, of which the sacrifice of the whole burnt-
offering is a symbol.
But since the man has begun to offer himself as his first
fruits, and since it is not lawful for the sacred altar to be pol
luted with human blood, but yet it was by all means necessary
* Numbers vi. 14,
ON THOSE WHO OFFER SACRIFICE. 229
that a portion should be consecrated, he has taken care to take
a portion, which, being taken, should cause neither pain nor
defilement ; for he has cut off* the hair of the head, the
superfluities of the natural body, as if they were the super
fluous branches of a tree, and he has committed them to the
fire on which the meat of the sacrifice offered for preservation
will be suitably prepared,f in order that some portion of the
man who has made the vow, which it is not lawful to place
upon the altar, may still at all events be combined with the
sacrifice, burning the fuel of the sacred flame.
XV. These sacred fires are common to all the rest of the
people. But it was fitting that the priests also should offer
up something on the altar as first fruits, not thinking that the
services and sacred ministrations to which they have been ap
pointed have secured them an exemption from such duties.
And the first fruits suitable for the priests to offer do not come
from anything containing blood, but from the purest portion of
human food; for the fine wheaten flour is their continual
offering ; a tenth part of a sacred measure every day ; one half
of which is offered up in the morning, and one half in the
evening, having been soaked in oil, so that no portion of it
can be left for food ; for the command of God is, that all the
sacrifices of the priests shall be wholly burnt, and that no
portion of them shall be allotted for food.
Having now, then, to ths best of our ability, discussed the
matters relating to the sacrifices, we will proceed in due order
to speak concerning those who offer them.
A TREATISE
ON THOSE WHO OTTER SACRIFICE.
I. THE law chooses that a person who brings a sacrifice
shall be pure, both in body and soul ; pure in soul from all
passions, and diseases, and vices, which can be displayed either
in word or deed ; and pure in body from all such things as a
body is usually defiled by. And it has appointed a burning
purification for both these things ; for the soul, by means of
* Numbers vi. 18. t Leviticus vl 13.
230 PHILO JUD^EUS.
the animals which are duly fit for sacrifices ; and for the body,
by ablutions and sprinklings ; concerning which we will speak
presently ; for it is fit to assign the pre-eminence in honour
in every point to the superior and dominant part of the quali
ties existing in us, namely, to the soul. What, then, is the
mode of purifying the soul ?
" Look," says the law, " take care that the victim which
thou bringest to the altar is perfect, wholly without partici
pation in any kind of blemish, selected from many on account
of its excellence, by the uncorrupted judgments of the priests,
and by their most acute sight, and by their continual practice
derived from being exercised in the examination of faultless
victims. For if you do not see this with your eyes more than
with your reason, you will not wash off all the imperfections
and stains which you have imprinted on your whole life, partly
in consequence of unexpected events, and partly by deliberate
purpose ; for you will find that this exceeding accuracy of in
vestigation into the animals, figuratively signifies the ameliora-
. tion of your own disposition and conduct ; for the law was not
established for the sake of irrational animals, but for that of
those who have intellect and reason." So that the real object
taken care of is not the condition of the victims sacrificed in
order that they may have no blemish, but that of the sacri-
ficers that they may not be defiled by any unlawful passion.
The body then, as I have already said, he purifies with ab
lutions and besprinklings, and does not allow a person after he
has once washed and sprinkled himself, at once to enter within
the sacred precincts, but bids him wait outside for seven days,
and to be besprinkled twice, on the third day and on the
seventh day ; and after this it commands him to wash himself
once more, and then it admits him to enter the sacred pre
cincts and to share in the sacred ministrations.
II. "We must consider what great prudence and philosophical
wisdom is displayed in this law ; for nearly all other persons
are besprinkled with pure water, generally in the sea, some in
rivers, and others again in vessels of water which they draw
from fountains. But Moses, having previously prepared ashes
which had been left from the sacred fire (and in what manner
shall be explained hereafter), appointed that it should be right
to take some of them and to put them in a vessel, and then to
pour water upon them, and then, dipping some branches of
ON THOSE WHO OFFER SACRIFICE. 31
hyssop in the mixture of ashes and water, to sprinkle it over
those who were to be purified. And the cause of this proceed
ing may very probably be said to be this :
The lawgiver s intention is that those who approach the
service of the living God should first of all know themselves
and their own essence. For how can the man who does not
know himself ever comprehend the supreme and all- excelling
power of God? Therefore, our bodily essence is earth and
water, of which he reminds us by this purification, conceiving
that this result namely, to know one s self, and to know also of
whatone is composed, of what utterly valueless substances mere
ashes and water are is of itself the most beneficial purifica
tion. For when a man is aware of this he will at once reject
all vain and treacherous conceit, and, discarding haughtiness
and pride, he will seek to become pleasing to God, and to
conciliate the merciful power of that Being who hates arro
gance.
For it i?. said somewhere with great beauty, " He that
exhibits over proud words or actions offends not men alone
but God also, the maker of equality and of every thing else
that is most excellent." Theiefore, to us who are amazed and
excited by this sprinkling the very elements themselves, earth
and water, may almost be said to utter distinct words, and to
say plainly, we are the essence of your bodies ; nature having
mixed us together, divine art has fashioned us into the figure
of a man. Being made of us when you were born, you will
again be dissolved into us when you come to die ; for it is not
the nature of any thing to be destroyed so as to become non
existent ; but the end brings it back to those elements from
which its beginnings come.
III. But now it is necessary to fulfil our promise and to
explain the peculiar propriety involved in this use of ashes.
For they are not merely the ashes of wood which has been
consumed by fire, but also of an animal particularly suited for
this kind of purification. For the law orders* that a red
heifer, which has never been brought under the yoke, shall be
sacrificed outside of the city, and that the high priest, taking
some of the blood, shall seven times sprinkle with it all the
things in front of the temple, and then shall burn the whole
animal, with its hide and flesh, and with the belly full of all
* Numbers six. 1.
232 PHILO JUD^EUS.
the entrails. And when the flame begins to pour down, then it
commands that these three things shall be thrown into the middle
of it, a stick of cedar, a stick of hyssop, and a bunch of saffron ;
and then, when the fire is wholly extinguished, it commands
that some man who is clean shall collect the ashes, and shall
again place them outside of the city in some open place.
And what figurative meanings he conceals under these
orders as symbols, we have accurately explained in another
treatise, in which we have discussed the allegories.
It is necessary, therefore, for those who are about to go into
the temple to partake of the sacrifice, to be cleansed as to their
bodies and as to their souls before their bodies. For the soul is
the mistress and the queen, and is superior in every thing, as
having received a more divine nature. And the things which
cleanse the mind are wisdom and the doctrines of wisdom, which
lead it to the contemplation of the world and the things in it ;
and the sacred chorus of the rest of the virtues, and honourable
and very praiseworthy actions in accordance with the virtues.
Let the man, therefore, who is adorned with these qualities go
forth in cheerful confidence to the temple which most nearly
belongs to him, the most excellent of all abodes to offer him
self as a sacrifice. But let him in whom covetousness and a
desire of unjust things dwell and display themselves, cover his
head and be silent, checking his shameless folly and his exces
sive impudence, in those matters in which caution is profitable ;
for the temple of the truly living God may not be approached
by unholy sacrifices.
I should say to such a man : My good man, God is not
pleased even though a man bring hecatombs to his altar ; for
he possesses all things as his own, and stands in need of
nothing. But he delights in minds which love God, and in
men who practise holiness, from whom he gladly receives
cakes and barley, and the very cheapest things, as if they were
the most valuable in preference to such as are most costly.
And even if they bring nothing else, still when they bring
themselves, the most perfect completeness of virtue and excel
lence, they are offering the most excellent of all sacrifices,
honouring God, their Benefactor and Saviour, with hymns and
thanksgivings ; the former uttered by the organs of the voice,
and the latter without the agency of tongue or mouth, the
worshippers making their exclamations and invocations with
ON THOSE WHO OFFER SACRIFICE. 233
their soul aloue, and only appreciable by the intellect, and
there is but one ear, namely, that of the Deity which hears
them. For the hearing of men does not extend so far as to
be sensible of them.
IV. And that this statement is true, and not mine but that
of nature, is testified to a certain degree by the evident nature
of the thing itself, which affords a manifest proof which none
can deny who do not cleave to credulity out of a contentious
disposition. It is testified also by the law which commands
two altars to be prepared, differing both as to the materials of
which they are made, as to the places in which they are
erected, and as to the purposes to which they are applied ; for
one is made of stones, carefully selected so to fit one another,
and unhewn, and it is erected in the open air, near the steps
of the temple, and it is for the purpose of sacrificing victims
which contain blood in them. And the other is made of gold,
and is erected in the inner part of the temple, within the first
veil, and may not be seen by any other human being except
those of the priests who keep themselves pure, and it is for
the purpose of offering incense upon ; from which it is plain
that God looks upon even the smallest offering of frankincense
by a holy man as more valuable than ten thousand beasts
which may be sacrificed by one who is not thoroughly virtuous.
For in proportion, I imagine, as gold is more valuable than
stones, and as the things within the inner temple are more
holy than those without, in the same proportion is the grati
tude displayed by offerings of incense superior to that dis
played by the sacrifice of victims full of blood, on which
account the altar of incense is honoured not only in the costli
ness of its materials, and in the manner of its erection, -and
in its situation, but also in the fact that it ministers every day
before any thing else to the thanksgivings to be paid to God.
For the law does not permit the priest to offer the sacrifice of
the whole burnt offering outside before he has offered incense
within at the earliest dawn.*
And this command is a symbol of nothing else but of the
fact that in the eyes of God it is not the number of things
sacrificed that is accounted valuable, but the purity of the
rational spirit of the sacrificer. Unless, indeed, one can
suppose that a judge who is anxious to pronounce a holy judg-
* Exodus xxx. 8.
234 PHILO JUD^lUS.
inent will never receive gifts from any of those whose conduct
comes before his tribunal, or that, if he does receive such
presents, he will be liable to an accusation of corruption ; and
that a good man will not receive gifts from a wicked person,
not even though he may be poor and the other rich, and he
himself perhaps in actual want of what he would so receive ;
and yet that God can be corrupted by bribes, who is most all-
sufficient for himself and who has no need of any thing
created ; who, being himself the first and most perfect good
thing, the everlasting fountain of wisdom, and justice, and of
every virtue, rejects the gifts of the wicked. And is not the
man who would offer such gifts the most shameless of all men,
if he offers a portion of the things which he has acquired by
doing injury, or by rapine, or by false denial, or by robbery, to
God as if he were a partner in his wickedness? most
miserable of all men !
I should say to such a man, " You must be expecting one of
two things. Either that you will be able to pass undetected,
or that you will be discovered. Therefore, if you expect to be
able to pass undetected, you are ignorant of the power of God,
by which he at the same time sees everything and hears
everything. And if you think that you will be discovered, you
are most audacious in (when you ought rather to endeavour
to conceal the wicked actions which you have committed) bring
ing forward to light specimens of all your iniquitous deeds, and
giving yourself airs, and dividing the fruits of them with God,
bringing him unholy first fruits. And have you not considered
this, that the law does not admit of lawlessness, nor does the
light of the sun admit of darkness ; but God is the archetypal
model of all laws, and the sun, which can be appreciated only
by the intellect, is the archetypal model of that which is visible
to the senses, bringing forth from its invisible fountains visible
light to afford to him who sees."
V. Moreover, there are other commandments relating to the
altar. The law says, " A fire shall be kept burning on the
altar which shall never be extinguished, but shall be kept burn
ing for ever."* I think with great reason and propriety; for,
since the graces of God are everlasting, and unceasing, and
uninterrupted, which we now enjoy day and night, and since
the symbol of gratitude is the sacred flame, it is fitting that it
* Leviticus vi. 9.
ON THOSE WHO OFFER SACRIFICE. 235
should be kindled, and that it should remain unextinguished
for ever. And, perhaps, the lawgiver designed by this com
mand to connect the old with the new sacrifices, and to unite
the two by the duration and presence of the same fire by which
all such sacrifices are consecrated, in order to demonstrate the
fact that all perfect sacrifices consisted in thanksgiving, although,
according to the diversity of the occasions on which they are
offered, more victims are offered at one time and fewer at
another. But some are verbal symbols of things appreciable
only by the intellect, and the mystical meaning which is con
cealed beneath them must be investigated by those who are
eager for truth in accordance with the rules of allegory.
The altar of God is the grateful soul of the wise man, being
compounded of perfect numbers undivided and indivisible ; for
no part of virtue is useless. On this soul the sacred fire is
continually kept burning, preserved with care and unextinguish-
able. But the light of the mind is wisdom ; as, on the con
trary, the darkness of the soul is folly. For what the light
discernible by the outward senses is to the eyes, that is know
ledge to reason with a view to the contemplation of incorporeal
things discernible only by the intellect, the light of which is
continually shining and never extinguished.
VI. After this the law says, " On every offering you shall
add salt."* By which injunction, as I have said before, he
figuratively implies a duration for ever ; for salt is calculated
to preserve bodies, being placed in the second rank as inferior
only to the soul ; for as the soul is the cause of bodies not being
destroyed, so likewise is salt, which keeps them together in the
greatest degree, and to some extent makes them immortal.
On which account the law calls the altar 6v<ria<rrrigiov, giving it
a peculiar name of especial honour, from its preserving
(diarrtosu) the sacrifices (rag dvffias) in a proper manner, and
this too though the flesh is consumed by fire ; so as to afford
the most evident proof possible that God looks not upon the
victims as forming the real sacrifice, but on the mind and
willingness of him who offers them, that so the durability and
firmness of the altar may be ensured by virtue.
Moreover, it also ordains that every sacrifice shall be offered
up without any leaven or honey, not thinking it fit that either
of these things should be brought to the altar The honey,
* Leviticus ii. 13.
236 PHILO JUD^EUS.
perhaps, because the bee which collects it is not a clean animal,
inasmuch as it derives its birth, as the story goes, from the
putrefaction and corruption of dead oxen,* just as wasps spring
from the bodies of horses. Or else this may be forbidden as a
figurative declaration that all superfluous pleasure is unholy,
making, indeed, the things which are eaten sweet to the taste,
but inflicting bitter pains difficult to be cured at a subsequent
period, by which the soul must of necessity be agitated and
thrown into confusion, not being able to settle on any sure
resting place.
And leaven is forbidden on account of the rising which it
causes ; this prohibition again having a figurative meaning, inti
mating that no one who comes to the altar ought at all to allow
himself to be elated, being puffed up by insolence ; but that
such persons may keep their eyes fixed on the greatness of God,
* This refers to the same idea so beautifully expressed by Virgil,
Georgic iv. 548.
Haud mora ; continuo matris prrecepta facessit.
Ad delubra venit, monstratas excitat aras ;
Quatuor eximios praestanti corpore tauros
Ducit, et intacta totidem cervice juvencas.
Post, ubi nona suos Aurora induxerat ortus,
Inferias Orphei mittit, lucumque revisit.
Hie vero subitum ac dictu mirabile monstrum
Adspiciunt, liquefacta bourn per viscera toto
Stridere apes utero, et ruptis effervere" costis
Immensasque trahi nubes ; jamque arbore summa
Confluere, et lentis uvam demittere ramis.
Or as it is translated by Dryden,
""His mother s precepts lie performs with care ;
The temple visits and adores with prayer ;
Four altars raises ; from his herd he culls,
For slaughter, four the fairest of his bulls ;
Four heifers from his female store he took,
All fair and all unknowing of the yoke,
Nine mornings thence with sacrifice and prayers,
The powers atoned, he to the grove repairs.
Behold a prodigy ! for from within
The broken bowels and the bloated skin,
A buzzing noise of bees his ears alarms :
Straight issue through the sides assembling swarms,
Dark as a cloud they make a wheeling flight,
Then on a neighbouring tree, descending light :
Like a large cluster of black grapes they show,
And make a large dependance from the bough."
ON THOSE WHO OFFER SACRIFICE. 237
and so obtain a proper conception of the weakness of all created
beings, even if they be very prosperous ; and that so cherishing
correct notions they may correct the arrogant loftiness of their
minds, and discard all treacherous self-conceit.
But if the Creator and maker of the universe, who has no
need of anything which he has created, not looking at the exceed
ing greatness of his own power and at his own authority, but at
your weakness, gives you a share of his own merciful power,
supplying the deficiencies with which you are overwhelmed,
how do you think it fitting that you should behave towards
men who are akin to you by nature, and who are springing
from the same elements with yourself, when you have brought
nothing into the world, not even yourself? For, my fine
fellow, you came naked into the world, and you shall leave it
again naked, having received the interval between your birth
and death as a loan from God ; during which what ought you
to do rather than take care to live in communion and harmony
with your fellow creatures, studying equality, and humanity,
and virtue, repudiating unequal, and unjust, and irreconcilable
unsociable wickedness, which makes that animal which is by
nature the most gentle of all, namely, man, a cruel and un-
tractable monster?
VII. Again, the law commands that candles shall be kept
burning from evening until morning* on the sacred candle
sticks within the veil, on many accounts. One of which is
that the holy places may be kept illuminated without any in
terruption after the cessation of the light of day, being always
kept free from any participation in darkness, just as the stars
themselves are , for they too, when the sun sets, exhibit their
own light, never forsaking the place which was originally ap
pointed for them in the world. Secondly, in order that by
night, also, a rite akin to and closely resembling the sacrifices
by day may be performed so as to give pleasure to God, and
that no time or occasion fit for offering thanksgiving may ever
be left out, which is a duty most suitable and natural for night ;
for it is not improper to call the blaze of the most sacred fight
in the innermost shrine itself a sacrifice.
The third, which is a reason of the very greatest importance,
is this. Since we are not only well treated while we are awake,
but also when we are asleep, inasmuch as the mighty God gives
* Leviticus xxiv. 2.
238 PHILO JUD^US.
sleep as a great assistance to the human race, for the benefit of
both their bodies and souls, of their bodies as being by it re
lieved of the labours of the day, and of their souls as being
lightened by it of all their cares, and being restored to them
selves after all the disorder and confusion caused by the out
ward senses, and as being then enabled to retire within and
commune with themselves, the law has very properly thought
fit to make a distinction of the actions of thanksgiving, so that
sacrifices may be made on behalf of those who are awake by
means of the victims which are offered, and on behalf of those
who are asleep, and of those who are benefited by sleep, by the
lighting of the sacred candles.
VIII. These, then, and other commandments like them, are
those which are established for the purpose of promoting piety,
by express injunctions and prohibitions. But those which are
in accordance with philosophical suggestions and recommenda
tions must be explained in this manner ; for the lawgiver, in
effect, says, " God, mind of man ! demands nothing of you
which is either oppressive, or uncertain, or difficult, but only
such things as are very simple and easy. And these are, to
love him as your benefactor ; and if you fail to do so, at all
events, to fear him as your Governor and Lord, and to enter
zealously upon all the paths which may please him, and to
serve him in no careless or superficial manner, but with one s
whole soul thoroughly filled as it ought to be with God-loving
sentiments, and to cleave to his commandments, and to honour
justice, by all which means the world itself continues constantly
in the same nature without ever changing, and all other things
which are contained in the world have a tendency towards
improvement, such as the sun and the moon, and the whole
multitude of the rest of the stars, and the entire heaven.
But the mountains of the earth are elevated to the greatest
possible height, and the champaign country, like other fusible
essences, is spread over a body of wide extent, and the sea also
changes so as to become united with sweet waters, and the rains
also become in their turn similar to the sea. Therefore every
one of those things is still fixed within the same boundaries as
those within which it was originally created, when it was first
disposed of in regular order. But you shall be better, living
quite irreproachably. And what of all these things is either
grievous or laborious ? You are not compelled to pass over
ON THOSE WHO OFFER SACRIFICE. 239
utmavigable seas ; or, when tossed about by the billows of
the middle of winter and the force of contrary winds, to wander
about the sea in every direction ; or to travel on foot over
rough and pathless byeways, always being in dread of the haunts
of robbers, or of the attacks of wild beasts ; or to watch all
night to protect your walls in the open air, while the enemy are
lying in ambush for you, and threatening you with the very
extremity of danger.
Come, now, let no unpleasant topics be brought up in pleasant
circumstances. We must use words of good omen with refer
ence to such advantageous matters. It is only necessary for
the mind to consent and everything will be ready. Are you
not aware that both that heaven which is invisible to the out
ward senses, and that likewise which is appreciable only by
the intellect, belongs to God : the heaven of heavens as we
may call it ; and again, that the earth and all that is in it,
and the whole world, both that which is visible and that which
is invisible and incorporeal, being a model of the real heaven ?
But, nevertheless, he selected out of the whole race of man
kind those who were really men for their superior excellence ;
and he elected them and thought them worthy of the highest
possible honour, calling them to the service of himself, to that
everlasting fountain of all that is good ; from which he has
showered forth other virtues, drawing forth, at the same time,
for our enjoyment, combined with the greatest possible advan
tage, a drink contributing more than ever nectar, or at all
events not less, to make those who drink of it immortal.
But those men are to be pitied, and are altogether miserable,
who have never banquetted on the labours of virtue ; and they
have remained to the end the most miserable of all men who
have been always ignorant of the taste of moral excellence,
when it was in their power to have feasted on and luxuriated
among justice and equality. But these men are uncircumcised
in their hearts, as the law expresses it, and by reason of the
hardness of their hearts they are stubborn, resisting and break
ing their traces in a restive manner ; whom the Lord reproves,
saying, " Be ye circumcised as to your hard-heartedness ; " *
that means, " do ye eradicate the overbearing character of your
dominant part, which the immoderate impulses of the passing
* Deuteronomy x. 16.
240 PHILO JUD^EUS.
hour have sown and caused to grow within you, and which the
wicked husbandman of the soul, folly, planted.
Again, it says, " Let not your necks be stiff,"* that is to
say, let not your mind be unbending and self-willed, and let
it not admit into itself that most blameable ignorance of ex
cessive perverseness. But discarding obstinacy and morose-
ness of nature as an enemy, let it change so as to become
gentle, and inclined to obey the laws of nature. Do you not
see that the most important and greatest of all the powers of
the living God are his beneficent and his punishing power?
And his beneficent power is called God, since it is by means
of this that he made and arranged the universe. And the
other, or punishing power, is called Lord, on which "his
sovereignty over the universe depends. And God is God, not
only of men, but also of gods ; and he is mighty, being truly
strong and truly powerful.f
X. But, nevertheless, though he is so great in excellence
and in power, he feels pity and compassion for all those who
are most completely sunk in want and distress, not considering
it beneath his dignity to be the judge in the causes of pro
selytes, and orphans, and widows, and disregarding kings and
tyrants, and men in high commands, and honouring the
humility of those men above mentioned, I mean the proselytes,
with precedence, on this account. These men, having forsaken
their country and their national customs in which they were
bred up, which, however, were full of the inventions of false
hood and pride, becoming genuine lovers of truth, have come
over to piety ; and becoming in all worthiness suppliants and
servants of the true and living God, they very properly receive
a precedence which they have deserved, having found the
reward of their fleeing to God in the assistance which they
now receive from him. And in the case of orphans and
widows, since they have been deprived of their natural pro
tectors, the one class having lost their parents, and the others
their husbands, they have no refuge whatever to which they
can flee, no aid which they can hope for from man, being
utterly destitute ; on which account they are not deprived of
the greatest hope of all, the hope of relief from God, who,
because of his merciful character, does not refuse to provide
and to care for persons so wholly desolate.
* Deuteronomy x. 18. t Deuteronomy x. 17.
ON THOSE WHO OFFER SACRIFICE. 241
" Let then," says the law, " God alone be thy boast, and
thy greater glory."* And do not pride thyself either on thy
wealth, or on thy glory, or on the beauty of thy person, or on
thy strength, or on anything of the same kind as the objects
at which foolish empty-headed persons are apt to be elated ;
considering that, in the first place, these things have no con
nection at all with the nature of good, and secondly, that they
are liable to rapid changes, fading away in a manner before
they have time to flourish permanently. And let us cling to
the custom of addressing our supplications to him, and let us
not, after we have subdued our enemies, imitate their impiety
in those matters of conduct in which they fancy that they are
acting piously, burning their sons and their daughters to their
gods, not, indeed, that it is the custom of all the barbarians to
burn their children. For they are not become so perfectly
savage in their natures as to endure in time of peace to treat
their nearest and dearest relatives as they would scarcely treat
their irreconcilable enemies in time of war.
But that they do in reality inflame and corrupt the souls of
the children of whom they are the parents from the very
moment that they are out of their swaddling clothes ; not
imprinting on their minds, while they are still tender, any
true opinions respecting the one only and truly living God.
Let us not then be overcome by, and fall down before, and
yield to their good fortune as if they had prevailed by reason
of their piety. For present prospeiity is given to many
persons for a snare, being only a bait to be followed by ex
cessive and incurable evils. And it is very likely that even
men who are unworthy may be allowed to be successful, not
for their own sakes, but in order that we who act impiously may
be more vehemently grieved and pained, who having been borr.
in a God-fearing city, and having been bred up in laws which
would imbue men with every virtue, and having been instructed
from our earliest youth in all such pursuits as are most
honourable to men, neglect them all, and cling only to such
practices as deserve to be neglected, considering all good
things as subjects for amusement, and looking upon things fit
only for sport as seriously good.
XL And if, indeed, any one assuming the name and ap
pearance of a prophet.f appearing to be inspired and possessed
* Deuteronomy x. 21. f Deuteronomy xiii. 1.
VOL. III. R
242 PHILO JUD.EUS.
by the Holy Spirit, were to seek to lead the people to the
worship of those who are accounted gods in the different cities,
it would not be fitting for the people to attend to him being
deceived by the name of a prophet. For such an one is an
impostor and not a prophet, since he has been inventing
speeches and oracles full of falsehood, even though a brother,
or a son, or a daughter, or a wife, or a steward, or a firm
friend, or any one else who seems to be well-intentioned
towards one should seek to lead one in a similar course ;
exhorting one to be cheerful among the multitude, and to ap
proach the same temples and to adopt the same sacrifices ;
but such an one should be punished as a public and common
enemy, and we should think but little of any relationship, and
one should relate his recommendations to all the lovers of
piety, who with all speed and without any delay would hasten
to inflict punishment on the impious man-judging it a virtuous
action to be zealous for his execution.
For we should acknowledge only one relationship, and one
bond of friendship, namely, a mutual zeal for the service of
God, and a desire to say and do everything that is consistent
with piety. And these bonds which are called relationships of
blood, being derived from one s ancestors, and those con
nections which are derived from intermarriages and from other
similar causes, must all be renounced, if they do not all hasten
to the same end, namely, the honour of God which is the one
indissoluble bond of all united good will. For such men will
lay claim to a more venerable and sacred kind of relationship ;
and the law confirms my assertion, where it says that those
who do what is pleasing to nature and virtuous are the sons of
God, for it says, " Ye are the sons of the Lord your God,"*
inasmuch as you will be thought worthy of his providence and
care in your behalf as though he were your father. And that
care is as much superior to that which is shown by a man s
own parents, as I imagine the being who takes it is superior to
them.
XII. In addition to this the lawgiver also entirely removes
out of his sacred code of laws all ordinances respecting initia
tions, and mysteries, and all such trickery and buffoonery;
not choosing that men who are brought up in such a constitu
tion as that which be was giving should be busied about such
* Deuteronomy xiv. 1.
ON THOSE WHO OFFER SACRIFICE. 213
matters, and, placing their dependence on mystic enchantments,
should be led to neglect the truth, and to pursue those objects
which have very naturally received night and darkness for
their portion, passing over the things which are worthy of light
and of day. Let no one, therefore, of the disciples or followers
of Moses either be initiated himself into any mysterious rites
of worship, or initiate any one else ; for both the act of learn
ing and that of teaching such initiations is an impiety of no
slight order.
For if these things are virtuous, and honourable, and profit
able, why do ye, ye men who are initiated, shut yourselves
up in dense darkness, and limit your benefits to just three or
four men, when you might bring down the advantages which
you have to bestow into the middle of the market place, and
benefit all men ; so that every one might without hindrance
partake of a better and more fortunate life ? for envy is never
found in conjunction with virtue. Let men who do" injurious
things be put to shame, and seeking hiding places and
recesses in the earth, and deep darkness, hide themselves, con
cealing their lawless iniquity from sight, so that no one may
behold it. But to those who do such things as are for the
common advantage, let there be freedom of speech, and let
them go by day through the middle of the market place where
they will meet with the most numerous crowds, to display
their own manner of life in the pure sun, and to do good to
the assembled multitudes by means of the principal of the
outward senses, giving them to see those things the sight of
which is most delightful and most impressive, and hearing and
feasting upon salutary speeches which are accustomed to
delight the minds even of those men who are not utterly illi
terate.
Do you not see that nature has concealed none of those
works which are deservedly celebrated and honourable, but
has exhibited openly the stars and the whole of heaven, so as
to cause the sight pleasure, and to excite a desire for philoso
phy, and she also displays her seas, and fountains, and rivers,
and the excellencies of the atmosphere, and the beautiful
adaptation of the winds to the various seasons of the year, arid
of plants, and of animals, and, moreover, the innumerable
species of fruits, for the use and enjoyment of men ? Would
it not have been right, then, for you, following her example
R 2
244 PHILO JUD^US.
and design, to give to those who are worthy of it all things
that are necessary for their advantage? But now it very
often happens that no good men at all are initiated by them,
but that sometimes robbers, and wreckers, and companies of
debauched and polluted women are, when they have given
money enough to those who initiate them, and who reveal to
them the mysteries which they call sacred. But let all such
men be driven away and expelled from that city, and denied
all share in that constitution, in which honour and truth are
reverenced for their own sake. And this is enough to say on
this subject.
XIII. But the law, being most especially an interpreter of
equal communion, and of courteous humanity among men, has
preserved the honour and dignity of each virtue ; not permit
ting any one who is incurably sunk in vice to flee to them, but
rejecting all such persons and repelling them to a distance.
Therefore, as it was aware that no inconsiderable number oi
wicked men are often mingled in these assemblies, and
escape notice by reason of the crowds collected there, in order
to prevent that from being the case in this instance, he pre
viously excludes all who are unworthy from the sacred assem
bly, beginning in the first instance with those who are afflicted
with the disease of effeminacy, men-women, who, having adul
terated the coinage of nature, are willingly driven into the
appearance and treatment of licentious women. He also
banishes all those who have suffered any injury or mutilation
in their most important members, and those who, seeking to
preserve the flower of their beauty so that it may not speedily
wither away, have altered the impression of their natural
manly appearance into the resemblance of a woman.
The law also excludes not only all harlots, but also those
who being born of a harlot bear about them the disgrace of
their mother, because their original birth and origin have been
adulterated. For this passage (if there is any passage at all
in the whole scripture which does so) admits of an allegorical
interpretation ; for there is not one description only of impious
and unholy men, but there are many and different. For some
persons affirm that the incorporeal ideas are only an empty
name, having no participation in any real fact, removing the
most important of all essences from the list of existing things,
though it is in fact the archetypal model of all things which
ON THOSE WHO OFFER SACRIFICE. 245
are the distinctive qualities of essence, in accordance with
which each thing is assigned to its proper species and limited
to its proper dimensions.
The sacred pillars of the law call all these men broken ; for
such an injury as is implied by that term leaves a man desti
tute of all distinctive quality and species, and what is so
broken is nothing else, to speak the strict truth, than mere
shapeless material.
Thus, the doctrine which takes away species throws every
thing into confusion, and moreover brings back that want of
proper form which existed before the elements were reduced
into proper order. And what can be more absurd than this ?
For it is out of that essence that God created every thing,
without indeed touching it himself, for it was not lawful for the
all-wise and all-blessed God to touch materials which were all
misshapen and confused, but he created them by the agency
of his incorporeal powers, of which the proper name is ideas,
which he so exerted that every genus received its proper form.
But this opinion has created great irregularity and confu
sion. For when it takes away the things by means of which
the distinctive qualities exist, it at the same time takes away
the distinctive qualities themselves. But other persons, as
if they were engaged in a contest of wickedness, being anxious
to carry off the prizes of victory, go beyond all others in
impiety, joining to their denial of the ideas a negative also of
the being of God, as if he had no real existence but were only
spoken of for the sake of what is beneficial to men.
Others, again, out of fear of that Being who appears to be
present everywhere and to see every thing, are barren of
wisdom, but devoted to the maintenance of that which is the
greatest of all wickednesses, namely impiety. There is also a
third class, who have entered on the contrary path, guiding a
multitude of men and women, of old and young, filling the
world with arguments in favour of a multiplicity of rulers, in
order by such means to eradicate all notions of the one and
truly living God from the minds of men. These are they who
are symbolically called by the law the sons of a harlot. For
as mothers who are harlots do not know who is the real father
of their children, and cannot register him accurately, but have
many, or I might almost say all men, their lovers and asso
ciates, the same is the case with those who are ignorant of the
246 PHILO JUD.EU S.
one true God. For, inventing a great number whom they
falsely call gods, they are blinded as to the most important of
all existing things which they ought to have thoroughly learnt,
if not alone, at all events as the first and greatest of all things
from their earliest childhood ; for what can be a more honour
able thing to learn than the knowledge of the true and living
God?
XIV. The law also excludes a fourth ciass, and a fifth, both
hastening to the same end, but not with the same intention ;
for, as they are both followers of the same great evil,
self-will, they have divided between them the whole soul as a
kind of common inheritance, consisting of a rational and an
irrational part ; and the one class has appropriated the rational
part, which is tho mind, and the other the irrational part which
is again subdivided into the outward senses ; therefore, the
champions of the mind attribute to it the predominance in
and supreme authority over all human affairs, and affirm that
it is able to preserve all past things in its recollection, and to
comprehend all present things with great vigour, and to divine
the future by. probable conjecture ; for this is the faculty
which sowed and planted all the fertile soil in both the moun
tainous and champaign districts of the earth, and which in
vented agriculture, the most useful of all sciences for human
life. This also is the faculty which surveyed the heaven, and
by a proper contemplation of it made the earth accessible to
ships by an ingenuity beyond all powers of description ; this,
also invented letters, and music, and the whole range of encycli
cal instruction, and brought them to perfection. This also,
is the parent of that greatest of all good things, philosophy,
and by means of its different parts it has benefited human
life, proceeding by the logical portion of it to an infallible
interpretation of difficulties, and by its moral part to a correc
tion of the manners and dispositions of men; and by its
physical division to the knowledge of the heaven and the
world.
And they have also collected and assembled many other
praises of the rnind on which they dwell, having a continual
reference to the species already mentioned, about which we
have not at the present time leisure to occupy ourselves.
XV. But the champions of the outward senses extol their
praises, also, with great energy and magnificence; enumerating
ON THOSE WHO OFFER SACRIFICE 247
in their discourse all the wants which are supplied by their
means, and they say that two of them are the causes of living ;
smell and taste ; and two of living well, seeing and hearing ;
therefore, by means of taste the nourishment derived from
food is conveyed into the system, and by means of the nostrils
the air on which every living thing depends ; for this also is a
continual food, which nourishes and preserves men, not only
while they are awake, but also while they are asleep. And the
proof of this is clear ; for if the passage of the breath be
obstructed for even the shortest period, to such a degree as
wholly to cut off the air which is intended by nature to be
conveyed into the system from without, inevitable death will
of necessity ensue.
Again, of the more philosophical of the outward senses by
means of which the living well is produced, the power of sight
beholds the light which is the most beautiful of all essences,
and by means of the light it beholds all other things, the sun,
the moon, the stars, the heaven, the earth, the sea, the innu
merable varieties of plants and animals, and in short all bodies,
and shapes, and odours, and magnitudes whatever, the sight of
which has given birth to excessive wisdom, and has begotten a
great desire for knowledge.
And even without reckoning the advantage derived from
these things ; sight also affords us the greatest benefits in
respect of the power of distinguishing one s relatives and
strangers, and friends, and avoiding what is injurious and
choosing what is beneficial.
Now each of the other parts of the body has been created
with reference to appropriate uses, which are of great impor
tance, as, for instance, the feet were made for walking, and for
all the other uses to which the legs can be applied ; again, the
hands were created for the purpose of doing, or giving, or
taking anything ; and the eyes, as a sort of universal good,
afford both to the hands and feet, and to all the other parts of
the body the cause of being able to act or move rightly ; and
that this is the case is most unerringly demonstrated by the
evidence of those who have suffered any mutilation in these
members, who cannot in real truth be said to have either feet
or hands, and who by the reality of their condition prove the
correctness of their name, which they say that men of old
gave them not so much by way of reproach as out of com
248 PBTLO JUD^US.
passion, calling them impotent, out of surprise at what they
see.
Again, hearing is the thing by which melodies and rhythm,
and all parts and divisions of music are distinguished ; for
song and speech are salutary and wholesome medicines, the
one charming the passions and the inharmonious qualities
within us by its rhythm, and our unmelodious qualities by its
melodies, and bridling our immoderate vehemence by its fixed
measures ; and each of those parts of it are various and multi
form, as the musicians and poets do testify, whom we must
believe ; and speech, checking and cutting short all the
impulses which lead to wickedness, and healing those who are
under the dominion of folly and misery, and strengthening
those who are inclined to yield in a cowardly manner, and
subduing those who resist more obstinately, becomes thus the
cause of the greatest advantages.
XVI. The advocates of the mind and of the outward
senses, having put these arguments together, make gods of
both of them, the one deifying the first, and the other the last ;
both classes out of their self-will and self-conceit forgetting
the truly living God. On which account the lawgiver very
naturally excludes them all from the sacred assembly, calling
those who would take away the ideas, broken in the stones, and
those too who are utterly atheistical, to whom he has given the
appropriate name of eunuchs ; and those who are the teachers
of an opposite system of theogony, whom he calls the sons of a
harlot ; and besides all these classes he excludes also the self-
willed and self-conceited, some of whom have deified reason,
and others have called each separate one of the outward senses
gods.
For all these men are hastening to the same end, even though
they are not all influenced by the same intentions.
But we who are the followers and disciples of the prophet
Moses, will never abandon our investigation into the nature of
the true God ; looking upon the knowledge of him as the true
end of happiness ; and thinking that the true everlasting life,
as the law says,* is to live in obedience to and worship of God ;
in which precept it gives us a most important and philosophical
lesson ; for in real truth those who are atheists are dead as to
their souls, but those who are marshalled in the ranks of the
true living God, as his servants, enjoy an everlasting life.
* Deuteronomy iv. 4.
ON THE WAGES OF A HARLOT, ETC. 249
A TREATISE
COMMANDMENT THAT THE WAGES OF A HARLOT ARE
NOT TO BE RECEIVED IN THE SACRED TREASURY.
I. THIS injunction also is very admirably and properly set
down in the sacred tablets of the law, that the wages of a
harlot are not to be received into the temple, and inasmuch
as she has earned them by selling her beauty, having chosen a
most infamous life for the sake of shameful gain ; but if the
gifts which proceed from a woman who has lived as a concu
bine are unholy, how can those be different which proceed
from a soul which is defiled in the same manner, which has
voluntarily abandoned itself to shame and to the lowest infamy,
to drunkenness and gluttony, and covetousness and ambition,
and love of pleasure, and to innumerable other kinds of
passions, and diseases, and wickednesses ? For what time can be
long enough to efface those defilements, I indeed do not know.
Very often in truth time has put an end to the occupation
of a harlot, since, when women have outlived their beauty, no one
any longer approaches them, their prime having withered away
like that of some flowers ; and what length of time can ever
transform the harlotry of the soul which from its youth has
been trained in early and habitual incontinence, so as to bring
it over to good order ? No time could do this, but God alone,
to whom all things are possible, even those which among us
are impossible.
Accordingly, the man who is about to offer a sacrifice
ought to examine and see, not whether the victim is without
blemish, but whether his mind is sound, and entire, and perfect.
Let him likwise investigate the causes for which he is about to
offer the sacrifice ; for it must be as an expression of thank
fulness for kindnesses which have been shown to him, or else
of supplication for the permanence of his present blessings, or
for the acquisition of some future good, or else to avert some
evil either present or expected ; for all which objects he should
labour to bring his reason into a state of good health and
sanity ; for if he is giving thanks for benefits conferred upon
him, he must take care not to behave like an ungrateful man,
* Deuteronomy xxiii. 18.
250 PHILO JUD^EUS.
becoming wicked, for the benefits are conferred on a virtuous
man ; or if his object be to secure the permanence of his
present prosperity and happiness, and to be enabled to look
forward to such for the future, he must still show himself
worthy of his good fortune, and behave virtuously ; or if he
is asking to escape from evils, let him not commit actions
deserving of correction and punishment.
II. For two women live with each individual among us,
both unfriendly and hostile to one another, filling the whole
abode of the soul with envy, and jealousy, and contention ;
of these we love the one loolung upon her as being mild and
tractable, and very dear to and very closely connected with
ourselves, and she is called pleasure ; but the other we detest,
deeming her unmanageable, savage, fierce, and most com
pletely hostile, and her name is virtue. Accordingly, the one
comes to us luxuriously dressed in the guise of a harlot and
prostitute, with mincing steps, rolling her eyes about with
excessive licentiousness and desire, by which baits she
entraps the souls of the young, looking about with a mixture
of boldness and impudence, holding up her head, and raising
herself above her natural height, fawning and giggling, having
the hair of her head dressed with most superfluous elaborate
ness, having her eyes pencilled, her eyebrows covered over,
using incessant warm baths, painted with a fictitious colour,
exquisitely dressed with costly garments, richly embroidered,
adorned with armlets, and bracelets, and necklaces, and all
other ornaments which can. be made of gold, and precious
stones, and all kinds of female decorations ; loosely girdled,
breathing of most fragrant perfumes, thinking the whole
market her home ; a marvel to be seen in the public roads,
out of the scarcity of any genuine beauty, pursuing a bastard
elegance.
And with her there walk as her most intimate friends, bold
cunning, and rashness, and flattery, and trick, and deceit,
and false speaking, and false opinion, and impiety, and
injustice, and intemperance, in the middle of which she
advances like the leader of the company, and marshalling her
band, speaks thus to her mind, "My good friend, the treasuries
of all human blessings and stores of happiness are in my
power (for as for divine blessings they are all in heaven), and
besides them you will find nothing.
ON THE WAGES OF A HARLOT, ETC. 251
" If you will dwell with me I will open to you all these
treasures, and will bestow on you for ever the most unspar
ing use and enjoyment of them. And I desire to inform you
beforehand of the multitude of good things which I have
stored up there, that if you are so inclined you may of your
own accord live happily, and that if you refuse you may not
decline them out of ignorance.
" There is in my power perfect relaxation, and exemption
from all fear, and tranquillity, and a complete absence of all
care and labour, and an abundant variety of colours, and most
melodious intonations of the voice, and all kinds of costly
viands and drinks, and plentiful varieties of the sweetest
scents, and continual loves, and sports such as require no
teacher, and connections which will never be inquired into,
and speeches which will have no shade of reproof in them, and
actions free from all necessity of being accounted for, and a
life free from anxiety, and soft sleep, and abundance without
any feeling of satiety. If therefore you are inclined to take up
your abode with me, I will give you what is suitable for you of
all the things which I have prepared, considering carefully by
eating or drinking what you may be most thoroughly cheered,
or by what sights addressed to your eyes, or by what sounds
visiting your ears, or by the smell of what fragrant odours you
may be most delighted.
" And nothing which you can desire shall be wanting to you ;
for you shall find what is produced anew more abundant than
what is expended and consumed ; for in the treasuries which
I have mentioned there are ever-flourishing plants, blossoming
and producing an incessant series of fruits, so that the beauty
of those in their prime and fresh appearing overtakes and
overshadows those which are already fully ripe ; and no war,
either domestic or foreign, has ever cut down these plants, but
from the very day that the earth first received them it has
cherished them like a faithful nurse, sending down into its
lowest depths the roots to act like the strongest branches, and
above ground extending its trunk as high as heaven, and put
ting forth branches which are by analogy imitations of the
hand and feet which we see in animals, and leaves which
correspond to the hair. I have prepared and caused that to
blossom which shall be at the same time a covering and an
ornament to you ; and besides all this, I have provided fruit
252 PHILO JUD^US.
for the sake of which the branches and leaves are originally
produced."
III. When the other woman heard these words (for she was
standing in a place where she was out of sight but still within
hearing), fearing lest the mind, without being aware of it,
might be led captive and be enslaved, and so be carried away
by so many gifts and promises, yielding also to the tempter in
that she was arrayed so as to win over the sight, and was
equipped with great variety of ingenuity for the purposes of
deceit ; for by all her necklaces and other appendages, and by
her different allurements, she spurred on and charmed her be
holders, and excited a wonderful desire within them ; she in
her turn came forward, and appeared on a sudden, displaying
all the qualities of a native, free-born, and lady-like woman,
such as a firm step, a very gentle look, the native colour of
modesty and nature without any alloy or disguise, an honest
disposition, a genuine and sincere way of life, a plain, honest
opinion, a language removed from all insincerity, the truest
possible image of a sound aiid honest heart, a disposition
averse to pretence, a quiet unobtrusive gait, a moderate style
of dress, and the ornaments of prudence and virtue, more pre
cious than any gold.
And she was attended by piety, and holiness, and truth, and
right, and purity, and an honest regard for an oath, and jus
tice, and equality, and adherence to one s engagements and
communion, and prudent silence, and temperance, and order
liness, and meekness, and abstemiousness, and contentment,
and good-temper, and modesty, and an absence of curiosity
about the concerns of others, and manly courage, and a noble
disposition and wisdom in counsel, and prudence, arid fore
thought, and attention, and correctness, and cheerfulness, and
humanity, and gentleness, and courtesy, and love of one s
kind, and magnanimity, and happiness, and goodness. One
day would fail me if I were to enumerate all the names of the
particular virtues. And these all standing on each side of her,
were her body-guards, while she was in the middle of them.
IV. And she, having assumed an appearance familiar to
her, began to speak as follows : "I have seen pleasure, that
worker of wondrous tricks, that conjuror and teller of fables,
dressed in a somewhat tragic style, and constantly approaching
you in a delicate manner ; so that (for I myself do by nature
ON THE WAGES OF A HARLOT, ETC. 253
detest everything that is evil) I feared -lest, without being
aware of it, you might be deceived, and might consent to the
very greatest of evils as if they were exceeding good ; and
therefore I have thought fit to declare to you with all sincerity
what really belongs to that woman, in order that you might
not reject anything advantageous to you out of ignorance, and
so proceed unintentionally on the road of transgression and
unhappiness.
" Know, then, that the very dress in which she appear
to you wholly belongs to some one else ; for of ten things
which contribute to genuine beauty, not one is ever brought
forward as being derived from or as belonging to her. But she
is hung round with nets and snares with which to catch you
with a bastard and adulterated beauty, which you, beholding
beforehand, will, if you are wise, take care that her. pursuit
shall be unprofitable to her ; for when she appears she con
ciliates your eyes, and when she speaks she wins over your
ears ; and by these, and by all other parts of her conduct, she
is well calculated by nature to injure your soul, which is the
most valuable of all your possessions ; and all the different
circumstances belonging to her, which were likely to be at
tractive to you if you heard of them, she enumerated ; but all
those which would not have been alluring she suppressed and
made no mention of, but, meaning mischief to you, concealed
utterly, as she very naturally expected that no one would
readily agree with them."
But I, stripping off all her disguises, will reveal her to you ;
and I will not myself imitate the ways of pleasure, so as to
show you nothing in me but what is alluring, and to conceal and
to keep out of sight everything that has any unpleasantness or
harshness in it ; but, on the contrary, I will say nothing about
those matters which do of themselves give delight and pleasure,
well knowing that such things will of themselves find a voice
by their effects ; but I will fully detail to you all that is painful
and difficult to be borne about me, putting them plainly forward
with their naked appellation, so that their nature may be visible
and plain even to those whose sight is somewhat dim. For
the things which, when offered by me, appear to be the greatest
of my evils, will in effect be found to be more honourable and
more beneficial to the users than the greatest blessings
bestowed by pleasure. But, before I begin to speak of what I
254 PHILO JUD^EUS.
myself have to give, I \vill mention all that may be mentioned
of those things which are kept in the back ground by her.
For she, when she spoke of what she had stored up in her
magazines, such as colours, sounds, flavours, smells, distinctive
qualities, powers relating to touch and to every one of the out
ward senses, and having softened them all by the allurements
which she offered to the hearing, made no mention at all of
those other qualities which are her misfortunes and diseases ;
which, however, you will of necessity experience if you choose
those pleasures which she offers ; that so, being borne aloft by
the breeze of some advantage, you may be taken in her toils.
Know, then, my good friend, that if you become a votary of
pleasure you will be all these things : a bold, cunning, auda
cious, unsociable, uncourteous, inhuman, lawless, savage, ill-
tempered, unrestrainable, worthless man ; deaf to advice, foolish,
full of evil acts, unteachable, unjust, unfair, one who has no
participation with others, one who cannot be trusted in his
agreements, one with whom there is no peace, covetous, most
lawless, unfriendly, homeless, cityless, seditious, faithless, dis
orderly, impious, unholy, unsettled, unstable, uninitiated, pro
fane, polluted, indecent, destructive, murderous, illiberal,
abrupt, brutal, slavish, cowardly, intemperate, irregular, dis
graceful, shameful, doing and suffering all infamy, colourless,
immoderate, unsatiable, insolent, conceited, self-willed, mean,
envious, calumnious, quarrelsome, slanderous, greedy, deceitful,
cheating, rash, ignorant, stupid, inharmonious, dishonest, dis
obedient, obstinate, tricky, swindling, insincere, suspicious,
hated, absurd, difficult to detect, difficult to avoid, destructive,
evil-minded, disproportionate, an unreasonable chatterer, a
proser, a gossip, a vain babbler, a flatterer, a fool, full of heavy
sorrow, weak in bearing grief, trembling at every sound, in
clined to delay, inconsiderate, improvident, impudent, neglect
ful of good, unprepared, ignorant of virtue, always in the
wrong, erring, stumbling, ill-managed, ill-governed, a glutton,
a captive, a spendthrift, easily yielding, most crafty, double-
minded, double-tongued, perfidious, treacherous, unscrupulous,
always unsuccessful, always in want, infirm of purpose, fickle,
a wanderer, a follower of others, yielding to impulses, open to
the attacks of enemies, mad, easily satisfied, fond of life, fond
of vain glory, passionate, ill-tempered, lazy, a procrastinator,
suspected, incurable, full of evil jealousies, despairing, full of
ON THE SPECIAL LAWS. 255
tears, rejoicing in evil, frantic, beside yourself, without any
steady character, contriving evil, eager for disgraceful gain,
selfish, a willing slave, an eager enemy, a demagogue, a bad
steward, stiffnecked, effeminate, outcast, confused, discarded,
mocking, injurious, vain, full of unmitigated unalloyed misery.
These are the great mysteries of that very beautiful and
much to be sought for pleasure, which she designedly concealed
and kept out of sight, from a fear that if you knew of them you
would turn away from any meeting with her. But who is there
who could worthily describe either the multitude or the magni
tude of the good things which are stored up in my treasure
houses ?
A TKEATISE
OK
THE SPECIAL LAWS,
WHICH ARE REFERRED TO THREE ARTICLES OF THE
DECALOGUE, NAMELY, THE THIRD, FOURTH, AND
FIFTH ; ABOUT OATHS, AND THE REVERENCE DUE
TO THEM;. ABOUT THE HOLY SABBATH; ABOUT
THE HONOUR TO BE PAID TO PARENTS.
I. IN the treatise preceding this one we have discussed with
accuracy two articles of the ten commandments, that which
relates to not thinking that any other beings are absolute gods,
except God himself ; and the other which enjoins us not to
worship as God any object made with hands. And we also
spoke of the laws which relate specially to each of these points.
But we will now proceed to discuss the three which come next
in the regular order, again adapting suitable special laws to
each.
And the first of these other commandments is not to take the
name of God in vain ; for the word of the virtuous man, says
the law, shall be his oath, firm, unchangeable, which cannot
lie, founded steadfastly on truth. And even if particular ne
cessities shall compel him to swear, then he should make the
witness to his oath the health or happy old age of his father or
mother, if they are alive ; or their memory, if thev are dead.
256 PHILO JUD^EUS.
And, indeed, a man s parents are the copies and imitations of
divine power, since they have brought people who had no exist
ence into existence.
One person is recorded in the law, one of the patriarchs of
the race, and one of those most especially admired for his
wisdom, " as swearing by the face of his father," for the benefit,
I imagine, of all those who might live afterwards, and with the
object of giving necessary instruction, so that posterity might
honour their parents in the proper manner, loving them as
benefactors and respecting them as rulers appointed by nature,
and might therefore not rashly invoke the name of God. And
these men also deserve to be praised who, when they are com
pelled to swear, by their slowness, and delay, and evasion, cause
fear not only to those who see them, but to those also who invite
them to take an oath ; for when they do pronounce the oath
they are accustomed to say only thus much, " By the ;" or,
" No,bythe ;" without any further addition, giving an emphasis
to these words by the mutilation of the usual form, but without
uttering the express oath. However, if a man must swear and
is so inclined, let him add, if he pleases, not indeed the highest
name of all, and the most important cause of all things, but
the earth, the sun, the stars, the heaven, the universal world ;
for these things are all most worthy of being named, and are
more ancient than our own birth, and, moreover, they never
grow old, lasting for ever and ever, in accordance with the will
of their Creator.
II. And some men display such easiness and indifference
on the subject, that, passing over all created things, they dare
in their ordinary conversation to rise up to the Creator and
Father of the universe, without stopping to consider the place
in which they are, whether it be profane or sacred ; or the
time, whether it be suitable ; or themselves, whether they are
pure in body and soul ; or the business, whether it be import
ant ; or the occasion, whether it is necessary ; but (as the
proverb says), they pollute everything with unwashed ieet, as
if it were decent, since nature has bestowed a tongue upon
them, for them to let it loose unrestrained and unbridled to
approach objects which it is impious to approach.
When they ought rather to employ that most excellent of all
the organs by which voice and speech (the most useful things
in human life, and the causes of all communion among men)
ON THE SPECIAL LAWS. 257
are made distinct and articulate, in a manner to contribute to
the honour, and dignity, and blessing of the great Cause of all
things. But now, out of their excessive impiety, they use the
most awful names in speaking of the most unimportant matters,
and heaping one appellation upon another in a perfect crowd
they feel no shame, thinking that by the frequency and number
of their uninterrupted oaths they will attain to the object which
they desire, being very foolish to think so ; for a great number
of oaths is no proof of credibility, but rather of a man s not
deserving to be believed in the opinion of men of sense and
wisdom.
III. But if any one being compelled to swear, swears by
anything whatever in a manner which the law does not forbid,
let him exert himself with all his strength and by every means
in his power to give effect to his oath, interposing no hindrance
to prevent the accomplishment of the matter thus ratified,
especially if neither implacable anger or frenzied love, or
unrestrained appetites agitate the mind, so that it does not
know what is said or done, but if the oath has been taken
with sober reason and deliberate purpose. For what is better
than to speak with perfect truth throughout one s whole life,
and to prove this by the evidence of God himself? For an
oath is nothing else but the testimony of God invoked in a
matter which is a subject of doubt, and to invoke God to
witness a statement which is not true ^s the most impious of
all things.
For a man who does this, is all but saying in plain words
(even though he hold his peace), " I am using thee as a veil
for my iniquity ; do thou co-operate with me, who am ashamed
to appear openly to be behaving unjustly. Do tbou incur the
blame instead of me, who am acting unjustly. For though I am
doing wrong, I am anxious not to be accounted wicked, but
thou canst be indifferent to thy reputation with the multitude,
having no regard to being well spoken of." But to say or
imagine such things as these is most impious, for not only
would God, who is free from all participation in wickedness,
but even any father or any stranger, provided he were not
utterly devoid of all virtue, would be indignant if he were
addressed in such a way as this.
A man, therefore, as I have said, must be sure and give
effect to all oaths which are taken for honourable and desirable
VOL. III. S
258 PHILO JUD^EUS.
objects, for the due establishment of private or public objects
of importance, under the guidance of wisdom, and justice, and
holiness.
IV. And in this description of oaths those most lawful vows
are included which are offered up in consequence of an
abundance of blessings, either present or expected ; but if any
vows are made for contrary objects, it is not holy to ratify
them, for there are some men who swear, if chance so prompts
them, to commit theft, or sacrilege, or adultery, or rape, or to
inflict wounds or slaughter, or any similar acts of wickedness,
and who perform them without any delay, making an excuse
that they must keep their oaths, as if it were not better and
more acceptable to God to do no iniquity, than to perform
such a vow and cath as that. The national laws and ancient
ordinances of every people are established for the sake of
justice and of every virtue, and what else are laws and
ordinances but the sacred words of nature having an authority
and power in themselves, so that they differ in no respect from
oaths ?
And let every man who commits wicked actions because he
is so bound by an oath, beware that he is not keeping his
oath, but that he is rather violating one which is worthy ot
great care and attention to preserve it, which sets a seal as it
were to what is honourable and just, for he is adding wicked
ness to wickedness, adding lawless actions to oaths taken on
improper occasions, which had better have been buried in
silence. Let such a man, therefore, abstain from committing
iniquity, and seek to propitiate God, that he may grant to him
the mercy of that humane power which is innate in him, so as
to pardon him for the oaths which he took in his folly. For it
is incurable madness and insanity to take upon himself two
fold evils, when he might put off one half of the burden of
them.
But there are some men who, out of the excess of their
wicked hatred of their species, being naturally unsociable and
inhuman, or else being constrained by anger as by a hard
mistress, think to confirm the savageness of their natural
disposition by an oath, swearing that they will not admit this
man or that man to sit at the same table with them, or to
come under the same roof; or, again, that they will not give
any assistance to such an one, or that they will not receive
ON THE SPECIAL LAWS. 259
nny from him as long as he lives. And sometimes even after
the death of their enemy, they keep up their irreconcilable
enmity, not allowing their friends to give the customary
honours even to their dead bodies when in the grave. I
would recommend to such men, as to those I have mentioned
before, to seek to propitiate the mercy of God by prayers and
sacrifices, that so they may find some cure for the diseases of
their souls which no man is competent to heal.
V. But there are other persons, also, boastful, puffed up
with pride and arrogance, who, being insatiably greedy of glory,
are determined to obey none of the precepts which point to
that most beneficial virtue, frugality ; but even if any one
exhorts them to it, in order to induce them to shake off the
obstinate impetuosity of the appetites, they look upon all
their admonitions as insults, and drive their course on head
long to every kind of effeminate luxury, despising those who
seek to correct them, and making a joke of and turning into
ridicule all the honourable and advantageous recommendations
of wisdom. And if such men happen to be in such circum
stances as to have any abundance and superfluity of the means
of living, they declare with positive oaths that they will indulge
in all imaginable expense for the use and enjoyment of costly
luxury. For instance, a man who has lately come into the
enjoyment of considerable riches, embraces a prodigal and
extravagant course of life ; and when some old man, some
relation perhaps, or some friend of his father, comes and
admonishes him, exhorting him to alter his ways and to come
over to a more honourable and strict behaviour, he is indignant
beyond all measure at the advice, and being obstinate in his
contentious disposition, swears that as long as he has the
means and resources necessary for supplying his wants he will
not practise any single way which leads to economy or moder
ation, neither in the city nor in the country, neither when
travelling by sea nor by land, but that he will at all times and
in all places show how rich and liberal he is ; but as it seems
to me such conduct as this is not so much a display of riches
as of insolence and intemperance.
^ And yet many men who have before now been placed in
situations of great authority, and even many who now are so,
though they have most abundant resources of all kinds, and
enormous riches, wealth continually and uninterruptedly flow-
B 2
2 GO PHILO JUDJ2US.
in upon them as if from some unceasing spring, do nevertheless
at times turn to the same things which we poor men use, to
earthenware cups, and small cheap loaves, and olives, or
cheese, or vegetables, for a seasoning to their dinners ; and in
the summer put on a girdle and a linen garment, and in
winter any whole and stout cloak, and for sleep use a bed
made on the ground, discarding gladly couches made of ivory
or wrought in tortoiseshell and gold, and coverlets of various
embroidery, and rich clothes and purple dyes, and the luxury
of sweet and elaborate confectionery, and costly viands ; and
the reason of this conduct is not merely that they have a
virtuous and abstemious disposition by nature, but also that
they have enjoyed a good education from their earliest youth,
which has taught them to honour what belongs to man rather
than what belongs to authority, which also taking up its settled
abode in the soul, I may almost say reminds it every day of its
humanity, drawing it down from lofty and arrogant thoughts,
and reducing it witbin due bounds, and correcting whatever is
unequal by the introduction of equality.
Therefore such men fill their cities with vigour and abund
ance, and with good laws and peace, depriving them of no
good thing whatever, but providing them with all requisite
blessings in the most unlimited and unsparing manner; for
this conduct and actions of this sort are the achievements of
men of real nobility, and of men who may truly be called
governors. But the actions of men newly become rich, of
men who by some blunder of fortune have arrived at great
wealth, who have no notion, not even in their dreams, of
wealth which is genuine and truly endowed with sight, which
consists of the perfect virtues, and of actions in accordance
with such virtues, but who stumble against that wealth which
is blind, leaning upon which, and therefore of necessity missing
the right road, they turn into one which is no road at all,
admiring objects which deserve no honour at all, and ridiculing
things that are honourable by nature ; men whom the word of
God reproves and reproaches in no moderate degree for intro
ducing oaths on unfitting occasions ; for such men are difficult
to purify and difficult to cure, so as not to be thought deserving
pardon even by God, who is all-merciful by nature.
VI But the law takes away from virgins and from married
women the power of making vows independently, pronouncing
ON THE SPECIAL LAWS. 2C1
the parents of the one class, and, the husbands of the other,
their lords ; and with reference to any confirmation or dis
avowal of their oaths, declaring that that power belongs in the
one case to the father, and in the other to the husband. And
very reasonably, for the one class by reason of their youth are
not aware of the importance of oaths, so that they stand in
need of the advice of others to judge for them ; while the other
class do often out of easiness of disposition take oaths which
ure not for the interest of their husbands, on which account
the law invests the husbands and fathers with authority either
to ratify their oaths or to declare them void.
And let not widows swear inconsiderately, for they have no
one who can beg them off from the effect of their oaths ;
neither husbands, from whom they are now separated, nor
fathers, whose houses they have quitted when they departed
from home on the occasion of their marriage, since it is
unavoidable that their oaths must stand as being confirmed
through the absence of any one to take care of the interests of
the swearers.
But if any one knows that any one else is violating his
oath, and does not inform against him, or convict him, being
influenced by friendship, or respect, or fear, rather than by
piety, he shall be liable to the same punishment as the
perjured person ;* for assenting to one who does wrong differs
in no respect from doing wrong one s self. And punishment is
inflicted on perjured persons in some cases by God and in
others by men ; but those punishments which proceed from
God are the most fearful and the most severe, for God shows
no mercy to men who commit such impiety as that, but allows
them to remain for ever unpurified, and in my opinion with
great justice and propriety, for the man who despises such
important matters cannot complain if he is despised in his
turn, receiving a fate equal to his actions. But the punish
ments which are inflicted by men are of various characters,
being death, or scourging if those men who are more excellent
and more strict in their piety inflicting death on such offenders,
but those who are of milder dispositions scourging them with
rods publicly in the sight of all men ; and to men who are not
of abject and slavish dispositions scourging is a punishment
not inferior in terror to death
* Leviticus v. 21. t Deuteronomy xix. 1C.
PHILO JUDdSUS.
VII. These then are the ordinances contained in the ex
press language of these commandments ; but there is also an
allegorical meaning concealed beneath, which we must extract
by a careful consideration of the figurative expressions used.
We must be aware, therefore, that the correct principles of na
ture recognise the power both of the father and of the husband
as equal, but still in different respects. The power of the
husband exists because of his sowing the seed of the virtues in
the soul, as in a fertile field ; that of the father arises from its
being his natural office to implant good counsels in the minds
of his children, and to stimulate them to honourable and vir
tuous actions ; and because, when he has done so, he cherishes
them with salutary doctrines, which education and wisdom
supply; and the mind is compared at one time to a virgin, and
at another to a woman who is a widow, and again to one who
is still united to a husband.
It is compared to a virgin, when it preserves itself pure, and
undefiled, free from the influence of pleasures and appetites,
and likewise of pains and fears, treacherous passions, and then
the father who begot it retains the regulation of it ; and her
principle, as in the case of a virtuous woman, she now being
united to pure reason, in accordance with virtue, will exert a
proper care to defend her, implanting in her, like a husband,
the most excellent conceptions. But the soul which is de
prived of the wisdom and guardianship of a parent, and of the
union of right reason, being widowed of her most excellent
defences, and abandoned by wisdom, if it has chosen a life
open to reproach, must be bound by its own conduct, not
having reason in accordance with wisdom to act as intercessor,
to relieve her of the consequences of her sins, neither has a
husband living with her, nor as a father who has begotten her.
VIII. But in the case of those persons who have vowed not
merely their own property or some part of it, but also their
own selves, the law has affixed a price to their vows, not
having a regard to their beauty, or their importance, or to any
thing of that kind, but with reference to the number of the indi
viduals separating the men from the women, and the infants
from those who are full grown. For the law ordains* that
from twenty years of age to sixty the price of a man shall be two
hundred drachmas of solid silver money, and of a woman a
* Leviticus xxvii. 3.
ON THE SPECIAL LAWS. 263
hundred and twenty drachmas. And from five years of age to
twenty, the price of a male child is eighty, and of a female
child forty drachmas. And from infancy to five years old, the
price of a male is twenty ; of a female child, twelve drachmas.f
And in the case of men who have lived beyond sixty years
of age, the ransom of the old men is sixty, and of the old women
forty drachmas. And the law has regulated this ransom with
reference to the same age both in men and women on account
of three most important considerations. First of all, because
the importance of their vow is equal and similar, whether it
be made by a person of great or of little importance. Secondly,
because it is fitting that those who have made a vow should
not be exposed to the treatment of slaves ; for they are valued
at a high or at a low price, according to the good condition and
beauty of their bodies, or the contrary. Thirdly, which,
indeed, is the most important consideration of all, because
inequality is valued among men, but equality is honoured by
God.
IX. These are the ordinances established in respect of men,
but about animals the following commands are given. If any
one shall set apart any beast ; if it be a clean beast of any
one of the three classes which are appropriated to sacrifice,
such as an ox, or a sheep, or a goat, he shall surely sacrifice
it, not substituting either a worse animal for a better, or u
better for a worse. For God does not take delight in the
fleshiness or fatness of animals, but in the blameless disposi
tion of the man who has vowed it. But if he should make a
substitution, then he must sacrifice two instead of one ; both
the one which he had originally vowed, and the one which he
wished to substitute for it.
But if any one vows one of the unclean animals, let him
bring it to the most venerable of the priests ; and let him
value it, not exaggerating its price, but adding to its exact
value one-fifth, in order that if it should be necessary to sacri
fice an animal that is clean instead of it, the sacrifice may not
fall short of its proper value. And this is ordained also for
the sake of causing the man who has vowed it to feel grieved
at having made an inconsiderate vow, having vowed an animal
which is not clean, looking upon it, in my opinion, for the
* Leviticus x. 3.
2C4 PHILO JUD^EUS.
moment as clean, being led away by error of mind through
some passion.
And if the thing which he has vowed be his house, again he
must have the priest for a valuer. But those who may chance
to buy it shall not pay an equal ransom for it ; but if the man who
has vowed it chooses to ransom it, he shall pay its price and a
fifth besides, punishing his own rashness and impetuous desire
for his two faults, his rashness for making the vow, and his
impetuous desire for wishing for things back again which he
had before abandoned. But if any one else brings it he shall
not pay more than its value. And let not the man who has
made the vow make any long delay either in the accomplish
ment of his vow or in procuring a proper valuation to be made
of it. For it is rbsurd to attempt to make strict covenants
with men, but to look upon agreements made with God who
has no need of any thing, and who has no deficiency of any
thing as unnecessary to be observed, while those who do so
are by their delays and slowness convicting themselves of the
greatest of offences, namely, of a neglect of him whose service
they ought to look upon as the beginning and end of all happi
ness.
This is enough to say of oaths and vows.
A TREATISE
ON THE NUMBER SEVEN.
I. THE next commandment is that concerning the sacred
seventh day, in which are comprehended an infinite number
of most important festivals. For instance, there is the
release of those men who by nature were free, but who, through
some unforeseen necessity of the times, have become slaves,
which release takes place every seventh year. Again, there is
the humanity of creditors towards their debtors, as they for
give their countrymen their debts every seventh year. Also
there is the rest given to the fertile ground, whether it be in
the champaign or iu the mountainous country, which also takes
place every seventh year. Moreover, there are those ordi
nances which are established respecting the fiftieth year.
And of all these things the bare narration (without looking
ON THE TEN FESTIVALS. 265
to any inner and figurative signification) is sufficient to lead
those who are well disposed to perfect virtue, and to make even
those who are obstinate and stubborn in their dispositions
more docile and tractable.
Now we have already spoken at some length about the
virtue of the number seven, explaining what a nature it has in
reference to the number ten ; and also what a connection it
has to the decade itself, and also to the number four, which is
the foundation and the source of the decade. And now,
having been compounded in regular order from the unit, it in
regular order produces the perfect number twenty-eight ; being
multiplied according to a regular proportion equal in all its
parts, it makes at last both a cube and a square. I also showed
how there is an infinite number of beauties which may be
extracted from a careful contemplation of it, on which we have
not at present time to dilate. But we must examine every
one of the special matters which are before us as comprehended
in this one, beginning with the first.
The first matter to be considered is that of the festivals
A TREATISE
TO SHOW THAT THE FESTIVALS ARE TEN IN NUMBER.
I. Now there are ten festivals in number, as the law sets
them down. The first is that which any one will perhaps be
astonished to hear called a festival. This festival is every day.
The second festival is the seventh day, which the Hebrews
in their native language call the sabbath.
The third is that which comes after the conjunction, which
happens on the day of the new moon in each month.
The fourth is that of the passover which is called the pass-
over.
The fifth is the first fruits of the corn the sacred sheaf.
The sixth is the feast of unleavened bread, after which that
festival is celebrated, which is really the seventh day of seventh
days.
The eighth is the festival of the sacred moon, or the feast
of trumpets.
The ninth is the fatt.
26 D PHILO JUD.EUS.
The tenth is the feast of tabernacles, which is the last of all
the annual festivals, ending so as to make the perfect number
of ten. We must now begin with the first festival.
THE FIRST FESTIVAL.
I. The law sets down every day as a festival, adapting itself
to an irreproachable life, as if men continually obeyed nature
and her injunctions. And if wickedness did not prosper, sub
duing by their predominant influence all those reasonings
about what things might be expedient, which they have driven
out of the soul of each individual, but if all the powers of the
virtues remained in all respects unsubdued, then the whole
time from a man s birth to his death would be one uninterrupted
festival, and all houses and every city would pass their time in
continual fearlessness and peace, being full of every imaginable
blessing, enjoying perfect tranquillity. But, as it is at present,
covetousness and the system of mutual hostility and retaliation
with which both men and women are continually forming de
signs against one another, and even against themselves, have
destroyed the continuity of cheerfulness and happiness.
And the proof of what I have just asserted is visible to all
men ; for all those men, whether among the Greeks or among
the barbarians, who are practisers of wisdom, living in a blame
less and irreproachable manner, determining not to do any in
justice, nor even to retaliate it when done to them, shunning
all association with busy-bodies, in all the cities which they in
habit, avoid all courts of justice, and council halls, and market
places, and places of assembly, and, in short, every spot where
any band or company of precipitate headstrong men is collected,
admiring, as it were, a life of peace and tranquillity, being the
most devoted contemplators of nature and of all the things in
it. Investigating earth and sea, and the air, and the heaven,
and all the different natures in each of them ; dwelling, if one
may so say, in their minds, at least, with the moon, and the
sun, and the whole company of the rest of the stars, both
planets and fixed stars. Having their bodies, indeed, firmly
planted on the earth, but having their souls furnished with
wings, in order that thus hovering in the air they may closely
survey all the powers above, looking upon them as in reality
the most excellent of cosmopolites, who consider the whole
world as their native city, and all the devotees of wisdom as
ON THE TEN FESTIVALS. 267
their fellow citizens, virtue herself having enrolled them as
such, to whom it has been entrusted to frame a constitution
for their common city.
II. Being, therefore, full of all kinds of excellence, and
being accustomed to disregard all those good things which
affect the body and external circumstances, and being inured
to look upon things indifferent as really indifferent, and being
armed by study against the pleasures and appetites, and, in
short, being always labouring to raise themselves above the
passions, and being instructed to exert all their power to pull
down the fortification which those appetites have built up, and
being insensible to any impression which the attacks of fortune
might make upon them, because they have previously estimated
the power of its attacks in their anticipations (for anticipation
makes even those things light which would be most terrible
if unexpected), their minds in this manner calculating
that nothing that happens is wholly strange, but having
a kind of faint perception of everything as old and in some
degree blunted. These men, being very naturally rendered
cheerful by their virtues, pass the whole of their lives as a
festival.
These men, however, are therefore but a small number,
kindling in their different cities a sort of spark of wisdom, in
order that virtue may not become utterly extinguished, and so
be entirely extirpated from our race. But if men everywhere
agreed with this small number, and became, as nature origi
nally designed that they should, all blameless and irreproach
able, lovers of wisdom, delighting in all that is virtuous and
honourable, and thinking that and that alone good, and look
ing on everything else as subordinate and slaves, as if they
themselves were the masters of them, then all the cities would
be full of happiness, being wholly free from all the things
which are the causes of pain or fear, and full of all those which
produce joy and cheerfulness. So that no time would ever
cease to be the time of a happy life, but that the whole circle
of the year would be one festival.
111. Wherefore, if truth were to be the judge, no wicked or
worthless man can pass a time of festival, no not evenior the
briefest period, inasmuch as he must be continually pained by
the consciousness of his own iniquities, even though, with his
soul, and his voice, and his countenance, he may pretend to
268 PHILO JUD^EUS.
smile ; for how can a man who is full of the most evil coun
sels, and who lives with folly, have any period of genuine joy ?
A man who is in every respect unfortunate and miserable, in
his tongue, and his belly, and all his other members, since he
uses the first fur the utterance of things which ought to be
secret and buried in silence, and the second he fills full of
abundance of strong wine and immoderate quantities of food
out of gluttony, and the rest of his members he uses for the in
dulgence of unlawful desires and illicit connections, not only
seeking to violate the marriage bed of others, but lusting un
naturally, and seeking to deface the manly character of the
nature of man, and to change it into a womanlike appearance, for
the sake of the gratification of his own polluted and accursed
passions.
On which account the all-great Moses, seeing the pre
eminence of the beauty of that which is the real festival, looked
upon it as too perfect for human nature and dedicated it to
God himself, speaking thus, in these very words : " The feast
of the Lord."* In considering the melancholy and fearful
condition of the human race, and how full it is of innumerable
evils, which the covetousness of the soul begets, which the
defects of the body produce, and which all the inequalities of
the soul inflict upon us, and which the retaliations of those
among whom we live, both doing and suffering innumerable
evils, are continually causing us, he then wondered whether
any one being tossed about in such a sea of troubles, some
brought on deliberately and others unintentionally, and never
being able to rest in peace nor to cast anchor in the safe haven
of a life free from danger, could by any possibility really keep
a feast, not one in name, but one which should really be so,
enjoying himself and being happy in the contemplation of the
world and all the things in it, and in obedience to nature, and
in a perfect harmony between his words and his actions, between
his actions and his words.
On which account he necessarily said that the feasts belonged
to God alone ; for he alone is happy and blessed, having no
participation in any evil whatever, but being full of all perfect
blessings. Or rather, if one is to say the exact truth, being
himself the good, who has showered all particular good things
over the heaven and earth. In reference to which fact, a cer-
* Leviticus xxiii. 2.
ON THE TEN FESTIVALS. 260
tain pre-eminently virtuous mind among the people of old,*
when all its passions were tranquil, smiled, being full of and
completely penetrated with joy, and reasoning with itself
whether perhaps to rejoice was not a peculiar attribute of God,
and whether it might not itself miss this joy by pursuing what
are thought delights by men, was timorous, and denied the
laughter of her soul until she was comforted.
For the merciful God lightened her fear, bidding her by his
holy word confess that she did laugh, in order to teach us that
the creature is not wholly and entirely deprived of joy ; but
that joy is unmingled and the purest of all which can receive
nothing of an opposite nature, the chosen peculiar joy of God.
But the joy which flows from that is a mingled one, being
alloyed, being that of a man who is already wise, and who has
received as the most valuable gift possible such a mixture as that
in which the pleasant are far more numerous than the unpleasant
ingredients. And this is enough to say on this subject.
THE SECOND FESTIVAL.
I. BUT after this continued and uninterrupted festival which
thus lasts through all time, there is another celebrated,
namely, that of the sacred seventh day after each recurring
interval of six days, which some have denominated the virgin,
looking at its exceeding sanctity and purity. And others have
called the motherless, as being produced by the Father of the
universe alone, as a specimen of the male kind unconnected
with the sex of women ; for the number seven is a most brave
and valiant number, well adapted by nature for government
and authority. Some, again, have called it the occasion, form
ing their conjectures of that part of its essence which is ap
preciable only by the intellect, from the objects intelligible to
their outward senses. For whatever is best among the objects
of the external senses, the things by means of which the
seasons of the year and the revolutions of time are brought to
perfection in their appointed order, partake of the number
seven. I mean that there are seven planets ; that the stars of
the Bear are seven, that the Pleiads are seven, and the revolu
tions of the moon when increasing and waning, and the orderly
well-regulated circuits of the other bodies, the beauty of which
exceeds all description.
* Genesis xviii. 10.
270 PHILO JUD.EUS.
But Moses, from a most honourable cause, called it consum
mation and perfection; attributing to the number six the
origination of all the parts of the world, and to the number
seven their perfection; for the number six is an odd-even
number, being composed of twice three, having the odd num
ber for the male and the even number for the female, from
the union of which, production takes place in accordance with
the unalterable laws of nature. But the number seven is free
from all such commixture, and is, if one must speak plainly,
the light of the number six; for what the number six
engendered, that the number seven displayed when brought to
perfection. In reference to which fact it may properly be
called the birthday of the world, as the day in which the work
of the Father, being exhibited as perfect with all its parts
perfect, was commanded to rest and abstain from all works.
Not that the law is the adviser of idleness, for it is always
accustoming its followers to submit to hardships, and training
them to labour, and it hates those who desire to be indolent
and idle ; at all events, it expressly commands us to labour
diligently for six days,* but in order to give some remission
from uninterrupted and incessant toil, it refreshes the body
with seasons of moderate relaxation exactly measured out, so
as to renew it again for fresh works. * For those who take
breath in this way, I am speaking not merely about private
individuals but even about athletes, collect fresh strength, and
with more vigorous power, without any shrinking and with
great endurance, encounter everything that must be done.
And the works meant are those enjoined by precepts and
doctrines in accordance with virtue.
And in the day he exhorts us to apply ourselves to philo
sophy, improving our souls and the dominant part of us, our
mind. Accordingly, on the seventh day there are spread before
the people in every city innumerable lessons of prudence, and
temperance, and courage, and justice, and all other virtues ;
during the giving of which the common people sit down, keep
ing silence and pricking up their ears, with all possible atten
tion, from their thirst for wholesome instruction ; but some of
those who are very learned explain to them what is of great
importance and use, lessons by which the whole of their lives
may be improved.
Exodus xx. 9.
ON THE TEN FESTIVALS. 271
And there are, as we may say, two most especially important
heads of all the innumerable particular lessons and doctrines;
the regulating of one s conduct towards God by the rules of
piety and holiness, and of one s conduct towards men by the
rules of humanity and justice ; each of which is subdivided
into a great number of subordinate ideas, all praiseworthy.
From which considerations it is plain that Moses does not
leave those persons at any time idle who submit to be guided
by his sacred admonitions ; but since we are composed of both
soul and body, he has allotted to the body such work as ^is
suited to it, and to the soul also such tasks as are good for
that. And he has taken care that the one shall succeed the
other, so that while the body is labouring the soul may be at
rest, and when the body is enjoying relaxation the soul may be
labouring; and so the* best lives with the contemplative and
the active life, succeed to one another in regular alternations.
The active life having received the number six, according to
the service appointed for the body ; and the contemplative life
the number seven, as tending to knowledge and to the perfect
ing of the intellect.
II. It is forbidden also on this day to kindle a fire, as being
the beginning and seed of all the business of life ; since with
out fire it is not possible to make any of the things which are
indispensably necessary for life, so that men in the absence of
one single element, the highest and most ancient of all, are cut
off from all works and employments of art, especially from all
handicraft trades, and also from all particular services. But
it seems likely that it was on account of those who were less
obedient, and who were the least inclined to attend to what
was done, that Moses gave additional laws, besides, thinking it
right, not only that those who were free should abstain from
all works on the seventh day, but also that their servants and
handmaids should have a respite from their tasks, proclaiming
- a day of freedom to them also after every space of six days,
in order to teach both classes this most admirable lesson ; so
that the masters should be accustomed to do some things with
their own hands, not waiting for the services and ministrations
of their servants, in order that if any unforeseen necessities
came upon them, according to the changes which take place in
human affairs, they might not, from being wholly unaccustomed
* Exodus sxxv. 3.
272 PHILO JUD.EUS.
to do anything for themselves, faint at what they had to do ;
but, finding the different parts of the body active and handy,
might work with ease and cheerfulness ; and teaching the
servants not to despair of better prospects, but having a
relaxation every six days as a kind of spark and kindling 01
freedom, to look forward to a complete relaxation hereafter, if
they continued faithful and attached to their masters.
And from the occurrence of the free men at times submitting
to the tasks of servants, and of the servants enjoying a respite
and holiday, it will arise that the life of mankind advances in
improvement towards perfect virtue, from their being thus
reminded of the principles of equality, and repaying each other
with necessary services, both those of high and those of
obscure rank.
But the law has given a relaxation, not to servants only on
the seventh day, but also to the cattle. And yet by nature
the servants are born free ; for no man is by nature a slave.
But other animals are expressly made for the use and service
of man, and are therefore ranked as slaves ; but, nevertheless,
those that ought to bear burdens, and to endure toil and
labour on behalf of their owners, do all find a respite on the
seventh day. And why need I mention other particulars?
The ox, the animal who is born for the most important and
most useful of all the purposes of life, namely, for the plough,
when the earth is already prepared for seed ; and again, when
the sheaves are brought into the barn, for threshing in order
to the purification of the crop, is on this day unharnessed,
keeping as a festival that day which is the birthday of the
year. And thus its holiness pervades every thing and affects
every creature.
III. And Moses thinks the number seven worthy of such
reverence that even all other things which at all partake of it
are honoured by him ; at all events, on every seventh year he
ordains a remission of debts, assisting the poor, and inviting
the rich to humanity;* that so they, from their abundance,
giving to those that are in want, may also look forward to
receiving services from them in the case of any disaster hap
pening to them. For the accidents of human life are nume
rous, and life is not always anchored on the same bottom, but
is apt to change like the fickle wind which blows in different
* Deuteronomy xv, 1.
ON THE TEN FESTIVALS. 273
directions at different times. It is well, therefore, that the
kindness shown by the creditors should extend to all the
debtors. But since all men are not naturally inclined to mag
nanimity, but some men are the slaves of money, or per
haps not very rich, the law has appointed that they should
contribute what will not inconvenience them when parted with.
For while it does not permit them to lend on usury to their
fellow countrymen, it has allowed them to receive interest
from foreigners; calling the former, with great felicity of
expression, their brothers, in order to prevent any one s
grudging to give of his possessions to those who are as if by
nature joint inheritors with themselves ; but those who are not
their fellow countrymen are called strangers, as is very natural.
For the being a stranger shows that a person has no right to a
participation in any thing, unless, indeed, any one out of an
excess of virtue should treat even those in the conditions of
strangers as kindred and related, from having been bred up
under a virtuous state of things, and under virtuous laws which
look upon what is virtuous alone as good.
But the action of lending on usury is blameable ; for a
man who lends on usury has not abundant means of living, but
is clearly in some want ; and he does so as being compelled to
add the interest to his principal in order to subsist, and so he
at last becomes of necessity very poor ; and while he thinks
that he is deriving advantage he is in reality injured, just as
foolish animals are when they are deceived by a present bait. But
I should say to such persons, " O you who lend on usury, why
do you seek to disguise your unsociable disposition by an appa
rent pretence of good fellowship ? And why do you in words,
indeed, pretend to be a humane and considerate person, while
in your actions you exhibit a want of humanity and a terrible
hardness of heart, exacting more than you gave, and some
times even doubling your original loan, so as to make the
poor man an absolute beggar ? Therefore no one sympathises
with you in your distress, when, having endeavoured to obtain
more, you fail to do so, and besides lose even what you had
before. But, on the contrary, all men are glad of your misfor
tunes, calling you a usurer, and a skinflint, and all kinds of
names like those, looking on you as one who lies in wait for
human misfortunes, and who esteems the misfortunes of others
his own prosperity."
VOL. III. T
274 PHILO JUD^EUS.
But, as some have said, wickedness is a most laborious
thing ; and he who lends on usury is hlind, not seeing the
time of repayment, in which he will scarcely, or perhaps not
at all, receive the things which in his covetousness he had
hoped to gain. Let such a man pay the penalty of his avari
cious disposition, not recovering back what he has expended,
so as to make a gain of the misfortunes of men, deriving a
revenue from unbecoming sources. But let the debtors be
thought worthy of a humanity enjoined by the law, not paying
back their loans and usurious interest upon them, but paying
back merely the original sum lent. For again, at a proper
season, they will give the same assistance to those who have
aided them, requiting those who set the example of kindness
with equal services.
TV. After having given these commandments, Moses pro
ceeds in regular order to establish a law full of all gentleness
and humanity. " If," says this law, " one of thy brethren be sold
to thee, let him serve thee for six years ; and in the seventh
year let him be set free without any payment,"* Here again
Moses calls their fellow countrymen their brothers, implanting
in the soul of the owner by this appellation an idea of relation
ship to his servant, that he may not neglect him as a stranger,
towards whom he has no bond of goodwill. But that, yielding
to a feeling of affection for him as a relation, in consequence
of the lesson which the holy scripture thus suggests, he may
not feel indignant when his servant is about to recover his
freedom. For it has come to pass that such men are called
slaves (SouXo/), but they are in reality only servants (Qqrsg),
serving their masters for the sake of their necessities. And
even though they had a thousand times over given their masters
absolute power and authority over them, still their masters
ought to be gentle to them, considering these beautiful injunc
tions of the law. man, he is a hireling who is called a slave,
and he also is a man, having a most sublime relationship to
you, inasmuch as he is of the same nation as yourself; and
perhaps he is even of the same tribe and the same borough as
yourself, and is now reduced to this condition through want.
Do you, therefore, casting out of your soul that treacherous
evil, insolence, behave to him as if he were a hireling, giving
some things and receiving others. And so he will, with all
* Deuteronomy xv. 12.
ON THE TEN FESTIVALS. 275
energy arid cheerfulness perform the services due to you, at all
times and in all places, never delaying, but by his speed and
willingness anticipating your commands. And do you, in
return, provide him with food and raiment, and take all other
necessary care of him ; not yoking him to the plough like a
brute beast, and not oppressing him with heavy burdens
beyond his power to bear, nor treating him with insolence, nor
reducing him to painful despondency by threats and infliction
of punishment; but giving him proper relaxation and well-
regulated periods of rest ; for the precept, "Let nothing be too
much," applies to every case, and especially to the conduct of
masters to their servants.
Therefore, when he has served you for a very sufficient
time, for six years, then, when the most sacred number, the
seventh year is about to arrive, let him who is free by nature
depart in freedom ; and grant him this kindness without hesi
tating as to your part, my good man, but joyfully, because you
have now an opportunity of doing a service to that most excel
lent of all animals, man, in the most important of all matters ;
for there is no blessing to a slave greater than freedom. Do
you, therefore, set him free joyfully ; and, moreover, make him a
present from your own property, from each portion of your
possessions, giving to him who has served you faithfully means
to support himself on his journey. For it will tend to your
credit if he does not leave your house in poverty but having a
plentiful supply for all his necessities, so that he may not
again, through want, fall into his previous calamity, namely,
slavery, being compelled through want of his daily food to sell
himself, and so your kindness will be lost. This, then, is
enough to say about the poor.
V. In the next place Moses commands the people to leave
the land fallow and untilled every seventh year, for many rea
sons ;* first of all, that they may honour the number seven, or
each period of days, and months, and years ; for every seventh
day is sacred, which is called by the Hebrews the sabbath ; and
the seventh month in every year has the greatest of the festi
vals allotted to it, so that very naturally the seventh year also
has a share of the veneration paid to this number, and receives
especial honour.
And the second reason is this, " Be not," says the lawgiver,
* Loviticus xxv. 4.
T 2
276 PHILO JUD^EUS.
" wholly devoted to gain, but even willingly submit to some
loss," that so you may bear with the more indifference invo
luntary calamity if it should ever fall upon you, and not grieve
and despond, as if at some new and strange occurrence ; for
there are some rich men so unfortunate in their dispositions,
as, when want comes upon them, to groan and despond no less
than they might do if they were deprived of all their sub
stance. But of the followers of Moses, all who are true dis
ciples, being practised in good laws, are accustomed, from their
earliest age, to bear want with patience, by the custom of
leaving their fertile land fallow ; and being also taught mag
nanimity, and one may almost say, to let slip out of their
hands, from deliberate intention, revenues of admitted cer
tainty.
The third reason appears to me to be thus, which is inti
mated in a somewhat figurative manner, namely, to show that
it does not become any one whatever to weigh down and op
press men with burdens ; for if one is to allow a period of rest
to the portions of the earth which cannot by nature have any
share in the feelings of pleasure or of pain, how much the more
must men be entitled to a similar relaxation, who have not
only these outward senses, which are common to the brute
beasts, but also the especial gift of reason, by which the painful
feelings which arise from toil and fatigue, are more vividly
imprinted on their imaginations ?
Cease, therefore, ye who are called masters, from imposing
harsh and intolerable commands on your slaves, which break
the strength of the body by their compulsion, and compel the
souls to faint even before the bodies ; for there is no objection
to your exerting a moderate degree of authority, giving orders
by which you will receive the services to which you are en
titled, and in consequence of which your servants will cheer
fully do what they are desired ; and then they will discharge
their duties but for a short period, as if early exhausted, and,
if one must say the truth, brought by their labours to old age
before their time ; but like athletes, preserving their youthful
vigour for a long time, who do not become fat and corpulent,
but who are accustomed, by exertion and sweat, to train them
selves, so as to be able to acquire the things which are
necessary and useful for life.
Moreover let the governors of cities cease to oppress them
ON THE TEN FESTIVALS. 277
with continual and excessive taxes and tributes, filling their
own stores with money, and in preserving as a treasure the
illiberal vices which defile their whole lives ; for they do, on
purpose, select as collectors of their revenues the most pitiless
of men, persons full of all kinds of inhumanity, giving them
abundant opportunity for the exercise of their covetousness ;
and they, in addition to their own innate severity of temper,
receiving free license from the commands of their masters,
and having determined to do everything so as to please them,
practise all the harshest measures which they can imagine,
having no notion of gentleness or humanity, not even in their
dreams ; therefore they throw everything into disorder and
confusion, levying their exactions, not only on the possessions
of the citizens, but also on their persons, with insults and vio
lence, and the invention of new and unprecedented torture.
And before now 1 have heard of some persons who, in their
ferocity and unequalled fury, have not spared even the dead ;
but have been so brutal as even to venture to beat the dead
corpses with goads ; and when some one blamed their brutality,
in that not even death, that relief and real end of all miseries,
could prevent their victims from being insulted by them, but
that, instead of a grave and the customary funeral rites, they
were exposed to continued insult, they made a defence worse
even than the accusation brought against them, saying that
they were insulting the dead, not for the sake of abusing the
dumb and senseless dust, for there was no advantage in that,
but for the sake of making those who through ties of blood or
of friendship were nearly connected with them feel compassion
for them, and so inducing them to pay a ransom for their
bodies, thus doing them the last service in their power.
VI, Then, you most worthless of all men ! I would say
to them, have you not first learnt what you are now teaching ?
or do you know how to invite other people to compassion even
by the most inhuman actions, and yet have you eradicated all
merciful and humane feelings from your own souls ? And do
you act in this way in spite of not being in want of good ad
visers, and especially of our laws , which have released even
the earth from its yearly burdens, giving it a relaxation and a
respite? and it, although it seems to be inanimate, is never
theless fully prepared to make a requital and to recompence
favours, hastening to pay back any gift which it has received ;
278 PHILO JUD^US.
for as it receives an exemption every seventh year, and is not
forced to exert itself that year, but is set wholly free for the
whole circle of the year, in the subsequent year produces double,
or sometimes, many times, larger crops than usual from its
great productiveness.
And in like manner you may see the trainers acting in the
same way towards the athletes ; for when they are exercising
them with continual and uninterrupted practice, before they
are wholly knocked up, they refresh them, giving a respite not
only from their exertions in training, but also from their strict
regimen of eating and drinking, relaxing the severity of their
diet so as to produce a cheerfulness of soul and good condition
of body. And yet they are not to be looked upon as teachers
of indolence and luxury, inasmuch as their professed business
is to train men to the endurance of labours, but by a certain
method and artificial system they add to their natural strength
a strength more powerful still, and to their innate vigour a
more energetic vigour still, increasing their previous powers
by reciprocal remission and exertion, as^by a well-regulated
harmony.
And I have learnt all this from all-wise nature, which,
knowing the industrious and laborious condition of our race,
has distributed them into day and night, giving to us the one
for wakemlness, and the other for sleep ; for she felt a natural
anxiety, like a careful mother, that her offspring should not be
worn out with toil ; for by day she excites our bodies, and
rouses them up to all the necessities and duties belonging to
life, compelling those to work who would gladly be accustomed
to cultivate the leisure of idleness, and an effeminate and luxu
rious life. But by night, as if she were sounding a retreat in
time of war, she invites us to rest, and to take care of our
bodies. And those men who have laid aside a heavy weight of
business, which has lasted from morning till evening, do now
lay their burdens aside and return home and devote them
selves to ease, and indulging in profound sleep, refresh them
selves after the labours of the day. This long interval between
sleeping and waking nature has allotted to men, that they may
by turns labour diligently and by turns rest, so as to have all
the parts of their bodies more ready for action, and more active
and powerful.
VII. And the lawgiver, who is a prophetic spirit, gave us our
OX THE TEN FESTIVALS. 279
laws, having a regard to these things, and proclaimed a holiday
to the whole country, restraining the farmers from cultivating
the land after each six years incessant industry. But it was
not only on account of the motives which I have mentioned
that he gave these injunctions, but also because of his innate
humanity, which he thinks fit to weave in with every part of
his legislation, stamping on all who study the holy scriptures
a sociable and humane disposition.
For he commands his people every seventh year to forbear
to enclose any piece of land, but to let all the olive gardens
and vineyards remain open, and all their other possessions,
whether they be seed-land or trees, that so the poor may be
able to enjoy the spontaneously growing crops without fear, in
a greater, or at all events not in a less degree than the owners
themselves. On which account he does not allow the masters
to cultivate the land, having in view the object of not causing
them any annoyance from the feeling that they are at all the
expense, but that they do not receive any revenue from their
lands to make up for the expense, while the poor enjoy all the
crops as their own ; and he permits those who appear to be
strangers to enjoy all these things, raising them from their ap
parent lowly condition, and from the reproach of beingbeggars.
Is it not then fit to love these laws which are full of such
abundant humanity? by which the rich men are taught to
share the blessings which they have with and to communicate
them to others : and the poor are comforted, not being for ever
compelled to frequent the houses of the indigent to supply the
deficiencies by which they themselves are oppressed ; but
there are times when the widows and orphan children, as if
they had been deriving a revenue from their own properties,
namely the spontaneously growing crops, as I have said before,
and all other classes of persons who are disregarded from not
being wealthy, do at last find themselves in the possession of
plenty, being on a sudden enriched by the gift of God, who has
called them to share with the possessors themselves in the
number of the sacred seven.
And all those who breed flocks and herds lend their own
cattle with fearlessness and impunity to graze on the land of
others, choosing the most fertile plains, and the lands most
suitable for the feeding of their cattle, availing themselves of
the license of the jubilee ; and they are not met by any ill-will
280 PHILO JUD.EUS.
or illiberality on the part of the masters, as having the
property in these lands by old custom, which having prevailed
for a very long time, so as to become familiar, has now pre
vailed even over nature.
VIII. Having laid down these principles as a kind of
foundation of gentleness and humanity, he then puts together
seven sevens of years, and so makes the fiftieth year an
entirely sacred year, enacting with reference to it some ordi
nances of especial honour beyond those which relate to the
ordinary years of communication of property.
In the first place he gives this commandment. He thinks
it fitting that all property that has been alienated should now
be restored to its original masters in order that the inherit
ances originally apportioned to the different tribes may be
preserved, and that no one who originally received an allot
ment may be wholly deprived of his possessions. Since it
often happens that unforeseen circumstances come upon men
by which they are compelled to sell what belongs to them.
And so he provided in a suitable manner for their necessities,
and prevented those who purchased the lands from being
deceived, allowing the one to sell their lauds, and teaching the
others very plainly the conditions on which they are going to
purchase. For the law says Do not give a price as if for
an everlasting possession, but only for a definite number of
years, which must be less than fifty ; for the sale effected
ought not to be a sale of the lands owned, but a sale of the
crops, for two most weighty reasons ; one, that the whole
country is called the possession of God, and it is impious for
any one else to be recorded as the masters of the possessions
of God ; and secondly, because a separate allotment has been
assigned to each land-owner, of which the law does not choose
the man who originally received the allotment to be deprived.
Therefore, the law invites the man who is able to recover his
original property within the period of fifty years, or any one of
his nearest relations, to use every exertion to repay the price
which he received, and not to be the cause of loss to the man
who purchased it, and who served him at a time when he was in
need of assistance. And at the same time it sympathises with
the man who is in too great a state of indigence to do so, and
bestows its compassion on him, giving him back his former
property with the exception of any fields which have been
ON THE TEN FESTIVALS. 281
consecrated by a vow, and are so placed in the class of offer
ings to God. And it is contrary to divine law that any thing
which has been offered to God should ever by lapse of time
become profane. On which account it is commanded that the
accurate value of those fields shall be fully exacted, without
showing any favour to the man who dedicated the offering.
IX. These are the commandments which are given with
respect to the divisions of the land and the inheritances so
portioned out. There are others also enacted with respect to
nouses. And since of houses some are in cities, being within
walls ; while others are open abodes in the country, and not
within any walls ; the law has directed that those in the
country shall always be redeemed with money, and that those
which are not redeemed before the fiftieth year shall be
restored without any payment to their original owners, just as
their other possessions ;* for the houses are a portion of the
man s possessions. But those which are within walls shall be
liable to be redeemed by those who have sold them for a full
year;f but if they be not redeemed within that year, then
after that year they shall be confirmed to those who had bought
them, the jubilee of the fiftieth year not injuring the claim of
the purchasers.
And the reason of these enactments is that God wills to
give even to strangers an opportunity of becoming firmly
established in the land. For since they have no participation
in the land, inasmuch as they are not numbered among those
to whom the inheritances have been apportioned, the law has
allotted to them a property in houses, being desirous that they
who have come as suppliants to the laws, and who have taken
refuge under their protection, should not be homeless wander
ers in the land. For the cities, when the land was originally
portioned out in inheritances, were not divided among the
tribes, nor indeed were they originally built together in streets,
but the inhabitants of the land preferred to make their abode
in their open houses in the fields. But afterwards they quitted
these houses and came together, the feeling of a love of fellow
ship and communication, as was natural, becoming stronger
after a lapse of time, and so they build houses in the same
place, and cities, of which they allowed a share also to the
* Leviticus zxv. 31. t Leviticus xxv. 19.
282 PBILO JUDJEUS.
strangers, that they might not be destitute of every thing both
in the country and in the cities.
X. And concerning the tribe which was set apart as conse
crated for the priesthood, the following laws are established.
The law did not bestow upon the keepers of the temple any
portion of the land, considering the first fruits of it a sufficient
revenue for them. But it allotted them eight and forty cities
to dwell in, and a suburb of two thousand cubits around eacb
city.* Therefore, it did not confirm the houses in these cities
in the same manner that it did those in the other cities which
are built within walls, to the purchasers, if those who had sold
them, were not able to redeem them within the year, but it
permitted them to be redeemed at any time, like the open
houses in the country taken from the gentiles, to which they
corresponded. Since the Levites had received only houses in
this district, of which the lawgiver did not think it fit that
those who received them should be deprived any more than
those to whom the allotments of the open houses in the coun
try had fallen. And this is enough to say about the houses.
XI. But the laws established with respect to those who
owed money to usurers, and to those who had become servants
to masters, resemble those already mentioned; that the
usurers shall not exact usurers interest from their fellow
countrymen, but shall be contented to receive back only what
they lent ; and that the masters shall behave to those whom
they have bought with their money not as if they were by
nature slaves, but only hirelings, giving them immunity and
liberty, at once, indeed, to those who can pay down a ransom
for themselves, and at a subsequent period to the indigent,
either when the seventh year from the beginning of their
slavery arrives, or when the fiftieth year comes, even if a man
happen to have fallen into slavery only the day before. For
this year both is and is looked upon as a year of remission ;
every one retracing his steps and turning back again to his
previous state of prosperity.
But the law permits the people to acquire a property in
slaves who are not of their own countrymen, but who are of
different nations ; intending in the first place that there should
be a difference between one s own countrymen and strangers,
and secondly, not desiring completely to exclude from the
* Leviticus xxxv. 5.
ON THE TEN FESTIVALS. 283
constitution that most entirely indispensable property of slaves ;
for there are an innumerable host of circumstances in life
which require the ministrations of servants.
THE THIRD FESTIVAL.
Following the order which we have adopted, we proceed to
speak of the third festival, that of the new moon. First of all,
because it is the beginning of the month, and the beginning,
whether of number or of time, is honourable. Secondly, be
cause at this time there is nothing in the whole of heaven
destitute of light. Thirdly, because at that period the more
powerful and important body gives a portion of necessary
assistance to the less important and weaker body ; for, at the
time of the new moon, the sun begins to illuminate the moon
with a light which is visible to the outward senses, and then
she displays her own beauty to the beholders. And this is, as
it seems, an evident lesson of kindness fnd humanity to men,
to teach them that they should never grudge to impart their
own good things to others, but, imitating the heavenly bodies,
should drive envy away and banish it from the soul,
THE FOURTH FESTIVAL.
And after the feast of the new moon comes the fourth
festival, that of the passover, which the Hebrews call pascha, on
which the whole people offer sacrifice, beginning at noon-day
and continuing till evening. And this festival is instituted in
remembrance of, and as giving thanks for, their great migra
tion which they made from Egypt, with many myriads of
people, in accordance with the commands of God given to
them ; leaving then, as it seems, a country full of all inhu
manity and practising every kind of inhospitality, and (what
was worst of all) giving the honour due to God to brute beasts ;
and, therefore, they sacrificed at that time themselves out of
their exceeding joy, without waiting for priests. And what was
then done the law enjoined to be repeated once every year, as
a memorial of the gratitude due for their deliverance.
These things are thus related in accordance with the ancient
historic accounts. But those who are in the habit of turning
plain stories into allegory, argue that the passover figuratively
represents the purification of the soul ; for they say that the
lover of wisdom is never practising anything else except a pass-
884 PHILO JUD^EUS.
ing over from the body and the passions. And each house is
at that time invested with the character arid dignity of a
temple, the victim being sacrificed so as to make a suitable-
feast for the man who has provided it and of those who are
collected to share in the feast, being all duly purified with holy
ablutions.
And those who are to share in the feast come together not
as they do to other entertainments, to gratify their bellies with
wine and meat, but to fulfil their hereditary custom with prayer
and songs of praise. And this universal sacrifice of the whole
people is celebrated on the fourteenth day of the month, which
consists of two periods of seven, in order that nothing which is
accounted worthy of honour may be separated from the number
seven. But this number is the beginning of brilliancy and
dignity to everything
THE FIFTH FESTIVAL.
And there is another festival combined with the feast of the
passover, having a use of food different from the usual one,
and not customary ; the use, namely, of unleavened bread, from
which it derives its name. And there are two accounts given
of this festival, the one peculiar to the nation, on account of
the migration already described ; the other a common one, in
accordance with conformity to nature and with the harmony of
the whole world. And we must consider how accurate the
hypothesis is.
This month, being the seventh both in number and order,
according to the revolutions of the sun, is the first in power;
on which account it is also called the first in the sacred scrip
tures. And the reason, as I imagine, is as follows. The vernal
equinox is an imitation and representation of that beginning
in accordance with which this world was created. Accordingly,
every year, God reminds men of the creation of the world, and
with this view puts forward the spring, in which season all
plants flourish and bloom ; for which reason this is very cor
rectly set down in the law as the first month, since, in a
manner, it may be said to be an impression of the first begin
ning of all, being stamped by it as by an archetypal seal. And
this feast is begun on the fifteenth day of the month, in the
middle of the month, on the day on which the moon is full of
* Exodus xii. 1.
ON THE TEN FESTIVALS. 285
light, in consequence of the providence of God taking care that
there shall be no darkness on that day.
And, again, the feast is celebrated for seven days, on account
of the honour due to that number, in order that nothing which
tends to cheerfulness and to the giving of thanks to God may
be separated from the holy number seven. And of the seven
days, Moses pronounces two, the first and the last, holy ;
giving, as is natural, a pre-eminence to the beginning and to
the end ; and wishing, as if in the case of a musical instru
ment, to unite the two extremities in harmony.
And the unleavened bread is ordained because their ances
tors took unleavened bread with them when they went forth
out of Egypt, under the guidance of the Deity ; or else, because
at that time (I mean at the spring season, during which this
festival is celebrated) the crop of wheat is not yet ripe, the
plains being still loaded with the corn, and it not being as yet
the harvest time, and therefore the lawgiver has ordained the
use of unleavened food with a view to assimilating it to the
state of the crops. For unleavened food is also imperfect or
unripe, as a memorial of the good hope which is entertained ;
since nature is by this time preparing her annual gifts for the
race of mankind, with an abundance and plenteous pouring
forth of necessaries.
The interpreters of the holy scriptures do also say that the
unleavened food is a gift of nature, but that harmed bread is a
work of art. Since, therefore, the vernal festival is a com
memoration of the creation of the world, and since that it was
inevitable that the most ancient persons, those formed out of
the earth, must have used the gifts of the world without altera
tion, pleasure not having as yet obtained the dominion, the
lawgiver ordained that food which was the most suitable to the
occasion, wishing to kindle every year a desire to walk in the
paths of a holy and rigid way of life.
THE SIXTH FESTIVAL.
There is also a festival on the day of the paschal feast,
which succeeds the first day, and this is named the sheaf,
from what takes place on it ; for the sheaf is brought to the
altar as a first fruit both of the country which the nation has
received for its own, and also of the whole land ; so as to be
an offering both for the nation separately, and also a common
286 PHILO JUDJEUS.
one for the -whole race of mankind ; and so that the people by
it worship the living God, both for themselves and for all the
rest of mankind, because they have received the fertile earth
for their inheritance ; for in the country there is no barren soil
but even all those parts which appear to be stony and rugged
are surrounded with soft veins of great depth, which, by reason
of their richness, are very well suited for the production of
living things.
And there are many meanings intended by this offering of
the first fruits. In the first place they are a memorial of God ;
secondly, they are a most just requital to be offered to him
who is the real cause of all fertility ; and the sheaf of the first,
fruits is barley, calculated for the innocent and blameless use
of the inferior animals ; for since it is riot consistent with
holiness to offer first fruits of everything, since most things
are made rather for pleasure than for any actually indispens
able use, it is also not consistent with holiness to enjoy and
partake of any thing which is given for food, without first giving
thanks to that being to whom it is becoming and pious to
offer them.
That portion of the food which was honoured with the
second place, namely, barley, was ordered by the law to be
offered as first fruits ; for the first honours were assigned to
wheat, of which it has deferred the offering of the first fruits,
as being more honourable, to a more suitable season.
THE SEVENTH FESTIVAL.
The solemn assembly on the occasion of the festival of the
sheaf having such great privileges, is the prelude to another
festival of still greater importance ; for from this day the
fiftieth day is reckoned, making up the sacred number of
seven sevens, with the addition of a unit as a seal to the whole ;
and this festival, being that of the first fruits of the corn, has
derived its name of pentecost from the number of fifty,,
(Kevrqxoff-bg^). And on it it is the custom to offer up two
leavened loaves made of wheat, as a first fruit of the best kind
of food made of corn ; either because, before the fruit of the
year is converted to the use of man, the first produce of the
new crop, the first gathered corn that appears is offered as a
first fruit, in order that by an insignificant emblem the people
may display their grateful disposition; or else because the
ON THE TEN FESTIVALS. 287
fruit of wheat is most especially the first and most excellent
of all productions.
And the bread is leavened because the law forbids any one
to offer unleavened bread upon the altar ; not in order that
there should be any contradiction in the injunctions given,
but that in a manner the giving and receiving may be of one
sort ; the receiving being gratitude from those who offer it,
and the giving an unhesitating bestowal of the customary
blessings on those who offer.* Not indeed to that . . .
For those to whom such an action is permitted will use
the offerings when they have once been consecrated : and it is
permitted to the priests ; and the leaven is also an emblem of
two other things; first of all of that most perfect and entire
food, than which one cannot, among all the things of daily
use, find any which is better and more advantageous ; and
the fruit of wheat is the best of all the things that are sown ;
so that it is fitting, that that should be offered as the most
excellent of first fruits, for the most excellent gift. The second
is a more figurative meaning, implying that every thing which
is leavened is apt to inflate and elate ; and joy is an irrational
elation of the soul.
Now man is not by nature disposed to rejoice at anything
that exists more than at an abundant and sufficient supply of
necessaries ; for which it is very proper to give thanks joy
fully, making a display of gratitude, for tho invisible happiness
affecting the mind, which shall be perceptible to the outward
senses through the medium of the leavened loaves ; and these
first fruits are loaves, not corn, because when there is corn
there is no longer anything wanting for the enjoyment of food,
for it is said that the wheat is the last of all the grains which
are sown to ripen and to come to harvest. And there are thus
two most excellent acts of thanksgiving having a reference to
two distinct, times ; to the past, in which we have been saved
from experiencing the evils of scarcity and hunger while
living in happiness and plenty ; and to the future, because we
have provided ourselves with supplies and abundant prepara
tions for it.
* The whole of this passage appears corrupt and unintelligible.
Mangey especially points out that what was forbidden was not to offer
unleavened bread, but leavened bread upon the altar, See Exodus
xxiii. 18.
288 PHILO JUD^EGS.
THE EIGHTH FESTIVAL.
Immediately after comes the festival of the sacred moon ;
in which it is the custom to play the trumpet in the temple at
the same moment that the sacrifices are offered. From which
practice this is called the true feast of trumpets, and there are
two reasons for it, one peculiar to the nation, and the other
common to all mankind. Peculiar to the nation, as being a
commemoration of that most marvellous, wonderful, and
miraculous event that took place when the holy oracles of
the law were given ; for then the voice of a trumpet sounded
from heaven, which it is natural to suppose reached to the
very extremities of the universe, so that so wondrous a sound
attracted all who were present, making them consider, as it is
probable, that such mighty events were signs betokening some
great things to be accomplished. And what more great or
more beneficial thing could come to men than laws affecting
the whole race ?
And what was common to all mankind was this: the trumpet
is the instrument of war, sounding both when commanding
the charge and the retreat
There is also another kind of war, ordained of God, when
nature is at variance with itself, its different parts attacking
one another. And by both these kinds of war the things on
earth are injured. They are injured by the enemies, by the
cutting down of trees, and by conflagrations ; and also by
natural injuries, such as droughts, heavy rains, lightning from
heaven, snow and cold ; the usual harmony of the seasons of
the year being transformed into a want of all concord.
On this account it is that the law has given this festival the
name of a warlike instrument, in order to show the proper
gratitude to God as the giver of peace, who has abolished all
seditions in cities, and in all parts of the universe, and has
produced plenty and prosperity, not allowing a single spark
that could tend to the destruction of the crops to be kindled
into flame.
THE NINTH FESTIVAL.
And after the feast of trumpets the solemnity of the fast is
celebrated, and this Moses has called the greatest of the
festivals, denominating it in his national language the sabbath
ON THE TEN FESTIVALS. 289
of sabbaths, or, as the Greeks would style, it the week of weeks,
the most holy of all holy times. And it has this title for many
reasons.
The first reason is the temperance which the lawgiver is
continually exhorting men to display at all times, both in their
language and in their appetites, both in and below the belly.
And he most especially enjoins them to display it now, when
he devotes a day to the particular observances of it. For when
a person has once learnt to be indifferent to meat and drink,
those very necessary things, what can there be of things which
are superfluous that he would find any difficulty in disregarding?
The second reason is, that every one is at this time occupied
in prayers and supplications, and since they all devote their
entire leisure to nothing else from morning till evening, except
to most acceptable prayers by which they endeavour to gain
the favour of God, entreating pardon for their sins and hoping
for his mercy, not for their own merits but through the com
passionate nature of that Being who will have forgiveness
rather than punishment.
The third is an account of the time at which this fast is
fixed to take place ; for by this season all the fruits which
the earth has produced during die whole year are gathered in.
And therefore to proceed at once to devour what has been pro
duced Moses looked upon as an act of greediness ; but to fast,
and to abstain from touching food, he considered a mark of
perfect piety which teaches the mind not to trust to the food
which it may have prepared as the cause of health or life.
Therefore those who, after the gathering in of the harvest,
abstain from the food, do almost declare in express words,
" We have with joy received, and we shall cheerfully store up
the bounteous gifts of nature ; but we do not ascribe to any
corruptible thing the cause of our own durable existence, but
we attribute that to the Saviour, to the God who rules in the
world, and who is able, either by means of these things or
without them, to nourish and to preserve us. At all events,
behold, he nourished our forefathers even in the desert for
forty years."*
And this day of the fast is celebrated in the tenth month,
because the number ten is a perfect number. Therefore God
has ordained that abstinence from food should take place in
* Deuteronomy viii. 2.
VOL. III. U
290 PHILO JUDJ3US.
accordance with the perfect number, for the sake of affording
the best nourishment to the best thing which is in us ; that
no one may suppose that the interpreter of God s word is
enjoining hunger, the most intolerable of all evils, but only a
brief cutting off of the stream which flows into the channels of
the body. For thus the clear stream which proceeds from the
fountain of reason was likely to be borne smoothly and evenly
to the soul, since the uninterrupted use of food inundating the
body contributes also to confuse the reason. But if the supply
of food be checked, then the reason getting a firm footing as it
in a dry road, will be able to proceed in safety without
stumbling ; and besides it was fitting that when the supply of
all things had turned out according to the wishes of the people
and become completed, they should, amid the abundance of
their harvest, preserve a commemoration of their previous
want by abstinence from food, and should offer up prayers, in
order that they might never come to a real experience of a
want of necessary food.
THE TENTH FESTIVAL.
The last of all the annual festivals is that which is called
the feast of tabernacles, which is fixed for the season of the
autumnal equinox. And by this festival the lawgiver teaches
two lessons, both that it is necessary to honour equality, the
first principle and beginning of justice, the principle akin to
unshadowed light ; and that it is becoming also, after witnessing
the perfection of all the fruits of the year, to give thanks to
that Being who has made them perfect. For the autumn
(^groVwgov), as its very name shows is the season which comes
after (pzra) the fruits of the year (rfa ocwgav) are now
gathered into the granaries, on account of the providence of
nature which loves the living creatures upon the earth.
And, indeed, the people are commanded to pass the whole
period of the feast under tents, either because there is no
longer any necessity for remaining in the open air labouring
at the cultivation of the land, since there is nothing left in the
jand, but all .... is stored up in the barns, on account of
the injuries which otherwise might be likely to visit it from
the burning of the sun or the violence of the rains.
It is also intended as a commemoration of the long journey
ing of their ancestors, while making which through the desert
ON THE FESTIVAL OF THE BASKET OF FIRST FRUITS. 291
"they lodged in numerous tents for many years, while stopping
at each halting place. And it is proper in the time of riches
to remember one s poverty, and in an hour of glory to recollect
the days of one s disgrace, and at a season of peace to think
upon the dangers that are past.
Again, the beginning of this festival is appointed for the
fifteenth day of the month, on account of the reason which has
already been mentioned respecting the spring season, also that
the world may be full, not by day only but also by night, of
the most beautiful light, the sun and moon on their rising
opposite to one another with uninterrupted light, without any
darkness interposing itself between so as to divide them. And
after the festival has lasted seven days, he adds an eighth as
a seal, calling it a kind of crowning feast, not only as it would
seem to this festival, but also to all the feasts of the year which
we have enumerated ; for it is the last feast of the year, and is
a very stable and holy sort of conclusion, befitting men who
have now received all the produce from the land, and who are
no longer in perplexity and apprehension respecting any
barrenness or scarcity.
I have spoken in this way about the sacred week and the
sacred number seven at more than usual length, wishing to
show that all the feasts of the year are, as it were, the offspring
of the number seven, which stands in the relation of a mother.*
.... Follies and joys ; and because in such assemblies and
in a cheerful course of life there are thus established seasons of
delight unconnected with any sorrow or depression supporting
both the body and the soul ; the one by the pleasure and the
other by the opportunities for philosophical study which they
afford.
A TEEAT1SE
ON THE
FESTIVAL OF THE BASKET OF FIRST-FEUITS.f
I. THERE is, besides all these, another festival J sacred to
God, and a solemn assembly on the day of the festival which
* I have translated this as it is printed in Schwicheat s edition.
Mangey makes the treatise end at " mother."
t This treatise is not given in Mangey s edition.
J Deuteronomy xxvi. 1.
U 2
292 PHILO JUDJEUS.
they call castallus,* from the event thai takes place in it, as
\ve shall show presently. Now that this festival is not in the
same rank, nor of the same importance with the other festivals,
is plain from many considerations. For, first of all, it is not
one to be observed by the whole population of the nation as
each of the others is. Secondly, none of the things that are
brought or offered are laid upon the altar as holy, or commit
ted to the unextinguishable and holy fire. Thirdly, the very
number of days which are to be observed in the festival are not
expressly stated.
II. Nevertheless, any one may easily see that it has about
it some of the characteristics of a sacred festival, and that it
comes very near to having the privileges of a solemn assembly.
For every one of those men who had lands and possessions,
having filled vessels with every different species of fruit borne
by fruit-bearing trees ; which vessels, as I have said before, are
called castalli, brings with great joy the first fruits of his
abundant crop into the temple, and standing in front of the
altar gives the basket to the priest, uttering at the same time
the very beautiful and admirable hymn prescribed for the oc
casion ; and if he does not happen to remember it, he listens
to it with all attention while the priest recites it. And the
hymn is as follows : " The leaders of our nation renounced
Syria, and migrated to Egypt. Being but few in number,
they increased till they became a populous nation. Their
descendants being oppressed in innumerable ways by the
natives of the land, when no assistance did any longer appear
to be expected from men, became the suppliants of God,
having fled for refuge to entreat his assistance. Therefore he,
who is merciful to all who are unjustly treated, having received
their supplication, smote those who oppressed them with signs
and wonders, and prodigies, and with all the marvellous works
which he wrought at that time. And he delivered those who
were being insulted and enduring every kinji of perfidious op
pression, not only leading them forth to freedom, but even
giving them in addition a most fertile land ; for it is from the
fruits of this land, bounteous God ! that we now bring you
the first fruits ; if indeed it is a proper expression to say that
he who receives them from you brings them to you. For,
Master ! they are all your favours and your gifts, of which you
* Castallus is interpreted " a basket with a pointed bottom. *
ON THE HONOUR DUE TO PARENTS. 293
have thought us worthy, and so enabled us to live comfortably
and to rejoice in unexpected blessings which thou hast given
to us, who did not expect them."
III. This hymn is sung from the beginning of summer to
to the end of autumn, by two choruses replying to one another
uninterruptedly, on two separate occasions, each at the end of
one complete half of ten years ; because men cannot all at
once bring the fruits of the seasons to God in accordance with
his express command, but different men bring them at dif
ferent seasons ; and sometimes even the same persons bring
first fruits from the same Jands at different times ; for since
some fruits become ripe more speedily, and others more slowly,
either on account of the differences of the situations in which
they are grown, as being hotter or colder, or from innumerable
other reasons, it follows that the time for offering the first
fruits of such productions is undefined and uncertain, being ex
tended over a great space. And the use of these first fruits is
permitted to the priests, since they had no portion of the land
themselves, and had no possessions from which they could de
rive revenue ; but their inheritance is the first fruits from all
the nation as the wages of their holy ministrations, which they
perform day and night.
IV. 1 have now said thus much respecting the number
seven, and the things referring to it among the days, and the
months, and the years ; and about the festivals which are con
nected with this number seven, following the regular connection
of the heads of the subject, which I proposed to myself accord
ing to the order in which they are mentioned in the sacred
history. And I shall now proceed in regular order to consider
the commandment w r hich comes next, which is entitled the one
about the honour due to parents.
A TEEATISE
ON THK
HONOUR COMMANDED TO BE PAID TO PARENTS.*
I. HAVING already spoken of four commandments which,
both as to the order in which they are placed and as to their
* This treatise is also omitted in Mangey s edition.
294 PHTLO JUD^EUS.
importance, are truly the first ; namely, the commandment
about the lenity of that sovereign authority by which the world
is governed, and that which commands that man should not
look upon any representation or figure of anything as God, and
that which forbids the swearing falsely, or indeed the swearing
carelessly and vainly at all, and that concerning the sacred
seventh day all which commandments tend to piety and
holiness. I now proceed to the fifth commandment, relating
to the honour due to parents ; which is, as I showed in the
mention I made of it separately before, on the borders between
those which relate to the affairs of men and those which relate
to God.
For parents themselves are something between divine and
human nature, pax taking of both ; of human nature, inasmuch
as it is plain that they have been born and that they will die ;
and of divine nature, because they have engendered other
beings, and have brought what did not exist into existence :
for, in my opinion, what God is to the world, that parents are
to their children ; since, just as God gave existence to that
which had no existence, they also, in imitation of his power, as
far at least as they were able, make the race of mankind ever
lasting.
II. And this is not the only reason why a man s father and
mother are deserving of honour, but here are also several other
reasons. For among all those nations who have any regard for
virtue, the older men are esteemed above the younger, and
teachers ubove their pupils, and benefactors above those who
have received kindnesses from them, and rulers above their
subjects, and masters above their slaves. Accordingly, parents
are placed in the higher and superior class ; for they are the
elders, and the teachers, and the benefactors, and the rulers,
and the masters. And sons and daughters are placed in the in
ferior class ; for they are the younger, and the pupils, arid the
persons who have received kindnesses, and subjects, and slaves.
And that every one of these assertions is correct is plain from
the circumstances that take place, and proofs derived from
reason will establish the truth of them yet more undeniably.
III. I affirm, therefore, that that which produces is always
older than that which is produced, and that that which causes
anything is older than that of which it is the cause ; but those
who beget or bring forth a child are in some sense the causes
ON THE HONOUR DUE TO PARENTS. 295
and producers of the child which is begotten or brought forth,
and they stand in the light of teachers, inasmuch as all that
they know themselves they teach to their children from their
earliest infancy, and they not only exercise and train them in
the supernumerary accomplishments, impressing reasonings on
the minds of their children when they come to their prime,
but they also teach them those most necessary lessons which
refer to choice and avoidance, the choice, that is to say, of
virtues, and the avoidance of vices, and of all the energies in
accordance with them. For who can be more completely the
benefactors of their children than parents, who have not only
caused them to exist, but have afterwards thought them worthy
of food, and after that again of education both in body and
soul, and have enabled them not only to live, but also to live
w r ell ; training their body by gymnastic and athletic rules so as
to bring it into a vigorous and healthy state, and giving it an
easy way of standing and moving not without elegance and
becoming grace, and educating the soul by letters, and num
bers, and geometry, and music, and every kind of philosophy
which may elevate the mind which is lodged in the mortal
body and conduct it up to heaven, and can display to advantage
the blessed and happy qualities that are in it, producing an
admiration of and a desire for an unchangeable and harmonious
system, which they will afterwards never leave if they preserve
their obedience to their captain.
And in addition to the benefits which they heap upon them,
they have likewise authority over the children of whom they
are the parents, not as is the case in cities, in consequence of
some drawing of lots or election, so that any one can find fault
with his governor as having become so either by some blunder
of fortune and not by reason, or it may be by the impetuosity
of the multitude, the most inconsiderate and foolish of all
things, but being established in this post by the most excellent
and perfect wisdom of the sublime nature, which regulates all
divine and human affairs in accordance with justice.
IV. For these reasons it is allowable for parents even to
accuse their children, and to reprove them with considerable
severity, and even, if they do not submit to the threats which
are uttered to them by word of mouth, to beat them, and inflict
personal punishment on them, and to imprison them ; and if
they behave with obstinacy and resist this treatment, becoming
296 PHILO JUD^US.
stiff-necked through the greatness of their incurable wicked
ness, the law permits them to chastise them even to the extent
of putting them to death.* But still this permission is not
given to either the father by himself, or to the mother by
herself, by reason of the greatness of the punishment, which it
is not fitting should be determined by one, but by both
together, for it is not probable that both the parents will agree
about putting their child to death unless his iniquities are
very grievous, and weigh down by a certain undoubted prepon
derance that firm affection winch is firmly implanted in the
parents by nature.
But parents have received not only the power of a ruler and
governor over their children, but also that of a master, accord
ing to both the very highest characteristics of the possession
of servants, namely, possessing them as born in the house, and
also as purchased with money, for they expend a price many
times greater than their real value on their children and for
the sake of their children, in wages to nurses, and instructors,
and teachers, besides all the expenses which they incur for
their dress and their food, and their other care of them when
well and when sick, from their earliest infancy till the time
that they are full grown. And not only are those looked upon
as servants born in the house who have actually been brought
forth within the walls, but those also are so regarded who by
the laws of nature receive from the masters of the house a
sufficient support to maintain them in life after they are born.
V. Since this, then, is the case, those who do honour their
parents are not doing anything worthy of praise, since even
any single one of the commandments already mentioned is
sufficient to invite them to regard their parents with reverence.
But are not those men worthy of blame, and accusation, and
the very extremity of punishment, who neither respect them as
older than themselves, nor listen to them as their teachers, nor
think them worthy of any requital as their benefactors, nor
obey them as their rulers, nor fear them as their masters ?
Therefore the law says, " Honour thy father and thy mother
next after God;"f assigning to them the second place in
honour, on the same principle as nature herself has ranked
them in her decision of their proper place and duties.
And you will not honour them more by any line of conduct
* "Deuteronomy xxi. 18. t Deuteronomy v. 1#
ON THE HONOUR DUE TO PARENTS. 297
than by endeavouring and appearing to be virtuous persons.
As the being such is a seeking of virtue without pride arid
without guile, and appearing such aims at virtue in connection
with a good reputation and praise from one s associates ; for
parents, thinking but little of their own advantage, think the
virtue and excellence of their children the perfection of their
own happiness, for which reason it is that they are anxious that
they should obey the injunctions which are laid upon them,
and that they should be obedient to all just and beneficial
commands ; for a father will never teach his child anything
which is inconsistent with virtue or with truth.
VI. And any one may conjecture that pious respect is due
to parents, not only from what has been said above, but also
from the manner in which persons behave to those who are of
the same age with their parents ; for the man who shows
respect to an old man, or to an old woman, who is no relation
to him, must appear in some degree to be remembering his own
father and mother, and, out of this consideration, to be looking
upon them as the images of his parents, who are the real
models. On which account, in the sacred scriptures, it is not
only commanded that young men should rise up and give the
best seats to their elders, but also that they should rise up
before them when they pass by ;* showing honour to the grey
hairs of old age, to which there is a hope that they may come
themselves if they now yield 1 precedence to them.
And this commandment also seems to me to have been
enacted with exceeding beauty and propriety ; for the law says,
" Let each man fear his father and his mother, "f enjoining fear
rather than affection, not as being better in every respect or
for every purpose, but as being more advantageous and profit
able with reference to the present occasion, for the first of
these feelings affects foolish persons when they are being in
structed or reproved, and folly cannot be cured by any other
means than fear. But the second feeling, namely, affection
towards their parents, it is not fitting should be inculcated on
children by the injunctions of a lawgiver, for nature requires
that that should be spontaneous. For it has implanted it so
deeply from very infancy in the souls of those who are so
completely united by blood, and by the services done by the
parents to the children, that it is always self-taught and spon
taneous, and has no need of commandments to enforce it.
* Leviticus xix. 32. f Leviticus xix. 3.
298 PHILO JUD^EUS.
But the law has enjoined fear, because children are accus
tomed to feel an easy indifference. For though parents attend
to their children with an exceeding violence of affection, pro
viding them with necessary things from all quarters, and
bestowing all good things upon them, and shrinking from no
labour and from no danger, being bound to them by love
stronger than any oaths, still some persons do not receive
their affection as if it aimed solely at their good, being full of
luxury and arrogance; and coveting a luxurious life, and
becoming effeminate both in body and soul, permitting them
in no respect to entertain proper dispositions as through the
native powers of their minds, which they are not ashamed to
overthrow, and to enervate, and to deprive of each separate
energy, and so they come not to fear their natural correctors,
their fathers and mothers yielding to and indulging their own
private passions and desires. But we must also urge on the
parents of such persons that they employ more weighty and
severe admonitions in order to cure this impetuous obstinacy
of their children, and we must warn the children to reverence
their parents, fearing them as their rulers and natural
masters ; for it is with difficulty even by these considerations
that they will be brought to hesitate to act unjustly.
VII. I have now then gone through all the five heads of
laws in the first table, and have noticed also all the particular
points which had any reference to any individual. I must
also now point out the punishments affixed to the transgression
of these laws.
Now there is one common penalty affixed to them an,
namely, death, through which all such offences have a kind of
relationship to one another. But the causes of this sentence
beinct Drouounced in such cases are different, and we must
begin with the last, the one that relates to parents, since it is
in reference to this one that the words are still ringing in our
ears, " If any one shall beat his father or his mother, let him
be stoned. * . 1 ..
And very justly, for it is not fit that that man should live
who insults those who are the causes of his living ; but some
of the men of high rank, and some of the lawgivers, looking
rather at the vain opinions of men than at the truth, have
softened this commandment, and instituted as a penalty, for
* Exodus xxi, 15.
ON THE HONOUR DUE TO PARENTS. 299
those who beat their fathers, that their hands should be cut
off; and for the sake of bearing a good reputation in the eyes
of hasty and inconsiderate persons, they profess to them that it
is becoming, that the parts with which such men have struck
their parents should be cut off; but it is a piece of folly to be
angry with the servants rather than with those who are the
causes of such folly ; for it is not the hands that behave with
such insolence, but insolent men perform their actions with
their hands, and it is the men who must be punished, unless
indeed it can be called fitting to let men go who have com
mitted murder with the sword, and to content one s self with
throwing away the sword ; and unless, on the contrary, one
ought not to give honour to those who have shown pre-eminent
valour in war, but to the inanimate coats of armour, by means
of which they have behaved themselves valiantly ; and unless
again it is reasonable, in the case of those who have gained the
victory in the gymnastic games, in the stadium, or the double
race, or the long straight course, or in the contest of boxing,
or in the pancratium, to attempt to crown only the legs and
arms of the conquerors, and to let the whole of their bodies
remain unhonoured.
Surely it would be a ridiculous thing to lay down such
principles as these, and to abstain in consequence from
punishing or honouring those who were the real causes of the
results in question ; for we do not pass over a man who has
given a splendid exhibition of musical skill, playing exquisitely
on the flute or the lyre, and think the instruments themselves
worthy of proclamations and honours. Why, then, should we
deprive of their hands men who beat their fathers, you most
noble lawgivers ? Is it that they may for the future be wholly
useless for any purpose whatever, and that they may exact as
a tribute, riot once a year but every day, from those whom they
have treated with iniquity, compelling them to supply them
with necessary food, as being unableto provide for themselves ?
For their father is not so wholly hard-hearted as to endure to
see even a son who has so grievously offended against him
dying of hunger, after his anger has been blunted by time.
And even if he has not laid hands upon his parents, but has
only spoken ill of those whom he was bound to praise and
bless, or if he has in any other manner done anything which
can tend to bring his parents into disrepute, still let him die.*
300 PHILO
For since he is a common enemy, and if one may tell the
Elain truth, he is a public enemy of all men, to whom else can
e be kind and favourable when he is not so to the authors of
his being, by whose means he came into this world, and of
whom he is a* sort of supplement ?
VIII. Again, let the man who has profaned the sacred
seventh day as far as it may have lain in his power, be liable
to the punishment of death. For, on the contrary, it is proper
rather to provide whatever is profane, be it a thing or be it a
person, with means of purification, in order to induce a change
for the better, since "envy," as some one has said, " goes forth
out of the divine company." But to dare to adulterate or to
deface the holy coinage is an act which displays an extraordi
nary degree of impiety.
In that ancient migration which took place when the people
of Israel left Egypt, and when the whole multitude was travel
ling through the pathless wilderness, when the seventh day
came all those myriads of men which I have described before
rested in their tents in perfect tranquillity ; but one man, and
he not one of the most despised or lowest class of the people,
disregarding the commands which were laid upon the nation,
and ridiculing those who attended to them, went forth to pick
up sticks, but in reality to show his contempt for and violation
of the law. And he indeed came back bearing with him a
faggot in his arm, but the men who remained in their tents
although inflamed with anger and exasperated by his conduct,
nevertheless did not at once proceed to very harsh measures
against him that day by reason of the holy reverence due to
the day, but they led him before the ruler of the people, and
made known his impious action, and he having committed him
to prison, after a command had been given to put him to
death, gave the man up to those who had originally seen him
to execute. As therefore, in my opinion, it was not permitted
to kindle a fire on the seventh day for the reason which I
have already mentioned, so likewise it was not lawful to collect
any fuel for a fire.
IX. Against those who call God as a witness in favour of
assertions which are not true, the punishment of death is
ordained in the law ;t and very properly, for even a man of
* Exodus xxi. 16. t Deuteronomy six. 19.
ON THE HONOUR DUE TO PARENTS. 301
moderate respectability will never endure to be cited as a wit
ness, and to have his name registered in support of a lie. But
it seems to me that he would look upon any one who proposed
such a thing to him as a thoroughly faithless enemy; on which
account we must say this, that him, who swears rashly and
falsely, calling God to witness an unjust oath, God, although
he is merciful by nature, will yet never release, inasmuch as
he is thoroughly denied and infamous from guilt, even though
he may escape punishment at the hands of men. And such a
man will never entirely escape, for there are innumerable
beings looking on, zealots for and keepers of the national laws,
of rigid justice, prompt to stone such a criminal, and visiting
without pity all such as work wickedness, unless, indeed, we
are prepared to say that a man who acts in such a way as to
dishonour his father or his mother is worthy of death, but that
he who behaves with impiety towards a name more glorious
than even the respect due to one s parents, is to be borne with
as but a moderate offender.
But the lawgiver of our nation is not so foolish as, after
putting to death men who are guilty of minor offences, then to
treat those who are guilty of heavier crimes with mildness,
since surely it is a greater iniquity than even to speak dispa
ragingly or to insult one s parents, to show a contempt for the
sacred name of God by means of perjury. And if even he
who swears in an unbecoming manner is guilty and blameable,
of what punishment is that man worthy who denies the one
only true and living God and who honours the creature above
the Creator, and chooses to honour not only the earth and the
water, or the air, or the fire, the elements of the universe,
or again the sun and moon, and the planets and fixed stars,
arid the whole of heaven, and the universal world, but even
stocks and stones, which mortal workmen have fashioned, and
which by them have been shaped into human figures ?
Therefore, let such a man be himself likened to images
carved by the hand ; for it ought not to be that that man
should have any soul himself who honours tilings destitute of
soul or life, and especially after he has been a disciple of
Moses, whom he has often heard announcing to him and
under the influence of divine inspiration declaring those most
sacred and holy admonitions, " Take not the name of any other
gods into thy soul for a remembrance of them, and utter not
302 PHILO JUD^US.
their names with thy voice, but keep both thy mind and thy
speech far from all other interpositions, and turn them wholly
to the Father and Creator of the universe, that thus thou
mayest cherish the most virtuous and godly thoughts about his
single government, and mayest speak words that are becoming
and most profitable both to thyself and to those that hear
thee."*
X. We have now then mentioned the punishments which
are ordained against those who neglect the five commandments.
But the rewards which are offered to those who keep them,
even though the law has not set them forth in express words
of injunction, are nevertheless figuratively intimated. There
fore the fact of not thinking that there are any other gods but
the true God, nor imagining that things made by the hand of
man are gods, and the fact of not committing perjury, are
things which have no need of any other reward, for the mere
fact, in my opinion, of practising these virtues is itself a most
excellent and most perfect reward. For at what circumstance
can a lover of truth feel more really delighted than at the devo
tion of himself to one God, and attending in a guileless and
pure manner to his service ? And when I speak of witnesses,
I mean not such persons as are slaves to pride, but such as
are devoted to an admiration of goodness free from all error,
by whom the truth is honoured.
For wisdom itself is the reward of wisdom ; and justice, and
each of the other virtues, is its own reward. And truth, as
being the most beautiful in the whole company, and as being
the chief of all the holy virtues, is in much greater degree its
own recompense and reward, affording as it does happiness to
all who practise it, and blessings of which they cannot be
deprived to their children and descendants.
XI. Again, those who properly keep the sacred sabbath are
benefited in two most important particulars, both body and
soul ; as to their body, by a rest from their continual and inces
sant labours ; and as to their soul, by forming most excellent
conceptions respecting God as the Creator of the universe and
the careful protector of all the things and beings which and
whom he has made. And he made the whole universe in one
week. It is plain, therefore, from these things that the man
who honours the seventh day will himself find honour.
* Exodus xxiii. 13.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 303
In the same way let not him who honours his parents
dutifully seek for any further advantage, for if he considers
the matter he will find his reward in his own conduct. Not
but what, since this commandment is inferior in importance
to the first five commandments, which have a more divine
character, inasmuch as this is concerned with mortal subjects,
God has given an inducement to obey this one, saying,
" Honour thy father and thy mother, "that it may be well with
thee, and that thy days may be long in the land;"* affixing
thus two rewards to this injunction, one being in fact the
participation in virtue, for " well " means virtue, or at least
cannot subsist without virtue ; while the other is, if one is to
say the truth, immortality by length of days, and a life of long
duration, which thou wilt preserve even in the body living
with thy soul, purified with a perfect purification.
These things have now been discussed at sufficient length.
Let us after this, since the opportunity offers, consider the
commandments in the second table.
A TEEATISE
THOSE SPECIAL LAWS
WHICH ARE REFERRIBLE TO TWO COMMANDMENTS IN
THE DECALOGUE, THE SIXTH AND SEVENTH, AGAINST
ADULTERERS AND ALL LEWD PERSONS, AND AGAINST
MURDERERS AND ALL VIOLENCE.
I. THERE was once a time when, devoting my leisure to
philosophy and to the contemplation of the world and the
things in it, I reaped the fruit of excellent, and desirable, and
blessed intellectual feelings, being always living among the
divine oracles and doctrines, on which I fed incessantly and
insatiably, to my great delight, never entertaining any low or
grovelling thoughts, nor ever wallowing in the pursuit of glory
or wealth, or the delights of the body, but I appeared to be
raised on high and borne aloft by a certain inspiration of the
* Exodus xx. 12.
304 PHILO JUDJEUS.
soul, and to dwell in the regions of the sun and moon, and to
associate with the whole heaven, and the whole universal
world.
At that time, therefore, looking down from above, from the
air, and straining the eye of my mind as from a watch-tower,
I surveyed the unspeakable contemplation of all the things on
the earth, and looked upon myself as happy as having forcibly
escaped from all the evil fates that can attack human life.
Nevertheless, the most grievous of all evils was lying in wait
for me, namely, envy, that hates every thing that is good, and
which, suddenly attacking me, did not cease from dragging me
after it by force till it had taken me and thrown me into the
vast sea of the cares of public politics, in which I was and still
am tossed about without being able to keep myself swimming
at the top. But though I groan at my fate, I still hold out
and resist, retaining in my soul that desire of instruction which
has been implanted in it from my earliest youth, and this
desire taking pity and compassion on me continually raises
me up and alleviates my sorrow. And it is through this
fondness for learning that I at times lift up my head, and with
the eyes of my soul, which are indeed dim (for the mist of
affairs, wholly inconsistent with their proper objects, has over
shadowed their acute clear-sightedness), still, as well as I may,
I survey all the things around me, being eager to imbibe
something of a life which shall be pure and unalloyed by evils.
And if at any time unexpectedly there shall arise a brief
period of tranquillity, and a short calm and respite from the
troubles which arise from state affairs, I then rise aloft and
float above the troubled waves, soaring as it were in the air,
and being, I may almost say, blown forward by the breezes of
knowledge, which often persuades me to flee away, and to pass
all my days with her, escaping as it were from my pitiless
masters, not men only, but also affairs which pour upon me
from all quarters and at all times like a torrent. But even in
these circumstances I ought to give thanks to God, that though
I am so overwhelmed by this flood, I am not wholly sunk and
swallowed up in the depths. But I open the eyes of my soul,
which from an utter despair of any good hope had been believed
to have been before now wholly darkened, and I am irradiated
with the light of wisdom, since I am not given up for the
whole of uiy life to darkness.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 305
Behold, therefore, I venture not only to study the sacred
commands of Moses, but also with an ardent love of knowledge
to investigate each separate one of them, and to endeavour to
reveal and to explain to those who wish to understand them,
things concerning them which are not known to the multitude.
II. And since of the ten commandments which God himself
gave to his people without employing the agency of any prophet
or interpreter, five which are engraved in the first tablet have
been already discussed and explained, as have also all the
particular injunctions which were comprehended under them ;
and since it is now proper to examine and expound to the best
of our power and ability the rest of the commandments which
are found in the second table, I will attempt as before to adapt
the particular ordinances which are implied in them to each of
the general laws.
Now on the second table this is the first commandment,
" Thou shalt not commit adultery," because, I imagine, in
every part of the world pleasure is of great power, and no
portion of the world has escaped its dominion, neither of the
things on earth, nor of the things in the sea, nor even of those
in the air, for all animals, whether walking on the earth, or
flying in the air, or swimming in the water, do at all times
rejoice in pleasure, and cultivate it, and obey its behests, and
look to its eye and to its nod, obeying it with cheerfulness,
however arrogant and proud they may be, and all but antici
pating its commands, by the promptness and unhesitating
rapidity of their service.
Therefore, even that pleasure which is in accordance with
nature is often open to blame, when any one indulges in it
immoderately and insatiably, as men who are unappeasably
voracious in respect of eating, even if they take no kind of
forbidden or unwholesome food ; and as men who are madly
devoted to association with women, and who commit themselves
to an immoderate degree not with other men s wives, but with
their own. Still this sort of reproach, as affecting most men,
is one rather of the body than of the soul, since the body has
a vehement flame within, which consumes the food which is
offered to it, and seeks other food at no great distance, by
reason of the abundant moisture, the stream of which is con
veyed into the most secret parts of the body, creating an
itching, and stinging, and incessant tickling. But those men
x
306 PHILO JUD^US.
who are frantic in their desires for the wives of others, and at
times even for those of their nearest relations or dearest friends,
and who live to the injury of their neighbours, attempting to
vitiate whole families, however numerous, and violating all
kinds of marriage vows, and making vain the hcpes which men
conceive of having legitimate children, being afflicted with an
incurable disease of the soul, must be punished with death as
common enemies to the whole race of mankind, in order that
they may no longer live in perfect fearlessness, so as to be at
leisure to corrupt other houses, nor become teachers of others,
who may learn by their example to practise evil habits.
III. Moreover the law has laid down other admirable regu
lations with regard to carnal conversation ; for it commands
men not only to abstain from the wives of others, but also
from certain relations, with whom it is not lawful to cohabit ;
therefore Moses, detesting and loathing the customs of the
Persians, repudiates them as the greatest possible impiety, for
the magistrates of the Persians marry even their own mothers,
and consider the offspring of such marriages the most noble of
all men, and as it is said, they think them worthy of the
highest sovereign authority. And yet what can be a more
flagitious act of impiety than to defile the bed of one s father
after he is dead, which it would be right rather to preserve
untouched, as sacred ; and to feel no respect either for old age
or for one s mother, and for the same man to be both the son
and the husband of the same woman ; and again for the same
woman to be both the mother and wife of the same man, and
for the children of the two to be the brothers of their father and
the grandsons of their mother, and for that same woman to be
both the mother and grandmother of those children whom she
has brought forth, and for the man to be at the same time
both the father and the uterine brother of those whom he has
begotten ?
These enormities formerly took place among the Greeks in
the case of (Edipus, the son of Laius,* and the actions were
* This is the subject, in fact, of the (Edipus Tyrannus of Sophocles,
and is dilated upon by (Edipus, where he says
rjfjioiQ Kal (pvTtvaaiTtc TTO.\IV
avtirt ravrbv (TTrsp/ia, K (&7C0fiari
i i* 7raa, alp.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 307
committed out of ignorance and not voluntarily, and yet that
marriage brought on such a host of evils that nothing was
wanting to make up the amount of the most complete wretch
edness and misery, for there ensued from it a continual
succession of wars, both domestic and foreign, which were
bequeathed like an inheritance from their fathers and ances
tors to their children and descendants ; and there were
destructions of cities which were the greatest in Greece, and
destructions of embattled armies, and slaughter of nations
and of allies which had come to the assistance of either side,
and mutual slaughter of the most gallant leaders in each army,
and unreconcileable enmities about sovereignty and authority,
and fratricides, by which not only the families and countries of
the persons immediately concerned were utterly extinguished
and destroyed, but the greater portion of the whole Greek
nation also, for cities which were previously populous now
became desolate and void of their inhabitants, and were left as
a memorial of the calamities of Greece, and a miserable sight
for all beholders.
Nor, indeed, do the Persians, among whom such practices
are frequent, avoid similar evils, for they are continually
involved in military expeditions and battles, killing and being
killed, and at one time invading their neighbours and at
others repelling those who rise up against them. And many
enemies rise up against them from many quarters, since it is
not the nature of the barbarians to rest in tranquillity ; there
fore, before the existing sedition is appeased, another springs
up, so that no season of the year is ever indulged in peace and
quietness, but they are compelled to live under arms night and
day, bearing for the greater portion of their lives hardships in
the open air while serving in the camps, or else living in cities
from the complete absence of all peace. I forbear to mention
the great and intolerable violence and pride of success exhibited
yVVftlKClQ fJLrjTfpCtQ Tf, ^ ItiTTOOCl
" iv dvQpwTroiffiv tpya yiyvirai. 14C8.
And again he says
T\\V TIKOVGCtV ?"pO(76J
oQtv 7Tp avroQ icFTrdprjy KO.K TUIV Iffwv
tKTrjaafr V/iO WVTTfp aVTOQ i&tyV. 1409.
Philo alludes afterwards to the wars which are the 3ubject cf the Ewr
*TTI 0i7/3a of JSschylus.
x 2
308 PHILQ JUD^EUS.
by the kings, whose first contests begin at the very first
assumption of their sovereign power with the greatest of all
iniquities, fratieide, as thus alone do they imagine that tKey
will be safe from all attacks and treachery on the part of
their brothers if they appear to have put them to death with
reason and justice.
And it seems to me that all these things arise from the un
hallowed connections of sons with their own mothers, because
justice, who surveys all human affairs, revenges herself thus
on those who act improperly for their wickedness ; for not
only do those who act thus commit impiety, but those also
who voluntarily signify their assent to the arbitrary conduct
of those who do such actions.
But our law guards so carefully against such actions as
these that it does not permit even a step-son, when his
father is dead, to marry his step-mother, on account of the
respect which he owes to his father, and because the titles
mother and step-mother are kindred names, even though the
affections of the souls may not be identical ; for the man
who is thought to abstain from her who has been the wife of
another man, because she is called his step-mother, will
much more abstain from his own natural mother. And if
any one, on account of his recollection of his father, shows a
respectful awe of her who has formerly been his wife, it is
quite evident that he, because of the respect which he feels
towards both his parents, is not likely to meditate any im
proper conduct to his mother ; since it would be downright
folly for a man who studies to please one half of his family,
to appear to neglect it in its wholeness and integrity.
IV. There follows after this a command not to espouse
one s sister : w^hich is an injunction of great excellence, and
one which contributes very greatly to temperance and good
order. Therefore the Athenian lawgiver, Solon, when he
permitted men to marry their sisters by the same father,
forbade them to marry those by the same mother. But the
lawgiver of the Lacedaemonians, on the other hand, allowed
of marriages between brothers and sisters by the same
mothers, but forbade those between brothers and sisters by
the same father. "While the lawgiver of the Egyptians, ridi
culing the cautious timidity of the others as if they had
established imperfect ordinances, gave the reins to lascivious-
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 309
ness, supplying in great abundance that most incurable evil
of intemperance both to body and soul, and permitting men
fearlessly and with impunity to marry all their sisters,
whether by both parents or by one, or by either, whether
father or mother, and that too not only if younger than, but
even when older than, or of the same age as themselves ;
for twins are very often born, which nature, indeed, at their
very birth has dissevered and separated, but which inconti
nence and love of pleasure has invited to an association
which ought never to be entered into, and to a most inhar
monious agreement.
But the most sacred Moses, rejecting all those ordinances
with detestation, as being quite inconsistent with and at
variance with any praiseworthy kind of constitution, and as
laws which encouraged and trained people to the most dis
graceful of all habits, most peremptorily prohibited any con
nection with a man s sister, whether by both parents, or
whether only by one of the two ; for why should any one
seek to deface the beauty of modesty ? And why make
virgins destitute of all modesty, to whom it is becoming to
blush ? And, moreover, why should one be willing to limit
the associations and connections with other men, and to
confine a most honourable thing within the narrow space of
the walls of a single house, which ought rather to be extended
and diffused over all continents, and islands, and the whole
inhabited world? For the intermarriages with strangers
produce new relationships, which are in no respect inferior
to those which proceed from ties of blood.
V. On which account our lawgiver has also forbidden
other matrimonial connections, commanding that no man
shall marry his granddaughter, whether she be his son s or
his daughter s child ; nor his niece ; nor his aunt ; nor his
grandmother, by either father or mother ; nor any woman
who has been the wife of his uncle, or of his son, or of his
brother; nor, again, any step-daughter, whether virgin or
widow, whether his own wife be alive or even after her
death. Eor, in principle, a step-father is the same as a
father, and therefore he ought to look upon his wife s
daughter in the same light as his own.
Again. He does not permit the same man to marry two
eisters, neither at the same time nor at different periods,
310 PHILO JUD^EUS.
even if he have put away the one whom he previously married ;
for while she is living, whether she be cohabiting with him
or whether she be put away, or if she be living as a widow,
or if she be married to another man, still he did not consider
it holy for her sister to enter upon the portion of her who
had been unfortunate ; by this injunction teaching sisters
not to violate the requirements of justice towards their rela
tions, nor to make a stepping stone of the disasters of one
so united to themselves by blood, nor to acquiesce in or to
pride themselves in receiving attentions from those who have
shown themselves enemies to their relations, or to recipro
cate any kind offices received from them.
For from such things as these arise bitter jealousies and
quarrels, and enmities which scarcely admit of reconciliation,
but which bring on indescribable hosts of misfortunes ; for
that would be just as if the different members of the body
were to abandon the harmony and fellowship in which they
are put together by nature, and to quarrel with one another,
which circumstance must necessarily cause incurable diseases
and mischiefs. And sisters are like limbs, which, although
they are separated from one another, are nevertheless all
adapted to one another by nature and natural relationship.
And jealousy, which is the most grievous of all passions, is
continually producing new, and terrible, and incurable
mischiefs.
Again. Moses commands, do not either form a connec
tion of marriage with one of another nation, and do not be
seduced into complying with customs inconsistent with your
own, and do not stray from the right way and forget the
path which leads to piety, turning into a road which is no
road. And, perhaps, you will yourself resist, if you have
been from your earliest youth trained in the best possible
instruction, which your parents have instilled into you, con
tinually filling your mind with the sacred laws. And the
anxiety and fear which parents feel for their sons and
daughters is not slight ; for, perchance, they may be allured
by mischievous customs instead of genuine good ones, and
so they may be in danger of learning to forget the honour
belonging to the one Grod, which is the beginning and end
of extreme unhappiness.
But if, proceeds the lawgiver, a woman having been di-
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 311
vorced from her husband under any pretence whatever, and
having married another, has again become a widow, whether
her second husband is alive or dead, still she must not
return to her former husband, but may be united to any
man in the world rather than to him, having violated her
former ties which she forgot, and having chosen new allure
ments in the place of the old ones. But if any man should
choose to form an alliance with such a woman, he must be
content to bear the reputation of effeminacy and a complete
want of manly courage and vigour, as if he had been
castrated and deprived of the most useful portion of the
soul, namely, that disposition which hates iniquity, by which
the affairs both of houses and cities are placed on a good
footing, and as having stamped deeply on his character two
of the greatest of afl iniquities, adultery and the employ
ment of a pander ; for the reconciliations which take place
subsequently are indications of the death of each. Let him,
therefore, suffer the punishment appointed, together with
his wife.
VI. And there are particular periods affecting the health
of the woman when a man may not touch her, but during
that time he must abstain from all connection with her,
respecting the laws of nature. And, at the same time, he
must learn not to waste his vigour in the pursuit of an un
seemly and barbarous pleasure ; for such conduct would be
like that of a husbandman who, out of drunkenness or
sudden insanity, should sow wheat or barley in lakes or
flooded torrents, instead of over the fertile plains ; for it is
proper to cast seed upon fields when they are dry, in order
that it may bear abundant fruit. But nature each month
cleanses the womb, as if it were some field of marvellous
fertility, the proper season for fertilising which must be
watched for by the husband as if he were a skilful husband
man, in order to withhold his seed and abstain from sowing
it at a time when it is inundated ; for, if he do not do so, the
seed, without his perceiving it, will be swept away by the
moisture, not only having all its spiritual energies relaxed,
but having them, in fact, utterly dissolved.
These are the persons who form animals in that workshop
of nature, the womb, and who perfect with the most con
summate skill each separate one of the parts of the body
312 PH1LO JUD^US.
and soul. But when the periods of illness which I have
spoken of are interrupted, then he may with confidence
shower his seed into the ground ready to receive it, no longer
tearing that there will be any loss of the seed thus sown.
But those people deserve to be reproached who are plough
ing a hard and stony soil. And who can these be but they
who have connected themselves with barren women ? For
such men are only hunters after intemperate pleasure, and
in the excess of their licentious passions they waste their
seed of their own deliberate purpose. Since for what other
reason can they espouse such women ? It cannot be for a
hope of children, which they are aware must, of necessity,
be disappointed, but rather to gratify their excess in lust
and incurable incontinence.
As many men, therefore, as marry virgins in ignorance of
how will they will turn out as regards their prolificness, or
the contrary, when after a long time they perceive, by their
neyer having any children, that they are barren, and do not
then put them away, are still worthy of pardon, being influ
enced by habit and familiarity, which are motives of great
weight, and being also unable to break through the power of
those ancient charms which by long habituation are stamped
upon their souls. But those who marry women who have
been previously tested by other men and ascertained to be
barren, do merely covet the carnal enjoyment like so many
boars or goats, and deserve to be inscribed among the lists
of impious men as enemies to God; for God, as being
friendly to all the animals that exist, and especially to man,
takes all imaginable care to secure preservation and duration
to every kind of creature. But those who seek to waste all
their pow r er at the very moment of putting it forth are con
fessedly enemies of nature.
VII. Moreover, another evil, much greater than that which
we "have already mentioned, has made its way among and
been let loose upon cities, namely, the love of boys, which
formerly was accounted a great infamy even to be spoken oi\
but which sin is a subject of boasting not only to those who
practise it, but even to those who suffer it, and who, being
accustomed c to bearing the affliction of being treated like
women, waste away as to both their souls and bodies, not
bearing about them a single spark of a manly character to be
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 313
kindled into a flame, but having even the hair of their heads
conspicuously curled and adorned, and having their faces
smeared with vermilion, and paint, and things of that kind,
and having their eyes pencilled beneath, and having their
skins anointed with fragrant perfumes (for in such persons
as these a sweet smell is a most seductive quality), and being
well appointed in everything that tends to beauty or
elegance, are not ashamed to devote their constant study
and endeavours to the task of changing their manly character
into an effeminate one. And it is natural for those who
obey the law to consider such persons worthy of death, since
the law commands that the man-woman who adulterates the
precious coinage of his nature shall die without redemption,
not allowing him to live a single day, or even a single hour,
as he is a disgrace to himself, and to his family, and to his
country, and to the whole race of mankind.
And let the man who is devoted to the love of boys sub
mit to the same punishment, since he pursues that pleasure
which is contrary to nature, and since,, as far as depends
upon him, he would make the cities desolate, and void, and
empty of all inhabitants, wasting his power of propagating
his species, and moreover, being a guide and teacher of those
greatest of all evils, unmanliness and effeminate lust, strip
ping young men of the flower of their beauty, and wasting
their prime of life in effeminacy, which he ought rather on
the other hand to train to vigour and acts of courage ; and
last of all, because, like a worthless husbandman, he allows
fertile and productive lands to lie fallow, contriving that
they shall continue barren, and labours night and day at
cultivating that soil from which he never expects any pro
duce at all.
And I imagine that the cause of this is that among many
nations there are actually rewards given for intemperance
and effeminacy. At all events one may see men-women
continually strutting through the market place at midday,
and leading the processions in festivals ; and, impious men
as they are, having received by lot the charge of the temple,
and beginning the sacred and initiating rites, and concerned
even in the holy mysteries of Ceres.
And some of these persons have even carried their admi
ration of these delicate pleasures of youth so far that they
314 PIIILO JUD.EUS.
have desired wholly to change their condition for that of
women, and have castrated themselves and have clothed
themselves in purple rohes, like those who, having been the
cause of great blessings to their native land, walk about
attended by body-guards, pushing down every one whom
they meet.
But if there was a general indignation against those who
venture to do such things, such as was felt by our lawgiver,
and if such men were destroyed without any chance of
escape as the common curse and pollution of their country,
then many other persons would be warned and corrected by
their example. For the punishments of those persons who
have been already condemned cannot be averted by entreaty,
and therefore c?use no slight check to those persons who
are ambitious of distinguishing themselves by the same
pursuits.
VIII. But some persons, imitating the sensual indul
gences of the Sybarites and of other nations more licentious
still, have in the first place devoted themselves to gluttony
and wine-bibbing, and other pleasures affecting the belly
and the parts adjacent to the belly, and then when fully
sated have behaved with such extraordinary insolence (and
it is natural for satiety to produce insolence) that in their
insanity of passion they have gone frantic and been so mad
dened as to desire no longer human beings, whether male
or female, but even brute beasts, as they say that in ancient
times in Crete, the wife of Minos the king, by name Pasi-
phae, fell in love with a bull, and became very violent in her
passion from her despair of being able to gratify it (for love
which fails in its object is usually increased in no ordinary
degree), so that at last she reported to Daedalus the afflic
tion by which she was overwhelmed, and he was the most
skilful of all workmen of his time.*
* This story is alluded to by many poets, and especially by Virgil,
^Eneid vi. 24.
Hie crudelis amor tauri, suppostaque furto
Pasiphae mistumque genus prolesque biformis
Minotaurus inest, Veneris monuinenta nefandse.
Or, ay it ia translated by Dryden
" There too, in living sculpture, might be seen
The rnad affection of the Cretan queen :
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 315
And he, being very ingenious, so as by Ms contrivances
to discover things undiscoverable to any one else, made a
cow of wood, and put Pasiphae into it at one of the sides,
and the bull rushed at the wooden cow as if it had been an
animal of its own kind. And Pasiphae, becoming pregnant
at a certain period, brought forth an animal half man and
half beast, called the minotaur.f
And it is very likely that there may be other Pasiphaes
also, with passions equally unbridled, and that not women
only, but men likewise may fall madly in love with animals,
from whom, perhaps, indescribable monsters may be born,
being memorials of the excessive pollution of men ; owing to
which, perhaps, those unnatural creations of unprecedented
and fabulous monsters will exist, such as hippocentaurs and
chimseras, and other similar animals. But so great are the
precautions which are taken against them in the holy laws
of Grod, that in order to prevent the possibility of men ever
desiring any unlawful connection, it is expressly commanded
that even animals of different kinds shall not be put toge
ther. And no Jewish shepherd will endeavour to cross a
sheep with a he-goat, or a ram with a she-goat, or a cow
with a horse ; and if he does, he must pay the penalty as
breaking a solemn law of nature who is desirous to keep the
original kinds of animals free from all spurious admixture.
And some persons prefer mules to every other kind of
animal for the yoke, since their bodies are very compact,
and are very strong and powerful ; and accordingly, in the
pastures and stalls where they keep their horses, they also
keep asses of an extraordinary size, which they call celones,
in order that they may breed with the mares ; and then the
mares produce a mixed animal, half horse and half ass,
Then how she cheats her bellowing lover s eye :
The rushing leap ; the doubtful progeny :
The lower part a beast, a man above ;
The monument of their polluted love."
* Ovid describes this animal more than once
Daedalus ut clausit, conceptum crimine matria
Seinibovemque virum, semivirumque bovem. A. A. ii. 2i.
And again
Nee tua mactasset nodoso stipite Theseu,
Ardua parte virum dextera, parte bovem. Her. x. 101.
316 PHILO JUDJEUS.
which, since Moses knew that its production was wholly
contrary to nature, he forbade the existence of with all his
might by a general injunction, that that no union or combi
nation between different kinds of animals should on any
account be permitted.
Therefore he provided thus against those evils in a manner
suited to and consistent with nature ; and from a long dis
tance off, as from a watchtower, he admonished men and
kept them in the straight path, in order that both men and
women, learning from these precepts of his, might abstainfrom
unlawful connections. If, therefore, a man seek to indulge
himself with a quadruped, or if a woman surrender herself to
a quadruped, they shall all die, both the man or woman and
the quadruped. The human beings, because they have gone
beyond even the bounds of intemperance itself, becoming
discoverers of unprecedented appetites, and because with
their new inventions they have introduced most detestable
pleasures, the very mention of which is infamous ; and the
beasts shall die, because they have been subservient to such
iniquities, and also to prevent their bringing forth or beget
ting any thing intolerable, as would naturally be the result
of such pollutions.
Moreover, those who have even a slight care for what is
becoming would never use such animals as those for any
purpose of life, but would . reject and abominate them,
loathing their very sight, and thinking that whatever they
touched would at once become impure and polluted. An d
it is not well that those things which are of no use for life
should live at all, since they are only a superfluous burden
on the earth, as some one has called them.
IX. Again, according to the injunctions of the sacred
scriptures the constitution of the law does not recognise a
harlot; as being a person alienated from good ordeu, and
modesty, and chastity, and all other virtues, who has filled
the souls both of men and women with intemperance, pol
luting the immortal beauty of the mind, and honouring
above it the short-lived perishable beauty of the body prosti
tuting herself to every chance comer, and selling her beauty as
if it were some vendible thing in the market, doing and say
ing every thing with a view to catch the young men. And she
excites her lovers to contests with one another, proposing
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 317
herself as the most disgraceful prize for those who gain the
victory. Let her, therefore, be stoned as an injury and
mischief to, and a common pollution of, the whole state,
having corrupted the graces of nature, which she ought to
have adorned further by her own excellence.
X. The law has pronounced all acts of adultery, if de
tected in the fact, or if proved by undeniable evidence,
liable to the punishment of death ; but cases in which guilt
is only suspected, it does not choose should be investigated
by men, but it brings them before the tribunal of nature ;
since men are able to judge of what is visible, but God can
judge also of what is unseen, since he alone is able to behold
the soul distinctly, therefore he says to the man who sus
pects such a thing, " Write an accusation, and go up to the
holy city with thy wife, and standing before the judges, lay
bare the passion of suspicion which affects you, not like a
false accuser or treacherous enemy, seeking to gain the vic
tory by any means whatever, but as a man may do who
wishes accurately to ascertain the truth without any sophis
try. And the woman, having incurred two dangers, one of
her life, and the other of her reputation, the loss of which
last is more grievous than any kind of death, shall judge
the matter with herself; and if she be pure, let her make
her defence with confidence ; but if she be convicted by her
own conscience, let her cover her face, making her modesty
the, veil for her iniquities, for to persist in her impudence
is the very extravagance of wickedness. But if the charge
which is made against her be contested, and if the evidence
be doubtful, so as not to incline to either side, then let the
two parties go up to the temple, and let the man stand in
front of the altar, in the presence of the priest for the day,
and then let him state his suspicions and his grounds for
them, and let him produce and offer some barley flour, as
a species of oblation on behalf of his wife, to prove that he
accuses her, not out of insult, but with an honest intention,
because he has a reasonable doubt. And, the priest shall
take the barley and offer it to the woman, and shall take
away from her the head-dress on her head, that she may be
judged with her head bare, and deprived of the symbol of
modesty, which all those women are accustomed to wear
who are completely blameless ; and there shall not be any
318 PHILO JUD^US.
oil used, nor any frankincense, as in the case of other
sacrifices, because the sacrifice now offered is to be accom
plished on no joyful occasion, but on one which is very
grievous.
And the reason why the flour is to be made of barley is,
perhaps, because the food which is made of barley is of a
somewhat ambiguous character, and is suited for the use
both of irrational animals and of needy men ; and is there
fore a sign that a woman who has committed adultery
differs in no respect from the beasts, whose connections
with one another are promiscuous and incessant ; but she
who is pure from all such accusations is devoted to that
manner of life which befits human beings.
Then the law proceeds to say, the priest, having taken an
earthen vessel, shall pour forth pure water, having drawn it
from a fountain, and shall also bring a lump of clay from
the ground of the temple, which also I think has in it a
symbolical reference to the search after truth ; for the
earthenware vessel is appropriate to the commission of adul
tery because it is easily broken, and death is the punish
ment appointed for adulterers ; but the earth and the water
are appropriate to the purging of the accusation, since the
origin, and increase, and perfection of all things, take place
by them : on which account it was very proper for the law
giver to set them both off by epithets, saying, that the
water which the priest was to take must be pure and living
water, since a blameless woman is pure as to her life, and
deserves to live ; and the earth too is to be taken, not from
any chance spot, but from the soil of the ground of the.
temple, which must, of necessity, be most excellent, just as
a modest woman is.
And when all these things are previously prepared, the
woman with her head uncovered, bearing the barley flour in
her hand, as has been already specified, shall come forward ;
and the priest standing opposite to her and holding the
earthenware vessel in which are the water and the earth,
shall speak thus : " If you have not transgressed the laws of
your marriage, and if no other man has been associated with
you, so that you have not violated the rights of him who is
joined to you by the law, you are blameless and innocent;
but if you have neglected your husband and have followed
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 319
empty appetites, either loving some one yourself or yielding
to some lover, betraying your nearest and dearest con
nections, and adulterating them by a spurious mixture, then
learn that you are deservedly liable to every kind of curse,
the proofs of which you will exhibit on your body. Come
then and drink the draught of conviction, which shall un
cover and lay bare all thy hidden and secret actions."
Then the priest shall write these words on a paper and
dip it in the water which is in the earthenware vessel, and
give it to the woman. And she shall drink it and depart,
awaiting the reward of her modesty or the extreme penalty
of her incontinence ; for if she has been falsely accused she
may hope for seed and children, disregarding all apprehen
sions and anxieties on the subject of barrenness and child
lessness. But if she is guilty then a great weight and bulk,
form her belly swelling and becoming full, will come upon
her, and a terribly evil condition of her M omb will afflict her,
since she did not choose to keep it pure for her husband,
who had married her according to the laws of her nation.
And the law takes such exceeding pains to prevent any
irregularity taking place with respect to marriages, that
even in the case of husbands and wives who have come to
gether for legitimate embraces, in strict accordance with the
laws of marriage, after they have arisen from their beds it
does not allow them to touch anything before they have had
recourse to washings and ablutions; keeping them very far
from adultery and from all accusations referring to adultery.
XI. But if any one should offer violence to a widow after
her husband is dead, or after she has been otherwise divorced
from him, and defile her, committing a lighter offence than
adultery, and one that may perhaps be about half as serious,
he shall not indeed be liable to the punishment of death,
but he shall be impeached for violence, and insolence, and
intemperance, having thus adopted the most infamous con
duct as if it had been the most creditable ; and the tribunal
of the judge shall decide and condemn him to the penalty
that he deserves to suffer.
Again, seduction is an offence which is similar and nearly
related to adultery, as they are both sprung from one
common mother, incontinence. But some of those persons
who are accustomed to dignify shameful actions by specious
320 PHILO JUD^EUS.
names, call this love, blushing to confess the real truth con
cerning its character. But, nevertheless, though it may be
akin to it, it is not in every respect similar to it, because it
is an offence that does not spread so as to affect many
families, as is the case with adultery, but it is limited to one
house alone, that of the virgin who has been seduced.
Therefore we must say to a man who desires to enjoy a
virgin who is a free-born citizen, " My good man, rejecting
your shameless rashness and audacity, the sources of
treachery and faithlessness, and all such feelings, do not
allow yourself to be discovered to be wicked, either openly
or secretly, but if, indeed, you have any legitimate feeling of
love for the maiden in your soul, go to her parents, if they
are alive, and if they are not, then go to her brother or to
her guardians, or to any other persons who chance to be her
protectors, and having discovered to them your feelings
towards her, as a free-born man should do, ask her in
marriage, and implore them not to account you unworthy.
" For no one of those who have the guardianship of the
maiden entrusted them could be so base as to oppose an
earnest and persevering entreaty, and especially as to refuse
you since you, would be found, by strict examination, not to
have falsely pretended a passion which you do not feel, or to
have conceived only a superficial love for her, but one which
is genuine and thoroughly established." *
But if any one, being insane and frantic, repudiating and
discarding all the suggestions of reason, were to submit
himself wholly to passion and desire as his masters, and
looking, as people say, on might as stronger than right, were
to ravish and seduce women, treating free-born women as
slaves, and doing acts of war in time of peace, let such a
man be led before the judges. And if the damsel who has
been forced has a father, let him take counsel and deal with
the ravisher about espousing her ; then if he refuse to do so,
he shall give the damsel a dowry for another husband, being
fined in a sum of money sufficient for this purpose. But if
he consents and. registers her as his wife, let him marry her
at once without any delay, confessing a second time that he
owes her the same dowry, and let him have no permission to
delay or evade the fulfilment of this marriage ; both because
* Deuteronomy xxii. 13.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 321
of his own conduct, in order that the mishap which took
place respecting her first connection with a man may be
comforted by a firm marriage, which nothing shall ever
separate but death. But if the damsel be an orphan and
have no father, then let her be asked by the judges whether
she is willing to take this man for her husband or not ; and
whether she agrees to do so or whether she refuses, still let
her have the same dowry that the man would have agreed to
give her while her father was yet alive.
XII. Some people think that a licensed concubinage is an
offence something between seduction and adultery, when
the two parties come together, and agree to live as man and
wife by a certain agreement, but before the marriage cere
mony is completed, some other man meeting with the
woman, or forcing her has connection with her ; but in my
opinion this also is a kind of of adultery ; for such an agree
ment as is here mentioned is equivalent to a marriage, for in
it the names of the woman and of the man are both regis
tered, and all other things which were to lead to their
union ; on which account, the law orders both the parties to
be stoned if with one and the same mind they agree together
to commit adultery ; for it is impossible that, unless they
both set out with the same intention, they should be looked
upon as equal in iniquity, if they had not both sinned in an
equal degree ; at all events it often happens that the offence
is enhanced or diminished, with reference to the difference
of place in which it is committed.
For, as it seems, such an offence is greater if it be com
mitted in a city, and less if it be committed outside the
walls of any city, in a wilderness ; for in such a place there
is no one to assist the maiden, even though she may have
said and done everything, which could conduce to the pre
servation of her virginity, unattacked and undefiled ; but in
a city there are halls of council, and courts of justice, and great
assemblies of generals, and sediles, and rulers of the markets,
and other magistrates ; and besides all these there is the
people ; for there is in the soul of every man, even though
he may be a private individual, a feeling which is hostile to
iniquity, which, when it is excited, makes the man who
cherishes it a champion for the time being, and a sponta-
322 PHILO JUD^US.
neous and voluntary defender of the person who appears to
be unjustly treated.
XIII. Therefore justice in every case pursues the man
who has committed violence, nor is his iniquity excused fry
the difference of the place, so that cannot be any plea to defend
him from the consequence of his violence and lawlessness ;
but as I have said before, there will be compassion and
pardon for the damsel in the one case, and in the other
inexecrable punishment will visit her.
And concerning her the judge must examine the matter
very carefully, not referring everything to or making every
thing depend upon the place ; for it is possible that a woman
may be ravished against her will even in the middle of the
city ; and on the other hand even if outside the city, she may
have voluntarily given herself up to an illicit connection.
Wherefore the law, making a very careful and very admir
ably conceived defence, on behalf of a damsel ravished in
the wilderness, says, " for the damsel cried out, and there
was no one to help her;"* so that if she neither cried out
nor resisted, but willingly consented to her ravisher, she
must be looked upon as guilty, having only put forward the
fact of the place, as a sophistical excuse to make it appear
that she had been ravished.
And yet in the city what advantage can her efforts be to
a damsel, who is willing to do everything for the sake of
preserving her own reputation, but who is unable to succeed
by reason of the strength of the man who is assaulting her ?
for what advantage could she derive from those who live in
the same house if he were to bind her with ropes, or to gag
her mouth, so that she could not utter even a word ; for in
some sense she then, although dwelling in a city, is in
reality in a wilderness, inasmuch as she is destitute of all
protection ; but if she be in a wilderness, and yet willingly
gives herself up to her ravisher, she is in no different condi
tion from a woman in a city.
XIV. There are also s ome persons easily sated with
their connection with the same woman, being at once both
mad for women and women haters, full of promiscuous and
irregular dispositions, who at once give themselves up to
* Deuteronomy xxii. 27.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 323
their first impulses whatever they may be ; letting those
passions* proceed without restraint which they ought to
curb, and like blind men, without any consideration, with
out any prudence, stumbling upon any bodies or any things,
upsetting, and overturning, and confusing everything in
their violent impetuosity and haste, and suffering evils as
great as those which they inflict ; and concerning these men
we have this law enacted.
"When those men who marry virgins in accordance with
the law,* and who have sacrificed on the occasion and cele
brated their marriage feast, and who yet afterwards preserve
no natural affection for their wives but treat them with
insolence, and behave to freeborn citizens as if they were
courtesans, if they seek to procure a divorce, and not being
able to find any pretext for such a separation, then betake
themselves to bringing forward false accusations, and from
an absence of any clear grounds of impeachment direct all
their charges at things which cannot be made certain,
and come forward and accuse them, saying that though they
fancied that they had been marrying virgins, they found on
the first occasion of their having intercourse together, that
they were not so. "When, I say, these men make such charges
let all the elders be assembled to decide on the case, and let
the parents of the woman who is accused also appear, to
make their defence in this their common danger.
For in such a case, not only are their daughters them
selves in danger, as to their reputation as having preserved
the chastity of their bodies, but their guardians are likewise
imperilled, not only because they have not kept them safe
till the important period of their marriageable age, but
because they have given in marriage as virgins those who
have been defiled by others, deceiving and imposing upon
those who have taken them to wife.
Then if they appear to have justice on their side, let the
judges impose a pecuniary fine on those who have invented
these false accusations, and let them also sentence those who
have assaulted them to corporal punishment, and let them also
pronounce, what to those men will be the most unpleasant of
all things, a confirmation of their marriage, if their wives will
still endure to cohabit with them ; for the law permits them
* Deuteronomy xxii. 13.
324 PHILO JUD^EUS.
at their own choice to remain with them or to abandon them,
and will not allow the husbands any option either way, on
account of the false accusations which they have brought.
THE LAW CONCEBNrSG MUBDEREBS.
I. The name of homicide is that affixed to him who has
slain a man ; but in real truth it is a sacrilege, and the very
greatest of all sacrileges, because, of all the possessions and
sacred treasures in the whole world, there is nothing more
holy in appearance, nor more godlike than man, the all-
beautiful copy of an all-beautiful model, a representation
admirably made after an archetypal rational idea.
We must therefore, without hesitation, pronounce the
homicide or murderer an impious and atrociously wicked
person, committing as he does the greatest of all atrocities
and impieties, andj he ought to be put to death as having
done things which can never be pardoned, since, being
worthy of ten thousand deaths, he escapes by one only,
because the way to death being easy, does not permit his
existence to be protracted, so as to endure a multitude of
punishments ; but there can be nothing wrong in his suffer
ing the same treatment as that which he has inflicted on
others, and yet how can it be the same, if it be different
as to its time, as to its mode of infliction, as to the inten
tion, and as to the persons ? Does not the beginning of
acts of violence come first, and the repelling or retaliating
them come subsequently ? And is not murder the most
lawless of all things, but the punishment of murderers the
most lawful action possible ?
Again, he who has slain a man has satisfied his desire
which he entertained when he slew him; but he who has
been slain, inasmuch as he is now put out of the way,
can neither attack him in retaliation, nor can he gratify
himself by taking revenge. Moreover, the one was able by
his own hands to carry out the designs which he conceived
by himself; but the other can never succeed in procuring
his punishment, unless his relations and friends become his
champions, taking compassion on him for the calamity which
has befallen him. If now any one aims a blow with a sword
at any one, with the intention of killing him, and does not
kill him, he will still be guilty of murder, since he was a
UN SPECIAL LAWS. 3% >
murderer in his intention, even though the end did not keep
pace with his wish.
Again, let that man be liable to the same punishment
who, by previous contrivance and machinations (not dar
ing to behave bravely, and to stand lace to face with his
enemy and attack him openly), treacherously plots and
compasses his slaughter ; for such a man is equally liable to
the curse denounced against murderers, and even though
he may not be one with his hands he is so in his soul ; for
as, in my opinion, one must not only look upon those people
as enemies who fight against us by sea or by land, but also
those who are prepared for either kind of warfare, and who
are erecting battering rams and engines against our har
bours and our walls ; and as we do in fact judge thus of
them, even though they come to no actual conflict, so also
we must consider murderers, not only those who perform
the mere act of killing, but those who do anything which
tends to slaying, whether openly or secretly, even if they do
not eventually perpetrate the action.
And if out of fear or out of audacity, two very contrary
feelings, but both blameable, they venture to flee to the
temple as if they would there find an asylum, we must
prevent their doing so, if we can : but if they are before
hand with us, and do effect their entrance, then we must
take them out and give them up for execution, affirming the
principle that the temple does not give an asylum to
impious men ; for every one who commits actions of incur
able guilt is an enemy to Grod ; and murderers do commit
such actions, since those who are murdered have suffered
disasters which are incurable. Or shall we say that to those
who have done no wrong the temple is still inaccessible
until they have washed themselves, and sprinkled them
selves, and purified themselves with the accustomed purifi
cations ; but that those who are guilty of indelible crimes,
the pollution of which no length of time will ever efface,
may approach and dwell among those holy seats ; though no
decent person, who has any regard for holy things would
even receive them in his house ?
II. Therefore, since they have heaped iniquity upon
iniquity, adding lawlessness and impiety to murder, they
must be dragged out of the temple to undergo their punish-
326 PHILO JUD^US.
ment, since, as I have said before, they have committed
actions worthy of ten thousand deaths instead of one ; as
otherwise, the temple would be shut against the relations
and friends of the man who has been so treacherously mur
dered, if the murderer were to be dwelling in it, since they
could never endure to come into the same place with him.
But it would be absurd that, for the sake of one man, and
him the most lawless of men, a great number of persons,
and those too the very persons who have been injured by
him, should be excluded from the temple men who, besides
that they have done no wrong themselves, have even sus
tained an unseasonable affliction through his actions.
And perhaps, indeed, the lawgiver seeing far into futurity
by the acuteness of his reasoning powers, was, by such com
mandments, providing against any bloodshed ever taking
place in the temple by the entrance of any of the friends of
the murdered man into it, whom natural affection, a very
ungovernable feeling, would urge, full of enthusiasm and
violent rage as they would be, almost to slay the murderer
with their own hands, while if such an event were to take
place it would be most impious sacrilege ; for then the
blood of the sacrifices would be mingled with the blood of
murderers ; that which has been, consecrated to God with
that which is wholly impure.
It is on this account that Moses commands that the
murderer shall be given up, even from the altar itself.
III. But some persons who have slain others with swords,
tir spears, or darts, or clubs, or stones, or something of that
kind, may possibly have done so without any previous
design, and without having for some time before planned
this deed in their hearts, but may have been excited at the
moment, yielding to passion more powerful than their
reason, to commit the homicide ; so that it is but half a
crime, inasmuch as the mind was not for some long time
before occupied by the pollution.
But there are others also of the greatest wickedness, men
polluted both in hands and mind, who, being sorcerers and
poisoners, devoting all their leisure and all their solitude to
planning seasonable attacks upon others, who invent all
kinds of contrivances and devices to bring about calamities
on their neighbours. On which account, Moses commands
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 327
that poisoners and sorceresses shall not be allowed to live
one day or even one hour, but that they shall be put to
death the moment that they are taken, no pretext being for
a moment allowed them for putting oft or delaying their
punishment. For those who attack one openly and to one s
face, any body may guard against ; but of those who plot
against one secretly, and who disguise their attacks by the
concealed approaches of poison, it is not easy to see the
cunning beforehand. It is necessary, therefore, to antici
pate them, inflicting upon them that death which other
persons would else have suffered by their means.
And again, besides this, he who openly slays a man with
a sword, or with any similar weapon, can only kill a few
persons at one time ; but one who mixes and compounds
poisonous drugs with food, may destroy innumerable com
panies at once who have no suspicion of his treachery.
Accordingly, it has happened before now that very nume
rous parties of men who have come together in good fellow
ship to eat of the same salt and to sit at the same table,
have suffered at such a time of harmony things wholly
incompatible with it, being suddenly killed, and have thus
met with death instead of feasting. On which account it is
fitting that even the most merciful, and gentle, ajid mode
rate of men should approve of such persons being put to
death, who are all but the same as murderers who slay with
their own hand ; and that they should think it consistent
with holiness, not to commit their punishment to others,
but to execute it themselves. For how can it be anything
but a most terrible evil for any one to contrive the death of
another by that food which is given as the cause of life, and
to work such a change in that which is nutritious by nature
as to render it destructive ; so that those who, in obedience
to the necessities of nature, have recourse to eating and
drinking, having no previous idea of any treachery, take de
structive food as though it were salutary ?
Again, let those persons meet with the same punishment
who, though they do not compound drugs which are actu
ally deadly, nevertheless administer such as long diseases
are caused by ; for death is often a lesser evil than diseases ;
and especially than such as extend over a long time and
have no fortunate or favourable end. For the illnesses
328 PHILO JUD^EUS.
which arise from poisons are difficult to be cured, and are
often completely incurable. Moreover, in the case of men
who have been exposed to machinations of this kind, it often
happens that diseases of the mind ensue which are worse
even than the Afflictions of the body ; for they are often
attacked by delirium and insanity, and intolerable frenzy, by
means of which the mind, the greatest blessing which
God has bestowed upon mankind, is impaired in every
possible manner, despairing of any safety or cure, and so
is utterly removed from its seat, and expelled, as it were,
leaving in the body only the inferior portion of the soul,
namely, its irrational part, of which even beasts partake,
since every person who is deprived of reason, which is the
better part of the soul, is changed into the nature of a beast,
even though the characteristics of the human form remain.
IV. Now the true magical art, being a science of disceru-
j ment, which contemplates and beholds the books of nature
with a more acute and distinct perception than usual, and
appearing as such to be a dignified and desirable branch of
knowledge, is studied, not merely by private individuals,
but even by kings, and the very greatest of kings, and
especially by the Persian monarchs, to such a degree, that
they say that amoDg that people no one can possibly suc
ceed to the kingdom if he has not previously been initiated
into the mysteries of the magi. But there is a certain adul
terated species of this science, which may more properly be
called wicked imposture, which quacks, and cheats, and
buffoons pursue, and the vilest of women and slaves, pro
fessing to understand all kinds of incantations and purifi
cations, and promising to change the dispositions of those
on whom they operate so as to turn those who love to
unalterable enmity, and those who hate to the most excessive
affection by certain charms and incantations ; and thus they
deceive and gain influence over men of unsuspicious and
innocent dispositions, until they fall into the greatest
calamities, by means of which great numbers of friends and
relations have wasted away by degrees, and so have been
rapidly destroyed without any noise being made. And I
imagine that the lawgiver, having a regard to all these
circumstances, would on that account not permit the punish
ments due to poisoners to be postponed to any subsequent
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 329
occasion, but ordained that the executioners should at once
proceed to inflict the due penalty on. them ; for delay rather
excites the guilty to make use of the time that is allowed
them to carry out their iniquities, inasmuch as they are
already condemned to death, while it fills those who are
already suspicious and apprehensive of misfortune with a
more urgent fear, as they look upon the life of their enemies
to be their own death.
Therefore, as if we only see snakes, and serpents, and any
other venomous animals, we at once, without a moment s
delay, kill them before they can bite, or wound, or attack us
at all, taking care not to expose ourselves to any injury
from them by reason of our knowledge of the mischief which
is inherent in them ; in the same manner it is right promptly
to punish those men who, though they have had a gentle
nature assigned to them by means of that fountain of reason
which is the cause and source of all society, do nevertheless
of deliberate purpose change it themselves to the ferocity of
untameable beasts, looking upon the doing injury to as many
people as they can to be their greatest pleasure and
advantage.
V. This may be sufficient to say on the present occasion
concerning poisoners and magicians. Moreover, we ought
also not to be ignorant of this, that very often unexpected
occasions arise, in which a person slays a man without having
ever prepared himself for this action, but because he has
been suddenly transported with anger, which is an intolera
ble and terrible feeling, and which injures beyond all other
feelings both the man who entertains and the man who has
excited it; for sometimes a man having come into the
market-place on some important business, meeting with
some one who is inclined precipitately to accuse him, or
who attempts to assault him, or who begins to pick a quarrel
with him, and engages him in a conflict, for the sake of
separating from him and more speedily escaping him, either
strikes his opponent with his fist or takes up a stone and
throws it at him and knocks him down.
And if the wound which the man has received is mortal,
so that he at once dies, then let the man who has struck him
also die, suffering the same fate himself which he inflicted
* Exodus xxi. 18.
330 PHILO JUD.EUS.
on the other. But if the man does not die immediately
after receiving the blow, but is afflicted by illness in conse
quence and takes to his bed, and having been properly
attended to rises up again, even though he may not be able
to walk well without support, but may require some one to
support him or a stick to lean upon, in that case the man
who struck him shall pay a double penalty, one as an atone
ment for the injury done, and one for the expenses of the
cure. And when he has paid this he shall be acquitted as to
the punishment of death, even if the man who has received
the blow should subsequently die ; for perhaps he did not
die of the blow, since he got better after that and recovered
so far as to walk, but perhaps he died from some other
causes, such as often suddenly attack those who are of the
most vigorous bodily health, and kill them.
But if any one has a contest with a woman who is preg
nant, and strike her a blow on her belly, and she miscarry, if
the child which was conceived within her is still unfashioned
and unformed, he shall be punished by a fine, both for the
assault which he committed and also because he has pre
vented nature, who was fashioning and preparing that most
excellent of all creatures, a human being, from bringing him
into existence. But if the child which was conceived had
assumed a distinct shape* in all its parts, having received all
its proper connective and distinctive qualities, he shall die ;
for such a creature as that is a man, whom he has slain while
still in the workshop of nature, who had not thought it as
yet a proper time to produce him to the light, but had kept
him like a statue lying in a sculptor s workshop, requiring
nothing more than to be released and sent out into the
world.
VI. On account of this commandment he also adds
another proposition of greater importance, in which the ex
posure of infants is forbidden, which has become a very ordi
nary piece of wickedness among other nations by reason of
their natural inhumanity ; for if it is proper to provide for
that which is not yet brought forth by reason of the definite
periods of time requisite for such a process, so that even
that may not suffer any injury by being plotted against, how
can it be otherwise than more necessary to take similar care
* Exodus xxi. 22.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 331
of the child when brought to perfection and born, and sent
forth, as it were, into that colony which has been assigned
to the human race, for the purpose of having a share of the
bounties of nature which she sends forth from the land, and
from the water, and from the air, and from the heaven ?
bestowing on men the sight of the heavenly bodies, and the
power and supreme authority over all the things on earth,
and supplying all the external senses with abundant supplies
of all things, and presenting to the mind as the great king,
by means of those outward senses as its body-guards, all the
things which are visible to them, and, without employing
their agency, all those things which are appreciable only by
reason.
Accordingly, let those parents who deprive their children
of all these blessings, giving them no share of any one of
them from the moment of their birth, know that they are
violating the laws of nature, and accusing themselves of the
very greatest enormities, of a devotion to pleasure, and a
hatred of their species, and murder, and the very worst kind
of murder, infanticide ; for those men are devoted to pleasure
who are not influenced by the wish of propagating children,
and of perpetuating their race, when they nave connection
with women, but who are only like boars or he-goats seeking
the enjoyment that arises from such a connection. Again,
who can be greater haters of their species than those who
are the implacable and ferocious enemies of their own chil
dren ? Unless, indeed, any one is so foolish as to imagine
that these men can be humane to strangers who act in a
barbarous manner to those who are united to them by ties
of blood. And as for their murders and infanticides they
are established by the most undeniable proofs, since some of
them slay them with their own hands, and stifle the first
breath of their children, and smother it altogether, out of a
terribly cruel and unfeeling disposition ; others throw them
into the depths of a river, or of a sea, after they have attached
a weight to them, in order that they may sink to the bottom,
more speedily because of it.
Others, again, carry them out into a desert place to
expose them there, as they themselves say, in the hope that
they may be saved by some one, but in real truth to load
them with still more painful suffering ; for there all the
332 PHILO JUD^US.
beasts which devour human flesh, since there is no one to
keep them off, attack them and feast on the delicate banquet
of the children, while those who were their only guardians,
and who were bound above all other people to protect and
save them, their own father and mother, have exposed them.
And carnivorous birds fly down and lick up the remainder
of their bodies, when they are not themselves the first to dis
cover them ; for when they discover them themselves they do
battle with the beasts of the earth for the whole carcass.
And even suppose that some one passing by on his road is
moved by a feeling of gentle compassion to take pity on arid
show mercy to the exposed infants, so as to take them up and
give them food, and to show them other portions of the atten
tion that is requisite, what do we think of such a humane
action ? Do we not look upon it as an express condemnation of
the real parents, when those who are in nowise related to them
show the tender foresight of parents, but the parents do not
display even the kindness of strangers ? Therefore, Moses
has utterly prohibited the exposure of children, by a tacit
prohibition, when he condemns to death, as I have said
before, those who are the causes of a miscarriage to a
woman whose child conceived within her is already formed.
And yet those persons who have investigated the secrets
of natural philosophy say that those children which are still
within the belly, and while they are still contained in the
womb, are a part of their mothers ; and the most highly
esteemed of the physicians who have examined into the
formation of man, scrutinising both what is easily seen and
what is kept concealed with great care, by means of anatomy,
in order that, if there should be any need of their attention
to any case, nothing may be disregarded through ignorance
and so become the cause of serious mischief, agree with them
and say the same thing. But when the children are brought
forth and are separated from that which is produced with
them, and are set free and placed by themselves, they then
become real living creatures, deficient in nothing which can
contribute to the perfection of human nature, so that then,
beyond all question, he who slays an infant is a homicide,
and the law shows its indignation at such an action ; not
being guided by the age but by the species of the creature
in whom its ordinances are violated.
ON SPECIAL LAWS, 333
If, indeed, it seemed reasonable to be at all influenced by
the age, then I think that a person might very reasonably be
even more indignant at those who slay infants. For when
full-grown people are killed, there may be ten thousand
plausible excuses for assaults upon or quarrels with them ;
but in the case of mere infants only just launched into
human life and shown to the light of day, it is impossible for
the greatest liar to invent an accusation against them, as
they are wholly void of offence. On which account those
ought to be looked upon as the most inhuman and pitiless
of all men who entertain plots for the destruction of those
infants, and justly does the sacred law detest such criminals
and pronounce them worthy of death.
VII. The sacred law says that the man, who has been
killed without any intention that he should be so on the part
of him who killed him, has been given up by Grod into the
hands of his slayers ;* in this way designing to make an
excuse for the man who appears to have slain him as if he
had slain a guilty person. For the merciful and forgiving
Grod can never be supposed to have given up any innocent
person to be put to death ; but whoever ingeniously escapes
the judgment of a human tribunal by means of his own
cunning and wariness, he is convicted when brought before
the invisible tribunal of nature, by which alone the uncor-
rupted truth is discerned without being kept in the dark by
the artifices of sophistical arguments.
For such an investigation does not admit of arguments at
all, laying bare all devices and intentions, and bringing the
most secret counsels to light ; and, in one sense, it does not
look upon a man who has slain another as liable to justice,
inasmuch as he has only sinned to be the minister of a divine
judgment, but still he will have incurred an obscure and
slight kind of defilement, which, however, may obtain allow
ance and pardon. For God employs those who commit
slight and remedial errors against those who have perpe
trated enormous and unpardonable crimes as ministers of
punishment ; not, indeed, that he approves of them, but
that he avails himself of them as suitable instruments of
punishment, so that no one who is himself pure in his whole
life and descended from virtuous parents may have homicide
* Exodus xxL 13.
334 PHILO JUD^US.
imputed to him, even if he be the greatest man in the
world.
Therefore, the law has pronounced the sentence of banish
ment upon him who has slain a man, yet not of banishment
any where, nor for ever ; for it has assigned six cities,* one
fourth portion of what the whole sacred tribe received as its
inheritance, for those who were convicted of homicide ;
which, from the circumstances connected with them, it has
named cities of refuge. And it fixed the time of this
banishment as the length of the life of the high priest,
permitting the exiles to return home after his death.
VIII. And the cause of the first of these injunctions was
this. The tribe which has been mentioned received these
cities as a reward for a justifiable and holy slaughter, which
we must look upon as the most illustrious and important of
all the gallant actions that were ever performed. For when
the prophet, after having been called up to the loftiest and
most sacred of all the mountains in that district, was
divinely instructed in the generic outlines of all the special
laws,f and was out of sight of his people for many days ;
those of the people who were not of a peaceable dis
position filled every place with the evils which arise
from anarchy, and crowned all their iniquity with open
impiety, turning into ridicule all those excellent and beautiful
lessons concerning the honour due to the one true and living
God, and having made a golden bull, an imitation of the
Egyptian Typhos, and brought to it unholy sacrifices, and
festivals unhallowed, and instituted profane and impious
dances, with songs and hymns instead of lamentations ;
tuen the tribe aforesaid, being very terribly indignant at
their sudden departure from their previous customs, and
being enflamed with zeal by reason of their natural disposi
tion which hated iniquity, all became full of rage and of
divine enthusiasm, and arming themselves, as at one signal,
and with great contempt and one unanimous attack, came
upon the people, drunk thus with a twofold intoxication of
impiety and of wine, beginning with their nearest and dearest
friends and relations, thinking those who loved God to be
their only relations and friends. And in a very small por
tion of the day, four-and-twenty thousand men were slain ;
* Numbers xxxv ; 1. t Exodus xxxii. 1.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 335
the calamities of whom were a warning to those who would
otherwise have joined themselves to their iniquity, but who
now were alarmed lest they should suffer a similar fate.
Since then these men had undertaken this expedition of
their own accord and spontaneously, in the cause of piety
and holy reverence for the one true and living Grod, not
without great danger to those who had entered in the con
test, the Father of the universe received them with appro
bation, and at once pronounced those who had slain those
men to be pure from all curse and pollution, and in requital
for their courage he bestowed the priesthood on them.
IX. Therefore the lawgiver enjoins that the man who has
committed an unintentional murder should flee to some one of
the cities which this tribe has received as its inheritance, in
order to comfort him and to teach him not to despair of any
sort of safety; but to make him, while afe through the
privilege of the place, remember and consider that not only
on certain occasions is forgiveness allowed to those who
have designedly slain any person, but that even great and
pre-eminent honours and excessive happiness is bestowed on
them.
And if such honours can ever be allowed to those who
have slain a man voluntarily, how much more must there
be allowance made for those who have done so not with any
design, so that, even if no honour be bestowed on them,
they may at least not be condemned to be put to death in
retaliation.
By which injunctions the lawgiver intimates that every
kind of homicide is not blameable, but only that which is
combined with injustice ; and that of other kinds some are
even praiseworthy which are committed out of a desire and
zeal for virtue ; and that which is unintentional is not greatly
to be blamed.
This, then, may be enough to say about the first cause ;
and we must now explain the second.
The law thinks fit to preserve the man who, without intend
ing it, has slain another, knowing that in his intention he was
not guilty, but that with his hands he has been ministering
to that justice which presides over all human aifairs. For
the nearest relations of the dead man are lying in wait for
him in a hostile manner seeking his death, while others, out
336 PHILO JUDJ3US.
of their excessive compassion and inconsolable grief for the
dead, are eager for their revenge; in their unreasoning
impetuosity not regarding either the truth or the justice of
nature. Therefore, the law directs a man who has commit
ted a homicide under these circumstances not to flee to the
temple, inasmuch as he is not yet purified, nor yet into any
place which is neglected and obscure, lest, being despised,
he should be without resistance given up to his enemies ;
but to flee to the sacred city, which lies on the borders
between the holy and profane ground, being in a manner a
second temple ; for the cities of those who are consecrated
to the priesthood are more entitled to respect than the
others, in the sime proportion, I think, as the inhabitants
are more venerable than the inhabitants of other cities ; for
the lawgiver s intention is by means of the privilege belong
ing to the city which has received them to give more
complete security to the fugitives. Moreover, I said before,
he has appointed a time for their return, the death of the
high priest, for the following reason.*
As the relations of each individual who has been slain
treacherously lie in wait to secure themselves revenge and
justice upon those who treacherously slew him ; in like
manner the high priest is the relation and nearest of kin to
the whole nation; inasmuch as he presides over and dis
penses justice to all who dispute in accordance with the
laws, and offers up prayers and sacrifices every day on
behalf of the whole nation, and prays for blessings for the
people as for his own brethren, and parents, and children,
that every age and every portion of the nation, as if it were
one body, may be united into one and the same society and
union, devoted to peace and obedience to the law.
Therefore, let every one who has slain a man uninten
tionally fear him, as the champion and espouser of the cause
of those who have been slain, and let him keep himself close
within the city to which he has fled for refuge, no longer
venturing to advance outside of the w ? alls, if he has any
regard for his own safety, and for keeping his life out of the
reach of danger.
When, therefore, the law says, let not the fugitive return
till the high priest is dead, it says something equivalent to
* Numbers xxxv. 25.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 337
this : Until tlie high priest is dead, who is the common rela
tion of all the people, to whom alone it is committed to
decide the affairs of those who are living and those who are
dead.
X. Such, then, is the reason which it is fitting should be
communicated to the ears of the younger men. Bui? there
is another which may be well set before those who are elder
and settled in their characters, which is this.
It is granted to private individuals alone to be pure from
voluntary offences, or if any one chooses, he may add the
other priests also to this list ; but it can only be given as an
especial honour to the high priest to be pure from both
kinds, that is from both voluntary and involuntary offences ;
for it is altogether unlawful for him to touch any pollution
whatever, whether intentionally or out of some unforeseen
perversion of soul, in order that he, as being the declarer of
the will of God may be adorned in both respects, having a
disposition free from reproach, and prosperity of life, and
being a man to whom no disgrace ever attaches. Now it
will be consistent with the character of such a man to look
with suspicion on those who have even unintentionally slain
a man, not indeed regarding them as under a curse, but
also not as pure and wholly free from offence, even though
they may have appeared most completely to obey the inten
tion of nature, who used them as her instruments to avenge
herself on those whom they have slain, whom she had
privately judged by herself and condemned to death.
XI. This is enough to say concerning free men and citi
zens.
The lawgiver proceeds in due order to establish laws con
cerning slaves who are killed by violence.
Now servants are, indeed, in an inferior condition of life,
but still the same nature belongs to them and to their
masters. And it is not the condition of fortune, but the
harmony of nature, which, in accordance with the divine
law is the rule of justice. J|A On which account it is proper
for masters not to use their power over their slaves in an
insolent manner, displaying by such conduct their insolence
and overbearing disposition and terrible cruelty; for such
conduct is not a proof of a peaces! soul, but of one which,
out of an inability to regulate itself, covets the irresponsi-
YOL. III. Z
J338 PHILO JUD.EUS.
bility of a tyrannical power. For the man who fortifies his
own house like a citadel, and does not allow a single person
within it to speak freely, but who behaves savagely to every
one, by reason of his innate misanthropy and barbarity,
which has perhaps even been increased by exercise, is a
tyrant in miniature ; and by his conduct now it is plainly
shown that he will not stop even there if he should acquire
greater power.
For then he will at once go forth to attack other cities
and countries, and nations, after having previously enslaved
his own native land, so as to prove that he is not inclined to
behave mercifully to any one who shall ever become subject
to him. Let, then, such a man be well assured that he will
not always escape punishment for his continual ill-treatment
of many persons ; for justice, which hates iniquity, will be
his enemy, she who is the assistant and champion of those
who are treated with injustice, and she will exact of him a
strict account of, and reckoning for, those who have fallen
into calamity through his means, even if he should say that
he had only inflicted blows on them to correct them, not
designing to kill them. For he will not at once get off with
a cheerful countenance, but he will be brought before the
tribunal and examined by accurate investigators of the truth,
who will inquire whether he slew him intentionally or unin
tentionally. And if he be found to have plotted against him
with a wicked disposition, let him die ; not having any
excuse made for him on the ground of his being the servants
master, so as to procure his deliverance.
But if the servants who have been beaten do not die at
once after receiving the blows, but live one day or two, then
the master shall no longer be liable to be accused of murder,
having this strong ground of defence that he did not kill
them on the spot by beating, nor afterwards when he had
them in his house, but that he suffered them to live as long
as they could, even though that may not have been very
long. Besides that, no one is sc^siHy as to attempt to dis
tress another by conduct by whicft he himself also will be a
loser. But any one who kills his servant injures himself
much more, since he deprives himself of the services which
he received from him wnile alive, and, moreover, loses the
price which he paid for him which, perhaps, was large. If,
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 339
however, the servant turn out to have done any thing worthy
of death, let him bring him before the judges and prove his
offence, making the laws the arbiters of his punishment
and not himself.
CONCERNING THOSE BRUTE BEASTS WHICH ARE THE
CAUSES OF A MAN S DEATH.
If a bull gore a man and kill him, let him be stoned.*
For his flesh may not be either offered in sacrifice by the
priests, nor eaten by men. Why not ? Because it is not
consistent with the law of God that man should take for
food or for a seasoning to his food the flesh of an animal
which has slain a man. But if the owner of the beast knew
that he was a savage and ferocious animal, and did not con
fine him, nor shut him up and take care of him, er if he had
heard from others that he was not quiet, and still allowed
him to feed at liberty, he shall be liable to a prosecution as
guilty of the man s death. And then the animal which
gored the man shall die, and his master shall be put to death
also, or else shall pay a ransom and a price for his safety,
and the court of justice shall devise what punishment he
ought to suffer, what penalty he ought to pay.
And if it be a slave who has been killed then he shall pay
his full value to his master ; but if the bull have gored no t
a man but another animal, then the owner of the beast
which killed him shall take the dead animal and give his
master another like him instead of him, because he was
aware beforehand of the fierceness of his own beast, and did
not guard against it. And if the bull has killed a sheep
which belonged to some one else, he shall again restore this
man one like it instead of it, and be thankful to him for not
exacting a greater penalty of him, since it was he who was
the first to do any injury.
CONCERNING PITS.
I. Some persons are accustomed to dig very deep pits, either
in order to open springs which may bubble up, or else to
receive rain water, and then they widen drains under ground ;
in which case they ought either to build round the mouths of
them, or else to put a cover on them ; but still they often, out
* Exodus xxi. 28.
z 2
340 PHILO JUD^EUS.
of shameful carelessness or folly, have left such places open, by
which means some persons have met with destruction. If,
therefore, any traveller passing along the road, not knowing
beforehand that there is any such pit, shall step on the hole,
and fall in, and be killed, any one of the relations of the
dead man who chooses may bring an accusation against
those who made the pit, and the tribunal shall decide what
punishment they ought to suffer, or what penalty they ought
to pay.*
But if a beast fall in and perish, then they who dug the
pit shall pay its value to its owner as if it were still alive,
and they shall have the dead body for themselves.
Again, those men also are committing an injury akin to
and resembling that which has just been mentioned, who
when building houses leave the roof level with the ground
though they ought to protect them with a parapet, in order
that no one may fall down into the hole made without per
ceiving it. For such men, if one is to tell the plain truth,
are committing murder, as far as they themselves are con
cerned, even though no one fall in and perish ; accordingly
let them be punished equally with those who have the
mouths of pits open.
II. The law expressly enjoins that it shall not be lawful
to take any ransom frpm murderers who ought to be put to
death, for the purpose of lessening their punishment, or
substituting banishment for death. For blood must be
atoned for by blood, the blood of him who has been
treacherously slain by that of him who has slain him. Since
men of wicked dispositions are never wearied of offending,
but are always committing atrocious actions in the excess
of their wickedness, and increasing their iniquities, and
extending them beyond all bounds or limits.
For the lawgiver would, if it had been in his power, have
condemned those men to ten thousand deaths. But since
this was not possible, he prescribed another punishment for
them, commanding those who had slain a man to be hanged
upon a tree. And after having established this ordinance
he returned again to his natural humanity, treating with
mercy even those who had behaved unmercifully towards
others, and he pronounced, " Let not the sun set upon
* Exodus xxi. 33.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 341
persons hanging on a tree ;" * but let them be buried under
the earth and be concealed from sight before sunset. For
it was necessary to raise up on high all those who were
enemies to every part of the world, so as to show most
evidently to the sun, and to the heaven, and to the air, and
to the water, and to the earth, that they had been chastised ;
and after that it was proper to remove them into the region
of the dead, and to bury them, in order to prevent their
polluting the things upon the earth.
III. Moreover, there is this further commandment given
with great propriety, that the fathers are not to die in behalf
of their sons, nor the sons in behalf of their parents, but
that every one who has done things worthy of death is to be
put to death by himself alone. And this commandment is
established because of those persons who set might above
right, and also for the sake of those who are too affectionate ;
for these last, out of their extraordinary and extravagant
good will, will be often willing cheerfully to die for others,
the innocent thus giving themselves up for the guilty, and
thinking it a great gain not to see them punished ; or else
sons giving themselves up for their fathers in the idea that,
if deprived of them they would for the future live a miserable
life, more grievous than any kind of death.
But to such persons one must say, "This your good-will
is out of season." And all things which are out of season
are very properly blamed, just as things that are done
seasonably are praised on that account. Moreover, it is
right to love those who do actions worthy to attract love.
But no wicked man can be really a friend to any one. And
wickedness alienates relations, and even those who are the
most attached of relations, when men violate all the prin
ciples of justice. For the agreement as to principles of
iustice and as to the other virtues, is a closer tie than
relationship by blood ; and if any one violates such an agree
ment, he is set down not only as a stranger and a foreigner,
but even as an irreconcilable enemy.
" Why then do you pervert and misapply the name of good
will which is a most excellent and humane one, and conceal
the truth, exhibiting as a veil an effeminate and womanly
disposition ? For are not those persons womanly in whose
* Deuteronomy xxi. 23.
342 PHILO JUD^EUS.
minds reason is overcome by compassion ? And you do this
in order to effect a double iniquity, delivering the guilty from
punishment, and thinking it fair to punish yourselves, who
are blameable in no respect whatever, instead of them."
IV. But these men have this to say in excuse of them
selves, that they are not pursuing any private advantage for
themselves, and also that they are influenced by excessive
affection for their nearest relations, for the sake of the pre
servation of whom they will cheerfully submit to die. But
who, I will not say of moderate men, but even of those who
are very inhuman indeed in their dispositions, would not
reject such barbarous and actually brutally disposed persons
as those who, either by secret contrivance or by open
audacity, inflict the greatest calamities on one person as a
punishment for the faults of another, putting forward as a
pretext the plea of friendship, or of relationship, or of fellow
ship, or something of that kind, as a justification for the
destruction of those who have done no wrong ? And at times
they even do these things without having suffered any injury
at all out of mere covetousness and a love of rapine.
Not long ago a certain man who had been appointed a
collector of taxes in our country, when some of those who
appeared to owe such tribute fled out of poverty, from a
fear of intolerable punishment if they remained without pay
ing, carried off their wives, and their children, and their
parents, and their whole families by force, beating and
insulting them, and heaping every kind of contumely and
ill treatment upon them, to make them either give informa
tion as to where the fugitives had concealed themselves, or
pay the money instead of them, though they could not do
either the one thing or the other ; in the first place, because
they did not know where they were, and, secondly, because
they were in still greater poverty than the men who had
fled. But this tax-collector did not let them go till he had
tortured their bodies with racks and wheels, so as to kill
them with newly invented kinds of death, fastening a basket
full of sand to their necks with cords, and suspending it
there as a very heavy weight, and then placing them in the
open air in the middle of the market place, that some of
them, being tortured and being overwhelmed by all these
afflictions at once, the wind, and the sun, and the mockery
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 343
of the passers by, and the shame, and the heavy burden
attached to them, might faint miserably ; and that the rest,
being spectators, might be grieved and take warning by their
punishment, some of whom, having a more acute sense of
such miseries in their minds than that which they could
receive through their eyes, since they sympathised with these
unfortunates as if they were themselves suffering in the
persons of others, put an end to their own lives by swords,
or poison, or halters, thinking it a great piece of good luck
for persons, liable to such misery, to be able to meet with
death without torture.
But those who did not make haste to kill themselves, but
who were seized before they could do so, were led away in a
row, as in the case of actions for inheritance, according to
their nearness of kindred, the nearest relations first, then
those next to them in succession, in the second or third
place, till they came to the last ; and then, when there were
no relations left, the cruelty proceeded on to the friends
and neighbours of the fugitives ; and sometimes it was ex
tended even into the cities and villages, which soon became
desolate, being emptied of all their inhabitants, who all
quitted their homes, and dispersed to places where they
hoped that they might escape detection.
But perhaps it is not wonderful if men, barbarians by
nature, utterly ignorant of all gentleness, and under the
command of despotic authority, which compelled them to
give an account of the yearly revenue, should, in order to
enforce the payment of the taxes, extend their severities,
not merely to properties but also to the persons, and even
to the lives, of those from whom they thought they could
exact a vicarious payment. But now, even those persons
who are the very standard and rule of justice, the lawgivers
themselves, having a regard to appearance rather than to
truth, have endured to become, instead, standards of injus
tice, commanding the children of a traitor to be put to death
with the traitor himself, and in the case of tyrants the five
families most nearly related to them.
Why is this I should say ? For if indeed they have
shared in their wickedness, then let them likewise share in
their punishment ; but if they have not participated in that,
and if they have not been imitators of such actions, and it
344 PHILO JUD^US.
they have not been elated by the prosperity ot their kins
men, so as to exult in it, why should they be put to death ?
Is it for this reason alone, that they are their relations ?
Are the punishments tjjen inflicted for the relationship, or
for the lawless conduct ? Perhaps you yourselves, you
venerable lawgivers, have had virtuous relations ; but sup
pose they had been wicked, then it seems to me that you
not only would never yourselves have devised any such com
mandments as this, but would have been furious with any
one else who proposed such a law, because * taking
care to avoid all liability to terrible calamity, and desiring
to live in security, is now in great danger, and is exposed to
an equal degree of misfortune.
For the one condition is liable to fear, which, though a
person may guard against for himself, he will still not
despise the safety of another, but the other state is free
from all apprehension, and by it men have often been per
suaded to neglect the safety of innocent men.
Therefore our lawgiver, considering these things and per
ceiving the errors of others, rejects them and hates them as
destructive of the most excellent constitution, and consigns
to punishment all those who give way to such, whether it be
out of indifference, or out of inhumanity and wickedness,
and never permits any of their countrymen or friends to be
substituted for them, making themselves an addition to the
crimes which the others have already committed ; on which
account he has expressly forbidden sons to be put to death
instead of their parents, or parents instead of their sons,
thinking it right that they who have committed the crimes
should also bear the punishment, whether it be a pecuniary
fine, or stripes, and more severe personal chastisement, or
even wounds and mutilation, and dishonour, and exile, or
any other judicial sentence ; for though he only names one
kind of punishment, forbidding one person to be put to
death for another, he also comprises other kinds, which he
does not expressly mention.
* There appears to be an hiatus in the text here. There is clearly a
want of connection and coherence in the rest of the sentence as it
stands now.
ON SPECIAL LAWS 345
ABOUT WOMEN NOT BEHAYINa IMMODESTLY.
I. Market places, and council chambers, and courts of
justice, and large companies and assemblies of numerous
crowds, and a life in the open air full of arguments and
actions relating to war and peace, are suited to men ; but
taking care of the house and remaining at home are the
proper duties of women ; the virgins having their apartments
in the centre of the house within the innermost doors, and
the full-grown women not going beyond the vestibule and
outer courts ; for there are two kinds of states, the greater and
the smaller. And the larger ones are called really cities ;
but the smaller ones are called houses.
And the superintendence and management of these is
allotted to the two sexes separately ; the men having the
government of the greater, which government is called a
polity ; and the women that of the smaller, which is called
oeconomy. Therefore let no woman busy herself about those
things which are beyond the province of OBConomy, but let
her cultivate solitude, and not be seen to be going about like
a woman who walks the streets in the sight of other men,
except when it is necessary for her to go to the temple, it
she has any proper regard for herself; and even then let her
not go at noon when the market is full, but after the greater
part of the people have returned home; like a well-born
woman, a real and true citizen, performing her vows and her
sacrifices in tranquillity, so as to avert evils and to receive
blessings.
But when men are abusing one another or fighting, for
women to venture to run out under pretence of assisting or
defending them, is a blameable action and one of no slight
shamelessness, since even, in the times of war and of military
expeditions, and of dangers to their whole native land, the
law does not choose that they should be enrolled as its de
fenders ; looking at what is becoming, which it thinks desira
ble to preserve unchangeable at all times and in all places,
thinking that this very thing is of itself better than victory,
or than freedom, or than any kind of success and prosperity.
Moreover, if any woman, hearing that her husband is being
assaulted, being out of her affection for him carried away by
love for her husband, should yield to the feelings which over-
346 PHILO JUD^EUS
power her and rush forth to aid him, still let her not be so
audacious as to behave like a man, outrunning the nature
of a woman;* but even while aiding him let her continue a
woman.
Eor it would be a very terrible thing if a woman, being
desirous to deliver her husband from an insult, should
expose herself to insult, by exhibiting human life as full of
shamelessness and liable to great reproaches for her incura
ble boldness ; for shall a woman utter abuse in the market
place and give vent to unlawful language ? and if another
man uses foul language, will not she stop her ears
and run away ? But as it is now, some women are ad
vanced to such a pitch of shamelessness as not only, though
they are women, to give vent to intemperate language and
abuse among a crowd of men, but even to strike men
and insult them, witli hands practised rather in works of the
loom and spinning than in blows and assaults, like competi
tors in the pancratium or wrestlers. And other things,
indeed, may be tolerable, and what any one might easily
bear, but that is a shocking thing if a woman were to proceed
to such a degree of boldness as to seize hold of the genitals
of one of the men quarrelling.
For let not such a woman be let go on the ground that
she appears to have done this action in order to assist her
own husband ; but let her be impeached and suffer the punish
ment due to her excessive audacity, so that if she should
ever be inclined to commit the same offence again she may
not have an opportunity of doing so ; and other women,
also, who might be inclined to be precipitate, may be taught
by fear to be moderate and to restrain themselves.
And let the punishment be the cutting off of the hand
which has touched what it ought not to have touched.
And it is fitting to praise those who have been the judges
and managers of the gymnastic games, who have kept women
from the spectacle, in order that they might not be thrown
among naked men and so mar the approved coinage of their
modesty, neglecting the ordinances of nature, which she has
appointed for each section of our race ; for neither is it right
for men to mix with women when they have laid aside their
garments, but each of the sexes ought to avoid the sight of
* Deuteronomy xxv. 11.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 3-47
the other when they are naked, in accordance with the
promptings of nature. Well, then, of those things of which
we are to abstain from the sight, are not the hands much
more to be blamed for the touch? Por the eyes, being
wholly at freedom, are nevertheless often constrained so as
to see things which they do not wish to see ; but the hands are
ranked among those parts which are completely _ under sub
jection, and obey our commands, and are subservient to us.
II. And this is the cause which is often mentioned by
many people. But I have heard another also, alleged by
persons of high character, who look upon the greater part of
the injunctions contained in the law as plain symbols of
obscure meanings, and expressed intimations of what may
not be expressed. And this other reason alleged is as
follows.
There are two kinds of soul, just as there are two sexes
among human relations ; the one a masculine soul, belonging
to men ; the other a female soul, as found in women. The
masculine soul is that which devotes itself to God alone, as
the Father and Creator of the universe and the cause of all
things that exist ; but the female soul is that which depends
upon all the things which are created, and as such are liable
to destruction, and which puts forth, as it were, the hand of
its power in order that in a blind sort of way it may lay hold
of whatever comes across it, clinging to a generation which
admits of an innumerable quantity of changes and variations,
when it ought rather to cleave to the unchangeable, blessed,
and thrice happy divine nature.
Very naturally, therefore, the law commands* that the
executioner should cut off the hand of the woman which has
laid hold of what it should not, speaking figuratively, and in
timating not that the body shall be mutilated, being deprived
of its most important part, but rather that it is proper to
extirpate all the ungodly reasonings of the soul, using all
things which are created as a stepping-stone ; for the things
which the woman is forbidden to take hold of are the
symbols of procreation and generation. And, moreover,
keeping up a consistent regard to nature, I will also say
this, that the unit is the image of the first cause, and the
number two of the divisible matter that is worked upon.
* Deuteronomy xxv. 12.
348 PHILO JUD^EUS.
Whoever, therefore, receives the number two, honouring it
above the unit, must be taught to know that he is, in so
doing, approving of the matter more than of Grod. On
which account the law has thought fit to cut oif this appre
hension of the soul as if it were a hand ; for there can be no
greater impiety than to ascribe the power of the agent to
that which is passive.
III. And any one may here fitly blame those who appoint
that punishments, in nowise corresponding to the offences, are
to be inflicted on the offenders, imposing pecuniary penalties
for assaults, or stigma and infamy for wounds and mutila
tions, or a banishment beyond the borders of the land for in
tentional murders, and everlasting exile or imprisonment for
thefts ; for irregularity and inequality are enemies to a con
stitution which is eager for tha truth. And our law, being
the interpreter and teacher of equality, commands that
offenders should undergo a punishment similar to the offence
which they have committed ; that, for instance, they should
suffer punishment in their property if they have injured their
neighbour in his property ; in their persons, if they have in
jured him in his body, or in his limbs, or the organs of his
outward senses ; and, if their evil designs have extended to
his life, then the law commands that the punishment should
affect the life of the malefactor.
For to exact a different and wholly unequal punishment
which has no connection with or resemblance to the offence,
but which is wholly at variance with it in all its characteris
tics, is the conduct of those who violate the laws rather than
of those who would establish them. And when we say this.
we mean provided no circumstances occur to give a different
complexion to the affair; for it is not the same thing to
inflict blows on one s father and on a stranger, nor to speak
ill of a ruler and of a private person, nor to do anything
which is forbidden on common ground or in holy places, or
at the time of a festival, or of a solemn assembly, or of a
public sacrifice ; or, again, on the days on which there is no
holiday or sacred observance, or on those which are com
pletely common and profane. And all other things of this
kind one must examine with a view to judge of the propriety
of increasing or diminishing the punishment.
Again. "If," says the law, " any one strike out the eye
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 349
of a servant or of a handmaiden, he shall let them depart
free."* Because, as nature has assigned the chief position
in the body to the head, having bestowed upon it a situation
the most suitable to that pre-eminence, as it might give a
citadel to a king (for having sent it forth to govern the body
it has established it on a height, putting the whole composi
tion of the body from the neck to the feet under it, as a
pedestal might be placed under a statue), so also it has
given the pre-eminence among the organs of the external
senses to the eyes. At all events, it has assigned them a
position above all the others, as if they were the chiefs, wish
ing to honour them not only by other things, but also by
this most evident and conspicuous of all signs.
IV. Now it would take a long time to enumerate all the
necessities which the eyes supply to, and all the services
which they perform for, the human race. But one, the most
excellent of all, we may mention. It is the heaven which
has showered philosophy upon us, it is the human mind
which has received and vvhich contains it, but it is sight
which has entertained and been its host ; for that is the
faculty which was the first to see the level roads through
the air.
And philosophy is the fountain of all blessings, of all
things which are really good. And he who draws from this
fountain, so as thus to acquire and make use of virtue is
praiseworthy ; but he who does it with the object of accom
plishing wicked purposes and of condemning others is blame-
able. For the one is like a man at an entertainment, who
is delighting both himself and all who are feasting in his
company ; but the other is like one who is swallowing down
strong wine, in order to make himself and his neighbour
drunk.
Now in what way it is that the sight may be said to have
entertained philosophy as its host we must now proceed to
explain. Having looked up to heaven it beheld the sun, and
the moon, and the planets, and the fixed stars, the most
beautiful host of heaven, the ornament of the world. After
that it arrived at a perception of the rising and setting of
these bodies, and their harmonious motions, and the fixed
seasons of their periodical revolutions, and their meetings,
* Exodus xxi. 26.
350 PH1LO JUD^EUS.
and eclipses, and re-appearances. After that it proceeded
onwards to a comprehension of the increase and decrease of
the moon ; of the motions of the sun along the breadth of
beaven, as he comes from the south towards the north, and
again recedes from the north towards the south, in order to
the generation of the fruits of the year, so that they may all
be brought to perfection, and ten thousand other wonderful
things besides these. And having looked round and sur
veyed the things in the earth, and in the sea, and in the air,
with great diligence displayed all the things in each of these
elements to the mind.
But as the mind was unable by itself to comprehend all
these things from merely beholding them by the faculty of
sight, it did not stop merely at what was seen by it, but
being devoted to learning, and fond of what is honourable
and excellent, as it admired what it did see, it adopted this
probable opinion, that these things are not moved spon
taneously and at random by any irrational impulse of their
own, but that they are set in motion and guided by the will
of Grod, whom it is proper to look upon as the Father and
Creator of the world. Moreover, that these things are not
unrestrained by any bounds, but that they are limited by
the circumference of one world, as they might be by the
the walls of a city, the world itself being circumscribed
within the outermost sphere of the fixed stars.
Moreover it considered also that the Father who created
the world does by the law of nature take care of that which
he has created, exerting his providence in behalf of the
whole universe and of its parts. In the next place it also
considered what was the essence of the visible world, and
whether all the things in the world had the same essence,
or whether different things had different essences, and also
of what substances everything was made, and for what
reasons it was made, and by what powers the world was
held together, and whether these powers were corporeal or
incorporeal. For what can the investigation into these and
similar subjects be called but philosophy ? And what more
fitting name could one give to the man who devoted himself
to the investigation of these topics than that of a philoso
pher ? For by his examination of the nature of Grod, and ot
the world, and of all the things in it, whether plants or
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 351
animals, and of those models which are only appreciable by
the intellect, and again of the perfected representations of
those models which are visible to the outward senses, and of
the virtues and vices which exist in all created things, he
shows that his disposition is one truly devoted to learning, and
contemplation, and philosophy ; and this greatest of blessings
to mortal man is bestowed upon him by the faculty of sight.
And this faculty seems to me to deserve this pre-eminence,
since it is more nearly related to the soul than any one of
the other outward senses, for they all of them have some
kind of connection with the intellect ; but this one obtains
the first and principal rank as the nearest relation does in a
private house. And any one may conjecture this from many
circumstances, for who is there who does not know that
when persons are delighted their eyes betray their pleasure,
and sparkle, but that when they are grieved their eyes are
full of depression and heaviness ; and if any heavy burden
of grief oppresses, and crushes, and overwhelms the mind,
they weep ; and if anger obtains the preponderance, the
eyes swell, and become bloodshot and fiery; and again
change so as to be gentle and soft when the anger is relaxed.
Again, when the man is immersed in deep thought and con
templation, the eyes seem fixed as if they in a manner joined
in his gravity ; but in the case of those who are of no great
wisdom the sight wanders, because of their vacancy of intel
lect, and is restless, and in short the eyes sympathise with
the affections of the soul, and are wont to change along with
it in innumerable alternations, on account of the closeness
of their connection with it ; for it seems to me that there is
no one visible thing which God has made so complete a
representation of that which is invisible as the sight is of
the mind.
V. If therefore any one has ever plotted against this
most excellent and most dominant of all the outward senses,
namely sight, so as ever to have struck out the eye of a free
man, let him suffer the same infliction himself, but not so if
he have only struck out the eye of a slave ; not because he
is entitled to pardon, or because the injury which he has
done is less, but because the man who has been injured will
have a still worse master if he has been mutilated in retali
ation, since he will for ever bear a grudge against him for
352 PHILO JUD^EUS.
the calamity which has fallen upon him, and will revenge
himself on him every day as an irreconcileable enemy by
harsh commands beyond his power to perform, by which the
slave will be so oppressed that he will be ready to die.
Therefore the law has provided that the man who has
thus done injury to his slave shall not be allowed to escape
free, and yet has not commanded that the man who has
already suffered the loss of his eye shall be ill-treated still
further, enjoining that if any one strikes out the eye of his
servant he shall without hesitation grant him his freedom ;
for thus he will suffer a double punishment for the actions
which he has committed, in being deprived of the value of
his servant and also of his services, and thirdly, which is
worse than either of the things already mentioned, in being
compelled to do good to his enemy in the most important
matters, whom very likely he wished to be able to ill-treat for
ever. And the slave has a double consolation f6r the evils
which he has been subjected to in being not only emancipated, j
but also in having escaped a cruel and inhuman master.
VI. The law also commands that if any one strike out
the tooth of a slave he shall bestow his freedom on the \
slave ; why is this ? because life is a thing of great value,
and because nature has made the teeth the instruments of
life, as being those by which the food is eaten. And of j
the teeth some are fitted for eating meat and all other I
eatable food, and on that account are called incisors, or
cutting teeth ; others are called molar teeth from their still
further grinding and smoothing what has been cut by the
incisors ; on which account the Creator and Father of the
universe, who is not accustomed to make anything which is
not appointed for some particular use, did not do with the
teeth as he did with every other part of the body, and make
them at once, at the first creation of the man, considering
that as while an infant he was only intended to be fed upon
milk they would be a superfluous burden in his way, and
would be a severe injury to the breasts, filled as they are at
that time with springs of milk, from u which moist food is
derived, as they would in that case be bitten by the child
while sucking the milk. Therefore, having waited for a
suitable season (and that is when the child is weaned), he
then causes the infant to put forth the teeth which he had
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 353
prepared for it before, as the most perfect food now supplied
to it requires the organs above-mentioned now that the
child rejects the food of milk.
If therefore any one, yielding to an insolent disposition,
strikes out the tooth of his servant, that organ which is the
minister and provider of those most necessary things, food
and life, he shall emancipate him whom he has injured,
because by the evil which he inflicted on him he has deprived
him of the service and use of his tooth.
" Is then," some one will say, " a tooth of equal value
with an eye ?" "Each," I would reply, "is of equal value
for the purposes for which they were given, the eye with
reference to the objects of sight, the teeth with reference to
those which are eatable." But if any one were to desire to
institute a comparison, he would find that the eye is entitled
to the highest respect among all the parts of the body,
inasmuch as being occupied in the contemplation of the
most glorious thing in the whole world, namely the heaven ;
and that the tooth is useful as being the masticator of food,
which is the most useful thing as contributing to life. And
he who strikes out a man s eye does not hinder him from
living, but a most miserable death awaits the man who has
all his teeth knocked out.
And if any one meditates inflicting injury in these parts
on his servants, let him know that he is causing them an
artificial famine in the midst of plenty and abundance ; for
what advantage is it to a man that there should be an
abundance of food, if the instruments by which he may be
enabled to make use of it are taken from him and lost,
through the agency of his cruel, and pitiless, and inhuman
master ? It is for this reason that in another passage the
lawgiver forbids creditors to exact from their debtors a
molar tooth or a grinder as a pledge, giving as a reason
that the person who does so is taking a man s life in pledge;
for he who deprives a man of the instruments of living is
proceeding towards murder, entertaining the idea of plotting
even against life.
And the law has taken such exceeding care that no one
shall ever be the cause of death to another, that it does not
look upon those who have even touched a dead body, which
has met with a natural death, as pure and clean, until they
VOL. III. A A
354 PHILO JUD^US.
have washed and purified themselves with sprinklings and
ablutions ; and even after they are perfectly clean it does
not permit them to go into the temple within seven days,
enjoining them to use purifying ceremonies on the third and
seventh day. And again, in the case of persons who have
gone into the house in which any one has died, the law
enjoins that no one shall touch them until they have both
washed their bodies and also the garments in which they
were clothed, and, in a word, it looks upon all the furniture
and all the vessels, and everything which is in the house, as
unclean and polluted ; for the soul of a man is a valuable
thing, and when that has quitted its habitation, and parsed
to another place, everything that is left behind by it is
polluted as being deprived of the divine image, since the
human mind is made as a copy of the mind of God, having
been created after the archetypal model, the most sublime
reasoning.
And the law says, " Let everything which a man that is
unclean has touched be also unclean as being polluted by a
participation in that which is unclean." And this sacred
injunction appears to have a wide operation, not being
limited to the body alone, but proceeding as it would
seem also to investigate the dispositions of the soul, for the
unjust and impious man is peculiarly unclean, being one
who has no respect for either human or divine things, but
who throws everything into disorder and confusion by the
immoderate vehemence of his passions, and by the extrava
gance of his wickedness, so that everything which he
touches becomes faulty, having its nature changed by the
wickedness of him who has taken them in hand. For in
like manner the actions of the good are, on the contrary, all
praiseworthy, being made better by the energies of those
who apply themselves to them, since in some degree what is
done resembles in its character the person who does it.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 355
A TEEATISE
THOSE SPECIAL LAWS
WHICH ARE CONTAINED UNDER AND HAVE REFERENCE
TO THE EIGHTH, NINTH, AND TENTH COMMANDMENTS.
ON THEFT.
I HATE in my previous treatises spoken of the laws
relating to adultery and murder, and to all the subordinate
offences which come under those heads, with, as I persuade
myself, all the accuracy which the case admits of, and now,
proceeding in the regular order, I must consider what is the
third commandment in the second table, but the eighth in
all, if the two tables are taken together, namely, the com
mandment, "Thou shalt not steal."*
Whoever carries off or leads away the property of another
when he has no right to do so, if he does it openly and by
main force, shall be set down as a common enemy, and shall
be prosecuted as having with lawless wickedness contrived
a shameless act of audacity. But if he has done it secretly,
endeavouring to escape notice like a thief, exhibiting some
modesty, and making the darkness the veil of his iniquity,
let him then be punished privately as only liable to con
demnation in respect of the one individual whom he endea
voured to injure ; and let him restore double the value
of the thing stolen, making amends by his own most
righteous suffering for the unrighteous advantage he has
endeavoured to gain.
But if he is a poor man, and consequently unable to pay
the penalty, let him be sold (for it is fitting that that man
should be deprived of his freedom who for the sake of his
most iniquitous gain has endured to become a slave to
guilt), that he who has been ill- treated may not be allowed
to depart without consolation, as if he appeared to have his
claims disregarded by reason of the poverty of the man who
has robbed him. And let no one accuse this ordinance of
inhumanity ; for the man who is sold is not left as a slave
* Exodus xx. 13.
A A 2
356 PHILO JUD^EUS.
for ever and ever, but within the space of seven years he is
released by a common proclamation as I have shown in my
treatise on the number seven.
And let him be content to pay the double penalty, or
even to be sold, since he has committed no slight offence ;
sinning in the first place in that, not being, content with what
he had, he has desired more, encouraging a feeling of covet-
ousness, a treacherous and incurable wickedness. Secondly,
because he has cast his eyes on the property of others and
longed for it, and has laid plots to deprive his neighbour of
his own, depriving the owner of what belongs to him.
Thirdly, because through his desire to escape detection, he
very often keeps to himself all the advantage that can be
derived from the thing he appropriates, and diverts the
accusation so as to cause it to fall upon the innocent, thus
making the investigation of the truth blind. And such a
man appears in some degree to be himself his own accuser,
being convicted by his own conscience of the theft of those
things which he has secretly stolen, being filled either with
shame or fear, one of which feelings is a proof of his
considering his action a disgraceful one, for it is only dis
graceful actions which cause shame, and the other is a sign
of his thinking it deserving of punishment, for punishment
causes fear.
CONCEBNING HOTJSEBBEAKEBS.
If any one being insanely carried away by a desire for
the property of others attempts to steal it, and not being
able easily to carry it off breaks into a house at night,
using the darkness as a veil to conceal his wicked action, if
he be caught in the fact before the sun has risen, he may be
slain by the master of the house in the breaches, having
accomplished the lesser object which he had proposed to
himself, namely, theft, but having been hindered by some
one from accomplishing the greater crime which might have
followed it, namely, murder; since he was prepared with
iron house-breaking tools which he bore, and other arms, to
defend himself from any attack.
But if the sun has risen, then let him no longer be slain
by the hand of the master of the house, but let him be led
away and brought before the magistrates and judges, to
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 357
suffer whatever punishment they condemn him to. For
while men are remaining in their houses at night, and when
they have betaken themselves to rest, whether they be
rulers or private individuals, in either case there is no refuge
or assistance for the offender ; on which account the inmate
of the house has the power of punishment in his own hands,
being appointed magistrate and judge by the very time itself.
But in the day time the courts of justice and the council
chambers are open, and the city is full of persons who will
help to arrest the criminal ; some of whom have been for
mally appointed guardians of the laws ; and others, without
any such appointment, by their natural disposition which
hates iniquity, take up the cause of those who are injured ;
and before these men the thief must be brought ; for thus
the man who seeks revenge will escape the charge of arro
gance or rashness, and appear to be acting in the spirit of
the democracy.
But if, when the sun has risen and is shining upon the
earth, any one slays a robber with his own hand before
bringing him to trial, he shall be held guilty, as having been
guided by passion rather than by reason, and as having made
the laws second to his own impulses. I should say to such
a man, " My, friend, do not, because you have been injured
by night by a thief, on this account in the daylight yourself
commit a worse theft, not indeed affecting money, but
affecting the principles of justice, in accordance with which
the constitution of the state is established.
ABOUT THE THEFT OF A SHEEP OK AN OX.
Now other thefts are to be atoned for by a payment of
double the value of the thing stolen ; but if any one steals
an ox or a sheep, the law thinks such a man worthy of a
greater punishment, giving a particular honour and prece
dence to those animals which are the most excellent among
all tame flocks and herds, not only by reason of the beauty
of their bodies, but also because of the service they are of
to the life of man. And on this account the lawgiver has
not affixed a fine of equal amount to the theft of each ani
mal, but having calculated the use of both and the purposes
for which both are available, he has appraised their value in
this way,
358 PHILO JUD^lUS.
For he commands that the thief shall restore four sheep
and five oxen in the place of the one which he has stolen ;
since a sheep gives four kinds of tribute, milk, and cheese,
and its fleece, and a lamb, every year : but an ox furnishes
five ; three of which are the same as those of the sheep
the milk, the cheese, and the offspring ; but two are pecu
liar to itself, the ploughing of the earth, and the threshing
of the corn ; the first of which actions is the first step
towards the sowing of the crops, and the other is the end,
being for the purification of the crop after it is gathered in,
in order to the more easy use of it for food.
CONCERNING KIDNAPPERS.
A kidnapper also is a thief; but he is, moreover, a thief
who steals the very most excellent thing that exists upon
the earth. Now, in the case of inanimate things, and of
those animals which are of no very great use indeed in life,
he has commanded twice the value of them to be paid to
their owners by those who steal them, as has been said
before. And again, in the case of those tame and very
useful flocks and herds of sheep and oxen, he has ordered
the payment to be fourfold or fivefold; but man, as it
seems, has been assigned the most pre-eminent position
among the animals, being, as it were, a near relation of God
himself, and akin to him in respect of his participation in
reason ; which makes him immortal, although he is liable to
death. On which account every one who feels any admira
tion of virtue is full of exceeding anger, and is utterly
implacable against kidnappers, who for the sake of most
iniquitous gain dare to inflict slavery on those who are free
by birth, and who partake of the same nature as themselves.
For if masters perform a praiseworthy action when they
emancipate servants born in their house or purchased with
money, even though they have often not done them any
great service, from the slavery in which they are held,
because of their own humanity by which they are influenced,
how heavy ought to be the accusation which is brought
against those who deprive of that most excellent of all pos
sessions, freedom, those who are at present in possession of
it ; when it is an object for which man, who has been well
born and properly brought up, would think it glorious to
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 359
die? And before now, some men, increasing their own
innate wickedness, and directing the natural treachery 01
their characters to a violation of all rights, have studied to
bring slavery not only upon strangers and foreigners, but
even upon those of the same nation as themselves ; and
sometimes, even upon men of the same borough and of the
same tribe, disregarding the community of laws and customs,
in which they have been bred up with them from their
earliest infancy, which nature stamps upon their souls as
the firmest bond of good will in the case of all those who are
not very intractable and greatly addicted to cruelty ; who,
for the sake of lawless gain sell slaves to slave-dealers, and
enslave them to any chance persons, transporting them to a
foreign land, so that they shall never any more salute their
native land, not even in a dream, nor taste of any hope of
happiness.
For these kidnappers would be committing a lighter
iniquity if they themselves retained the services of those
whom they have enslaved, but as the case stands at present
they commit a double wrong, in selling them again, and
thus making them two masters instead of one, and raising
up two slaveries as enemies to their condition. For they,
being aware of the former prosperous condition of those
whom they have carried off, might perhaps repent, feeling a
tardy and late compassion for those who are thus fallen,
having a proper awe of the uncertainty of fortune eluding
all conjectures. But those who buy persons in this condi
tion, out of ignorance of their families, will neglect them as
if they were sprung from successive generations of slaves,
having no inducement in their souls to display that gentle
ness and humanity towards them which it would be natural
for them to preserve in the case of slaves who had become
so after having been originally and naturally free-born.
And let whatever punishment the court of justice shall
sentence them to be inflicted upon those who kidnap and
enslave those of another nation ; but upon those who kid
nap those of their own country and of their own blood, and
who sell them for slaves, shall be passed the unalterable
sentence of death. For, in fact, one s own countrymen are
not far from blood relations, and they must very nearly
come under the same definition with them.
360 PfllLO JUD^EUS
CONCERNING DAMAGE.
"In the field also," as some one of the old writers has
said, " lawsuits arise ; " since covetousness and a desire for
the possessions of others does not exist only in the city, but
is found also outside the walls, inasmuch as it has its abode
not only in various places, but also in the minds of insatia
ble and contentious men. On which account those cities
which enjoy the best codes of laws elect double superintend
ents, and rulers, and providers of a common regularity and
safety ; one class to manage within the walls, whom they
call curators of the city ; the others without the walls, to
whom also they give an appropriate name, for they call
them agrarian n agistrates.
But what need could there be of agrarian -magistrates n
there were not some persons in the fields living only for the
injury of their neighbours ? If, therefore, any shepherd or
goatherd, or oxherd, or in short any manager of any kind
of cattle, drives his herds to feed and pasture upon another
man s land, sparing neither crops nor trees, he shall pay a
fine equal to the value of those crops and trees. And he
may be very well content to escape with this punishment,
having met with a very merciful and exceedingly indulgent
law, which, though he has adopted the conduct of implacable
foreign enemies, who are accustomed to lay waste the lands
and to destroy the cultivated trees of the inhabitants, has,
nevertheless, not chastised him as a common enemy, inflict
ing upon him death, or exile, or of, lastly, a confiscation of
all his property ; but has merely sentenced him to make
good the damage done to the owner.
For as the lawgiver was always seeking pretexts by which
to lighten whatever misfortunes have been suifered by reason
of the excessive gentleness and humanity which he derived
from nature and from habit, he found an excuse for the
shepherd on the ground that the nature of cattle was incon
siderate and disobedient, and especially so when in pursuit
of food.
Let the shepherd, then, be guilty, as having originally
driven his herd into an unsuitable place, but still let him
not bear the blame of every thing that has ensued from his
doing so. ITor it is natural to suppose that, as soon as he
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 361
perceived the mischief that had taken place he endeavoured
to drive them out again, but that his beasts resisted him,
luxuriating in the green pasture, and the tender crops, and
shoots which they were devouring.
CONCERNING NOT SETTING FIRE TO BRAMBLES
INCONSIDERATELY.
And not only do those men do damage who devour the pro
perty of others with their flocks and herds, but so also do
those who inconsiderately and carelessly kindle a fire ; for
if the power of fire catches hold of any appropriate fuel, it
spreads in every direction, and extends and devours all
around. And when it has once got ahead it defies all
the means of eztinguishing it which any one seeks to apply,
taking the very things employed for that purpose as food
for its increase, until having consumed every thing it is at
last exhausted by itself. It is right, therefore, never to
leave any fire either in a house or in any stables in the fields
unguarded, since we well know that a single spark has often
smouldered long, and at last has been fanned into a flame,
and so has consumed great cities, especially when the flame
has been borne onwards by a favourable wind.
Accordingly, in savage wars the first, the middle, and the
last power which is excited is that of fire, to which the
enemies trust more than they do to their squadrons of
infantry, or cavalry, or to their fleets, or to their unlimited
supplies of arms and naval stores. For if any one with
good aim shoots a fiery arrow among a numerous squadron
of ships he may bum it with all the crews, or he may thus
destroy vast carnps with all their baggage, and furniture,
and equipments, on which the army rested its hopes of
victory.
If, then, any one scatters fire among a heap of brambles
or thorns, and the fire kindles and burns a threshing floor
full of wheat, or barley, or vetches, or sheaves of corn which
have been gathered together, or any fertile plain full of pas
ture, then the -man who scattered the fire shall pay the
amount of the damage done, in order that by his suffering
he may learn to take good care and to guard against the
362 PHILO JUD^US.
beginnings* of things, and may not awaken and stir up
an invincible power which might otherwise have remained
quiet.
CONCEBNING- DEPOSITS.
A deposit is the most sacred of all those things which
relate to the associations of men with regard to property,
inasmuch as it depends upon the good faith alone of the
man who has received it. For loans are proved by contracts
and writings, and things which, independent of loans, are
openly used, have all the persons who see them for witnesses.
But this is not the case with deposits, but the owner by
himself gives them privily to the man who receives them by
himself, looking carefully round the place, and not even
taking a slave with him for the purpose of carrying the
thing to be deposited, even though he be ever so aifectionate
to his master; for each of the two parties appears to be
anxious to avoid discovery ; the one depositing the thing in
order to receive it again, and the other being desirous not
to be known to have received it.
But we ought by all means to look upon the invisible Grod
as an unseen third party to every concealed action, whom it
is natural to make as a witness for both parties ; the
receiver calling him to witness that he will restore the
deposit when it is demanded back from him, and the other
making him to see that he receives it back at the proper
time.
Let, then, the man who commits this great wickedness
and denies his deposit not be ignorant that he has deceived
him who committed it to him of his hope, and that he is
concealing a wicked disposition under specious language,
and that he is hypocritically pretending a bastard sort of
faith while in reality faithless, showing that all his pledges
are worthless and all his oaths disregarded, so that he
* This resembles Ovid
Principiis obsta, sero medicina paratur,
Cum mala per longas invaluere moras.
Which may be translated
Check the first rise : all remedy s too late
When long delay has made the mischief great.
ON SPECIAL LAWS.
363
neglects all human and all divine obligations ; and that he is
denying two deposits at once; firstly, the deposit of him
who entrusted his property to his care ; and secondly, that
of that most unerring and infallible witness who sees all the
actions of all men, and hears all the words of all men,
whether they are willing that he should do so or not.
But if the man who has received a deposit as a sacred
thing thinks that he ought to keep it without fraud, duly
honouring truth and good faith, but yet others who are
always plotting against their neighbours property, such as
cutpurses or housebreakers, break in treacherously and steal
the deposit so entrusted, then he shall pay as a penalty
double the value of what has been stolen by the thieves.
And if they are not taken, then the man who received the
deposit shall go of his own accord before the divine tribunal,
and stretching out his hands to heaven shall swear by his
own life that he himself had no hand in the theft from any
desire to appropriate what had been deposited with him,
and that he did not voluntarily give it up to any one else ;
and that, moreover, he is not making a false statement of a
robbery which has never taken place.*
For it would be absurd to punish a man who has done
no wrong, or for a man who had taken refuge in the assist
ance of a friend when he was being injured by others, now
to become the cause of injury to that friend.
And deposits consist not only of inanimate things but
also of animals : the danger of which last is twofold ; first,
that while they share in common with inanimate things in
being liable to be stolen, and also one which is distinct and
peculiar to themselves, that they are liable to die. We have
hitherto been speaking only of the first kind of deposit, but
we must now also explain the law about the second.
If now any cattle which have been entrusted as a deposit
die, then he who has received the deposit shall send for him
who committed it to him, and show him the matter, protect
ing himself from any evil suspicion ; but if the depositor be
absent, then it is not proper to send for any one else, whose
notice perhaps the depositor might have been desirous to
escape; but when the depositor returns home, his friend
shall swear to him that he has not been concealing any
* Exodus xxii. 7
364 PHILO JUD^US.
unjust appropriation of the animals by a false statement of
their death. And if any one receives anything not as a
deposit, but because he has borrowed it to use, whether it is
a vessel or an animal ; then if he be robbed of it, whichever
it may be, or if the animal die, while the man who lent it is
living with the borrower, the borrower shall not be liable, as
the owner himself can be brought as a witness that there is
no false pretence in the business ; but if the lender be not
with him at the time, he shall pay the value. Why so ?
because it is possible that the man who used the animal
when the owner was not present may have either worn him
out by continual labour so as to kill him, or may have worn
out the vessel, from not taking any care of the property of
another of which he ought to have been careful, and to have
put it away, and not to have given thieves an easy oppor
tunity of stealing it.
But as our lawgiver was acute beyond all other men at
discerning the consequences of actions, he proceeds to enact
a series of prohibitions, one after another, preserving a due
connection between them, and taking care that his later
commandments shall be consistent with his earlier ones.
And with this harmonious connection of what was to be said
by him, he tells us that he was divinely inspired by the
person of God speaking to him in this manner :
" Ye shall not steal.
"Ye shall not speak falsely, and bring false accusations
against your neighbour.
"And ye shall not swear by my name to compass an
unjust end, and ye shall not profane my name."*
These injunctions are given with great beauty and very
instructively ; for the thief being convicted by his own con
science denies and speaks falsely, fearing the punishment
which would ensue upon his confession. And he who denies
an action seeks to attach the imputation to some one else,
bringing a false accusation against him, and imagines devices
to make his false accusation appear probable; and every
false accuser is at once a perjured man, thinking but little of
piety, since he has no just proofs ; on which account he has
recourse to what is called the inartificial mode of proof, that
* Leviticus xix. 11.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 365
by oaths, thinking that by the invocation of God he shall
produce belief among those who hear him.
But let such an one know that he is ungodly and impious,
inasmuch as he is defiling that which by nature is undefiled,
the good and holy name of God.
THOU SHALT NOT BEAB FALSE WITNESS.*
This is the ninth of the ten commandments, being the fourth
in number of those in the second table ; but one which is
calculated to bestow ten thousand benefits on human life if
it be kept, as, on the other hand, it may injure men in
innumerable ways if it is neglected ; for the false accuser is
to be blamed, but he who bears witness to what is false is
more guilty still ; for the one acts only from a desire to pro
tect himself, but the other is wicked from his wish to co
operate with another in iniquity. And in the comparison of
wicked men he who does wrong for his own sake is less
unrighteous than he who does so for another. And every
judge looks with suspicion on an accuser, as likely to pay
but little attention to truth for the sake of coming off" in
safety himself, on which account the accuser stands in need
of a preface to beg the attention of the hearer while he is
speaking ; but if the judge has no prejudice against a witness
on any personal grounds he receives his evidence with a
willing mind and open ears, while he is covering over those
most excellent things, truth and good faith, with specious
language. And the false witnesses use seductive words as
a sportsman uses bait for the purpose of attaining the objects
which he desires and aims at.
For which reasons, in many parts of his enactment of the
law, he commands that we should not approve of any wicked
man or action, t For any approbation of what is not
virtuous is likely to lead to giving false evidence; since
every one to whom iniquity is a disagreeable and hateful
thing is a friend of truth. Now there is no great wonder
in a man s having connected himself with one wicked person,
who has incited him to an action resembling his own
character ; but it is a sign of a noble soul, and of a dispo
sition practised in manly resolutions not to follow a multitude
to do evil, like a man borne down over a precipice by the
* Exodus xx. 16. t Exodus xxiii. 1.
366 PHILO JUD^EUS.
collective force of a torrent. For some people, among the
multitude, think some things lawful and just, even though
they be most flagitious, not judging correctly ; for it is well
to follow nature, but this impulse of the multitude is wholly
at variance with the following of nature.
If, then, some persons, being assembled together in com
panies and numerous multitudes, attempt to make any
innovations, one must not consent to them, since they are
adulterating the ancient and approved coinage of the state ;
for one wise counsel is superior to many attempts, but
ignorance, in conjunction with numbers, is a great evil ; but
some persons practise such an excess of wickedness that
they not only accuse mortal men, but adhere and cling to
their unrighteousness, so as even to raise their lies as high
as heaven, and to bear their testimony against the blessed
and happy nature of God.
And by these men I mean soothsayers, and diviners, and
augurs, and all other persons who practise what they call
divination studying, an art without any art, if one must tell
the plain truth, a mere bare imitation of the real inspiration
and prophetic gift ; for a prophet does not utter anything
whatever of his own, but is only an interpreter, another
Being suggesting to him all that he utters, while he is
speaking under inspiration, being in ignorance that his own
reasoning powers are departed, and have quitted the citadel
of his soul ; while the divine spirit has entered in and taken
up its abode there, and is operating upon all the organization
of his voice, and making it sound to the distinct manifesta
tion of all the prophecies which he is delivering.
But all those persons who pursue the spurious and pre
tended kind of prophecy are inverting the order of truth by
conjectures and guesses, perverting sincerity, and easily
influencing those who are of unstable dispositions, as a
violent wind, when blowing in a contrary direction, tosses
about and overturns vessels without ballast, preventing them
from anchoring in the safe havens of truth. For such
persons think proper to say whatever they conjecture, not
as if they were things which they themselves had found out,
but as if they were divine oracles revealed to themselves
alone, for the more complete inducement of great and
numerous crowds to believe a deceit.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 367
Such persons our lawgiver very appropriately calls false
prophets, who adulterate the true prophecy, and overshadow
what is genuine by their spurious devices ; but in a very
short time all their manoeuvres are detected, since nature
does not choose to be always hidden, but, when a suitable
opportunity offers, displays her own power with irresistible
strength. For as in the case of eclipses of the sun the rays
which have, for a brief moment, been obscured, a short time
afterwards shine forth again, exhibiting an unclouded and
far-seen brilliancy without anything whatever coming over
the sun at all, but one unalloyed blaze beaming forth from
him in a serene sky ; so also, even though some persons may
deliver predictions, practising a lying art of prophecy, and
disguising themselves under the specious name of prophetic
inspiration, falsely taking the name of God in vain, they will
be easily convicted. For, again, the truth will come forth and
will beam forth, shedding around a most conspicuous light,
so that the falsehood which has previously overshadowed it
will disappear.
Moreover there also was an excellent* commandment
that Moses gave when he ordained that the judge should
" not receive the testimony of one witness." f First of all,
because it is possible that one person may without design
ing it have a false impression of a thing, or may be careless
about it and therefore be deceived. For there are innu
merable false opinions, which frequently arise from an
innumerable variety of grounds ; and secondly, because it is
most unjust to trust to one witness against many persons,
or indeed against only one individual ; in the first place,
because many are more entitled to belief than one, since
the one is not superior in number to many, and equality of
number is inconsistent with any preponderance; for why
should the judge trust a single witness, bearing testimony
against another, rather than the defendant pleading in hia
own behalf ? But, as it should seem, it is best to suspend
one s opinion, where there is no deficiency and no excess to
guide the judgment.
* Numbers xxxv. 30. T Deuteronomy xvii. 6 : xix. 15.
368 PHILO JDD^EUS.
ON THE OFFICE AND CH ABAC TEE OF A JUDGE.
I. THE law thinks that all those who adhere to the sacred
constitution, established by Moses, ought to be free from
all unreasonable passions, and from all wickedness; and
most especially ought all men to be so, who are either
appointed by lot or elected to judge between others ; for it
is an absurdity for these men to be themselves liable to the
imputation of error, who undertake to dispense justice to
others, whom it becomes to give a faithful copy of the
works of nature, presenting an accurate representation of a
model picture ; for as the power of fire which disperses
warmth to all ether things which it reaches, was, long before
doing so, warm as far as it was itself concerned, and as, on the
contrary, the power of snow cools other things, by the
fact of its being itself cooled previously, so also ought the
judge to be full of pure unalloyed justice, if he is to irrigate
all who come before him with justice, in order that from him,
as from a sweet fountain, a wholesome spring may be
afforded to all who thirst for a dispensation of good law.
And this will be the case if any one who undertakes the
office of a judge looks upon it as if he were at the same
time judging and being judged himself, and when he takes
up the pebble with which he is to give his vote, were at the
same time to take up wisdom so as not to be deceived,
and justice so as to dispense to each party what they
deserve, and courage so as never to yield to supplications
or to feelings of compassion, so as to diminish the punish
ment due to convicted offenders ; for the man who studies
these virtues may reasonably be looked upon as a common
benefactor, like a good pilot tranquillising the storms of
affairs in such a manner as to secure the preservation and
safety of those who have committed their interests to him.
II. In the first place the law enjoins the judge not to
listen to vain reports.* Why is this ? The law says, " My
good man, let thy ears be purified." And they will be
purified if they are continually washed out with a stream of
* Exodus xxiii. 1.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 369
virtuous language, never admitting the long, and false, and
vain, and hackneyed protestations, so deserving to be ridi
culed, of fabulists or vain babblers, or hyperbolical exagge
rations, who make a great deal of things of no importance j
and this is what is meant by the injunction not to listen
to vain reports, and also by another precept in some degree
consistent with the former.
Eor, says the lawgiver, he who attends to those who give
evidence on hearsay is attending to vanity and not to sound
reason ; because the eyes do indeed dwell with the very
things which are done, taking hold of them as one may say,
and comprehending and seizing upon them in all their
parts 5> the light co-operating with them, by means of which
all things are illuminated and clearly proved ; but the ears,
as one of the philosophers of old has very truly said, are
less trustworthy than the eyes, inasmuch as they are not
themselves present at the transactions, but are attracted by
words as the interpreter of facts, which are not always
disposed to tell the truth ; for which reasons some of the
lawgivers among the Greeks, having transcribed some of the
laws from the two tables of Moses, appear to have estab
lished very wise regulations, forbidding any one to mention
in his testimony anything that he has heard, on the ground
that it is right to look upon what a man has seen as trust
worthy, but on what he has heard as not in all respects
certain.
III. The second commandment given to a judge is not
to receive gifts ; * for gifts, says the law, blind the eyes
that see, and pervert justice, and do not permit the mind
to travel along the level road which leads to righteousness ;
and to receive bribes to aid in unjust actions is the action
of very wicked men indeed ; and even to do so for the
purpose of furthering good objects is the conduct of
persons who are half wicked ; for there are some judges
speciously disguised, half wicked, something between just
and unjust, armed indeed in the cause of those who are
injured, as their champions against those who injure them,
but still not desirous to cause them to prevail, without
deriving any advantage to themselves from their victory,
* Exodus xxiii. 8.
VOL. III. B B
370 PHILO JUD^US.
though they ought to prevail; but making their decision
corrupt and mercenary.
Then, when any one blames them, they affirm that they
have not perverted justice; for that those have been
defeated who ought to have been defeated, and that those
have gained their cause who ought to have got the better ;
alleging a most unworthy and false defence ; for a righteous
judge ought to exhibit two things, a judgment in strict
accordance with the law, and incorruptibility ; but he who is
a judge for bribes, even though he decides justly, does with
out perceiving it defile a thing which is beautiful by nature.
Moreover, he also offends in two other points ; in the
first place, because he is accustoming himself to be covetous
of money ; which is the beginning of the very greatest ini
quities ; and secondly, because he is injuring the man whom
he ought to benefit ; by making him pay a price for justice ;
on which account Moses has very instructively commanded,
that the judge shall pursue what is righteous in a righteous
manner ; * intimating under this figurative expression, that
it is possible to do so in an unrighteous manner, because of
those men who sell just and legal decisions for money, not
only in the courts of justice, but everywhere in every part
of land and sea, and I had almost said in all the transactions
of lite.
For instance, it has happened before now, that a man
who has received a deposit of small value, has given it back
again when demanded, more by way of laying a snare for
him who receives it back, than with any idea of serving him,
in order that by showing good faith in things of small value
as a bait he may cover over the look of his faithlessness in
greater things, and such conduct is nothing else than pursu
ing justice in an unrighteous manner; for the restitution of
what did not belong to him was just, but it was done in an
unrighteous manner, inasmuch as it was only done as a bait
to attract more.
And the cause of all such offences is principally the incli
nation to and the familiar habit of falsehood, which, from
their very birth and swaddling clothes, their nurses and
mothers, and all the whole multitude in the house, whether
free-born persons or slaves, habituate them to and familia-
* Deuteronomy xvi. 19.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 371
rise them with both by words and actions, adapting it to
and uniting it with their souls, as a necessary part of them
by nature, though, if it had in truth been implanted in them
by nature, it would have been necessary to eradicate it by
instilling good habits into them instead.
And what in life is there equally beautiful with truth,
which the all-wise legislator erected in the most sacred
place, in that part of the dress of the chief priest, where the
dominant part of the soul lies, wishing to adorn it with the
most beautiful and glorious of all ornaments ? And next to
truth he has placed power as akin to it, which he has in this
case called manifestation, being the two images of the two
kinds of speech which exist in us, the secret speech and the
lettered speech, for the lettered speech requires manifest
ation, by which the secret thoughts in all our hearts are
made known to our neighbour, but the secret speech has
need of truth for the perfection of life and actions, by
means of which the road to happiness is found out.
IY. The third commandment given to a judge is to inves
tigate the transactions themselves, in preference to showing
any regard to the parties to the suit ; and to attempt, in
every imaginable manner, to separate himself from all
respect of persons; constraining himself to an jgnorance
and forgetfulness of all those things of which he has any
knowledge or recollection ; such as relations, friends, coun
trymen or foreigners, enemies or "hereditary connections, so
that neither affection nor hatred may overshadow his know
ledge of justice; for he must stumble like a blind man, who
is advancing without a staff, and who has no one to guide
him in whom he can rely firmly.
For which reason it is fitting that a righteous judge
should have it even concealed from him who the parties to
the suit are, and that he should look at the undisguised,
simple nature of the transactions themselves ; so as not to
be liable to judge in accordance with random opinion, but
according to real truth, and to be guided by such an opinion
as this, that judgment is of God ;* and that the judge is the
minister jand steward of his judgment ; and a steward is not
allowed to give away the things of his master, as he has
received as a pledge the most excellent of all the things
* Deuteronomy i. ] 7.
B B 2
372 PHILO JUD.EUS.
which exist in human life, from the most excellent of all
beings.
V. And in addition to what has already been said, there
is another most admirable precept given which enjoins the
judge " not to show pity upon the poor man in his judg
ment."*
While in other precepts the lawgiver has filled nearly the
whole of the law with precepts of mercy and humanity, and
has uttered great threats against arrogant and insolent men,
and has proposed great rewards for those who endeavour to
make amends for the misfortunes of their neighbours, and
who look upon their superfluities not as their own exclusive
possessions, but as the common property of every one in
want ; for it was a felicitous and true saying of one of the
wise men of old, that men never act in a manner more
resembling the gods than when they are bestowing benefits ;
and what can be a greater good than for mortal men to
imitate the everlasting God ?
Let not then the rich man collect in his house vast
quantities of silver and gold, and store them up, but let him
bring them forward freely in order by his cheerful bounty
to soften the hard condition of the poor ; nor let any man
be puffed- up with vain glory, and raise himself and boast
himself in pride and arrogance, but let a man rather honour
equality, and allow freedom of speech to those of low estate.
And let the man who enjoys vigour of body be the prop of
those who are weaker, and let him not like the men at the
gymnastic contests strive by every means to overthrow those
who are inferior in strength, but let him be willing and
eager to assist with his own power those who, as far as they
themselves are concerned, are ready to faint. For all those
who have drunk deep of the fountains of wisdom, having
banished envy entirely out of their minds, are of their own
accord, and without any prompting, ready to undertake the
assistance of their neighbours, pouring the streams of their
words into their souls through their ears, so as to impart to
them a participation in similar knowledge with themselves.
And when they see young men of good dispositions spring
ing up like flourishing and vigorous shoots of a vine, they
rejoice, thinking that they have found proper inheritors for
* Exodus xxiii. 3.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 373
this wealth of their souls, which is the only real riches, and
having taken them they cultivate their souls with doctrines
and good meditations, until they arrive at full strength and
maturity, so as to bring forth the fruit of excellence.
Many such ornaments as these are woven into and in
serted among the laws, in order to enrich the poor on whom
it is always proper to have compassion except at the time of
giving judgment, for compassion is due to misfortunes ; but
he who behaves wickedly with deliberate purpose is not
unfortunate but unrighteous, and punishment is due to the
unrighteous just as honours should be confirmed to the just,
so that no wicked man who is in difficulties, and who
conceals the truth, ought to escape punishment through the
pity excited by his poverty, since he has done what deserves
not pity (how should it ?) but great anger.
And let the man who undertakes the duty of a judge,
like a skilful money-changer, divide and distinguish between
the natures of things, in order that confusion may not be
caused by the mixing together of what is good with what is
spurious. And there are many other things which may be
said with respect to false witnesses and judges ; but for the
sake of avoiding prolixity we must proceed now to the last
of the ten commandments, which is delivered also in a
concise and summary form as each of the others is : and
this commandment is, " Thou shalt not covet."
ON COVETING.
I. Every passion is open to and deserving of blame, inas
much as every immoderate and violent impulse, and every
irrational and unnatural emotion of the soul is also faulty
and blameable, for what is either of these things but an
ancient passion spread over a wider extent ? If any one,
therefore, does not set limits to these feelings, nor put a
bridle on them as on restive horses, he will be afflicted by an
evil difficult to remedy, and then, without being aware of it,
he will, because of their unrestrainable character, be carried
away by them, as a charioteer sometimes is by a chariot,
and hurried into ravines and pits from which it is difficult
to rise up, and very hard to escape with safety.
But of all the passions there is not one so grievous as a
covetous desire of what one has not got, of things which
374 FHILO
are in appearance good, but not in reality ; a desire which
produces grievous anxieties which are hard to satisfy ; for
such a passion puts the reason to flight, and banishes it to a
great distance, involving the soul in great difficulties, while
the object which is desired flies away contemptuously,
retreating not with its back but with its face to one;
for when a person perceives this passion of covetousness
after having started up rapidly, then resting for a short
time, either with a view to spread out its alluring toils, or
because it has learnt to entertain a hope of succeeding in
its object, he then retires to a longer distance uttering
reproaches against it ; but the passion itself, being left
behind and coming too late to succeed, struggles, bearing
a Tantalus-like punishment in its miserable future ; for it is
said that Tantalus, when he desired to obtain any liquor to
drink, was not able to do so, as the water retreated from his
lips,* and if he wished to gather any fruit, it all disap-
* The story of Tantalus is told in Homer, Od. xi. 581.
icai ju/}v TdvraXov eifftlftov ^aXnr aXy t-
aoT iv Xt /ij/y ; -i] ftt 7rpo<rt7rXae -ytvtiy
vTO It oij/awv, Tn ttiv ft oi)K ti%f.v iXtffQ
yap Kv-ti 6 yspwv
ro<r<rax vftwp aTroXloncer avaftpo^h , a/*0i fte
Tola /ifXaivn QavtffKt (cara^yacncf
v^nrTT]\a Karaicprj9tv
i Ka * P ota Kaifir]\iai
rtyXo/cfoai Kai eXaTai
T&V OTTOT iOvvei o yspwv iirl X e P ffl
Tag ft dvt/j.o piTTTaffKe TTOTI vityta atcwevra.
Or, as it is translated by Pope,
" There Tantalus along the Stygian bounds,
Pours out deep groans (with groans all hell resounds);
Ev n in the circling floods refreshment craves,
And pines with thirst among a sea of waves ;
When to the water he his lip applies,
Back from his lip the treacherous water flies.
Above, beneath, around his hapless head,
Trees of all kinds delicious fruitage spread ;
There figs, sky-dyed, a purple hue disclose,
Green looks the olive, the pomegranate glows ;
There dangling pears exalting scents unfold,
And yellow apples ripen into gold.
The first he strives to seize ; but blasts arise,
Toss it on high, and whirl it to the skies."
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 375
peared, the productiveness of the trees becoming suddenly
barren ; for as those implacable and inexorable mistresses of
the body, thirst and hunger, do very often strain it more, or
at all events not less, than those unhappy persons are
strained who are racked by the torture even to death, unless
when they have become violent some one appeases them
with meat and drink ; in like manner, covetous desire, hav
ing first rendered the soul empty through its forgetfulness
of what is present and its recollection of what is removed
to a great distance, fills it with impetuosity and madness,
and introduces into it masters worse than even its former
tyrants, but having the same names with them, namely,
hunger and thirst, not, however, now of those things which
conduce to the enjoyment of the belly, but of money, and
glory, and authority, and beauty, and of innumerable other
things which appear to be objects of desire and contention
in human life.
And as the disease which the physicians call the herpes,*
does not stop in one part of the body, but moves about and
overruns the skin, and, as its name shows, creeps about
(o/<7T/), and becomes diffused in every direction, and
spreading widely seizes hold of and infects with its contact
the whole combination of the different parts of the body
from the head to the feet, so in the same manner does
covetous desire spread over the whole soul, and leave not
even the smallest portion of it free from its inroads, imi
tating the power of fire when supplied with abundant fuel,
for that spreads and burns away till it has devoured and
destroyed everything with which it meets.
II. So great and so excessive an evil is covetous desire ;
or rather, if I am to speak the plain truth concerning it, it is
the source of all evils. For from what other source do all the
thefts, and acts of rapine, and repudiation of debt, and all
false accusations, and acts of insolence, and, moreover, all
ravishments, and adulteries, and murders, and, in short, all
mischiefs, whether private or public, or sacred or profane,
take their rise ? Eor most truly may covetous desire be said
to be the original passion which is at the bottom of all these
mischiefs, of which love is one and the most significant off
spring, which has not once but many times filled the whole
* So called from Up ma, " to creep."
376 PHILO JtJD^EUS.
world with indescribable evils ; which even the whole cir
cumference of the world has not been large enough to con
tain, but out of their vast number they, as if carried on by
the impetuosity of a torrent, have fallen into the sea, and all
seas in every region have been filled with hostile fleets. It
is owing to this passion that all the terrible evils which are
caused by naval wars have happened ; and, coining upon all
continents and all islands together, have thrown them into
confusion, spreading everywhere and returning in their own
steps like the warriors in the diaulos,* or like the ebb and
flow of the tides of the sea, returning to the point from
which they originally set out.
And by looking at it in this manner we shall more clearly
perceive the power of this passion. Everything which
covetous desire lays hold of is by it changed for the worse,
like poisonous serpents or deadly poisons. Now what is it
that I mean when I say this ?
If this passion is directed towards money, it makes thieves,
and cut-purses, and clothes-stealers, and house-breakers, and
taints men with the guilt of the repudiation of debts, of the
denial of deposits, of bribery and sacrilege, and all such iniqui
ties as those. If it is directed towards glory, it makes men
insolent, overbearing, fickle, and unstable in their dispositions,
depending wholly on what is said to them and on what they
hear, at the same time humbled and elated by reason of the
variety and inconstancy of the multitudes who praise and
blame them with inconsiderate impetuosity, inconsiderate ia
their enmity and in their friendship, so as easily to change
from one to the other, and fills them with all sorts of humours
akin to and resembling these.
Again, if the desire takes the direction of wishing for
authority and power, it renders men s natures seditious,
unequal, and tyrannical, it makes them cruel and inhuman
enemies of their native countries, implacable masters unable
to restrain themselves, irreconcileable foes to all who are
equal to themselves in might, flatterers of those who are
more powerful than themselves, in order to be able to attack
them treacherously.
If what is desired is beauty of person, it makes men
* The diaulos was the race in which the runners ran to the goal and
back to the starting post.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 377
seducers, ravishers, adulterers, paederasts, practisers of licen
tiousness and incontinence, it teaches them to regard the
greatest evils as the most fortunate of blessings. This
passion, also, when it extends to the tongue, often caused
innumerable evils ; for some persons desire either to be silent
about what ought to be mentioned, or to mention what ought
to be buried in silence, and avenging justice pursues them if
they reveal things improperly, or, on the contrary, if they are
unseasonably silent.
"When it affects the parts about the belly it makes men
gluttonous, insatiable, intemperate, debauched, admirers of a
profligate life, delighting in drunkenness and epicurism,
slaves to strong wine, and fish, and meat, pursuers of feasts
and tables, wallowing like greedy dogs ; owing to all which
things their lives are rendered miserable and accursed, and
they are reduced to an existence more grievous than any
death. For this reason those who have tasted deeply of
philosophy, not merely with their lips, but feasting thoroughly
on its profound doctrines, investigating the nature of the
soul, and comprehending its threefold character, and how
it is divided into reason, and anger, and appetite, have
attributed the chief post to reason as the principal authority,
assigning to it the head as its most appropriate abode, where
also the company of the outward senses, who are always
present as the body-guards of the mind as their king, are
stationed ; and assigning the breast as the abode of hunger,
partly in order that the man, being, like a soldier, armed with
this as with a breastplate, so that, even if it be not utterly free
from all injury, it may, at least, be difficult to subdue, and
partly in order that, dwelling near the mind, it may be bene
fited by its neighbour, who charms it by its wisdom, and
who renders the passions gentle and manageable ; and to
appetite they assign the place around the navel, and to that
part which is called the diaphragm. For it was proper that
that, as having the smallest participation in reason, should
be removed as far as possible from the palace of the mind and
located almost at the very extremities ; and that which is
the most insatiable and the most intemperate of all, the
passions, should be confined to the pastures of cattle, where
they can find food and opportunities for the propagation of
their species.
378 PHILO JUDJEUS.
III. And the most holy Moses appears to me to have had
a regard to all these circumstances, and on that account to
have commanded that men should discard this passion, de
testing it as the most disgraceful thing and the cause of
most disgraceful actions ; and, therefore, to have prohibited
it above all other feelings as an engine for the destruction of
the soul ; but if that engine is destroyed and the soul brought
back to its obedience, to the guidance of reason, the man
will become entirely filled with peace and obedience to law
and all sorts of perfect good things, so as to produce com
plete happiness.
But as he was fond of brevity and accustomed to cut short
things which were inclined to be countless in point of num
ber, by a mode of teaching which was confined to general
instances, he begins to admonish and to correct one appetite,
that which is concerned about the belly ; conceiving that the
other appetites will not be equally restive, but will be brought
to order by learning that the most important and authorita
tive of the whole has become obedient to the laws of
moderation.
What, then, is the lesson w r hich he gives us about this
origin of all vices ? There are two things of a most com
prehensive nature, meat and drink. He, then, has not left
either of them unrestrained, but has bridled them with espe
cial commands most calculated to lead them to temperance
and to humanity, and to the greatest of all virtues, piety ;
for he commanded men to offer first fruits of corn, and wine,
and oil, and cattle, and other things ;* and to distribute
the first fruits among the sacrificers and the priests ; among
the sacrificers because of the gratitude due to God for
the abundance and fertility of all things, and to the priests
because of their sacred ministrations about the temple, and
therefore they were worthy to receive wages for their services
in respect of the sacred ceremonies.f And he utterly for
bids any one to taste of anything, or to take any portion of
anything, before separating off the first fruits, wishing also
by this injunction to inculcate the practice of most useful
temperance ; for he who has learnt not to throw himself
greedily on all the abundance which the seasons of the year
have brought, but to wait till the first fruits are consecrated,
* Numbers xviii. 12. f Numbers xviii. 31.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 379
is likely to be able to restrain the restive obstinacy of the
passions, making them gentle and manageable.
CONCEENESTG ANIMALS.
Moreover, Moses has not granted an unlimited possession
and use of all other animals to those who partake in his
sacred constitution, but he has forbidden with all his might
all animals, whether of the land, or of the water, or that fly
through the air, which are most fleshy and fat, and calculated
to excite treacherous pleasure, well knowing that such,
attracting as with a bait that most slavish of all the outward
senses, namely, taste, produce insatiability, an incurable evil
to both souls and bodies, for insatiability produces indiges
tion, which is the origin and source of all diseases and
weaknesses.
Now of land animals, the swine is confessed to be the
nicest of all meats by those who eat it, and of all aquatic
animals the most delicate are the fish which have no scales ;
and Moses is above all other men skilful in training and
inuring persons of a good natural disposition to the practice
of virtue by frugality and abstinence, endeavouring to
remove costly luxury from their characters, at the same
time not approving of unnecessary rigour, like the lawgiver
of Lacedsemon, nor undue effeminacy, like the man who
taught the lonians and the Sybarites lessons of luxury and
license, but keeping a middle path between the two courses,
so that he has relaxed what was over strict, and tightened
what was too loose, mingling the excesses which are found
at each extremity with moderation, which lies between the
two, so as to produce an irreproachable harmony and con
sistency of life, on which account he has laid down not care
lessly, but with minute particularity, what we are to use and
what to avoid.
One might very likely suppose it to be just that those
beasts which feed upon human flesh should receive at the
hands of men similar treatment to that which they inflict on
men, but Moses has ordained that we should abstain from
the enjoyment of all such things, and with a due considera
tion of what is becoming to the gentle soul, he proposes a
most gentle and most pleasant banquet; for though it is
* Leviticus xi. 7.
380 PHILO JUD^EUS.
proper that those who inflict evils should suffer similar
calamities themselves, yet it may not be becoming to those
whom they ill treated to retaliate, lest without being aware
of it they become brutalized by anger, which is a savage
passion ; and he takes such care to guard against this, that
being desirous to banish as far as possible all desire for
those animals abovementioned, he forbids with all his energy
the eating of any carnivorous animal at all, selecting the
herbivorous animals out of those kinds which are domes
ticated, since they are tame by nature, feeding on that
gentle^ food which is supplied by the earth, and having no
disposition to plot evil against anything.
WHAT QUADRUPEDS ABE CLEAN.
The animals which are clean and lawful to be used as food
are ten in number ; the heifer, the lamb, the goat, the stag,
the antelope, the buffalo, the roebuck, the pygarg, the wild-
ox, and the chamois,* for he always adheres to that arith
metical subtilty which, as he originally devised it with the
minutest accuracy possible, he extends to all existing things,
so that he establishes no ordinances, whether important or
unimportant, without taking and as it were adapting this
number to it as closely connected with the regulations which
he is ordaining.
Now of all the numbers beginning from the unit, the
most perfect is the number ten, and as Moses says, it is the
most sacred of all and a holy number, and by it he now
limits the races of animals that are clean, wishing to assign
the use of them to all those who partake of the constitution
which he is establishing. And he gives two tests and
criteria of the ten animals thus enumerated f by two signs,
first, that they must part the hoof, secondly, that they must
chew the cud ; for those which do neither, or only one of
these things, are unclean.
And these signs are both of them symbols of instruction
and of the most scientific learning, by which the better is
separated from the worse, so that all confusion between
them is prevented ; for as the animal which chews the cud,
while it is masticating its food draws it down its throat, and
then by slow degrees kneads and softens it, and then after
* Deuteronomy xiv. 4. f Leviticus xi. 3.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 381
this process again sends it down into the belly, t in the same
manner the man who is being instructed, having received
the doctrines and speculations of wisdom in at his ears from
his instructor, derives a considerable amount of learning
from him, but still is not able to hold it firmly and to
embrace it all at once, until he has resolved over in his
mind everything which he has heard by the continued
exercise of his memory (and this exercise of memory is the
cement which connects ideas), and then he impresses the
image of it all firmly on his soul. But as it seems the firm
conception of such ideas is of no advantage to him unless he
is able to discriminate between and to distinguish which of
contrary things it is right to choose and which to avoid, of
which the parting of the hoof is the symbol ; since the
course of life is twofold, the one road leading to wickedness
and the other to virtue, and since we ought to renounce the
one and never to forsake the other.
WHAT BEASTS ABE NOT CLEAN.
For this reason all animals with solid hoofs, and all with
many toes are spoken of by implication as unclean ; the one
because, being so, they imply that the nature of good and
evil is one and the same ; which is just as if one were to say
that the nature of a concave and a convex surface, or of a
road up hill and down hill, was the same. And the^ other,
because it shows that there are many roads, though, indeed,
they have no right to be called roads at all, which lead the
life of man to deceit ; for it is not easy among a variety of
paths to choose that which is the most desirable and the
most excellent.
WHAT AQUATIC ANIMALS AEE CLEAN.
Having laid down these definitions with respect to land
animals, he proceeds to describe what aquatic creatures are
clean and lawful to be used for food ; distinguishing them
also by two characteristics as having fins or scales.* For
those which have neither one nor the other, and those which
have only one of the two, he rejects and prohibits. t And
he must state the cause, which is not destitute of sense and
propriety ; for all those creatures which are destitute of
* Leviticus xi. 9. t Deuteronomy xiv. 10.
382 PHILO JUD^US.
both, or even of one of the two, are sucked down by the
current, not being able to resist the force of the stream ;
but those which have both these characteristics can stem
the water, and oppose it in front, and strive against it as
against an adversary, and struggle with invincible good will
and courage, so that if they are pushed they push in their
turn; and if they are pursued they turn upon their foe and
pursue it in their turn, making themselves broad roads in a
pathless district, so as to have an easy passage to and fro.
Now both these things are symbols ; the former of a
soul devoted to pleasure, and the latter of one which loves
perseverance and temperance. For the road which leads to
pleasure is a down-hill one and very easy, being rather an
absorbing gulf than a path. But the path which leads to
temperance is up hill and laborious, but above all other
roads advantageous. And the one leads men downwards,
and prevents those who travel by it from retracing their
yteps until they have arrived at the very lowest bottom,
but the other leads to heaven ; making those who do not
weary before they reach it immortal, if they are only able to
endure its rugged and difficult ascent.
ABOUT REPTILES.*
And adhering to the same general idea the lawgiver
asserts that those reptiles which have no feet, and which
crawl onwards, dragging themselves along the ground on
their bellies, or those which have four legs, or many feet,
are all unclean as far as regards their being eaten.
And here, again, when he mentions reptiles he intimates
under a figurative form of expression those who are devoted
to their bellies, gorging themselves like cormorants, and who
are continually offering up tribute to their miserable belly,
tribute, that is, of strong wine, and confections, and fish, and.
in short, all the superfluous delicacies which the skill and
labour of bakers and confectioners are able to devise, invent
ing all sorts of rare viands, to stimulate and set on fire the
insatiable and unappeasable appetites of man.
And when he speaks of animals with four legs and many
feet, he intends to designate the miserable slaves not of one
single passion, appetite, but of all the passions ; the genera
* Leviticus zi. 20.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 383
of which are four in number; but in their subordinate
species they are innumerable. Therefore, the despotism of
one is very grievous, but that of many is most terrible, and
as it seems intolerable.
Again, in the case of those reptiles who have legs above
their feet, so that they are able to take leaps from the
ground, those Moses speaks of as clean ; as, for instance, the
different kinds of locusts, and that animal called the serpent-
fighter, here again intimating by figurative expressions the
manners and habits of the rational soul. For the weight of
the body being naturally heavy, drags down with it those
who are but of small wisdom, strangling it and pressing it
down by the weight of the flesh.
But blessed are they to whose lot it has fallen, inasmuch
as they have been well and solidly instructed in the rules oi
sound education, to resist successfully the power of mere
strength, so as to be able, by reason of what they have
learnt, to spring up from the earth and all low things, to
the air and the periodical revolutions of the heaven, the
very sight of which is to be admired and earnestly striven
for by those who come to it of their own accord with no
indolence or indifference.
CONCERNING PLYING CREATURES.*
Having, therefore, in his ordinances already gone through
all the different kinds of land animals and of those who live
in the water, and having distinguished them in his code of
laws as accurately as it was possible, Moses begins to
investigate the remaining class of animals in the air; the
innumerable kinds of flying creatures, rejecting all those
which prey upon one another or upon man, all carnivorous
birds, in short, all animals which are venomous, and all
which have any power of plotting against others. But
doves, and pigeons, and turtle-doves, and all the flocks
of cranes, and geese, and birds of that kind, he numbers
in the class of domestic, and tame, and eatable creatures,
allowing every one who chooses to partake of them with
impunity.
Thus, in each of the parts of the universe, earth, water,
and air, he refuses some kinds of each description of animal,
* Leviticus xi. 10.
384 PHILO JUD^EUS.
whether terrestrial, or aquatic, or aerial; to our use ; and
thus, taking as it were fuel from the fire, he causes the
extinction of appetite.
CONCERNING CAECASSES AND BODIES WHICH HAYE BEEN
TOEN BY WILD BEASTS.
Moreover, Moses commands * that no man shall take of
any dead carcass, or of any body which has been torn by
wild beasts ; partly because it is not fitting that man should
share a feast with untameable beasts, so as to become almost
a fellow reveller in their carnivorous festivals ; and partly
because perhaps it is injurious and likely to cause disease if
the juice of the dead body becomes mingled with the blood,
and perhaps, also, because it is proper to preserve that
which has been pre-occupied and seized beforehand by
death untouched, having a respect to the necessities of
nature by which it has been seized.
Now many of the lawgivers both among the Greeks and
barbarians, praise those who are skilful in hunting, and who
seldom fail in their pursuit or miss their aim, and who pride
themselves on their successful hunts, especially when they
divide the limbs of the animals which they have caught with
the huntsmen and the hounds, as being not only brave
hunters but men of very sociable dispositions. But any
one who was a sound interpreter of the sacred constitution
and code of laws would very naturally blame them, since the
lawgiver of that code has expressly forbidden any enjoyment
of carcasses or of bodies torn by beasts for the reasons
before mentioned.
But if any one of those persons who devote themselves
wholly to meditations on and to the practice of virtue were
suddenly to become fond of gymnastic exercises and of
hunting, looking upon hunting as a sort of prelude to and
representation of the wars and dangers that have to be
encountered against the enemy, then, whenever such a man
is successful in his sport, he ought to give the beasts which
he has slain to his dogs as a feast for them, and as a reward
or wages for their successful boldness and their irreproach
able alliance. But he ought not himself to touch them,
inasmuch as he has been previously taught in the case of
* Leviticus v. 2.
ON SPECIAL LAWS. 385
irrational animals, what sentiments he ought to entertain,
respecting his enemies.
For he ought to carry on war against them, not for the
sake of unrighteous gain like those who make a dishonest
traffic of all their actions, but either in revenge for some
calamities which he has previously suffered at their hands,
or with a view toward some which he expects to suffer.
But some men, with open mouths, carry even the
excessive luxury and boundless intemperance of Sarda-
napalus to such an indefinite and unlimited extent, being
wholly absorbed in the invention of senseless pleasures,
that they prepare sacrifices which ought never be offered,
strangling their victims, and stifling the essence of life,*
which they ought to let depart free and unrestrained, burying
the blood, as it were, in the body. For it ought to have
been sufficient for them to enjoy the flesh by itself, without
touching any of those parts which have a connection with
the soul or life.
On which account Moses, in another passage, establishes
a law concerning blood, that one may not eat the blood nor
the fat.f The blood, for the reason which I have already
mentioned, that it is the essence of the life; not of the
mental and rational life, but of that which exists in accord
ance with the outward senses, to which it is owing that
both we and irrational animals also have a common exist
ence.
CONCERNING THE SOTJL OR LIFE OP MAN
I. For the essence of the soul of man is the breath of
God, especially if we follow the account of Moses, who,
in his history of the creation of the world, says that God
breathed into the first man, the founder of our race, the
breath of life ; breathing it into the principal part of his
body, namely the face, where the outward senses are esta
blished, the body-guards of the mind, as if it were the great
king. And that which was thus breathed into his face was
manifestly the breath of the air, or whatever else there may
be which is even more excellent than the breath of the air,
as being a ray emitted from the blessed and thrice-happy
nature of Gcd.
* Leviticus xvii. 11. f Leviticus iii. 17.
VOL. III. C
386 PHILO JUD^US.
But Moses commanded men to abstain from eating fat,
because it is gross.
And again, he gave us this injunction, in order to incul
cate temperance and a zeal for an austere life : for some
things we easily abandon, and without any hesitation ;
though we do not willingly encounter any anxieties or labours
for the sake of the acquisition of virtue. For which reason
these two parts are to be taken out of every victim and burnt
with fire, as a kind of first fruits, namely, the fat and the
blood ; the one being poured upon the altar as a libation ;
and the other as a fuel to the flame, being applied instead
of oil, by reason of its fatness, to the consecrated and holy
flame.
The lawgiver blames some persons of his time as gluttons,
and as believing that the mere indulgence of luxury is the
happiest of all possible conditions, not being content to live
in this manner only in cities in which there are abundant
supplies and stores of all kinds of necessary things, but
carrying their effeminacy even into pathless and untrodden
deserts, and choosing in them also to have markets for fish
and meat, and all things which can contribute to an easy
life : then, when a scarcity arose, they assembled together
and raised an outcry, and looked miserable, and with shame
less audacity impeached their ruler, and did not desist from
creating disturbances till they obtained what they desired ;
and they obtained it to their destruction, for two reasons :
first of all, that it might be shown that all things are possible
to God, who can find a way in the most difficult and appa
rently hopeless circumstances; and secondly, that punish
ment might fall on those who were intemperate in their
gluttonous appetites, and obstinate resisters of holiness.
For a vast cloud being raised* out of the sea showered
down quails about the time of sunrise, and the camp and
all the district around it for a day s journey^for a well-girt
active man was overshadowed all about with the birds.f
And the height of the flight of the birds was distant from
the ground a height of about two cubits, in order that they
might be easily caught. It would have been natural there
fore for them, being amazed at the marvellous nature of the
prodigy which they beheld, to be satisfied with the sight,
* Exodus xvi. 13. - t Numbers xi. 31.
ON SPECIAL LAWS.
387
and being filled with piety to nourish their souls on that,
and to abstain from eating flesh; but these men, on the
contrary, stirred up their desires even more than before, and
pursued these birds as the greatest good imaginable, and
catching hold of them with both their hands filled their
bosoms ; then, having stored them up in their tents, they
sallied forth to catch others, for immoderate covetousness
has no limit. And when they had collected every descrip
tion of food they devoured it insatiably, being about, vain-
minded generation that they were, to perish by their own
fulness ; and indeed at no distant time they did perish by
the purging of their bile,* so that the place itself derived its
name from the calamity which fell upon them, for it was
called the graves of their lust,t than which there is not in
the soul, as the scripture teaches us, any greater evil.
For which reason Moses says with great beauty in his
recommendations, " Let not every man do that which seem-
eth good to his own eyes,"^ which is equivalent to saying,
let not any one gratify his own desire, but let each person
seek to please God, and the world, and nature, and wise
men, repudiating self-love, if he would become a good and
virtuous man.
II. This may be sufficient to say, being in fact all that I
am able to advance, about the laws which bear on appetite
and desire by way of filling up the whole body of the ten
commandments, and of the subordinate injunctions con
tained in them ; for if we are to look upon the brief heads
which were oracularly delivered by the voice of God, as the
generic laws, and all the particular ordinances which Moses
subsequently interpreted and added as the special laws ;
then there is need of great care and skill in order to
preserve the arrangement unconfused in order to an accurate
comprehension of it, and I therefore have taken great care,
and have assigned and apportioned to each of these generic
laws of the whole code all that properly belonged to it.
But enough of this. We must however not remain
ignorant that as separately there are some particular in-
* Numbers xi. 20
t See Numbers xi. 34 : " And he called the name of that place
Kibroth-hattaavuh, because there they buried the people that lusted."
Deuteronomy xi. 8.
c c 2
388 PHILO JUDJ2US.
junctions related to each one of the ten generic command
ments, which have nothing in common with any one of the
others ; so also there are some things to be observed which
are common to the whole, being adapted not to one or two,
as people say, but to the whole ten commandments.
And I mean by this those virtues which are of common
utility, for each one of these ten laws separately, and all of
them together, train men and encourage them to prudence,
and justice, and piety, towards God and all the rest of the
company of virtues, connecting sound words with good
intentions, and virtuous actions with wise language, that so
the organ of the soul may be wholly and entirely held
together in a good and harmonious manner so as to produce
a well-regulated and faultless innocence and consistency of
life.
We have spoken before of that queen of all the virtues,
piety and holiness, and also of prudence and moderation;
we must now proceed to speak of justice which is con
versant about subjects which are akin and nearly related to
them.
A TBEATISE
ON JUSTICE.
I. ONE portion of justice, and that not an unimportant
one, relates to courts of justice and to the judge, which
indeed I have mentioned before, when I was going through
the subject of testimony, and dwelling on it at some length,
in order that nothing which belonged to the subject should
be omitted ; and as I am not fond of repetitions, unless indeed
some necessity arising from the imperious character of the
occasion compels me to it, I will pass that part of the
subject over now, and will turn my attention to the other
portions, having just said thus much as a preface.
The law says, it is proper to lay up justice in one s heart,
and to fasten it as a sign upon one s head, and as frontlets
before one s eyes, figuratively intimating by the former
expression that one ought to commit the precepts of justice,
not to one s ears, which are not trustworthy, for there is
ON JUSTICE. 389
no credit due to the ears, but to that most important and
dominant part, stamping and impressing them on the most
excellent of all offerings, a well approved seal and by the
second expression, that it is necessary not only to form
proper conceptions of what is right, but also to do what one
has decided upon as proper without delay. For the hand is
the symbol of actions, to which Moses here commands the
people to attach and fasten justice, saying, that it shall be a
sign, of what indeed he has not expressly stated, because it
is not a sign as I conceive of one particular thing, but of
many, and, I may almost say, of everything with which the
life of man is concerned. And by the third expression, he
implies that justice is discerned everywhere as being close
to the eyes.
Moreover he says that, these things must have a certain
motion ; not one that shall be light and unsteady, but such
as by its agitation may rouse the sight to the spectacle
manifest before it ; for motion is calculated to attract the
sight, inasmuch as it excites and rouses it ; or, I might
rather say, inasmuch as it renders the eyes awake and
sleepless.
But the man to whom it happens to represent to the eyes
of his mind things which are not quiet but which are in
motion, and exerting energies in accordance with nature, is
entitled to be set down as a perfect man, and no longer to
be reckoned among learners and pupils, but among teachers
and instructors ; and he ought to allow all the young men
who are desirous to do so, to drink of his wisdom as of an
abundant stream flowing from a living fountain of lessons
and doctrines.f
And if there is any one who, out of modesty, is wanting
of courage, and therefore delays, and is slow to approach
him for the purpose of learning, let him go to him of his
own accord, and pour into his ears a collection of admo
nitions, until the channels of his soul are filled with them.
And let him instruct in the principles of justice all his
relatives and friends, and all young men, at home and on the
road, and when they are going to bed, and when they rise
up ; that in all their positions, and in all their motions, and
in all places whether private or public, not only waking, but
* Deuteronomy vi. 6. f Deuteronomy vi. 7.
090 PHILO JUD^EUS.
also while asleep, they may be delighted with the image and
conception of justice.
For there is no delight more exquisite than that which
proceeds from the whole soul being entirely filled with
justice, while devoted to the study of its everlasting doc
trines and meditations, so that it has no vacant place at
which injustice can effect an entrance.
Moreover, he ordains that those who have written out
these things should afterwards affix them to every house
belonging to a friend, and to the gates which are in their
walls ; that all people, whether coming in or going out,
whether citizens or strangers, reading the writing thus fixed
on. pillars before the gates, may have an unceasing recollec
tion of all that ought to be said or that ought to be done ;
and that every one may take care neither to do nor to suffer
injury ; and that all persons, whether going into their houses
or going out of them, men and women, children and servants,
may do all that is proper and becoming to one another and
to themselves.
TAKE ANYTHING FROM THE LAW.
The lawgiver also gives this most admirable injunction, that
one must not add anything to, or take anything away from
the law, but that it is a duty to keep all the ordinances as
originally established in an equal and similar state to that
in which they were at first delivered without alteration ; for,
as it seems, there might otherwise be an addition of what is
unjust ; for there is nothing which has been omitted by the
wise lawgiver which can enable a man to partake of entire
and perfect justice.
Moreover, by this command Moses intimates the per
fection of all other virtue ; for each separate virtue is free
from all deficiency, and is complete, deriving its perfection
from itself; so that if there were any addition thereto, or
anything taken away therefrom, it would be utterly and
entirely changed ancl altered, so as to assume a contrary
character. What I meant to say is this, all who are pro
foundly ignorant and uniiistructed, all who have the very
slightest smattering of education, know that courage is a
virtue which is conversant about terrible objects ; is a
ON JUSTICE. 391
science teaching one what he ought to endure and dare.
But if any one, under the influence of that ignorance which
proceeds from insolence, should be so superfluous as to fancy
himself capable of correcting that which requires no cor
rection, and should consequently venture to add anything or
take away anything, he, by so doing, is altering the whole
appearance of the thing, changing that which had a good
character into unseemliness ; for by any addition to courage
he will produce audacity, but if he takes anything a\\ ay from
it he will produce cowardice, not leaving even the name of
courage, that most useful of all virtues to life.
In the same manner, if any one makes an addition, be it
ever so small, or ever so great, to that queen of the virtues,
piety, or if he takes anything away from it, he will change
and metamorphose its whole appearance, and make it some
thing quite different ; for any addition will engender super
stition, and any diminution will produce impiety, real piety
itself wholly disappearing under the operation, which every
one should pray for, that it may be continually conspicuous
and brilliant, since it is the cause of the greatest of all
blessings, inasmuch as it produces a knowledge of the service
of God, which one ought to look upon as more important
and more precious than any dominion or authority. And
we may give instances of every other virtue resembling what
we have said about these just mentioned ; but since I am in
the habit of avoiding prolixity, I will be satisfied with what
has been stated, which may be a sufficient guide to what
might be said respecting these virtues which we omit to
mention.
ABOUT NOT MOVING LAND-MABKS.
There is also this commandment ordained which is of
great common utility, that, " Thou shalt not move thy neigh
bours land-marks which the former men have set up." * And
this injunction is given, as it seems, not only with respect
to inheritances, and to the boundaries of the land, in order
to prohibit covetousness respecting them, but also as a guard
to ancient customs ; for customs are unwritten laws, being
the doctrines of men of old, not engraved on pillars or
written on paper which may be eaten by moths, but
* Deuteronomy xix. 14.
392 PHILO JUD^US.
impressed in tLe souls of those living under the same con
stitution.
For the children ought to inherit from the father of their
being the national customs in which they have been brought
up, and in which they have lived from their cradle, and not
to despise them merely because they are handed down with
out being written. For the man who obeys the written
laws is not justly entitled to any praise, inasmuch as he is
influenced by compulsion and the fear of punishment.
But he who abides by the unwritten laws is worthy of praise,
as exhibiting a spontaneous and unconstrained virtue.
A TREATISE
CREATION OF MAGISTRATES,
L SOME persons have contended that all magistracies
ought to have the officers appointed to them by lot ; which
however is a mode of proceeding not advantageous for the
multitude, for the casting of lots shows good fortune, but
not virtue ; at all events many unworthy persons have often
obtained office by such means, men whom, if a good man
had the supreme authority, he would not permit to be
reckoned even among his subjects : for even those who are
called lesser rulers by some persons, those whom men
entitled masters, do not admit every one whom they can
possibly find to be their servants, whether born in the house
or bought with money ; but they will only take those who
are obedient, and at times they sell all those of incurably
bad dispositions in a lot, as not being worthy to be the
slaves of good men.
Therefore it is not right to make men masters and rulers
of entire cities and nations, who obtain those places by lot,
which is a sort of blunder on the part of fortune, which is
an unstable and fickle thing. Beyond all question, casting
of lots can have no connection with ability to attend upon
the sick ; for physicians do not obtain their employments by
lot, but because their experience is approved of; again, with
ON THE CREATION OF MAGISTRATES. 393
reference to the successful voyage and safety of men at sea,
it is not any man who may obtain the office of pilot by lot,
who is sent at once to the stern to steer the vessel, and who
then by his ignorance may cause a needless wreck in calm
and tranquil weather, but that person has that charge given
to him who, from his earliest youth, appears to have learnt
and carefully studied the business of a pilot ; this is a man
who has made many voyages, and who has traversed every
sea, or at all events most seas, and who has carefully ascer
tained the character of all the marts, and harbours, and
anchorages, and places of refuge in the different islands and
continents, and who is still better, or at all events not worse
acquainted with the tracks over the sea, than he is with the
roads on land, through his accurate observation of the hea
venly bodies ; for having remarked the various motions of
the stars, and having followed and being guided by their
regular revolutions, he has learnt to be able to make out for
himself an unerring and easy path through the pathless
waste of waters, so that (what seems the most incredible of
all things), beings whose nature it is to live on the land are
able to traverse the sea which can only be crossed by sailing.
And if any one should be about to undertake the govern
ment or regulation of large and populous cities, full of inha
bitants, and should attempt to settle the constitution of
such, and should undertake the superintendence of private,
and public, and sacred affairs, a task which any one may
rightly call the art of arts, and the science of sciences, he
would not trust to the uncertain chances of time, passing
over the accurate and trustworthy test of truth ; and the
test of truth is proof combined with reason.
II. The all-wise Moses seeing this by the power of his
own soul, makes no mention of any authority being
assigned by lot, but he has chosen to direct that all offices
shall be elected to ; therefore he says, " Thou shalt not
appoint a stranger to be a ruler over thee, but one of thine
own brethren,"* implying that the appointment is to be a
voluntary choice, and an irreproachable selection of a ruler,
whom the whole multitude with one accord shall choose ;
and God himself will add his vote in favour of, and set his
seal to ratify such an election, that being who is the con-
* Deuteronomy xvii. 15.
394 PHILO JUD^EUS.
firmer of all advantageous things, looking upon the man
so chosen as the flower of his race, just as the sight is the
best thing in the body.
III. And Moses gives also two reasons, on account of
which it is not proper for strangers to be elected to situa
tions of authority ; in the first place, that they may not amass
a quantity of silver, and gold, and flocks, and raise great and
iniquitously earned riches for themselves, out of the poverty
of those who are subjected to them; and secondly, that
they may not make the nation quit their ancient abodes
to gratify their own covetous desires, and so compel them,
to emigrate, and to wander about to and fro in interminable
wanderings, suggesting to them hopes of the acquisition
of greater blessings, which shall never be fulfilled, by which
they come to lose those advantages of which the/ were in
the secure enjoyment. For our lawgiver was aware before
hand, as was natural that one who was a countryman and a
relation, and who had also an especial share in the sublimest
relationship of all, (and that sublimest of relationships is
one constitution and the same law, and one God whose
chosen nation is a peculiar people) ; so that he would never
offend in any manner similar to those which I have been
mentioning, but, on the other hand, instead of causing the
inhabitants to quit their abodes, he would be likelv even to
afford a safe return to such of his countrymen as were dis
persed in a foreign land ; and instead of taking away the
property of others, he would even give his own property to
those who were in need of it, making his own wealth common.
IY. And from the first day on which any one enters upon
his office, he orders that he shall write out a copy of the
book of the law* with his own hand, which shall supply him
with a summary and concise image of all the laws, because
he wishes that all the ordinances which are laid down in it
shall be firmly fixed in his soul ; for while a man is reading
the notions of what he is reading fleet away, being carried
off by the rapidity of his utterance ; but if he is writing
they are stamped upon his heart at leisure, and they take
up their abode in the heart of each individual as his mind
dwells upon each particular, and settles itself to the con
templation of it, and does not depart to any other object,
till it has taken a firm hold of that which was previously
* Deuteronomy xvii. J8.
ON THE CREATION OF MAGISTRATES. 395
submitted to it. "When therefore he is writing, let him
take care, every day, to read and study what he has "written,
both in order that he may thus attain to a continual and
unchangeable recollection of these commands which are
virtuous and expedient for all men to observe, and also that
a firm love of and desire for them may be implanted in him,
by reason of his soul being continually taught and accus
tomed to apply itself to the study and observance of the
sacred laws.
For familiarity, which has been engendered by long
acquaintance, engenders a sincere and pure friendship, not
only towards men, but even also towards such branches of
learning as are worthy to be loved ; and this will take place
if the ruler studies not the writings and memorials of some
one else but those which he himself has written out ; for his
own works are, in a certain degree, more easily to be under
stood by each individual, and they are also more easily to
be comprehended ; and besides that a man, while he is read
ing them, will have such considerations in his mind as
these : " I wrote all this ; I who am a ruler of such great power,
without employing any one else as my scribe, though I had
innumerable servants. Did I do all this, in order to fill up
a volume, like those who copy out books for hire, or like
men who practise their eyes and their hands, training the
one to acuteness of sight, and the others to rapidity ot
writing ? "Why should I have done this ? That was not
the case ; I did it in order that after I had recorded these
things in a book, I might at once proceed to impress them
on my heart, and that I might stamp upon my intellect
their divine and indelible characters: other kings bear scep
tres in their hands, and sit upon thrones in royal state, but
my sceptre shall be the book of the copy of the law ; that
shall be my boast and my incontestible glory, the signal of
my irreproachable sovereignty, created after the image and
model of the archetypal royal power of God.
" And by always relying upon and supporting myself in
the sacred laws, I shall acquire the most excellent things.
In the first place equality, than which it is not possible to
discern any greater blessing, for insolence and excessive
haughtiness are the signs of a narrow-minded soul, which
does not foresee the future.
396 PHILO JUD.EUS.
" Equality, therefore, will win me good will from ail who
are subject to my power, and safety inasmuch as they will
bestow on me a just requital for my kindness ; but inequality
will bring upon me terrible dangers, and these I shall escape
by hating inequality, the purveyor of darkness and wars ;
and my life will be in no danger of being plotted against,
because I honour equality, which has no connection with
seditions, but which is the parent of light and stability.
Moreover, I shall gain another advantage, namely, that I
shall not sway this way and that way, like the dishes in a
scale, in consequence of perverting and distorting the com
mandments laid down for my guidance. But I shall en
deavour to keep J :hem, going through the middle of the plain
road, keeping my own steps straight and upright, in order
that I may attain to a life free from error or misfortune."
And Moses was accustomed to call the middle road the
royal one, inasmuch as it lay between excess and deficiency ;
and besides, more especially, because in the number three
the centre occupies the most important place, uniting the
extremities on either side by an indissoluble chain, it being
attended by these extremities as its body-guards as though
it were a king.
Moreover, Moses says that a long-enduring sovereignty is
the reward of a lawful magistrate or ruler who honours
equality, and who without any corruption gives just deci
sions in a just manner, always studying to observe the laws ;
not for the sake of granting him a life extending over many
years, combined with the administration of the common
wealth, but in order to teach those who do not understand
that a governor who rules in accordance with the laws, even
though he die, does nevertheless live a long life by means of
his actions which he leaves behind him as immortal, the
indestructible monuments of his piety and virtue.
V. And it becomes a man who has been thought worthy
of the supreme and greatest authority to appoint successors
who may govern with him and judge with him, and, in con
cert with him, may ordain everything w r hich is for the com
mon advantage ; for one person would not be sufficient, even
if he were ever so willing, and if he were the most powerful
man in the world, both in body and soul, to support the
weight and number of affairs which would come upon him,
ON THE CREATION OF MAGISTRATES. 397
as he would faint under the pressure and rapidity of all
kinds of business coming in upon him continually every day
from all quarters, unless he had a number of persons selected
with reference to their excellence who might co-operate with
him by their prudence, and power, and justice, and godly
piety, men who not only avoid arrogance, but even detest it
as an enemy and as the very greatest of evils.
For these men would stand by, and assist, and co-operate
with a virtuous and holy man, one who hated evils equally
with themselves, and would be the most suitable persons to
lighten and relieve his labours. And, besides, since of the
mattersw hich would force themselves upon his attention,
some are of greater importance arid others of less, the chief
will very reasonably commit those which are more unim
portant to his lieutenants, while he himself would of neces
sity become the most accurate judge of the weightier matters.
But the affairs which we ought to look upon as the most
weighty are not, as some persons think, those in which per
sons of reputation are at variance with other persons of
reputation, or rich men with rich men, or princes with
princes ; but, on the contrary, are rather where there are
powerful men on one side, and private individuals, men of no
wealth, or dignity, or reputation, on the other, men whose
sole hope of escaping intolerable evils lies in the judge
himself.
And we can find clear instances of both kinds in the
sacred laws, which it is well for us to imitate ; for there was
once a time in which Moses, alone by himself, decided all causes
and all matters of legal controversy, labouring from morning
till night. But after a time his father-in-law came to him,
and seeing with what a weight of business he was over
whelmed, as all those who had any disputes were everlast
ingly coming upon him, he gave him most excellent advice,
counselling him to choose subordinate magistrates, that they
might decide the less important affairs, and that he might
have only the more serious causes to occupy him, and by
this means provide himself with time for rest.* And Moses,
being convinced by the arguments of Jethro (for, indeed,
they were for his good), having chosen the men of the
highest reputation in the whole nation, he appointed them
* Exodus xviii. 14.
398 PHILO JUD^EUS.
his lieutenants and judges, bidding them refer the more im
portant cases to him.
And the history of the sacred laws contains this arrange
ment duly recorded, for the instruction of the rulers in all
succeeding generations, that, in the first place, they may not
despise the assistance of fellow counsellors, as if they were
able of themselves to superintend everything, since that all-
wise and godly man, Moses, did not reject them ; and,
secondly, that they may learn to choose subordinates of the
second class and of the third class, so as to provide for them
selves not being driven to neglect matters of greater import
ance, through being wholly occupied by affairs of a more
trifling nature; for it is impossible for human nature to
attend to everything at once.
VI. "We have here mentioned one example of what we
before alluded to. We must now add an instance of the
second kind. I said that the causes of men of humble con
dition were important ; for the widow, and the orphan, and
the ptranger are powerless and humble. And it is right
that he supreme King should be the judge in their case, the
Ruler who has the supreme authority over the whole nation ;
since, according to Moses, even God, the Ruler of the uni
verse, did not exclude them from the provisions of his laws;
for when Moses, that holy interpreter of the will of God, is
raising a hymn in praise of the virtues of the living God in
these terms, " God is great and mighty, one who is no
respecter of persons, and who does not take gifts to guide
him in his judgment,"* he adds, in whose case it is that he
gives judgment, not in the case of satraps, and tyrants, and
men who have the power by land and sea, but he gives
judgment respecting the stranger, and the orphan, and the
widow.
In the case of the first, because he has made his own
kinsmen, whom alone it was natural for him to have as allies
and champions, his irreconcileable enemies, by quitting their
camp and taking up his abode with the truth, and with the
honour of the one Being who is entitled to honour, abandon
ing all the fabulous inventions and polytheistic notions
which his fathers, and grandfathers, and ancestors, and all
* Deuteronomy x. 17.
ON THE CREATION OP MAGISTRATES. 399
his kindred, who cleave to the beautiful settlement which he
has forsaken, were wont to honour.
In the case of the second, because he is deprived of his
father and mother, his natural defenders and protectors, and
by consequence of the only power which was bound to show
itself as his ally.
And lastly, in the case of the woman who is a widow
because she has been deprived of her husband, who suc
ceeded her parents as her guardian and protector; for a
husband is to his wife in point of relationship what her
parents are to a virgin. And one may almost say that the
whole nation of the Jews may be looked upon in the light
of orphans, if they are compared with all other nations in
other lands ; for other nations, as often as they are afflicted
by any calamities which are not of divine infliction, are in
no want of assistance by reason of their frequent intercourse
with other nations, from their habitual dealings in common.
But this nation of the Jews has no such allies by reason of
the peculiarity of its laws and customs. And their laws are
of necessity strict and rigorous, as they are intended to train
them to the greatest height of virtue ; and what is strict
and rigorous is austere. And such laws and customs the
generality of men avoid, because of their inclination for and
their adoption of pleasure.
But, nevertheless, Moses says that the great Ruler of the
universe, whose inheritance they are, does always feel com
passion and pity for the orphan and desolate of this his
people, because they have been dedicated to him, the Creator
and Father of all, as a sort of first-fruits of the whole human
race. And the cause of this dedication to God was the
excessive and admirable righteousness and virtue of the
founders of the nation, which remain like undying plants,
bearing a fruit which shall ever flourish to the salvation of
their descendants, and to the benefit of all persons and all
things, provided only that the sins which they commit are
such as are remediable and not wholly unpardonable.
Let not any one then think that nobility of birth is a
perfect good, and therefore neglect virtuous actions, con
sidering that that man deserves greater anger who, after he
has been born of virtuous parents, brings disgrace on his
parents by reason of the wickedness of his disposition and
400 PHILO JUDJEUS.
conduct ; for if he has domestic examples of goodness which
he may imitate, and yet never copies them, so as to correct
his own life, and to render it healthy and virtuous, he
deserves reproach.
VII. The law also forbids, by a most just and reasonable
prohibition, the man who has undertaken the care and
government of the common interests of the state, to behave
with treachery among the people;* for a treacherous dis
position is the mark of an illiberal and very slavish soul,
which seeks to overshadow its real nature by hypocrisy ; for,
in reality, a ruler ought to stand up in defence of his sub
jects as a father would in defence of his children, that he
may be honoured by them as if they were his own real chil
dren ; on which account good rulers are the common parents
of their cities and nations, if one may say the plain truth,
displaying equal, and sometimes ever, superior, good will to
them ; but those men who acquire great power and authority
to the injury and damage of their subjects, ought to be
entitled, not rulers, but enemies, inasmuch as they are
acting the part of implacable foes.
Not but what those who injure one treacherously are
even more wicked than those who oppose one openly, since
it is possible to repel the one without difficulty, as they
display their hostility without disguise ; but the evil-mind-
edness of the others is difficult to detect and hard to unveil,
being like the conduct of men on the stage, who are clothed
in a dress which does not belong to them, in order to conceal
their real appearance.
But there is a kind of pre-eminence and superior authority,
which I had almost said pervades every part of life, varying
only in respect of magnitude and quantity ; for what the
king of a city is, that also is the first man in a village, and
the master of a house, and a physician among the sick, and
a general in his camp, and an admiral with respect to his
crew and to his passengers, and a captain of a ship in regard
to merchant vessels and transports, and a pilot among
common sailors, every one of whom has power to make
thii gs either better or worse. But they ought to wish to
concuct themselves in everything for the best, and the best
is to use all their energies to assist people and not to injure
* Leviticus xix. 16.
OX THE CREATION OF MAGISTRATES. 401
them ; for this is to act in imitation of God, since he also
has the power to do either good or evil, but his inclination
causes him only to do good. And the creation and arrange
ment of the world shows this, for he has summoned
wjiat bad previously no being into exisfenceT "creatin"g"order-
out of disorder, and distinctive qualities out of things which
hacT no such qualities, and similarities out of things dis
similar, and identity out of things which were different, and
intercommunion and harmony out of things which had
previously no communication "nor agreement, and equality
out of inequality, and light out of darkness ; for he is always
anxious to exert his beneficent powers in order to change
whatever is disorderly from its present evil condition, and
to transform it so as to bring it into a better state.
VIII. Therefore it is right for good riders of a nation to
imitate him in these points, if they have any anxietv to
attain to a similitude to God ; but since innumerable cir
cumstances are continually escaping from and eluding the
human mind, inasmuch as it is entangled among and em
barrassed by so great a multitude of the external senses, as
is very well calculated to seduce and deceive it by false
opinions, since in fact it is, as I may say, buried in the
mortal body, which may very properly be called its tomb, let
no one who is a judge be ashamed to confess that he is
ignorant of that of which he is ignorant, for in the first
place the man who is deceived becomes worse than he was
before, because he has expelled truth from the confines of
his soul ; in the second place, he will do exceeding mischief
to those on whose causes he is deciding by delivering a
blind decision in consequence of his not seein g what is just.
When, therefore, he does not clearly comprehend a case
by reason of the perplexed and unintelligible character of
the circumstances which throw uncertainty and darkness
around it, he ought to decline giving a decision, and to send
the matter before judges who will understand it more
accurately. And who can these judges be but the priests,
and the ruler and governor of the priests ? For the genuine,
sincere worshippers of God are by care and diligence
rendered acute in their intellects, inasmuch as they are not
indifferent even to slight errors, because of the exceeding
excellence of the Monarch whom they serve in every point.
TOL. III. D D
402 PHILO JUD^US.
On which account it is commanded that the priests shall go
soberly* to offer sacrifice, in order that no medicine such as
causes men to err, or to speak and act foolishly may enter into
the mind and obscure its vision, and perhaps because the real
genuine priest is at once also a prophet, having attained to the
honour of being allowed to see the only true and living God,
not more by reason of his birth than by reason of his virtue.
And to a prophet there is nothing unknown, since he has
within himself the sun of intelligence, and rays which are never
overshadowed, in order to a most accurate comprehension of
those things which are invisible to the outward senses, but
intelligible to the intellect.
IX. Again, merchants and pedlars, and people in the market,
and all those who deal in things necessary for life,f and who in
consequence are conversant with measures, and weights, and
balances, since they sell things both dry and wet, are put in
subjection to the superintendants of the market, and these
superintendants are bound to govern them if they act with
moderation, doing what is right, not out of fear, but volun
tarily, for spontaneous good conduct is in every case more
honourable than that which proceeds from compulsion.
On which account the law orders these merchants and
dealers, and all other persons who have adopted this way of
life, to take care to provide themselves with just balances, and
measures, and weights, not practising any wicked manoeuvres
to the injury of those who purchase of them, but to do and say
everything with a free and guileless soul, considering this, that
unjust gains are injurious, but that that wealth which is
acquired in accordance with justice a man cannot be deprived
of; and since wages are offered to artisans as a reward for
their work, and since it is people in want who are artisans,
and not men who have an abundance of wealth, the law com
mands that the payment of their wages shall not be delayed,
but that their employers shall pay them the wages agreed upon
the same day that they are earned ;J for it is absurd for the
rich to avail themselves of the services of the poor, and yet for
those who live in plenty and affluence not at once to give the
poor the proper remuneration for those services. Are not
these things very conspicuous instances to teach us to guard
against greater offences? For he who will not allow a pay-
* Leviticus x. 9. + Leviticus xix. 36. Deut. xsiv. 15.
ON THE CREATION OF MAGISTRATES. 403
ment which is sure to be eventually repaid to be delayed
beyond the proper time, fixing the evening of the day for "the
time on which the artisan, at his return home, is to carry his
wages home with him, does not he much more by such a
commandment prohibit rapine and theft, and the repudiation
of debts, and all things of that sort, fashioning and moulding
the soul according to the approved characteristics of virtue and
piety ?
X. Also this commandment is given with exceeding pro
priety,* which forbids anyone from blaspheming and speaking
ill, especially of a deaf man, and of one who is unable to
perceive by the aid of his outward senses the injuries which
are done to him, nor to retaliate in an equal manner under
similar circumstances ; for that is the most iniquitous conflict
of all, in which the one side is considered only in acting, and
the other only in suffering ; and those who speak ill of the
dumb, or of people whose sense of hearing is defective, are
committing the same offences as those who put stumbling
blocks in the way of the blind, or who offer other obstacles to
their progress ; for in this case also it is impossible for the blind
to step over the obstacles, as they are not aware of their
existence, so they stumble over them, and both are hindered
in their progress and hurt their feet. Accordingly, with great
propriety and fitness, does the law threaten those who devise
and execute wickedness of this kind with punishment at the
hand of God ; since he alone holds his protecting hand over
and defends those who are unable to protect themselves, and
all but says in plain words to those who injure the innocent,
" foolish minded men, do you expect to escape detection
while turning the misfortunes of those men into ridicule, and
committing offences against those very parts in respect of
which they are unfortunate, attacking their ears by false accu
sations, and their eyes by putting stumbling blocks in their
path ? But you will never escape the notice of God, who sees
everything and governs everything, while you insult in this
manner the calamities of miserable men, so as to avoid meet
ing with similar distresses yourselves, inasmuch as your bodies
are also liable to all kinds of diseases, and your outward senses
are susceptible of injury and mutilation, being such as, by a very
* Leviticus xix. 14.
D D 2
404 PHILO JUD2EUS.
slight and ordinary cause, they are often not only impaired, but
crippled by incurable mutilations.
Why then should those who forget themselves, and who in
their arrogance fancy that they themselves are superior to the
ordinary natural weakness of mankind, and that they are out
of the reach of the invisible and unexpected attacks of fortune,
which often aims sudden blows at all people, and which has
often wrecked men, who up to that moment had enjoyed a
prosperous voyage through life, when they had almost arrived
in the very harbour of ultimate happiness, why, I say, should
such men triumph in and insult the misfortunes of others,
having no respect for justice, the ruler of human life, who sits
by the side of the great Ruler of the universe, who surveys all
things with sleepless and most piercing eyes, and sees what is
in recesses as clearly as if it was in the pure sunlight ?
It seems to me that these men would not spare even the
dead, in the extravagance of their cruelty, but, according to
the proverb so commonly quoted, would even slay the slain
over again, since they in a manner think fit to insult and
ill treat those members of them which are already dead ; for
eyes which do not see are dead, and ears which are devoid of
the power of hearing are devoid of life ; so that if the man him
self to whom these members belong, were to be extinct, they
would then show their merciless and implacable nature, doing
no humane or compassionate action, such as is shown to the
dead, even by their enemies in irreconcileable wars. And this
may be enough to say on this subject.
XI. After this the lawgiver proceeds to connect with these
commandments a somewhat similar harmony or series of
injunctions ; commanding breeders not to breed from animals
of different species; not to sow a vineyard so as to make
it bear two crops at once ; and not to wear garments woven of
two different substances, which are a mixed and base work.
Now the first of these injunctions we have already mentioned
in our treatise on adulterers, in order to make it more evident,
that our people ought not to be anxious for marriages with
foreigners, corrupting the dispositions of the women, and de
stroying also the good hopes which might be conceived of the
propagation of legitimate children. For the lawgiver, who has
forbidden all copulation between irrational animals of different
species, appears to have utterly driven away ,all adulterers to a
ON THE CREATION OF MAGISTRATES. 405
great distance. And we must now speak again of this rule in
this our treatise on justice.
For we must take care not to pass over the opportunity of
adapting it to as many particulars as possible. It is just then
to bring together those things which are capable of union ;
now animals of the same species are by nature capable of
union, as, on the other hand, all animals of different species
are incapable of any admixture or union, and the man who
brings unlawful connections to pass between such animals is
an unjust man, transgressing the ordinances of nature ; but
that which is the really sacred law takes such exceeding care
to provide for the maintenance of justice, that it will not
permit even the ploughing of the land to be carried on by
animals of unequal strength, and forbids a husbandman to
plough with an ass and a heifer yoked to the same plough,
lest the weaker animal, being compelled to exert itself to keep
up with the superior power of the stronger animal, should
become exhausted, and sink under the effort ; and the bull is
looked upon as the stronger animal, and is enrolled in the
class of clean beasts and animals, while the ass is a weaker
animal and of the class of unclean beasts ; but nevertheless he
has not grudged those animals which appear to be weaker, the
assistance which they can derive from justice, in order, as I
imagine, to teach the judges most forcibly, that they are never
in their decisions to give the worse fate to the humbly born,
in matters the investigation of which depends not on birth
but on virtue and vice.
And resembling these injunctions is the last commandment
concerning things yoked in pairs, namely, that it is unlawful
to wear together substances of a different character, such as
wool and linen ; for in the case of these substances, not only
does the difference prevent any union, but also the superior
strength of the one substance is calculated rather to tear the
other than to unite with it, when it is wanted to be used.
XII. The commandment which came in the middle of the
three injunctions about pairs, was that one was not to sow a
vineyard so as to make it bear two crops at the same time ;
the object of this law being, in the first place, that those things
which are of different species might not be confused by being
mixed together ; for crops grown from seed have no connection
with trees, nor trees with crops grown from seed ; on which
406 PHILO JUD^EUS.
account nature has not appointed to them both the same time
for the production of their fruits, but has assigned to the one the
spring as the season of their harvest, while to the others it has
appointed the end of summer, as the season for the gathering
of their fruits ; accordingly, it happens that at the same period
of the year the one are becoming withered having been in
bloom at an earlier time, while the others are just budding
having been dried up before ; for the crops which are produced
from seed begin to flourish in the winter, when the trees are
losing their leaves ; and in the spring, on the contrary, when
all the crops which are produced from seed are drying up, the
wood of all trees, whether wild or improved by cultivation, are
shooting ; and one may almost say, that the period in which
the crops which are produced from seed come to perfection
is the same as that in which those of the trees derive the
beginning of their productiveness.
Very naturally therefore, has God separated things so
wholly different from one another, both in their natures and
in the period of their flowering, and in the seasons of their
producing their appropriate fruits, and has appointed different
situations for them, producing order out of disorder ; for order is
closely connected with arrangement, and disorder with a want
of arrangement.
And in the second place, in order that the two different
species may not go through a reciprocal system of inflicting
and suffering injury, because of one kind drawing away the
nourishment from the other kind, while if that nourishment is
divided into small portions, as happens in times of famine and
of scarcity of necessaries, all plants of every kind will in every
place become weak, and will be either afflicted with barren
ness, becoming utterly unproductive, or at all events will
never bear tolerably fine fruit, inasmuch as they have been
previously weakened by want of nourishment.
And In the third place, in order that the naturally fertile land
may not be oppressed with burdens beyond its strength, partly
by the continued and uninterrupted thickness of the crops
which are sown, and of the trees which are planted in the
same place, and partly by the doubling of the crops, which are
exacted from the ground ; for it ought to be quite sufficient
for the owner to draw one yearly tribute from one spot, just as
it is sufficient for a king to receive his tribute from a city once
ON THE CREATION OF MAGISTRATES. 407
a year ; and to endeavour to extract larger revenues is the act
of exceeding covetousness, by which all the laws of nature are
attempted to be overturned.
For which reason the law might well say to those who
have determined to sow their vineyards with seed out of pure
covetousness ; " Do not you be worse than those kings who
have subdued cities with arms and warlike expeditions, for
even they, from a prudent regard for the future and from a
proper wish to spare their subjects, are content to receive one
payment of tribute each year, as they are desirous not to
reduce them utterly to the very extremity of want and
distress in a short time ; but if you in the spring exact from
the same piece of ground crops of barley and of wheat, and
in the summer the crops from the fruit-bearing trees, you
will be exhausting it by a double contribution ; for then it will
very naturally grow faint and fail, like an athlete, who is never
abroad any time to take breath and to collect his strength
for the beginning of another contest.
" But you seem rashly to forget those precepts of general
advantage which I enjoined you to observe. For, at all events,
if you had recollected the commandment concerning the
seventh year, in which I commanded you to allow the land to
remain fallow and sacred, without being exhausted by any
agricultural operation of any kind, by reason of the labours
which it has been going through for the six preceding years,
and which it has undergone, producing its crops at the ap
pointed seasons of the year in accordance with the ordinances
of nature ; you would not now be introducing innovations, and
giving vent to all your covetous desires, be seeking for unpre
cedented crops, sowing a land fit for the growth of trees, and
especially one planted with vines, in order by two crops every
year, both being founded in iniquity, to increase your sub
stance out of undue avarice, amassing money by lawless
desires."
For the same man would never endure to let his land lie
fallow every seventh year without exacting any revenue from
it, for the sake of not having his land exhausted by over
production, but of allowing it to recover itself by rest, and yet
at the same time to oppress and overwhelm it by double bur
dens ; therefore I have judged it necessary to pronounce all
acquisition or exaction of wealth in this way unholy and im-
408 PHILO JQD^EUS.
pious ; I mean the production of the fruit of trees, and of such
crops as are derived from seed, because such fertility does in a
manner exhaust and destroy the vivifying principle in the good
soil, and, because too, by requiring so much, the owner of the
land is insulting and abusing the bounty and liberality of God,
giving full reins to his unrighteous desires, and not restraining
them by any limits.
Ought we not, then, to feel an attachment to such com
mandments as these, which tend to restrain us from and to
remove us to a great distance from the acts of eovetousness,
which are common among men, blunting the edge of the pas
sion itself ? For if the private individual, who, in the matter
of his plants, ha^ learnt to renounce all unrighteous gain, if he
should acquire power in weightier matters and become a king,
would adopt the same practice towards men and women, not
exacting twofold tributes from them, not exhausting his sub
jects with taxes and contributions ; for the habits in which he
has been brought up would be sufficient for him, and would
be able to soften the harshness of his disposition, and in a
manner to educate him, and to re-mould him to a better
character. And that is a better character which justice im
presses upon the soul.
XIII. These, then, are the laws which he appoints to be
observed by each individual. But there are other command
ments of a more general nature of which he enjoins the
observance to the whole nation in common, recommending
them to attend to them, not only with regard to their own
friends and allies, but also to those who are unconnected with
their alliance, For if, says Moses,* they shut themselves up
within their walls and make their necks stiff, then let your
young men arm themselves well, and being provided with all
the preparations necessary for war, go forth and fortify their
camp all around, and watch in expectancy, not indulging their
anger so as to neglect reason, but taking care to apply them
selves to what must be done firmly and strenuously. Let
them, therefore, at once send out heralds to invite the enemy
to an agreement, and at the same time let them display the
power and considerable character of the force which is en
camped ; and if the enemy, repenting of the evil designs which
they had conceived, submit and turn to peace in any manner,
* Deuteronomv xx. 1.
ON THE CREATION OF MAGISTEATES. 409
then let the people gladly receive them and make a truce with
them ; for peace, even though it be very unfavourable, is more
advantageous than war.
But if they persevere in their folly, and push it further,
acting with audacity, then let our people, display vigorous
confidence, relying also on the invincible alliance of justice,
and so let them advance, placing their destructive engines
against the walls, and when they have made a breach in some
part of them let them all enter in together; and shooting
with their spears with correct aim, and brandishing their
swords, and slaying the enemies all around, let them repel them
unshrinkingly, inflicting upon them what they were intended
to suffer themselves, until they have overthrown the whole
army arrayed against them, every man of them, and taken
their silver, and their gold, and all the booty. And let them
bring fire against their city, and burn it so that it may never,
after an interval of rest, again raise its head and excite wars and
tumults, with the view also of terrifying and warning the
neighbouring states, since it is by the calamities of others that
men are taught to act with moderation.
But let them suffer the maidens and the women to go free,
inasmuch as they did not expect to suffer any of the evils
which war brings upon men at their hands, as they are exempt
from all military service through their natural weakness.
From all which it is plain that the nation of the Jews is
allied with and friendly to all those who are of the same senti
ments, and all who are peaceful in their intentions ; and that
it is not to be despised as one that submits to those who begin
to treat it with injustice out of cowardice ; but when it goes forth
to defend itself, it distinguishes between those who are habitu
ally plotting against it and those who are not ; for to be eager
to slay all men, and even those who have committed but slight
offences, or no offences at all against one, I should call the
conduct of an inhuman and pitiless soul, as it would be also to
treat women as if they were an addition to the men who carry
on war, when their way of life is naturally peaceful and do
mestic.
But our lawgiver implants such a love of justice in all men
who live under the institution which he has established, that
he does not permit them to injure the fertile land of even an
hostile city by ravaging it, or by cutting down the trees, so as
410 PHILO
to destroy the crops. " For why," says he, " do you bear a
grudge against inanimate things, which are in their nature
quiet, and which produce wholesome fruits ? Does the tree,
my friend, display the hostile spirit of a man that is an
enemy, so that you are to tear it up by the roots in retaliation
for the evils which it has inflicted, or which it has designed to
inflict upon you ? On the contrary, it assists you, bestowing
on you, when you are victorious, an abundance of necessary
food, and of supplies which conduce to rendering life happy
and luxurious ; for it is not men alone who contribute reve
nues to their lords, but plants offer even more useful tribute
at the fixed seasons of the year, a tribute without which man
cannot live." But there is no prohibition against their cutting
down those trees which are barren and unproductive, and
which are not cultivated for food, for the purpose of making
staves, or poles, or posts, or fences; and, when occasion
requires, ladders, and engines, and wooden towers; for the
chief use of these kinds of trees is for such and other similar
purposes.
XIV. We have now enumerated the matters which belong
to justice ; but as for justice itself, what poet or orator could
celebrate it, in worthy terms, since it is beyond all panegyric
and all praise ? At all events, there is one most important
good thing belonging to it,* which, even if one were to pass
over and be silent about all its other parts, would be an all-
sufficient panegyric on it ; for this is the principle of equality,
which is, as those who have accurately investigated the secrets
of nature have handed down to us, the mother of justice ; and
equality is a light which is never shaded; the sun (if one
must speak the plain truth) appreciable by the intellect alone,
since inequality, on the contrary, in which that which is
superior and that which is inferior are both found, is the be
ginning and source of darkness ; it is equality which, by its
unchangeable laws and ordinances, has arranged, in their pre
sent beautiful order, all the things in heaven and earth ; for
who is there who does not know this fact, that the days are
measured in due proportion to the nights, and the nights in
due proportion to the days, by the sun, according to the
equality of proportionate distances ?
Nature, therefore, has marked out those periods in every
* The text has tvpevfia, which Mangey pronounces corrupt.
ON THE CREATION OF MAGISTRATES. 411
year, which are called the equinoxes, from the state of things
which exists at that time, namely, the spring and the autum
nal equinox, with such distinctness, that even the most
illiterate persons are aware of the equality which then exists
between the extent of the days and of the nights. Again, are
not the periods of the moon, as she advances and retraces her
course, from a crescent to a full circle, and again, from a com
plete orb to a crescent, also measured by an equality of dis
tances ? For as great and as long as the period and amount
of her increase is, so also is her diminution, in both respects,
as to magnitude and duration, as to the number of days and
the size of her orb.
And as, in that purest of all essences, heaven, equality is
honoured with especial honours, so also is she in the neighbour
of heaven, the air. For as the year is portioned out into four
divisions, the air is formed by nature to endure changes and
alterations at what are called the seasons of the year, and it
displays an indescribable regularity in its irregularity ; for as
the atmosphere is divided by an equal number of months into
winter, and spring, and summer, and autumn, it completes the
whole year by allotting three months to each season ; as, in
fact, the very name of the year (Iv/aurog) intimates. For it in
itself (avrb$ sv aurJ) contains everything, being complete in
itself, though otherwise it would not be able to effect this, if it
were not aided by the regular revolutions of the seasons of the
year.
Again, this same equality extends from the heavenly bodies,
and from those which are raised on high, to the things upon
earth, raising on high its own pure nature, which is akin to
the air, and sending downwards its beams like the sun, as a
sort of secondary light, for all the things which are inhar
monious or irregular among us are caused by inequality, and
all those which have in them that regularity which becomes
them are the work of equality, which, in the universal essence
of the universe, one may fairly call the world, and in cities one
may entitle it that best regulated and most excellent of all
constitutions, democracy, and in bodies health, and in souls
virtue.
For, on the contrary, inequality is the cause of diseases
and wickednesses ; and the existence of the longest lived man
of the human race would fail, if he were to attempt to
412 PHILO JUD^JUS.
enumerate all the praiseworthy qualities of equality, and of its
offspring, justice. In consequence of which it seems to me to
be best to be satisfied with what has already been said, which
may be sufficient to rouse up the recollection of those persons
who are fond of learning, and to leave the remaining circum
stances unwritten in their souls, as divine images in a most
sacred place.
A TREATISE
ON THREE YIRTUES,
THAT IS TO SAY,
ON COURAGE, HUMANITY, AND REPENTANCE.
ON COURAGE.
I. HAVING previously said all that appeared to be necessary
about justice, and those precepts which are closely connected
with it, I now proceed in regular order to speak of courage,
not meaning by courage that warlike and frantic delirium,
under the influence of passion as its counsellor, which the
generality of men take for it, but knowledge ; * for some
persons, being elated by boldness when they have bodily
strength to assist them, array themselves in the ranks of war,
in complete armour, and slay innumerable hosts of the enemy
to a man, gaining by their exploits the unseemly but fine
sounding name of pre-eminent valour, being accounted by the
multitude which judges of such matters exceedingly glorious
in their victory, though in fact they have been savage and
brutal both in nature and practice, having thirsted for human
blood.
But then as some men who, always remaining in their own
houses, while their bodies have been worn away either by long
sickness or by painful old age, still being healthy and vigorous
* This seems to be an imitation of what Plato says in the Protagoras.
"We must not look upon all bold (BappaXtovo) men as courageous
(avdpfiovQ), for boldness is derived from human skill, or from anger,
or from madness ; but courage arises only from nature, and from a
good disposition of the soul." P. 350.
ON COUEAGE. 413
in the better part of their soul, and being full of high thoughts,
and inspired with a braver and happier fortitude, never, not
even in their dreams, meddling with warlike weapons, never
theless by their exposition and advocacy of wise counsels for
the common advantage, have often re-established both the
private affairs of individuals, and the common prosperity of
their country when it was in danger, putting forth unyielding
and inflexible reasonings concerning what has been really
expedient.
These men, then, are they who practise real courage, being
studiers and practisers of wisdom ; but those other men have
only what does not deserve to be so called though it assumes
the name, as they live in that incurable disease, ignorance,
which one may very fitly and properly called audacity, just as
people say that in coins base metal often bears the same
impression as the real stamp and money.
II. Moreover, there is also no small number of other things
in human life which are confessed to be very difficult to
endure, such as proverty, and want of reputation, and muti
lation, and various kinds of diseases, by which weak spirited
men are broken down, not being able to raise themselves at all
through their want of courage ; but those men who are full of
high thoughts and noble spirits, rise up to struggle against
these things, and contend against them with fortitude and
exceeding vigour, ridiculing and greatly despising their threats
and attacks against their poverty ; arraying wealth, not that
wealth which is blind, but that which sees acutely, whose
images and treasures the soul is naturally proud to treasure
up ; for poverty has overthrown innumerable multitudes of
men, who, like wearied athletes, have fainted and fallen, being
reduced to a state of prostration by their want of real courage.
And if truth is to be the judge, then no one whatever is
really poor, who has the indestructible and inalienable riches
of nature for his purveyor, the air, that first and most necessary
and incessant support of life, being continually inhaled night
and day, and besides that the numberless fountains, and the
inexhaustible supply not only of winter torrents but of regular
rivers, furnishing everlasting streams for drink, and besides
this the abundance of all kinds of food to eat, and all de
scriptions of trees which are continually bearing their yearly
fruits ; for these are treasures of which no one is destitute,
414 PHILO JUD^US.
but all men in every quarter of the globe enjoy them in the
greatest abundance.
But if any persons, utterly disregarding the true wealth of
nature, pursue instead the riches of vain opinions, relying on
those riches which are blind instead of on those which are
gifted with acute sight, and taking a guide for their road who
who is himself crippled, such men must of necessity fall down.
III. We have then before now described that wealth which
is the guard of the body, being the thing discovered by and
bestowed on men by nature ; but that more dignified and
respectable kind, which belongs not to all men but to those
who are themselves truly respectable and glorious, must now
be spoken of ; this kind of wealth wisdom furnishes by means
of rational, and moral, and natural doctrines, and meditations
from which the virtues are derived, which eradicate luxury
from the soul, engendering in it a desire for temperance and
frugality, in accordance with the resemblance to God at which
it aims ; for God is a being who is in need of nothing, as
there is nothing of which he is destitute, but as he is himself
all-sufficient for himself.
But the bad man is one of extravagant tastes, being always
thirsting for what he has not got, because of his insatiable and
unappeasable appetites which he fans and excites like fire,
and kindles into a flame, directing them towards every kind
of gain, whether great or small ; but the virtuous man wants
but little, being placed as it were on the borders between the
immortal and the mortal nature, having wants indeed by reason
of his body being mortal, and his freedom from extravagance
because his soul is continually longing for immortality : and so
they array wealth against poverty, and glory against a want of
reputation ; for praise, having excellence and virtue as a start
ing point, and flowing forth from it as from an everlasting
fountain, does not mix with the multitude of inconsiderate
men, who are in the habit of laying bare the inconsistency of
the soul, with unstable declarations, which sometimes they are
not ashamed to sell cheaply in their desire of base gains,
uttering them in reproach of men selected for their excellence.
But the number of such men is small, for virtue is not a
thing frequently met with in the race of men : but since no
perfect antidote or remedy can be found for the mutilation of
the outward senses, by which thousands and thousands of
ON COURAGE. 415
persons have died prematurely while still living, prudence,
that best of all qualities within us, sets itself against it to
prevent it, implanting eyes in our intellect, which, by reason of
its sagacious capacity, are altogether and entirely superior in
acuteness of vision to the eyes of the body : for these last see
only the surfaces of the things presented to them, and require
light from without to enable them to do that, but the intellect
penetrates into the inmost recesses of bodies, closely surveying
and investigating the whole of them, and each separate part,
and also the natures of those incorporeal things, which the
external senses are unable to contemplate at all.
For the mind may almost be said to possess all the acute-
ness of vision of the eye, without being in need of any spurious
light, but being in itself a star, and as it were a sort of repre
sentation or copy of the heavenly bodies : accordingly, the
diseases of the body inflict very little injury on us, while our
souls are in a sound state ; and the sound health of the soul
consists in a good admixture of the powers conversant with
hunger, and appetite, and reason, the reasoning power having
the predominance, and guiding the other two, as a charioteer
guides and restrains restive horses ; the proper name of this
healthy state of the soul is moderation,* which produces salva
tion to the thinking part of the faculties in us ; for as it is con
stantly in danger of being overwhelmed by the impetuosity of
the passions, moderation suffers it not to be sunk in the
depths, but lifts it up and raises it on high, endowing it with
soul and vitality, and in some sense with immortality.
But in all the subjects which I have here mentioned, there are
admonitions and lessons engraved lastingly in many passages
of the law. persuading the obedient with great gentleness, and
the disobedient with some severity, to despise all the things
which affect the body and all external circumstances, looking
upon a life in accordance with virtue to be the one proper end
and object, and desiring everything else which appears con
ducive to this end ; and if I had not in my former treatises
dwelt upon all points connected with simplicity and humility,
I would on this present occasion endeavour to explain the
matter at some length, connecting and adapting together all the
* The Greek word is aaxpooavvrj, from o-w^w, "to preserve," and
Qprjv, " the mind," or as Philo says, from crwr^p/a, " salvation," r
<ppovovvri, " to our thinking part."
416 PH1LO JUD^US.
precepts -which appear to lie scattered about in different places
but as I have already said all that the occasion required on
these topics, it is not necessary to recapitulate my arguments ;
those, however, who are not indifferent to the subject, but who
have applied themselves with diligence to the study of the
preceding treatises, ought to be aware that nearly all the
things which I have said about simplicity and humility apply
likewise to courage, since that also is the attribute of a
vigorous, and noble, and very well regulated soul, to despise
all the things which pride is in the habit of dignfying and
extolling, to the utter destruction of life in accordance with
truth.
IV, But sucli great anxiety and energy is displayed by the
law in attaining the object of training and exercising the soul
so as to fill it with courage, that it has even descended to par
ticulars in the matter of raiment, enjoining what men ought to
wear, and prohibiting with all its might a man from wearing
the garments of a woman, in order that no trace or shadow of
the female may be attached to the male part of mankind, to its
discredit ; for the law, being at all times in perfect consist
ency and accordance with nature, desires to establish laws
which shall be akin to and in perfect harmony with one
another from beginning to end, even in those minute points
which, by reason of their insignificance, appear to be beneath
the notice of ordinary legislators.
For as it perceived that the figures of men and women/
looking at them as if they had been sculptured or painted
forms, were very dissimilar, and, moreover, that the same kind
of life was not assigned to both the sexes (for to the woman is
assigned a domestic life, while a political one is more suited to
the man), so also in respect of other matters which were not
actually the works of nature, but still were in strict accordance
with nature, it judged it expedient to deliver injunctions which
were the result of sound sense and wisdom. And these related
to the mode of living, and to apparel, and to other things
of that kind ; for it thought it desirable that he who was truly
a man should show himself a man in these particulars also,
and especially in the matter of dress, since, as he wears that
both day and night, he ought to take care that there is no
indication in it of any want of manly courage.
And, in the same manner, having also equipped the woman
in the ornaments suited to her, the law prohibits her from
ON COURAGE. 417
assuming the dress of a man, keeping at a distance men-women
just as much as it does women-men ; for the lawgiver was well
aware that when only one single thing in the proper economy
of the house was removed, nothing else would remain in the
same position as it ought and as it was in before.
V. Moreover, as the affairs of men are usually looked at
with reference to two different times, that of peace and that of
war, one can see that there are particular virtues which are
visible at each period. Now, of the other virtues we have
spoken previously, and we shall speak again if any necessity
shall arise ; but, at the present moment, we had better
examine courage, not in a superficial manner, the works of
which, even in time of peace, the lawgiver has celebrated in
many passages of his delivery of the law, always having a due
regard to the time, as we mentioned in the proper place.
Therefore, now we will begin to speak of its effects as relat
ing to war, having first premised thus much by way of preface,
that when he makes out the roll of all the soldiers of the army
he does not think it expedient to summon forth all the youth
of the nation, but some he excuses, stating very reasonable
causes for their exemption from military service. And, above
all, he exempts all those who are alarmed or cowardly, as they
would be likely to be taken prisoners by reason of their innate
effeminacy, and to cause fear to the re st who were fighting,
alongside of them ; for a man s neighbour is very apt to take
the impression of any one of his faults, and especially this is
the case since men s reason is confused at that time by reason
of the disorder of the contest, and is unable to attain to an
accurate notion of the real picture of affairs ; for, at such a
time, they are wont to call prudent caution timidity, and to
look upon fear as a prudent knowledge of the future, and upon
a desire for safety as unmanly cowardice, investing most
shameful conduct with specious and dignified appellations.
In order, therefore, that tlie affairs of his own people may
not be injured by the cowardice of those who go forth to battle,
while the enemy obtains success and glory, slaying those
cowardly foes with great contempt, and being also aware that
an inactive irresolute coward was of no use at all, but was
rather a hindrance to success, the lawgiver removed from the
army all those who were devoid of boldness, and those who
inclined to faint or shrink out of cowardice, just as I
VOL. III. E E
418 PHILO .TUD^EUS.
imagine no general would compel men afflicted with any
bodily infirmity to go forth to war, but would allow their weak
health to plead their excuse. And cowardice is a disease, and
a worse one, too, than any of those which affect the body, inas
much as it destroys the faculties of the soul ; for diseases of
the body, indeed, are at their height but for a short period, but
cowardice is an evil which grows with the man in a greater
degree, or, at all events, not less than the parts of the body
which are united to it, cleaving to the soul from its earliest
infancy to the very extremity of old age, unless God himself
interpose to cure it ; for all things are possible to God.
And, moreover, the lawgiver does not summon even all the
men of impetuous courage, not even although they are full of
strength and energy, both in soul and body, and eager to be
the foremost in the conflict and in the encountering of danger ;
but, having praised them for their good will, because they dis
play a disposition willing to share in the dangers of their
countrymen, and eager, and void of fear, he proceeds to inquire
whether they are entangled in any important circumstances
which have a strong influential power of attraction. For, says
he, " If any one has lately built a house, and has not as yet
entered it to dwell in it ; or if any one has planted a newly-
arranged vineyard, having himself planted the cuttings in the
ground, but which has not yet arrived at the season of its bearing
fruit ; or if any one has espoused a virgin and not consummated
his marriage; he shall be excused from all military service."
Humanity here finding an excuse for such exemption for two
causes ; first of all, in order that, since the events of war
are uncertain, others who have never laboured in the work may
not reap the fruits of these men s toil ; for it appeared to be a
hard thing for a man to be unable even to enjoy what really
belonged to him, but for one man to build a house and another
to dwell in it ; and for one man to plant a vineyard and for
another, who never planted it, to enjoy the fruit thereof ; and
for one man to espouse a wife, but for one who has not espoused
her to complete the marriage ; as it was not expedient that
those who had entertained good hopes respecting life to find
them all baffled and vain. And, secondly, that men might
not be warring with their bodies while their souls were far
from the battle ; for it is impossible but that the minds of
men in such a condition as has been described above must be
ON COURAGE. 410
beld back and kept on the stretch, from a desire to enjoy the
things from which they have been torn away. For as men who
are hungry or thirsty, if they only get a sight of anything to
eat or to drink, pursue it and run after it without ever turning
aside in their eagerness to reach it, so also men who have
laboured to obtain a legitimate wife, or a house, or the posses
sion of a farm, and who in their hopes believe that the time
for their enjoyment of each of these objects is all but arrived,
if they are then deprived of that enjoyment, resist, so that
though they may be present in body elsewhere, they are not
present with the better part of their soul, by which it is that
men succeed or fail.
VT. Therefore our lawgiver does not think it proper to in
clude those men, or any in a similar condition, in the roll of
his soldiers, but only such as have no domestic circumstances
of such a nature to detain them, in order that with free and
unembarrassed inclinations they may engage in the pursuit of
danger without shrinking ; for as a weak or crippled body
derives no advantage from a panoply of armour, which it will
rather discard as being unable to bear it, so, in the same
manner, a vigorous body causes affliction to a diseased soul by
not being in conformity with its existing circumstances. And
our lawgiver, having a regard to these facts, selects not only
the captains, and the generals, and the other leaders of the
army, but also picks out separately each individual soldier,
examines in what state he is in respect of good condition of
body and firmness of mind, examining his body to see if it is
uninjured in all its parts, and in sound health, and in all. its
joints and limbs well adapted for the positions and actions
which may be required of it ; examining the soul also, to see
whether it is full of confidence and proper courage, whether it
is intrepid, fearless, and inspired with a noble spirit, whether
it is eager for honour and inclined to prefer death with glory to
an inglorious life ; for each one of these qualities and circum
stances is individually a separate power, if one is to say the
plain truth. And if they are all united together in one indi
vidual, then they do most abundantly exhibit a certain invin
cible and irresistible might, subduing all their enemies without
loss.
VII. And the sacred volumes contain the most undeniable
I proofs of what has been here stated. The most numerous of
E E 2
420 PHILO JUD.EOS.
all nations is that of the Arabians, whose ancient name was the
Madienseans. These people being inimicably disposed towards
the Hebrews, for no other cause more than because they honour
and worship the highest and mightiest Cause of all things, as
being dedicated to the Creator and Father of the universe as
his peculiar people, and having tried every imaginable device
and exhausted every contrivance to cause them to abandon the
worship of the one only true and living God, and to forsake
holiness and adopt impiety, thought that if they could do so
they should be easily able to get the better of them. But
when, in spite of having both done and said innumerable
things, they had failed in everything, like dying people who
now despair of their safety, they contrived a device of the
following nature. Having sent for the most beautiful of their
women, they said to them, You see how invincible the multitude
of the Hebrews is ; and a defence to them more formidable
than even their number is their unanimity and agreement ;
and the greatest and most powerful cause of this unanimity is
the idea which they entertain of the one God, from which, as
from a fountain, they derive a united and indissoluble affection
for one another. But man may be caught by pleasure, and
especially by such pleasure as proceeds from connections with
Wumen. And ye are very beautiful, and beauty is by nature a
seductive thing; and youth is a season of life very apt to fall
into intemperance. And do not be afraid of the names of
concubinage or adultery, as if they would bring shame upon
you, but set against the names the advantages which will ensue
from the facts, by which you will change your evil reputation,
which will endure only for a day, into a glory which will never .
grow old or die ; abandoning your bodies, indeed, as far as
appearance goes, which, however, is only a desire and
manoeuvre to defeat the enemy, and preserving still the
virginity of your souls, on which you will for the future set the
everlasting seal of purity. And this war will have a novel
glory as having been brought to a successful issue by means of
women, and not by means of men.
For we confess that our sex is in danger of being defeated,
because our enemies are better provided with all the appliances
of war and necessaries for battle ; but your sex is more com
pletely armed, and you will gain the greatest of all advantages,
namely the victory ; carrying off the prize without having to
ON COURAGE. 421
encounter any danger; for without any loss or bloodshed,
or indeed, I may rather Bay, without even a struggle, you will
overpower the enemy at the first sight of you, merely by being
beheld by him.
When they heard this, they ceased to think of or to pay the
very slightest regard to their character for purity of life, being
quite devoid of all proper education, and accordingly they con
sented, though during all the rest of their lives they had put
on a hypocritical appearance of modesty, and so now they
adorned themselves with costly garments, and necklaces, and
all those other appendages with which women are accustomed
to set themselves off, and they devoted all their attention to
enhancing their natural beauty, and making it more brilliant
(for the object of their pursuit was not an unimportant one,
being the alluring of the young men who were well inclined to
be seduced), and so they went forth into public. And when
they came near to them they put forth immodest wanton looks,
and sought to entice them with caressing words, and dances,
and lascivious movements ; and in this way they enticed the
shallow-minded company of the young men, youths whose dis-
poistions had no ballast nor steadiness in them.
And by the shame of their own bodies they captivated
the souls of those who came to them, bringing them over to
unholy sacrifices which ought not to have been sacrificed, and
to libations which should never have been offered in honour
of deities made with hands, and thus they alienated them from
the worship of the one only and truly divine God. And when
they had accomplished their purpose, they sent the glad
tidings to the men of their nation ; and they would have been
likely to draw over others also of the firmer and stronger-
minded sort, if the bountiful and merciful God had not taken
compassion upon their unhappy state, and by the prompt
punishment of those who had gone astray and wrought folly
(and they were twenty-four thousand men), by which he ad
monished and checked by terror those others who were in danger
of being carried away by the torrent.
But the ruler of the whole nation, infusing into the ears of
his people doctrines of piety, and charming the souls of his
subjects with them, selected and picked out a thousand men of
each tribe, choosing them with regard to their excellence, and
he bade them to inflict upon the enemy punishment for the
422 PHILO JUD^US.
treachery which they had contrived by means of the women, when
they hoped to destroy the whole multitude by casting them down
from theheights of their pure and sublime piety, though, in effect,
they were only able to delude those whom I have enumerated.
VIII. These men, then, being arrayed against them, a
small number against many myriads of men, and availing
themselves of their skill, and exerting all their courage, as if
each individual were himself a host, rushed upon the dense
phalanxes in a contemptuous manner, and slaying all whom
they met, they mowed down the thickly-packed battalions,
and all the forces which were in reserve as a reinforcement to
fill up the ranks where men were slain, so that they overthrew
many myriads \\itli their mere single shout, till not one of all
the youth in the opposing army was left. And they slew also
all the women who had assented to the unholy devices of the
men, taking the maidens alive, because of their compassion for
their innocent age, and though they brought this terrible war
to a successful termination, they lost not a single one of their
own men ; but every man who went forth unto battle returned
back again un wounded and unhurt, just as he entered the con
flict, or rather, if one is to say the real truth, with redoubled
vigour; for their joy at this victory made their strength not
inferior to what it had been at first ; and the cause of this, was
simply that they even courted danger in their anxiety to
engage in the contest in the cause of piety, in which God, that
invincible ally, fights in front of them as their champion,
inspiring their minds with wise counsels, and implanting the
mightiest vigour in their bodies.
And there is evident proof that God was their ally, in the
fact that many myriads of men were defeated by a few, and
that not one man of the enemy escaped, and that not one of
their own troops was slain, and that the army was not dimi- i
nished in either number or power ; on which account Moses
says in his exhortations to his people :* "If you practise jus
tice, and holiness, and the other virtues, you shall enjoy a life *
untroubled by wars and invariably peaceful ; or if any war
comes upon you, you shall with ease subdue your enemies,
God being the leader of your host, although invisibly, who
takes care to put forth his might to save the good. There
fore, if thy enemies come upon thee with many myriads of
* Deuteronomy xxviii 15.
ON HUMANITY.
423
tnen, a host both of infantry, and of cavalry, trusting in the
beauty of their armour ; and if they pre-occupy all the strong
and defensible places, and become masters of the country, and
if they rejoice in unbounded supplies, still do not you be
alarmed and fear, even if you are destitute of the things of
which they have plenty, such as allies, and arms, and situa
tions, and good opportunities, and the supplies of war."
For very often a violent wind, falling upon them as upon a
merchant vessel laden with all kinds of good things, has at
once overthrown and destroyed these things ; while upon those
who have taen imperfectly supplied, and who have been
sorrowful, hanging down their heads like ears of corn withering
under drought and disease, God has suddenly showered down
and poured forth his saving powers, and has caused them to
rise up and become prosperous and perfect. From which it is
plain that he cleaves to what is holy and righteous ; for those
whose ally is God are consummately happy, but those to
whom he is an enemy are sunk in the lowest depths of misery.
This appears sufficient to say on the present occasion on the
subject of courage.
ON HUMANITY.
I. We must now proceed in due order to consider that
virtue which is more nearly related to piety, being as it were
a sister, a twin sister, namely, humanity, which the father of
our laws loved so much that I know not if any human being
was ever more attached to it. For he knew that this was as
it were a plain and level road conducting to holiness;
and, therefore, he trained and instructed all the people
who were in subjection to himself in precepts of fellowship,
the most excellent of all lessons, exhibiting to them his own
life as an archetypal model for them to copy.
Every thing, then, that was ever done by him from his
earliest infancy to old age in the way of taking care and pro
viding for each separate individual and for all men in general,
has been already explained in the three books of the treatise
which I have set forth about the life of Moses. But it is
necessary also to make mention of one or two points which he
set in order when at the point of death ; for they are indica
tive of that continual and uninterrupted virtue which he
stamped upon his own soul, which was thus fashioned after the
424 PHILO JUD^US.
divine model, in such a way that it should be free from all indis
tinctness and confusion. For when the appointed limit of
human existence was on the point of being reached by him,
and when by distinct intimation from God he became aware
that he was about to depart from the world, he did not act
like any other person, whether king or private individual,
whose only anxiety and prayer is to leave their inheritance to
their children ; but although he had become the father of two
sons, he was not so much under the influence of the natural
affection and love for his offspring which he undoubtedly felt
as to bequeath his authority to either of them. And yet, even
he had some suspicion of the worth of his children; at all
events, he had no lack of virtuous and pious nephews, who
were, indeed, already invested with the high priesthood, as a
reward of their virtue.
But, perhaps, he did not think fit to draw them away from
the divine ministrations which belonged to their office, or, as
was very likely, he considered that it would be impossible for
them to attend to both matters, the priesthood and the royal
authority, the one of which employments professes to be
devoted to the worship of God, the other to the government of
and to the care of providing for men. Perhaps, also, he did
not think fit to become himself the judge in so important a
matter, especially as it is an attribute of almost divine power,
to see thoroughly who is by nature well adapted for such
authority, as it is the Deity alone to whom it is easy to see
into the dispositions of men.
II. And the clearest proof of what I have said may be
afforded by the following consideration. He had a friend and
pupil, one who had been so almost from his very earliest youth,
Joshua by name, whose friendship he had won, not by any of
the arts which are commonly in use among other men, but by
that heavenly and unmixed love from which all virtue is
derived. This man lived under the same roof, and shared the
same table with him, except when solitude was enjoined to
him on occasions when he was inspired and instructed in
divine oracles. He also performed other services for him in
Avhich he was distinguished from the multitude, being almost
his lieutenant, and regulating in conjunction with him the
matters relating to his supreme authority.
But yet, though Moses had thus an accurate knowledge of
ON HUMANITY. 425
him from his experience of him for a long time, and though he
knew his excellence both in word and deed, and the greatness
of his good will towards his nation, yet he did not think fit to
leave him as his successor himself, fearing lest he might per
chance be deceived in looking on that man as good who in
reality was not so, since the tests by which one can judge of
human nature are in a great degree indistinct and unstable.
On which account he did not trust to his own knowledge, but
he supplicated and entreated God, who alone can behold the
invisible soul, who sees accurately the mind of man, to choose.
and select the most suitable man for the supreme authority,
one who would care for the people who were to be his subjects
like a father. And stretching his pure, and, as one may say
in a somewhat metaphorical manner, his virgin hands towards
heaven, he said, " Let the Lord God of spirits and of all flesh
look out for himself a man to be over this multitude, to under
take the care and superintendence of a shepherd, who shall
lead them in a blameless manner, in order that this nation
may not become corrupt like a .flock which is scattered abroad,
as having no shepherd."*
And yet who was there of all the men of that time who
would not have been amazed if he had heard this prayer?
Who was there who would not have said, " What art thou
saying, master ? hast not thou legitimate children ? hast thou
not nephews ? Above all men, leave thy authority to thy chil
dren first, for they are thy natural heirs ; but if thou disapprovest
of them, at all events bequeath it to thy nephews ; and if thou
lookest upon them also as unfit, having a greater regard for
the whole nation than for thy nearest and dearest relations,
still thou hast an irreproachable friend who has given a proof
of his perfect virtue to you who art all-wise and capable to
judge of it. Why, then, do thou not think fit to show your
approbation of him, if thy object is not to select one on
account of his family but on account of his virtue ? "
But Moses would reply : " It is proper to make God the
judge in every thing, and most especially in those things in
which the acting well or ill brings innumerable multitudes to
happiness, or on the contrary to misery. And there is
nothing of greater importance than sovereign authority, to
which all the affairs of cities, in war or peace, are committed.
* Numbers xxvii. 16.
426 PHILO JUD^EUS.
For as in order to make a successful voyage one lias need of a
pilot who is both virtuous and skilful, in the same manner
there is need of a very wise governor, in order to secure the
good government of the subjects in every quarter. Moreover,
wisdom is a thing not only more ancient than my own birth,
but even than the creation of the universal world ; nor is it
lawful nor possible for any one to decide in such a matter but
God alone, and those who love wisdom with guilelessness, and
sincerity and truth ; and I have learnt by myself not to
approve of, as fit for dominion, any one of those men who
appear to be suitable.
" I, indeed, myself, did neither undertake the charge of
caring for and providing for the common prosperity of my own
accord, nor because I was appointed to the office by any
human being ; but I undertook to govern this people because
God manifestly declared his will by visible oracles and distinct
commandments, and commanded me to rule them ; and I,
after having besought and supplicated him to excuse me,
because I had a respect unto the greatness of the business, at
last, after he had repeated his commandments many times, I
with fear obeyed. How, then, can it be any thing but absurd
for me not now to follow in the same steps, and, after I
myself, when about to assume the supreme authority, had had
God for my elector and approver, not no\v in my turn to refer
to him alone the appointment of my successor, without calling
in the assistance of any human wisdom which is likely to be
akin in some degree to folly, especially as the government to
be undertaken is not one over any ordinary nation, but one
which is the most populous of all nations everywhere, and one
which puts forth the most important of all professions, the
worship of the one true and living God, who is the Creator
and the father of the universe ? For whatever advantages are
derived from the most approved philosophy to its students,
full as great are derived by the Jews from their laws and
customs, inasmuch as through them they have rejected all
errors about gods who have been created themselves ; for there
is no created being who is truly God, but such a one is so only
in appearance and opinion, being destitute of that most indis
pensable quality in God, namely, eternity."
III. This, now, is the first and most conspicuous proof of
his great humanity and good faith towards and affec-
ON HUMANITY. 427
tion for all those of his own people, and there is also
another which is not inferior to that which I have already
mentioned. For when Joshua, being his most excellent
pupil and the imitator of his amiable and excellent dispo
sition, had been approved of as the ruler of the people by the
judgment of God, Moses was in no respect downcast as some
other men might have been at the fact of its not having been
his own sons or nephews who were appointed ; but he was
filled with unrestrained joy because there was secured to the
nation a governor who was in all respects excellent (for he was
sure that the man who was pleasing to God must be virtuous
and pious) ; and accordingly, taking him by the right hand, he
led him forth to the assembled multitude, not being at all
alarmed at the idea of his own impending death, but feeling
that he had received a new cause of joy in addition to his
former reasons for cheerfulness, not only from the recollection
of his former happiness, in which he had passed his life
abundantly in every species of virtue, but from the hope also
that he was now about to become immortal, changing from
this corruptible to an incorruptible life ; and accordingly, with
a cheerful look proceeding from the joy which he felt in his
soul, he spoke to them with joy and exultation in the following
manner, and said.
" It is time for me now to be released from the life in the
body ; and my successor in the government of your nation is
this man, having been appointed thereto by God. And then
he proceeded to detail to them the oracular words of God
which he had received as the proofs of this his successor s
appointment by God; and the people believed them. And
then, looking upon Joshua, he exhorted him to approve him
self a valiant man, and to be very strong in good and wise
counsel, and to show himself the interpreter of his counsels,
and to accomplish all his purposes with unyielding and vigo
rous decision. And he said thus much to him though he was
not perhaps in need of any recommendation, but because he
would not conceal their mutual affection for one another and
for the whole people, by which he was spurred on as it were
to lay bare before him what he thought would be advantageous.
He had also received an oracular command to call his
successor and to render him full of confidence and good courage
to undertake the care of the nation, without being apprehen-
428 PHILO JUD^US.
,sive of the great burden of the authority committed to him,
in order that he might be a standard and rule for all governors
who should come hereafter, and who should look upon Moses
as their model ; so that none of them should ever grudge good
advice to their successors, but should train, and exercise, and
instruct their souls with their suggestions and counsels.
For the advice of a good man is often able to raise up
again those men whose minds are prostrate, and to elevate
them again to a height, implanting in them a noble and
intrepid spirit, which shall thus be established firmly above all
circumstances and exigencies of time.
Accordingly, after having held a discourse in which he
uttered sentiments suited both to the people who had been
committed to his care, and to those who were to be the inhe
ritors of his authority, he begins to hymn the praises of God
in a song, uttering the last psalm of thanksgiving in this life
while still in the body, for all the kindnesses and mercies of
extraordinary and unprecedented kinds, which he had received
from his birth to this his old age ; and having collected a most
divine assembly to hear these praises, namely, the elements of
the universe, and the most comprehensive parts of the whole
world, the earth and the heaven, one of which is the dwelling of
mortals, and the other the home of the immortals, he sang his
hymn of praise in the middle of them all, with every descrip
tion of harmony and symphony which men and ministering
angels hear; the one, as being pupils, in order to learn to
display, their own grateful dispositions in a similar manner,
and the others as presiding over them, and as by their own
experience being able to take care that no part of this hymn
shall be out of tune, and also as feeling some doubt whether
any human being bound up in a mortal body could be able to
attune his soul to music in the same manner as the sun, and
the moon, and the rest of the company of the stars, having
properly conformed himself to that divine instrument, the
heaven, and to the universal world. And the declarer of the
will of God being thus placed amid the beings who form the
host of heaven, mingled with his grateful hymns of praise to
God proofs of his own genuine affection and good will towards
his nation, while he reproved them for their previous sins, and
gave them admonitions, and advice, and precepts for the
present occasion, and exhortations for the future, inspiring
ON HUMANITY. 429
them with favourable hopes, which it was inevitable that
favourable events would of necessity follow.
IV. And when he had finished his hymn of melodious
praise, which was thus in a manner woven together and made
up of piety and humanity, he began to be changed and to
depart from mortal existence to immortal life, and gradually
to feel a separation of the different parts of which he was
composed, namely of his body, which was now removed from
him like a shell from a fish, from his soul which was thus laid
bare and naked, and which desired its natural departure from
hence.
Then, having prepared all things for his departure, he did
not approach the actual termination of his existence until he
had shown respect to all the tribes of his nation by harmonious
and consistent prayers in their behalf, honouring them all to
the number of twelve by the recapitulation of the name of the
patriarch of each tribe, all which prayers we must believe will
certainly be accomplished, for the man who offered up the
prayers was a devout servant of God, and God is merciful, and
the persons on whose behalf the supplications were uttered
were men of pure and noble birth, classed in the highest rank
possible by the supreme leader of the people, the Creator and
Father of the universe.
And the things which were entreated for in the petitions
were real blessings, not only that such things might fall to
their share in this mortal life, but still more so when the soul
should be released from the bondage of the flesh ; for Moses
alone, looking upon it as it should seem that his whole nation
had from the very beginning the closest of all possible rela
tionships to God, one much more genuine than that which
consists of ties of blood, made it the inheritor of all the good
things which the nature of mankind is capable of receiving,
giving from his own store things which he had himself, and
entreating God to supply what he himself was not possessed
of, knowing that the fountains of his graces are everlasting,
but yet that they are not dispensed to all men, but only to
such as are suppliants for them ; and suppliants are those
persons who love virtue and piety, and it is lawful for them to
drink up those most sacred springs, inasmuch as they are
continually thirsting for wisdom.
V. We have now, then, spoken of the proofs of the humanity
430 PHILO JUD^EUS.
of the lawgiver, which he displayed by the admirable disposi
tion of his own excellent nature, and also partly by the exposi
tions which he has given in the sacred volumes. We must
now proceed to speak of the precepts which he left behind
him, commanding that they should be observed by future ages,
and we must enumerate, if not all (for that would not be easy),
at all events j the principal topics which are most closely con
nected with and most nearly resembling his counsels; for,
according to him, gentleness and humanity have not their
habitation only in the communion of society which takes place
among men, but also of his great liberality and bounty he
diffuses it exceedingly, and extends it even to the irrational
animals, and to the different species of wholesome trees. And
what ordinances he established with respect to each of these
things we must proceed to enumerate separately, making our
beginning with men.
VI. Therefore Moses forbids a man to lend on usury to his
brother,* meaning by the term brother not only him who is
born of the same parents as one s self, but every one who is a
fellow citizen or a fellow countryman, since it is not just to
exact offspring from money, as a farmer does from his cattle.
And he enjoins his subjects not to hang back on that account,
and to be more slow to contribute to the necessities of others,
but rather with open hands and willing minds very cheerfully
to give to those who have need, considering that gratitude
may in some degree be looked upon as interest repaid at a
more favourable season for what was lent in an hour of
necessity, being repaid by the voluntary inclination of the
receiver of the kindness. And if a person be not willing
wholly to give, still at all events let him lend, so as to give
the temporary use of what is wanted freely and cheerfully,
without expecting to receive anything beyond the principal.
For in this way the poor will not become poorer, by being
compelled to restore more than they received ; nor will they
who lent be doing iniquity if they only receive back what they
lent. And yet they will not receive nothing more, for with
the principal, instead of the interest which they have not
demanded to receive, they will gain the best and most honour
able of all human things, as they will have displayed kindness
and magnanimity, and will have earned a fair reputation and
* Deuteronomy xxiii. 19.
ON HUMANITY. 431
goodwill. And what acquisition is there which is equal to
this? for indeed the mightiest monarch appears poor and
helpless if he is put in comparison with one single virtue, for
he has only inanimate riches buried in his treasuries or in the
recesses of the earth, but the wealth of virtue is stored up in
the dominant part of the soul ; and that purest of all essences,
heaven, claims itself a share in that, as likewise does the
Creator and Father of the universe, God.
Therefore we must look upon and denominate, the opulence
of money-changers and usurers as poverty, though they appear
to themselves to be mighty kings, while they have never
beheld that wealth which is really endowed with sight, no not
even in their dreams. And these men run into such extrava
gances of wickedness, that if they have not money, they make
usurious advances even of food, lending it on condition of
receiving back again more than they lent. Accordingly, such
men will speedily afford a contribution to those who ask for
one, preparing famine and scarcity against a time of plenty
and abundance, and making a revenue of the hunger of the
bellies of miserable men, weighing out the food as it were in a
scale, and taking care not to give overweight. Therefore he
necessarily commands those who live under his sacred consti
tution to avoid every description of revenues of this kind, for
all such pursuits were the sign of a thoroughly slavish and
illiberal mind, which must be changed into savageness and
into the resemblance of brute beasts, before it could adopt
them.
VII. Again, among the different commands which conduce
to the extension of huma
