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VICTOR I AL||iftH|UNIVLRSITA5
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THE
WORKS
PHILO JUD^U S,
THE CONTEMPORARY OF JOSEPHUS,
TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK,
I
C. D. YONGE, B.A.
VOL. IV.
LONDON :
HENRY G. BOHN, YOKK STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
1855.
t
EMMANUEL
A,Yff
CONTENTS.
PAOK
On a Contemplative Life, or on the Virtues of Suppliants 1
On the Incorruptibility of the "World 21
Against Flaccus 61
On the Virtues and on the Office of Ambassadors.
Addressed to Caius 99
Concerning the "World 180
The Fragments of the Lost Works 210
Fragments extracted from the Parallels of John of Da
mascus 242
Fragments from a Monkish Manuscript 257
Fragments preserved by Antonius 271
Fragments from an Anonymous Collection in the Bod
leian Library at Oxford 276
Fragments from an Unpublished Manuscript in the
Library of the French King 277
A Volume of Questions, and Solutions to those Ques
tions, which arise in Genesis ... . 284
Index to the Four Volumes 465
A TEEATISE
ON A CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE,
OR
ON THE VIRTUES OF SUPPLIANTS.
I. HAVING mentioned the Essenes, who in all respects se
lected for their admiration and for their especial adoption tho
practical course of life, and who excel in all, or what perhaps
may be a less unpopular and invidious thing to say, in most
of its parts, I will now proceed, in the regular order of my
subject, to speak of those who have embraced the speculative
life, and I will say what appears to me to be desirable to be
said on the subject, not drawing any fictitious statements
from my own head for the sake of improving the appearance
of that side of the question which nearly all poets and essay
ists are much accustomed to do in the scarcity of good
actions to extol, but with the greatest simplicity adhering
strictly to the truth itself, to which I know well that even the
most eloquent men do not keep close in their speeches.
Nevertheless we must make the endeavour and labour to
attain to this virtue ; for it is not right that the greatness of
the virtue of the men should be a cause of silence to those who
do not think it right that anything which is creditable should
be suppressed in silence ; but the deliberate intention of the
philosopher is at once di&played from the appellation given to
them ; for with strict regard to etymology, they are called
therapeutic and therapeutrides,* either because they profess
an art of medicine more excellent than that in general use in
cities (for that only heals bodies, but the other heals souls,
which are under the mastery of terrible and almost incurable
diseases, which pleasures and appetites, fears and griefs, and
covetousness, and follies, and injustice, and all the rest of the
innumerable multitude of other passions and vices, have in
flicted upon them), or else because they have been instructed
by nature and the sacred laws to serve the living God, who is
* From Qtpcnrtvu, " to heal."
VOL. IV. B
2 PIIILO JUD^EUS.
superior to the good, and more simple than the one, and more
ancient than the unit ; with whom, however, who is there of
those who profess piety that we can possibly compare ? Can
we compare those who honour the elements, earth, water, air,
and fire? to whom different nations have given different
names, calling fire Hephaestus, I imagine because of its kin-
dliii",* and the air Hera, I imagine because of its being raised
up,f and raised aloft to a great height, and water Poseidon,
probably because of its being drinkable, and the earth Deme-
ter, because it appears to be the mother of all plants and of
all animals.
But these names are the inventions of sophists: but the
elements are inanimate matter, and immovable by any power
of their own, being subjected to the operator on them to
receive from him every kind of shape or distinctive quality
which he chooses to give them. But what shall we say of
those men who worship the perfect things made of them,
the sun, the moon, and the other stars, planets, or fixed-stars,
or the whole heaven, or the universal world ? And yet even
they do not owe their existence to themselves, but to some
creator whose knowledge has been most perfect, both in mind
and degree. What, again, shall we say of the demi-gods
This isa matter which is perfectly ridiculous : for how can the
same man be both mortal and immortal, even if we leave out
of the question the fact that the origin of the birth of all these
beings is liable to reproach, as being full of youthful intempe
rance, which its authors endeavour with great profanity to
impute to blessed and divine natures, as if they, being madly
iu love with mortal women, had connected themselves with
them ; while we know gods to be free from all participation in
and from all influence of passion, and completely happy.
Again, what shall we say of those who worship carved
works and images? the substances of which, stone and wood,
were only a little while before perfectly destitute of shape,
* The Greek is ?<i^ic, as if "IlQaiVTOQ were also derived from
uirrnttni, being akin to d0/}.
f The Greek word is a iotaOai, to which "Hpa has some similarity in
* The Greek word is Troror, derived from 3rd sing. pcrf. pass, of
iriVui TIVTTOTVU, from the 2nd sing, of which HtTroaai, iroatiSuv may
probably be derived.
The Greek word is /jrjr?}p, evidently the root of
ON A CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE. 3
before the stone-cutters or wood-cutters hewed them out of the
kindred stuff around them, while the remainder of the material,
their near relation and brother as it were, is made into ewers,
or foot-pans, and other common and dishonoured vessels, which
are employed rather for uses of darkness than for such as will
bear the light ; for as for the customs of the Egyptians, it is
not creditable even to mention them, for they have introduced
irrational beasts, and those not merely such as are domestic and
tame, but even the most ferocious of wild beasts to share the
honours of the gods, taking some out of each of the elements
beneath the moon, as the lion from among the animals which
live on the earth, the crocodile from among those which live
in the water, the kite from such as traverse the air, and the
Egyptian iris. And though they actually see that these animals
are born, and that they are in need of food, and that they are
insatiable in voracity and full of all sorts of filth, and moreover
poisonous and devourers of men, and liable to be destroyed by
all kinds of diseases, and that in fact they are often destroyed
not only by natural deaths, but also by violence, still they,
civilised men, worship these untameable and ferocious beasts ;
though rational men, they worship irrational beasts ; though
they have a near relationship to the Deity, they worship
creatures unworthy of being compared even to some of the
beasts ; though appointed as rulers and masters, they worship
creatures which are by nature subjects and slaves.
II. 13ut since these men infect not only their fellow
countrymen, but also all that come near them with folly, let
them remain uncovered, being mutilated in that most indis
pensable of all the outward senses, namely, sight. I am
speaking here not of the sight of the body, but of that of the
soul, by which alone truth and falsehood are distinguished from
one another. But the therapeutic sect of mankind, being con
tinually taught to see without interruption, may well aim at
obtaining a sight of the living God, and may pass by the sun,
which is visible to the outward sense, and never leave this
order which conducts to perfect happiness. But they who
apply themselves to this kind of worship, not because they are
influenced to do so by custom, nor by the advice or recommen
dation of any particular persons, but because they are carried
away by a certain heavenly love, give way to enthusiasm,
behaving like so many revellers in bacchanalian or corybantiau
B rf
4
mysteries, until they sec the object which they have been
earnestly desiring.
Then, because of their anxious desire for an immortal and
blessed existence, thinking that their mortal life has already
come to an end, they leave their possessions to their sons or
daughters, or perhaps to other relations, giving them up their
inheritance with willing cheerfulness ; and those who know no
relations give their property to their companions or friends, for
it followed of necessity that those who have acquired the
wealth which sees, as if ready prepared for them, should bo
willing to surrender that wealth which is blind to those who
themselves also are still blind in their minds.
The Greeks celebrate Anaxagoras and Democritus, because
they, being smitten with a desire for philosophy, allowed all
their estates to be devoured by cattle. I myself admire the
men who thus showed themselves superior to the attractions
of money ; but how much better were those who have not per
mitted cattle to devour their possessions, but have supplied the
necessities of mankind, of their own relations and friends, and
have made them rich though they were poor before ? For
surely that was inconsiderate conduct (that I may avoid saying
that any action of men whom Greece has agreed to admire
was a piece of insanity) ; but this is the act of sober men,
and one; which has been carefully elaborated by exceeding
prudence.
For what more can enemies do than ravage, and destroy,
and cut down all the trees in the country of their antagonists,
that they may be forced to submit by reason of the extent to
which they are oppressed by want of necessaries ? And yet
Democritus did this to his own blood relations, inflicting
artificial want and penury upon them, not perhaps from any
hostile intention towards them, but because he did not foresee
and provide for what was advantageous to others. I low much
better and more admirable are they who, without having any
inferior eagerness for the attainment of philosophy, have
nevertheless preferred magnanimity to carelessness, and, giving
presents from their possessions instead of destroying them, so
us to be able to benefit others and themselves also, have
made others happy by imparting to them of the abundance of
their wealth, and themselves by the study of philosophy?
For an undue care for money and wealth causes great waste
ON A CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE. O
of time, and it is proper to economise time, since, according
to the saying of the celebrated physician Hippocrates, life is
short but art long. And this is what Homer appears to me to
imply figuratively in the Iliad, at the beginning of the
thirteenth book, by the following lines,
" The Mysian close-fighting bands,
And dwellers on the Scythian lands,
Content to seek their humble fare
From milk of cow and milk of mare,
The justest of mankind." *
As if great anxiety concerning the means of subsistence and
the acquisition of money engendered injustice by reason of
the inequality which it produced, while the contrary dispo
sition and pursuit produced justice by reason of its equality,
according to which it is that the wealth of nature is defined,
and is superior to that which exists only in vain opinion.
When, therefore, men abandon their property without being
influenced by any predominant attraction, they flee without
even turning their heads back again, deserting their brethren,
their children, their wives, their parents, their numerous
families, their affectionate bands of companions, their native
lands in which they have been born and brought up, though
long familiarity is a most attractive bond, arid one very well
able to allure any one. And they depart, not to another city
as those do who entreat to be purchased from those who at
present possess them, being either unfortunate or else worth
less servants, and as such seeking a change of masters rather
than endeavouring to procure freedom (for every city, even
that which is under the happiest laws, is full of indescribable
tumults, and disorders, and calamities, which no one would
submit to who had been even for a moment under the in
fluence of wisdom), but they take up their abode outside of
walls, or gardens, or solitary lands, seeking for a desert place,
not because of any ill-natured misanthropy to which they
have learnt to devote themselves, but because of the associa
tions with people of wholly dissimilar dispositions to which
they would otherwise be compelled, and which they know to
be unprofitable and mischievous.
III. Now this class of persons may be met with in many
places, for it was fitting that both Greece and the country
* II. xiii. 5.
PHILO JUDJEUS.
of the barbarians should partake of whatever is perfectly
Rood ; and there is the greatest number of such men in Egypt,
in every one of the districts, or nomi as they are called, ami
especially around Alexandria ; and from all quarters those
who are the best of these therapeuta) proceed on their pil
grimage to some most suitable place as if it were their country,
which is beyond the Mareotic lake, lying in a somewhat level
plain a little raised above the rest, being suitable for their
purpose by reason of its safety and also of the line tempe
rature of the air.
For the houses built in the fields and the villages which
surround it on all sides give it safety ; and the admirable tem
perature of the air proceeds from the continual breezes which
come from the lake which falls into the sea, and also from the
sea itself ill the neighbourhood, the breezes from the sea
being light, and those which proceed from the lake which falls
into the sea being heavy, the mixture of which produces a
most healthy atmosphere.
But the houses of these men thus congregated together are
very plain, just giving shelter in respect of the two things
most important to be provided against, the heat of the sun,
and the cold from the open air ; and they did not live near to one
another as men do in cities, for immediate neighbourhood to
others would be a troublesome and unpleasant thing to men
who have conceived an admiration for, and have determined to
devote themselves to, solitude ; and, on the other hand, they
did not live very far from one another on account of thu
fellowship which they desire to cultivate, and because of the
desirableness of being able to assist one another if they
should be attacked by robbers.
And in every house there is a sacred shrine which is called
the holy place, and the monastery in which they retire by
themselves and perform all the mysteries of a holy life, bring
ing in nothing, neither meat, nor drink, nor anything e\$e
which is indispensable towards supplying the necessities of
the body, but studying in that place the laws and the sacred
oracles of God enunciated by the holy prophets, and hymns,
and psalms, and all kinds of other things by reason of which
knowledge and piety are increased and brought to perfection.
Therefore they always retain an imperishable recollection of
God, so that not even in their dreams is any other object ever
ON A CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE. 7
presented to their eyes except the beauty of the divine
virtues and of the divine powers. Therefore many persons
speak in their sleep, divulging and publishing the celebrated
doctrines of the sacred philosophy. And they are accustomed
to pray twice every day, at morning and at evening ; when the
sun is rising entreating God that the happiness of the coming
day may be real happiness, so that their minds may be filled
with heavenly light, and when the sun is setting they pray
that their soul, being entirely lightened and relieved of the
burden of the outward senses, and of the appropriate object
of these outward senses, may be able to trace out truth existing
in its own consistory mid council chamber. And the interval
between morning and evening is by them devoted wholly to
meditation on and to practice of virtue, for they take up the
sacred scriptures and philosophise concerning them, investigat
ing the allegories of their national philosophy, since they look
upon their literal expressions as symbols of some secret mean
ing of nature, intended to be conveyed in those figurative
expressions.
They have also writings of ancient men, who having been
the founders of one sect or another have left behind them
many memorials of the allegorical system of writing and
explanation, whom they take as a kind of model, and imitate
the general fashion of their sect ; so that they do not occupy
themselves solely in contemplation, but they likewise compose
psalms and hymns to God in every kind of metre and melody
imaginable, which they of necessity arrange in more dignified
rhythm. Therefore, during six days, each of these individuals,
retiring into solitude by himself, philosophises by himself in
one of the places called monasteries, never going outside the
threshold of the outer court, and indeed never even looking
out.
But on the seventh day they all come together as if to meet
in a sacred assembly, and they sit down in order according to
their ages with all becoming gravity, keeping their hands
inside their garments, having their right hand between their
chest and their dress, and the left hand down by their side,
close to their flank ; and then the eldest of them who has the
most profound learning in their doctrines comes forward and
speaks with steadfast look and with steadfast voice, with great
powers of reasoning, and great prudence, not making an
PHILO JUD^US.
cxliibition of his oratorical powers like the rhetoricians of old,
or the sophists of the present day, hut investigating with "reat
pains, and explaining with minute accuracy the precise mean
ing of the laws, which sits, not indeed at the tips of their
ears, but penetrates through their hearing into the soul, and
remains there lastingly ; and all the rest listen in silence
to the praises which he bestows upon the law, showing their
assent only by nods of the head, or the eager look of the eyes.
And this common holy place to which they all come to
gether on the seventh day is a twofold circuit, being separated
partly into the apartment of the men, and partly into a
chamber for the women, for women also, in accordance with
the usual fashion there, form a part of the audience, having the
same feelings of admiration as the men, and having adopted
the same sect with equal deliberation and decision ; and the
wall which is between the houses rises from the ground three
or four cubits upwards, like a battlement, and the upper
portion rises upwards to the roof without any opening, on two
accounts; first of all, in order that the modesty which is so
becoming to the female sex may be preserved, and secondly,
that the women may be easily able to comprehend what is
said being seated within earshot, since there is then nothing
which can possibly intercept the voice of him who is speak^
ing.
IV. And these expounders of the law, having first of all laid
down temperance as a sort of foundation for the soul to rest
upon, proceed to build up other virtues on this foundation, and
no one of them may take any meat or drink before the setting
of the sun, since they judge that the work of philosophising is
one which is worthy of the light, but that the care for the
necessities of the body is suitable only to darkness, on which
account they appropriate the day to the one occupation, and a
brief portion of the night to the other; and some men, in
whom there is implanted a more fervent desire of knowledge.
can endure to cherish a recollection of their food for three
days without even tasting it, and some men are so delighted,
and enjoy themselves so exceedingly when regaled by wisdom
which supplies them with her doctrines in all possible wealth
and abundance, that they can even hold out twice as great a
length of time, and will scarcely at the end of six days taste
even necessary food, being accustomed, as they say that grass
ON A ^CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE. 9
hoppers are, to feed on air, their song, as I imagine, making
their scarcity tolerable to them.
And they, looking upon the seventh day as one of perfect
holiness and a most complete festival, have thought it worthy
of a most especial honour, and on it, after taking due care of
their soul, they tend their bodies also, giving them, just as
they do to their cattle, a complete rest from their continual
labours ; and they eat nothing of a costly character, but plain
bread and a seasoning of salt, which the more luxurious of
them do further season with hyssop ; and their drink is water
from the spring ; for they oppose those feelings which nature
has made mistresses of the human race, namely, hunger and
thirst, giving them nothing to flatter or humour them, but
only such useful things as it is not possible to exist without.
On this account they eat only so far as not to be hungry, and
they drink just enough to escape from thirst, avoiding all
satiety, as an enemy of and a plotter against both soul and
body.
And there are two kinds of covering, one raiment and
the other a house : we have already spoken of their houses,
that they are not decorated with any ornaments, but run up
in a hurry, being only made to answer such purposes as are
absolutely necessary ; and in like manner their raiment is of
the most ordinary description, just stout enough to ward off
cold and heat, being a cloak of some shaggy hide for winter,
and a thin mantle or linen shawl in the summer; for in short
they practise entire simplicity, looking upon falsehood as the
foundation of pride, but truth as the origin of simplicity, and
upon truth and falsehood as standing in the light of fountains,
for from falsehood proceeds every variety of evil and wicked
ness, and from truth there flows every imaginable abundance
of good things both human and divine.
V. I wish also to speak of their common assemblies, and
their very cheerful meetings at convivial parties, setting them
in opposition and contrast to the banquets of others, for others,
when they drink strong wine, as if they had been drinking not
wine but some agitating and maddening kind of liquor, or
even the most formidable thing which can be imagined for
driving a man out of his natural reason, rage about and tear
things to pieces like so many ferocious dogs, and rise up and
attack one another, biting and gnawing each other s noses, and
10 PHILO JUDJEUS.,
ears, and fingers, and other parts of their body, so as to give
an accurate representation of the story related about the
Cyclops and the companions of Ulysses, who ate, as the poet
says, fragments of human flesh,* and that more savagely than
even he himself; for he was only avenging himself on those
whom he conceived to be his enemies, but they were ill-treating
their companions and friends, and sometimes even their actual
relations, while having the salt and dinner-table before them,
at a time of peace perpetrating actions inconsistent with
peace, like those which are done by men in gymnastic con
tests, debasing the proper exercises of the body as coiners
debase good money, and instead of athletes (d0X>jra?) becoming
miserable men (afaioi), for g that is the name which properly
belongs to them.
For that which those men who gain victories in the Olympic
games, when perfectly sober in the arena, and having all the
Greeks for spectators do by day, exerting all their skill for the
purpose of gaining victory and the crown, these men with base
designs do at convivial entertainments, getting drunk by night.
in the hour of darkness, when soaked in wine, acting without
either knowledge, or art, or skill, to the insult, and injury,
and great disgrace of those who are subjected to their violence.
And if no one were to come like an umpire into the middle
of them, and part the combatants, and reconcile them, they
would continue the contest with unlimited licence, striving to
kill and murder one another, and being killed and murdered
on the spot; for they do not suffer less than they inflict,
though out of the delirious state into which they have worked
themselves they do not feel what is done to them, since they
have filled themselves with wine, not, as the comic poet says,
to the injury of their neighbour, but to their own. Therefore
those persons who a little while before came safe and sound to
the banquet, and in friendship for one another, do presently
afterwards depart in hostility and mutilated in their bodies.
And some of theso men stand in need of advocates and
judges, and others require surgeons and physicians, and the
help which may be received from them. Others again who
seem to be a more moderate kind of feasters when they have
drunk unmixed wine as if it were mandragora, boil over as it
were, and lean on their left elbow, and turn their heads on
* Odyssey ix. 35.x
ON A CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE. 11
one side with their breath redolent of their wine, till at last
they sink into profound slumber, neither seeing nor hearing
anything, as if they had but one single sense, and that the
most slavish of all, namely, taste. And I know some persons
who, when they are completely filled with wine, before they are
wholly overpowered by it, begin to prepare a drinking party
for the next day by a kind of subscription and picnic contribution,
conceiving a great part of their present delight to consist in
the hope of future drunkenness ; and in this manner they exist
to the very end of their lives, without a house and without a
home, the enemies of their parents, and of their wives, and of
their children, and the enemies of their country, and the worst
enemies of all to themselves. For a debauched and profligate
life is apt to lay snares for every one.
VI. And perhaps some people may be inclined to approve
of the arrangement of such entertainments which at present
prevails everywhere, from an admiration of, and a desire of
imitating, the luxury and extravagance of the Italians which
both Greeks and barbarians emulate, making all their pre
parations with a view to show rather than to real enjoy
ment, for they use couches called triclinia, and sofas all round
the table made of tortoiseshell, and ivory, arid other costly
materials, most of which are inlaid with precious stones ; and
coverlets of purple embroidered with gold and silver thread ;
and others brocaded in flowers of every kind of hue and colour
imaginable to allure the sight, and a vast array of drinking
cups arrayed according to each separate description ; for there
are bowls, and vases, and beakers, and goblets, and all kinds
of other vessels wrought with the most exquisite skill, their
clean cups and others finished with the most elaborate refine
ment of skilful and ingenious men ; and well shaped slaves of
the most exquisite beauty, ministering, as if they had come
not more for the purpose of serving the guests than of delight
ing the eyes of the spectators by their mere appearance.
Of these slaves, some, being still boys, pour out the wine :
and others more fully grown pour water, being carefully washed
and rubbed down, with their faces anointed and pencilled, and
the hair of their heads admirably plaited and curled and
wreathed in delicate knots ; for they have very long hair, being
either completely unshorn, or else having only the hair on
their foreheads cut at the end so as to make them of an equal
12 PDILO JUD.-EUS.
length all round, being accurately sloped away so as to repre
sent a circular line, and being clothed in tunics of the most
delicate texture, and of the purest white, reaching in front
down to the lower part of the knee, and behind to a little
below the calf of the leg, and drawing up each side with a
gentle doubling of the fringe at the joinings of the tunics,
raising undulations of the garment as it were at the sides, and
widening them at the hollow part of the side.
Others, again, are young men just beginning to show a
beard on their youthful chins, having been, for a short time, the
sport of the profligate debauchees, and being prepared with
exceeding care and diligence for more painful services : being
a kind of exhibition of the excessive opulence of the giver of
the feast, or rather, to say the truth, of their thorough
ignorance of all propriety, as those who are acquainted with
them well know.
Besides all these things, there is au infinite variety of sweet
meats, and delicacies, and confections, about which bakers and
cooks and confectioners labour, considering not the taste, which
is the point of real importance, so as to make the food palatable
to that, but also the sight, so as to allure that by the delicacy
of the look of their viands. Accordingly, seven tables, and
often more, are brought in, full of every kind of delicacy which
earth, and sea, and rivers, and air produce, all procured with
great pains, and in high condition, composed of terrestrial, and
acquatic, and flying creatures, every one of which is different
both in its mode of dressing and in its seasoning.
And that no description of thing existing in nature may be
omitted, at the last dishes are brought in full of fruits, besides
those which are kept back for the more luxurious portion of
the entertainment, and for what is called the dessert ; and
afterwards some of the dishes are carried away empty from tin;
insatiable greediness of those at table, who, gorging themselves
like cormorants, devour all tlio delicacies so completely that
they gnaw even the bones, which some left half devoured after
all that they contained has been torn to pieces and spoiled.
And when they are completely tired with eating, having their
bellies filled up to their very throats, but their desires still
unsatisfied, being fatigued with eating they turn their heads
round in every direction, scanning everything with their eyes
and with their nostrils, examining the richness and the number
ON A CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE. 13
of the dishes with the first, and the steam which is sent up by
them with the second.
Then, when they are thoroughly sated both with the sight
and with the scent, these senses again prompt their owners to
eat, praising in no moderate terms both the entertainment
itself and the giver of it, for its costliness and magnificence.
However, why need I dwell with prolixity on these matters,
which are already condemned by the generality of more
moderate men as inflaming the passions, the diminution of
which is desirable ? For any one in his senses would pray for
the most unfortunate of all states, hunger and thirst, rather
than for a most unlimited abundance of meat and drink at
such banquets as these.
VII. Now of the banquets among the Greeks the two most
celebrated and most remarkable are those at which Socrates
also was present, the one in the house of Callias, when, after
Autolycus had gained the crown of victory, he gave a feast in
honour of the event, and the other in the house of Agathon,
which was thought worthy of being commemorated by men
who were imbued with the true spirit of philosophy both in
their dispositions and in their discourses, Plato and Xenophon,
for they recorded them as events worthy to be had in perpetual
recollection, looking upon it that future generations would take
them as models for a well managed arrangement of future
banquets ; but nevertheless even these, if compared with the
banquets of the men of our time who have embraced the con
templative system of life, will appear ridiculous. Each descrip
tion, indeed, has its own pleasures, but that recorded by Xeno
phon is the one the delights of which are most in accordance
with human nature, for female harp-players, and dancers, and
conjurors, and jugglers, and men who do ridiculous things, who
pride themselves much on their powers of jesting and of
amusing others, and many other species of more cheerful
relaxation, are brought forward at it. But the entertainment
recorded by Plato is almost entirely connected with love ; not
that of men madly desirous or fond of women, or of women
furiously in love with men, for these desires are accomplished
in accordance with a law of nature, but with that love which is
felt by men for one another, differing only in respect of age ;
for if there is anything in the account of that banquet elegantly
said in praise of genuine love and heavenly Venus, it is
14 PI1ILO JUD/EUS.
introduced merely for the sake of making a neat speech ; for
the greater part of the book is occupied by common, vulgar,
promiscuous love, which takes away from the soul courage,
that which is the most serviceable of all virtues both in war
and in peace, and which engenders in it instead the female
disease, and renders men men-women, though they ought
rather to be carefully trained in all the practices likely to give
men valour.
And having corrupted the age of boys, and having metamor
phosed them and removed them into the classification arid
character of women, it has injured their lovers also in the most
important particulars, their bodies, their souls, and their
properties ; for it follows of necessity that the mind of a lover
of boys must be kept on the stretch towards the objects of his
affection, and must have no acuteness of vision for any other
object, but must be blinded by its desire as to all other
objects private or common, and must so be wasted away, more
especially if it fails in its objects. Moreover, the man s
propertVmust be diminished on two accounts, both from the
owner s" neglect and from his expenses for the beloved object.
There is also another greater evil which affects the whole
people, and which grows up alongside of the other, for men
who give into such passions produce solitude in cities, and a
scarcity of the best kind of men, and barrenness, and unpro
ductiveness, inasmuch as they are imitating those farmers who
are unskilful in agriculture, and who, instead of the deep-soiled
champaign country, sow briny marshes, or stony and rugged
districts, which are not calculated to produce crops of any kind,
and which only destroy the seed which is put into them. I
pass over in silence the different fabulous fictions, and the
stories of persons with two bodies, who having originally been
stuck to one another by amatory influences, are subsequently
separated like portions which have been brought together and
are disjoined again, the harmony having been dissolved by
which they were held together ; for all these things are very
attractive, being able by the novelty of their imagination to
allure the ears, but they are despised by the disciples of
Moses, who in tho abundance of their wisdom have learnt
from their earliest infancy to love truth, and also continue to
the end of their lives impossible to be deceived.
VIII. l>ut since the entertainments of the greatest celebrity
ON A CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE. ]5
are full of such trifling and folly, bearing conviction in them
selves, if any one should think fit not to regard vague opinion
and the character which has been commonly handed down
concerning them as feasts which have gone off with the most
eminent success, I will oppose to them the entertainments of
those persons who have devoted their whole life and themselves
to the knowledge and contemplation of the affairs of nature in
accordance with the most sacred admonitions and precepts of
the prophet Moses.
In the first place, these men assemble at the end of seven
weeks, venerating not only the simple week of seven days, but
also its multiplied power, for they know it to be pure and
always virgin ; and it is a prelude and a kind of forefeast of
the greatest feast, which is assigned to the number fifty, the
most holy and natural of numbers, being compounded of the
power of the right-angled triangle, which is the principle of the
origination and condition of the whole.
Therefore when they come together clothed in white
garments, and joyful with the most exceeding gravity, when
some one of the ephemereutae (for that is the appellation
which they are accustomed to give to those who are employed
in such ministrations), before they sit down to meat standing
in order in a row, and raising their eyes and their hands to
heaven, the one because they have learnt to fix their attention
on what is worth looking at, and the other because they are
free from the reproach of all impure gain, being never polluted
under any pretence whatever by any description of criminality
which can arise from any means taken to procure advantage,
they pray to God that the entertainment may be acceptable,
and welcome, and pleasing ; and after having offered up these
prayers the elders sit down to meat, still observing the order in
which they were previously arranged, for they do not look on
those as elders who are advanced in years and very ancient, but
in some cases they esteem those as very young men, if they have
attached themselves to this sect only lately, but those whom
they call elders are those who from their earliest infancy have
grown up and arrived at maturity in the speculative portion 01
philosophy, which is the most beautiful and most divine part
of it.
And the women also share in this feast, the greater part of
whom, though old, are virgins in respect of their purity (not
]g PIIILO JUD.-EUS.
indeed through necessity, as some of the priestesses among the
Greeks are, who have been compelled to preserve their chastity
more than they would have done of their own accord), but out
of an admiration for and love of wisdom, with which they are
desirous to pass their lives, on account of which they are indif
ferent to the pleasures of the body, desiring not a mortal but
an immortal offspring, which the soul that is attached to God
is alone able to produce by itself and from itself, the Father
having sown in it rays of light appreciable only by the intel
lect, by means of which it will be able to perceive the doctrines
of wisdom.
IX. And the order in which they sit down to meat is a
divided one, the men sitting on the right hand and the women
apart from them on the left ; and in case any one by chance
suspects that cushions, if not very costly ones, still at all events
of a tolerably soft substance, are prepared for men who are
well born and well bred, and contemplators of philosophy, he
must know that they have nothing but rugs of the coarsest
materials, cheap mats of the most ordinary kind of the papyrus
of the land, piled up on the ground and projecting a little near
the elbow, so that the feasters may lean upon them, for they
relax in a slight degree the Lacedaemonian rigour of life, and
at all times and in all places they practise a liberal, gentle
manlike kind of frugality, hating the allurements of pleasure
with all their might.
And they do not use the ministrations of slaves, looking
upon the possession of servants or slaves to be a thing abso
lutely and wholly contrary to nature, for nature has created all
men free, but the injustice and covetousness of some men who
prefer inequality, that cause of all evil, having subdued some,
has given to the more powerful authority over those who are
weaker.
Accordingly in this sacred entertainment there is, as I have
said, no slave, but free men minister to the guests, perform
ing the ofiiccs of servants, not under compulsion, nor in
obedience to any imperious commands, hut of their own
voluntary free will, with all eagerness and promptitude anti
cipating all orders, for they are not any chance free men who
are appointed to perform these duties, but young men who are
selected from their order with all possible care on account of
their excellence, acting as virtuous and well-born youths ought
ON A CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE. 17
to act who are eager to attain to the perfection of virtue, and
who, like legitimate sons, with affectionate rivalry minister to
their fathers and mothers, thinking their common parents
more closely connected with them than those who are related
by blood, since in truth to men of right principles there is
nothing more nearly akin than virtue ; and they come in to
perform their service ungirdled, and with their tunics let
down, in order that nothing which bears any resemblance to a
slavish appearance may be introduced into this festival
I know well that some persons will laugh when they hear
this, but they who laugh will be those who do things worthy of
weeping and lamentation. And in those days wine is not in
troduced, but only the clearest water; cold water for the gene
rality, and hot water for those old men who are accustomed to
a luxurious life. And the table, too, bears nothing which has
blood, but there is placed upon it bread for food and salt for
seasoning, to which also hyssop is sometimes added as an extra
sauce for the sake of -those who are delicate in their eating, for
just as right reason commands the priest to offer up sober
sacrifices, so also these men are commanded to live sober lives,
for wine is the medicine of folly, and costly seasonings and
sauces excite desire, which is the most insatiable of all beasts.
X. These, then, are the first circumstances of the feast ;
but after the guests have sat down to the table in the order
which I have been describing, and when those who minister to
them are all standing around in order, ready to wait upon
them, and when there is nothing to drink, some one will say
.... but even more so than before, so that no one ventures
to mutter, or even to breathe at all hard, and then some one
looks out some passage in the sacred scriptures, or explains
some difficulty which is proposed by some one else, without
any thoughts of display on his own part, for he is not aiming
at reputation for cleverness and eloquence, but is only desirous
to see some points more accurately, and is content when he
has thus seen them himself not to bear ill will to others, who,
even if they did not perceive the truth with equal acuteness,
have at all events an equal desire of learning. And he, indeed,
follows a slower method of instruction, dwelling on and linger
ing over his explanations with repetitions, in order to imprint
his conceptions deep in the minds of his hearers, for as the
understanding of his hearers is not able to keep up with the
U VOL. IV. C
18 rniLO JUD/EUS.
interpretation of one who goes on fluently, without stopping to
take breath, it gets behind-hand, and fails to comprehend what
is said ; but the hearers, fixing their eyes and attention upon
the speaker, remain in one and the same position listening
attentively, indicating their attention and comprehension by
their nods and looks, and the praise which they are inclined
to bestow on the speaker by the cheerfulness and gentle
manner in which they follow him with their eyes and with the
fore-finger of the right hand.
And the young men who are standing around attend to this
explanation no less than the guests themselves who are sitting
at meat. And these explanations of the sacred scriptures are
delivered by mystic expressions in allegories, for the whole of
the law appears to these men to resemble a living animal, and
its express commandments seem to be the body, and the
invisible meaning concealed under and lying beneath the
plain words resembles the soul, in which the rational soul
begins most excellently to contemplate what belongs to itself,
as in a mirror, beholding in these very words the exceeding
beauty of the sentiments, and unfolding and explaining the
symbols, and bringing the secret meaning naked to the light
to all who are able by the light of a slight intimation to per
ceive what is unseen by what is visible.
When, therefore, the president appears to have spoken at
sufficient length, and to have carried out his intentions
adequately, so that his explanation has gone on felicitously
and fluently through his own acuteness, and the hearing
of the others has been profitable, applause arises from them
all as of men rejoicing together at what they have seen
and heard ; and then some one rising up sings a hymn which
has been made in honour of God, either such as he has com
posed himself, or some ancient one of some old poet, for they
Jiave left behind them many poems and songs in trimetre
iambics, and in psalms of thanksgiving and in hymns, and
songs at the time of libation, and at the altar, and in regular
order, and in choruses, admirably measured out in various
and well diversified strophes.
And after him then others also arise in their ranks, in
Incoming order, while every one else listens in decent silence,
except when it is proper for them to take up the burden of the
bjng, and to join in at the end ; Cor then they all, both men
ON A CONTEMPLATIVE LIFE. 19
and women, join in the hymn. And when each individual
has finished his psalm, then the young men bring in the table
which was mentioned a little while ago, on which was placed
that most holy food, the leavened bread, with a seasoning of
salt, with which hyssop is mingled, out of reverence for the
sacred table, which lies thus in the holy outer temple ; for on
this table are placed loaves and salt without seasoning, and
the bread is unleavened, and the salt unmixed with anything
else, for it was becoming that the simplest and purest things
should be allotted to the most excellent portion of the priests,
as a reward for their ministrations, and that the others should
admire similar things, but should abstain from the loaves, in
order that those who are the more excellent persons may have
the precedence.
XI. And after the feast they celebrate the sacred festival
during the whole night ; and this nocturnal festival is celebrated
in the following manner : they all stand up together, and in
the middle of the entertainment two choruses are formed at
first, the one of men and the other of women, and for each
chorus there is a leader and chief selected, who is the most
honourable and most excellent of the band. Then they sing
hymns which have been composed in honour of God in many
metres and tunes, at one time all singing together, and at
another moving their hands and dancing in corresponding
harmony, and uttering in an inspired manner songs of thanks
giving, and at another time regular odes, and performing all
necessary strophes and antistrophes.
Then, when each chorus of the men and each chorus of the
women has feasted separately by itself, like persons in the
bacchanalian revels, drinking the pure wine of the love of
God, they join together, and the two become one chorus, an
imitation of that one which, in old time, was established by
the Red Sea, on account of the wondrous works which were
displayed there ; for, by the commandment of God, the sea
became to one party the cause of safety, and to the other
that of utter destruction ; for it being burst asunder, and
dragged back by a violent reflux, and being built up on each
side as if there were a solid wall, the space in the midst was
widened, and cut into a level and dry road, along which the
people passed over to the opposite land, being conducted
onwards to higher ground ; then, when the sea returned and
c a
20 PIIILO JUD.-EL S.
ran back to its former channel, and was poured out from both
sides, en what had just before been dry ground, those of the
enemy who pursued were overwhelmed and perished.
When the Israelites saw and experienced this great miracle,
which was an event beyond all description, beyond all imagi
nation, and beyond all hope, both men and women together,
under the influence of divine inspiration, becoming all one
chorus, sang hymns of thanksgiving to God the Saviour,
Moses the prophet leading the men, and Miriam the prophet
ess leading the women.
Now the chorus of male and female worshippers being
formed, as far as possible on this model, makes a most humor
ous concert, and a truly musical symphony, the shrill voices
of the women mingling with the deep- toned voices of the men.
The ideas were beautiful, the expressions beautiful, and the
chorus-singers were beautiful ; and the end of ideas, and
expressions, and chorus-singers, was piety ; therefore, being
intoxicated all night till the morning with this beautiful in
toxication, without feeling their heads heavy or closing their
eyes for sleep, but being even more awake than when they
came to the feast, as to their eyes and their whole bodies, and
standing there till morning, when they saw the sun rising they
raised their hands to heaven, imploring tranquillity and truth,
and acuteness of understanding.
And after their prayers they each retired to their own sepa
rate abodes, with the intention of again practising the usual
philosophy to which they had been wont to devote themselves.
This then is what I "have to say of those who are called
therapeutae, who have devoted themselves to the contempla
tion of nature, and who have lived in it and in the soul alone,
being citizens of heaven and of the world, and very acceptable
to the Father and Creator of the universe because of their vir
tue, which has procured them his love as their most appro
priate reward, which far surpasses all the gifts of fortune, and
conducts them to the very summit and perfection of happiness.
ON THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD. 21
A TREATISE
ON TJIK
INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD.
I. IN every uncertain and important business it is proper to
invoke God, because he is the good Creator of the world, and
because nothing is uncertain with him who is possessed of the
most accurate knowledge of all things. But of all times it is
most necessary to invoke him when one is preparing to discuss
the incorruptibility of the world ; for neither among the things
which are visible to the outward senses is there anything more
admirably complete than the world, nor among things appreci
able by the intellect is there anything more perfect than God.
But the mind is at all times the governor of the outward
sense, and that which is appreciable by the intellect is at all
times superior to that which is visible to the outward senses,
but those persons in whom there is implanted a vigorous and
earnest love of truth willingly undergo the trouble of making
inquiries relative to the subordinate things, from that which is
superior to and the ruler over them.
If then, we, who have been practised and trained in all the
doctrines of prudence, and temperance, and virtue, have
discarded all the stains of the passions and diseases, perhaps
God would not disdain to give to souls completely purified and
cleansed, so as to appear in his image, a knowledge of heavenly
things either by means of dreams, or of oracles, or of signs, or
of wonders. But since we have on us the marks of folly, and
injustice, and of all other vices strongly stamped upon us and
difficult to be effaced, we must be content even if we are only
able by them to discover some faint copy and imitation of the
truth. It is right, therefore, for those who are investigating
the question whether the world is perishable, since the two
words, "corruption," and " the world," will be in continual use,
first of all to investigate the precise meaning of both expres
sions, in order that we may know what is now signified, and
what has been ordained. And we must enumerate, not indeed
everything which is signified by those words, but so much as is
useful for the purpose of our present instruction.
JI. The world, therefore, is spoken of in its primary senso
22 FfllLO JUD^EUS.
as a single system, consisting of the heaven and the stars in
the circumference of the earth, and all the animals and plants
which are upon it ; and in another sense it is spoken of merely
as the heaven. And Anaxagoras, having a regard to this fact,
once made answer to a certain person who asked of him what
the reason was why he generally endeavoured to pass the
night in the open air, that he did so for the sake of beholding
the world, by which expression he meant the motions and
revolutions of the stars.
And in its third meaning, as the Stoics affirm, it is a certain
admirably-arranged essence, extending to the period of confla
gration, either beautifully adorned or unadorned, the periods
of the motion of which are called time.
But at present the subject of our consideration is the world,
taken in the first sense of the word, which being one only,
consists of the heaven, and of the earth, and of all that is
therein. And the term corruption is used to signify a change
for the worse; it is also used to signify the utter destruction .
that which exists, a destruction so complete as to have no
existence at all ; for as nothing is generated out of nothing, so
neither can anything which exists be destroyed so as to become
non-existence.* For it is impossible that anything should be
generated of that which has no existence anywhere, and equally
so that what does exist should be so utterly destroyed as never
to be mentioned or heard of again. And indeed in this spirit
the tragedian says :
" Nought that e er has been
Completely dies, but things combined
Before another union find ;
Quitting their former company,
And so again in other forma are seen."t
Nor is it so very silly a thing to doubt whether the world is
destroyed so as to pass into a state of non-existence, but rather
whether it is subjected to a change from a new arrangement,
being dissolved as to all the manifold forms of its elements and
combinations so as to assume one and the same appearance, c
whether, like a thing broken and dashed to pieces, it i
subjected to a complete confusion of its different fragments.
This is similar to Lucretius a doctrine
Nil igitur fieri de nihilo po.sse putanduna est.
t From the Chrysippud of Euripides.
or
ON THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD. 23
III. And there are three different opinions on the subject
which we are at present discussing. Since some persons
affirm that the world is eternal, and uncreated, and not liable
to any destruction ; while others, on the contrary, say that it
has been created and is destructible. There are also others
who take a portion of each of these two opinions, agreeing with
the last-mentioned sect that it has been created, but with the
former class that it is indestructible ; and thus they have left
behind them a mixed opinion, thinking that it is at the same
time created and imperishable.
However, Democritus and Epicurus, and the principal
number of the Stoic philosophers, affirm both the creation and
the destructibility of the world, though they do not all speak
in similar senses ; for some give a sketch of many worlds, the
generation of which they attribute to the concourse and combi
nation of atoms, and their destruction they impute to the
dissolution and breaking up of the combined particles.
But the Stoics speak of one world only, and affirm that
God is the cause of its creation, but that the cause of its cor
ruption is no longer God, but the power of invincible, un
wearied fire, which pervades all existing things, in the long
periods of time dissolving everything into itself, while from it
again a regeneration of the world takes place through the
providence of the Creator. And according to these men there
may be one world spoken of as eternal and another as destruc
tible, destructible in reference to its present arrangement, and
eternal as to the conflagration which takes place, since it is
rendered immortal by regenerations and periodical revolutions
which never cease.
But Aristotle, with a knowledge as to which I know not to
what degree I may call it holy and pious, affirmed that the
world was uncreated and indestructible, and he accused those
who maintained a contrary opinion of terrible impiety, for
thinking that so great a visible God was in no respect different
from things made with hands, though he contains within him
self the sun, and the moon, and all the rest of the planets
and fixed stars, and, in fact, the whole of the divine nature ;
and he said in a cavilling and reproachful tone, that formerly
he had feared for his house lest it should be overthrown by
violent gales, or extraordinary storms, or by lapse of time, or
through the want of the proper care requisite to preserve it,
21 PIIILO JUD^US.
but that now he had a much greater fear hanging over him in
consequence of those men who by their reasonings went to
destroy the whole world. But some say that it was not
Aristotle who invented this doctrine, but some of the Py
thagoreans ; but I have met with a work of Ocellus, a Luca-
nian by birth, entitled, " A Treatise on the Nature of the
Universe," in which he has not only asserted that the world is
indestructible, but he has even endeavoured to prove it so by
demonstrative proofs.
IV. But some say that the world has been proved by Plato
in the Timrcus to be both uncreated and indestructible, in the
account of that divine assembly in which the younger gods are
addressed by the eldest and the governor of them all in the
following terms ;* " ye gods of gods, those works of which
I am the father and the creator are indissoluble as long as 1
choose that they shall be so. Now everything which has been
bound together is capable of being dissolved, but it is the part
of an evil ruler to dissolve that which has been well combined
and arranged, and which is in good condition. Wherefore,
since you also have been created, 3-011 are not of necessity
immortal or utterly indissoluble ; nevertheless you shall not
be dissolved, nor shall you be exposed to the fate of death, in
asmuch as you have my will to keep you united, which is a
still greater and more powerful bond than those by which you
were bound together when you were first created.
But some persons interpret Plato s words sophistically, and
think that he affirms that the world was created, not inas
much as it has had a beginning of creation, but inasmuch as
if it had been created it could not possibly have existed in any
other manner than that in which it actually does exist as has
been described, or else because it is in its creation and change
that the parts are seen. But the forementioned opinion is
better and truer, not only because throughout the whole
treatise he affirms that the Creator of the gods is also the father
and creator and maker of everything, and that the world is a
most beautiful work of his and his offspring, being an imita
tion visible to the outward senses of an archetypal model
appreciable only by the intellect, comprehending in itself as
many objects of the outward senses as the model does objects
* Tirnceua, p. 40.
OX THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD. 25
of the intellect, since it is a most perfect impression of a
most perfect model, and is addressed to the outward sense as
the other is to the intellect.*
But also because Aristotle bears witness to this fact in the
case of Plato, who, from his great reverence for philosophy,
would never have spoken falsely, and also because no one can
possibly be more to be credited in the case of a teacher than
his pupil, especially when the pupil is such a man as this who
did not apply himself to instruction lightly with an indifference
easily satisfied, but who even endeavoured to surpass all the
discoveries of former men, and did actually devise some novel
ties and enrich every part of philosophy with some most
important discoveries.
V. But some persons think that the father of the Platonic
theory was the poet Hesiod, as they conceive that the world is
spoken of by him as created and indestructible ; as created,
when he says,
" First did Chaos rule ;
Then the broad-chested earth was brought to light,
Foundation firm and lasting for whatever
Exists among mankind ;"f
and as indestructible, because he has given no hint of its dis
solution or destruction.
Now Chaos was conceived by Aristotle to be a place/ because
it is absolutely necessary that a place to receive them must be
in existence before bodies. But some of the Stoics think that
it is water, imagining that its name has been derived from
effusion.;}; But however that may be, it is exceedingly plain
that the world is spoken of by Hesiod as having been created :
and a very long time before him Moses, the lawgiver of the
Jews, had said in his sacred volumes that the world was both
created and indestructible, and the number of the books is five.
The first of which he entitled Genesis, in which he begins in
the following manner : " In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth ; and the earth was invisible and \vithout
form." Then proceeding onwards he relates in the following
verses, that days and nights, and seasons, and years, and the
sun and moon, which showed the nature of the measurement
* There is probably some corruption in the text here.
f Hesiod, Theogon 116.
+ Xt dij, 1 , as if chaos were derived from vtw, " to pour."
26 PIJILO JUD^EUS.
of time, were created, which, having received an immortal
portion in common with the whole heaven, continue for ever
indestructible.
But we must place those arguments first which make out
the world to be uncreated and indestructible, because of our
respect for that which is visible, employing an appropriate
commencement. To all things which are liable to destruction
there are two causes of that destruction, one being internal
and the other external ; therefore you may find iron, and
brass, and all other substances of that kind destroyed by
themselves when rust, like a creeping disease, overruns and
devours them ; and by external causes when, if a house or ;i
city is burnt, they also are consumed in the conflagration,
Ix- ing melted by the violent impetuosity of the fire.
A similar end also befalls animals, partly when they are
sick of diseases arising internally, and partly when they arc
destroyed by external causes, being sacrificed, or stoned, or
burnt, or when they endure an unclean death by hanging.
And if the world also is destroyed, then it must of necessity
be so either by some external cause, or else by some one of
the powers which exist within itself; and both these alter
natives are impossible, for there is nothing whatever outside of
the world, since all things are brought together in order to
make it complete and full, for it is in this way that it will be
one, and whole, and free from old age ; it will be one, because
if anything were left outside of it, then another world might
be created resembling that which exists now ; and whole,
because the whole of its essence is expended on itself ; and
exempt from old age and from all disease, since those bodies
which are liable to be destroyed by disease or old age are
violently overthrown by external causes, such as heat, and
cold, and other contrary qualities, no power of which is able to
escape so as to surround and attack the world, all those being
entirely enclosed within, without any part whatever being
separated from the rest.
But if indeed there is any external thing it must by all
means be a vacuum, or else a nature absolutely impossible,
which it would be impossible should either suffer or do any
thing. And again, it will also not be dissolved by anv
cause existing within itself; first of all because, if it were,
then the part would be greater and more powerful than the
ON THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD. 27
whole, which is the greatest possible absurdity, for the world,
enjoying an unsurpassable power, influences all its parts, and
is not itself influenced or moved by any one of them ; in the
second place because, since there are two causes of corruption,
the one being internal and the other external, those things
which are competent to admit the one must also by all means
be liable to the other ; and a proof of this may be found in
oxen, and horses, and men, and other animals of similar kinds,
because it is their nature to be destroyed by the sword, or to
be liable to die by disease ; for it is difficult, or I might rather
say impossible, to find anything which, being by nature at the
mercy of some external cause perceptible by the intellect, will
still not be liable to corruption ... by itself when the world
was not.
For that which has no existence is not put in motion, but it
has been shown already that time is an interval of the motion
of the world. It follows, therefore, of necessity, that each of
these things must have subsisted from all eternity, without
receiving any beginning of generation, and being in conse
quence not liable to any corruption. Perhaps some quibbling
Stoic will say that time is admitted to be an interval of the
motion of the world, but not of that world only which is
arranged and adorned by itself, but also of that one which is
conceived of in connection with the conflagration which has
been spoken of; to whom we must reply, " My good man,
you, misapplying words, call what is disorderliness and a want
of arrangement order (xoV^og), for if this thing which we see
is correctly and appropriately called the world (xoV/^os),*
being arranged and adorned (xsxo<r//,?j/Aei>o) as we see it by
man, by the perfection of his skill, then any one would be
surely correct in calling the change which is wrought in it by
fire a want of order."
VI. But Critolaus, a man who devoted himself very much
to literature, and a lover of the Peripatetic philosophy, agree
ing with the doctrine of the eternity of the world, used the
following arguments to prove it: "If the world was created,
then it follows of necessity that the earth was created also ; and
if the earth was created, then beyond all question the human
race was so too. But man was not created, since he subsists
* Philo is playing here on the two meanings of the word
which signifies both u order " and " the world."
28 PIIILO JUD.-KUS.
of an everlasting race, as shall be proved, therefore the world
is eternal."
But I must now proceed to examine the argument which i
postponed just now, if indeed things that are so evident stand
in need of any demonstration ; but, indeed, proofs are neces
sary on account of the inventors of fables who, filling all life
with their falsehoods, have utterly driven truth out of the
land, and have not merely banished it from cities and houses,
but have even deprived each separate individual of that most,
valuable possession, and, for the purpose of alluring his sight,
have invented metres and rhythm as a bait and a snare, by
which they cajole the ears of fools, just as ugly and shapeless
courtesans allure the eyes by necklaces and spurious ornaments
in the absence of all genuine beauty, for they say that the genera
tion of mankind by means of one another is a more recent work
of nature, but that the more original and ancient mode of their
birth is out of the earth, since she both is and is considered
the mother of all men. And they say that those men who are
celebrated among the Greeks as having sprung from seed were
produced and grew up as trees do now, being perfect and com
pletely armed sons of the earth. But that this is a mere
fiction of fable it is easy to see from many circumstances.
For the very moment that the first man was born there was
a necessity for his receiving growth in accordance with the
previously defined measures ana numbers of time, for nature
has arranged the different ages as certain steps along which
man in a manner ascends and descends; he ascends while he
is growing, and he descends at the period when he is lessen
ing ; and the boundary of the uppermost steps is the prime
of life at which when a man has arrived he no longer makes
any further advance ; but as runners who run the diaulos turn
back again upon the same path which they have already
travelled, so too docs man retrace his steps, giving back in the
weakness of old age what he has received from vigorous youth ;
but to fancy that any one has ever been born absolutely perfect
is the part of those who are ignorant of the laws of nature,
which are unchangeable ordinances.
For our minds, being vitiated by the contagion of the mortal
body which is united to them, are very naturally liable to
changes and alterations, but the works of the nature of the
universe are unalterable, since she has dominion over all
OX THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD. 29
things, and by means of the stability of whatever desires she
has once established she preserves the definitions which have
been originally fixed in an unchangeable state. If then she
had originally thought it proper that men should be born
perfect, now also man would still be born in a perfect state,
without ever being an infant, or a boy, or a youth, but he
would at once be a man, and perhaps he would be altogether
exempt from old age and from death, for that thing which has
no increase must also of necessity be exempt from all diminu
tion, for up to the prime of a man s life all his changes tend
towards increase, but from that period up to old age and death
they exist with a gradual diminution ; and it is natural to
suppose that he who has no share in the former must also be
free from the subsequent changes.
And what is there that can hinder men from shooting up
now out of the ground like plants, as they say that they did in
former times ? For the earth has not yet grown old so as to
appear to have become barren by reason of the lapse of time,
but it remains in the same condition as before, being always
young, because it is a fourth part of the universe, and for the
sake of ensuring the duration of the universe it is bound not
to decay, because its kindred elements, water, air, and fire,
all remain for ever exempt from old age. And there is a
visible proof of the uninterrupted and everlasting vigour of
the earth in the plants which spring from it, for being purified,
either by the overflowing of rivers, as they say that Egypt is,
or by annual rains, by such irrigation it refreshes and recruits
its exhausted powers, and then, having rested for a while, it
recovers its natural powers to the full extent of its original
vigour, and then it begins again with a repetition of the pro
duction of similar things to those which it produced before to
supply abundant food to every description of animal.
VII. In reference to which fact it appears to me that the
poets were very felicitous in the appellation which they gave
to the earth when they called it Pandora, inasmuch as it gives
all things,* both such as are required for use and such as
serve to pleasure and to enjoyment, and that not to some only
but to all animals which enjoy life. Accordingly, if any one,
when the spring was in its prime, should be borne on wings
and raised aloft, and look down from his height upon the
00 PHILO
mountain and champaign country, and see the one abounding
in rich grass, and verdant, producing herbage, and fodder, and
barley, and wheat, and innumerable other kinds of crops sucli
as are grown from seed which the husbandmen have strown,
and which the season of the year affords of its own accord,
and the other overshadowed with branches and leaves bv
which the trees are adorned, and very full of fruits (not only
such as are suitable for food, but also of such as are able to
heal suffering, for the fruit of the olive relieves the fatigue of tho
body, and that of the vine, when drunk in moderation, relaxes
the excessive pains of the soul), and rich also in the fragrant
airs which are borne around from flowers, and the indescriba
ble peculiarities of the various flowers which are diversified
by divine skill.
And then, if he turns aside his eyes from those trees which
admit of cultivation, and beholds in their turn poplars, and
cedars, and pines, and ashes, and the lofty oaks, and the dense
and unceasing masses of all the other wild trees which over
shadow the most numerous and the greatest of the mountains,
and the greater part of the border country wherever there is
any deep soil, he will then know that the vigour of the earth,
which is always young, is unremitting, unsubdued, and un
wearied.
So that since it is in no degree deprived of any portion of
its former strength, if it had ever done so before, it would be
bringing forth men now also, for two most forcible reasons,
one in order that it might not quit the classification belonging
to it, especially in the sowing and production of that most
excellent of all the creatures which dwell upon the earth, the
ruler of all, man, and secondly for the sake of giving assist
ance to women, who after they have conceived are for about
ten months weighed down with the most severe pains, and
when they are about to bring forth do very often die in the
very pains of labour.
Is it not then altogether a terrible piece of stupidity to imagine
that the earth contains any womb calculated for the production
of men ? for the womb is the place which vivifies the animal,
being as some one has called it the workshop of nature, in
which it fashions nothing but animals ; but it is not a portion
of the earth, but of a female animal, carefully fashioned so
as to be adapted for the production of living creatures, since
ON THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD. 31
otherwise it would be necessary for us to attribute breasts
to the earth as to a woman, when it produces men and they
are born, so that when first born they may have appropriate
food.
But there is no river nor fountain in the whole habitable
world which is said ever to have produced milk instead of
water ; and in addition to this, as it is necessary that a child
just born must be fed on milk, so also must he avail himself
of the protection of clothing on account of the injury which
ensues from cold or heat to children while they are being
reared, on which account nurses and mothers, to whom the
care of infants when just born is of necessity committed,
wrap them up in swaddling clothes ; but if they were produced
out of the earth, how would it be possible that, being left com
pletely naked, they would not be at once destroyed either by
the coldness of the air on the one hand, or the burning heat
of the sun on the other ? for when great cold or great heat
gets the mastery, it produces diseases and corruptions.
But after the inventors of fables once began to neglect the
truth they then ventured to add to their monstrous stories the
fiction that those men who sprung from seed were born also in
complete armour ; for what smith, or what new Vulcan, was
there under the earth so skilful as in a moment to prepare so
many suits of armour? and what experience had creatures
just born to enable them to use their weapons? for man is a
very peaceful animal, nature having given to him reason
as his especial honour, by means of which he charms and
tames the savage passions. It would have been much better
instead of arms to give him a herald s wand, a symbol of
agreement and peace suitable to a reasonable nature, in order
that he might so proclaim peace instead of war to all men
everywhere.
VIII. We have now then discussed at sufficient length the
nonsense in opposition to truth which is uttered by those who
build up falsehood and fables. But we must be well assured
that men have from all eternity sprung from other men in
constant succession, the man implanting the seed in the
woman as in a field, and the woman receiving the seed so as to
preserve it, and nature by her unseen operations fashioning
everything, and each separate part of the body and of the
soul, and giving to the whole race of mankind that which each
3 % 2 PHILO JUD/EUS.
individual separately is unable to receive, namely, the prin
ciple of immortality ; for though the individual members are
continually perishing, yet the race remains undying as a truly
divine work. But if man, who is but a small portion of the
universe, is eternal, then certainly the world itself must have
been uncreated so as to be imperishable.
IX. But Critolaus, in arguing in support of his opinion,
brought forward an argument of this kind, " That which is
the cause to man of his being in health is itself free from
disease, and, in like manner, the cause of his keeping awake
must itself be sleepless ; and if this is the case, that which is
the cause of his existing for ever must itself also be everlast-
No\v the cause of man s existing for ever is the world,
ing.
since it is so to all other things whatever ; therefore the world
also is immortal. Nevertheless, this point also is worthy of
one consideration : that everything which is born must by all
means at the beginning be imperfect, but as time advances he
must increase till he arrives at complete perfection, so that if
the world was born it was at one time (that I may use the ex
pressions appropriate to the ages of men) a mere infant, and
subsequently increasing in periods of years and lapse of time,
it at last and with great difficulty arrived at perfection, for of
necessity the period at which that which of all things has the
longest existence must be late.
But if any one fancies that the world has ever really been
subjected to such changes as these, it is time that he should
learn that he has been under the influence of incurable mad
ness, for it is plain that if that is the case not only will its
bodily appearance be increased, but its mind also will receive
growth, since they who attribute liability to perish to it con
ceive it to be a rational creature. Therefore, just, like a man,
it will be devoid of reason at the commencement of its exist
ence, but endowed with reason at the age when it is in its
prime, which it is impious not only to say, but even to think,
for how can we imagine the most perfect visible circumference
which surrounds us, and which contains within itself so many
individual inhabitants, is not always perfect both in soul and
body, being exempt from all those evils in which everything
which has been born and which is perishable is implicated ?
X. And in addition to this he says, that there are three
causes of death to living animals, besides the external causes
ON THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD. 33
which may affect them, namely, disease, old age, arid want,
by no one of which is the world liable to be attacked or sub
dued, for that it is composed of entire elements, since there is
no part of them which is left out or which remains at liberty,
so that any violence can be offered to it, and it also is superior
to those powers from which diseases arise ; and they yielding
keep the world free from all disease, and free from old age,
arid in a state of the most perfect self-sufficiency as to all its
requirements, and without need of anything, since there is
nothing wanting to it which can possibly contribute to its
durability, and wholly exempt from all successions and alter
nations of fulness and emptiness, which animals being subject
to by reason of their unregulated insatiability, bring upon
themselves death instead of life, or, to speak more accurately,
a life which is more pitiable than any destruction.
Moreover, if we saw that there was no such thing as any
eternal nature to be seen, those who assert the liability of the
world to destruction would not appear to be so guilty of dis
paraging the world without any excuse, since they would have
no example whatever of anything being everlasting ; but since
fate, according to the doctrine of those who have investigated
the principles of natural philosophy most accurately, is a thing
without any beginning and without any end, connecting all
the causes of everything, as to leave no break and no interrup
tion, why may we not in like manner also affirm of the nature
of the world that it subsists for a great length of time, being,
as it were, an arrangement of what is otherwise in no order,
a harmony of what is otherwise wholly destitute of such har
mony, an agreement of what is otherwise without agreement,
a union of things previously separated, a condition of stocks
and stones, a nature of things growing from seed and of trees,
a life of all animals, the mind and reason of men, and the
most perfect virtue of virtuous men ?
But if the nature of the world is uncreated and indestruc
tible, then it is plain that the world is held together and
powerfully preserved by an everlasting indissoluble chain.
But some of those who used to hold a different opinion, being
overpowered by truth, have changed their doctrine ; for beauty
has a power which is very attractive, and the truth is beyond
all things beautiful, as falsehood on the contrary is enormously
VOL. IV. D
34 PHILO JUDJECTS.
ugly ; therefore Boethus, and Posidonius, and Panaetius, men
of great learning in the Stoic doctrines, as if seized with a
Budden inspiration, abandoning all the stories about conflagra
tions and regeneration, have come over to the more divine
doctrine of the incorruptibility of the world ; and it is said
also that Diogenes, when he was very young, agreed entirely
with those authors
Since, therefore, the arrangement of the world is such as I
have endeavoured to describe it, so that there is no part what
ever left out, so as for any force to be applied, it has now been
proved that the world will not be destroyed by any external
thing, because in fact nothing whatever external h;is been left
at all ; nor will it be destroyed by anything in itself on account
of the proof which has already been considered and stated,
according to which that which was obnoxious to the power of
one of those causes was also naturally susceptible of the
influence of the other.
XI. And there are testimonies also in the Timoous to the
fact of the world being exempt from disease and not liable to
destruction, such as these : " Accordingly, of the four ele
ments the constitution of the world receives each in all its
integrity ; for he who compounded it made it to consist of the
whole of fire, and the whole of water, and the whole of air,
and the whole of earth, not leaving any portion or any power
of any one of them outside, from the following intentions :
in the first place, in order that the whole might be as far as
possible a perfect animal made up of perfect parts. And
besides all these things, he ordained that it should be one, in
asmuch as there is nothing left out of which another similar
world could be composed. Moreover, he willed that it should
he exempt from old age, and free from all disease, considering
that those things which in the body are hot or cold, or which
have mighty powers, if standing all around and falling upon
it unseasonably, would be likely to dissolve it, and, by intro
ducing diseases and old age, cause it to decay and perish. For
this cause, and because of this reason, God made the whole
universe to consist of entire and perfect elements, and exempt
from oM age and free from disease."
Let this be taken as a testimony delivered by Plato to the
imperishable nature of the world. Its uncreated character
follows from the truth of natural philosophy ; for dissolution
ON THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD. 35
raust of necessity attend everything which is born, and incor
ruptibility must inevitably belong to everything which is un
born ; since the poet who wrote the following iambic verse,
" All that is born must surely die," *
appears to have spoken very correctly when he asserted this
connection of destructibility with birth.
The argument may be stated in a different way as follows.
All compound things which are destroyed are dissolved into
the elements of which they were compounded ; accordingly,
dissolution is nothing else but a return of everything to its
original constituent parts ; just as, on the contrary, composition
is that which compels the things combined to come together in
a manner contrary to their nature ; and indeed, this appears
to be the most exact truth ; for men are composed of the four
elements which together make up the whole of the universe,
the heaver., the earth, the air, and fire, borrowing a few parts
of each in a manner at first sight hardly consistent with
nature. But the things which are thus combined together are
necessarily deprived of a motion in accordance with nature ; for
instance, warmth is deprived of its upward motion, and coldness
of its downward tendency, the earthy and somewhat weighty
substance being lightened and assuming the higher place,
which the most earth-like of our own parts, the head, has
obtained in us. But of all bonds, that is the worst which is
forged by violence, and which, being violent, is also short
lived ; for it is speedily broken by those who are bound in it,
since they become restive from their desire for a motion in ac
cordance with nature, to which they hasten ; for as the tragic
poet says,t
"And for things sprung from earth, they must
Return unto their parent dust,
While those from heavenly seed which rise
Are borne uplifted to the skies.
Nought that has once existed dies,
Though often what has been combined
Before, we separated find,
Invested with another form."
And this law and ordinance is established with reference to
* Timaous, p. 32.
f A fragment from the Chrysippus of Euripidea
D 2
P>0 PHILO JUD^EUS.
everything which is destroyed, that wherever composite things
are existing in combination they are thrown into disorder
instead of into the order in accordance with nature, which they
previously enjoyed, and they are removed to situations opposite
to those in which they were previously placed, so that they
seem in a manner to be sojourners ; and when they are dis
solved again, then they return to the appropriate parts allotted
to them by nature.
XII. But since the world has no participation in that irregu
larity which exists in the things which I have just been men
tioning, let us stop awhile and consider this point.
If the world were liable to corruption and destruction, it
follows of necessity that all its parts would at present be
arranged in a position not in accordance with nature : but it is
impious even to imagine such a thing as this ; for all the parts
of the world have received the most excellent position possible,
and an arrangement of the purest symmetry and harmony ; so
that each individual part, being content with its place as a
native country to it, does not seek any change for the better.
On this account it is that the most central position of all has
been assigned to the earth, to which all things belonging to
it adhere, and to which they descend again even if you throw
them into the air : and this is a proof that their place is in
accordance with nature ; for wherever anything is borne with
out any violence, and where it then remains firm and stationary,
that is clearly its natural place. And then, in the second
place, water was poured over the earth, and air and fire
have gone from the central to the upper part, air having
received for its portion the region which is on the borders
between air and lire, and fire having received the highest place
of all : on which account, if you light a torch and press it down
towards the ground, nevertheless the flame will still turn in a
contrary direction, and lightening itself in accordance with the
natural motion of fire, will rise upwards : if, then, motion con
trary to nature is the cause of corruptibility and destruction in
the case of other animals, but if in the case of the world every
one of its parts is arranged in complete accordance with
nature, having had appropriate positions allotted to each of
them, then surely the world must most justly be pronounced
incorruptible and imperishable.
Moreover this point is manifest to every one, that every
ON THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD. 37
nature is desirous to keep and preserve, and if it were possible
to make immortal, everything of which it is the nature ; the
nature of trees, for instance, desires to preserve trees, and the
nature of animals desires to preserve each individual animal.
But particular nature is of necessity unable to conduct what
it belongs to to eternity ; for want, or heat, or cold, or innu
merable other ordinary circumstances, when they affect parti
cular things, shake them and dissolve the bond which previ
ously held them together, and at last break them to pieces ;
but if nothing resembling any of these things were lying in
wait outside, then in that case nature itself, as far as it is
possible, would preserve everything both great and small free
from old age.
It follows therefore of necessity, that the nature of the
world must desire the durability of the universe ; for it is not
worse than particular natures, so that it should run away and
desert its proper duties, and attempt to produce disease
instead of health, and corruption and destruction instead of
complete safety, since,*
" High over all she lifts her beauteous face,
And towers above her nymphs with heavenly grace,
Fair as they all appear."
But if this be true, then the world cannot be capable of
destruction. Why so ? Because the nature which holds it
together is itself invincible by reason of its exceeding
strength and power, by which it gets the mastery over every
thing else which might be likely to injure it ; wherefore Plato
has well said :f " For nothing ever departed from it, nor did
anything ever come to it from any quarter ; for that was not
possible ; for there was nothing in existence which could come ;
for since it supplies itself with nutriment out of its own con
sumption, it also does everything and suffers everything in
itself and by itself, and is compounded with the most consum
mate art. For he who created it thought that it would be
better if wholly self-sufficient, than if in continual need of
accessories from other quarters."
XIII. However, this argument also is a most demonstra
tive one, on which I know that vast numbers of philosophers
* Homer, Odyssey vi. 107, where the lines quoted are applied to
Latona among her nymphs,
t Timseus, p. 33.
38 FHILO JUD^EUS.
pride themselves as one most accurately worked out, and
altogether irresistible ; for they inquire what reason there is
for God s destroying the world. For if he destroys it at all
he must do so either with the intention of never making a
world a fr ain, or with the object of creating a second fresh one ;
now the former idea is inconsistent with the character of God;
for it is proper to change disorder into order, and not order
into disorder ; in the second place, it is so because it would
give rise to repentance, which is an affliction and a disease of
the soul.
For he ought either never to have created a world at all,
or else, if he judged that it was a fitting employment for him,
he ought to have been pleased with it after it was made. But
the second reason deserves no superficial examination ; for if
he were intending to make another world instead of that which
exists at present, then of necessity this second world that
would be made, in that case, would be either worse than, or
similar to, or better than the first ; everyone of which ideas is
inadmissible ; for if the new world is to be worse than the
former, then the maker must be also worse : but all the works
of God are without blemish, beyond all reproach and wholly
faultless, inasmuch as they are wrought with the most consum
mate skill and knowledge ; for as the proverb says ;
" For e en a woman s wisdom s not so coarse
As to despiso the good and choose the worse."
But it is consistent with the character of, and becoming to
God to give form to what is shapeless, and to invest what is
most ugly with admirable beauty.
Again, if the new world is to be exactly like the old one,
then the maker is only wasting his labour, and differs in no
respect from infant children who, very often while playing on
the sea shore raise up little mounds of sand, and then pull
them down again with their hands and destroy them ; for it
would have been much better than making another world
exactly like the former, neither to take anything from, nor to
add anything to, nor to change either for the better or for the
worse, what existed originally, but to let it remain just as it
was.
If, on the other hand, he is about to make a world better
than the former one, then the maker too must be better than
the maker of the former world, so that when he made the
ON THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD. 39
former world he was inferior both in his skill and in his intel
lect, which it is impious even to imagine, for God is at all
times equal and similar to himself, being neither capable of
any relaxation which can make him worse, nor of any extension
which can make him better. Men, indeed, do admit of such
inequalities in either direction, being naturally liable to alter
either for the better or for the worse, and continually admitting
of increase, and advance, and improvement, and everything
contrary to these states ; and besides this, the works of us who
are but mortal men may very appropriately be perishable, but
the works of the immortal must in all consistency and reason
be likewise imperishable, for it is natural that what is made
should resemble the nature of the maker.
XIV. And, indeed, this I imagine is evident to every one,
that if the earth were to be destroyed, then all land animals of
every kind must also perish with it ; and if the water were
destroyed, all aquatic animals must perish ; and in like manner
if the air and fire were to be destroyed, all the animals which
traverse the air or which are born in the fire must come to an
end at the same time. Therefore, on the same principle, if
the heaven is destroyed, the sun and moon will also be
destroyed, and all the other planets likewise will be destroyed,
and all the fixed stars, and all that host of gods visible to the
outward senses which was formerly considered so happy ; and
to imagine this is nothing else than to fancy the gods them
selves in a process of destruction, for this is equivalent to
considering men immortal. And yet in a comparison between
different objects devoid of honour, if you were to consider the
matter, you would find it more consistent with probability to
look on men as immortal than to believe that the gods are
perishable, since it might happen through the grace of God,
for it is not improbable that a mortal might receive immor
tality, but it is impossible for gods to lose their immortality
even if the sophistries of mankind should run on to ever such
a degree of wicked insanity.
And, moreover, those persons who allege conflagrations and
regenerations of the world, think and confess that the stars are
gods, which nevertheless they are not ashamed to destroy as
far as their arguments go ; for they are bound to prove them
to be either red hot pieces of iron, as some do affirm, who
argue about the whole of the heaven as if it were a prison,
40 PEILO JUDJEUS.
talking utter nonsense, or else to look upon them as divine
and godlike natures, and then to attribute to them that immor
tality which belongs to gods.
But as it is, the} 7 have wandered so far from true doctrine,
that without being aware of it they have attributed corrupti
bility and perishableness to providence (and that is the soul of
the world) by the inconsistent principles which they advocate.
Therefore Chrysippus, the most celebrated philosopher of that
sect, in his treatise about Increase, utters some such prodigious
assertions as these, and after he has prefaced his doctrines
with the assertion that it is impossible for two makers of a
species to exist in the same substance, he proceeds, " Let it be
granted for the sake of argument and speculation that there is
one person entire and sound, and another wanting one foot
from his birth, and that the sound man is called Dion and the
cripple Theon, and afterwards that Dion also loses one of his
feet, then if the question were asked which had been spoiled, it
would be more natural to say this of Theon ;" but this is the
assertion of one who delights in paradox rather than in truth,
for how could it be said that he who had suffered no mutilation
whatever, namely Theon, was taken off, and that Dion, who
had lost a foot, was not injured ? Very appropriately, he will
reply, for Dion, who had had his foot cut off, falls back upon
the original imperfection of Theon, and there cannot be two
specific differences in the same subject, therefore it follows of
necessity that Dion must remain, and that Theon must be
taken off.
" So are we slain by arrows winged
With our own feathers," *
as the tragic poet says. For any one, copying the form of this
argument and adapting it to the entire world, may prove in
the clearest manner that providence itself is liable to corrup
tion. Consider the matter thus : let the world be the subject
of our argument, as Dion was just now, for it is perfect, and
let the soul of the world take the place of Theon, who was
* From the Myrmidons of ^schylus. The passage is evidently the
original of the Btanza in Waller s Ode to a Lady Singing
"That eagle s fate and mine are one,
Who on the shaft that made him die,
Espied a feather of his own,
Wherewith lie wont to soar so high."
ON THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD. 41
imperfect, since a part is less than the whole ; and as the foot
was cut off from Dion, so also let everything which resembles
a body be cut off from the world ; therefore it is necessary to
say that the world has not been destroyed though its body has
been taken away, just as Dion was not destroyed by having his
foot cut off, but the soul of the world it is that has perished,
like Theon, who suffered no artificial mutilation, for the world
also receded to a lesser substance when all of it that resembled
a body was taken away. And the soul was destroyed because
there could not be two specific differences affecting the same
subject. But it is impiety to say that providence perishes,
and since it is imperishable it follows of necessity that the
world also must be imperishable.
XV. However, time also affords a very great argument in
favour of the eternity of the world, for if time is uncreated,
then it follows of necessity that the world also must be
uncreated. Why so ? Because, as the great Plato says, it is
days, and nights, and months, and the periods of years which
have shown time, and it is surely impossible that time can
exist without the motion of the sun, and the rotary progress
of the whole heaven. So that it has been defined very felici
tously by those who are in the habit of giving definitions of
things, that time is the interval of the motion of the world,
and since this is a sound definition, then the world must be
co-eval with time and also the cause of its existence.
And it is the most absurd of all ideas to fancy that there
ever was a time when the world did not exist, for its nature is
without any beginning and without any end, since these very
expressions, " there was," " when," " formerly," all indicate
time ; and keeping to this view, then, according to the theory
of the conflagration* he at a late period of his life
entertained doubts and withheld any positive opinion ; for it
does not belong to "youth, but to old age, to see clearly things
of solemn importance which it is desirable to understand, and
especially as to matters which it is not the outer sense, which
is irrational and deceitful, that determines, but the pure and
unalloyed intellect.
XVI. But Boethus adduces the most convincing arguments,
which we shall proceed to mention immediately; for if, says he,
the world was created and is liable to destruction, then some-
* There is supposed to be a very large hiatus here.
42 PHILO JUD.EUS.
thing will be made out of nothing, which appears to be most
absurd even to the Stoics. Why so? Because it is not
possible to discover any cause of destruction cither within or
without, which will destroy the world. For on the outside
there is nothing except perhaps a vacuum, inasmuch as all the
elements in their integrity are collected and contained \\ithin
it, and within there is no imperfection so great as to be the
cause of dissolution to so great a thing.
Again, if it is destroyed without any cause, then it is plain
that from something which has no existence will arise the
engendering of destruction, which is an idea quite inadmissible
by reason ; and, indeed, they say that there are altogether
three generic manners of corruption, one which arises from
division, another which proceeds from a destruction of the
distinctive quality which holds the thing together, and the
third from confusion ; therefore the things which consist of a
union of separate members, such as flocks of goats, herds of
oxen, choruses, armies ; or, again, bodies which are com
pounded of limbs joined together, are dissolved by disjunction
and separation. But wax, when stamped with a new impres
sion, or softened before being remodelled so as to present a
new and different appearance, is corrupted by a destruction of
the distinctive quality which previously held it together. Other
things are corrupted by confusion, as the medicine which the
physicians call tetrapharmacon, for the powers of the drugs
brought together and combined were destroyed in such a
manner as to produce one perfect medicine of especial virtue.
By which, then, of these modes of corruption is it becoming
to say that the world is destroyed ? By that which is caused
by separation ? No, for it is not compounded of separate
members so that its different parts can be dispersed, nor of
portions joined together so that they can be dissolved ; nor is
it united together in a similar manner to our own bodies, for
they have the seeds of decay in themselves, and they are
subject to influence of a great variety of things by which they
are at times injured ; but the power of the world is invincible,
since by its great superiority to other things it has dominion
over everything.
Is it then destroyed by a complete destruction of its dis
tinctive qualities ? This again is impossible, for there remains,
as the adversaries affirm, a quality of arrangement which by
ON THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD. 4$
the process of conflagration is only diminished to a lesser sub
stance ... Is it destroyed then by confusion ? Away with
such an idea, for in that case it would be necessary to confess
that the corruption of a body can be reduced to a state of
non-existence. Why so? Because if each of the particular
elements were destroyed separately, it would be possible for it
to become changed into another ; but if they are altogether
destroyed at one and the same moment by confusion, then it
would be necessary to imagine what is absolutely impossible.
Again, besides these arguments, if all things, say they, were
destroyed by fire, then what will God have to do during all
that time, except absolutely nothing? And is it not reasonable
to say so ? For at present, he overlooks and presides over
everything, and regulates everything like a genuine father,
and if one is to say the truth, he guides and directs everything,
sitting as it were by the side of the sun, and moon, and the
other planets, and fixed stars, and also by the air, and the
other parts of the world, and he co-operates with them iu
everything which can conduce to the durability of the universe
and to its blameless management, in accordance with right
reason. But if everything is destroyed, then he will have an
existence which will be rendered absolutely miserable, by in
activity and irremediable want of employment; than which
what idea can be more absurd? I hesitate to add, what it
would be impious to say, that death will ensue to God if
absolute inactivity falls to his lot ; for if you take away the
perpetual motion of the soul, then you will beyond all question
also destroy the soul itself. And the soul of the world, in the
opinion of those who maintain the opposite doctrine, is God.
XVII. Is it not however worth while to examine this question,
in what manner there can be a regeneration of all those things
which have been destroyed by fire, and resolved into fire? for
when their substance has been wholly destroyed by the fire, it
follows of necessity that the fire itself must also be extinguished
as no longer having any nourishment. Therefore, as long as
it remained the seminal principle of arrangement was likewise
preserved, but when it is destroyed that principle is destroyed
with it. But it would be impious, and an impiety of double
dye, not only to attribute destruction to the world, but also to
take away the possibility of its regeneration ; as if God
delighted in disorder, and irregularity, and all kinds of evil
44 PHILO JUD^EUS.
tilings. But we must examine this question more accurately,
in the following manner.
There are three species in fire ; the coal, and the flame, and
the light. Now coal is the fire in its earthy suhstance, which,
like a sort of spiritual habit, couches and lies hid in a sort of
cavern, pervading it all to its very extremities. And the flame
is that part which, being raised on high, is lifted up from its
fuel. And the light is that which is emitted from the flame,
so as to co-operate with the eyes, in order to enable them to
comprehend what is seen. And the flame occupies the middle
position between the coal and the light ; for when it is extin
guished it ends in coal, and when it is kindled it excites the
light, which, being deprived of its burning power, blazes. If
therefore, we affirm that the world is dissolved by conflagration,
it would not be coal, because, in that case there will be a great
deal of the earthy substance left behind, in which also fire
must necessarily be contained. But we must agree, that none
of the other bodies subsist any longer, but that earth, and
water, and air, are all dissolved into unmixed fire. Nor, again,
would it become flame ; for that can only exist in connexion
with nourishment ; and, if nothing is left behind, being de
prived of all nourishment it will immediately be extinguished.
It follows from all this, that it cannot become light either ; for
light by itself has no substance at all, but flows from the things
before mentioned, coal and flame, not in a great degree from
the coal, but very much from the flame ; for it is diffused over
a very great space indeed. But if, as has been already proved,
those things had no existence from the conflagration of all
things, then there could not be any light either. For the
abundant, and vast, and extensive brilliancy of mid-day, when
the sun proceeds under the earth, is at once caused to disappear
by night, especially if it be a moonless night. Therefore the
world is not destroyed by fire, but is indestructible. And if it
should be destroyed by fire, there could not be another created.
XVIII. On which account some of the Stoics also, being
gifted with a more acute discernment, and perceiving that they
would infallibly be convicted, thought it well to be beforehand
in preparing assistance as it were for a defunct proposition.
But what they prepared was of no use ; for, since fire is the
cause of all motion, and since motion is the beginning of
generation, for it is impossible that anything whatever should
ON THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD. 45
be generated without motion, they said that before the new
world began to be formed, when it was beginning to be
fashioned, the whole fire would not be extinguished in that
conflagration ; that they affirmed that some would still remain,
but yet only a small portion. For they were exceedingly
cautious, lest if it should be wholly extinguished, the conse
quence would be that everything would remain motionless and
devoid of ornament, inasmuch as the cause of motion would no
longer be in any existence. But all these ideas are the
invention of quibblers, who employ all their artifices in
opposition to the truth. Why so ? Because it is impossible, as
has been proved already, that the world, after it has been
destroyed by conflagration, should become similar to coal, inas
much as there is a vast quantity of earthy substance left in
which the fire must of necessity lie in ambush. And perhaps
too the conflagration could not prevail in every quarter, if the
heaviest and most invincible of the elements, namely the earth,
still remains, without being dissolved ; but it must of necessity
change, either into flame or into light : into flame, as Cleanthes
thought; into light, as Chrysippus conceived. But if it
becomes flame, then, when it approaches extinction, it will be
extinguished all at once, and not partially or gradually. For
the nutriment exists along with it ; on which account, while
there is a great deal of it, it increases and is diffused ; but
when it is stunted it becomes less.
And any one might conjecture the truth of what takes place
from what he sees happen among us. A lamp, when any one
pours oil upon it, gives forth a most brilliant flame ; but when
any one ceases to supply it with that nutriment, and leaves only
a small portion in the lamp, then the lamp is at once extin
guished, and does not give out the smallest portion of flame.
If again this is not the case, but if the world becomes light,
then again it changes altogether. Why so ? Because it has no
substance or character of its own, but is generated from flame,
and when this is wholly and completely extinguished in all its
parts, it follows of necessity that the light also must be extin
guished, and that not partially, but altogether. For what
flame is to nourishment, that also is light to flame. As there
fore the flame is extinguished concurrently with the want of
nourishment, so also is the light simultaneously with the flame,
so that it is actually impossible for the world to be capable of
46 PHILO JUDvEUS.
regeneration, if there is no seminal principle lurking and
kindled within it, but if all things are expended and destroyed,
some by fire, and some by want. From all which arguments
it is plain that the world is for ever uncreated and imperishable.
XIX. Nevertheless, as Chrysippus says, some suppose that
Hre resolves all the arrangement of the universe when the
elements are separated into itself, so that it becomes the seed
of the world which is about to be made ; and suppose in conse
quence that, of all the ideas which he and his sect have
entertained on the subject, none are falsified. Granting, in the
first place, that generation proceeds from seed, and that all
dissolution is a resolving back into seed ; in the second place,
because it is argued by natural philosophers that the world is
a rational nature, inasmuch as it is not only possessed of life,
but is also endowed with intellect, and moreover even with
wisdom ; by these arguments he establishes the contrary
proposition to that which he intends, namely, that it will never
be destroyed. But the proofs are ready at hand to those who
do not fear to join in the investigation.
Therefore the world resembles either a plant or an animal.
But whether it is a plant or whether it is an animal, still, if it
be destroyed by conflagration, it will never be itself its own
seed. And the circumstances which take place among our
selves bear witness that nothing, whether greater or less, when
destroyed, has ever been separated in such a manner as to
engender seed. Do you not see how many materials of plants
susceptible of cultivation there are, and how many kinds of
wild plants too are diffused over every portion of the earth ?
Every one of these trees, as long as the trunk is in good health,
together with its fruit, produces also a seed to propagate its
species ; but becoming destroyed after a lapse of time, and
being wholly withered, roots and all, it never becomes resolved
into a ripened seed. And so too in the same manner the
different kinds of animals, which it is not easy even to enume
rate by reason of their multitude, as long as they survive and
flourish vigorously, produce a seed, which is calculated to
propagate their species ; but when they are dead there is no
longer any seed.
For it would be absurd for a man when he is alive to employ
only the eighth part of his soul, which is called the generative
power, for the propagation of a being like himself, but after he
ON THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD. 47
is dead to exert the whole of himself for the same purpose ; for
death can never be more energetic or efficacious than life.
And besides, there is no single existing thing which is brought
to perfection by seed alone without its appropriate nourishment.
For seed resembles the beginning, and the beginning by itself
does not make perfect ; for beware of imagining that the ear
of corn blossoms and ripens solely from the seed, which is cast
by the husbandman on the ploughed field ; for in truth, dry-
ness and moisture, the twofold moisture which is derived from
the earth, co-operate in the greatest degree towards its growth.
And so the creature which is fashioned in the womb is not
permitted by nature to be brought to life and perfection by the
seed alone, but also by the nourishment shed upon it from
without, which the woman who has conceived supplies.
Why then do I say this ? Because in the case of such a
conflagration as that of which I have been speaking, the seed
alone will be left, there being no nutriment remaining, since
everything which was to have supplied nutriment will have
been resolved into fire ; so that the world, which would be to
be formed, according to the principle of regeneration, will
have a lame and imperfect form and character, since that
which is chiefly required to co-operate towards its perfection,
on which, as on a staff, the seminal origin ought to, and
naturally does, lean, is destroyed ; but this would be absurd,
as is shown, and made manifest from the clearest evidence.
Again, all those things which derive their origin from seed
are of a greater magnitude than the seed which gives them
their existence, and are seen to fill a more extended space;
for very often trees, whose tops reach to heaven itself, shoot
up out of a very small grain of seed ; and the fattest and
tallest animals grow from a very small quantity of moisture,
which is laid as their foundation ; but there happens that
which was mentioned a little while ago, that these, at the
time nearest to their birth are very little, but that subse
quently they keep on increasing in size till they arrive at
complete perfection.
But in the case of the universe the exact contrary will take
place, for here the seed will both be greater and will also fill
a larger space ; and the ultimate perfection at which the thing
formed arrives will be smaller, and will appear in a smaller
space ; and the world, originally derived from a seed, will not
48 PHILO JUD^US.
progress from a very small thing towards increase, but, on the
other hand, will be diminished from a greater magnitude to a
smaller ; and it is easy to see the truth of what is here said.
Every body, when it is resolved into fire, is dissolved, and
melted/ and diffused ; and when the flame which is in it is
extinguished, it is then contracted and shrunk up to nothing ;
but there is no need of arguments to prove a thing which is so
clear, as if it were obscure; and, indeed, the world, if con
sumed by fire, will become greater, inasmuch as all its essence
will then be dissolved into the thinnest air ; and it appears to
me that the Stoics have foreseen this, and on that account
have, in their arguments, assumed that a vacuum of infinite
extent will be left abandoned on the outside of the world*; that
so, since it is fated to be subjected to a certain diffusion of
boundless extent, it may not be in want of a place which may
be capable of receiving that diffusion. When therefore it has
been extended and increased to such a degree, as to be very
nearly equal to the infinite extent of the vacuum by the bound
less and illimitable extension of its own diffusion, it then,
according to them, is itself the principle of seed to itself; but
when, according to a perfect regeneration of the parts, its
entire substance* being contracted in the extinction
of the fire into dense air ; but when the air again is contracted,
and when it settles down into water, then again the water is
still further condensed, so as to be changed into earth, which
is the best of all the elements. But all these arguments are
beyond the ordinary ideas of those who are able to consider
and argue upon the consequences of these things.
XX. However, besides what has been here said, any one
may use this argument also in corroboration of his opinion,
which will certainly convince all those who are not deter
mined to be obstinate beyond all bounds ; of those things
which in pairs are exactly contrary to one another it is impos
sible that one thing should be, and that the other should not
l>e ; for since there is white it follows as a matter of absolute
necessity that there must also be black, and since there is a
great there must likewise be a little ; since there is an odd
there must inevitably be an even ; since there is a s^yeet there
must be a bitter ; since there is day there must be night ; and
so on in an infinite number of similar cases ; but if a conflagra-
There seems a line or two lost here.
ON THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD. 49
tion should take place, then something would ensue which is
impossible ; for then, of things in a pair, the one will happen
and the other will not.
Come, now, let us consider the matter thus : if everything
is resolved into fire, there is then something light, and rare,
and warm ; for all these are the especial properties of fire ; but
there can be nothing heavy, or cold, or thick, which are the
opposites of the qualities which I have just enumerated. Ho\v
then can any one more completely overturn the idea of the
universal disorder which would be involved in such a confla
gration than by showing that those things which by a law of
nature must exist together, are by this process separated from
their natural conjunction? And the separation has extended
to such a degree, that those who maintain this doctrine attri
bute eternal durability to the one and deny any existence at
all to the other.
Again, there is this assertion made by some of those who
diligently employ themselves in investigating truth which
appears to me to be a sufficiently felicitous one ; if the world
is destroyed it will either be destroyed by some other efficient
cause, or by God ; now there is certainly nothing else whatever
from which it can receive its destruction, for there is nothing
whatever which it does not surround and contain ; but that
which is surrounded and confined within something else is
manifestly inferior in power to that which surrounds and
confines it, by which it is therefore mastered ; on the other
hand, to say that it is destroyed by God is the most impious of
all possible assertions ; for God is the cause not of disorder,
and irregularity, and destruction, but of order, and beautiful
regularity, and life, and of every good thing, as is confessed by
all those whose opinions are based on truth.
XXI. But a person may very likely wonder at those who
talk about conflagrations and regenerations, not only on
account of the arguments which I have just been adducing, by
which they are convicted of maintaining erroneous opinions,
but also above all other reasons for this one ; for since there
are four elements of which the world consists, namely, earth,
water, air, and fire, why is it that they are to separate fire
from all the others, and to affirm that all the others are
dissolved into that one? For some one may say, if it is
necessary that they should all be resolved into one, why
VOL. IV. E
50 PIIILO JUD/EUS.
should they not be resolved into air, or water, or earth ? For
these elements also contain powers of great magnitude ; hut
vet no one has ever said that the world was to pass away into
air, or into water, or into earth ; so that it would he equally
natural to deny that it is resolved into fire.
Moreover, it would have become them, perceiving the beau
tiful equality which exists in the world, to fear and to feel too
great awe to venture to condemn so divine a thing to death :
for there is a most admirable system of compensation existing
in the four elements which arrange and dispense their vicissi
tudes by the rules of equality, and the definitions of justice ;
for as the seasons of the year, in their proper alternations of
revolutions, go through their regular cycle, completing their
periodical changes without any cessation ; in the same manner
suppose that the elements of the world in the course of their
continual interchanges with one another (though it is a most
paradoxical assertion), when they appear to be perishing are
in reality being made immortal, passing over the same course
again and again, so as to have their existence infinitely pro
tracted.
Therefore the steep road begins with the earth ; tor when it
is wasted away it endures a change to water, and the water
when it has evaporated is changed into air, and the air when
rarefied is changed into fire ; but the downward road descends
from the head, when the fire in consequence of the conflagra
tion which ensues settles down into air, and again when the
air being closely pressed settles down into water, and when
the water by its copious effusion is condensed so as to be
changed into earth.
Heraclitus therefore spoke very correctly when he said that,
" Water was the death of the soul, and earth the death of
water." For thinking that the breath was the soul, he indi
cates, by this figurative and enigmatical expression, that the
end of air is the production of water, and again that the end
of water is the production of earth ; and when he speaks of
death he does not mean utter destruction, but a change into
some other element ; that equalised proportion of the elements
which is attempered by itself being thus preserved eternal and
uninjured, as is not only probable but absolutely inevitable ;
since what is unequal is essentially unjust, and injustice is the
offspring of wickedness, and wickedness is banished from the
ON THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD. 5 1
abode of immortality. But the world is of a divine magnitude,
and has been shown to be the abode of those gods which are
visible to the outward senses ; and to affirm that this world is
destroyed is the part of those who do not see the connection
of nature and the united consequence and coherence of things.
XXII. But some of those persons who have fancied that
the world is everlasting, inventing a variety of new arguments,
employ also such a system of reasoning as this to establish
their point : they affirm that there are four principal manners
in which corruption is brought about, addition, taking away,
transposition, and alteration ; accordingly, the number two is
by the addition of the unit corrupted so as to become the
number three, and no longer remains the number two ; and
the number four by the taking away of the unit is corrupted
so as to become the number three ; again, by transposition the
letter Z becomes the letter H when the parallel lines which
were previously horizontal are placed perpendicularly II,
and when the line which did before pass upwards I, so as to
connect the two is now made horizontal, and still extended
between them so as to join them. And by alteration the word
0/1*0$, wine, becomes o^og, vinegar.
But of the manner of corruption thus mentioned there is
not one which is in the least degree whatever applicable to the
world, since otherwise what could we say? Could we affirm
that anything is added to the world so as to cause its destruc
tion ? But there is nothing whatever outside of the world
which is not a portion of it as the whole, for everything is
surrounded, and contained, and mastered by it. Again, can
we say that anything is taken from the world so as to have
that effect? In the first place that which would be taken
away would again be a world of smaller dimensions than the
existing one, and in the second place it is impossible that any
body could be separated from the composite fabric of the
whole world so as to be completely dispersed. Again, are we
to say that the constituent parts of the world are transposed ?
But at all events they remain in their original positions without
any change of place, for never at any time shall the whole
earth be raised up above the water, nor the water above the
air, nor the air above the fire. But those things which are
by nature heavy, namely the earth and the water, will have
the middle place, the earth supporting everything like a solid
E 2
52 PEILO JUD.EUS.
foundation, and the water being above it ; and the air and the
fire, which are by nature light, will have the higher position,
but not equally, for the air is the vehicle of the lire ; and that
which is carried by anything is of necessity above that which
carries it.
Once more : we must not imagine that the world is de
stroyed by alteration, for the change of any elements is equi
pollent, and that which is equipollent is the cause of unvarying
steadiness, and of untroubled durability, inasmuch as it
neither seeks any advantage itself, and is not subject to the
inroads of other things which seek advantages at its expense ;
so that this retribution and compensation of these powers is
equalized by the rules of proportion, being the produce of
health and endless preservation, by all which considerations
the world is demonstrated to be eternal.
XXIII. Theophrastus, moreover, says that those men who
attribute a beginning and destructibility to the world are
deceived by four particulars of the greatest importance, the
inequalities of the earth, the retreat of the sea, the dissolution
of each of the parts of the universe, and the destruction of
different terrestrial animals in their kinds ; and he proceeds to
establish the first point thus : if the earth had never had any
beginning of its creation, then there would have been no
portion of it rising above the rest so as to be conspicuous, but
all the mountains would have been level, and all the pieces of
rising ground would have been even with the plain.
For as there are such vast showers falling from heaven
throughout all ages, it would be natural that of any places
which were originally raised on high some would be broken
down and washed away by torrents, and others would subside
of their own accord and so become lowered, and that every
place everywhere would be smoothed ; but now, as tilings are,
the constant inequalities which exist, and the vast heights of
many mountains, reaching up even to the sky, are so many
proofs that the earth is not eternal.
For otherwise, as I have said before, all the earth would
long since have been rendered level from one extremity to the
other by the vast rains which would have fallen from the
eternal commencement of time ; for it is the character of the
nature of water, and especially of such as descends in a heavy
fall from lofty places, to push some things away by force, and
ON THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD. 53
to cut out and hollow other places by its continual dropping,
and in this manner to operate on the hard, rugged, stony
ground not less than men digging. And again, the sea, as
they affirm, is already somewhat diminished, and for proof of
this fact we can appeal to the most celebrated islands, Rhodes
and Delos, for these were in ancient times invisible, being
overwhelmed by and sunk under the sea, but by lapse of time,
as the sea gradually diminished, they by slow degrees rose
above it and came into sight, as the histories which are
written concerning them record. And they used to call Delos
Anaphe, confirming the account here given by both names,
since when it appeared above the waters * it became evident,f
having been formerly invisible and unseen.
And in addition to these arguments they adduce the facts
that many great and deep bays and gulfs of vast seas have
been dried up, and have become land, and have so turned out
no insignificant addition to the adjacent country when sown
and planted, and on that soil there is still left plenty of proof
of such spots having formerly been sea, in the pebbles, and
shells, and other things which are commonly washed up on
the sea-shore being found in them ; on which account Pindar
says respecting Delos
" Hail, island raised by God,
Chosen abode
Of fair Latona s son with golden hair.
Hail, ocean s youngest child,
The last immoveable domain
That o er his bosom smiled.
Upraised from beneath the billowy main
Mortals may call you Delos, but the choir
That dwells upon Olympus height,
Their chosen bards inspire
To praise thee as earth s brightest, holiest light." J
For Pindar has here called Delos the daughter of the ocean,
intending by this enigmatical expression to convey the idea
which I have mentioned. But if the sea is gradually being
diminished then the earth also will be diminished ; and in
long revolutions of years every one of the elements will be
entirely consumed and destroyed ; and the whole air will be
* The Greek word is dvaQaviiffa, from which A.va<t>tj is derived.
T Ar/Xj;, from which A/)Xo is derived.
This is part of an ode now lost.
54 rniLO JUU.-EUS.
consumed, being diminished by little and little ; and all things
will be absorbed and dissolved into the one substance of fire.
XXIV. And for the purpose of establishing the third
alternative of this question they use the following argument :
beyond all question that thing is destroyed all the parts of
which are liable to destruction ; but all the parts of -the world
are liable to destruction, therefore the world also is liable to
destruction.
But we must now proceed to consider the question which
we postponed till the present time. What sort of a part of
the earth is that, that we may begin from this, whether it is
greater or less, that is not dissolved by time ? Do not
the very hardest and strongest stones become hard and de
cayed through the weakness of their conformation (and this
conformation is a sort of course of a highly strained spirit, a
bond not indissoluble, but only very difficult to unloose), in
consequence of which they are broken up and made fluid, so
that they are dissolved first of all into a thin dust, and after
wards are wholly wasted away and destroyed ? Again, if the
water were never agitated by the winds, but were left immove-
able for ever, would it not from inaction and tranquillity
become dead ? at all events it is changed by such stagnation, and
becomes very foetid and foul-smelling, like an animal deprived
of life. And so also the corruptions of the air are plain to
everyone, for it is the nature of the -atmosphere to become
sick and to decay, and, as one may say, in a manner to die ;
since what else is it which a man, who is not aiming at select
ing plausible language, but only at truth, would call a plague
except a death of the atmosphere, which diffuses its own
disease and suffering to the destruction of everything which is
endowed with life ?
And why need I speak at great length concerning fire ? for
if it is deprived of nourishment it is immediately extinguished,
becoming, as the poets say, tame by its own natural qualities,
on which account it depends upon, and is raised up by the
duration of the fuel which is supplied and kindled, but when
that is expended the fire also disappears. And they say that
the dragons in India are exposed to the same kind of fate, for
that they crawl upon the greatest of all beasts, namely ele
phants, and creep over their backs and the whole of their
bellies, and then, if they can find a vein, they divide that and
ON THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD. t> 5
drink the blood, sucking it insatiably, with a strong breath and
a vigorous noise. Meantime the elephants, though greatly
drained, and though becoming gradually exhausted, hold out
for some time, leaping about in their perplexity, and lashing
their sides with their trunks in the hope of being able to
shake off the dragons. After a time, as the vital principle is
continually becoming more and more exhausted, they are no
longer able to leap about, but stand trembling and quivering,
and after a little more time their legs become too weak to
support them, and they are thrown down and die for want of
blood. And when they are fallen down those animals which
were the causes of their death die with them in the following
manner : since the dragons have no longer any nourishment,
they attempt to loosen the bonds with which they twined them
selves round the elephants, wishing now to get released from
them, but they are pressed down by the weight of the ele
phants and crushed, and much more so when the animal has
become a lifeless, hard, and stone-like substance ; for though
they wriggle about and try every expedient in order to effect
their release from the power of the animal which weighs them
down, and by which they are entangled, though they have long
practised themselves in every variety of wile, amid all kinds
of difficulties and distresses, they at last become too weak to
resist, like men who have been starved to death, or who have
been caught by a wall which has suddenly fallen down upon
them, and not being able even to lift up their heads they die of
suffocation.
If then, each of the separate parts of the world awaits utter
destruction, it is plain that the world which is compounded of
these can not be itself exempt from destruction.
We must now consider with accuracy the fourth and remain
ing argument. Thus they argue : if the world were eternal then
the animals also would be eternal, and much more the human
race, in proportion as that is more excellent than the other
animals ; but, on the contrary, those who take delight in inves
tigating the mysteries of nature consider that man has only
been created in the late ages of the world ; for it is likely, or I
should rather say it is inevitably true, that the arts co-exist
with man, so as to be exactly co-eval with him, not only because
methodical proceedings are appropriate to a rational nature,
but also because it is not possible to live without them ; let us
56 PHILO JUD^US.
therefore examine the dates of each of these, disregarding the
fables invented by the tragedians about the gods ; but if man
is not eternal then neither is any other animal, so that then
neither are the places which receive them, the earth, or the
water, or the air : from all which considerations it is plain that
this world is liable to destruction.
XXV. But it is necessary to encounter such quibbling
arguments as these, lest some persons of too little experience
should yield to and be led away by them ; and we must begin
our refutation of them from the same point from which the
Sophists begin their deceit. They say, " There could no longer
be any inequalities existing on the earth, if the world were
eternal." Why not, my most excellent friends ? For other
persons will come up and say that the natures of trees are in
no respect different from mountains; but just as they at
certain seasons lose their leaves, and again at certain seasons
recover their verdure again ; (on which account there is admi
rable truth in those lines of the poet :
" Like leaves on trees the race of man is found,
Now green in youth, now withering on the ground ;
Another race the following spring supplies ;
They fall successive and successive rise." *
And so in like manner some portions of the mountains are
broken off, and others grow in their stead : but after a long
lapse of time the additional growth becomes conspicuous
because the trees having a more rapid nature, display their
increase with great rapidity ; but mountains have a "slower
character, on which account it happens that the additions
which take place in their case are not perceptible by tho
outward senses except after a long time.
And these men appear to be ignorant of the manner in
which they are produced, since if they had not been, perhaps
they would have been silent out of shame ; but still there is
no reason why we should not teach them ; but there is nothing
new in what is now said, neither are they our words but the
ancient sayings of wise men, by whom nothing which was
necessary for knowledge has been left uninvestigated ; when
the fiery principle which is contained beneath, in the earth, is
thrust upwards by the natural power of fire, it proceeds to its
own appropriate place ; and if it meets with any respite or
* Homer, II. vi. 147.
ON THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD. 57
relaxation, though ever so slight, it draws up with it a large
portion of the earthy substance, as much as it can ; and when
it has emerged from the earth it proceeds more slowly ; hut
the earthy substance being compelled to follow it for a long
time, being at last raised to an immense height, is contracted
at the top, and at last comes to end on a sharp point imitating
the general appearance of the flame of fire ; for there arises
then a most violent contention between two things which are
natural adversaries, the lightest and the heaviest of things,
each of them pressing onwards to reach its own place, and
each striving against the violent efforts of the other ; accord
ingly the fire, which is drawing up the earth \vith it, is com
pelled to sink down by its descending power ; and the earth
naturally inclining to the lowest point is nevertheless to a
certain degree made light, and lifted up by the upward ten
dencies of fire, and so is raised on high, and being at last
overpowered by the more influential power which lightens it is
thrust upwards towards the natural seat of fire, and established
on high.
Why then need we wonder if the mountains are not entirely
washed away by the impetuosity of the rains, when so great
a power, which keeps them together, and by which they are
raised up, is very firmly and steadfastly connected with them ?
For if they were released from the bond which holds them
together, it would be natural for them to be entirely dissolved
and to be dispersed by the water ; but since they are bound
together by this power of fire, they resist the impetuosity of
the rains more surely.
XXVI. These things, then, may be said by us with respect
to the argument that the inequalities of the surface of the
earth are no proof of the world having been created and being
liable to destruction ; but with respect to that argument which
was endeavoured to be established by the diminution of the
sea, we may reasonably adduce this statement in opposition to
it : " Do not look only at the islands which have risen up out
of the sea, nor at any portions of land which, having been for
merly buried by the waters, have in subsequent times become
dry land ; for obstinate contention is very unfavourable to the
consideration of natural philosophy, which considers the search
after truth to be the chief object of rational desire ; but look
lather at the contrary effects : consider how many districts on
58 PIIILO JUD.EUS.
the main-land, not only such as were near the coast, but ovon
such as were completely in-land, have been swallowed up by
the waters ; and consider how great a portion of land has
become sea and is now sailed over by innumerable ships."
Are you ignorant of the celebrated account which is given of
that most sacred Sicilian strait, which in old times joined
Sicily to the continent of Italy?* and where vast seas on each
side being excited by violent storms met together, coming
from opposite directions, the land between them was over
whelmed and broken a\\ay; from which circumstance the
city built in the neighbourhood was called Rhegium.t and
the result was quite different from what any one would have
expected; for the seas which had formerly been separated
now flowed together and were united in one expanse ; and the
land which had previously united was now separated into two
portions by the strait which intersected it, in consequence of
which Sicily, which had previously formed a part of the main
land, was now compelled to be an island.
And it is said that many other cities also have disappeared,
having been swallowed up by the sea which ovonvhelme I
them ; since they speak of three in Peloponnesus
" ^Egira and fair Bura s walls,
And Helica s lofty halls,
And many a once renowned town,
With wreck and seaweed overgrown,"
* This is alluded to by Virgil
Hacc loca vi quondam, et vastu convulsa ruinfi
Tantum sevi longinqua valet mutare vetustas,
Dissiluisse feruut, quum proteuus utraque tellua
L na foret : veuit medio vi pontus, et uudis
Hesperium Siculo latus abscidit, arvaque et urhes
Litore diductas angusto interluit ccstu. JEn. iii. 419.
Or, as it is translated by Dryden,
" The Italian shore
And fair Sicilia s coast were one before
An earthquake caused the flaw ; the roaring tides
The passage broke that land from land divides,
And where the lands retired the rushing ocean ride.s
Distinguished by the straits on either hand
Now rising cities in long order stand,
And fruitful fields ; so much can time invade
The mouldering work that beauteous nature made."
f Pr/ytor. from piiyvv^i, " to break."
ON THE INCORRUPTIBILITY OF THE WORLD. 59
as having been formerly prosperous, but now overwhelmed by
the violent influx of the sea. And the island of Atalantes
which was greater than Africa and Asia, as Plato says in the
Timaeus, in one day and night was overwhelmed beneath the
sea in consequence of an extraordinary earthquake and inun
dation and suddenly disappeared, becoming sea, not indeed
navigable, but full of gulfs and eddies. Therefore that imagi
nary and fictitious diminution of the sea has no connection with
the destruction or durability of the world ; for in fact it ap
pears to recede indeed from some parts, but to rise higher in
others ; and it would have been proper rather not to look at
only one of these results but at both together, and so to form
one s opinion, since in all the disputed questions which arise
in human life, a wise and honest judge will not deliver his
opinion before he has heard the arguments of the advocates on
both sides.
XVII. And as for the third argument, it is convicted by
itself, as being derived only from an unsound system of ques
tioning proceeding from the assertions originally made; for in
truth it does not necessarily follow that a thing, all the parts
of which are liable to corruption, is likewise perishable itself ;
but this is only inevitably true of that thing of which all
the parts are perishable when taken collectively and together
in the same place and at the same time, since in the case of a
person who has the tip of his finger cut off, he is not disabled
from living, but if he had the whole collection of all his parts
and limbs cut off at once, he would die immediately. There
fore in the same manner, if all the elements of the world
together were all to disappear at one and the same moment,
then it would be necessary to admit that the world was liable to
corruption and destruction; but if each of these elements
separately only changes its nature so as to assimilate to that of
its nature, it is then rendered immortal rather than destroyed,
according to the philosophical statement of the tragic poet
" Nought that has once existed dies,
Though often what has been combined
Before, we separated find,
Invested with another form."
For it is the greatest folly imaginable to estimate the antiquity
of the human race from the state of art ; for if any one were to
follow the absurdity of such a system of reasoning as this, he
CO PHILO JUDJEUS.
will prove the world to be very young indeed, and to have been
made scarcely a thousand years, since all those men whom we
have heard of traditionally as the discoverers in different
branches of science do not go back to a greater number of
years than that which I have mentioned.
But if we must speak of the arts as co-eval with the race of
mankind, then we must speak, drawing our arguments from
natural history, and not inconsiderately or carelessly. And
what is this history ? The destruction of the things on the
earth, not all together, but of the greatest number of them, is
attributed to two principal causes, the indescribable violence
and power of fire and water. And they say that each of these
elements attacks them in its turn, after very long periods of
revolving years. When, therefore, a conflagration seizes upon
things, a stream of ethereal fire being poured down from above
is frequently diffused over them, overrunning many districts of
the habitable world ; and when a deluge draws down the whole
of the rainy nature of water, the regular rivers and torrents
overflowing, and not only that, but even far exceeding the
ordinary measure of a common flood, and breaking down their
banks with their violence, or else overleaping them, and rising
to an enormous height, from which they swell and are diffused
over all the adjacent champaign country, and the land is in the
first instance divided into huge lakes, as the water is con
tinually settling down into the more hollow parts, and after
wards flows still higher, and inundates the isthmuses which
separate the lakes, till at last everything presents the appear
ance of one vast sea from the union of so many waters.
And then it happens that, through the violence of these powers
contending against one another in turn, the inhabitants of the
places exposed to it are destroyed; those who dwell on the
mountains and higher ground, and in ill-watered districts,
being destroyed by fire, as not having a sufficiency of water,
which is the natural weapon with which to repel fire, and
those, on the other hand, being destroyed by water who live
on the banks of rivers or lakes, or on the shores of the sea, for
evils like to attack those who are nearest first, or indeed
solely.
Accordingly, when the greater part of mankind is destroyed
in the manners above mentioned, besides an infinity of other
ways of less power and importance, it follows of necessity that
AGAINST FLACCUS. 01
the arts also must fail, for it cannot be possible to discuss
science by itself without some one to reduce it to method and
practice. But when those common pestilences relax their
fury, and when the human race begins again to recover vigour
and to flourish, descending from those who have not been
previously destroyed by the evils which pressed upon them,
then the arts also begin again to exist, not indeed as they were
at first, but in thinner numbers from the diminution of the
numbers of those who practise them.
I have now then set forth to the best of my ability what I
have been able to learn or to understand concerning the
indestructibility of the world, and in the subsequent treatises
I shall proceed to show what may be said against each of the
arguments here stated.
A TEEATISE
AGAINST FLACCUS.
I. FLACCUS AVILIJUS succeeded Sejanus in his hatred of
and hostile designs against the Jewish nation. He was not,
indeed, able to injure the whole people by open and direct
means as he had been, inasmuch as he had less power for
such a purpose, but he inflicted the most intolerable evils on
all who came within his reach.
Moreover, though in appearance he only attacked a portion
of the nation, in point of fact he directed his aims against all
whom he could find anywhere, proceeding more by art than by
force ; for those men who, though of tyrannical natures and
dispositions, have not strength enough to accomplish their
designs openly, seek to compass them by manoeuvres.
This Flaccus being chosen by Tiberius Caesar as one of his
intimate companions, after the death of Severus, who had been
lieutenant-governor in Egypt, was appointed viceroy of Alex
andria and the country round about, being a man who at the
beginning, as far as appearance went, had given innumerable
instances of his excellence, for he was a man of prudence and
diligence, and great acuteuess of perception, very energetic in
executing what he had determined on, very eloquent as a
speaker, and skilful too at discerning what was suppressed as
02 rniLo JUD.EUS.
\vell as at understanding what was said. Accordingly in a
short time he became perfectly acquainted with the affairs of
Egypt, and they are of a very various and diversified character,
so that they are not easily comprehended even by those \vho
from their earliest infancy have made them their study.
The scribes were a superfluous body when he had made
such advances towards the knowledge of all things, whether
important or trivial, by his extended experience, that he not
only surpassed them, but from his great accuracy was qualified
instead of a pupil to become the instructor of those who had
hitherto been the teachers of all other persons. However, all
those things in which he displayed an admirable system and
great wisdom concerning the accounts and the general arrange
ment of the revenues of the land, though they were serious
matters and of the last importance, were nevertheless not
such as gave any proofs of a soul fit for the task of governing ;
but those things which exhibited a more brilliant and royal
disposition he also displayed with great freedom. For instance,
he bore himself with considerable dignity, and pride and pomp
are advantageous things for a ruler; and he decided all suits
of importance in conjunction with the magistrates, he pulled
down the overproud, he forbade promiscuous mobs of men from
all quarters to assemble together, and prohibited all associa
tions and meetings which were continually feasting together
under pretence of sacrifices, making a drunken mockery of
public business, treating with great vigour and severity all who
resisted his commands.
Then when he had filled the whole city and country with his
wise legislation, he proceeded in turn to regulate the military
affairs of the land, issuing commands, arranging matters,
training the troops of every kind, infantry, cavalry, and light-
armed, teaching the commanders not to deprive the soldiers of
their pay, and so drive them to acts of piracy and rapine, and
teaching each individual soldier not to proceed to any actions
unauthorised by his military service, remembering that he was
appointed with the especial object of preserving peace.
II. Perhaps some one may say here : " Do you then, my
good man, you who have determined to accuse this man, bring
no accusation whatever against him, but on the contrary, weave
long panegyrics in his honour ? Arc you not doting and mad ?
* I am not mad, my friend, nor am I a downright fool, so as
AGAINST FLA CCUS. 63
to be unable to see the consequences or connexion of things.
I praise Flaccus, not because it is right to praise an enemy,
but in order to make his wickedness more conspicuous ; for
pardon is given to a man who does wrong from ignorance of
what is right; but he who does wrong knowingly has no
excuse, being already condemned by the tribunal of his own
conscience."
III. For having received a government which was intended
to last six years, for the first five years, while Tiberius Cresar
was alive, he both preserved peace and also governed the
country generally with such vigour and energy that he was
superior to all the governors who had gone before him. But
in the last year, after Tiberius was dead, and when Caius had
succeeded him as emperor, he began to relax in and to be
indifferent about everything, whether it was that he was over
whelmed with most heavy grief because of Tiberius (for it was
evident to everyone that he grieved exceedingly as if for a near
relation, both by his continued depression of spirits and his
incessant weeping, pouring forth tears without end as if from
an inexhaustible fountain), or whether it was because he was
disaffected to his successor, because he preferred devoting him
self to the party of the real rather than to that of the adopted
children, or whether it was because he had been one of those
who had joined in the conspiracy against the mother of Caius,
having joined against her at the time when the accusations
were brought against her, on account of which she was put to
death, and having escaped through fear of the consequence of
proceeding against him.
However, for a time he still paid some attention to the
affairs of the state, not wholly abandoning the administration of
his government ; but when he heard that the grandson of
Tiberius and his partner in the government had been put to
death at the command of Caius, he was smitten with intolerable
anguish, and threw himself on the ground, and lay there
speechless, being utterly deprived of his senses, for indeed his
mind had long since been enervated by grief.
For as long as that child lived he did not despair of some
sparks still remaining of his own safety, but now that he was
dead, he considered that all his own hopes had likewise died
with him, even if a slight breeze of assistance might still be
left, such as his friendship with Macro, who had unbounded
64 PHILO JUD.EUS.
influence with Caius in his authority ; and who, as it is said,
had very greatly contributed to his obtaining the supreme
power, and in a still higher degree to his personal safety, since
Tiberius had frequently thought of putting Caius out of the
way, as a wicked man and one who was in no respects calcu
lated by nature for the exercise of authority, being influenced
also partly by his apprehensions for his grandson ; for he feared
lest, when he himself was dead, his death too would be added to
the funerals of his family.
But Macro had constantly bade him discard these apprehen
sions from his mind, and had praised Caius, as a man of a
simple, and honest, and sociable character ; and as one who was
very much attached to his cousin, so that he would willingly
yield the supreme authority to him alone, and the first rank in
everything. And Tiberius, being deceived by all these repre
sentations, without being aware of what he was doing, left
behind him a most irreconcileable enemy, to himself, and his
grandson, and his whole family, and to Macro, who was his
chief adviser and comforter, and to all mankind; for when
Macro saw that Caius was forsaking the way of virtue and
yielding to his unbridled passions, following them wherever
they led him and against whatever objects they led him, he
admonished and reproved him, looking upon him as the same
Caius who, while Tiberius was alive, was mild-tempered and
docile ; but to his misery he suffered most terrible punishment
for his exceeding good-will, being put to death with his wife,
and children, and all his family, as a grievous and troublesome
object to his new sovereign. For whenever he saw him at a
distance coming towards him, he used to speak in this
manner to those who were with him : " Let us not smile ; let
us look sad : here comes the censor and monitor ; the all-wise
man, he who is beginning now to be the schoolmaster of a
full-grown man, and of an emperor, after time itself has sepa
rated him from and discarded the tutors of his earliest
infancy."
IV. When, therefore, Flaccus learnt that he too was put
to death, he utterly abandoned all other hope for the future,
and was no longer able to apply himself to public affairs as he
had done before, being enervated and wholly broken clown in
spirit. But when a magistrate begins to despair of his power
of exerting authority, it follows inevitably, that his subjects
AGAINST FLACCTJS. 65
must quickly become disobedient, especially those who are
naturally, at every trivial or common occurrence, inclined to
show insubordination, and, among people of such a disposition,
the Egyptian nation is pre-eminent, being constantly in the
habit of exciting great seditions from very small sparks.
And being placed in a situation of great and perplexing dif
ficulty he began to rage, and simultaneously, with the change
of his disposition for the worse, he also altered everything
which had existed before, beginning with his nearest friends
and his most habitual customs ; for he began to suspect and
to drive from him those who were well affected to him, and
who were most sincerely his friends, and he reconciled himself
to those who were originally his declared enemies, and he
used them as advisers under all circumstances ; but they, for
they persisted in their ill-will, being reconciled with him only
in words and in appearance, but in their actions and in their
hearts they bore him incurable enmity, and though only pre
tending a genuine friendship towards him, like actors in a
theatre, they drew him over wholly to their side ; and so the
governor became a subject, and the subjects became the
governor, advancing the most unprofitable opinions, and im
mediately confirming and insisting upon them ; for they be
came executors of all the plans which they had devised,
treating him like a mute person on the stage, as one who was
only, by way of making up the show, inscribed with the title
of authority, being themselves a lot of Dionysiuses, dema
gogues, and of Lampos, a pack of cavillers and word-splitters ;
and of Isidoruses, sowers of sedition, busy-bodies, devisers of
evil, troublers of the state ; for this is the name which has, at
last, been given to them.
All these men, having devised a most grievous design
against the Jews, proceeded to put it in execution, and coming
privately to Flaccus said to him, " All your hope from the
child of Tiberius Nero has now perished, and that which was
your second best prospect, your companion Macro, is gone too,
and you have no chance of favour with the emperor, therefore
we must find another advocate, by whom Caius may be mado
propitious to us, and that advocate is the city of Alexandria,
which all the family of Augustus has honoured from the very
beginning, and our present master above all the rest ; and it
will be a sufficient mediator in our behalf, if it can obtain one
VOL. IV F
68 PHILO JUD^US.
l)0on from you, and you cannot confer a greater benefit upon
it than by abandoning and denouncing all the Jews."
Now though upon this he ought to have rejected and driven
p. way the speakers as workers of revolution and common ene
mies, he agrees on the contrary to what they say, and at iirst
he mado his designs against the Jews less evident, only
abstaining from listening to causes brought before his tribunal
with impartiality and equity, and inclining more to one side
than to the other, and not allowing to both sides an equal
freedom of speech ; but whenever any Jew came before him
he showed his aversion to him, and departed from his habitual
usability in their case; but afterwards lie exhibited his hos
tility to them in a more conspicuous manner.
V. Moreover, some occurrences of the following description
increased that folly and insolence of his which was derived
from instruction rather than from nature. Caius Caesar gave
Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the king, the third part of his
paternal inheritance as a sovereignty, which Philip the tetrarch,
who was his uncle on his father s side, had previously enjoyed.
And when he was about to set out to take possession of his
kingdom, Cains advised him to avoid the voyage from Bruu-
dusium to Syria, which was a long and troublesome one, and
rather to take the shorter one by Alexandria, and to wait for
the periodical winds ; for he said that the merchant vessels
which set forth from that harbour were fast sailers, and that
the pilots were most experienced men, who guided their ships
like skilful coachmen guide their horses, keeping them straight
in the proper course. And he took his advice, looking upon
him both as his master and also as a giver of good counsel.
Accordingly, going down to Dicrcarchia, and seeing some
Alexandrian vessels in the harbour, looking all ready and iit
to put to sea, he embarked witli his followers, and had a fail-
voyage, and so a few days afterwards he arrived at his journey s
end, unforeseen and unexpected, having commanded the cap
tains of his vessels (for lie came in sight of Pharos about
twilight in the evening) to furl their sails, and to keep a short
distance out of sight in the open sea, until it became late in
the evening and dark, and then at night he entered the port,
that when he disembarked he might find all the citizens buried
in sleep, and so, without any one seeing him, he might arrive
at the house of the man who was to be his entertainer. With
AGAINST FLACCUS. 67
so much modesty then did this man arrive, wishing if it were
possible to enter without being perceived by any one in the
city.
For he had not come to see Alexandria, since he had so
journed in it before, when he was preparing to take his voyage
to Rome to see Tiberius, but he desired at this time to take
the quickest road, so as to arrive at his destination with the
smallest possible delay. But the men of Alexandria -being
ready to burst with envy and ill-will (for the Egyptian dispo
sition is by nature a most jealous and envious one and inclined
to look on the good fortune of others as adversity to itself), and
being at the same time filled with an ancient and what I may
in a manner call an innate enmity towards the Jews, were in
dignant at any one s becoming a king of the Jews, no less
than if each individual among them had been deprived of an
ancestral kingdom of his own inheritance.
And then again his friends and companions came and stirred
up the miserable Flaccus, inviting, and exciting, and stimu
lating him to feel the same envy with themselves ; saying,
" The arrival of this man to take upon him his government is
equivalent to a deposition of yourself. He is invested with a
greater dignity of honour and glory than you. He attracts
all eyes towards himself when they see the array of sentinels
and body-guards around him adorned with silvered and gilded
arms. For ought he to have come into the presence of
another governor, when it was in his power to have sailed over
the sea, and so to have arrived in safety at his own govern
ment? For, indeed, if Caius did advise or rather command
him to do so, he ought rather with earnest solicitations to have
deprecated any visit to this country, in order that the real
governor of it might not be brought into disrepute and appear
to have his authority lessened by being apparently disre
garded."
When he heard this he was more indignant than before, and
in public indeed he pretended to be his companion and his
friend, because of his fear of the man who directed his course,
but secretly he bore him much ill-will, and told every one how
he hated him, and abused him behind his back, and insulted
him indirectly, since he did not dare to do so openly ; for he
encouraged the idle and lazy mob of the city (and the mob of
Alexandria is one accustomed to great license of speech, and
F 2
68 rniLO JUD^US.
one which delights above measure in calumny and evil-speak
ing), to abuse the king, either beginning to revile him in his
own person, or else exhorting and exciting others to do so by
the agency of persons who were accustomed to serve him in
business of this kind. And they, having had the cue given
them, spent all their days reviling the king in the public
schools, and stringing together all sorts of gibes to turn him
into ridicule.
And at times they employed poets who compose farces, and
managers of puppet shows, displaying their natural aptitude
for every kind of disgraceful employment, though they were
very slow at learning anything that was creditable, but very
acute, and quick, and ready at learning anything of an
opposite nature. For why did he not show his indignation,
why did he not commit them to prison, why did he not chas
tise them for their insolent and disloyal evil speaking? And
even if he had not been a king but only one of the household
of Crcsar, ought he not to have had some privileges and espe
cial honours? The fact is that all these circumstances are an
undeniable evidence that Flaccus was a participator in all this
abuse ; for he who might have punished it with the most
extreme severity, and entirely checked it, and who yet took no
steps to restrain it, was clearly convicted of having permitted
and encouraged it ; but whenever an ungoverned multitude
begins a course of evil doing it never desists, but proceeds
from one wickedness to another, continually doing some
monstrous thing.
VI. There was a certain madman named Carabbas, afflicted
not with a wild, savage, and dangerous madness (for that comes
on in fits without being expected either by the patient or by
bystanders), but with an intermittent and more gentle kind ;
this man spent all his days and nights naked in the roads,
minding neither cold nor heat, the sport of idle children and
wanton youths; and they, driving the poor wretch as far as the
public gymnasium, and setting him up there on high that he
might be seen by everybody, flattened out a leaf of papyrus
and put it on his bead instead of a diadem, and clothed the
rest of his bodv with a common door mat instead of a cloak,
and instead of a sceptre they put in his hand a small stick of
the native papyrus which they found lying by the wayside and
gave to him ; and when, like actors in theatrical spectacles, he
AGAINST FLACCUS. 69
had received all the insignia of royal authority, and had been
dressed arid adorned like a king, the young men bearing sticks
on their shoulders stood on each side of him instead of spear-
bearers, in imitation of the body-guards of the king, and then
others came up, some as if to salute him, and others making
as though they wished to plead their causes before him, and
others pretending to wish to consult with him about the affairs
of the state.
Then from the multitude of those who were standing around
there arose a wonderful shout of men calling out Maris ; and
this is the name by which it is said that they call the kings
among the Syrians ; for they knew that Agrippa was by birth a
Syrian, and also that he was possessed of a great district of Syria
of which he was the sovereign ; when Flaccus heard, or rather
when he saw this, he would have done right if he had appre
hended the maniac and put him in prison, that he might not
give to those who reviled him any opportunity or excuse for
insulting their superiors, and if he had chastised those who
dressed him up for having dared both openly and disguisedly,
both with words and actions, to insult a king and a friend of
Caesar, and one who had been honoured by the Roman senate
with imperial authority ; but he not only did not punish them,
but he did not think fit even to check them, but gave complete
license and impunity to all those who designed ill, and who
were disposed to show their enmity and spite to the king,
pretending not to see what he did see, and not to hear what
he did hear.
And when the multitude perceived this, I do not mean the
ordinary and well-regulated population of the city, but the mob
which, out of its restlessness and love of an unquiet and disor
derly life, was always filling every place with tumult and con
fusion, and who, because of their habitual idleness and laziness,
were full of treachery and revolutionary plans, they, flocking
to the theatre the first thing in the morning, having already
purchased Flaccus for a miserable price, which he with his
mad desire for glory and with his slavish disposition, conde
scended to take to the injury not only of himself, but also of
the safety of the commonwealth, all cried out, as if at a signal
given, to erect images in the synagogues, proposing a most
novel and unprecedented violation of the law.
And though they knew this (for they are very shrewd in
PHILO JUD.EUS.
their wickedness), they adopted a deep design, puttiii" forth
the name of Caesar as a screen, to whom it would he impiety
to attribute the deeds of the guilty ; wlmt then did the Rover-
nor of the country do ? Knowing that the city had two classes
ot inhabitants our own nation and the people of the country
and that the whole of Egypt was inhabited in the same man
ner, and that Jews who inhabited Alexandria and the rest of
the country from the Catabathmos on the side of Libya to
the boundaries of Ethiopia were not less than a million of
men ; and that the attempts which were being made were
directed against the whole nation, and that it was a most
mischievous thing to distress the ancient hereditary customs
ot the land ; he, disregarding all these considerations/permitted
the mob to proceed with the erection of the statues, though
he might have given them a vast number of admonitory pro-
cepts instead of any such permission, either commanding them
as their governor, or advising them as their friend.
VII But he, for lie was eagerly co-operating in all that was
being done amiss, thought fit to use his superior power to face
the seditious tumult with fresh additions of evil, and as far as
it depended on him, one may almost say that he filled the
whole of the inhabited world with civil wars ; for it was suffi
ciently evident that the report about the destruction of the
synagogues, which took its rise in Alexandria would be imme
diately spread over all the districts of Egypt, and would
extend from that country to the east and to the oriental
nations, and from the borders of the land in the other direc
tion, and from the Mareotic district which is the frontier of
Libya, towards the setting of the sun and the western nations
tor no one country can contain the whole Jewish nation by
ion of its populousness ; on which account they frequent all
;e most prosperous and fertile countries of Europe and <\sia
whether islands or continents, looking indeed upon the holv
city as their metropolis in which is erected the sacred temple
of the most high God, but, accounting those regions which
have been occupied by their fathers, and grandfathers, and
great grandfathers, and still more remote ancestors, in which
they have been born and brought up, as their country and
there are even some regions to which they came the very
moment that they were originally settled, sending a colony of
their people to do a pleasure to the founders of the colony
AGAINST FLACCUS. 71
And there was reason to fear lest all the populace in every
country, taking what was done in Egypt as a model and as an
excuse, might insult those Jews who were their fellow citizens,
by introducing new regulations with respect to their synagogues
and their national customs ; but the Jews, for they were not
inclined to remain quiet under everything, although naturally
entirely disposed towards peace, not only because contests for
natural customs do among all men appear more important than
those which are only for the sake of life, but also because they
alone of all the people under the sun, if they were deprived of
their houses of prayer, would at the same time be deprived of
all means of snowing their piety towards their benefactors,
which they would have looked upon as worse than ten thousand
deaths, inasmuch as if their synagogues were destroyed they
would no longer have any sacred places in which they could
declare their gratitude, might have reasonably said to those
who opposed them : You, without being aware of it, are taking
away honour from your lords instead of conferring any on them.
Our houses of prayer are manifestly incitements to all the Jews
in every part of the habitable world to display their piety and
loyalty towards the house of Augustus ; and if they are destroyed
from among us, what other place, or what other manner of show
ing that honour, will be left to us ? For if we were to neglect
the opportunity of adhering to our national customs when it
is afforded to us, we should deserve to meet with the severest
punishment, as not giving- any proper or adequate return for
the benefits which we have received ; but if, while it is in our
power to do so, we, in conformity with our own laws which
Augustus himself is in the habit of confirming, obey in every
thing, then I do not see what great, or even what small offence
can be laid to our charge ; unless any one were to impute to
us that we do not transgress the laws of deliberate purpose,
and that we do not intentionally take care to depart from our
national customs, which practk-es, even if they at first attack
others, do often in the end visit those who are guilty of them.
But Flaccus, saying nothing that he ought to have said, and
everything which he ought not to have said, has sinned against
us in this manner ; but those men whom he has studied to
gratify, what has been their design ? Have they had the feel
ings of men wishing to do honour to Caesar ? Was there then
a scarcity of temples in the city, the greatest and most import-
72 PHILO JUD/EUS.
ant parts of which arc all allotted to one or other of the gods,
in which they might, have erected any statues they pleased .-
We have been describing the evidence of hostile and unfriendh
men, who seek to injure us with such artifice, that even wher
injuring us they may not appear to have been acting iniqui
tously, and yet that we who are injured by them cannot resist
with safety to ourselves; for, my good men, it does not con
tribute to the honour of the emperor to abrogate the laws, to
disturb the national customs of a people, to insult those who
live in the same country, and to teach those who dwell in other
cities to disregard unanimity and tranquillity.
VIII. Since, therefore, the attempt which was being made
to violate the law appeared to him to be prospering, while ho
was destroying the synagogues, and not leaving even their
name, he proceeded onwards to another exploit, namelv, the
utter destruction of our constitution, that when all those things
to which alone our life was anchored were cut away, namely,
our national customs and our lawful political rights and social
privileges, we might be exposed to the very extremity ot
calamity, without having any stay left to which we could cling
for safety, for a few days afterwards he issued a notice in which
he called us all foreigners and aliens, without giving us an oppor
tunity of being heard in our own defence, but condemning us
without a trial ; and what command can be more full of tyranny
than this ?
He himself being everything accuser, enemv, witness,
judge, and executioner, added then to the two former appel
lations a third also, allowing any one who was inclined to
proceed to exterminate the Jews as prisoners of war. So when
the people had received this license, what did they do? There
are five districts in the city, named after the first five letters
of the written alphabet, of these two are called the quarters of
the Jews, because the chief portion of the Jews lives in them.
There are also a few scattered Jews, but only a very few, living
in some of the other districts. What then did they do? They
drove the Jews entirely out of four quarters, and crammed
them all into a very small portion of one ; and by reason of
their numbers they were dispersed over the sea-shore, and
desert places, and among the tombs, being deprived of all their
property; while the populace, overrunning their desolate
houses, turned to plunder, and divided the booty among them-
AGAINST FLACCUS. 73
selves as if they had obtained it in war. And as no one
hindered them, they broke open even the workshops of the
Jews, which were all shut up because of their mourning for
Brasilia,* and carried off all that they found there, and bore
it openly through the middle of the market-place as if they
had only been making use of their own property.
And the cessation of business to which they were compelled
to submit was even a worse evil than the plunder to which
liicy were exposed, as the consequence was that those who had
lent money lost what they had lent, and as no one was per
mitted, neither farmer, nor captain of a ship, nor merchant,
nor artisan, to employ himself in his usual manner, so that
poverty was brought on them from two sides at once, both from
rapine, as when license was thus given to plunder them they
were stripped of everything in one day, and also from the
circumstance of their no longer being able to earn money by
their customary occupations.
IX. And though these were evils sufficiently intolerable,
yet nevertheless they appear actually trifling when compared
with those which were subsequently inflicted on them, for
poverty indeed is a bitter evil, especially when it is caused by
the machinations of one s enemies, still it is less than insult
and personal ill treatment even of the slightest character. But
now the evils which were heaped upon our people were so
excessive and inordinate, that if a person were desirous to use
appropriate language, he would never call them insults or
assaults, but, as it appears to me, he would actually be wholly
at a loss for suitable expressions, on account of the enormity of
the cruelties now newly invented against them, so that if the
treatment which men experience from enemies who have sub
dued them in war, however implacable they may be by nature,
were to be compared with that to which the Jews were sub
jected, it would appear most merciful. Enemies, indeed,
plunder their conquered foes of their money, and lead away
multitudes in captivity, having incurred the same risk of losing
all that they had if they themselves had been defeated. Not but
that in all such cases there are very many persons for whom
their relations and friends put down a ransom, and who are
thus emancipated from captivity, inasmuch as though their
* She was the sister of the emperor, and at her death her brother
ordered that divine honours should be paid to her.
PHILO JUD.EUS.
enemies could not be worked upon by compassion, they could
by love of money.
But what is the use of going on in this way, some one will
say, for as long as men escape from danger it signifies but little
in what way their preservation is brought to pass ? Moreover
it hi..s often happened that enemies have granted to those who
have fallen in battle the honour of funeral rites, those who
were gentle and humane burying them at their own expense
and those who have carried on their enmity even against the
dead giving up their bodies to their friends under a truce, in
order that they might not be deprived of the last honour of all,
the customary ceremonies of sepulture.
This, then, is the conduct of enemies in time of war ; let us
now see what was done by those who a little while before had
been friends in time of peace.
For after plundering them of everything, and drivinrr them
from their homes, and expelling them by main force from most
of the quarters of the city, our people, as if they were block
aded and hemmed in by a circle of besieging enemies, being
oppressed by a terrible scarcity and want of necessarv things"
and seeing their wives and their children dying before their eyes
by an unnatural famine (for every other place was full of pros
perity and abundance, as the river had irrigated the corn lands
plentifully with its inundations, and as all the champaign
country, which is devoted to the purposes of bearing wheat,
was this year supplying a most abundant over-crop of corn witli
very unusual .fertility), being no longer able to support their
want, some, though they had never been used to do so before,
came to the houses of their friends and relations to beg them
to contribute such food as was absolutely necessarv as a
charity ; others, who from their high and free-born spirit could
not endure the condition of beggars, as being a slavish state
unbecoming the dignity of a freeman, came down into the
market with no other object than, miserable men that thev
were, to buy food for their families and for themselves.
And then, being immediately seized by those who had excited
the seditious multitude against them, they were treacherouslv
put to death, and then were dragged along and trampled under
foot by the whole city, and completclv destroyed, without the
least portion of them being left which could" possibly receive
burial ; and in this way their enemies, who in their savage
AGAINST FLACCUS. 75
madness had become transformed into the nature of wild beasts,
slew them and thousands of others with all kinds of agony and
tortures, and newly invented cruelties, for wherever they met
with or caught sight of a Jew, they stoned him, or beat him
with sticks, not at once delivering their blows upon mortal
parts, lest they should die speedily, and so speedily escape
from the sufferings which it was their design to inflict upon
them.
Some persons even, going still greater and greater lengths
in the iniquity and license of their barbarity, disdained all
blunter weapons, and took up the most efficacious arms of all,
fire and iron, and slew many with the sword, and destroyed
not a few with flames. And the most merciless of all their
persecutors in some instances burnt whole families, husbands
with their wives, arid infant children with their parents, in the
middle of the city, sparing neither age nor youth, nor the
innocent helplessness of infants. And when they had a
scarcity of fuel, they collected faggots of green wood, and slew
them by the smoke rather than by fire, contriving a still more
miserable and protracted death for those unhappy people, so
that their bodies lay about promiscuously in every direction
half burnt, a grievous and most miserable sight.
And if some of those who were employed in the collection
of sticks were too slow, they took their own furniture, of
which they had plundered them, to burn their persons, robbing
them of their most costly articles, and burning with them
things of the greatest use and value, which they used as fuel
instead of ordinary timber. Many men too, who were alive,
they bound by one foot, fastening them round the ankle, and
thus they dragged them along and bruised them, leaping on
them, designing to inflict the most barbarous of deaths upon
them, and then when they were dead they raged no less against
them with interminable hostility, and inflicted still heavier
insults on their persons, dragging them, I had almost said,
through all the alleys and lanes of the city, until the corpse,
being lacerated in all its skin, and flesh, and muscles from the
inequality and roughness of the ground, all the previously
united portions of his composition being torn asunder and
separated from one another, was actually torn to pieces.
And those who did these things, mimicked the sufferers,
like people employed in the representation of theatrical farces ;
70 PHILO JUDJEUS.
but the relations and friends of those who were the real
victims, merely because they sympathized with the misery of
their relations, were led away to prison, were scourged, were
tortured, and after all the ill treatment which their living
bodies could endure, found the cross the end of all, and the
punishment from which they could not escape.
X. But after Flaccus had broken through every right, and
trampled upon every principle of justice, and had left no
portion of the Jews free from the extreme severity of his
designing malice, in the boundlessness of his wickedness he
contrived a monstrous and unprecedented attack upon them,
being ever an inventor of new acts of iniquity, for he arrested
thirty-eight members of our council of elders, which our
saviour and benefactor, Augustus, elected to manage the
affairs of the Jewish nation after the death of the king of our
own nation, having sent written commands to that effect to
Manius Maximus when he was about to take upon himself for
the second time the government of Egypt and of the country,
he arrested them, I say, in their own houses, and commanded
them to be thrown into prison, and arranged a splendid pro
cession to send through the middle of the market-place a body
of old men prisoners, with their hands bound, some with thongs
and others with iron chains, whom he led in this plight into
the theatre, a most miserable spectacle, and one wholly
unsuited to the times. And then he commanded them all to
stand in front of their enemies, who were sitting down, to
make their disgrace the more conspicuous, and ordered them
all to be stripped of their clothes and scourged with stripes, in
.1 way that only the most wicked of malefactors are usuallv
treated, and they were flogged with such severity that some of
them the moment they were carried out died of their wounds,
while others were rendered so ill for a long time that their
recovery was despaired of.
And the enormity of this cruelty is proved by many other
circumstances, and it will be further proved most evidently
and undeniably by the circumstance which 1 am about to
mention. Three of the members of this council of elders,
Euodius, and Trypho, and Audro, had been stripped of all
their property, being plundered of everything that was in their
houses at one onset, and he was well aware that they had been
exposed to this treatment, for it had been related to him when
AGAINST FLACCUS. 77
he had in the first instance sent for our rulers, under pretence
of wishing to promote a reconciliation between them and the
rest of the city ; but nevertheless, though he well knew that
they had been deprived of all their property, he scourged them
in the very sight of those who had plundered them, that thus
they might endure the twofold misery of poverty and personal
ill treatment, and that their persecutors might reap the double
pleasure of enjoying riches which did in no respect belong to
them, and also of feasting their eyes to satiety on the disgrace
of those whom they had plundered.
Now, though I desire to mention a circumstance which took
place at that time, I am in doubt whether to do so or not, lest
if it should be looked upon as unimportant, it may appear to
take off from the enormity of these great iniquities ; but even
if it is unimportant in itself, it is nevertheless an indication
of no trifling wickedness of disposition. There are different
kinds of scourges used in the city, distinguished with reference
to the deserts or crimes of those who are about to be scourged.
Accordingly, it is usual for the Egyptians of the country them
selves to be scourged with a different kind of scourge, and by
a different class of executioners, but for the Alexandrians in
the city to be scourged with rods by the Alexandrian lictors,
and this custom had been preserved, in the case also of our
own people, by all the predecessors of Flaccus, and by Flaccus
himself in the earlier periods of his government ; for it is pos
sible, it really is possible, even in ignominy, to find some
slight circumstance of honour, and even in ill treatment to
find something which is, to some extent, a relaxation, when
any one allows the nature of things to be examined into by
itself, and to be confined to its own indispensable require
ments, without adding from his own ingenuity any additional
cruelty or treachery, to separate and take from it all that is
mingled with it of a milder character.
How then can it be looked upon as anything but most
infamous, that when Alexandrian Jews, of the lowest rank,
had always been previously beaten with the rods, suited to
freemen and citizens, if ever they were convicted of having
done anything worthy of stripes, yet now the very rulers of the
nation, the council of the elders, who derived their very titles
from the honour in which they were held and the offices which
they filled, should, in this respect, be treated with more indig-
78 PHILO JUD.-EU3.
nity than their own servants, like the lowest of the Egyptian
rustics, even when found guilty of the very worst of crimes ?
I omit to mention, that even if they had committed the most
countless iniquities, nevertheless the governor ought, out of
respect for the season, to have delayed their punishment ; for
with all rulers, who govern any state on constitutional prin
ciples, and who do not seek to acquire a character for audacity,
but who do really honour their benefactors, it is the custom
to punish no one, even of those who have been lawfully con
demned, until the famous festival and assembly, in honour of
the birth-day of the illustrious emperor, has passed. But he
committed this violation of the laws at the very season of this
festival, and punished men who had done no wrong ; though
certainly, if he ever determined to punish them, he ought to
have done so at a subsequent time ; but he hastened, and
would admit of no delay, by reason of his eagerness to please
the multitude who was opposed to them, thinking that in this
way he should be able, more easily, to gain them over to the
objects which he had in view.
l have known instances before now of men who had been
crucified when this festival and holiday was at hand, being
taken down and given up to their relations, in order to receive
the honours of sepulture, and to enjoy such observances as are
due to the dead; for it used to be considered, that even the
dead ought to derive some enjoyment from the natal festival
of a good emperor, and also that the sacred character of the
festival ought to be regarded. But this man did not order
men who had already perished on crosses to be taken down,
but he commanded living men to bo crucified, men to whom
the very time itself gave, if not entire forgiveness, still, at all
events, a brief and temporary respite from punishment ; and
he did this after they had been beaten by scourgings in the
middle of the theatre ; and after he had tortured them with
lire and sword ; and the speciacle of their sufferings was
divided ; for the first part of the exhibition lasted from the
morning to the third or fourth hour, in which the Jews were
scourged, were hung up, were tortured on the wheel, were con
demned, and were dragged to execution through the middle
of the orchestra; and after this beautiful exhibition came the
dancers, and the buffoons, and the flute-players, and all the
other diversions of the theatrical contests.
AGAINST FLACCUS. 79
XI. And why do I dwell on these things? for a second
mode of barbarity was afterwards devised against us, because
the governor wished to excite the whole multitude of the army
against us, in accordance with the contrivance of some foreign
informer. Now the information which was laid against the
nation was, that the Jews had entire suits of armour in their
houses ; therefore, having sent for a centurion, in whom he
placed the greatest confidence, by name Castor, he ordered
him to take with him the boldest soldier of his own band, to
go with haste, and, without saying a word to any one, to enter
the houses of the Jews, and to search them, and see whether
there was any store of arms laid up in them ; and he ran with
great speed to perform the commands which had been given
him. But they, having no suspicion of his intentions, stood
at first speechless with astonishment, their wives and their
children clinging to them, and shedding abundance of tears,
because of their fear of being carried into captivity, for they
were in continual expectation of that, looking upon it as all
that was wanting to complete their total misery. But when
they heard from some of those who were sent to make the
search an inquiry as to where they had laid up their arms,
they breathed awhile, and opening all their secret recesses
displayed everything which they had, being partly delighted
and partly grieving; delighted at the opportunity of repelling
the false accusation which was thus brought against them by
its own character, but indignant, in the first place, because
calumnies of such a nature, when concocted and urged against
them by their enemies, were believed beforehand; and,
secondly, because their wives, who were shut up, and who did
not actually come forth out of their inner chambers, and their
virgins, who were kept in the strictest privacy, shunning the
eyes of men, even of those who were their nearest relations,
out of modesty, were now alarmed by being displayed to the
public gaze, not only of persons who were no relations to them,
but even of common soldiers.
Nevertheless, though a most rigorous examination took place,
how great a quantity of defensive and offensive armour do YOU
think was found ? Helmets, and breast-plates, and shields,
and daggers, and javelins, and weapons of every description,
were brought out and piled up in heaps ; and also how great a
variety of missile weapons, javelins, slings, bows, and darts ?
80 PHILO JUD/EUS.
Absolutely not a single thing of the kind ; scarcely even knives
sufficient for the daily use of the cooks to prepare and dress the
food. From which circumstance, the simplicity of their daily
manner of life was plainly seen : as they made no pretence to
magnificence or delicate luxury ; the nature of which things is
to engender satiety, and satiety is apt to engender insolence,
which is the beginning of all evils.
And indeed it was not a long time before that, that the arms
had been taken away from the Egyptians throughout the whole
country by a man of the name of Bassus, to whom Flaccus had
committed this employment. But at that time one might
have beheld a great fleet of ships sailing down and anchor
ing in the harbours afforded by the mouths of the river,
full of arms of every possible description, and numerous beasts
of burden loaded with bags made of skins sewn together and
hanging like panniers on each side so as to balance better, and
also almost all the waggons belonging to the camp filled with
weapons of every sort, whicn were brought in rows so as to be
all seen at once, and arranged together in order. And the
distance between the harbour and the armoury in the king s
palace in which the arms were commanded to be deposited was
about ten stadia ; it was then very proper to investigate the
houses of the men who had amassed such quantities of arms ;
for as they had often actually revolted, they were naturally
liable to be suspected of designing revolutionary measures, and
it was quite fitting that, in imitation of the sacred games, those
who had superintended the collection of the arms should keep
a new triennial festival in Egypt, in order that they might not
again be collected without any one being aware of it, or else
that at all events only a few might be collected instead of a
great number, from the people not having time enough to
assemble any great number.
But why were we to be exposed to any treatment of tho sort .
For when were we ever suspected of any tendency to revolt?
And when did we bear any other than a most peaceful charac
ter among all men? And the habits in which we daily and
habitually indulge, are they not irreproachable, tending to the
lawful tranquillity and stability of the state? In fact, if the
Jews had had arms in their houses, would they have submitted
to be stripped of alVivc four hundred dwellings, out of which
they were turned and forcibly expelled by those who plundered
AGAINST FLACCUS. 81
them of all their properties ? Why then was not this search
made in the houses of those people who had arms, if not of
their own private property, at all events such as they had car
ried off from others ?
The truth is, as I have said already, the whole business was
a deliberate contrivance designed by the cruelty of Flaccus and
of the multitude, in which even women were included ; for
they were dragged away as captives, not only in the market
place, but even in the middle of the theatre, and dragged upon
the stage on any false accusation that might be brought against
them with the most painful and intolerable insults ; and then,
when it was found that they were of another race, they were
dismissed ; for they apprehended many women as Jewesses
who were not so, from want of making any careful or accurate
investigation. And if they appeared to belong to our nation,
then those who, instead of spectators, became tyrants and mas
ters, laid cruel commands on them, bringing them swine s flesh,
and enjoining them to eat it Accordingly, all wr^o were
wrought on by fear of punishment to eat it were released
without suffering any ill treatment ; but those who were more
obstinate were given up to the tormentors to suffer intole
rable tortures, which is the clearest of all possible proofs that
they had committed no offence whatever beyond what I have
mentioned.
XII. But it was not out of his own head alone, but also
because of the commands and in consequence of the situation
of the emperor that he sought and devised means to injure and
oppress us ; for after we had decreed by our votes and carried
out by our actions all the honours to the emperor Caius, which
were either within our power or allowable by our laws, we
brought the decree to him, entreating him that, as it was not
permitted to us to send an embassy ourselves to bear it to the
emperor, he would vouchsafe to forward it himself. And, after
he had read all the articles contained in the decree, and having
often nodded his head in token of his approbation of them,
smiling, and being very much delighted, or else pretending to
be pleased, he said : " I approve of you very greatly in all
things, for your piety and lovalty, and I will forward it as you
request, or else I myself will act the part of your ambassador,
that Caius may be aware of your gratitude. And I myself
will bear witness in your favour to all that I know of the
VOL. IV G
82 PHILO JUD^EUS.
orderly disposition and obedient character of your nation, with
out exaggerating anything ; for truth is the most sufficient of
all panegyrics."
At these promises \ve were greatly delighted, and we gave
him thanks, hoping that the decree would be thoroughly read
and appreciated by Caius. And indeed it was natural enough,
since all the things that are promptly and carefully sent by
the lieutenant-governors are read and examined without delay by
you ; but Flaccus, wholly neglecting all our hopes, and all his
own words, and all his own promises, retained the decree, in
order that you, above all the men under the sun, might be
looked upon as enemies to the emperor.
Was not this the conduct of one who had been vigilant afar
off, and who had long been contriving his design against us,
and who was not now yielding to some momentary impulse,
and attacking us on a sudden without any previous contrivance
with unreasonable impetuosity, being led away by some fresh
motive ? But God, as it seems, he who has a care for all
human aftairs, scattered his flattering speeches cunningly
devised to mislead the emperor, and baffled the counsels of
his lawless disposition and the manoeuvres which he was em
ploying, taking pity on us, and very soon he brought matters
into such a train that Flaccus was disappointed of his hopes.
For when Agrippa, the king, came into the country, we set
before him all the designs which Flaccus had entertained
against us ; and he set himself to rectify the business, and,
having promised to forward the decree to the emperor, he
taking it, as we hear, did send it, accompanied with a defence
relating to the time at which it was passed, showing that it was
not lately only that we had learnt to venerate the family of our
benefactors, but that we had from the very first beginning
shown our ze-al towards them, though we had been deprived of
the opportunity of making any seasonable demonstration of it
by the insolence of our governor. And after these events
justice, the constant champion and ally of those who arc
injured, and the punisher of everything impious, whether it be
action or man, began to labour to work his overthrow. For at
first they endured the most unexampled insults and miseries,
such as had never happened under any other of our governors,
ever since the house of Augustus first acquired the dominion
over earth a nd sea ; for some men of those who, in the lime of
AGAINST FLACCUS. 83
Tiberius, and of Caesar his father, had the government, seeking
to convert their governorship and viceroyalty into a sovereignty
and tyranny, filled all the country with intolerable evils, with
corruption, and rapine, and condemnation of persons who had
done no wrong, and with banishment and exile of such innocent
men, and with the slaughter of the nobles without a trial ; and
then, after the appointed period of their government had
expired, when they returned to Rome, the emperors exacted of
them an account and relation of all that they had done,
especially if by chance the cities which they had been oppressing
sent any embassy to complain ; for then the emperors, behaving
like impartial judges, listening both to the accusers and to the
defendant on equal terms, not thinking it right to pre-judge
and pre-condemn anyone before his trial, decided without being
influenced either by enmity or favour, but according to the
nature of truth, and pronouncing such a judgment as seemed to
be just. But in the case of Flaccus, that justice which hates
iniquity did not wait till the term of his government had
expired, but went forward to meet him before the usual time,
being indignant at the immoderate extravagance of his lawless
iniquity.
XIII. And the manner in which .he was cut short in his
tyranny was as follows. He imagined that Caius was already
made favourable to him in respect of those matters, about which
suspicion was sought to be raised against him, partly by his
letters which were full of flattery, and partly by the harangues
which he was continually addressing to the people, in which he
courted the emperor by stringing together flattering sentences
and long series of cunningly imagined panegyrics, and partly
too because he was very highly thought of by the greater part of
the city. But he was deceiving himself without knowing it ;
for the hopes of wicked men are unstable, as they guess what is
more favourable to them while they suffer what is quite contrary
to it, as in fact they deserve.
For Bassus, the centurion, was sent from Italy by the
appointment of Caius with the company of soldiers which he
commanded. And having embarked on board one of the fastest
sailing vessels, he arrived in a few days at the harbour of
Alexandria, off the island of Pharos, about evening ; and he
ordered the captain of the ship to keep out in the open sea till
G 2
81 PHILO JUDJEUS.
suuset, intending to enter the city unexpectedly, in order that
Flaccus might not be aware of his coming beforehand, and so be
led to adopt any violent measures, and render the service which
he was commanded to perform fruitless.
And when the evening came, the ship entered the harbour,
and Bassus, disembarking with his own soldiers, advanced,
neither recognizing nor being recognized by any one ; and on
his road finding a soldier who was one of the quaternions of the
guard, he ordered him to show him the house of his captain ;
for he wished to communicate his secret errand to him, that, if
he required additional force, he might have an assistant ivady.
And when he heard that he was supping at some person s
house in company with Flaccus, he did not relax in his speed,
but hastened onward to the dwelling of his entertainer; for
the man with whom they were feasting was Stephanion, one of
the freedmen of Tiberius Caesar ; and withdrawing to a short
distance, he sends forward one of his own followers to recon
noitre, disguising him like a servant in order that no one might
notice him or perceive what was going forward. So he,
entering in to the banqueting-room, as if he were the servant
of one of the guests, examined everything accurately, and then
returned and gave information to Bassus. And he, when he
had learnt the unguarded condition of the entrances, and the
small number of the people who were with Flaccus (for he was
attended by not more than ten or fifteen slaves to wait upon
him), gave the signal to his soldiers whom he had with him,
and hastened forward, and entered suddenly into the supper-
room, he and the soldiers with him, who stood by with their
swords girded on, and surrounded Flaccus before he was aware
of it, for at the moment of their entrance he was drinking
health with some one, and making merry with those who were
present.
But when Bassus had made his way into the midst, the
moment that he saw him he became dumb with ama/ement
and consternation, and wishing to rise up he saw the guards
all round him, and then he perceived his fate, even before he
heard what Caius wanted with him, and what commands had
been given to those who had come, and what he was about to
endure, for the mind of man is very prompt at perceiving at
once all those particulars which take a long time to happen,
and at hearing them all together. Accordingly, every one of
AGAINST FLACCUS. 85
those who were of this supper party rose up, being through
fear unnerved, arid shuddering lest some punishment might
be affixed to the mere fact of having been supping with the
culprit, for it was not safe to flee, nor indeed was it possible to
do so, since all the entrances were already occupied. So
Flaccus ws led away by the soldiers at the command of
Bassus, this being the manner in which he returned from the
banquet, for it was fitting that justice should begin to visit him
at a feast, because he had deprived the houses of innumerable
innocent men of all festivity.
XIV. This was the unexampled misfortune which befell
Flaccus in the country of which he was governor, being taken
prisoner like an enemy on account of the Jews, as it appears
to me, whom he had determined to destroy utterly in his desire
for glory. And a manifest proof of this is to be found in the
time of his arrest, for it was the general festival of the Jews at
the time of the autumnal equinox, during which it is the custom
of the Jews to live in tents ; but none of the usual customs at
this festival were carried out at all, since all the rulers of the
people were still oppressed by irremediable and intolerable
injuries and insults, and since the common people looked upon
the miseries of their chiefs as the common calamity of the
whole nation, and were also depressed beyond measure at the
individual afflictions to which they were each of them sepa
rately exposed, for griefs are redoubled when they happen at
the times of festival, when those who are afflicted are unable
to keep the feast, both by reason of the deprivation of their
mirthful cheerfulness, which a general assembly requires, and
also from the presence of sorrow by which they were now over
come, without being able to find any remedy for such terrible
disasters.
And while they were yielding to excessive sorrow, and feel
ing overwhelmed by most severe anguish, and they were all
collected in their houses at the approach of night, some persons
came in to inform them of the apprehension of the governor
which had then taken place. And they thought that this was
to try them, and was not the truth, and were grieved all the
more from thinking themselves mobbed, and that a snare was
thus laid for them ; but when a tumult arose through the city,
and the guards of the night began to ran about to and fro, and
when some of the cavalry were heard to be galloping with the
86 PfllLO JUD.-EUS.
utmost speed and with all energy to the camp and from the
camp, some of them, being excited by the strangeness of the
event, went forth from their houses to inquire what had
happened, for it was plain that something strange had occurred.
And when they heard of the arrest that had taken place, and
that Flaccus was now within the toils, stretching up their
hands to heaven, they sang a hymn, and began a song of praise
to God, who presides over all the affairs of men, saying, " We
are not delighted, Master, at the punishment of our enemy,
being taught by the sacred laws to submit to all the vicissi
tudes of human life, but we justly give thanks to thce, who
hast had mercy and compassion upon us, and who hast thus
relieved our continual and incessant oppressions."
And when they had spent the whole night in hymns and
songs, they poured out through the gates at the earliest dawn,
and hastened to the nearest point of the shore, for they had
been deprived of their usual places for prayer, and standing in
a clear and open space, they cried out, " most mighty King
of all mortal and immortal beings, we have come to offer thanks
unto thee, to invoke earth and sea, and the air and the heaven,
and all the parts of the universe, and the whole world in which
alone we dwell, being driven out by men and robbed of everv-
thing else in the world, and being deprive I nf our citv. nnd of
all the buildings both private and public within the city, and
being made houseless and homeless by the treachery of our
governor, the only men in the world who are so treated. You
suggest to us favourable hopes of the setting straight of what
is left to us, beginning to consent to our prayers, inasmuch as
you have on a sudden thrown down the common enemy of our
nation, the author and cause of all our calamities, exulting in
pride, and trusting that he would gain credit by such means,
before he was removed to a distance from us, in order that
those who were evilly afflicted might not feel their joy impaired
by learning it only by report, but you have chastised him while
he was so near, almost as we may say before the eyes of those
whom he oppressed, in order to give us a more distinct per
ception of the end which has fallen upon him in a short time
beyond our hopes."
XV. And besides what I have spoken of there is also a
ihird thing, which appears to me to have taken place by the
interposition of divine providence; for after he had set sail at
AGAINST FLACCUS. 87
the beginning of winter, for it was rightly ordained that he
should have his fill of the dangers of the sea, inasmuch as he
had filled all the elements of the universe with his impieties,
after suffering innumerable hardships he with difficulty got
safely to Italy, and the moment that he had arrived there he
was pursued by accusations which were brought against him.
and which were brought before two of his greatest enemies,
Isidorus and Lampo, who a little while before were in the
position of subjects to him, calling him their master, and bene
factor, and saviour, and names of that sort, but who now were
his adversaries, and that too displaying a power not only equal
to but far superior to his own, not merely from the confidence
which men feel in the justice of their cause, but, what was a
matter of great moment, because they saw that the Judge of
all human affairs was his irreconcileable enemy, being about
now to take upon himself the form of a judge from a prudent
determination not to appear to condemn any one beforehand
unheard, and not to act the part of an enemy, who before
hearing either accusation or defence, has already condemned
the defendant in his mind, and has sentenced him to the most
severe punishments. But nothing is so terrible as for men
who have been the more powerful to be accused by their
inferiors, and for those who have been rulers to be impeached
by their former subjects, which is as if masters were being
prosecuted by their natural or purchased slaves.
XVI. And yet even this in my opinion was a lighter evil
when compared with another which was greater still ; for it
was not people who were merely in the simple rank of subjects
who now, discarding that position and conspiring together, on a
sudden attacked him with their accusations ; but those who did
so were men who during the chief part of the time that he had
had the government of the courtry had been in a position of
the greatest enmity and hatred to him, Lampo having been
under a prosecution for impiety against Tiberius Caesar, and
having been almost worn out by the matter which had been
thus impending over his head for two years; for the judge
who had a grudge against him caused all sorts of delays and
every possible protraction of the cause on various pretexts,
wishing even if he escaped from the accusation, at all events to
keep the terror of the future as uncertain hanging over his head
for the longest possible period, so as to make his life more
88 PHILO JUD/EUS.
miserable even than death. And then again when he seemed
to have come off victorious, saying that he was insulted and
injured in his property (for he was compelled to become a
gymnasiarch), either by being economical and illiberal in his
expenses, pretending that he had not sufficient wealth for such
unlimited expenditure, or perhaps really not having enough ;
but before he came to the trial, making a parade of being very
rich, but when he did come to the proof then appearing not to
be a man of exceeding wealth, having acquired nearly all the
riches which he had by unjust actions.
For standing by the rulers when they gave judgment, he
took notes of all that took place on the trial as if he were a
clerk ; and then he designedly passed over or omitted such and
such points, and interpolated other things which were not said.
And at times, too, he made alterations, changing and altering,
and perverting matters, and turning things up-side down, aim
ing to get money by every syllable, or, I might rather say, by
every letter, like a hunter after musty records, whom the whole
people with one accord did often with great felicity and pro
priety of expression call a pen-murderer, as slaying numbers of
persons by the things which he wrote, and rendering the living
more miserable than even the dead, as, though they might have
got the victory and been in comfort, they were subjected to
miserable defeat and poverty, their enemies having bought
victory, and triumph, and wealth, of a man who sold and made
his market of the properties of others.
For it was impossible for rulers who had the charge of so
vast a country entrusted to them, when affairs of every sort, both
private and public, were corning in upon them fresh every day,
to remember everything which they had heard, especially as
they had not only "to fill the part of judges, but also to take
accounts of all the revenues and taxes, the investigation into
which occupied the greater portion of the year. And the man
to whom it was entrusted to take charge of that most im
portant of all deposits, namely, justice, and of those most holy
sentiments which had been delivered and urged before them,
caused forgetful ness to the judges, registering those who ought
to have had sentence in their favour as defeated, and those
who ought to have been defeated as victorious, after the receipt
of his accursed pay, or, to speak more properly, wages of
iniquity.
AGAINST FLACCUS. 89
XVII. Such, then, was the character of Lampo, who was
now one of the accusers of Flaccus.
And Isidorus was in no respect inferior to him in wicked
ness, being a man of the populace, a low demagogue, one who
had continually studied to throw everything into disorder and
confusion, an enemy to all peace and stability, very clever at
exciting seditions and tumults which had no existence before,
and at inflaming and exaggerating such as were already ex
cited, taking care always to keep about him a disorderly and
promiscuous mob of all the refuse of the people, ready for every
kind of atrocity, which he had divided into regular sections as
so many companies of soldiers.
There are a vast number of parties in the city whose associ
ation is founded in no one good principle, but who are united
by wine, and drunkenness, and revelry, and the offspring of
those indulgences, insolence ; and their meetings are called
synods and couches by the natives. In all these parties or
the greater number of them Isidorus is said to have borne the
bell, the leader of the feast, the chief of the supper, the dis
turber of the city. Then, whenever it was. determined to do
some mischief, at one signal they all went forth in a body, and
did and said whatever they were told. And on one occasion,
being indignant with Flaccus because, after he had appeared
originally to be a person of some weight with him, he after
wards was no longer courted in an equl degree, having hired a
gang of fellows from the training schools and men accustomed
to vociferate loudly, who sell their outcries as if in regular
market to those who are inclined to buy them, he ordered
them all to assemble at the gymnasium ; and they, having
filled it, began to heap accusations on Flaccus without any
particular grounds, inventing all kinds of monstrous accu
sations and all sorts of falsehoods in ridiculous language,
stringing long sentences together, so that not only was Flaccus
himself alarmed but all the others who were there at this un
expected attack, and especially, as it may be conjectured, from
the idea that there must certainly have been some one
behind the scenes whom they were studying to gratify, since
they themselves had suffered no evil, and since they were well
aware that the rest of the city had not been ill-treated by
him.
Then, after they had deliberated awhile, they, determined to
00 rniLO JUD^US.
apprehend certain persons of them and to inquire into the
cause of this indiscriminate and sudden rage and madness.
And the men who were arrested, without being put to the tor
ture, confessed the truth and added proofs to their words by
what had been done, detailing the pay which had been agreed
to be given to them, both that which had been already given
and that which, in accordance with his promises, was subse
quently to be paid, and the men who were appointed to
distribute it as the leaders of the sedition, and the place where
it was to break out, and the time when the giving of the
bribes was to take place.
And when every one, as was very natural, was indignant at
this, and when the city was mightily offended, that the folly of
some individuals should attach to it so as to dim its reputa
tion, Flaccus determined to send for some of the most honour
able men of the people, and, on the next day to bring forward
before them those who had distributed the bribes, that he might
investigate the truth about Jsidorus, and also that he might
make a defence of his own system of government, and prove
that he had been unjustly calumniated ; and when they heard
the proclamation there came not only the magistrates but
also the whole city, except that portion which was about to be
convicted of having been the agents of corruption or the
corrupted.
And they who had been employed in this honourable service,
being raised up on the platform, that they might be elevated
and conspicuous and be recognised bv all men, accused
Isidorus as having been the cause of all the tumults and of
the accusations which had been brought against Flaccus, and
as having given money and bribes to no small number of them
by himself. " Since else," said they, " where could we have
got such great abundance ? We are poor men, and are scarcely
able to provide our daily expenses for absolute necessaries;
and what evil did we ever sutler from the governor, so as to be
forced to bear him ill will? Nay, but it is he who was the
cause of all these things, the author of them all, he who is
always envious of those who are in prosperity, and an adver
sary of all stability and wholesome law."
And when those who were present came to the knowledge
of these things, for what was thus said was a very evident
proof and evidence of the intentions of the person accused,
AGAINST FLACCUS. 91
they all raised an outcry, some calling out that he should be
degraded, others that he should be banished, others that he
should be put to death, and these last were the most nu
merous ; and the others changed their tone and joined them,
so that at last they all cried out, with one accord and with one
voice, to slay the common pest of the land, the. man to whom
it was owing that, ever since he had arrived in the country
and taken any part in public affairs, no part of the city or of
the common interests had ever been left in a sound or healthy
condition ; and he, indeed, being convicted by his conscience,
fled away in-doors, fearing lest he should be seized; but
Flaccus did nothing against him, thinking that now that he
had voluntarily removed himself, everything in the city would
soon be free from sedition and contention.
XVII J. I have related these events at some length, not for
the sake of keeping old injuries in remembrance, but because
I admire that power who presides over all freemen s affairs,
namely, justice, seeing that those men who were so generally
hostile to Flaccus, those by whom of all men he was most
hated, were the men who now brought their accusations
against him, to fill up the measure of his grief, for it is not so
bitter merely to be accused as to be accused by one s confessed
enemies ; but this man was not merely accused, though a go
vernor, by his subjects, and that by men who had always been
his enemies, when he had only a short time before been the
lord of the life of every individual among them, but he was
also apprehended by force, being thus subjected to a twofold
evil, namely, to be defeated and ridiculed by exulting enemies,
which is worse than death to all right-minded and sensible
people.
And then see what an abundance of disasters came upon
him, for he was immediately stripped of all his possessions,
both of those which he inherited from his parents and of all
that he had acquired himself, having been a man who took
especial delight in luxury and ornament ; for he was not like
some rich men, to whom wealth is an inactive material, but he
was continually acquiring things of every useful kind in
all imaginable abundance ; cups, garments, couches, minia
tures, and everything else which was any ornament to a house ;
and besides that, he collected a vast number of servants, care
fully selected for their excellencies and accomplishments, and
92 PH1LO JUD^EUS.
with reference to their beauty, and health, and vigour of body,
and to their unerring skill in all kinds of necessary and use
ful service ; for every one of them was excellent in that employ
ment to which he was appointed, so that he was looked upon
as either the most excellent of all servants in that place, or, at
all events, as inferior to no one.
And there is a very clear proof of this in the fact that,
though there were a vast number of properties confiscated and
sold for the public benefit, which belonged to persons who had
been condemned, that of Flaccus alone w r as assigned to the
emperor, with perhaps one or two more, in order that the law
which had been established with respect to persons convicted
of such crimes as his might not be violated.
And after he had been deprived of all his property, he was
condemned to banishment, and w r as exiled from the whole
continent, and that is the greatest and most excellent portion
of the inhabited world, and from every island that has any
character for fertility or richness ; for he was commanded to
be sent into that most miserable of all the islands in the
^Egoean Sea,* called Gyara, and he would have been left there
if he had not availed himself of the intercession of Lepidus, by
whose means he obtained leave to exchange Gyara for Andros,
which was very near it. Then lie was sent back again on the
road from Rome to Brundusium, a journey which he had taken
a tew years before, at the time when he was appointed governor
of Egypt and the adjacent country of Lybia, in order that the
cities which had then seen him exulting and behaving with
great insolence in the hour of his prosperity, might now again
behold him full of dishonour. And thus he being now become
a conspicuous mark by reason of this total change of fortune,
was overwhelmed with more bitter grief, his calamities being
constantly re-kindled and inflamed by the addition of fresh
miseries, which, like relapses in sickness, compel the recol
lection of all former disasters to return, which up to that time
appeared to be buried in obscurity. 1
XIX. And after he had crossed the Ionian Gulf he sailed
up the sea which leads to Corinth, being a spectacle to all the
* This was a common place of banishment for criminals. Juvonal
sayrs
A tide aliquid brevibus Oynrip, et caivere di^nuru,
Si vis e^se aliquis.- -i. 72.
AGAINST FLACCUS. 93
cities in Peloponnesus which lie on the coast, when they heard
of his sudden reverse of fortune ; for when he disembarked
from the vessel all the evil disposed men who bore him ill will
ran up to see him, and others also came to sympathize with
him men who are accustomed to learn moderation from the
misfortunes of others. And at LechaBum, crossing over the
isthmus into the opposite gulf, and having arrived at Cenchrese,
the dockyard of the Corinthians, he was compelled by the
guards, who would not permit him the slightest respite, to
embark immediately on board a small transport and to set sail,
and as a foul wind was blowing with great violence, after great
sufferings he with difficulty arrived safe at the Piraeus.
And when the storm had ceased, having coasted along
Attica as far as the promontory of Sunium,* he passed by all
the islands in order, namely, Helena, and Ceanus, and Cythnos,
and all the rest which lie in a regular row one after another,
until at last he came to the point of his ultimate destination,
the island of Andros, which the miserable man beholding afar
off poured forth abundance of tears down his cheeks, as if from
a regular fountain, and beating his breast, and lamenting most
bitterly, he said, " Men, ye who are my guards and attendants
in this my journey, I now Deceive in exchange for the glorious
Italy this beautiful country of Andros, which is an unfortunate
island for me. I, Flaccus, who was born, and brought up, and
educated in Rome, the heaven of the world, and who have been
the schoolfellow and companion of the granddaughters of
Augustus, and who was afterwards selected by Tiberius Caesar
as one of his most intimate friends, and who have had entrusted
to me for six years the greatest of all his possessions, namely,
Egypt. What a change is this ! In the middle of the day,
as if an eclipse had come upon me, night has overshadowed
my life. What shall I say of this little islet ? Shall I call
it my place of banishment, or my new country, or harbour and
refuge of misery ? A tomb would be the most proper name for
it ; for I, miserable that I am, am now in a manner conducted
to my grave, attending my own funeral, for either I shall
destroy ray miserable life through my sorrow, or if I am able
to cling to life among my miseries, I shall in that case find a
distant death, which will be felt all the time of my life."
These, then, were the lamentations which he poured forth,
* Now Cape Colonna.
94 PHILO JUD.EUS.
and when the vessel came near the harbour he landed, stoop-
in^ down to the very ground like men heavily oppressed, being
weighed down by his calamities as if the heaviest of burdens
was placed upon his neck, without being able to look up, or
else not daring to do so because of the people whom he
ini^ht meet, and of those who came out to see him and who
stood on each side of the road. And those men who had
conducted him hither, bringing the populace of the Andrians,
exhibited him to them all, making them all witnesses of the
arrival of the exile in their island.
And they, when they had discharged their office, departed ;
and tben the misery of Flaccus was renewed, as lie no longer
beheld any sight to which he was accustomed, but only saw
sad misery presented to him by the most conspicuous evidence,
while he looked around upon what to him was perfect desola
tion, in the middle of which he was placed ; so that it seemed
to him that a violent execution in his native land would have
been a lighter evil, or rather, by comparison with his present
circumstances, a most desirable good ; and he gave himself up
to such violence of grief, that he was in no respect different
from a maniac, and leaped about, and ran to and fro, and
clapped his hands, and smote his thighs, and threw him
self upon the ground, and kept continually crying out, " I am
Flaccus ! who but a little while ago was the governor of the
mighty city, of the populous city of Alexandria ! the governor
of "that most fertile of all countries, Egypt ! I am he on
whom all those myriads of inhabitants turned their eyes ! who
had countless forces of infantry, and cavalry, and ships, for
midable, not merely by their number, but consisting of all the
most eminent and illustrious of all my subjects ! I am he who
was every day accompanied when I went out by countless com
panies of clients ! Hut now, was not all this a vision rather
than reality? and was I asleep, and was this prosperity which
1 then beheld a dream phantoms marching through empty
space, fictions of the soul, which perhaps registered non
existent tilings as though they had a being? Doubtless, I
have been deceived. These things were but a shadow and no
real things, imitations of reality and not a real truth, which
makes falsehood evident ; for as after we have awakened we
find none of those things which appeared to us in cur dreams,
but all such things have fled in a body and disappeared, so too,
AGAINST FLACCUS. 95
all that brilliant prosperity which I formerly enjoyed has now
been extinguished in the briefest moment of time."
XX. With such discourses as these, he was continually
being cast down, and in a manner, as I may say, prostrated ;
and avoiding all places where he might be likely to meet with
many persons on account of the shame which clung to him, he
never went down to the harbour, nor could he endure to visit
the market-place, but shut himself up in his house, where he
kept himself close, never venturing to go beyond the outer
court. But sometimes indeed, in the deepest twilight of the
dawn, when every one else was still in bed, so that he could be
seen by no one whatever, he would go forth out of the city and
spend the entire day in the desolate part of the island, turning
away if any one seemed likely to meet him ; and being torn as
to his soul with the memorials of his misfortunes which he saw
about him in his house, and being devoured with anguish, he
went back home in the darkness of the night, praying, by
reason of his immoderate and never-ending misery, that the
evening would become morning, dreading the darkness and the
strange appearances which represented themselves to him
when he went to sleep, and again in the morning he prayed
that it might be evening ;* for the darkness which surrounded
him was opposed to everything light or cheerful.
And a few months afterwards, having purchased a small
piece of land, he spent a great deal of his time there living by
himself, and bewailing and weeping over his fate. It is said
too, that often at midnight he became possessed like those who
celebrate the rites of the Corybantes, and at such times he
would go forth out of his farm-house and raise his eyes to
heaven and to the stars, and beholding all the beauty really
existing in the world, he would cry out, " King of gods and
men ! you are not, then, indifferent to the Jewish nation, nor
are the assertions which they relate with respect to your provi
dence false ; but those men who say that that people has not
you for their champion and defender, are far from a correct
* This is evidently taken from Deuteronomy xxviii. 66, "And thy
life shall hang in doubt before thee ; and thou ahalt fear day and night,
and shalt have none assurance of thy life : in the morning thou shalt
say. Would God it were even ! and at e* en thou shalt say, Would God
it were morning ! for the fear of tliine heart wherewith thou shalt fear,
and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see."
06 PHILO JUD^EUS.
opinion. And I am an evident proof of this ; for all the
frantic designs which I conceived against the Jews, I now
suffer myself. I consented when they were stripped of their
possessions, giving immunity to those who were plundering
them ; and on this account I have myself been deprived of all
my paternal and maternal inheritance, and of all that 1
have ever acquired by gift or favour, and of everything else
that ever became mine in any other manner. In times past I
reproached them with ignominy as being foreigners, though
they were in truth sojourners in the land entitled to full privi
leges, in order to give pleasure to their enemies who were a
promiscuous and disorderly multitude, by whom I, miserable
man that I was, was flattered and deceived ; and for this ]
have been myself branded with infamy, and have been
driven as an exile from the whole of the habitable world, and
am shut up in this place. Again, 1 led some of them into the
theatre, and commanded them to be shamelessly and unjustlv
insulted in the sight of their greatest enemies ; and therefore
I justly have been myself led not into a theatre or into one
city, but into many cities, to endure the utmost extremity of
insult, being ill-treated in my miserable soul instead of my
body ; for 1 was led in procession through the whole of Italy
as far as Brundusium, and through all Peloponnesus as far as
Corinth, and through Attica, and all the islands as far as
Andros, which is this prison of mine ; and I am thoroughly as
sured that even this is not the limit of my misfortunes, but
that others are still in store for me, to iill up the measure
as a requital for all the evils which I have done. I put many
persons to death, and when some of them were put to death by
others, I did not chastise their murderers. Some were stoned ;
some were burnt alive ; others were dragged through the
middle of the market-place till the whole of their bodies were
torn to pieces. And for all this I know now that retribution
awaits rne, and that the avengers are already standing as it
were at the goal, and are pressing close to me, eager to slay
me, and every day, or I may rather say, every hour, I die
before my time, enduring many deaths instead of one, the last
of all" *
* This is like the passage iu Shakespeare
Cowards die many times before their deaths ;
The brave men only taste of death but once."
AGAINST FLACCUS. 97
And he was continually giving way to dread and to appre
hension, and shaking with fear in every limb and every
portion of his body, and his whole soul was trembling with
terror and quivering with palpitation and agitation, as if
nothing in the world could possibly be a comfort to the man
now that he was deprived of all favourable hopes ; no good
omen ever appeared to him, everything bore a hostile appear
ance, every report was ill-omened, his waking was painiul, his
sleep fearful, his solitude resembling that of wild beasts,
nevertheless the solitude of his herds was what was most
pleasant to him, any dwelling in the city was his greatest
affliction; his safe reproach was a solitary abiding in the
fields, a dangerous, and painful, and unseemly way of life ;
every one who approached him, however justly, was an object
of suspicion to him. " This man," he would say, " who is
coming quickly hither, is planning something against me, he
does not look as if he were hastening for any other object, but
he is pursuing me ; this pleasant looking man is laying a snare
for me ; this free-spoken man is despising me ; this man is
giving me meat and drink as they feed cattle before killing
them. How long shall I, hard-hearted that I am, bear up
against such terrible calamities? I well know that I am
afraid of death, since out of cruelty the Deity will not punish
me violently, to cut short my miserable life, in order to load
me to excess with irremediable miseries, which he treasures
up against me, to do a pleasure to those whom I treacherously
put to death."
XXI. While repeating these things over and over again
and writhing with his agony, he awaited the end of his destiny,
and his uninterrupted sorrow agitated, and disturbed, and over
turned his soul. But Caius, being a man of an inhuman
nature and insatiable in his revenge, did not, as some persons
do, let go those who had been once punished, but raged against
them without end, and was continually contriving some new
and terrible suffering for them ; and, above all men, he hated
Flaccus to such a degree, that he suspected all who bore the
same name, from his detestation of the very appellation ; and
he often repented that he had condemned him to banishment
and not to death, and though he had a great respect for
Lepidus who had interceded for him, he blamed him, so that
he was kept in a state of great alarm from fear of punishment
VOL. IV. H
98 ruiLO JUD^US.
impending over him, for he feared lest, as was very likely, he.
because he had been the cause of another person having been
visited by a lighter punishment, might himself have a more
severe one inflicted upon him.
Therefore, as no one any longer ventured to say a word by
way of deprecating the anger of the emperor, he gave loose to
his fury, which was now implacable and unrestrained, and
which, though it ought to have been mitigated by time, was
rather increased by it, just as recurring diseases are in the
body when a relapse takes place, for all such relapses are more
grievous than the original attacks.
They say that on one occasion Caius, being awake at night,
began to turn his mind to the magistrates and officers who
were in banishment, and who in name indeed were looked
upon as unfortunate, but who in reality had now thus
acquired a life free from trouble, and truly tranquil and free.
And he gave a new name to this banishment, calling it an
emigration, " For," said he, " it is only a kind of emigration
the banishment of these men, inasmuch as they have all the
necessaries of life in abundance, and are able to live in tran
quillity, and stability, and peace. But it is an absurdity for
them to be living in luxury, enjoying peace, and indulging in
all the pleasures of a philosophical life."
Then he commanded the most eminent of these men, and
those who were of the highest rank and reputation, to be put
to death, giving a regular list of their names, at the head of
which list was Flaccus. And when the men arrived at
Andros, who had been commanded to put him to death,
Flaccus happened, just at that moment, to be coming from his
farm into the city, and they, on their way up from the port,
met him, and while yet at a distance they perceived and
recognised one another ; at which he, perceiving in a moment
the object for which they were come (for every man s soul is
very prophetic, especially of such as are in misfortune), turn
ing out of the road, fled and ran away over the rough ground,
forgetting, perhaps, that Andros was an island and not the con
tinent. And what is the use of speed in an island which the
sea washes all round ? for one of two things must of necessity
happen, either that if the fugitive advances further he must be
carried into the sea, or else arrested when he has reached the
farthest boundary. Therefore, in a comparison of evils, destruc-
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 99
tion by land must be preferable to destruction by sea, since
nature has made tbe land more closely akin to man, and to all
terrestrial animals, not only while they are alive, but even
after they are dead, in order that the same element may
receive both their primary generation and their last dis
solution.
The officers therefore pursued him without stopping to take
breath and arrested him ; arid then immediately some of them
dug a ditch, and the others dragged him on by force in spite of
all his resistance and crying out and struggling, by which
means his whole body was wounded like that of beasts that
are despatched with a number of wounds ; for he, turning
round them and clinging to his executioners, who were hin
dered in their aims which they took at him with their swords,
and who thus struck him with oblique blows, was the cause of
his own sufferings being more severe ; for he was in conse
quence mutilated and cut about the hands, and feet, and head,
and breast, and sides, so that he was mangled like a victim,
and thus he fell, justice righteously inflicting on his own body
wounds equal in number to the murders of the Jews whom he
had unlawfully put to death.
And the whole place flowed with blood which was shed from
his numerous veins, which were cut in every part of his body,
and which poured forth blood as from a fountain. And when
the corpse was dragged into the trench which had been dug,
the greater part of the limbs separated from the body, the
sinews by which the whole of the body is kept together being
all cut through.
Such was the end of Flaccus, who suffered thus, being made
the most manifest evidence that the nation of the Jews is not
left destitute of the providential assistance of God.
A TREATISE
ON
THE VIRTUES AND ON THE OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS.
ADDRESSED TO CAIUS.
I. How long shall we, who are aged men, still be like
children, being indeed as to our bodies gray -headed through the
length of time that we have lived, but as to our souls utterly
H 2
100 PHILO JUDJEUS.
infantine through our want of sense and sensibility, looking
upon that which is the most unstable of all things, namely,
fortune, as most invariable, and that which is of all things in
the world the most steadfast, namely, nature, as utterly un
trustworthy ? For, like people playing at draughts, we make
changes, altering the position of actions, and considering the
things which are the result of fortune as more durable than
those which result from nature, and the things which proceed in
accordance with nature as less stable than those which are the
result of chance. And the reason of all this is, that we form
our judgment of present events without paying any prudential
attention to the future, being influenced by the erroneous
guidance of our outward senses instead of the secret operations
of the intellect ; for the things which are openly conspicuous
and before our hands so as to be taken up by them, are com
prehended by our eyes, but our reasoning power outstrips them,
hastening onwards to what is invisible and future ; but never
theless, we obscure the vision of our reason, though it is
far more acute than those bodily powers of sight which are
exercised by the eyes, some of us confusing it by indulgence
in wine and satiety, and others by that greatest of all evils,
namely, ignorance.
Nevertheless, the existing opportunity and the many and
important propositions which arise to be decided on at the
present time, even if some people should be incredulous that
the Deity exercises a providential foresight with regard to
human affairs, and especially on behalf of a nation which ad
dresses its supplications to him, which belongs especially to the
lather and sovereign of the universe, and the great cause of all
tilings ; and these prop9sitions are sufficient to persuade them
of this truth.*
And this nation of suppliants is in the Chaldaic language
called Israel, but when the name is translated into the Greek
language it is called, "the seeing nation ; which appellation
appears to me to be the most honourable of all things in the
world, whether private or public ; for if the sight of elders, or
instructors, or rulers, or parents, excites those who behold
them to reverence and orderly conduct, and to an admiration
of and desire for a life of moderation and temperance, how
great a bulwark of virtue and excellence must we not expect
* There seems some corruption in the text here.
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 101
to find in those souls which, after having investigated the
nature of every created thing, have learnt to contemplate the
uncreated and Divine Being, the first good of all, the one
heautiful, and happy, and glorious, and blessed being ; better,
if one is to tell the plain truth, than the good itself; more
heautiful than the beautiful itself; more happy than happiness
itself; more blessed than blessedness itself; and, in short, if
anything else in the world is so, more perfect than any one of
the above-mentioned things.
For reason cannot make such advances as to attain to a
thorough comprehension of God, who can neither be touched
nor handled ; but it withdraws from and falls short of such a
height, being unable to employ appropriate language as a step
towards the manifestation (I will not say of the living God,
for even if the whole heaven were to become endowed with
articulate voice, it would not be furnished with felicitous and
appropriate expressions to do justice to such a subject); but
even of his subordinate powers, those, for instance, by which he
created the world and by which he reigns over it as its king, and
by which he foresees the future, and all his other beneficent,
and chastising, and corrective powers. Unless, indeed, we
ought to class his correction among his beneficent powers, not
only because such a display is a portion of his laws and ordi
nances (for law is made up of two things, the honour of the
good, and the chastisement of the wicked), but also because
punishment reproves, and very often even corrects, and ame
liorates those who have done wrong ; and if it fails to do so
with respect to them, at all events it does so to those who are
near the offenders thus punished ; for the punishment of
others makes most men better, for fear lest they themselves
should suffer the same things.
II. For who when he saw Caius, after the death of Tiberius
Caesar, assuming the sovereignty of the whole world in a
condition free from all sedition, and regulated by and obedient
to admirable laws, and adapted to unanimity and harmony in
all its parts, east and west, south and north ; the barbarian na
tions being in harmony with the Greeks, and the Greeks with the
barbarians, and the soldiers with the body of private citizens,
and the citizens with the military ; so that they all partook of
and enjoyed one common universal peace could fail to marvel
at and be amazed at his extraordinary and unspeakable good
102 PHILO JDD.EUS.
fortune, since he had thus succeeded to a ready-made inherit
ance of all good things, collected together as it were in one
heap, namely, to numerous and vast treasures of money, and
silver and gold, some in bullion, and some in coined money,
and some again being devoted to articles of luxury, in
drinking cups and other vessels, which are made for display
and magnificence ; and also countless hosts of troops, infantry,
and cavalry, and naval forces, and revenues which were sup
plied in a never-ending stream as from a fountain ; and the
sovereignty of the most numerous, and most valuable, and im
portant portions of the habitable world, which in fact one may
fairly call the whole world, being not only all that is bounded
by the two rivers, the Euphrates and the Rhine ; the one of
which confines Germany and all the more uncivilised nations ;
and the Euphrates, on the other hand, bridles Parthia and the
nations of the Sarmatians and Scythians, which are not less
barbarous and uncivilised than the Germanic tribes ; but, even
as I said before, all the world, from the rising to the setting
sun, all the land in short on this side of the Ocean and beyond
the Ocean, at which all the Roman people and all Italy
rejoiced, and even all the Asiatic and European nations.
For as tney had never yet all together admired any emperor
who had ever existed at that time, not expecting to have in
future the possession, and use, and enjoyment of all private
and public good things, but thinking that they actually had
them already as a sort of superfluity of prosperity which hap
piness was waiting to fill to the brim : accordingly now there
was nothing else to be seen in any city, but altars, and victims,
and sacrifices, and men clothed in white garments, and crowned
with garlands, and wearing cheerful countenances, and display
ing their joy by the brightness of their looks, and festivals, and
assemblies, and musical contests, and horse-races, and revels,
and feasts lasting the whole night long, with the music of the
flute and of the lyre, and rejoicings, and holidays, and truces,
and every kind of pleasure addressed to every one of the
senses.
On this occasion the rich were not better off than the poor,
nor the men of high rank than the lowly, nor the creditors
than the debtors, nor the masters than the slaves, since the
occasion gave equal privileges and communities to all men, so
that the age of Saturn, which is so celebrated by the poets
ON THE VIKTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 103
was no longer looked upon as a fiction and a fable,* on
account of the universal prosperity and happiness which
reigned every where, and the absence of all grief and fear, and
the daily and nightly exhibitions of joy and festivity through
out every house and throughout the whole people, which lasted
continually without any interruption during the first seven
months of his reign.
But in the eighth month a severe disease attacked Caiua
who had changed the manner of his living which was a little
while before, while Tiberius was alive, very simple and on
that account more wholesome than one of great sumptuousnesa
and luxury ; for he began to indulge in abundance of strong
wine and eating of rich dishes, and in the abundant license of
insatiable desires and great insolence, and in the unseasonable
use of hot baths, and emetics, and then again in wine-bibbing
and drunkenness, and returning gluttony, and in lust after boys
and women, and in everything else which tends to destroy
both soul and body, and all the bonds which unite and
strengthen the two ; for the rewards of temperance are health
and strength, and the wages of intemperance are weakness
and disease which bring a man near to death.
III. Accordingly, when the news was spread abroad that he
was sick while the weather was still suitable for navigation
(for it was the beginning of the autumn, which is the last season
during which nautical men can safely take voyages, and during
which in consequence they all return from the foreign marts
in every quarter to their own native ports and harbours of
refuge, especially all who exercise a prudent care not to be
compelled to pass the winter in a foreign country) ; they, for-
saking their former life of delicateness and luxury, now wore
mournful faces, and every house and every city became full of
depression and melancholy, their grief being now equal to and
counterbalancing the joy which they experienced a short time
before. For every portion of the habitable world was diseased
in his sickness, feeling affected with a more terrible disease
* The golden age was said to have existed during the reign of Saturn
upon earth. So Tibullua says
Quam bene vivebant Saturno rege, priusquam
Tellus in longas est patefacta vias.
And Virgil
Aureus hanc vitam in terris Saturnua agebut.
104 PHILO JUDGES.
thaii that which was oppressing Caius; for his sickness
was that of the hody alone, but the universal malady which
was oppressing all men every where was one which attacked
the vigour of their souls, their peace, their hopes, their parti
cipation in and enjoyment of all good things ; for men began
to remember how numerous and how great are the evils which
spring from anarchy, famine, and war, and the destruction of
trees, and devastations, and deprivation of lands, and plunder
ing of money, and the intolerable fear of slavery and death,
which no one can relieve, all which evils appeared to admit of
but one remedy, namely the recovery of Caius.
Accordingly when his disease began to abate, in a very
short time even the men who were living on the very confines
of the empire heard of it and rejoiced, for nothing is swifter
than report,* and immediately every city was full of suspense
and expectation, being continually eager for better news, until
at length his perfect recovery was announced by fresh arrivals,
at which news they again returned to their original cheerful
ness, each thinking the health of Caius to be his own salvation ;
and this feeling pervaded every continent and every island,
for no one can recollect so great and general a joy affecting
any one country or any one nation, at the good health or pros
perity of their governor, as now pervaded the whole of the
habitable world at the recovery of Caius, and at his being able
to resume the exercise of his power and having completely got
rid of his sickness.
For they all rejoiced, from ignorance of the truth, like men
who are now for the first time beginning to exchange a wand
ering and uncivilised mode of life for a social and civilised
system, and instead of dwelling in desert places, and the open
air, and the mountain districts, to live in walled cities, and
instead of living without any governor, or protector, or lawgiver,
to be now established under the care of a governor to be a sort
of shepherd and leader of a more domesticated flock ; for the
human mind is apt to be blind towards the perception of what
is really expedient arid beneficial for it, being influenced
rather by conjecture and notions of probability than by real
knowledge.
IV. At all events it was not long before Caius who was
* So Virgil says
Fama rnaluin quo non aliud velocius ullum. ^En. iv. 174.
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 105
now looked upon as a saviour and benefactor, and who was
expected to shower down some fresh and everlasting springs of
benefits upon all Asia and Europe, so as to endow the inhabit
ants with inalienable happiness and prosperity, both separately
to each individual and generally to the whole state began, as
the proverb has it, at home, and changed into a ferocity of
disposition, or, I should rather say, displayed the savageness
which he had previously overshadowed by pretence and
hypocrisy ; for he put to death his cousin who had been left as
the partner of his kingdom, and who was in fact a more natural
successor to it than he himself ; for he himself was only Tibe-
rius s grandson by adoption, but the other was so by blood ;
arguing as a pretext that he had detected him in plotting
against him, though his very age was a sufficient refutation of
any such accusation; for the unhappy victim was only just
emerging from boyhood, and beginning to rank among the
youths. And, as some persons say, if Tiberius had lived a
short time longer, Caius would have been made away with, as
he began to be looked upon by him with unalterable suspicion,
and the genuine grandson of Tiberius would have been immed
the future emperor, and the inheritor of his paternal kingdom.
But Tiberius was carried off by fate, before he could bring
his designs to their completion ; and Caius thought that he
should be able to escape all evil report which might ariae from
his transgressing the principles of justice with respect to his
partner by outwitting him. And the contrivance which he
adopted was of the following character. Having assembled
all the chief magistrates, he said : " I am desirous that he who
is my cousin by birth and my brother in affection, in accord
ance with the instruction of Tiberius who is now dead, shall be
a partner with me in my absolute authority. But you your
selves perceive that he is as yet a mere child, and that he is in
need of masters, and teachers, and guardians ; since what can
be a more desirable blessing for me than that ray one mind
and one body shall not be loaded with so great a weight of the
cares of government, but for me to have some one who may
be able to lighten and alleviate them by sharing them ? I,
therefore," said he : " passing over and being superior to all
tutors, and masters, and guardians, register myself as his
father, and him as my son."
V. With these words he deceived both those who were
103 PHILO JUD^US.
present and the youth himself; for his proposal was a mere
bait, his intention being not to invest him with the power
which he expected, but to deprive him of even that which he
already had, according to the law affecting co-heirs and
partners ; and accordingly now he plotted against him with
absolute fearlessness, having no regard for nor fear of any one ;
for by the laws of the Romans the most complete and absolute
authority over the son belongs to the father, besides the fact of
Gaius having the imperial authority which was wholly irrespon
sible, since no one could either venture or had any power to
demand an account from him of any thing whatever that he
might do.
Accordingly, looking upon this youth to be like a thirds-man
in the games, he proceeded to overthrow him, feeling no com
passion, either for the fact of his having been brought up with
him, or his being so nearly related to him, or for his age, but
having no idea of sparing this miserable youth, doomed to an
early death ; his own partner in the government, his co-heir,
who had formerly been expected to be all but the absolute
emperor, by reason of his being the nearest relation to
Tiberius ; for when their fathers are dead, the grandsons are
usually looked upon by their grandfathers as standing in the
position of sons.
It is said moreover, that this youth, being ordered to slay
himself with his own hands, while a centurion and a captain of
a thousand were standing by (who had been expressly com
manded to take no part in the horrid deed, since it was not
lawful for the descendants of the emperors to be put to death
by any one else ; for Caius remembered the laws amid his
lawless acts, and had some regard for piety in all his impious
deeds, imitating as well as he could the nature of truth) ; he,
not knowing how to kill himself, for he had never seen any
one else put to death, and had never had any practice in
fighting with weapons, which is the usual exercise and course
of instruction for children who are being educated with a view
to become leaders and rulers, on account of the wars which
they may have to conduct, at first exhorted those officers who
had come to him to put him to death themselves, stretching
out his neck ; but when they did not dare to do so, he himself
taking the sword inquired in his ignorance and want of
experience what was the most mortal place, in order that by
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 107
a well-directed blow he might cut short his miserable life ; and
they, like instructors in misery, led him on his way, and
pointed out to him the part into which he was to thrust his
sword ; and he, having thus learnt his first and last lesson,
became himself, miserable that he was, his own murderer
under compulsion.
VI. But when this first and greatest undertaking had been
accomplished by Caius, there being no longer left any one who
had any connexion with the supreme authority, to whom any
one who bore him ill-will, and who was suspected by him,
could possibly turn his eyes ; he now, in the second place,
proceeded to compass the death of Macro, a man who had co
operated with him in every thing relating to the empire, not
only after he had been appointed emperor, for it is a character
istic of flattery to court those who are in a state of prosperity,
but who had previously assisted him in his measures for
securing that authority.
For Tiberius, who was a man of very profound prudence,
and the most able of all the men of his court at perceiving the
hidden intentions of any man, and who was as pre-eminent in
intelligence and acuteness as he was in good fortune, did very
often look with suspicion upon Caius as being evil disposed
towards all the house of Claudius, and as being related to him
only on the mother s side,* and he feared for his grandson, lest
he, being left a mere child, should be put to death by him.
And he judged him, moreover, very little fitted for an
authority of such magnitude, both on account of the unsociable-
ness and ferocity of his nature, and the inequality of his
temper ; for he was continually giving way to the most frantic
and most inconsistent moods, not preserving any consistency
either in his words or in his actions ; all which Macro studied
with all his strength at every opportunity, pacifying the suspi
cions of Tiberius and all the prejudices with which he
perceived that his mind was inflamed against Caius by reason
of his ceaseless fear and anxiety for his grandson.
For he represented to him, that Caius was a person of a
good and obedient disposition, and one who entertained the
greatest affection for his cousin, so that out of his exceeding
regard for him he would be willing even to abandon the
government and to yield it up to him by himself, but that
* Caligula was the son of Gennanicus and Agrippiaa.
108 PHILO JUD^EUS.
excessive modesty was anything but advantageous to many
persons, in consequence of which Caius, who was of a most
guileless and single-minded disposition, was looked upon by
many as crafty and designing.
And when he could not persuade him, by all the arguments
drawn from probabilities which he advanced, he brought for
ward that which rested upon specific agreements, adding, " I
myself will be his security, I who deserve to have confidence
placed in me, inasmuch as I have given sufficient proof that
I myself am individually a friend to Cresar, and a friend to
Tiberius, since it was I who carried into execution, your in
tentions respecting the downfall of Sejanus.
And, in short, he was very assiduous, and energetic, and
comprehensive in his praises of Caius, if, indeed, one may
speak of speeches in defence of a man as equivalent to pane
gyrics on him, which were rather addressed to the doing awav
with the unfavourable impressions and suspicions, excited by
obscure and indistinct hints and accusations. In short, ail
the things which any one could say on behalf of any brother
or legitimate child, such and more too did Macro say to
Tiberius in behalf of Caius. And the cause of this was accord
ing to the report which obtain d among the generality of
people, not only that Macro had, on the other hand, been
greatly courted by him, as one who had the greatest, or,
indeed, all the power under the empire ; but also that Macro s
wife was favourable to him, for a reason which ought not to be
mentioned, and she every day urged on, and encouraged, and
entreated her husband to omit no exertion of his zeal and
energy on behalf of the young man. And a wife is a very
powerful engine to divert or to persuade the mind of her hus
band, especially if she be one of an amorous temperament, for
because of her own consciousness she becomes more given to
flattery.
And Macro, being ignorant of the dishonour done to his
marriage-bed and to his family, and looking upon her flattery
as a proof of her sincere good will and affection for him, was
deceived, and without being aware of it was led, by her
intrigues, to embrace his bitterest enemies as his best friends.
VII. Therefore, as he knew that he had preserved him ten
thousand times, when he was in the most imminent danger of
being put to death, he used to offer him undisguised, sincere,
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 109
and honest admonitions and advice, with perfect freedom of
speech ; for, like a good workman, he was desirous that what
he looked upon as his own work should remain uninjured and
indestructible, without being put an end to, either by himself
or by any one else ; therefore, whenever he saw him sleeping
at any entertainment he would go round and awaken him,
having, at the same time, a regard for what was becoming and
also for his safety, for a man who is asleep is a good object for
treachery ; and whenever he beheld him looking with an
excited eye at any dancers, or even sometimes dancing with
them, or not smiling with dignity upon actors of farcical and
laughable spectacles, but rather grinning like a boy, or wholly
carried away by the tunes of some harp-player or chorus, so as
on some occasions even to join in their song, he would, if he
was sitting or going near him, give him a nudge, and en
deavour to check him.
And very often, when he was reclining near him, he would
whisper in his ear, and admonish him gently and quietly, so
that no one else might hear what was said, saying, " You
ought not only not to be like any one else here, but like no
one else whatever, neither at any spectacle, or at anything that
is to be heard, or in anything else that ever affects the out
ward senses, but you ought rather to surpass all other men in
every action of your life, as much as you surpass them in your
good fortune, for it is unreasonable for the ruler of all the
earth and of all the sea to be subdued by a song or by an ex
hibition of dancing, or by any ridiculous jest or piece of acting,
or by anything else of that kind ; and not on every occasion,
and in every place, to remember his position as emperor,
like a shepherd and protector of the flock, availing himself
of everything that can tend to any kind of amelioration, from
every word, and from every action, of every description what
ever."
Then again he would add, " When you are present at any
theatrical contest, or at any gymnastic games, or at any of the
contests in the hippodrome, do not consider the pursuits them
selves so much as the behaving correctly in all such pursuits,
and entertain thoughts of this nature : if some men labour
in this manner to bring to perfection things that can in no
respect benefit human life, but which only afford pleasure and
amusement to the spectators, in such a way as to be praised
110 PHILO JUD.EUS.
and admired, and to receive rewards, and honours, and crowns,
and to have their names proclaimed as conquerors ; what
ought that man to do who is skilful in the most sublime and
most important of all arts ? Now the greatest and most excel
lent of all sciences is the science of government, by means of
which every country which is good and fertile, whether it be
champaign or mountainous, is cultivated, and every sea is na
vigated without danger by heavily-laden merchant-vessels, to
communicate to the different countries the useful productions
of each, out of a natural desire for participation and associa
tion, so that each land receives what it stands in need of, and
sends abroad in requital those good things of which it has a
superfluity ; for envy has never obtained a dominion over the
whole of the habitable world, nor even over those great
divisions of it, the whole of Europe or the whole of Asia, but
it lurks in holes like a venomous reptile, creeping out in small
districts to attack an individual man, or a single family, or, if
it is very violent and powerful, perhaps one city ; but it never
attacks a larger circle of a whole nation or a whole country,
especially ever since your august family has really begun to
rule over all men in every part of the world.
" For your house has discovered and brought to light every
thing that is good, even in the midst of evils, and has banished
all evils to the extremities of the earth, and beyond its borders
to the very depths of Tartarus, and has brought back, from the
most distant borders of the earth and sea, those profitable and
beneficial things which were in a manner banished into the
habitable world around us ; and now all these things are en
trusted to your power, to be governed by your authority.
" Accordingly you, having been conducted by nature to the
supreme helm of the world, and having the government of
everything placed in your hand, must guide the universal ship
of all mankind in a safe and salutary manner, rejoicing and
delighting in nothing more than in doing good to your sub
jects ; for different people have different contributions to
bestow, which individuals necessarily offer in their several
cities. But the most suitable gift for a ruler to give is to adopt
wise counsels with respect to those who are subject to his
authority, and to execute intentions which have been rightly
formed, and to bestow on them good things without any limita
tion, with a liberal hand and mind, except such as it may be
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. Ill
better to keep in reserve from a prudent foreknowledge of the
uncertainty of the future."
VIII. The unhappy man kept dinning suggestions of this
kind into his ears in the hope of improving Caius ; but he,
being a contentious and quarrelsome person, turned his mind in
the directly opposite direction, as if he were exhorted to do
exactly the contrary, and he conceived a most determined dis
gust for his monitor, so as never to behold him with a cheerful
countenance ; and sometimes when he saw him at a distance
he would speak as follows to those near him : " Here comes
the teacher of one who has no longer any right to be looked
upon as a pupil ; here comes the pedagogue of one who is no
longer a child, the monitor of one who is wiser than himself,
the man who thinks it proper that the emperor should obey
his subject, who sets himself up as a man deeply versed by
experience in the science of government, and as a teacher of
it, though from whom he has learnt the principles of sovereign
government I know not ; for from the moment that I left my
cradle, I have had ten thousand instructors, fathers, brothers,
uncles, cousins, and grandfathers, up to the very founders of
my family, in fact every one related to me either on my
father s or my mother s side, who had acquired absolute power
for themselves, even without taking into consideration the fact
that, by their being the authors of my being, they had im
planted in me some degree of royal power and some natural
aptitude for government. For as similitudes of both body and
soul exist both in the form, and position, and motions of
men, and also as the inclinations, and dispositions, and actions
of men are preserved in some degree of similitude through the
principles of descent, so also is it probable that the very same
principles should convey an outline of similitude in respect of
one s aptitude for government. Shall any one, then, who is
ignorant dare to instruct me who am the reverse of ignorant ?
me who, even before my birth, while I was yet in my mother s
womb, was fashioned as an emperor in the workshop of nature ?
For how can it be possible for persons, who but a short time
before were private individuals, to contemplate as they should
the intentions of an imperial soul ? But some persons in their
shameless audacity dare to put themselves forward as inter
preters and perfecters of the principles of government, when
PHILO JUD.EUS.
in reality they scarcely ought to be enrolled among those who
have any understanding whatever of the matter."
And as he thus diligently laboured to alienate himself from
Macro, he began also to invent false but plausible and
specious grounds for blaming and accusing him; for passionate
and irritable natures, especially when belonging to powerful
men, are very ingenious at weaving plausibilities. Now, the
pretexts which he made use of against him were of the follow
ing natures. He said Macro thought thus : " Cains is my
work ; the work of Macro. I am more truly, or at all events
not less truly, his father than his own parents. He would
have been destroyed, over and over again, by Tiberius, who
thirsted for his blood, if it had not been for me and for my
powers of persuasion. And moreover, when Tiberius was
dead, I, who had under my command the whole force of the
army, immediately placed him in the position which Tiberius
had occupied, teaching him that the state had indeed sustained
a loss of one man, but that the imperial authority continued
unaltered, as entire as ever."
And many people have given credit to these assertions of
of his as if they were true, not being acquainted with the false
and crafty disposition of the speaker ; for hitherto the dis
honest and designing character of his disposition was not made
manifest. But a few days afterwards the miserable man was
put to death, with his wife, receiving the extremity of punish
ment as a reward for his exceeding good will towards his
slayer. This is the consequence of doing kindnesses to un
grateful people ; for in return for the benefits which they have
received, they inflict the greatest of injuries on those from
whom they have received them. Accordingly, Macro, who
had done everything in sincerity with the most earnest eager
ness and zeal for the good of Caius, in the first place in order
to save him from death, and afterwards in order that he by
himself might succeed to the imperial authority, received for
his reward the fate which I have mentioned.
For it is said that the wretched man was compelled to kill
himself with his own hand ; and his wife, too, experienced the
same misery, even though she indeed had at one time been
believed to be on the most intimate terms of familiarity with
Caius ; but they say that none of the allurements of love are
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 1 1 3
stable and trustworthy because it is a passion which quickly
breeds satiety.
IX. But after Macro and all his house had been sacrificed,
Cains then began to design a third more grievous piece of
treachery still. His father-in-law had been Marcus Silanus, a
man full of wisdom, and very illustrious by birth. He, after
his daughter had died by an early death, still was very atten
tive and affectionate to Caius, showing all imaginable regard
for him, not so much like a father-in-law as like an actual
father, and he hoped that he should find that Caius also enter
tained equal good will towards him, transforming himself
according to the principles of equality from a son-in-law into a
son ; but he was, without knowing it, cherishing mistaken
opinions, and deluding himself, for he was continually uttering
affectionate speeches, keeping back nothing which could tend
to the amelioration and improvement of Caius s disposition
and way of life and mode of government, speaking with all
freedom, and looking upon his own surpassing nobility of birth
and nearness of connexion by marriage as circumstances \vhich.
gave him grounds for great familiarity and openness, for his
daughter had been dead only a very short time, so that the
laws and bonds which bind such kinsmen were scarcely
destroyed, and one may almost say were still quivering with
life, some relics of the breath of vitality being still left, as it
were, and remaining warm in the body. But Caius, looking
upon every admonition as an insult, because he fancied that he
himself was the wisest and most virtuous of all men, and more
over the most valorous and the most just, hated all who
ventured to offer him instruction more than even his avowed
enemies.
Therefore, looking on Silanus as a bore, who only wished to
check the impetuosity and indulgence of his appetites, and dis
carding all recollection of and regard for his deceased wife, he
treacherously put her father to death, who was also his own
father-in-law.
X. And by this time the matter began to be widely talked
about in consequence of the continual deaths of so many
eminent men, so that now these things began to be spoken of
in every mouth as intolerable infamy and wickedness ; not
indeed openly, from fear, but gently and under the breath, in
whispers ; and then again, by a sudden change (for the multi-
VOL. IV I
PHILO JUDJEUS.
tude is very unstable in everything, in intentions, and words,
and actions), men, disbelieving that one who but a little while
before was merciful and humane could have become altered BO
entirely, for Caius had been looked upon as affable, and
sociable^ and friendly, began to seek for excuses for him,
and after some search they found such, saying with regard to
his cousin and co-heir in the kingdom things such as these :
" The unchangeable law of nature has ordained that there
should be no partnership in sovereign power, and it has
established by its own unalterable principles what this man
must inevitably have suffered at the hands of his more powerful
co-heir. The one who was the more powerful has chastised the
other. This is not murder. Perhaps, indeed, the putting that
youth to death was done providentially for the advantage of
the whole human race, since if one portion had been assigned
as subjects to the one, and another portion to the other, there
would have arisen troubles and confusion, and civil and foreign
war. And what is better than peace? and peace is caused by
good government on sound principles. And no government
can be good but that which is free from all contentions and
from all disputes, and then everything else is made right by
it."
And in reference to the case of Macro, they said, "The man
was puffed up with pride in an immoderate degree ; he had no
idea of that great lesson which came from Delphi, know thy
self. And they say that knowledge is the cause of happiness,
and that ignorance is the parent of unhappiness. What could
have possessed him to make such an alteration and change in
their relative positions as to thrust himself, who was a subject,
into the rank of a governor, and to depress Caius, who was the
emperor, into the place of a subject? For it is the part of a
ruler to command, and that was what Macro did ; but it is the
duty of a subject to obey, and that was what he considered that
Gains was to submit to."
For these inconsiderate men, without giving themselves the
trouble of inquiring into the truth, called the recommenda
tions of Macro commands, and called him who gave advice a
governor, out of ignorance and insensibility, or else put of
flattery, suppressing the truth and giving a false colouring to
the nature of both names and things.
And in reference to Silanus they said, " Silanus was a most
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 115
ridiculous person when he took it into his head that a father-
in-law would have as much influence with his son-in-law as a
real father has with a son. And yet even real fathers who are
in a private station submit to their sons when they are in
great offices and in places of high authority, being quite con
tent with the second place ; but this foolish man, even when
he was no longer his father-in-law, kept on claiming privileges
which did not belong to him, without perceiving that with the
death of his daughter the connexion which had originated in
the marriage of Caius with her had also died, for intermar
riages are the bonds which unite families between which there
is no kindred, changing alienation into near connexion ; but
when that bond is dissolved, then the union is dissolved like
wise, especially when it is dissolved by a circumstance which
cannot be altered or remedied, namely, by the death of the
woman who was given in marriage into another family."
Such conversations as these were held in every company,
the speakers being wholly influenced by their wish that the
emperor should not appear to be cruel ; for as they had hoped
that such humanity and gentleness was seated in the soul of
Caius as had not existed in either of the previous emperors,
they thought it would be a most strange thing if he now made
so great and so sudden a change to an entirely contrary dis
position.
XI. Having now, then, entirely accomplished the three
undertakings above-mentioned, with reference to three most
important divisions, two of them belonging to the country, one
to the class of counsellors and the other to the knights, and
the third affecting his own relations, and considering that now
that he had thus put down the mightiest and most powerful of
his foes, he must have struck all the rest with the utmost
terror, alarming the counsellors by the death of Silanus (for he
was inferior to no one in the senate), and the knights by the
execution of Macro (for he, like the leader of a chorus^ had
long been considered the very first man of the knights for
reputation and glory), and all his blood relations by the
slaughter of his cousin and joint inheritor of the kingdom, he no
longer chose to remain fettered by the ordinary limits of human
nature, but aspired to raise himself above them, and desired to
be looked upon as a god.
And at the beginning of this insane desire they say that he
T Q
PIIILO JUD^IUS.
was influenced by such a train of reasoning as the following :
for as the curators of the herds of other animals, namely cow
herds, and goatherds, and shepherds, are neither oxen nor
goats, nor sheep, but men who have received a more excellent
portion, and a more admirable formation of mind and body ; so
in the same manner, said he, is it fitting that 1 who am the
leader of the most excellent of all herds, namely, the race of
mankind, should be considered as a being of a superior nature,
and not merely human, but as one who has received a greater
and more holy portion. Accordingly, having impressed this
idea on his mind, like a vain and foolish man as he was, he
bore about in himself a fallacious fable and invention as if it
had been a most undeniable truth ; and after he had once
carried his boldness and audacity to such a pitch as to compel
the multitude to admit of his most impious deification, he
attempted to do other things consistent with and conformable
to it, and in this way he advanced up to the highest point by
slow degrees as if he were ascending up steps.
For he began at first to liken himself to those beings who are
called demigods, such as Bacchus, and Hercules, and the twins
of Lacedcemon; turning into utter ridicule Trophonius, and
Amphiaraus, and Amphilochus, and others of the same kind,
with all their oracles and secret ceremonies, in comparison of
his own power. In the next place, like an actor in a theatre,
he was continually wearing different dresses at different times,
taking at one time a lion s skin and a club, both gilded over ;
beingthen dressed in the character of Hercules ; at another
time he would wear a felt hat upon his head, when he was
disguised in imitation of the Spartan twins, Castor and Pollux ;
sometimes he also adorned himself with ivy, and a thyrsus, and
skins of fawns, so as to appear in the guise of Bacchus.
And he looked upon himself as being in this respect supe
rior to all of these beings, because eacli of them while he had
his own peculiar honours had no claim to those which belonged
to the others, but he in his envious ambition appropriated all
the honours of the whole body of demigods at once, or I
Hhould rather say, appropriated the demigods themselves:
transforming himself not into the triple-bodied Geryon, so as to
attract all beholders by the multitude of his bodies ; but-, what
was the most extraordinary thing of all, changing and trans
forming the essence of one body into every variety of form and
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 117
figure, like the Egyptian Proteus, whom Homer has repre
sented as being susceptible of every variety of transformation,
into all the elements, and into the animals, and plants, which
belong to the different elements.*
And yet why, Caius ! did you think yourself in need of
spurious honours, such as the temples and statues of the beings
above-mentioned are often filled with ? You ought rather to
have imitated their virtues. Hercules purified both the earth
and the sea, performing labours of the greatest possible im
portance and of the highest benefit to all mankind, in order to
eradicate all that was mischievous and calculated to injure the
nature of each of the elements. Bacchus rendered the vine
susceptible of cultivation, and extracted a most delicious drink
from it, which is at the same time most beneficial to the souls
and bodies of men, leading the first to cheerfulness, working in
them a forgetfulness of evils and a hope of blessings, and
making the latter more healthy, and vigorous, and active, and
supple. And individually it renders each man better, and alters
populous families and households, leading them from a squalid
and laborious life of vexation to a course of relaxation and
cheerful happiness, and causing to every city on earth, both
Grecian and barbarian, incessant festivity, and mirth, and
* The passage in Homer is to be found at Odyssey iv. 363. It is
imitated more concisely by Virgil, who makes Gyrene tell Aristocus
Verum ubi correptum manibus vinclisque tenebis
Turn varise eludent species atque ora ferarum ;
Fiet enim subito sus horridus atraque tigris
Squamosusque draco et fulva cervice leama
Aut acrem flamrnse sonitum dabit, atque ita vinclis
Excidet, aut in aquas tenues dilapsus abibit. Georg. iv. 410.
Which is thus translated by Pope
" Instant he wears, elusive of the rape,
The mimic force of every savage shape :
Or glides with liquid lapse a murm ring stream,
Or wrapt in flame, he glows at every limb.
Yet still retentive, with redoubled might
Thro each vain passive form constrains his flight.
But when, his native shape resumed, he stands
Patient of conquest, and your cause demands ;
The cause that urg d the bold attempt declare,
And soothe the vanquish d with a victor s prayer.
The bands relaxed, implore the seer to say
What godhead interdicts the wat ry way."
118 PHILO JUD^EUS.
entertainment, and revelry ; for of all these tilings is good
wine the cause.
Again, it is said that the twin sons of Jupiter, Castor and
Pollux, are partakers of immortality. For since the one was
mortal and the other immortal, the one who had had the more
excellent portion assigned to him did not choose to behave in a
selfish manner, but rather to display his good will and affection
towards his brother ; for having acquired the idea that eternity
was never-ending, and considering that he was to live for ever,
and that his brother was to be dead for ever, and that in con
junction with his own immortality he should likewise be en
during an undying sorrow on account of his brother, he
conceived and carried out a most marvellous system of counter
balancing, mingling mortality with himself and immortality
with his brother, and thus he modified inequality, which is the
beginning of all injustice, by equality, which is the fountain of
justice.
XII. All these beings, Caius ! were admired on account
of the benefits which they had conferred on mankind, and they
are admired for them even up to the present time, and they
were deservedly thought worthy of veneration and of the very
highest honours. But come now, and tell us yourself in what
achievement of yours do you pride yourself and boast yourself
as being in the least similar to their actions ? Have you imi
tated the twin sons of Jupiter in their brotherly affection, that
1 may begin with that point ? Did you not rather, O hard
hearted and most pitiless of men ! inhumanly slaughter your
brother, the joint inheritor of the kingdom with you, even
before he had arrived at the full vigour of manhood, when he
was still in early youth. Did you not afterwards banish your
sisters, lest they also should cause you any reasonable appre
hension of the deprivation and loss of your imperial power ?
Have you imitated Bacchus in any respect? Have you
been an inventor of any new blessings to mankind? Have
you filled the whole of the habitable world with joy as he did ?
Are all Asia and Europe inadequate to contain the gifts which
have been showered upon mankind by you? No doubt you
have invented new arts and sciences, like a common pest and
murderer of your kind, by which you have changed all pleasant
and acceptable things into vexation and sorrow, and have made
life miserable and intolerable to all men everywhere, appro-
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 119
priating to yourself in your intolerable and insatiable greedi
ness all the good and beautiful things which belonged to every
one else, whether from the east or from any other country of
the universe, carrying off everything from the south, every
thing from the north, and in requital giving to and pouring
down upon those whom you had plundered every sort of mis
chievous and injurious things from your own bitter spirit,
everything which is ever engendered in cruel, and destructive,
and envenomed dispositions ; these are the reasons why you
appeared to us as a new Bacchus.
But I suppose you imitated Hercules in your unwearied
labours and your incessant displays of valour and virtue ; you,
most wretched of men ! having filled every continent and
every island with good laws, and principles of justice, and
wealth, and comfort, and prosperity, and abundance of other
blessings, you, wretched man, full of all cowardice and iniquity,
who have emptied every city of all the things which can con
duce to stability and prosperity, and have made them full of
everything which leads to trouble and confusion, and the most
utter misery and desolation.
Tell me then, Caius ! do you, after having made all these
contributions to universal destruction, do you, I say, seek to
acquire immortality in order to make the calamities which you
have heaped upon mankind, not of brief duration and short
lived, but imperishable and everlasting ? But I think, on the
contrary, that even if you had previously appeared to be a god,
you would beyond all question have been changed on account
of your evil practices into an ordinary nature, resembling that
of common perishable mortals ; for if virtues can make their
possessors immortal, then beyond all doubt vices can make
them mortal. .Do not, therefore, inscribe your name by the
side of that of the twin sons of Jupiter, those most affectionate
of deities, you who have been the murderer and destruction of
your brethren, nor claim a share in the honours of Hercules
or Bacchus, who have benefited human life. You have been
the uridoer and destroyer of those good effects which they
produced.
XIII. But the madness and frenzy to which he gave way
were so preposterous, and so utterly insane, that he went even
beyond the demigods, and mounted up to and invaded the
120 PHILO JUD^EUS.
veneration and worship paid to those who are looked upon as
greater than they, as the supreme deities of the world, Mercury,
and Apollo, and Mars.
And first of all he dressed himself up with the caduceus,
and sandals, and mantle of Mercury, exhibiting a regularity in
his disorder, a consistency in his confusion, and a ratiocina
tion in his insanity.
Afterwards, when he thought fit to do so, he laid aside these
ornaments, and metamorphosed and transformed himself into
Apollo, crowning his head with garlands, in the form of rays,
and holding a bow and arrows in his left hand, and holding
forth graces in his right, as if it became him to proffer blessings
to all men from his ready store, and to display the best ar
rangement possible on his right hand, but to contract the
punishments which he had it in his power to inilict, and to
allot to them a more confined space on his left. And imme
diately there were established choruses, who had been carefully
trained, singing pa3ans to him, the same who had, a little while
before, called him Bacchus, and Evius, and Lyseus, and sang
Bacchic hymns in his honour when he assumed the disguise of
Bacchus.
Very often, also, he would clothe himself with a breastplate,
and march forth sword in hand, with a helmet on his bead and
a shield on his left arm, calling himself Mars, and on each
side of him there marched with him the attendants of this
new and unknown Mars, a troop of murderers and executioners
who had already performed him all kinds of wicked services
when he was raging and thirsting for human blood ; and then
when men saw this they were amazed and terrified at the
marvellous sight, and they wondered how a man who did
exactly the contrary to what was done by those beings to whom
he claimed to be equal in honour, did not choose to imitate
their virtues, but assumed the outward character of each with
the most abominable conduct. And yet all those ornaments
and decorations which belonged to them were attached to his
statues and images, which indicated by symbols the benefits
which the beings who are thus honoured confer upon the race
of mankind. Mercury, for instance, requires wings attached
to his ankles. Why so ? Is it not because it behoves him to
be the interpreter and declarer of the will of the gods (from
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 121
which employment, in fact, he derives his Greek name of
Hermes*), announcing good news to mankind (for not only no
god but no sensible man ever will become the messenger of
evil), and therefore it is necessary for him to be exceedingly
swift-footed, and all but winged, from the unhesitating rapidity
with which he requires to proceed. Since it is right that
beneficial news should be announced with great promptness,
just as bad news ought to be brought slowly, unless indeed any
one should prefer saying that such ought to be entirely sup
pressed in silence.
Again, he takes with him his caduceus or herald s wand, as
a token of reconciliation and peace, for wars receive their respites
and terminations by means of heralds, who restore peace ; and
wars which have no heralds to terminate them cause endless
calamities to both parties, both to those who invade their
neighbours and to those who are endeavouring to repel the
invasion. But for what purpose did Caius assume the winged
sandals of Mercury? Was it because he wished to spread
with power, and rapidity, and loudness that miserable and
ill-omened intelligence which ought rather to be buried in
silence altogether, conveying his voice everywhere with un
ceasing celerity ?
And yet what need had he of such rapid motion ? for even
while standing still he poured forth unspeakable evils upon
evils as if from an unceasing fountain, showering them down
upon every portion of the habitable world. And of what use
was the herald s wand to him, who never either said or did
anything bearing upon peace, but who rather filled every
house and every city within Greece and in the countries of the
barbarians with civil wars? Let him, therefore, imposter that
he is, lay aside the name of Mercury, since by assuming it he
is only profaning an appellation which does not belong to him.
XIV. Again, of all the attributes of Apollo, what is there
which in the least degree resembles his characteristics ? He
wears a crown emitting rays all around, the artist who made it
having given a most admirable representation of the beams of
the sun ; but how can the sun, or in fact any light at all, be a
welcome object to him, and not rather night, or anything else,
if there be such more completely enveloped darkness, or even
anything darker than darkness itself, for the performance of
* i.e. from ippijvtvw, "to interpret. *
122 PIIILO JUD^EUS.
his lawless actions ? Since good actions do require the bril
liancy of noonday for their proper display, but shameful actions,
as they say, are suited to the extreme depths of Tartarus, into
which they ought to be thrust in order to be concealed from
sight, as is becoming. Let him also transpose the things
which he bears in each of his hands, and not pollute the proper
arrangement, for let him bear his arrows and his bow in his
right hand, for he knows how with good aim to shoot at and to
pierce men and women, and whole families, and populous
cities, to their complete destruction. And let him either at
once throw away his graces altogether, or else let him keep
them in the shade in his left hand, for he has defaced their
beauty, directing all his eyes and exciting all his desires
against vast properties, so as to plunder them in an iniquitous
manner, in consequence of which their owners were murdered,
finding themselves unfortunate through their good fortune.
But no doubt he with great felicity gave a new representa
tion of the medical skill of Apollo, for this god was the inventor
of healing medicines,* so as to cause health to men, thinking tit
himself to heal the diseases which were inflicted by others, by
reason of the excessive mildness and gentleness of his own
nature and habits, but this man, on the contrary, loads those
who are in good health with disease, and inflicts mutilations
on those who are sound, and in short visits the living with
most cruel death, caused by the hand of man before the time
of their natural death, preparing every imaginable engine of
destruction in abundant plenteousness, by means of which, if he
had not himself been previously put to death in accordance
* This is one of the attributes of Apollo of which he boasts to
Daphne.
Inventum medicina meum est, opiferque per orbem
Dicor et herbarum subjecta potentia uobis :
Hie mihi quod nullis ainor est inedicabilis herbis
Nee prosunt domino qua? prosunt omnibus artes. Met. 1.461.
Or as it is translated by Dryden
" Medicine is mine ; what herbs and simples grow
In fields and forests, all their powers I know,
And am the great physician called below.
Alas, that fields and forests can afford
No remedies to heal their love-sick lord.
To cure the pains of love no plant avails,
And his own physic the physician fails."
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 123
with justice, everything glorious or respectable in every city
would long ago have been destroyed.
For his designs were prepared against all those in authority
and all those possessed of riches, and especially against those
in Rome and those in the rest of Italy, by whom such quanti
ties of gold and silver had been treasured up that even if all
the riches of all the rest of the habitable world had been
collected together from its most distant borders, it would have
been found to be very inferior in amount.
On this account he began, he, this hater of the citizens, this
devourer of the people, this pestilence, this destructive evil,
began to banish all the seeds of peace from his country, as if
he were expelling evil from holy ground ; for Apollo is said to
have been not only a physician but also an excellent prophet,
by his oracular predictions announcing what was likely to con
duce to the advantage of mankind, in order that no one, being
overshadowed by uncertainty, going on without seeing his way
before him like a blind man, might hastily fall into unexpected
evils as if they were the greatest benefits ; but that men having
previously acquired a knowledge of the future as if it were
really present, and looking at it with the eye of their mind,
might guard against future evils just as they can see evils
actually before them with the bodily eye, and in this way
secure themselves against any irremediable disaster.
Is it fitting now to compare with these oracles of Apollo the
ill-omened warnings of Caius, by means of which poverty, and
dishonour, and banishment, and death were given premature
notice of to all those who were in power and authority in any
part of the world ? What connexion or resemblance was there
between him and Apollo, when he never paid any attention to
any ties of kindred or friendship ? Let him cease, then, this
pretended Apollo, from imitating that real healer of mankind,
for the form of God is not a thing which is capable of being
imitated by an inferior one, as good money is imitated by bad.
XV. A man, indeed, may expect anything rather than that
a man endowed with such a body and such a soul, when both
of them are effeminate and broken down, could ever possibly
be made like to the vigour of Mars in either particular ; but
this man, like a mummer transforming himself on the stage,
putting on all sorts of masks one after another, sought to
deceive the spectators by a series of fictitious appearances.
1Q4 PHILO JUD^US.
Come, then, let him be subjected to an examination in respect
of all the particulars of his soul and body, by reason of his
utter unlikeness to the aforesaid deity in every position and in
every motion. Was he not utterly unlike Mars, not in respect
only of his appearance as celebrated in fable, but as to his
natural qualities? Mars, who is endued with pre-eminent
valour, which we know to be a power calculated to avert evil,
to be the assistant and ally of all who are unjustly oppressed,
as indeed his very name shows, for he appears to me to be
called Mars from his helping,* which is the same as assisting,
being as such the god who is able to put down wars and to
cause peace, of which this representation of his was the enemy,
being the comrade of wars, and the man who changed peace and
stability into disorder and confusion.
XVI. Have we not, then, learned from all these instances,
that Caius ought not to be likened to any god, and not even to
any demi-god, inasmuch as he has neither the same nature, nur
the same essence, nor even the same wishes and intentions us
any one of them ; but appetite as it seems is a blind thing, and
especially so when it takes to itself vain-gloriousness and am
bition in conjunction with the greatest power, by which we
who were previously unfortunate are utterly destroyed, for ho
regarded the Jews with most especial suspicion, as if they were
the only persons who cherished wishes opposed to his, and who
had been taught in a manner from their very swaddling-clothes
by their parents, and teachers, and instructors, and even before
that by their holy laws, and also by their unwritten maxims
and customs, to believe that there was but one God, their
Father and the Creator of the world ; for all others, all men.
all women, all cities, all nations, every country and region of
the earth, I had almost said the whole of the inhabited world,
although groaning over what was taking place, did nevertheless
flatter him, dignifying him above measure, and helping to
increase his pride and arrogance ; and some of them even
introduced the barbaric custom into Italy of falling down in
adoration before him, adulterating their native feelings of
Roman liberty.
But the single nation of the Jews, being excepted from these
actions, was suspected by him of wishing to counteract his
* The Greek word i? dpi iynv, from which Philo supposes "Apqr, the
Greek name of Mars, to be derived.
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 125
desires, since it was accustomed to embrace voluntary death as
an entrance to immortality, for the sake of not permitting any
of their national or hereditary customs to be destroyed, even if
it were of the most trivial character, because, as is the case in
a house, it often happens that by the removal of one small part,
even those parts which appeared to be solidly established fall
down, being relaxed and brought to decay by the removal of
that one thing, but in this case what was put in motion was
not a trifle, but a thing of the very greatest importance,
namely, the erecting the created and perishable nature of a
man, as far at least as appearance went, into the uncreated and
imperishable nature of God, which the nation correctly judged
to be the most terrible of all impieties (for it would have been
easier to change a god into man, than a man into God), besides
the fact of such an action letting in other most enormous wick
edness, infidelity and ingratitude towards the Benefactor of
the whole world, who by his own power gives abundant supplies
of all kinds of blessings to every part of the universe.
XVII. Therefore a most terrible and irreconcileable war
was prepared against our nation, for what could be a more
terrible evil to a slave than a master who was an enemy?
And his subjects are the slaves of the emperor, even if they
were not so to any one of the former emperors, because they
governed with gentleness and in accordance with the laws, but
now that Caius had eradicated all feelings of humanity from his
soul, and had admired lawlessness (for looking upon himself as
the law, he abrogated all the enactments of other lawgivers in
every state and country as so many vain sentences), we were
properly to be looked upon not only as slaves, but as the very
lowest and mose dishonoured of slaves, now that our ruler was
changed into our master.
XVIII. And the mixed and promiscuous multitude of the
Alexandrians perceiving this, attacked us, looking upon it as
a most favourable opportunity for doing so, and displayed all
the arrogance which had been smouldering for a long period,
disturbing everything, and causing universal confusion, for they
began to crush our people as if they had been surrendered by
the emperor for the most extreme and undeniable miseries, or
as if they had been subdued in war, with their frantic and
most brutal passion, forcing their way into their houses, and
driving out the owners, with their wives and children, which
120 PHILO JUD^5DS.
they rendered desolate and void of inhabitants. And no
longer watching for night and darkness, like ordinary
robbers out of fear of being detected, they openly plun
dered them of all their furniture and treasures, carrying
them off in broad daylight, and displaying their booty to
every one whom they met, as if they had inherited it or
fairly purchased it from the owners.
And if a multitude joined together to share any particular
piece of plunder, they divided it in the middle of the market
place, reviling it and turning it all into ridicule before the
eyes of its real owners. These things were of themselves
terrible and grievous; how could they be otherwise ? Surely
it was most miserable for men to become beggars from
having been wealthy, and to be reduced on a sudden from a
state of abundance to one of utter indigence, without having
done any wrong, and to be rendered houseless and homeless,
being driven out and expelled from their own houses, that
thus, being compelled to dwell in the open air day and night,
they might be destroyed by the burning heat of the sun or
by the cold of the night.
Yet even these evils were lighter than those which I am
about to mention; for when the populace had driven
together these countless myriads of men, and women, and
children, like so many herds of sheep and oxen, from every
quarter of the city, into a very narrow space as if into a
pen, they expected that in a few days they should find a
heap of corpses all huddled together, as they would either
have perished by hunger through the want of necessary
food, as they had not prepared themselves with any thing
requisite, through a foreknowledge of the evils which
thus suddenly came upon them ; or else through being
crushed and suffocated from want of any adequate space
to breathe in, all the air around them becoming tainted, and
all that there was of vivifying power in their respiration
being cut oil , or, if one is to say the truth, utterly expelled,
by the breath of those who were expiring among them. By
which, each individual being inflamed, and in a manner
oppressed by a descent of fever upon him, inhaled a hot and
unwholesome breath through his nostrils and mouth, heap
ing, as the proverb has it, fire on fire ; for the power which
resides in the inmost parts changed its nature, and becam j
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 127
most excessively fiery; upon which, when the external
breezes, being moderately cool, blow, all the organs of the
respiratory powers flourish, and are in a good and healthy
condition ; but when these breezes change and become hot,
then those organs must of necessity be in a bad state, fire
being added to fire.
XIX. As they then were no longer able to endure the
misery of the place within which they were enclosed, they
poured forth into desolate parts of the wilderness, and to
the shore, and among the tombs, in their eagerness to find
any pure and untainted air. And if any of them had
previously been left in the other parts of the city, or if any
had come in thither from the fields out of ignorance of the
evils which had visited their companions, they fell into every
variety of misfortune, being stoned, or else wounded with
sharp tiles, or beaten on the most mortal parts of the body,
and especially on the head, with branches of maple and of
oak, in such a way as to cause death.
And some of those persons who are accustomed to pass
their time in idleness and inaction, sitting around, occupied
themselves in watching those who, as I have said before,
were thus driven together and crammed into a very small
space, as if they were a force which they were blockading ;
lest any one should secretly escape without their perceiving
it. And a great many were designing to effect their escape
from want of necessaries, disregarding their own safety from
a fear that, if they remained, the whole body might perish
with famine. So those men, expecting that they would
endeavour to escape, kept a continual watch, and the
moment that they caught any one, they immediately put
him to death with every circumstance of insult and cruelty.
And there was another company lying in wait for them
on the quays of the river, to catch any Jews who arrived at
those spots, and to plunder them of every thing which they
brought for the purposes of traffic ; for, forcing their way
into their ships they took out the cargo before the eyes of
its lawful owners, and then, binding the hands of the
merchants behind them, they burnt them alive, taking the
rudders, and helms, and punt-poles, and the benches for the
rowers to sit upon, for fuel. And thus these men perished
by a most miserable death being burnt alive in the middle
128 miLO JUD^EUS.
of the city ; for sometimes, for want of other timber they
brought piles of faggots together, and tying them up, they
threw them on the miserable victims ; and they, being
already half burnt, were killed, more by the smoke of the
green wood than by the flames, as the new faggots gave forth
only an unsubstantial and smoky sort of name, and were
soon extinguished, not being able to be reduced to ashes by
reason of their lightness.
And many who were still alive they took and bound, and
fastened their ankles together with thongs and ropes, and
then dragged them through the middle of the market-place,
leaping on them, and not sparing their corpses even after
they were dead ; for, tearing them to pieces limb from limb,
and trampling on them, behaving with greater brutality
and ferocity than even the most savage beasts, they
destroyed every semblance of humanity about them, so that
not even a fragment of them was left to which the rites of
burial could be afforded.
XX. But as the governor of the country, who by himself
could, if he had chosen to do so, have put down the violence
of the multitude in a single hour, pretended not to see what
he did see, and not to hear what he did hear, but allowed
the mob to carry on the war against our people without any
restraint, and threw our former state of tranquillity into
confusion, the populace being excited still more, proceeded
onwards to still more shameless and more audacious designs
and treachery, and, arraying very numerous companies, cut
down some of the synagogues (and there are a great many
in every section of the city), and some they ra/ed to the
very foundations, and into some they threw fire and burnt
them, in their insane madness and frenzy, without caring
for the neighbouring houses; for there is nothing more
rapid than lire, when it lays hold of fuel.
1 omit to mention the ornaments in honour of the
emperor, which were destroyed and burnt with these
synagogues, such as gilded shields, and gilded crowns, and
pillars, and inscriptions, for the sake of which they ought
even to have abstained from and spared the other things ;
but they were full of confidence, inasmuch as they did not
fear any chastisement at the hand of Caius, as they well
knew that he cherished an indescribable hatred against the
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 1 29
Jews, so that their opinion was that no one could do him a
more acceptable service than by inflicting every description
<5f injury on the nation which he hated ; and, as they wished
to curry favour with him by a novel kind of flattery, so as to
allow, and for the future to give the rein to, every sort of ill
treatment of us without ever being called to account, what
did they proceed to do ? All the synagogues that they
were unable to destroy by burning and razing them to the
ground, because a great number of Jews lived in a dense
mass in the neighbourhood, they injured and defaced in
another manner, simultaneously with a total overthrow of
their laws and customs ; for they set up in every one of
them images of Caius, and in the greatest, and most
conspicuous, and most celebrated of them they erected a
brazen statue of him borne on a four-horse chariot. And so
excessive and impetuous was the rapidity of their zeal, that,
as they had not a new chariot for four horses ready, they
got a very old one out of the gymnasium, full of poison,
mutilated in its ears, and in the hinder part, and in its
pedestal, and in many other points, and as some say, one
which had already been dedicated in honour of a woman, the
eminent Cleopatra, who was the great grandmother of the
last.
Now what amount of accusation he brought against those
who had dedicated this chariot on this very account is
notorious to every one ; for what did it signify if it was a
new one and belonging to a woman ? Or what if it was an
old one and belonging to a man ? And what, in short, if it
was wholly dedicated to the name of some one else ? Was it
not natural that those who were offering up a chariot of this
sort on behalf of the emperor should be full of cautious fear,
lest some one might lay an information against them before
our emperor, who took such especial care that every thing
which at all affected or related to himself should be done in
the most dignified manner possible ?
But these men expected to be most extravagantly praised,
and to receive greater and more conspicuous advantages as
rewards for their conduct, in thus dedicating the synagogues
to Caius as new pieces of consecrated ground, not because
of the honour which was done to him by this proceeding,
but because in this way they exhausted every possible means
VOL. IV. K
miLO JUD^US.
our nation. And one may find
proof, of this having been the
Ca iV in the first place, one may derive them from about
ten 1m " or more who reigned in order, one alter another,
fo^ve hundred rears, and who never once had any .mages
or statues of themselves erected in our synagogues, though
"
seve
ere re many of their relations and kmsmen whom they
shlered and" registered as, and spoke oi as gods. And
wha would They not have done in the ease o those whom
e lol d upon as men? a people who look upon dogs,
and wolves, and lions, and crocodiles, and numerous other
beasts both terrestrial and aquatic, and numerous b.rds, a
gods, and erect in their honour altars, and temple-, and
shrines, and consecrated precincts, throughout the whc
Eg \\I Perhaps some people who would not have opened
their mouths then will say now: " They were accustomed
to ay respect to the good deeds done by the* govern
ors father than to their governors themselves , because
the emnerors are greater than the Ptolemies both m
heir dSes and in their fortunes, and are justly entitle,
receive higher honours. Then, ye most ioohsh ot
all maXidfthat I may not be compelled to utter any
thing disrespectful or blasphemous why did jou never
think Tiberius, who was emperor before Cams, who m
was the cause that Cains ever became emperor who m
enjoyed the supreme power by and and sea tor t lute .u d
twenty years, and who never allowed any seed ol war to
smoulder or to raise its head, either m Greece or in t
territory of the barbarians, and who bestowed peace and the
blessing of peace np to the end of us lite with a rich and
most bounteous hand and mind upon the wholeempire and
whole world; why, I say, did you not consider him worthy
of similar honour ? Was he inferior in birth ? JS o ; be w
of the most noble blood by botli parents. Was he inferior
, his education ? Who, of all the men who flourished m
his time, was either more prudent or more eloquent ;
in his age? What king or emperor ever lived to more
prosperous old age than he? Moreover, he, even while he
was still a young man, was called the old man as a mark o
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 131
respect because of his exceeding wisdom. This man, though
he was so wise, and so good, and so great, was passed over
and disregarded by you.
Again, why did you not pay similar honour to him who
exceeded the common race of human nature in every virtue,
who, by reason of the greatness of his absolute power and
his own excellence, was the first man to be called Augustus,
not receiving the title after another by a succession of blood
as a part of his inheritance, but who was himself the origin
of his successors, having that title and honour ? He who
first became emperor, when all the affairs of the state were
in disorder and confusion ; for the islands were in a state of
war against the continents, and the continents were con
tending with the islands for the pre-eminence in honour,
each having for their leaders and champions the most
powerful and eminent of the Romans who were in office.
And then again, great sections of Asia were contending
against Europe, and Europe against Asia, for the chief power
and dominion ;* the European and Asiatic nations rising up
from the extremities of the earth, and waging terrible wars
against one another over all the earth, and over every sea,
with enormous armaments, so that very nearly the whole
race of mankind would have been destroyed by mutual
slaughter and made utterly to disappear, if it had not been
* He alludes here to the war between Caesar and Pompey. Pompey
had been governor of Syria, and Virgil speaks of him as relying on his
eastern forces.
Illoe autem, paribus quas fulgere cernis in armis,
Concordes animso nunc, et dum nocte preniuntur
Heu ! quantum inter se bellum, si lumiua vitae
Attigerint, quantas acies stragemque ciebunt !
Aggeribus socer Alpinis atque arce Monoeci
Descendens ; gener adversis instructus Eois. JEn. vi. 832.
Or as it is translated by Dryden
" The pair you see in equal armour shine,
Now, friends below, in close embraces join ;
But when they leave the shady realms of night,
And clothed in bodies breathe your upper light,
With mortal hate each other shall pursue,
What wars, what wounds, what slaughter shall ensue.
From Alpine heights the father first descends,
His daughter s husband in the plain attends,
His daughter s husband arms his eastern friends "
K 2
13 .) PIIILO JUD.EUS.
for one; man and leader, Augustus, by whose means they
were brought to a better state, and therefore we may justly
call him the averter of evil.
This is Caesar, who calmed the storms which were raging
iu every direction, who healed the common diseases which
were afflicting both Greeks and barbarians, who descended
from the south and from the east, and ran on and penetrated
as far as the north and the west, in such a way as to fill all
the neighbouring districts and waters with unexpected
miseries. This is he who did not only loosen but utterly
abolish the bonds in which the whole of the habitable world
was previously bound and weighed down. This is he who
destroyed both the evident and "the unseen wars which arose
from the attacks of robbers. This is he Avho rendered the
sea free from the vessels of pirates, and filled it with
merchantmen.* This is he who gave freedom to every
city, who brought disorder into order, who civilized and
made obedient and harmonious, nations which before his
time were unsociable, hostile, and brutal. This is he who
increased Greece by many Greeces, and who Greecised the
regions of the barbarians in their most important divisions :
the guardian of peace, the distributor to every man of what
was suited to him, the man who proffered to all the citizens
favours with the most ungrudging liberality, who never once
in his whole life concealed or reserved for himself any thing
that was good or excellent.
XXII. Now this man who was so great a benefactor to
them for the space of three and forty years, during which
he reigned over Egypt, they passed over in silence and
neglect^, never erecting any thing in their synagogues to do
him honour; no image, no statue, no inscription.
And yet if ever there was a man to whom it was proper
that new and unprecedented honours should be voted, it was
certainly fitting that such should be decreed to him, not
only because hi; was as it were the origin and fountain of
the* family of Augustus, not because he was the first, and
greatest, "and universal benefactor, having, instead of the
multitude of governors who existed before, entrusted the
common vessel of the state to himself as one pilot of
* He is attributing an honour to Augustus which does not belong to
him. It was I ouipey who cleared the uea of pirates.
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS 133
admirable skill in the science of governments to steer and
govern ; for the verse,
" The government of many is not good," *
is very properly expressed, since a multitude of votes is the
cause of every variety of evil ; but also because the whole of
the rest of the habitable world had decreed him honours equal
to those of the Olympian gods. And we have evidence of
this in the temples, a,nd porticoes, and sacred precincts, and
groves, and colonnades which have been erected, so that all
the cities put together, ancient and modern, which exhibit
magnificent works, are surpassed, by the beauty and magni
tude of the buildings erected in honour of Caesar, and
especially by those raised in our city of Alexandria.
For there is no sacred precinct of such magnitude as that
which is called the Grove of Augustus, and the temple
erected in honour of the disembarkation of Caesar, which is
raised to a great height, of great size, and of the most
conspicuous beauty, opposite the best harbour ; being such
an one as is not to be seen in any other city, and full of
offerings, in pictures, and statues ; and decorated all around
with silver and gold ; being a very extensive space, orna
mented in the most magnificent and sumptuous manner with
porticoes, and libraries, and men s chambers, and groves, and
propylaea, and wide, open terraces, and court-yards in the
open air, and with everything that could contribute to use
or beauty ; being a hope and beacon of safety to all who set
sail, or who came into harbour.
XXIII. Therefore, though they had such admirable pre
texts for such conduct, and all the nations in every part of
the world inclined to agree with them, they nevertheless
neither made any innovations in their synagogues, but kept
the law in every particular; and refused any marks of
respect and veneration which might have been looked upon
as due to Caesar. Perhaps some cautious and sensible
person may ask : " Why were all these honours denied to
him?" I will tell the reason, without suppressing any
thing.
They were aware of the attention which he paid to every
thing, and of the very exceeding care which he took that the
* Horn. II. ii. 204.
]f}4 PIIILO JUD.-EUS.
national laws and customs prevailing in each nation should
bo confirmed and preserved, being equally anxious for the
preservation of the rights of foreign nations in this respect,
as for those of the Romans; and that he received his
honours, not for the destruction of the laws existing in any
people, filling himself with pride and arrogance, but in a
spirit of proper conformity with the magnitude of so vast an
empire, which is dignified and honoured by such marks of
respect being paid to the emperor.
And there is most undeniable proof that he was never
influenced or puffed up by the excessive honours paid to
him, in the fact that he* did not approve of any one s
addressing him as master or god, but if any one used such
expressions he was angry ; and we may see it too in his
approbation of the Jews, who he well knew most reli
giously avoided all such language.
How then did he look upon the great division of Rome
which is on the other side of the river Tiber, which he was
well aware was occupied and inhabited by the Jews ? And
they were mostly Roman citizens, having been emancipated ;
for, having been brought as captives into Italy, they were
manumitted by those who had bought them for slaves, with
out ever having been compelled to alter any of their
hereditary or national observances. Therefore, he knew
that they had synagogues, and that they were in the habit
of visiting them, and most especially on the sacred sabbath
days, when they publicly cultivate their national philosophy.
.He knew also that they were in the habit of contributing
sacred sums of money from their first fruits and sending
them to Jerusalem by the hands of those who were to
conduct the sacrifices. But he never removed them from
Rome, nor did he ever deprive them of their rights as
Roman citizens, because he had a regard for Juda?a, nor did
he ever meditate any new steps of innovation or rigour
with respect to their synagogues, nor did he forbid their
:.isseinbliiig for the interpretation of the law, nor did he
make any opposition to their offerings of first fruits ; but he
behaved with such piety towards our countrymen, and with
respect to all our customs, that he. 1 may almost say, with
all his house, adorned our temple with many costly and
magnificent offerings, commanding that continued sacrifices
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 135
of whole burnt offerings should be offered up for ever and
ever every day from his own revenues, as a first fruit of his
own to the most high God, which sacrifices are performed to
this very day, and will be performed for ever, as a proof and
specimen of a truly imperial disposition.
Moreover, in the monthly divisions of the country, when
the whole people receives money or corn in turn, he never
allowed the Jews to fall short in their reception of this
favour, but even if it happened that this distribution fell on
the day of their sacred sabbath, on which day it is not lawful
for them to receive any thing, or to give any thing, or in
short to perform any of the ordinary duties of life, he
charged the dispenser of these gifts, and gave him the most
careful and special injunctions to make the distribution to
the Jews on the day following, that they might not lose the
effects of his common kindness.
XXIV. Therefore, all people in every country, even if
they were not naturally well inclined towards the Jewish
nation, took great care not to violate or attack any of the
Jewish customs or laws. And in the reign of Tiberius
things went on in the same manner, although at that time
things in Italy were thrown into a great deal of confusion
when Sejanus was preparing to make his attempt against
our nation ; for he knew immediately after his death that
the accusations which had been brought against the Jews
who were dwelling in Rome were false calumnies, inventions
of Sejanus, who was desirous to destroy our nation, which
he knew alone, or above all others, was likely to oppose his
unholy counsels and actions in defence of the emperor, who
was in great danger of being attacked, in violation of all
treaties and of all honesty.
And he sent commands to all the governors of provinces
in every country to comfort those of our nation in their
respective cities, as the punishment intended to be inflicted
was not meant to be inflicted upon all, but only on the
guilty ; and they were but few. And he ordered them to
change none of the existing customs, but to look upon them
as pledges, since the men were peaceful in their dispositions
and natural characters, and their laws trained them and
disposed them to quiet and stability.
XXV. But Caius puffed himself up with pride, not only
1 36 PIIILO JUD^EUS.
savins:, but actually thinking that he was a god. And then
ho" found no people, whether among the Greeks or among
the barbarians, more suitable than the Alexandrians to
confirm him in his immoderate and unnatural ambition ; for
they are in an extraordinary degree inclined to flattery, and
trick, and hypocrisy, being thoroughly furnished with all
kinds of cajoling words, and prone to confuse every thing
with their unbridled and licentious talk. And the name of
God is held in so little veneration among them, that they
have given it to ibises, and to the poisonous asps which arc
found in their country, and to many other savage beasts
which exist in it. So that they, very naturally, giving in
to all kinds of addresses and invocations to him, addressed
him as God, deceiving men of shallow comprehension, who
were wholly inexperienced in the impiety prevailing in
Egypt, though they are detected by those who are ac
quainted with their excessive folly, or, I should rather say,
with their preposterous impiety.
Of which, Cains, having no experience, imagined that he
was really believed by the Alexandrians to be God, since
they, without any disguise, openly and plainly used all the
appellations without any limitation, with which they were
accustomed to invoke the other gods. In the next place, he
believed that the innovations which they made with respect
to their synagogues, were all made with a pure conscience,
and from a sincere honour and respect for him, partly being
inlluenced by the ephemerides in the way of memorial, which
sonic persons sent him from Alexandria; for these things
were what he very much delighted to read, to such a degree
that the writings of all other authors, whether in prose or in
poetry, were looked upon by him as absolutely odious in
comparison with the de-light which these documents ail orded
him. and partlv by the language of some of his domestics,
who were continually jesting with him and ridiculing all
serious things.
X X \ I . The greater portion of these men were Egyptians,
wicked, worthless men, who had imprinted the venom and
evil disposition of their native asps and crocodiles on their
own souls, and gave a faithful representation of them there.
And the leader of the whole Egyptian troops, like the cory-
plucus of a chorus, was a man of the name of Helicon, an
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 137
accursed and infamous slave, who had been introduced into
the imperial household to its ruin ; for he had acquired a
slight smattering of the encyclical sciences, by imitation of
and rivalry with his former master, who gave him to Tiberius
Ca3sar. And at that time he had no especial privilege, since
Tiberius had a perfect hatred of all youthful sallies of wit
for the mere purposes of amusement, as he, from almost his
earliest youth, was of a solemn and austere disposition.
But when Tiberius was dead, and Caius succeeded to the
empire, he then, following a new master, who invited him to
every description of relaxation and luxury, such as could
delight every one of his outward senses, said to himself:
" Kise up, O Helicon ! now is your opportunity. You have
now an auditor, and a spectator, who is of all men in the
world the best calculated to receive the exhibition of your
talents favourably. You are a man of very attractive
natural talents. You are able to joke graceful, and to say
witty, things beyond any one else. You are skilful in all
kinds of amusements, and trifling, and fashionable sports.
And you are equally accomplished in those branches of
encyclical education which are not so ordinarily met with.
Moreover, you have a readiness of speech and repartee
which is far from unpleasing. If therefore you mingle with
your jestings any little stimulus which is in the least un
welcome or painful, so as to excite not only laughter but
any feelings of bitterness, on the part of one who is always
ready to suspect evil, you will be deliberately alienating
from yourself a master who is very well inclined by nature
to listen to any accusations which are brought before him in
a joking manner ; for his ears, as you well know, are always
open, and are constantly on the watch to listen to all those
who are in the habit of interweaving accusations of others
with their sycophancy. And do not seek for any more
abundant causes ; for you have a sufficient foundation with
respect to the customs of the Jews and the national laws of
that people, in which you yourself \vere bred up, and in
which you have been instructed from your very earliest
childhood, not by one man only, but by that most chattering
and vexatious portion of the city of Alexandria. So now,
make an exhibition of your learning."
XXVII. By these preposterous and accursed arguments
138 PI"LO JUD^EUS.
he excited his own expectations, and trained himself, and
inflamed his own wishes ; and then he attended upon and
courted Caius, day and night, never leaving him for a
moment, but being with him at all times and on all occa
sions, and employing every moment when he was by himself,
or when he was resting, to pour forth accusations against
our nation, like a most infamous man as he was, exciting
pleasure in the mind of the emperor by ridiculing the Jews
and their laws and customs, that thus his calumnies might
wound us the more effectually ; for he never openly con
fessed himself to be our accuser, nor could he in fact make
such a confession ; but he went by all kinds of crooked
paths, and practised every sort of manoeuvre, and thus was a
more dangerous and formidable enemy than even those men
who openly recorded their hatred of and hostility towards
us.
They say also that some of the ambassadors of the Alex
andrians, being completely aware of this, had secretly hired
him by considerable bribes, and not only by money but by
hopes of future honours, which they led him to expect he
might attain to at no distant period, when Cains should
come to Alexandria. And he, being continually declaiming
of that time in which, while his master was present, and in
conjunction with him, he should be almost supreme in his
power over a large portion of the world (for it was notorious
enough that by his assiduous courting of Caius, he would be
able to acquire power over the most illustrious portion of
the citizens, and over all those who are held in especial
honour by the most magnificent and glorious city,* promised
every thing).
We, therefore, being for a long time unsuspicious of this
natural enemy, who was plotting against us from his con
cealment, took precautions only against our external foes ;
but when we perceived that he too Mas to be guarded
against, we searched into the matter carefully, considering
every expedient to see if we could, by any means, propitiate
and conciliate the man who was thus aiming and shooting
at us, by every means and from every place, with great ac
curacy of aim ami power of injuring us ; for he was in the
habit of playing at ball with him, and of exercising himself
* There seems some corruption in the text here.
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 139
in gymnastic sports with him, and of bathing with him, and
breakfasting with him, and he was with Caius when he was
wont to go to rest, filling the part of chamberlain and chief
body-guard to him, an office Avhich was not entrusted to any
one else, so that he alone had all kinds of favourable oppor
tunities for being listened to at leisure by the emperor,
when he was removed from any external tumults and dis
tractions, and able quietly to hear what he principally
desired.
And he mingled numbers of satirical and quizzing observ
ations with his more formal and serious accusations, in order
to excite pleasure in his hearers by that means, and to do us
the greatest possible amount of injury; for the quizzing
and ridiculing appeared, as he used it, to be the principal
object at which he aimed, though it was in reality only his
indirect one ; and the accusations which he launched against
us appeared to be mere casual observations, dropped acci
dentally, though in reality they were his primary and sole
object, while he was trying every expedient possible, and so,
like sailors who have a fair wind blowing on their stern, he
was borne onwards with a full sail before a favourable gale,
heaping upon us and stringing together one accusation after
another, while the mind of his hearer was fashioned in a
more solid and retentive mould, so that the recollection ot
the accusations was not easily eradicated.
XXVIII. Accordingly, we being in a great strait and in
most difficult circumstances, we, though we had availed
ourselves of every expedient which we could possibly think
of in order to propitiate and conciliate Helicon, could find
no means of doing so and no access to him, since no one
dared either to accost or to approach him, by reason of his
exceeding insolence and cruelty with which he behaved to
every one ; and also because we were not aware, whether
there was any especial reason for his alienation from the
Jewish nation ; since he was also exciting and exasperating
his master against our people, and, accordingly, we left oft
labouring at this point, and turned our attention to what
was of greater importance.
For it appeared good to present to Caius a memorial, con
taining a summary of what we had suffered, and of the way
in which we considered that we deserved to be treated ; and
MO PHILO JUD^US.
tliis memorial was nearly an abridgment of a longer petition
which we had sent to him a short time before, by the hand
of king Agrippa; for 1*?, by chance, was staving for a short
time in the city, while on his way into Syria to take pos
session of the kingdom which had been given to him ; but
we, without being aware of it, were deceiving ourselves, for
before also we had done the same, when we originally
began to set sail, thinking that as we were going before ";i
judge we should meet with justice ; but he was in reality an
irreconcilable enemy to us, attracting i,s, as fur as appear
ance went, with favourable looks and cheerful address ; for,
receiving us favourably at first, in the plains on the banks
of the Tiber (for he happened to be walking about in his
mother s garden), he conversed with us formally, and waved
his right hand to us in a protecting manner, giving us sig
nificant tokens of his good will, and having sent to us the
secretary, whose duty it was to attend to the embassies that
arrived, Obulus by name, he said, " 1 myself will listen to
what you have to say at the first favourable opportunity."
So that all those who stood around congratulated us as if
we had already carried our point, and so did all those of our
own people, who are influenced by superficial appearances.
But 1 myself, who was accounted to be possessed of superior
prudence, both on account of my age and my education, and
general information, was less sanguine in" respect of the
matters at which the others were so greatly delighted.
" For why," said 1, after pondering the matter deeply in
my own heart, " why, when there have been such numbers
of ambassadors, who have come, one may almost say, from
every corner of the globe, did he say on that occasion that
he would hear what we had to say, and no one eise t Vvliat
could have been his meaning? for he was not ignorant that
we were .lews, who would have been quite content at not
being treated worse than the others; but to expect to be
looked upon as worthy to receive especial privileges and
precedence, by a master who was of a different nation and
a young man and an absolute monarch, would have seemed
like insanity. .But it would seem that he was showing
civility to the whole district of the Alexandrians, to which
he was thus giving a privilege, when promising to give his
decision speedily; unless, indeed, disregarding the character
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 141
"of a fair and impartial hearer, he was intending to be a
fellow suitor with our adversaries and an enemy of ours,
instead of behaving like a judge."
XXIX. Having these ideas in my mind, I resisted the
sanguine hopes of the others, and had no rest in my mind
day or night. But while I was thus giving way to de
spondency and lamenting over my ignorance of the future
(for it was not safe to postpone matters), on a sudden
another most grievous and unexpected calamity fell upon
us, bringing danger not on one section of the Jews only, but
on all the nation together. For we had come from Rome to
Dicaearchia attending upon Caius ; and he had gone down to
the sea-side and was remaining near the gulf, having left for
a while his own palaces, which were numerous and superbly
furnished. And while we were anxiously considering his
intentions, for we were continually expecting to be sum
moned, a man arrived, with blood-shot eyes, and looking
very much troubled, out of breath and palpitating, and
leading us away to a little distance from the rest (for there
were several persons near), he said, " Have you heard the
news?" And then when he was about to tell us what it
was he stopped, because of the abundance of tears that rose
up to choke his utterance. And beginning again, he was a
second and a third time stopped in the same manner. And
we, seeing this, were much alarmed and agitated by suspense,
and entreated him to tell us what the circumstance was on
account of which he said that he had come ; for he could not
have come merely to weep before so many witnesses. " If,
then," said we, " you have any real cause for tears, do not
keep your grief to yourself; we have been long ago well
accustomed to misfortune."
And he with difficulty, sobbing aloud, and in a broken
voice, spoke as follows : " Our temple is destroyed ! Caius
lias ordered a colossal statue of himself to be erected in
the holy of holies, having his own name inscribed upon it
with the title of Jupiter !" And while we were all struck
dumb with astonishment and terror at what he had told us,
:md stood still deprived of all motion (for we stood there
mute and in despair, ready to fall to the groud with fear and
sorrow, the very muscles of our bodies being deprived of all
strength by the news which we had heard) ; others arrived
M 2 PHILO JUD^US.
bearing the same sad tale. And then we all retired and
shut ourselves up together and bewailed our individual and
common miseries, and went through every circumstance that
our minds could conceive, for a man in misfortune is a most
loquacious animal, wrestling as we might with our misery.
And we said to one another, " We have sailed hither in the
middle of winter, in order that we might not be all involved
in violation of the law and in misfortunes proceeding from
it, without being aware what a winter of misery was await
ing us on shore, far more grievous than any storm at sea.
For of the one nature is the cause, which has divided the
seasons of the year and arranged them in due order, but
nature is a thing which exerts a saving power ; but the other
storm is caused by a man who cherishes no ideas such as
become a man, but is a young man, and a promoter of all
kinds of innovation, being invested with irresponsible power
over all the world.
" And youth, when combined with absolute power and
yielding to irresistible and unrestrained passion, is an
invincible evil. And will it be allowed to us to approacli
him or to open our mouth on the subject of the synagogues
before this in suiter of our holy and glorious temple ? For
it is quite evident that he will pay 110 regard whatever to
things of less importance and which are held in inferior
estimation, when he behaves with insolence and contempt
towards our most beautiful and renowned temple, which is
respected by all the east and by all the west, and regarded
like the sun which shines everywhere. And even if we were,
allowed free access to him, what else could we expect but an
inexorable sentence of death ? But be it so ; we will perish,
For, indeed, a glorious death in defence of and for the sake
of the preservation of our laws, is a kind of life.
" But, indeed, if no advantage is derived from our death,
would it not be insanity to perish in addition to what we now
have to endure, and this too, while we appear to be ambas
sadors, so that the calamity appears rather to affect those
who have sent us than those who remain ? Not but what
those of our fellow countrymen who are by nature most
inclined to detest all wickedness, will accuse* us of impiety,
as if we, in the extremity of dangers, when our whole
country was tossed about and threatened, were remembering
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 143
some private interests of our own out of selfishness. For it
is necessary that small things must yield to great ones, and
that private objects must yield to the general interests ;
since, when they are destroyed, there is an end of the con
stitution and of the nation. For how can it be holy or
lawful for us to struggle in any other manner, pointing out
that we are citizens of Alexandria, over whom a danger is
now impending, that namely, of the utter destruction of the
general constitution of the Jewish nation; for in the de
struction of the temple there is reason to fear that this man,
so fond of innovation and willing to dare the most audacious
actions, will also order the general name of our whole nation
to be abolished.
" If, therefore, both the objects on account of which we
were sent are overthrown, perhaps some one will say, AVhat
then, did they not know that they had to negotiate for a safe
return ? But I would reply to such a man, You either have
not the genuine feelings of a nobly born man, or else you
Vere not educated like one, and have never been trained in
the knowledge of the sacred scriptures ; for men who are
truly noble are full of hope, and the laws too implant good
hopes in all those who do not study them superficially but
with all their hearts. Perhaps these things are meant as a
trial of the existing generation to see how they are inclined
towards virtue, and whether they have been taught to bear
evils with resolute and firm minds, without yielding at the
first moment ; all human considerations then are discarded,
and let them be discarded, but let an imperishable hope
and trust in God the Saviour remain in our souls, as he has
often preserved our nation amid inextricable difficulties and
distresses."
XXX. These were the sort of things which we said, be
wailing at the same time our unexpected calamities, and yet
also encouraging one another with the hope of a change to
a more tranquil and peaceful state of things. And after a
little consideration and delay, we said to those who had
brought us this doleful news, " Why sit ye here quietly,
having just kindled sparks of eagerness in our ears by which
we are set on fire and rendered all in a blaze, when you
ought rather to add to what you have told us an account oi
the causes which have operated on Caius."
144 PHILO JUDJEUS.
And they replied, " You know the principal and primarv
cause of all ; for that indeed is universally known to all men.
]Ie desires to be considered a god ; and he conceives that
the Jews alone are likely to be disobedient ; and that there
fore lie cannot possibly inflict a greater evil or injury upon
them than by defacing and insulting the holy dignity of
their temple; 1 or report prevails that it is the most beau
tiful of all the temples in the world, inasmuch as it is
continually receiving fresh accessions of ornament and has
been for an infinite period of time, a never-ending and
boundless expense being lavished on it. And as he is a very
contentious and quarrelsome man, he thinks of appropriating
this edifice wholly to himself. And he is excited now on this
subject to a much greater degree than before by a letter
which Capito has sent to him.
" Capito is the collector of the imperial revenues in
Judiea, and on some account or other he is very hostile to
the nations of the country ; for having come thither a poor
man, and having amassed enormous riches of every imagin
able description by plunder and extortion, he has now
become afraid lest some accusation may be brought against
him. and on this account he has contrived a design by which
he may repel any such impeachment, namely, by calumni
ating those whom he has injured ; and a circumstance which
we will now mention, has given him some pretext for car
rying out his design.
u There is a city called Jamnia ; one of the most populous
cities in all Judiea, which is inhabited by a promiscuous
multitude, the greatest number of whom are Jews ; but
there are also some persons of other tribes from the neigh
bouring nations who have settled there to their own
destruction, who are in a manner sojour ners among the
original native citi/ens, and who cause them a great deal of
trouble, and who do them a great deal of injury, as they are
continually violating some of the ancestral national customs
of the Jews. These men hearing from travellers who visit
the city how exceedingly eager and earnest Caius is about
is own deification, and how disposed he is to look unfavour
ably upon the whole race of Judiea, thinking that they have
now an admirable opportunity for attacking them them
selves, have erected an extemporaneous altar of the most
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 145
contemptible materials, having made clay into bricks for the
sole purpose of plotting against their fellow citizens ; lor
they knew well that they would never endure to see their
customs transgressed ; as was indeed the case.
" For when the Jews saw what they had done, and were
very indignant at the holiness and sanctity and beauty of
the sacred place being thus obscured and defaced, they col
lected together and destroyed the altar ; so the sojourners
immediately went to Capito who was in reality the contriver
of the whole affair ; and he, thinking that he had made a
most lucky hit, which he had been seeking for a long time,
writes to Caius dilating on the matter and exaggerating it
enormously ; and he, when he had read the letter, ordered a
colossal statue gilt all over, much more costly and much
more magnificent than the rich altar which had been
erected in Jamnia, by way of insult to be set up in .the
temple of the metropolis, having for his most excellent and
sagacious counsellors Helicon, that man of noble birth, a
chattering slave, a perfect scum of the earth, and a fellow of
the name of Apelles, a tragic actor, who when in the first
bloom of youth, as they say, made a market of his beauty,
and when he was past the freshness of youth went on the
stage ; and in fact all those who go on the stage selling
themselves to the spectators, and to the theatres, are not
lovers of temperance and modesty, but rather of the most
extreme shamelessness and indecency.
" On this account Apelles was taken into the rank of a
fellow counsellor of the emperor, that Caius might have an
adviser with whom he might indulge in mocking jests, and
with whom he might sing, passing over all considerations
of the general welfare of the state, as if everything in every
quarter of the globe was enjoying profound peace and tran
quillity under the laws.
" Therefore Helicon, this scorpion-like slave, discharged all
his Egyptian venom against the Jews ; and Apelles his
Ascalonite poison, for he was a native of Ascalou ; and
between the people of Ascalon and the inhabitants of the
holy land, the Jews, there is an irreconcileable and never-
ending hostility although they are bordering nations."
When we heard this we were wounded in our souls at
every word he said and at every name he mentioned j but
VOL. IV. L
146 PHILO JUD^US.
those admirable advisers of admirable actions a little while
-fUTwards met with the fit reward of their impiety, the one
bein* bound bv Caius with iron chains for other causes, and
bein" put to the torture and to the rack after periods ot
relief as is the case with people affected with intermittent
diseases ; and Helicon was put to death by Claudius Ger-
rumicus Cresar, for other wicked actions, that, like a mad
man as he was, he had committed; but these occurrences
took place at a later date.
XXXI. And the letter respecting the erection ot
statue was written not in plain terms, but with as much
caution and prudence as possible, taking every measure
which could tend to security ; for he commands Petromus,
the lieutenant and governor of all Syria, to whom indeed he
wrote the letter, to lead half the army which was on the
Euphrates to guard against any passage of that river by any
of the eastern kings or nations, into Judasa as an escort to
the statue ; not in order to honour its erection with any
especial pomp, but to chastise with death any attempt that
mi"-ht be made to hinder it.
AVhat sayest thou, O master ? Are you making war upon
us because you anticipate that we will not endure such
indignity, but that we will fight on behalf of our laws, and
die in defence of our national customs ? For you cannot
possibly have been ignorant of what was likely to result irom
vour attempt to introduce these innovations respecting our
temple; but having previously learnt with perfect accuracy
what was likely to happen as well as if it had already taken
place, and knowing the future as thoroughly as it it were
actually present, you commanded your general to bring
up an army in order that the statue when erected might be
consecrated by the first sacrifice offered to it, being of a
most polluted kind, stained with the blood of miserable men
and women.
Accordingly Petromus, when he had read what he was
commanded to do in this letter, was in great perplexity, not
being able to resist the orders sent to him out of fear, for he
heard that the emperor s wrath was implacable not only
against those who did not do what they were commanded to
do, but who did not do it in a moment ; and on the other
hand, he did not see how it was easy to perform them, for
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 147
he knew that the Jews would willingly, if it were possible,
endure ten thousand deaths instead of one, rather than
submit to see any forbidden thing perpetrated with respect
to their religion ; for all men are eager to preserve their
own customs and laws, and the Jewish nation above all
others ; for looking upon their laws as oracles directly given
to them by God himself, and having been instructed in this
doctrine from their very earliest infancy they bear in their
souls the images of the commandments contained in these
laws as sacred ; and secondly, as they continually behold the
visible shapes and forms of them, they admire and venerate
them in their minds and they admit such foreigners as are
disposed to honour and worship them, to do so no less than
their own native fellow citizens.
But all who attempt to violate their laws, or to turn them
into ridicule, they detest as their bitterest enemies, and
they look upon each separate one of the commandments
with such awe and reverence that, whether one ought to
call it the invariable good fortune or the happiness of the
nation, they have never been guilty of the violation of even
the most insignificant of them ; but above all other obser
vances their zeal for their holy temple is the most predomi
nant, and vehement, and universal feeling throughout the
whole nation ; and the greatest proof of this is that death is
inexorably pronounced against all those who enter into
the inner circuit of the sacred precincts (for they admit all
men from every country into the exterior circuit), unless he
be one of their own nation by blood.
Petronius, having regard to these considerations, was very
reluctant to attempt what he was commanded to do, con
sidering what a great and wicked piece of daring he should
be committing, and invoking all the deliberative powers of
his soul as to a council, he inquired into the opinion of each
of them, and he found every faculty of his mind agreeing
that he should change nothing of these observances and
customs which had been hallowed from the beginning of the
world ; in the first place because of the natural principles of
justice and piety by which they were dictated, and secondly
because of the danger which threatened any attempt at
innovation upon them, not only from God, but also from the
people who would be insulted by such conduct. He also
L 2
148 PHILO JUD.EUS.
gave a thought to the circumstances of the nation itself, to
its exceeding populousiiess, so that it was not contained as
every other nation was by the circuit of the one region
which was allotted to it for itself, but so that, I may almost
sav, it had spread over the whole face of the earth ; for it is
diffused throughout every continent, and over every island,
so that everywhere it appears but little inferior in number
to the original native population of the country.
"Was it not, then, a most perilous undertaking to draw
upon himself such innumerable multitudes of enemies ?
And was there not danger of allies and friends from all
quarters arriving to their assistance ? It would be a result
of very formidable danger and difficulty, besides the fact
that the inhabitants of Judaea are infinite in numbers, and a
nation of great stature and personal strength, and of great
courage and spirit, and men who are willing to die in defence
of their national customs and laws with unshrinking bravery,
so that some of those who calumniate them say that their
courage (as indeed is perfectly true) is beyond that of any
barbarian nation, being the spirit of free and nobly born men.
And the state of all the nations which lie beyond the
Euphrates added to his alarm ; for he was aware that Baby
lon and many others of the satrapies of the east were occu
pied by the Jews, knowing this not merely by report but
likewise by personal experience ; for every year sacred mes
sengers are sent to convey large amounts of gold and silver
to the temple, which has been collected from all the subor
dinate governments, travelling over rugged, and difficult, and
almost impassable roads, winch they look upon as level and
easy inasmuch as they serve to conduct them to piety.
Therefore, being exceedingly alarmed, as was very natural,
lest if they heard of the unprecedented design of erecting
this colossal statue in the temple, they might on a sudden
direct their march that way and surround him, some on one
side and some on the other, so as to hem him in completely,
and co-operating with and joining one another might treat
the enemy who would be thus enclosed in the midst of them
with terrible severity, he hesitated long, attaching great
weight to all these considerations.
Then again he was drawn in the opposite direction by
considerations of a contrary character, saying to himself,
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 149
" This is the command of one who is my master and a young
man, and of one who judges everything which he wishes to
have done to be expedient and becoming, and who is resolved
that everything which he has once decided on shall be at
once performed even though it may be the most injurious
measure possible and full of all contention and insolence ;
and now having passed beyond all human nature he has
actually recorded himself to be God ; and great danger of
my life impends over me whether I oppose him or whether
I comply with his commands ; if I comply with them the
result will very probably be war, and one that perhaps may
be attended with doubtful success and which will be far from
turning out as it is expected to do ; and if 1 oppose him I
shall then be exposed to the open and implacable hatred of
Cains."
And with this opinion of his, many of those Romans who
were joined with him in the administration of the affairs of
Syria coincided, knowing that the anger of Caius and the
punishments which he would inflict would come upon them
first as being accomplices in the disobedience to the injunc
tions which he had sent ; but at last when it arrived the
fashion of the statue afforded them a pretext for delay dur
ing which they might have time for a more deliberate con
sideration of the matter ; for they did not send any man
from Kome (as it appears to me because the providence of
Grod overruled the matter in this way, who thus invisibly
stayed the hand of these wicked doers), nor did he command
the most skilful man or him who was accounted so in Syria
to manage the matter, since while he was pressing on this
lawless action with all speed a war was suddenly kindled.
Therefore having now opportunity to consider what course
would be most advantageous (for when great events sud
denly come altogether, they break down and perplex the
mind), he commanded the statue to be made in some one of
the bordering regions. Therefore Petronius, sending for the
most skilful and renowned artists in Phoenicia, gave them
the materials requisite for the making of the statue ; and
they took them to Sidon, and there proceeded to make it.
He also sent for the magistrates of the Jews and the
priests and rulers of the people, both to announce to them
the commands which he had received from Caius and also to
150 PHILO JUDJEUS.
counsel them to submit cheerfully to the commands which
had been imposed by their master, and to give due considera
tion to the dangers before their eyes ; for that the most war
like of the military powers in Syria were all ready, and would
soon cover all the country with dead bodies ; for he thought
that if he could previously weaken their resolution he would
be able by their means to work upon all the rest of the mul
titude and to persuade them not to oppose the will of the
emperor ; but, as was natural, he was wholly disappointed in
his expectations ; for it is said indeed that they were amazed
at his first words, and that at first they were utterly over
whelmed by his announcement of their real danger and
misery, and that they stood speechless and poured forth a
ceaseless abundance of tears as if from a fountain, tearing
their beards and the hair of their head, and saying, " We who
were formerly very fortunate, have now advanced through
many events to an exceeding old age that we might at last
beho ld what no one of our ancestors ever saw. "With what
eyes can we endure to look upon these things ? Let them
rather be torn out, and let our miserable lives and our
afflicted existence be put an end to, before we behold such
an evil as this, such an intolerable spectacle which it is
impious to hear of or to conceive."
XXXII. In this way did they bewail their fate ; but
when the inhabitants of "the holy city and of all the region
round about heard of the design which was in agitation,
they all arrayed themselves together as if at a concerted
signal, their common misery having given them the word,
and went forth in a body, and leaving their cities and their
villages and their houses empty, they hastened with one
accord into Phoenicia, for Petronius happened to be in that
country at the moment. And when some of the guards
of Petronius saw a countless multitude hastening towards
them they ran to their general to bring him the news, and
to warn him to take precautions, as they expected war ; and
while they were relating to him what they had seen, he was
still without any guards ; and the multitude of the Jews
suddenly coming upon him like a cloud, occupied the whole
of Phoenicia, and caused great consternation among the
Phoenicians who thus beheld the enormous population of the
nation ; and at first so great an outcry was raised, accom-
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 151
panied with weeping and beating of the breast, that the very
ears of those present could not endure the vastness of the
noise ; for it did not cease when they ceased, but continued
to vibrate even after they were quiet : then there were
approaches to the governor, and supplications addressed to
him such as the occasion suggested ; for calamities are
themselves teachers of what should be done in an existing
emergency.
And the multitude was divided into six companies, one of
old men, one of young men, one of boys ; and again in their
turn one band of aged matrons, one of women in the prime
of life, and one of virgins ; and when Petronius appeared at
a distance all the ranks, as they had been appointed, fell to
the ground, uttering a most doleful howling and lamenta
tion, mingled with supplications. But when he commanded
them to rise up, and to come nearer to him, they would for
a long time hardly consent to rise, and scattering abundance
of dust upon their heads, and shedding abundance of tears,
they put both their hands behind them like captives who are
fettered in this way, and thus they approached him.
Then the body of the old men, standing before him,
addressed him in the following terms : " We are, as you see,
without any arms, but yet as we passed along some persons
have accused us as being enemies, but even the very weapons
of defence with which nature has provided each individual,
namely our hands, we have averted from you, and placed in
a position where they can do nothing, offering our bodies
freely an easy aim to any one who desires to put us to
death. "We have brought unto you our wives, and our
children, and our whole families, and in your person we will
prostrate ourselves before Caius, having left not one single
person at home, that you may either preserve us all, or
destroy us all together by one general and complete destruc
tion. Petronius, we are a peaceful nation, both by our
natural disposition and by our determined intentions, and
the education which has been industriously and carefully
instilled into us has taught us this lesson from our very
earliest infancy. When Caius assumed the imperial power
we were the first people in all Syria to congratulate him,
Yitellius at that time being in our city, from whom you
received the government as his successor, to whom writings
152 PHILO JUD.-EUS.
concerning these matters were sent, and the happy news
proceeding onwards from our city, where it had been re
ceived with joy, reached the other cities with similar accept
ance. Ours was the first temple which received sacrifices
for the happy reign of Caius. Did it do so that it might be
the first or the only temple to be deprived of its customary
modes of worship ?
" We have no\v left our cities, we have abandoned our
houses and our possessious, we will cheerfully contribute to
you all our furniture, all our cattle, and all our treasures,
everything in short which belongs to us, as a willing booty.
We shall think that we are receiving them, not giving them
up. We only ask one thing instead of and to counterbalance
aH of them, namely, that no innovations may take place in
respect of our temple, but that it may be kept such as we
have received it from our fathers and our forefathers. And
if we cannot prevail with you in this, then we offer up our
selves for destruction, that we may not live to behold a
calamity more terrible and grievous than death. We hear
that great forces of infantry and cavalry are being prepared
by you against us, if we oppose the erection and dedication
of this statue. No one is so mad as, when he is a slave, to
oppose his master. We willingly and readily submit our
selves to be put to death ; let your troops slay us, let them
sacrifice us, let them cut us to pieces unresisting and uncou-
tending, let them treat us with every species of crueltv that
conquerers can possibly practise, but what need is there of
any army ? We ourselves, admirable priests for the purpose,
will begin the sacrifice, bringing to the temple our wives
and slaying our wives, bringing our brothers and sisters and
becoming fratricides, bringing our sons and our daughters,
that innocent and guiltless age, and becoming infanticides.
Those who endure tragic calamities must needs make use of
tragic language. Then standing in the middle of our victims,
having bathed ourselves deeply in the blood of our kinsfolk
(for such blood will be the only bath which we shall have
wherewith to cleanse ourselves for the journey to the shades
below), we will mingle our own blood with it, slaughtering
ourselves upon their bodies. And when we are dead, let
this commandment be inscribed over us as an epitaph, Let
not even God blame us, who have had a due regard to both
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 153
considerations, pious loyalty towards the emperor and the
reverential preservation of our established holy laws.
" And this will be what will be deservedly said of us if we
give up our miserable life, holding it in proper contempt.
We have heard of a most ancient tradition, which has been
handed down throughout Greece by their historians, who
have affirmed that the head of the Gorgon had such mighty
power, that those who beheld it immediately became stones
ami rocks. But this appears only to be a fiction and fable,
the truth being that great, and unexpected, and wonderful
events do often bring after them great disaster ; for instance,
the anger of a master causes death, or calamities equivalent
to death.
" Do you suppose (may God forbid that any such event
should ever take place) that if any of our countrymen were
to see this statue being brought into our temple, it would
not change them into stones ? Their limbs being all con
gealed, and their eyes becoming fixed so as not to be capable
of motion, and their whole body losing all its natural motions
in every one of its united parts and limbs ! We will, how
ever, now, O Petronius, address to you one last and most
righteous and just request ; we say that you ought not to do
what you are commanded, but we entreat you to grant us a
respite, and we most earnestly supplicate you to delay a
little while till we appoint an embassy, and send it to
approach your master, and to convey our entreaties to him.
Perhaps in our embassy we may find some argument or
other to persuade him, either by bringing before him all the
considerations respecting the honour of God, or the preser
vation of our indestructible and unalterable laws, or by
urging upon him that we ought not to be subjected to a
worse fate than all the nations even in the very most remote
extremities of the earth, who have been allowed to preserve
their national customs ; with reference to which his grand
father and great-grandfather came to a righteous decision
when they confirmed and set the seal to our customs with
all care. Perhaps when he hears these arguments he will
be more merciful to us. The intentions of the great do not
always continue the same, and those which are adopted in
anger are the quickest to change. We have been grievously
calumniated. Suffer us to refute the false accusations which
154 PH1LO JUD/EUS.
have been brought against us. It is hard to be condemned
without being heard in our own defence.
" And if we fail to convince him, what will after that pre
vent him from doing the tilings which be at present intends
to do ? Until, then, we have sent this embassy, do not cut
off all the hopes of so many myriads of men, since our zeal
and earnestness is displayed not in the cause of gain, but in
that of religion ; though indeed we speak foolishly in using
such an expression as that, for what can be a more real and
beneficial g^iin to men than holiness?"
XXXIII. They uttered these complaints and entreaties
with great agony and misery of soul, with exceeding sobbing
and difficulty of speech, for all their limbs sweated with
apprehension, and their ceaseless tears flowed in torrents, so
that all who heard them, and Petronius himself, sympathised
with their sorrow, for he was by nature a man very kind
and gentle in his natural disposition, so that he was easily
influenced by what was now said or heard ; and what was
said appeared to be entirely just, and the misery of those whom
he now beheld appeared most pitiable ; and rising up, and
retiring with his fellow counsellors, he took counsel as to
what he ought to do, and lie saw that those who a short
time before opposed the wishes of the Jews with all their
might were now wavering and perplexed, and that those who
had previously been hesitating were now for the most part
inclined to compassion, at which he was pleased.
Nevertheless, though he was well acquainted with the
disposition of the emperor, and how implacable and inexor
able he was in his anger, he still had himself some sparks of
the Jewish philosophy and piety, since he had long ago learnt
something of it by reason of his eagerness for learning, and
had studied it still more ever since he had come as governor
of the countries in which there are vast numbers of Jews
scattered over every city of Asia and Syria ; or partly because
he was so disposed in his mind from his spontaneous, and
natural, and innate inclination for all things which are
worthy of care and study.
Moreover, God himself appears often to suggest virtuous
ideas to virtuous men, by which, while benefiting others,
they will likewise be benefited themselves, which now was
the case with Petronius. \Vhat then was his resolution?
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 155
Isot to hurry on the artists, but to persuade them to
continue to finish the statue which they had in hand,
taking pains and labouring as far as might be possible not
to be inferior to the most renowned models, but to take
plenty of time, so as to make their work perfect, since
things which are done in a hurry are very often inferior,
but things which are done with great pains and skill require
a length of time. But the embassy which they entreated
leave to send he determined not to permit, for he considered
that it would not be safe for him to allow it ; still he deter
mined not to oppose those who wished to refer the whole
matter to the supreme sovereign and master, but neither to
agree with nor to contradict the multitude, for he considered
that either line of conduct was fraught with danger.
Moreover, he determined to write a letter to Caius, not in
any respect accusing the Jews, and on the other hand not
giving any accurate account of their entreaties and suppli
cations, and to explain the delay which was taking place in
the erection of the statue, partly because the preparation of
it required a certain space of time for its completion, and
partly, he reminded him, that the season of the year was in
some degree the cause of unavoidable delay, in which there
was no question but that Caius must of necessity acquiesce,
for it was just at the moment the very height of the wheat
harvest and of all the other cereal crops ; and he said that
he was afraid lest out of despair of the preservation of their
national and hereditary laws and customs, the men might
conceive such a contempt for life as either themselves to lay
waste their lands, or to burn all the corn-bearing district,
whether mountainous or champaign country, and, therefore,
that he might require a guard to secure a careful gathering in
of the crops, and that not only of such as were borne on the
arable land but of those produced by fruit-bearing trees ; for
he himself was intending, as is said, to sail to Alexandria in
Egypt, but so great a general did not choose to cross the open
sea both by reason of the danger and also of the numerous
fleet which would be required as his escort, and also from
his regard for his OAvn person, as everything requisite for his
comfort would be more easily provided if he took the circui
tous route through Asia and Syria; for he would, if he
coasted along, be able to sail every day and land every night,
156 PHILO JUD^EUS.
especially if ho took with him a sufficient number of ships
of war, and not transports, in which a coasting voyage is
more successful, just as one across the open sea is better for
merchantmen. Therefore it was necessary that abundant
quantities of forage and food should be prepared for his
cattle in every one of the Syrian cities, and especially in all
such as were on the coast, for a numerous multitude would
be proceeding both by land and sea, collected not only from
Home itself and from Italy, but that which had also followed
him from all the other provinces of the empire as far as
Syria, being partly the regular guard of the magistrates, and
partly the regular army of infantry and cavalry, and the
naval force, and also a troop of servants but little inferior in
number to the army. Moreover, there was need not only of
such an abundance of supplies as might be sufficient for all
necessary purposes, but also for all the superfluous prodi
gality of which Caius was fond. If he reads these writings
perhaps he will not only not be angry, but will be even
pleased with our prudential caution, as having caused this
delay not from any regard for the Jews, but for the sake of
providing for the collection of the harvest.
XXXIV. And when his assessors had delivered their
opinion?, he commanded letters to be written, and appointed
active men, who were accustomed to make rapid journeys, to
convey them. And they, when they had arrived at their
journey s end, delivered the letters ; but the emperor, before
lie had iinished reading them, became swollen witli auger,
and went on making marks at every page, in fury and
indignation ; and when he had come to the end of the letter,
he clapped his hands together, saying, " Of a truth, Pe-
tronius, you seem but little to comprehend that you are
the subject of the emperor ; the uninterrupted series of
governments to which you have been preferred have filled
you with guile. Up to the present time it seems to me that
you have no notion of acknowledging that you know, even
by hearsay, that Caius is emperor, but you shall very
speedily find it out by your own experience, for you are
careful about the laws of the Jews, a nation which I hate
above every other, and you are indifferent about the imperial
commands of your sovereign. You fear the multitude.
Had you not with you then the military forces which all the
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 157
eastern nations, and the chief of them all, the Parthians,
fear ? But you pitied them, you paid more attention to
feelings of compassion than to the express commands of
Cams.
" Make your pretext of the harvest, but you yourself shall
soon find that you have brought on your own head a punish
ment which cannot be averted by any pretexts or excuses.
Blame the necessity for collecting the crops, and for making
adequate provision for my armies, for even if a complete
scarcity were to oppress Judaea, still are there not vast
regions on its borders of great fertility and productiveness,
sufficient and able to supply all necessary food, and to make
up for the deficiency of one district ? But why do I speak
in this way before acting ? And why is there no one who
anticipates my intentions ? He who delays shall first find
out that he is receiving the w r ages of his delay by suffering in
his own person. I will say no more, but I shall not forget
the matter."
And after a brief interval, he dictated to one of his
secretaries an answer to Petronius, praising him in appear
ance for his prudence, and for his careful and accurate
consideration of the future, for he was very careful with
respect to the governors of the provinces, seeing that they
had at all times great facilities for making innovations or
revolutions, especially if they happened to be in districts of
importance, and in command of powerful armies such as was
on the Euphrates for the protection of Syria. Therefore,
being very civil to him in words and in his letters, he con
cealed his anger till a favourable opportunity, though he was
very much exasperated ; but at the end of the letter, after
having mentioned every other subject, he desired him cot to
be so anxious about anything as about the speedy erection
and dedication of the statue, for that by this time the harvest
must have been able to be got in, whether the excuse was
originally an honest and true or only a plausible one.
XXXV. However a short time afterwards King Agrippa
arrived in Rome, according to custom, to pay his respects to
Caius, and he knew absolutely nothing either of what
Petronius had written in his letter, or of what Caius had
written in his first or second epistle, but by his irregular
motions and agitations, and by the excitement which shone
158 PHILO JUD.EU3.
in his eyes, he conjectured that he had some anger smoulder
ing beneath, and he considered, and pondered, and turned
over every matter in every direction, racking his brain for
every reason, whether great or small, to see whether he had
said* or done anything unbecoming, and when he felt sure
that he had done absolutely nothing, he conjectured, as was
natural, that it was some one else with whom he was
offended. But again, when he saw that he looked morosely
at him, and that he kept his eyes continually fixed on him,
and on no one else who was ever present, he began to be
alarmed, and though he often thought of putting the
question to him, he restrained himself, reflecting in this
manner : " Perhaps by doing so I may draw down on myself
the threats which as "it is are destined for others, by bring
ing upon myself a suspicion of being a busybody, and a rash
and audacious man."
Therefore, when Caius saw that he was in a state of great
alarm and perplexity, for he was very acute at comprehend
ing a man s inmost designs and feelings from his outward
appearance and expression of countenance, he said, "You
are embarrassed, O Agrippa. I will relieve you from your
perplexity. Though you have lived with me for such a
length of time, are you yet ignorant that I speak not only
witli my voice, but also with my eyes, intimating everything,
to say the least of it, as much in one way as in the other ?
Your loyal and excellent fellow citizens, the only nation of
men upon the whole face of the earth by whom Cains is not
esteemed to be a god, appear now to be even desiring to
plot my death in their obstinate disobedience, for when I
commanded my statue in the character of Jupiter to be
erected in their temple, they raised the whole of their
people, and quitted the city and the whole country in a
body, under pretence of addressing a petition to me, but in
realitv being determined to act in a manner contrary to the
commands \\hich I had imposed upon them."
And when he was about to add other charges against
them Agrippa fell into such a state of grief that he changed
into all sorts of colours, becoming at the same moment
bloodshot, and pale, and livid, for he was all over agitation
and trembling from the top of his head down to his feet,
and a quivering and shaking seized upon and disordered all
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 159
nis limbs and every member of his body, all his sinews, and
muscles, and nerves being relaxed and enfeebled, so that he
fainted away, and would have fallen down if some of the
bystanders had not supported him.
And they being commanded to carry him home, bore him
to his palace, where he lay for some time in a state of torpor
without any one understanding what sudden misfortune
had brought him into this state. Therefore Caius was
exasperated still more against our nation, and cherished a
more furious anger against us than before, " For," said he,
* if Agrippa, who is my most intimate and dearest friend,
and one bound to me by so many benefits, is so completely
under the influence of his national customs that he cannot
bear even to hear a word against them, but faints away to
such a degree as to be near dying, what must one expect
will be the feelings of others who have no motive or influence
to draw them the other way ?"
Agrippa, then, during all that day and the greater portion
of the next day, lay in a state of profound stupor, being
completely unconscious of everything that passed; but
about evening he raised his head a little, and for a short
time opened, though with difficulty, his languid eyes, and
with dim and indistinct vision looked upon the people who
surrounded him, though he was not as yet able to distinguish
clearly between their several forms and features ; and then
again relapsing into sleep, he became tranquil, getting into
a better condition than at first, as those about him could
conjecture from his breathing and from the state of his
body.
And afterwards, when he awoke again, and rose up, he
asked, " Where now am I ? Am I with Caius ? Is my
lord himself here ?" - And they replied, " Be of good cheer ;
you are by yourself in your own palace. Caius is not
here. You have now had a sufficient tranquil sleep, but
now turn and raise yourself, and rest upon your elbow, and
recognise those who are about you ; they are all your own
people, those of your friends, and freedmen, and domestics,
who honour you above all others, and who are honoured by
you in return." And he, for he was now beginning to
recover from his state of stupefaction, saw feelings of
sympathy in every one s face, and when his physicians
100 miLO JUD^US.
ordered most of them to leave the room, that they might
refresh his body with anointing and seasonable food, " Go,"
said lie, " for you must by all means take care that I may
have a more carefully regulated way of life, for it is not
sufficient for me, unfortunate man that I am, to ward oft
hunger by a bare, and scanty, and economical, and precise
use of necessary food ; nor should I have attended to any
such matters if it had not been my object to provide my
miserable nation with the last resource which my mind
suggests to me by way of assisting it." Accordingly, he,
sheading abundance of tears, and eating just what was
necessary without any sauce or seasoning, and drinking no
mixed wine but only tasting water, soon left off eating.
"My miserable stomach," said he, "recoils from the things
which it demanded ; and now what ought I to do but address
myself to Caius with respect to existing circumstances F"
XXXVI. And having taken tablets, he writes to him in
the following manner : " O master, fe^r and shame have
taken from me all courage to come into your presence to
address you ; since fear teaches me to dread your threats ;
and shame, out of respect for the greatness of your power
and diguity, keeps me silent. But a writing will show my
request, which I now here offer to you as my earnest
petition. In all men, emperor ! a love of their country is
innate, and an eager for dness for their national customs and
laws. And concerning these matters there is no need that
I should give you information, since you have a heart-felt
love of your own country, and a deeply-seated respect fur
your national customs. And what belongs to themselves
appears beautiful to every one, even if it is not so in reality;
for they judge of these things not more by reason than by
the feelings of affection. And I am, as you know, a Jew;
and Jerusalem is my country, in which there is erected the
holy temple of the most high God. And I have kings for
my grandfathers and for my ancestors, the greater part of
whom have been called high priests, looking upon their royal
power as inferior to their office as priests ; and thinking that
the high priesthood is as much superior to the power of a
king, as God is superior to man ; for that the one is occupied
in rendering service to God, and the other has only the can:
of governing them. Accordingly I, being one of this nation,
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 161
and being attached to this country and to such a temple,
address to you this petition on behalf of them all ; on
behalf of the nation, that it may not be looked upon by you
in a light contrary to the true one ; since it is a most pious
and holy nation, and one from the beginning most loyally
disposed to your family.
" Por in all the particulars in which men are enjoined by
the laws, and in which they have it m their power to show
their piety and loyalty, my nation is inferior to none what
ever in Asia or in Europe, whether it be in respect of
prayers, or of the supply of sacred offerings, or in the
abundance of its sacrifices, not merely of such as are offered
on occasions of the public festivals, but- in those which are
continually offered day after day; by which means they
show their loyalty and fidelity more surely than by their
mouth and tongue, proving it by the designs of their honest
hearts, not indeed saying that they are friends to Caesar, but
being so in reality.
" Concerning the holy city I must now say what is necessary.
It, as I have already stated, is my native country, and the
metropolis, not only of the one country of Judaea, but also
of many, by reason of the colonies which it has sent out from
time to time into the bordering districts of Egypt, Phoenicia,
Syria in general, and especially that part of it which is called
Ccelo-Syria, and also with those more distant regions of
Pamphylia, Cilicia, the greater part of Asia Minor as far as
Bithynia, and the furthermost corners of Pontus. And in
the same manner into Europe, into Thessaly, and Boeotia,
and Macedonia, and ^Etolia, and Attica, and Argos, and
Corinth and all the most fertile and wealthiest districts of
Peloponnesus. And not only are the continents full of
Jewish colonies, but also all the most celebrated islands are
so too ; such as Euboea, and Cyprus, and Crete.
" I say nothing of the countries beyond the Euphrates, for
all of them except a very small portion, and Babylon, and
all the satrapies around, which have any advantages whatever
of soil or climate, have Jews settled in them. So that if my
native land is, as it reasonably may be, looked upon as
entitled to a share in your favour, it is not one city only
that would then be benefited by you, but ten thousand of
them in every region of the habitable world, in Europe, in
VOL. IV. M
PHILO JUD.EUS.
\sia and in Africa, on the continent, in the islands, on the
coasts and in the inland parts. And it corresponds well
to the greatness of your good fortune, that, by conferring
benefits on one city, you should also benefit ten thousand
others, so that your renown may be celebrated in every part
of the habitable \vorld, and many praises of you may be
combined with thanksgiving.
" You have thought the native countries ot some ot your
friends worthy of being admitted to share all the privileges
of the Eoman constitution ; and those who but a little while
a^o were slaves, became the masters of others who also
enjoyed your favour in a higher, or at all events not in :i
lower degree, and they were delighted too at the causes of
your beneficence. And I indeed am perfectly aware that I
belong to the class which is in subjection to a lord and
master, and also that I am admitted to the honour of being
one of your companions, being inferior to you in respect of
inv birthright and natural rank, and inferior to no one
whomsoever, not to say the most eminent of all men, in good
will and loyalty towards you, both because that is un
natural disposition, and also in consequence of the number
of benefits with which you have enriched me ; so that if I in
consequence had felt confidence to implore you myself on
behalf of my country, if not to grant to it the Eoman con
stitution, at* least to confer freedom and a remission of taxes
on it, I should not have thought that I had any reason to
fear your displeasure for preferring such a petition to you,
and for requesting that most desirable of all things, your
favour, which it can do you no harm to grant, and which is
the most advantageous* of all things for my country to
receive.
Tor what can possibly be a more desirable blessing ior a
subject nation than the good will of its sovereign ? It was
at Jerusalem, O emperor ! that your most desirable succes
sion to the empire was first announced; and the news of
your advancement spread from the holy city all over the
continent on each side, and was received with great gladness.
And on this account that city deserves to meet with favour
at your hands ; for, as in families the eldest children receive
the highest honours as their birthright, because they were
the first to give the name of father and mother to their
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 1 63
parents, so, in like manner, since this is first of all the cities
in the east to salute you as emperor, it ought to receive
greater benefit from you than any other ; or if not greater,
at all events as great as any other city.
"Having now advanced these pleas on the ground of justice,
and made these petitions on behalf of my native country, I
now come at last to my supplication on behalf of the temple.
O my lord and master, Caius ! this temple has never, from
the time of its original foundation until now, admitted any
form made by hands, because it has been the abode of God.
Now, pictures and images are only imitations of those gods
who are perceptible to the outward senses ; but it was not
considered by our ancestors to be consistent with the
reverence due to God to make any image or representation
of the invisible God. Agrippa, when he came to the temple,
did honour to it, and he was thy grandfather ; and so did
Augustus, when by his letters he commanded all first fruits
from all quarters to be sent thither ; and by the continual
sacrifice. And thy great grandmother
" On which account, no one, whether Greek or barbarian,
satrap, or king, or implacable enemy ; no sedition, no war,
no capture, no destruction, no occurrence that has ever
taken place, has ever threatened this temple with such
innovation as to place in it any image, or statue, or any
work of any kind made with hands ; for, though enemies
have displayed their hostility to the inhabitants of the
country, still, either reverence or fear has possessed them
sufiiciently to prevent them from abrogating any of the laws
which were established at the beginning, as tending to the
honour of the Creator and Father of the universe ; for they
knew that it is these and similar actions which bring after
them the irremediable calamities of heaven-sent afflic
tions. On which account they have been careful not to
sow an impious seed, fearing lest they should be compelled
to reap its natural harvest, in a fruit bearing utter
destruction.
XXXVII. "But why need I invoke the assistance of
foreign witnesses when I have plenty with whom I can
furnish you from among your own countrymen and friends ?
Marcus Agrippa, your own grandfather on the mother s
side, the moment that he arrived in Judasa, when Herod,
M 2
I 4 PHILO JUDJEUS.
mv ^randfather, was king of the country, thought nt_ to go
up from the sea-coast to the. metropolis, which was inland.
\ud when he had beheld the temple, and the decorations ol
the priests, and the piety and holiness of the people of the
eountrv, he marvelled, looking upon the whole matter as
0,10 of crreat solemnity and entitled to great respect, and
thinkin^ that he had beheld what was too magnificent to be
described. And he could talk of nothing else to his com
panions but the magnificence of the temple and every thing
connected with it. .
"Therefore, every day that he remained in the city, by
reason of his friendship for Herod, he went to that sacred
place, being delighted with the spectacle of the building,
and of the sacrifices, and all the ceremonies connected with
the worship of God, and the regularity which was observed,
and the dignity and honour paid to the high priest, and his
grandeur when arrayed in his sacred vestments and when
about to begin the sacrifices. And after he had adorned
the temple with all the offerings in his power to contribute,
and had conferred many benefits on the inhabitants doing
them many important services, and having said to Herod
many friendly things, and having been replied to in
corresponding terms, he was conducted back again to the
sea coast and to the harbour, arid that not by one city only
but by the whole country, having branches strewed m his
road, and being greatly admired and respected tor his
"What ao-ain did your other grandfather, Tiberius Caesar,
do ? does not he appear to have adopted an exactly similar
line of conduct? At all events, during the three and
twenty years that he was emperor, he preserved the form ot
worship in the temple as it had been handed down from the
earliest times, without abrogating or altering the slightest
particular of it.
XXXVIII. " Moreover, I have it in my power to relate
one act of ambition on his part, though I suffered an
infinite number of evils when he was alive ; but nevertheless
the truth is considered dear, and much to be honoured by
you. Pilate was one of the emperor s lieutenants, having
been appointed governor of Judrca. He, not more with the
odject of doing honour to Tiberius than with that of vexing
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 165
the multitude, dedicated some gilt shields in the palace of
Herod, in the holy city ; which had no form nor any other
forbidden thing represented on them except some necessary
inscription, which mentioned these two facts, the name of
the person who had placed them there, and the person in
whose honour they were so placed there. But when the
multitude heard what had been done, and when the circum
stance became notorious, then the people, putting forward
the four sons of the king, who were in no respect inferior to
the kings themselves, in fortune or in rank, and his other
descendants, and those magistrates who were among them
at the time, entreated him to alter and to rectify the inno
vation which he had committed in respect of the shields ;
and not to make any alteration in their national customs,
which had hitherto been preserved without any interruption,
without being in the least degree changed by any king or
emperor.
" But when he steadfastly refused this petition (for he was
a man of a very inflexible disposition, and very merciless as
well as very obstinate), they cried out: Do not cause a
sedition ; do not make war upon us ; do not destroy the
peace which exists. The honour of the emperor is not
identical with dishonour to the ancient laws ; let it not be
to you a pretence for heaping insult on our nation. Tibe
rius is not desirous that any of our laws or customs shall be
destroyed. And if you yourself say that he is, show us
either some command from him, or some letter, or some
thing of the kind, that we, who have been sent to you as
ambassadors, may cease to trouble you, and may address our
supplications to your master.
" But this last sentence exasperated him in the greatest
possible degree, as he feared lest they might in reality go on
an embassy to the emperor, and might impeach him with
respect to other particulars of his government, in respect of
his corruption, and his acts of insolence, and his rapine, and
his habit of insulting people, and his cruelty, and his
continual murders of people untried and uncondemned, and
his never ending, and gratuitous, and most grievous in
humanity. Therefore, being exceedingly angry, and being
at all times a man of most ferocious passions, he was in
great perplexity, neither venturing to take down \vhat he
1GG PHILO JUD^EUS.
had once set up, nor wishing to do any thing which could
be acceptable to his subjects, and at the same time being
sufficiently acquainted with the firmness of Tiberius on these
points. And those who were in power in our nation, seeing
this, and perceiving that he was inclined to change his mind
as to what he had done, but that he was not willing to be
thought to do so, wrote a most supplicatory letter to
Tiberius. And he, when he had read it, what did he say of
Pilate, and what threats did he utter against him ! But it
is beside our purpose at present to relate to you how very
angry he was, although he was not very liable to sudden
anger; since the facts speak for themselves; for immedi
ately, without putting any thing off till the next day, he
wrote a letter, reproaching and reviling him in the most
bitter manner for his act of unprecedented audacity and
wickedness, and commanding him immediately to take down
the shields and to convey them away from the metropolis of
Judaea to Ca3sarea, on the sea which had been named
Caesarea Augusta, after his grandfather, in order that they
might be set up in the temple of Augustus. And accord
ingly, they were set up in that edifice. And in this way ho
provided for two matters : both for the honour due to the
emperor, and for the preservation of the ancient customs of
the city.
XXXIX. " Now the things set up on that occasion were
shields, on which there was no representation of any living
thing whatever engraved. But now the thing proposed to
be erected is a colossal statue. Moreover, then the erection
was in the dwelling-house of the governor ; but they say,
that which is now conte nplated is to be in the inmost part
of the temple, in the very holy of holies itself, into which,
once in the year, the high priest enters, on the day called
the great fast, to offer incense, and on no other day, being
then about in accordance with our national law also to offer
up prayers for a fertile and ample supply of blessings, and
for peace to all mankind. And if any one else, I will not
say of the Jews, but even of the priests, and those not of the
lo\vest order, but even those who are in the rank next to the
lirst, should go in there, either with him or after him, or
even if the very high priest himself should enter in thither
on two days in the year, or three or four times on the same
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 167
day, he is subjected to inevitable death for his impiety, so
great are the precautions taken by our lawgiver with respect
to the holy of holies, as he determined to preserve it alone
inaccessible to and untouched by any human being.
" How many deaths then do you not suppose that the
people, who have been taught to regard this place with such
holy reverence, would willingly endure rather than see a
statue introduced into it ? I verily believe that they would
rather slay all their whole families, with their wives and
children, and themselves last of all, in the ruins of their
houses and families, and Tiberius knew this well. And what
did your great-grandfather, the most excellent of all em
perors that ever lived upon the earth, he who was the first to
have the appellation of Augustus given him, on account of
his virtue and good fortune ; he who diffused peace in every
direction over earth and sea, to the very furthest extremities
of the world ? Did not he, when he had heard a report of
the peculiar characteristics of our temple, and that there is
in it no image or representation made by hands, no visible
likeness of Him who is invisible, no attempt at any imita
tion of his nature, did not he, I say, marvel at and honour
it ? for as he was imbued with something more than a mere
smattering of philosophy, inasmuch as he had deeply feasted
on it, and continued to feast on it every day, he partly retraced
in his recollection all the precepts of philosophy which his
mind had previously learnt, and partly also he kept his
learning alive by the conversation of the literary men who
were always about him ; for at his banquets and entertain
ments, the greatest part of the time was devoted to learned
conversation, in order that not only his friends bodies but
their minds also might be nourished.
XL. " And though I might be able to establish this fact,
and demonstrate to you the feelings of Augustus, your great
grandfather, by an abundance of proofs, I will be content with
two ; for, in the first place, he sent commandments to all
the governors of the different provinces throughout Asia,
because he heard that the sacred first fruits were neglected,
enjoining them to permit the Jews alone to assemble
together in the synagogues, for that these assemblies were
not revels, which from drunkenness and intoxication pro
ceeded to violence, so as to disturb the peaceful condition of
108 PHILO JUD/EUS.
the country, but were rather schools of temperance and jus
tice, as the men who met in them \vere studiers of virtue,
and contributed the first fruits every year, sending com
missioners to convey the holy things to the temple in
Jerusalem.
a " And, in the next place, he commanded that no one should
hinder the Jews, either on their way to the synagogues, or
when bringing their contributions, or when proceeding in
obedience to their national laws to Jerusalem, for t liese
things were expressly enjoined, if not in so many words,
at all events in effect; and I subjoin one letter, in order to
bring conviction to yon who are our master, what Cains
Norbanus Elaccus wrote, in which he details what had been
written to him by Ctusar, and the superscription of the
letter is as follows :
CA1US KOEBANUS TLACCUS, PKOCOXSUL, TO THE GOVERNORS
OF THE EPHESIAXS, OREETIXG.
" Caesar has written word to me, that the Jews, wherever
they are, are accustomed to assemble together, in compli
ance with a peculiar ancient custom of their nation, to eon-
tribute money which they send to Jerusalem ; and lie does
not choose that they should have anv hindrance offered to
them, to prevent them from doing this; therefore I have
written to you, that you may know that I command that
they shall be allowed to do these things.
" is not this a most convincing proof, O emperor, of the
intention of C.Tsar respecting the honours paid to our tem
ple which he had adopted, not considering it right that
because of some general rule, with respect to meetings, the
assemblies of the Jews, in one place should be put "down,
which they held for the sake of offering the first fruits, and
for other pious objects ?
" There is also another piece of evidence, in no respect
inferior to this one, and which is the most undeniable proof
of the will of Augustus, for he commanded perfect sacrifices
of whole burnt oiferin^s to be oifered up to the most hi-rli
God every day, out of his own revenues, which are pcr-
formed up to the present time, and the victims are two
sheep and a bull, with which Cavsar honoured the altar oi
G-od, well knowing that there is in the temple no ima^e
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 169
erected, either in open sight or in any secret part of it. But
that great ruler, who was inferior to no one in philosophy,
considered within himself, that it is necessary in terrestrial
things, that an especial holy place should be set apart for
the invisible God, who will not permit any visible represent
ation of himself to be made, by which to arrive at a partici
pation in favourable hopes and the enjoyment of perfect
blessings.
" And your grandmother, Julia Augusta, following the
example of so great a guide in the paths of piety, did also
adorn the temple with some golden vials and censers, and
with a great number of other offerings, of the most costly
and magnificent description; and what was her object in
doing this, when there is no statue erected within the tem
ple ? for the minds of women are, in some degree, weaker
than those of men, and are not so well able to comprehend
a thing which is appreciable only by the intellect, without
any aid of objects addressed to the outward senses ; but she,
as she surpassed all her sex in other particulars, so also was
she superior to them in this, by reason of the jpure learning
and wisdom which had been implanted in her, both by
nature and by study ; so that, having a masculine intellect,
she was so sharpsighted and profound, that she compre
hended what is appreciable only by the intellect, even more
then those things which are perceptible by the outward
senses, and looked upon the latter as only shadows of the
former.
XLI. " Therefore, O master, having all these examples
most nearly connected with yourself and your family, of our
purposes and customs, derived from those from whom you
are sprung, of whom you are born, and by whom you have
been brought up, I implore you to preserve those principles
which each of those persons whom I have mentioned did
preserve ; they who were themselves possessed of imperial
power do, by their laws, exhort you, the emperor ; they who
were august, speak to you who are also Augustus; your
grandfathers and ancestors speak to their descendant ; num
bers of authorities address one individual, all but saying, in
express words : Do not you destroy those things in our
councils which remain, and which have been preserved as
permanent laws to this very day ; for even if no mischief
170 PHILO JUD/EUS.
were to ensue from the abrogation of them, still, at all
events, the result would be a feeling of uncertainty respect
ing the future, and such uncertainty is full of fear, even to
the most sanguine and confident, if they are not despisers
of divine things.
" If I were to enumerate the benefits which I myself have
received at your hands, the day would be too short for me ;
besides the fact that it is not proper for one who has under
taken to speak on one subject to branch off to a digression
about some other matter. And even if I should be silent,
the facts themselves speak and utter a distinct voice. You
released me when I was bound in chains and iron. AVho is
there who is ignorant of this ? But do not, after having
done so, O emperor! bind me in bonds of still greater
bitterness : for the chains from which you released me
surrounded a part of my body, but those which I am now
anticipating are the chains of the soul, which are likely to
oppress it wholly and in every part ; you abated from me a
fear of death, continually suspended over my head ; you
received me when I was almost dead through fear; you
raised me up* as it were from the dead. Continue your
favour, O master, that your Agrippa may not be driven
wholly to forsake life ; for I shall appear (if you do not do so)
to have been released from bondage, not for the purpose of
being saved, but for that of being made to perish in a more
conspicuous manner.
" You have given me the greatest and most glorious in
heritance among mankind, the rank and power of a king, at
first over one district, then over another and a more import
ant one. adding to my kingdom the district called Trachonitis
and Galilee. Do not then, master! after having loaded
me with means of superfluity, deprive me of what is actually
necessary. Do not, after you have raised me up to the most
brilliant light, cast me down again from my eminence to the
most profound darkness. I am willing to descend from
this splendid position in which you have placed me ; 1 do
not deprecate a return to the condition in which I was a
short time ago ; 1 will give up everything ; I look upon
everything as of less importance than the one point of pre
serving the ancient customs and laws of my nation unaltered ;
for if they are violated, what could I say, either to my
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 171
fellow countrymen or to any other men ? It would follow
of necessity that I must be looked upon as one of two
things, either as a betrayer of my people, or as one who is
no longer accounted a friend by you. And what could be a
greater misery than either of these two things ? For if I
am still reckoned among the company of your friends, I shall
then receive the imputation of treason against my own
nation, if neither my country is preserved free from all mis
fortune, nor even the temple left inviolate. For you, great
men, preserve the property of your companions and of those
who take refuge in your protection by your imperial splen
dour and magnificence. And if you have any secret grief or
vexation in your mind, do not throw me into prison, like
Tiberius, but deliver me from any anticipation of being
thrown into prison at any future time ; command me at
once to be put out of the way. For what advantage would
it be to me to live, who place my whole hopes of safety and
happiness in your friendship and favour ?"
XLII. Having written this letter and sealed it, he sent it
to Cains, and then shutting himself up he remained in his
own house, full of agony, confusion, and disorder, and
anxiety, as to what was the best way of approaching and ad
dressing the emperor ; for he and his people had incurred no
slight danger, but they had reason to apprehend expulsion
from their country, and slavery, and utter destruction, as
impending not only over those who were dwelling in the
holy land, but over all the Jews in every part of the world.
But the emperor, having taken the letter and read it, and
having considered every suggestion which was contained in
it, was very angrv, because his intentions had not been exe
cuted : and yet, at the same time, he was moved by the
appeals to his justice and by the supplications which were
thus addressed to him, and in some respects he was pleased
with Agrippa, and in some he blamed him. He blamed him
for his excessive desire to please his fellow countrymen, who
were the only men who had resisted his orders and shown
any unwillingness to submit to his deification ; but he
praised him for concealing and disguising none of his feel
ings, which conduct he said was a proof of a liberal and
noble disposition. Therefore being somewhat appeased, at
least as far as appearance went, he condescended to return
172 PIIILO JUD.EUS.
a somewhat favourable answer, granting to Agrippa that
highest and greatest of all favours, the consent that this
erection of his statue should not take place ; and he com
manded letters to be written to Publius Petronius the
governor of Syria, enjoining him not to allow any alterations
or innovations to be made with respect to the temple of the
Jews. Nevertheless, though he did grant him the favour,
he did not grant it without any alloy, but lie mingled with it
a grievous terror; for he added to the letter,
" If any people in the bordering countries, with the ex
ception of the metropolis itself, wishing to erect altars or
temples, nay, images or statues, in honour of me and of my
family are hindered from doing so, I charge you at once to
punish those who attempt to hinder them, or else to bring
them before the tribunal." Now this was nothing else but a
beginning of seditions and civil wars, and an indirect way of
annulling the gift which he appeared to be granting. For
some men, more out of a desire of mortifying the Jews than
from any feelings of loyalty towards Caius, were inclined to
fill the whole country with erections of one kind or another.
But they who beheld the violation of their national customs
practised before their eyes were resolved above all tilings
not to endure such an injury unresistingly. But Caius,
judging those who were thus excited to disobedience to be
worthy of the most severe punishment possible, a second
time orders his statue to be erected in the temple. But bv
the providence and care of God, who beholds all things and
governs all things in accordance with justice, not one of the
neighbouring nations made any movement at all-, so that
there was no occasion for these commands being carried into
effect, and these inexorably appointed calamities all termi
nated in only a moderate degree of blame.
What advantage, then, was gained? some one will say;
for even when they were quiet, Caius was not quiet ; but he
had already repented of the favour which he had showed
to Agrippa, and had re-kindled the desires which he had
entertained a little while before ; for he commanded another
statue to be made, of colossal si/e, of brass gilt over, in Koine,
no longer moving the one which had been made in Sidon. in
order that the people might not be excited by its being
moved, but that while they remained in a state of tranquillity
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 173
and felt released from their suspicions, it might iu a period
of peace be suddenly brought to the country in a ship, and
be suddenly erected without the multitude being aware of
what was going on.
XLIII. And he was intending to do this while on his
voyage along the coast during the period which he had
allotted for his sojourn in Egypt. For an indescribable de
sire occupied his mind to see Alexandria, to which he was
eager to go with all imaginable haste, and when he had
arrived there he intended to remain a considerable time,
urging that the deification about which he was so anxious,
might easily be originated and carried to a great height
in that city above all others, and then that it would
be a model to all other cities of the adoration to which he
was entitled, inasmuch as it was the greatest of all the cities
of the east, and built in the finest situation in the world.
For all inferior men and nations are eager to imitate great
men and great states.
Moreover, Caius w r as in other respects a man in whose
nature there was nothing stable or trustworthy so that,
even if he did anything good or kind, he speedily repented
of it, and in such a manner that he soon attempted to annul
what he had done in such a way as to cause even greater
affliction and injury to those whom he had favoured. For
instance, he released some prisoners, and then for no reason
whatever he threw them into prison a second time, inflicting
upon them a second calamity more grievous than the first,
namely, that which was caused by unexpected misfortune.
Again, he condemned some persons to banishment who bad
expected sentence of death ; not because they were con
scious of having committed crimes deserving of death, or
indeed of any punishment at all, even the lightest, but
because of the extravagant inhumanity of their master they
did not expect to escape. Now to these men, banishment
was a downright gain, and equivalent almost to a restoration,
since they looked upon it that they had escaped the greatest
of all evils, the danger of death. But no long period elapsed
brfore he sent some soldiers after them, though no nev/
circumstances had arisen, and put to death simultaneously
the most excellent and nobly-born of the exiles who were
living in the different islands as their own countries, and
17-4 PI1ILO JUDJEUS.
who were bearing their misfortunes in the most contented
manner, inflicting in this way the greatest and most pitiable
and unexpected misery on many of the noblest families in
Koine.
And if he ever gave any one a sum of money as a gift, lie
demanded it back again at some future time, not a simple
loan but he also required interest and compound interest,
and often treating the persons themselves who had
received it from him as thieves, and punishing them with
the severest penalties for having stolen it ; for he was not
contented that those miserable men should return what had
been given to them, but he compelled them also to give up
all their property which they had inherited from their
parents, or relations, or from any friends, or which, having
selected a life of industry and profit, they had acquired by
their own resources.
And those who appeared to be in the greatest credit
with him, and who lived with him in a round of pleasure, as
one may say, with great appearances of friendship and good
will, were greatly injured by him, being compelled to expend
large sums in irregular, and illegal, and sudden journeys,
and in entertainments ; for they lavished whole properties
in the preparation of a single banquet, so that they were
compelled to have recourse to usurers, so vast was his pro
digality ; therefore many men deprecated the receiving o !>
any favours from him, thinking not only that it was of no
advantage, but even that they were only a bait and a snare
to lend them into intolerable suffering.
No great therefore was his inequality of temper towards
every one, and most especially towards the nation of the
Jews to which he was most bitterly hostile, and accordingly
beginning in Alexandria he took from them all their syna
gogues there, and in the other cities, and filled them all
with images and statues of his own form ; for not caring
about any other erection of any kind, he set up his own
statue every where by main force ; and the great temple
in the holy city, which was left untouched to the last, having
been thought worthy of all possible respect and preservation,
he altered and transformed into a temple of his own, that he
might call it the temple of the new Jupiter, the illustrious
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 175
"What is this that you say ? Do you, who are a man,
seek to take to yourself the air and the heaven, not being
content with the vast multitude of continents, and islands,
and nations, and countries of which you enjoy the sove
reignty ? And do you not think any one of the gods who
are worshipped in that city or by our people worthy of any
country or city or even of any small precinct which may
have been consecrated to them in old time, and dedicated to
them with oracles and sacred hymns, and are you intending
to deprive them of that, that in all the vast circumference of
the world there may be no visible trace or memorial to be
found of any honour or pious worship paid to the true real
living God ? Truly you are suggesting fine hopes to the
race of mankind ; are you ignorant that you are opening the
fountains of evils of every kind, making innovations, and
committing acts of audacious impiety such as it is wicked to
do and even to think of ?
XLIV. It is worth while to make mention of what we
both saw and heard, when we were sent for to encounter a
contest on behalf of our national constitution ; for the mo
ment that we entered into the presence of the emperor we
perceived, from his looks and from the state of agitation in
which he was, that we had come not before a judge but
before an accuser, or rather I should say before the open
enemy of those whom he looked upon as opposed to his will ;
for it would have been the part of a judge to sit with
assessors selected because of their virtue and learning, when
a question of the greatest importance was being investigated
which had lain dormant for four hundred years, and which
was now raised for the first time among many myriads of
Alexandrian Jews ; and it would have been proper for the
contending parties with their advocates to stand on each
side of him, and for him to listen to them both in turn ; first
to the accusation and then in turn to the defence, according
to a period measured by water,* and then retiring the
judge should deliberate with his assessors as to what he
ought publicly to deliver as his sentence on the justice of
the case ; but what was actually done resembled rather the
* The time allotted to the speeches of advocates in the Athenian
courts of justice was measured by a water-clock, /c\t;//ypa, something
like our hour-glass of sand.
170 rniLO JUD.EUS.
conduct of an implacable tyrant, exhibiting uncontrolled
authority and displeasure and pride.
For besides that he in no particular behaved in the man
ner which I have just been describing as proper, having
sent for the managers of two gardens, the Maecenatian and
the Lamian garden, and they are near one another and close
to the city, in which he had spent three or four days, for
that was the place in which this theatrical spectacle, aimed
at the happiness of a whole nation, was intended to be
enacted in our presence, he commanded all the outer build
ings to be opened for him, for that he wished to examine
them all minutely; but we, as soon as we were introduced
into his presence, the moment that we saw him, bent to the
ground with all imaginable respect and adoration, and saluted
him calling him the emperor Augustus ; and he replied to us
in such a gentle and courteous and humane manner that we
not only despaired of attaining our object, but even of pre
serving our lives ; for, said he, " You are haters of Grod,
inasmuch as you do not think that I am a god, I who am
already confessed to be a god by every other nation, but
who am refused that appellation by you." And then,
stretching up his hands to heaven, he uttered an ejacula
tion which it was impious to hear, much more would it be
so to repeat it literally.
And immediately all the ambassadors of the opposite
portion were filled with all imaginable joy, thinking that
their embassy was already successful, on account of the first
words uttered by Caius, and so they clapped their hands and
danced for joy, and called him by every title which is appli
cable to any one of the gods.
XLV. And while he was triumphing in these super
human appellations, the sycophant Isidorus, seeing the
temper in which he was, said, " master, you will hate^ with
still j uster vehemence these men whom you see before you
and their fellow countrymen, if you are made acquainted with
their disaffection and disloyalty towards yourself; for when
all other men were offering up sacrifices of thanksgiving for
your safety, these men alone refused to offer any sacrifice at
all; and when I say, these men, I comprehend all the
rest of the Jews." And when we all cried out with one
accord, " O Lord Caius, we are falsely accused ; for we did
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 177
sacrifice, and we offered up entire hecatombs, the blood of
which we poured in a libation upon the altar, and the flesh
we did not carry to our homes to make a feast and banquet
upon it, as it is the custom of some people to do, but we
committed the victims entire to the sacred flame as a burnt
offering: and we have done this three times already, and
not once only ; on the first occasion when you succeeded to
the empire, and the second time when you recovered from
that terrible disease with which all the habitable world was
afflicted at the same time, and the third time we sacrificed
in hope of your victory over the Germans."
"Grant," said he, "that all this is true, and that you
did sacrifice; nevertheless you sacrificed to another god,
and not for my sake ; and then what good did you do me ?
Moreover you did not sacrifice to me." Immediately a pro
found shuddering came upon us the first moment that we
heard this expression, similar to that which overwhelmed us
when we first came into his presence. And while he was
saying this he entered into the outer buildings, examining
the chambers of the men and the chambers of the women,
and the rooms on the ground floor, and all the apartments
in the upper story, and blaming some points of their prepa
ration as defective, and planning alterations and suggesting
designs, and giving orders himself to make them more costly
and then we being driven about in this way followed him
up and down through the whole place, being mocked and
ridiculed by our adversaries like people at a play in the
theatre ; for indeed the whole matter was a kind of farce : the
judge assumed the part of an accuser, and the accusers the
part of an unjust judge, who look upon the defendants with
an eye of hostility, and act in accordance with the nature of
truth. And when a judge invested with such mighty power
begins to reproach the person who is on his trial before him
it is necessary to be silent ; for it is possible even to defend
one s self in silence, and especially for people who are able to
make no reply on any of the subjects which he was now
investigating and desiring to understand, inasmuch as our
laws and our customs restrained our tongues, and shut and
sewed up our mouths.
But when he had given some of his orders about the
VOL. IV. N
178 PIULO JUDJEUS.
buildings, he then asked a very important and solemn ques
tion ; " why is it that you abstain from eating pig s flesh ?"
And then again at this question such a violent laughter was
raised by our adversaries, partly because they were really
delighted, and partly as they wished to court the emperor
out of flattery, and therefore wished to make it appear that
this question was dictated by wit and uttered with grace,
that some of the servants who were following him were
indignant at their appearing to treat the emperor with so
little respect, since it was not safe for his most intimate
friends to do so much as smile at his words. And when we
made answer that, " different nations have different laws, and
there are some things of which the use is forbidden both to
us and to our adversaries ;" and when some one said, " there
are also many people who do not eat lamb s flesh which is
the most tender of all meat," he laughed and said, "they
are quite right, for it is not nice." Being joked with and
trifled with and ridiculed in this manner, we were in great
perplexity ; and at last he said in a rapid and peremptory
manner, " I desire to know what principles of justice you
recognise with regard to your constitution."
And when we began to reply to him and to explain it, he,
as soon as he had a taste of our pleading on the principles
of justice, and as soon as he perceived that our arguments
were not contemptible, before we could bring forward the
more important things which we had to say, cut us short
and ran forward and burst into the principal building, and
as soon as he had entered he commanded the windows
which were around it to be filled up with the transparent
pebbles very much resembling white crystal which do not
hinder the light, but which keep out the wind and the heat
of the sun. Then proceeding on deliberately he asked
in a more moderate tone, " What are you saying?" And
when we began to connect our reply with what we had
said before, he again ran on and went into another house,
in which he had commanded some ancient and admirable
pictures to be placed.
But when our pleadings on behalf of justice were thus
broken up, and cut short, and interrupted, and crushed as
one may almost say, we, being wearied and exhausted, and
having no strength left in us, but being in continual expect-
ON THE VIRTUES AND OFFICE OF AMBASSADORS. 179
ation of nothing else than death, could no longer keep our
hearts as they had been, but in our agony we took refuge in
supplications to the one true God, praying him to check
the wrath of this falsely called god. And he took compas
sion on us, and turned his mind to pity. And he becoming
pacified merely said, " These men do not appear to me to be
wicked so much as unfortunate and foolish, in not believing
that I have been endowed with the nature of God ; " and so
he dismissed us, and commanded us to depart.
XL VI. Having then escaped from what was rather a
theatre and a prison than a court of justice (for as in a
theatre, there was a great noise of people hissing, and
groaning, and ridiculing us in an extravagant manner, and
as in a prison, there were many blows inflicted on our
bodies, and tortures, and things to agitate our whole souls
by the blasphemies which those around us uttered against
the Deity, and the threats which they breathed forth against
ourselves, and which the emperor himself poured forth with
such vehemence, being indignant with us not in behalf of
any one else, for in that case he would soon have been
appeased, but because of himself and his great desire to be
declared a god, in which desire he considered that the Jews
were the only people who did not acquiesce, and who were
unable to subscribe to it), we at last recovered our breath, not
because we had been afraid of death from a base hankering
after life, since we would have cheerfully embraced death as
immortality if our laws and customs could have been
established by such means, but because we knew that we
should be destroyed with great ignominy, without any
desirable object being secured by such means, for whatever
insults ambassadors are subjected to are at all times referred
to those who sent them.
It was owing to these considerations that we were able to
hold up our heads for a while, but there were other circum
stances which terrified us, and kept us in great perplexity
and distress to hear what the emperor would decide, and
what he would pronounce, and what kind of sentence he
would ultimately deliver ; for he heard the general tenor of
our arguments, though he disdained to attend to some of our
facts. But would it not be a terrible thing for the interests
of all the Jews throughout the whole world to be thrown
ir 2
130 PHILO JUD.-EUS.
into confusion by the treatment to which we, its five ambas
sadors, were exposed ? For if he were to give us up to our
enemies, what other city could enjoy tranquillity? What
city would there be in which the citizens would not attack
the Jews living in it? AVhat synagogue would be let
uninjured ? What state would not overturn every principle
of justice in respect of those of their countrymen who
arrayed themselves in opposition to the national laws and
customs of the Jews ? They will be overthrown, they will
be shipwrecked, they will be sent to the bottom, with all the
particular laws of the nation, and those too which are
common to all and in accordance with the principles o
justice recognized in every city.
We then being overwhelmed with affliction, m our
misery perplexed ourselves with such reasonings as these ;
for even those who up to this time had seemed to co-operate
with us were now wearied of taking our part,
when we called them forth, they being within, did not
remain, but came forth privily in fear, knowing well
desire which the emperor had to be looked upon as <
We have now related in a concise and summary manner
the cause of the hatred of Caius to the whole nation of the
Jews ; we must now proceed to make our palinode to Cams.
A TREATISE
CONCERNING THE WORLD/
I THERE is no existing thing equal in honour to God,
but he is the one Euler, and Governor, and King, to whom
alone it is lawful to govern and regulate everything ; i<
verse
" A multitude of masters is not g >ocl,
Let there one sovereign be, one king of all, t
is not more appropriate to be said with respect to cities and
men than to the world and God, for it follows inevitably
It will be seen that a great part of this treatise is identical, word
for word, with that on the Incorruptibility of the \V orld.
f Horn. II. ii. 204.
ON THE WORLD. 181
that there must be one Creator and Master of one world ;
and this position having been laid down and conceded as a
preliminary, it is only consistent with sense to connect with
it what follows from it of necessity. Let us now, therefore,
consider what inferences these are.
God being one being, has two supreme powers of the
greatest importance. By means of these powers the incor
poreal world, appreciable only by the intellect, was put
together, which is the archetypal model of this world which
is visible to us, being formed in such a manner as to be
perceptible to our invisible conceptions just as the other is
to our eyes. Therefore some persons, marvelling at the
nature of both these worlds, have not only worshipped them
in their entirety as gods, but have also deified the most
beautiful parts of them, I mean for instance the sun, and the
moon, and the whole heaven, which, without any fear or
reverence, they called gods. And Moses, perceiving the
ideas which they entertained, says, " Lord, King of all
gods,"* in order to point out the great superiority of the
Ruler to his subjects.
And the original founder of the Jewish nation was a
Chaldsean by birth, being the son of a father who was much
devoted to the study of astronomy, and being among people
who were great studiers of mathematical science, who think
the stars, and the whole heaven, and the whole world gods ;
and they say that both good and evil result from their
speculations and belief, since they do not believe in anything
as a cause which is apart from those things which are visible
to the outward senses.
But what can be worse than this, or more calculated to
display the want of true nobility existing in the soul, than
the notion of causes in general being secondary and created
causes, combined with an ignorance of the one first cause,
the uncreated God, the Creator of the universe, who for
these and innumerable other reasons is most excellent,
reasons which because of their magnitude human intellect is
unable to apprehend ? but this founder of the Jewish nation
having conceived an idea of him in his mind, and looking
upon him as the true God, forsook his native country and
his family, and his father s house, knowing that if he
* Deuteronomy x. 17.
182 PHILO JUD,US.
remained, the deceits of the polytheistic doctrine also re
maining in his soul would render his intellect incapable of
discovering the nature of the one God, who is alone ever
lasting, and the father of everything else, whether appre
ciable only by the intellect or perceptible to the outward
senses ; but if he departed and emigrated, then he saw that
deceit would also depart from his mind, which would then
change its erroneous opinions into truth. And at the same
time the oracular commands of God, which had been given
to him, did further excite the desire which he felt to become
acquainted with the living God. And he went forth like a
man under the immediate guidance of others, with the most
unhesitating promptness, to search after the knowledge of
the one God; and he did not relax in his search till he had
arrived at a more accurate and correct perception, not
indeed of his essences (for that is impossible), but of his
existence and of his providence ; on which account he is the
first man of whom it is said that he believed in God, since
lie was the first who had an accurate and positive notion of
him, believing that there is one supreme cause of all things,
which by his providence takes care of the world and of all
things that are therein.
Since the Creator of the world bringing an essence pre
viously without any order and in complete confusion, into
distinct order and regularity, began to arrange and adorn
the earth and the water, and established them in the middle
of the world, and the trees, and air, and fire he drew up from
the middle to the higher regions, and he fixed the regions of
the tether all around, placing it as a boundary to and a pre
server of the things which were inside, from which also it
derived its name of heaven.* And these things, then, were
the perfect seeds of the whole universe, but the great and
all productive tree raised from this seed is this world, of
which the aforesaid branches are the oftshoots.
II. Where, then, God placed the roots, arid what founda
tion it has upon which it is so firmly fixed like a statue, we
must now consider. It is not natural that any body which
is left behind should wander out of its limits, since God has
made and arranged in its proper place, the materials of the
* "Opng is the Greek word for boundary, from which Philo thinks
that ovpai vc, "heaven," is derived.
ON THE WORLD. 183
whole universe. For it was fitting that the greatest of all
works, being also the most perfect, should be created by the
greatest of all workmen. And it would not have been com
pletely perfect if it had not been completed in perfect parts.
So that if this world consists of every kind of material,
nothing being beyond, and not even the most insignificant
thing being omitted, it follows of necessity that whatever
is outside the world must either be vacuum or nothing at
all. If it be a vacuum, then how can it be found to balance
the world, which is full and closely packed, and the heaviest
of all things, when there is nothing solid to support it ?
from which consideration it would appear to resemble a
vision. Since the mind is always looking for a corporeal
basis, it is natural to suppose that one whole should have
such a thing if it happens to be put in motion, and the
world above all things, inasmuch as it is the greatest of
bodies, a"nd as it embraces in its bosom a multitude of other
bodies as its own appropriate parts. Therefore, if any one
wishes to escape the perplexities which arise in treating of
doubtful matters, let him speak his mind freely, and affirm
that there is no material so strong as to be able to support
the weight of the world. But the eternal law of the ever
lasting God is the strong and lasting support of the universe.
This law being extended from the centre of the world to its
furthest extremities, and again back from its extremities to
the centre, moves on in the unwearied irresistible course of
nature, uniting and binding together all the parts of the
universe. For the Father who established it made it to be
the indissoluble bond of the universe.
Therefore we are naturally led to conclude that the whole
earth will not be dissolved by water, which its bosoms con
tain; nor again will fire be extinguished by the air, nor
again will the air be burnt up and consumed by fire, since
the divine law has placed itself as a boundary to keep all
these elements distinct from one another. As yet the all-
productive plant was not rooted, and had not the power
which was to be derived from being rooted. But of the
subordinate, particular, and less important plants, some
were moveable in such a way as easily to change their places,
and some, without being liable to any change of places, were
]S4 PHILO JUDJEUS.
made as if they -were to stand for ever in the same position.
Those therefore which are exposed to a motion which involves
a change of place, which we call animals, were added to the
most entire and perfect parts of the universe. The earth
receiving the terrestrial animals, the water the aquatic
animals; the air those creatures which fly; and the stars
being assigned to the heaven.
III. But the Creator created two different kinds both in
the earth, and in the water, and in the air. In the air he
placed those animals which fly, and other powers also which
cannot by any means, or on any occasion, be comprehended
by the outward senses. Thus the company of incorporeal
souls is arranged in regular order according to their nature.
For it is said that some of them are separated off and
assigned to mortal bodies, and that, at certain definite and
predetermined periods, they again depart from them. But
that others of a more divine nature are utterly regardless
of any situation on earth, but are raised to a great height,
and placed in the sether itself, being of the purest possible
character, which those among the Greeks who have studied
philosophy call heroes and da^mones, and which Moses,
giving them a most felicitous appellation, calls angels, acting
as they do the part of ambassadors and messengers, an
nouncing to the subjects all kinds of blessings from their
rulers, and acting as servants to the king to whom they are
subject ; and they, descending into the body as into a river,
at one time are carried away by the violence of a most irre
sistible current and swallowed up, and at other times, being
wholly unable to resist the powers of destruction, at first,
indeed, raise their heads above the flood, and afterwards sink
down again to the place from whence they have started.
These, then, are the souls of those who devote themselves
to the vigorous study of philosophy respecting divine sub
jects, from the beginning to the end of their existence
studying things which may concern them after the life
lias left the body, that thus they may enjoy an incorporeal
and endless lifo in the presence of the uncreated and im
mortal God. But those souls of other men which I have
spoken of as being overwhelmed, being such as have disre
garded wisdom, giving themselves up to uncertain circum-
ON THE WORLD. 185
stances, such as depend wholly on chance, of which none
have any reference to the soul or to the intellect, but all to
the body, which is but a corpse to which we are joined, or
to other things even more inanimate and insensible than
that ; I mean such things as glory, and riches, and power,
and honour, and all such other things as through the de-
ceitfulness of false opinions are looked upon as real and
living objects by people who do not see what is really
beautiful.
Therefore, if you look upon souls, and da3mones, and angels,
as things differing indeed in name, but as meaning in reality
one and the same thing, you will thus get rid of the heaviest
of all evils, superstition. For as people in general speak of
good da3mones and bad da3mones, in the same manner also
do they speak of good and bad souls ; and so they speak of
some angels as being by their title worthy ambassadors from
men to God, and from God to men, being sacred and in
violable guardians on account of their blameless and most
excellent service which they have allotted to them. And,
again, if you look upon others as unholy and unworthy of
any such appellation, you will not err. And the Psalmist
himself is a witness in favour of what I have here asserted,
where he speaks as follows: "He sent among them the
anger of his wrath, by the operation of evil angels."*
Again, all animals that swim and zoophytes are allotted to
the water, and all terrestrial animals and plants to the land.
And the plants he placed with their heads downwards, fixing
their heads in the deepest parts of the earth ; but the heads
of the irrational animals he dragged up from the earth and
placed upon a lofty neck, placing the fore -feet beneath them
as a kind of pedestal. But man has had a separate forma
tion of a higher character ; for in the case of other animals,
God has placed their eyes in the side of their heads and
bent them down to the ground, on which account they arc
all inclined downwards to the earth. But the eyes of man,
on the other hand, he has raised up, that he might behold
the heavens, being not a terrestrial but a celestial plant, as
the old saying is.f
* Psalm Ixxvii. 49.
t This is in accordance with the idea of Ovid, who says
Pronaque duin spectant animalia coctera terram,
1^6 PHILO JUD.EUS.
But the other class, who affirm that our intellect is a
portion of ethereal nature, connect man in a relationship
with the air. Accordingly, the great Moses has not spoken
of the rational soul as it resembled in its species any created
thing, but he has called it the image of the divine and invi
sible 3 God, looking upon it to be a glorious and carefully
\vrought image, the seal of God, the character of which ia
the everlasting Word ; for, says he, " God breathed into his
face the breath of life."* So that it follows inevitably
that he who received it must be made in the image and
likeness of him who sent it. On which account he also says
that man was created in the image of God, and not in the
likeness of any created thing.
IV. But, taking up our discourse again at the beginning
for the sake of clearness, let us say that of bodies some
have put on habit, and others nature, and others soul,
and others a rational soul. Therefore those stocks and
stones which are torn from any intimate connection, have
made for themselves that strongest of all forms, namely
habit, and that is a breath returning constantly to itself ;
for it begins at the centre and extends to the furthest ex
tremities, and when it has touched the outermost circum
ference it turns back again until it arrives at the same place
from which it originally started. This is the continued
course of habit over which it runs and returns. And he has
allotted a nature of their own to plants, having combined it
of many powers, especially the nutritious and the generative
power. And the Creator has made the soul different from
nature in three particulars the outward sense, and fancy,
and impulse. Now plants have no participation in any of
these things, but every living animal has a share in all of
them. Therefore the outward sense, as its very name in my
opinion shows, is a certain imposition which represents to
Os homiui sublime dedit, ceclumque tueri
Jussit et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus.
Which may be translated
"And while all other creatures from their birth,
"With downcast eyes gaze on their kindred earth,
Man walks erect, and proudly scans the heaven
From which he sprung, to which his hopes are given."
* Genesis ii. 7.
ON THE WORLD. 187
the intellect the things which have- appeared to it. And it
represents to the fancy a sort of outline in the soul, being,
as it were, a kind of representation of light ; for those things
which each of the outward senses has introduced, like a ring
as it were or a seal, it impresses on them its own character,
or else it preserves the impression which has been made
until the rival of memory, forgetfulness, having softened the
impresaion, at least makes it very dim, or else entirely
effaces it ; and what has appeared to have been impressed
upon it disposes the soul at one time as if it belonged to it,
and at another time as if it belonged to some other : and
this feeling is called impulse, which those who have at
tempted to give accurate definitions have called the primary
motion of the soul.
V. In such important particulars are animals superior to
plants. Let us now therefore see in what man is superior
to the other animals. He now has received as an especial
and pre-eminent honour, the gift of intellect, by which he is
accustomed to comprehend the natures of all things, whether
they be bodies or things ; for as the predominant part in
the body is the sight, and as the nature of light is the most
important part of the universe, so in the same manner the
most important and influential of all the parts in us is the
inind ; for this is the light of the soul, being irradiated and
enlightened by its own beams, by which that dense and pro
found darkness, ignorance of facts which was shed around it,
is dissipated.
And this portion of the soul is not composed of the same
elements as those of which the other parts are made, but it
has a pure and more excellent essence, from which the
divine natures were made ; on which account the intellect
alone, of all the parts within us, appears very reasonably and
naturally to be imperishable, for that is the only portion
which the Father who generated it has thought worthy of
freedom, and loosing the bands of necessity, he has allowed
it to roam at large without restraint, having endowed it with
a share of his own most glorious and becoming attribute,
free-will, the highest present which it was able to receive.
For the other animals in whose souls there does not exist
that intellect which is thus especially appropriated to free
dom, have been given up to men to submit to their yoke
183 PHILO JUD^JUS.
and to receive their bridle in their mouths, so as to serve
them as servants obey their masters.
But man having a spontaneous will, subject to no prompt
ings but those of his own nature, and exerting his energies
in accordance with his own deliberate purpose, is very
properly subject to blame for whatever unjust actions he
commits from deliberate intention, and to praise for all the
good deeds which he intentionally performs ; for as he has
received from God a power of voluntary motion, and as he
is in this respect like unto God himself, being delivered
from all subservience to that most severe and grievous
mistress, necessity, he very properly is open to_ accusa
tion when he does not pay worship to that being who
has thus delivered him. Therefore he will most justly in
such a case suffer the punishment which has been inexorably
pronounced against ungrateful people who do not deserve
freedom. On which account also, the body being raised up
towards the purest portion of the universe, the heaven,
raises its eyes upwards, that so by an observation of what
is visible, it may arrive at an adequate comprehension of
what is invisible.
Since, therefore, it would be impossible to behold the
attraction of the intellect towards the living Grod, excepting
as far as those who are attracted towards him can them
selves perceive it, for each man in an individual and especial
degree knows what happens to himself, he has made a visible
image of the invisible eye, namely, the eyes of the body
which are thus able to look towards the sky. For when the
eyes, which are made of perishable materials, have gone to
such heights as even to soar upwards to the heaven which
is removed to such an immense Distance from the regions of
the earth, and to touch its borders, to how great a distance
must we not suppose that the eyes of the soul can reach ?
which, being excited by a vehement desire to see the one
Being clearly and distinctly, stretch forward not only to the
furthest extremity of the sky, but,*leaving beneath them the
boundaries of the universal world, hasten onwards to the
uncreated.
VI. Having now, therefore, gone through the wholo
question of the more important plants in the world, let us
eee in what manner also the all-wise God has fashioned the
ON THE WORLD. 189
trees which exist in man, that lesser world. Therefore im
mediately having taken our body as a region of fertile soil,
he has made in it the outward senses as so many channels ;
and then he has carefully trained each of those* outward
senses as a plant susceptible of cultivation and of the
greatest use, implanting the sense of hearing in the ears, and
that of seeing in the eyes, and that of smell in the nostrils,
and all the other senses in the places akin to and appropriate
to them. And I have a witness in favour of this my argu
ment in that god-like man who speaks thus in the Psalms :
" He that planted the ear, shall he not hear ? and he that
fashioned the eye, must not he see ? *
Moreover, those other faculties which reside apart from
the main body, being situated in the legs and hands and the
other parts of the body, whether within or without, all
these faculties, I say, are noble and excellent offshoots.
And the more excellent and more perfect parts he very
appropriately stationed near the dominant portion of the
whole, as being in the centre, and able pre-eminently to
bring forth fruit, as being the lord of the whole. And these
faculties are perception and comprehension, and felicity of
conjecture, and study, and recollection, and habit, and dis
position, and every variety of art, and certainty of know
ledge, and an ever-mindful apprehension of the speculations
of every kind of virtue. JN"ow, no one can properly or
sufficiently cultivate any one of these within, but the one
uncreated Maker of them, and who has not merely created
them, but who also makes all these plants to correspond to
everything which takes place ; he alone can manage them and
perfect them as they should be perfected.
VII. And the way in which Paradise was planted is in
strict conformity with what has been here said ; for we read
that " God planted a Paradise in Eden, towards the east,
and there he placed the man whom he had inade."t Now,
to think that this means that God planted vines and olives,
and trees of apples and pomegranates, and things of that
kind, is great and incurable folly. But in order that no one
might imagine that the Creator had need of anything that
he had created, Moses has made a most important declara
tion when he says, " The Lord, the King of ages, for ever
* Psalm xciii. 9. f Genesis ii. 8.
190 PHILO JUD^EUS.
and ever."* Accordingly, God is both the Father, and
the Creator, and the Governor, in reality and truth, of all
the things that are in heaven and in the whole world. And,
indeed, the future is concealed and separated from the
present moment at one time by a brief, and at another time
by a long interval. But God is also the Creator of time,
for he is the Father of that which is the father of time ;
and the father of time is the world, which proves that its
own birth is the motion of time. But nothing is future to
God, because he is in possession of and the author of the
boundaries of time ; for it is not time, but rather the arche
type and model of time. But in eternity nothing is passed,
nothing is future, but everything is at the present moment.
VIII. Having now, then, discussed these matters at suf
ficient length, we must proceed to investigate its imperish-
ableness. Now, there are three opinions in vogue among
the philosophers on this subject : some affirming it is everlast
ing, and uncreated, and free from all liability to destruction ;
others, on the contrary, that it is created and perishable.
There is also a sect which has adopted some portions of
the doctrine of each of the beforementioned parties, taking
from the latter sect the doctrine that it is created, and from
the former the idea that it is imperishable ; and thus they
have left a mixed opinion, looking upon it as at the same
time created and yet imperishable.
Therefore Democritus, and Epicurus, and the chief body
of the philosophers of the Stoic school, leave the generation
and also the destructibility of the world ; but they do not all
do so in the same manner. For some give a sketch of many
worlds, the creation of which they attribute to the concourse
and conflicting combination of atoms, and their destruc-
t ion they attribute to the repercussion and shattering of
what has been thus formed. But the Stoics affirm that there
is one world, and that God is the cause of its creation, but
that God is not the cause of its destruction; but that the
power which is contained in existing things, in the long
periods of never-ending time, attracts everything to itself,
from which again a regeneration of the world is caused by
the prudence of the Creator.
But Aristotle pronounced the world to be both uncreated
* Exodua xv. 18.
ON THE WORLD. ]9l
and imperishable, and he affirmed that those who maintained a
contrary doctrine were guilty of terrible impiety, as they con
sidered that so great a work of God was in no respect superior
to things made by the hand of men. And they say too that
it has been proved to be both uncreated and imperishable by
Plato in his Timaeus.
But some persons interpret Plato s words sophistically, and
think that he affirms that the world was created, not inas
much as it has had a beginning of creation, but inasmuch as
if it had been created it could not possibly have existed in any
other manner than that in which it actually does exist as has
been described, or else because it is in its creation and change
that the parts are seen. But the forementioned opinion is
better and truer, not only because throughout the whole
treatise he affirms that the Creator of the gods is also the father
and creator and maker of everything, and that the world is a
most beautiful work of his and his offspring, being an imita
tion visible to the outward senses of an archetypal model
appreciable only by the intellect, comprehending in itself a3
many objects of the outward senses as the model does objects
of the intellect, since it is a most perfect impression of a
most perfect model, and is addressed to the outward sense as
the other is to the intellect.
But also because Aristotle bears witness to this fact in the
case of Plato, who, from his great reverence for philosophy,
would never have spoken falsely.
But some persons think that the father of the Platonic
theory was the poet Hesiod, as they conceive that the world is
spoken of by him as created and indestructible ; as created,
when he says,
"First did Chaos rule;
Then the broad-chested earth was brought to light,
Foundation firm and lasting for whatever
Exists among mankind ;"*
and as indestructible, because he has given no hint of its dis
solution or destruction.
Now Chaos was conceived by Aristotle to be a place, because
it is absolutely necessary that a place to receive them must be
in existence before bodies. But some of the Stoics think that
* Hesiod, Theogon. 116.
192 PHILO JUDJSQS.
it is water, imagining that its name has been derived from
effusion.* Bat "however that may be, it is exceedingly plain
that the world is spoken of by Hesiod as having been created :
and a very long time before him Moses, the lawgiver of the
Jews, had said in his sacred volumes that the world] was both
created and indestructible, and the number of the books is five.
The first of which he entitled Genesis, in which he begins in
the following manner : " In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth ; and the earth was invisible and without
form."
IX. But we must place those arguments first which make
out the world to be uncreated and indestructible, because of
our respect for that which is visible, employing an appropriate
commencement. To all things which are liable to destruction
there are two causes of that destruction, one being internal
and the other external; therefore you may find iron, and
brass, and all other substances of that kind destroyed by
themselves when rust, like a creeping disease, overruns and
devours them ; and by external causes when, if a house or a
city is burnt, they also are consumed in the conflagration,
being melted by the violent impetuosity of the fire.
A similar end also befalls animals, partly when they are
sick of diseases arising internally, and partly when they are
destroyed by external causes, being sacrificed, or stoned, or
burnt, or when they endure an unclean death by hanging.
And if the world also is destroyed, then it must of necessity
be so either by some external cause, or else by some one of
the powers which exist within itself; and both these alter
natives are impossible, for there is nothing whatever outside of
the world, since all things are brought together in order to
make it complete and full, for it is in this way that it will bo
one, and whole, and free from old age ; it will be one, because
if anything were left outside of it, then another world might
be created" resembling that which exists now ; and whole,
because the whole of its essence is expended on itself ; and
exempt from old age and from all disease, since those bodies
which are liable to be destroyed by disease or old age are
violently overthrown by external causes, such as heat, and
cold, and other contrary qualities, no power of which is able to
escape so as to surround and attack the world, all those being
* Xi cri, as if chaos were derived from x tu, " to pour."
ON THE WORLD. 193
entirely enclosed within, without any part whatever being
separated from the rest.
But if indeed there is any external thing it must by all
means be a vacuum, or else a nature absolutely impossible,
which it would be impossible should either suffer or do any
thing. And again, it will also not be dissolved by any
cause existing within itself; first of all because, if it were,
then the part would be greater and more powerful than the
whole, which is the greatest possible absurdity, for the world,
enjoying an unsurpassable power, influences all its parts, and
is not itself influenced or moved by any one of them ; in the
second place because, since there are two causes of corruption,
the one being internal and the other external, those things
which are competent to admit the one must also by all means
be liable to the other ; and a proof of this may be found in
oxen, and horses, and men, and other animals of similar kinds,
because it is their nature to be destroyed by the sword, or to
be liable to die by disease.
X. Since, therefore, the arrangement of the world is such as
I have endeavoured to describe it, so that there is no part what
ever left out, so as for any force to be applied, it has now been
proved that the world will not be destroyed by any external
thing, because in fact nothing whatever external has been left
at all ; nor will it be destroyed by anything in itself on account
of the proof which has already been considered and stated,
according to which that which was obnoxious to the power of
one of those causes was also naturally susceptible of the
influence of the other.
And there are testimonies also in the Tima3us to the fact
of the world being exempt from disease .and not liable to
destruction, such as these : " Accordingly, of the four ele
ments the constitution of the world receives each in all its
integrity ; for he who compounded it made it to consist of the
whole of fire, and the whole of water, and the whole of air,
and the whole of earth, not leaving any portion or any power
of any one of them outside, from the following intentions :
in the first place, in order that the whole might be as far as
possible a perfect animal made up of perfect parts. And
besides all these things, he ordained that it should be one, in
asmuch as there is nothing left out of which another similar
world could be composed. Moreover, he willed that it should
VOL. IV. O
194 PHILO JIID^EUS.
be exempt from old age, and free from all disease, considering
that those things which in the body are hot or cold, or which
have mighty powers, if standing all around and falling upon
it unseasonably, would be likely to dissolve it, and, by intro
ducing diseases and old age, cause it to decay and perish. For
this cause, and because of this reason, God made the whole
universe to consist of entire and perfect elements, and exempt
from old age and free from disease."
XL Let this be taken as a testimony delivered by Plato to
the imperishable nature of the world. Its uncreated character
follows from the truth of natural philosophy ; for dissolution
must of necessity attend everything which is born, and incor
ruptibility must inevitably belong to everything which is un
born ; since the poet who wrote the following iambic verse,
" All that is born must surely die," *
appears to have spoken very correctly when he asserted this
connection of destructibility with birth.
The argument may be stated in a different way as follows.
All compound things which are destroyed are dissolved into
the elements of which they were compounded ; accordingly,
dissolution is nothing else but a return of everything to its
original constituent parts ; just as, on the contrary, composition
is that which compels the things combined to come together in
a manner contrary to their nature ; and indeed, this appears
to be the most exact truth ; for men are composed of the four
elements which together make up the whole of the universe,
the heaven, the earth, the air, and fire, borrowing a few parts
of each in a manner at first sight hardly consistent with
nature. But the things which are thus combined together arc
necessarily deprived of a motion in accordance with nature ; for
instance, warmth is deprived of its upward motion, and coldness
of its downward tendency, the earthy and somewhat weighty
substance being lightened and assuming the higher place,
which the most earth-like of our own parts, the head, h;is
obtained in us. But of all bonds, that is the worst which is
forged by violence, and which, being violent, is also short
lived ; for it is speedily broken by thoso who are bound in it,
since they become restive from their desire for a motion in ac-
* Timzous, p. 32.
ok THE WORLD; 195
(iordance with nature, to which they hasten ; for as the tragic
poet says,*
" And for things sprung from earth, they must
Return unto their parent dust,
While those from heavenly seed which rise
Are borne uplifted to the skies.
Nought that has once existed dies,
Though often what has been combined
Before, we separated tind,
Invested with another form."
And this law and ordinance is established with reference to
everything which is destroyed, that wherever composite things
are existing in combination they are thrown into disorder
instead of into the order in accordance with nature, which they
previously enjoyed, and they are removed to situations opposite
to those in which they were previously placed, so that they
seem in a manner to be sojourners ; and when they are dis
solved again, then they return to the appropriate parts allotted
to them by nature.
But since the world has no participation in that irregularity
which exists in the things which I have just been mentioning,
let us stop awhile and consider this point.
If the world were liable to corruption and destruction, it
follows of necessity that all its parts would at present be
arranged in a position not in accordance with nature : but it is
impious even to imagine such a thing as this ; for all the parts
of the world have received the most excellent position possible,
and an arrangement of the purest symmetry and harmony ; so
that each individual part, being content with its place as a
native country to it, does not seek any change for the better.
On this account it is that the most central position of all has
been assigned to the earth, to which all things belonging to
it adhere, and to which they descend again even if you throw
them into the air : and this is a proof that their place is in
accordance with nature ; for wherever anything is borne with
out any violence, and where it then remains firm and stationary,
that is clearly its natural place. And then, in the second
place, water was poured over the earth, arid air and fire
have gone from the central to the upper part, air having
received for its portion the region which is on the borders
* A fragment from the Chrysippus of Euripides.
o 2
19G PH1LO JUD.EUS.
between air and fire, and fire having received the highest place
of all : on which account, if you light a torch and press it down
towards the ground, nevertheless the flame will still turn in a
contrary direction, and lightening itself in accordance with the
natural motion of fire, will rise upwards : if, then, motion con
trary to nature is the cause of corruptibility and destruction in
the case of other animals, but if in the case of the world every
one of its parts is arranged in complete accordance with
nature, having had appropriate positions allotted to each of
them, then surely the world must most justly be pronounced
incorruptible and imperishable.
XII. Moreover this point is manifest to every one, that every
nature is desirous to keep and preserve, and if it were possible
to make immortal, everything of which it is the nature ; the
nature of trees, for instance, desires to preserve trees, and the
nature of animals desires to preserve each individual animal.
But particular nature is of necessity unable to conduct what
it belongs to to eternity ; for want, or heat, or cold, or innu
merable other ordinary circumstances, when they affect parti
cular things, shake them and dissolve the bond which previ
ously held them together, and at last break them to pieces ;
but if nothing resembling any of these things were lying in
wait outside, then in that case nature itself, as far as it is
possible, would preserve everything both great and small free
from old age. .
It follows therefore of necessity, that the nature of the
world must desire the durability of the universe ; for it is not
worse than particular natures, so that it should run away and
desert its proper duties, and attempt to produce disease
instead of health, and corruption and destruction instead of
complete safety, since,*
" High over all she lifts her beauteous face,
And towers above her nymphs with heavenly grace,
Fair as they all appear."
But if this be true, then the world cannot be capable of
destruction. Why so ? Because the nature which holds it
together is itself invincible by reason of its exceeding
strength and power, by which it gets the mastery over every
thing else which might be likely to injure it ; wherefore Plato
* Homer, Odyssey vi. 107, where the lines quoted are applied to
Latona among her nymphs.
ON THE WORLD. 197
has well said :* " For nothing ever departed from it, nor did
anything ever come to it from any quarter ; for that was not
possible ; for there was nothing in existence which could come ;
for since it supplies itself with nutriment out of its own con
sumption, it also does everything and suffers everything in
itself and by itself, and is compounded with the most consum
mate art. For he who created it thought that it would be
better if wholly self-sufficient, than if in continual need of
accessories from other quarters."
XIII. However, this argument also is a most demonstra
tive one, on which I know that vast numbers of philosophers
pride themselves as one most accurately worked out, and
altogether irresistible ; for they inquire what reason there is
for God s destroying the world. For. if he destroys it at all
he must do so either with the intention of never making a
world again, or with the object of creating a second fresh one ;
now the former idea is inconsistent with the character of God;
for it is proper to change disorder into order, and not order
into disorder : in the second place, it is so because it would
give rise to repentance, which is an affliction and a disease of
the soul.
For he ought either never to have created a world at all,
or else, if he judged that it was a fitting employment for him,
he ought to have been pleased with it after it was made. But
the second reason deserves no superficial examination ; for if
he were intending to make another world instead of that which
exists at present, then of necessity this second world that
would be made, in that case, would be either worse than, or
similar to. or better than the first ; everyone of which ideas is
inadmissible ; for if the new world is to be worse than the
former, then the maker must be also worse : but all the works
of God are without blemish, beyond all reproach and wholly
faultless, inasmuch as they are wrought with the most consum
mate skill and knowledge ; for as the proverb says ;
" For e en a woman s wisdom s not so coarse
As to despise the good and choose the worse."
But it is consistent with the character of, and becoming to
God to give form to what is shapeless, and to invest what is
most ugly with admirable beauty.
Again, if the new world is to be exactly like the old one,
* Timseus, p. 33.
193 PIIILO JUDJEUS.-
then the maker is only wasting his labour, and differs in no
respect from infant children who, very often while playing on
the sea shore raise up little mounds of sand, and then pull
them down again with their hands and destroy them ; for it
would have been much better than making another world
exactly like the former, neither to take anything from, nor to
add anything to, nor to change either for the better or for the
worse, what existed originally, but to let it remain just as it
was.
If, on the other hand, he is about to make a world better
than the former one, then the maker too must be better than
the maker of the former world, so that when he made the
former world he was inferior both in his skill and in his intel
lect, which it is impious even to imagine, for God is at a H
times equal and similar to himself, being neither capable of
any relaxation which can make him worse, nor of any extension
which can make him better. Men, indeed, do admit of such
inequalities in either direction, being naturally liable to alter
either for the better or for the worse, and continually admitting
of increase, and advance, and improvement, and everything
contrary to these states ; and besides this, the works of us who
are but mortal men may very appropriately be perishable, but
the works of the immortal must in all consistency and reason
be likewise imperishable, for it is natural that what is made
should resemble the nature of the maker.
XIV. But Boethus adduces the most convincing arguments,
which we shall proceed to mention immediately; for if, says he,
the world was created and is liable to destruction, then some
thing will be made out of nothing, which appears to be most
absurd even to the Stoics. Why so? Because it is not
possible to discover any cause of destruction either within or
without, which will destroy the world. For on the outside
there is nothing except perhaps a vacuum, inasmuch as all The
elements in their integrity are collected and contained within
it, and within there is no imperfection so great as to be the
cause of dissolution to so great a thing.
Again, if it is destroyed without any cause, then it is plain
that from something which has no existence will arise the
engendering of destruction, which is an idea quite inadmissible
by reason; and, indeed, they say that there are altogether
three generic manners of corruption, one which arises from
ON THE WORLD. 199
division, another which proceeds from a destruction of the
distinctive quality which holds the thing together, and the
third from confusion ; therefore the things which consist of a
union of separate members, such as flocks of goats, herds of
oxen, choruses, armies ; or, again, bodies which are com
pounded of limbs joined together, are dissolved by disjunction
and separation. But wax, when stamped with a new impres
sion, or softened before being remodelled so as to present a
new and different appearance, is corrupted by a destruction of
the distinctive quality which previously held it together. Other
things are corrupted by confusion, as the medicine which the
physicians call tetrapharmacon, for the powers of the drugs
brought together and combined were destroyed in such a
manner as to produce one perfect medicine of especial virtue.
By which, then, of these modes of corruption is it becoming
to say that the world is destroyed ? By that which is caused
by separation ? No, for it is not compounded of separate
members so that its different parts can be dispersed, nor of
portions joined together so that they can be dissolved ; nor is
it united together in a similar manner to our own bodies, for
they have the seeds of decay in themselves, and they are
subject to influence of a great variety of things by which they *
are at times injured ; but the power of the world is invincible,
since by its great superiority to other things it has dominion
over everything.
Is it then destroyed by a complete destruction of its dis
tinctive qualities? This again is impossible, for there remains,
as the adversaries affirm, a quality of arrangement which by
the process of conflagration is only diminished to a lesser sub
stance ... Is it destroyed then by confusion ? Away with
such an idea, for in that case it would be necessary to confess
that the corruption of a body can be reduced to a state of
non-existence. Why so ? Because if each of the particular
elements were destroyed separately, it would be possible for it
to become changed into another ; but if they are altogether
destroyed at one and the same moment by confusion, then it
would be necessary to imagine what is absolutely impossible.
XV. Is it not however worth while to examine this question,
in what manner there can be a regeneration of all those things
which have been destroyed by fire, and resolved into fire ? for
when their substance has been wholly destroyed by the fire, it
OQO PHILO JUD.EU3.
follows of necessity that the fire itself must also be extinguished
as no longer having any nourishment. Therefore, as long as
it remained the seminal principle of arrangement was likewise
preserved, but when it is destroyed that principle is destroyed
with it. But it would be impious, and an impiety of double
dye, not only to attribute destruction to the world, but also to
take away the possibility of its regeneration; as if God
delighted in disorder, and irregularity, and all kinds of evil
things. But we must examine this question more accurately,
in the following manner.
There are three species in fire ; the coal, and the flame, and
the light. Now coal is the fire in its earthy substance, which,
like a sort of spiritual habit, couches and lies hid in a sort of
cavern, pervading it all to its very extremities. And the flame
is that part which, being raised on high, is lifted up from its
fuel. And the light is that which is emitted from the flame,
so as to co-operate with the eyes, in order to enable them to
comprehend what is seen. And the flame occupies the middle
position between the coal and the light ; for when it is extin
guished it ends in coal, and when it is kindled it excites the
light, which, being deprived of its burning power, blazes. If
therefore, we affirm that the world is dissolved by conflagration,
it would not be coal, because, in that case there will be a great
do.il of the earthy substance left behind, in which also fire
must necessarily be contained. But we must agree, that none
of the other bodies subsist any longer, but that earth, and
water, and air, are all dissolved into unmixed fire. Nor, again,
would it become flame ; for that can only exist in connexion
with nourishment; and, if nothing is left behind, being de
prived of all nourishment it will immediately be extinguished.
It follows from all this, that it cannot become light either; for
light by itself has no substance at all, but flows from the things
before mentioned, coal and flame, not in a great degree from
the coal, but very much from the flame ; for it is diffused over
a very great space indeed. But if, as has been already proved,
those things had no existence from the conflagration of all
things, then there could not be any light either. So that it is
impossible for the world to be susceptible of any regeneration,
inasmuch as there is no spermatic principle smouldering
beneath ; from which consideration it is plain that it is un
created, and that it will be for over imperishable.
ON THE WORLD. 201
XVI. However, besides what has been here said, any one
may use this argument also in corroboration of his opinion,
which will certainly convince all those who are not deter
mined to be obstinate beyond all bounds ; of those things
which in pairs are exactly contrary to one another it is impos
sible that one thing should be, and that the other should not
be ; for since there is white it follows as a matter of absolute
necessity that there must also be black, and since there is a
great there must likewise be a little ; since there is an odd
there must inevitably be an even ; since there is a sweet there
must be a bitter ; since there is day there must be night ; and
iso on in an infinite number of similar cases ; but if a conflagra
tion should take place, then something would ensue which is
impossible ; for then, of things in a pair, the one will happen
and the other will not.
Come, now, let us consider the matter thus : if everything
is resolved into fire, there is then something light, and rare,
and warm ; for all these are the especial properties of fire ; but
there can be nothing heavy, or cold, or thick, which are the
opposites of the qualities which I have just enumerated. How
then can any one more completely overturn the idea of the
universal disorder which would be involved in such a confla
gration than by showing that those things which by a law of
nature must exist together, are by this process separated from
their natural conjunction? And the separation has extended
to such a degree, that those who maintain this doctrine attri
bute eternal durability to the one and deny any existence at
all to the other.
Again, there is this assertion made by some of those who
diligently employ themselves in investigating truth which
appears to me to be a sufficiently felicitous one ; if the world
is destroyed it will either be destroyed by some other efficient
cause, or by God ; now there is certainly nothing else whatever
from which it can receive its destruction, for there is nothing
whatever which it does not surround and contain ; but that
which is surrounded and confined within something else is
manifestly inferior in power to that which surrounds and
confines it, by which it is therefore mastered ; on the other
hand, to say that it is destroyed by God is the most impious of
all possible assertions ; for God is the cause not of disorder,
and irregularity, and destruction, but of order, and beautiful
202 PHILO JUD.EUS.
regularity, and life, and of every good thing, as is confessed by
all those whose opinions are based on truth.
XVII. Ikit some of those persons who have fancied that
the world is everlasting, inventing a variety of new arguments,
employ also such a system of reasoning as this to establish
their point : they affirm that there are four principal manners
in which corruption is brought about, addition, taking away,
transposition, and alteration ; accordingly, the number two is
by the addition of the unit corrupted so as to become the
number three, and no longer remains the number two : and
the number four by the taking away of the unit is corrupted
so as to become the number three ; again, by transposition the
letter Z becomes the letter II when the parallel lines which
were previously horizontal ^ are placed perpendicularly II.
and when the line which did before pass upwards I. so as to
connect the two is now made horizontal, and still extended
between them so as to join them. And by alteration the word
coor, whir, becomes ojog, vinegar.
I>ut of the manner of corruption thus mentioned there is
not one which is in the least degree whatever applicable to the
world, since otherwise what could we say? Could we affirm
that anything is added to the world so as to cause its destruc
tion ? I$ut there is nothing whatever outside of the world
which is not a portion of it as the whole, for everything is
surrounded, and contained, and mastered by it. Again, can
we say that anything is taken from the world so as to have
that elFect ? In the first place that which would be taken
away would again be a world of smaller dimensions than the
existing one, and in the second place it is impossible that any
body could be separated from the composite fabric of the
whole world so as to be completely dispersed. Again, arc we
t j say that the constituent parts of the world are transposed ?
IMII at all events they remain in their original positions without
any change of place, for never at any time shall the whole
earth be raised up above the water, nor the water above the
air. nor the air above the fire. Jiut those things which are
by nature heavy, namely the earth and the water, will have
the middle place, the earth supporting everything like a solid
foundation, and the water being above it; and the air and the
lire, which arc by nature light, will have the higher position,
but not equally, for the air is the vehicle of the lire ; and that
OX THE WORLD. 203
which is carried by anything is of necessity above that which
carries it.
Once more : we must not imagine that the world is de
stroyed by alteration, for the change of any elements is equi
pollent, and that which is equipollent is the cause of unvarying
steadiness, and of untroubled durability, inasmuch as it
neither seeks any advantage itself, and is not subject to the
inroads of other things which seek advantages at its expense ;
so that this retribution and compensation of these powers is
equalized by the rules of proportion, being the produce of
health and endless preservation, by all which considerations
the world is demonstrated to be eternal.
XVIII. Theophrastus, moreover, says that those men who
attribute a beginning and destructibility to the world are
deceived by four particulars of the greatest importance, the
inequalities of the earth, the retreat of the sea, the dissolution
of each of the parts of the universe, and the destruction of
different terrestrial animals in their kinds ; and he proceeds to
establish the first point thus : if the earth had never had any
beginning of its creation, then there would have been no
portion of it rising above the rest so as to be conspicuous, but
all the mountains would have been level, and all the pieces of
rising ground would have been even with the plain.
For as there are such vast showers falling from heaven
throughout all ages, it would be natural that of any places
which were originally raised on high some would be broken
down and washed away by torrents, and others would subside
of their own accord and so become lowered, and that every
place everywhere would be smoothed ; but now, as things are,
the constant inequalities which exist, and the vast heights of
many mountains, reaching up even to the sky, are so many
proofs that the earth is not eternal.
For otherwise, as I have said before, all the earth would
long since have been rendered level from one extremity to the
other by the vast rains which would have fallen from the
eternal commencement of time ; for it is the character of the
nature of water, and especially of such as descends in a heavy
fall from lofty places, to push some things away by force, and
to cut out and hollow other places by its continual dropping,
and in this manner to operate on the hard, rugged, stony
ground not less than men digging. And again, the sea, as
204 PHILO JUD.EUS.
they affirm, is already somewhat diminished, and for proof of
this fact we can appeal to the most celebrated islands, Rhodes
and Delos, for these were in ancient times invisible, heing
overwhelmed hy and sunk under the sea, hut hy lapse of time,
as the sea gradually diminished, they by slow degrees rose
above it and came into sight, as the histories which are
written concerning them record. And they used to call Delos
Anaphe, confirming the account here given by both names,
since when it appeared above the waters * it became evident, f
having been formerly invisible and unseen.
And in addition to these arguments they adduce the facts
that many great and deep bays and gulfs of vast seas have
been dried up, and have become land, and have so turned out
no insignificant addition to the adjacent country when sown
and planted, and on that soil there is still left plenty of proof
of such spots having formerly been sea, in the pebbles, and
shells, and other things which are commonly washed up on
the sea-shore being found in them.
But if the sea is gradually being diminished then the earth
also will be diminished; and in long revolutions of years every
one of the elements will be entirely consumed and destroyed ;
and the whole air will be consumed, being diminished by little
and little ; and all things will be absorbed and dissolved into
the one substance of fire.
And for the purpose of establishing the third alter
native of this question they use the following argument :
beyond all question that thing is destroyed all the parts of
which are liable to destruction ; but all the parts of the world
are liable to destruction, therefore the world also is liable to
destruction.
Jut we must now proceed to consider the question which
we postponed till the present time. What sort of a part of
the earth is that, that we may begin from this, whether it is
greater or less, that is not dissolved by time ? Do not
the very hardest and strongest stones become hard and de
cayed through the weakness of their conformation (and this
conformation is a sort of course of a highlv strained spirit, a
bond not indissoluble, but only very difficult to unloose), in
The Greek word is avatyartina, from which Aj o^?/ is derived.
j- A//\>/, from which Af/\o is derived.
ON THE WORLD. 205
consequence of which they are broken up and made fluid, so
that they are dissolved first of all into a thin dust, and after
wards are wholly wasted away and destroyed ? Again, if the
water were never agitated by the winds, but were left inimove-
able for ever, would it not from inaction and tranquillity
become dead ? at all events it is changed by such stagnation, and
becomes very foetid and foul-smelling, like an animal deprived
of life. And so also the corruptions of the air are plain to
everyone, for it is the nature of the atmosphere to become
sick and to decay, and, as one may say, in a manner to die ;
since what else is it which a man, who is not aiming at select
ing plausible language, but only at truth, would call a plague
except a death of the atmosphere, which diffuses its own
disease and suffering to the destruction of everything which is
endowed with life ?
And why need I speak at great length concerning fire ? for
if it is deprived of nourishment it is immediately extinguished.
If then, each of the separate parts of the world awaits utter
destruction, it is plain that the world which is compounded of
these can not be itself exempt from destruction.
We must now consider with accuracy the fourth and remain
ing argument. Thus they argue : if the world were eternal then
the animals also would be eternal, and much more the human
race, in proportion as that is more excellent than the other
animals ; but, on the contrary, those who take delight in inves
tigating the mysteries of nature consider that man has only
been created in the late ages of the world ; for it is likely, or I
should rather say it is inevitably true, that the arts co-exist
with man, so as to be exactly co-eval with him, not only because
methodical proceedings are appropriate to a rational nature,
but also because it is not possible to live without them ; let us
therefore examine the dates of each of these, disregarding the
fables invented by the tragedians about the gods ; but if man
is not eternal then neither is any other animal, so that then
neither are the places which receive them, the earth, or the
water, or the air ; from all which considerations it is plain that
this world is liable to destruction.
XIX. But it is necessary to encounter such quibbling
arguments as these, lest some persons of too little experience
should yield to and be led away by them ; and we must begin
our refutation of them from the same point from which the
206 PHILO JUD.EU3.
Sophists begin their deceit. They say, " There could no longer
be any inequalities existing on the earth, if the world were
eternal." Why not, rny most excellent friends? For other
persons will come up and say that the natures of trees are in
no respect different from mountains; but just as they at
certain seasons lose their leaves, and again at certain seasons
recover their verdure again ; (on which account there is admi
rable truth in those lines of the poet :
" Like leaves ou trees the race of man is found,
Now green in youth, now withering on the ground ;
Another race the following spring supplies;
They fall successive and successive ride.") *
And so in like manner some portions of the mountains are
broken off, and others grow in their stead : but after a lonfT
lapse of time the additional growth becomes conspicuous,
because the trees having a more rapid nature display their
increase with great rapidity ; but mountains have a "slower
character, on which account it happens that the additions
which take place in their case are not perceptible by the
outward senses except after a long time.
And these men appear to be ignorant of the manner in
which they are produced, since if they had not been, perhaps
they would have been silent out of shame ; but still there is
no reason why we should not teach them ; but there is nothing
new in what is now said, neither are they our words but the
ancient sayings of wise men, by whom nothing which was
necessary for knowledge has been left uninvestigated ; when
the fiery principle which is contained beneath, in the earth, is
thrust upwards by the natural power of fire, it proceeds to its
own appropriate place ; and if it meets with any respite or
relaxation, though ever so slight, it draws up with it a large
portion of the earthy substance, as much as it can ; and when
it has emerged from the earth it proceeds more slowlv ; but
the earthy substance being compelled to follow it for" a long
time, being at last raised to an immense height, is contracted
at the top, and at last comes to end on a sharp point imitating
the general appearance of the flame of fire ; for there arises
then a most violent contention between two things which are
natural adversaries, the lightest and the heaviest of things,
each of them pressing onwards to reach its own place, and
* Homer, II. vi. 117.
ON THE WORLD. 207
each striving against the violent efforts of the other ; accord
ingly the fire, which is drawing up the earth with it, is com
pelled to sink down by its descending power ; and the earth
naturally inclining to the lowest point is nevertheless to a
certain degree made light, and lifted up hy the upward ten
dencies of fire, and so is raised on high, and being at last
overpowered by the more influential power which lightens it is
thrust upwards towards the natural seat of fire, and established
on high.
Why then need we wonder if the mountains are not entirely
washed away by the impetuosity of the rains, when so great
a power, which keeps them together, and by which they are
raised up, is very firmly and steadfastly connected with them ?
For if they were released from the bond which holds them
together, it would be natural for them to be entirely dissolved
and to be dispersed by the water ; but since they are bound
together by this power of fire, they resist the impetuosity of
the rains more surely.
XX. These things, then, may be said by us with respect
to the argument that the inequalities of the surface of the
earth are no proof of the world having been created and being
liable to destruction ; but with respect to that argument which
was endeavoured to be established by the diminution of the
sea, we may reasonably adduce this statement in opposition to
it : " Do not look only at the islands which have risen up out
of the sea, nor at any portions of land which, having been for
merly buried by the waters, have in subsequent times become
dry land ; for obstinate contention is very unfavourable to the
consideration of natural philosophy, which considers the search
after truth to be the chief object of rational desire ; but look
rather at the contrary effects : consider how many districts on
the main-land, not only such as were near the coast, but even
such as were completely in-land, have been swallowed up by
the waters ; and consider how great a portion of land has
become sea and is now sailed over by innumerable ships."
Are you ignorant of the celebrated account which is given of
that most sacred Sicilian strait, which in old times joined
Sicily to the continent of Italy ? and where vast seas on each
side being excited by violent storms met together, coming
from opposite directions, the land between them was over
whelmed and broken away; from which circumstance the
208 PHILO JUD^US.
city built in the neighbourhood was called Rhegium,* and
the result was quite different from what any one would have
expected; for the seas which had formerly been separated
now flowed together and were united in one expanse ; and the
land which had previously united was now separated into two
portions by the strait which intersected it, in consequence of
which Sicily, which had previously formed a part of the main
land, was now compelled to be an island.
XXI. And it is said that many other cities also have disap
peared, having been swallowed up by the sea which overwhelmed
them ; since they speak of three in Peloponnesus
" yEgira and fair Bura s walls,
And Helica s lofty halls,
And many a once renowned town,
"With wreck and seaweed overgrown,"
as having been formerly prosperous, but now overwhelmed by
the violent influx of the sea. And the island of Atalantes
which was greater than Africa and Asia, as Plato says in the
Timreus, in one day and night was overwhelmed beneath the
sea in consequence of an extraordinary earthquake and inun
dation and suddenly disappeared, becoming sea, not indeed
navigable, but full of gulfs and eddies. Therefore that imagi
nary and fictitious diminution of the sea has no connection with
the destruction or durability of the world ; for in fact it ap
pears to recede indeed from some parts, but to rise higher in
others ; and it would have been proper rather not to look at
only one of these results but at both together, and so to form
one s opinion, since in all the disputed questions which arise
in human life, a wise and honest judge will not deliver his
opinion before he has heard the arguments of the advocates on
both sides.
XXII. And as for the third argument, it is convicted by
itself, as being derived only from an unsound system of ques
tioning proceeding from the assertions originally made; for in
truth it does not necessarily follow that a thing, all the parts
of which are liable to corruption, is likewise perishable itself ;
but this is only inevitably true of that thing of which all
the parts are perishable when taken collectively and together
in the same place and at the same time, since in the case of a
person who has the tip of his finger cut off, he is not disabled
* Pt)yiov, from pi iyvvpi, "to break."
ON TI1E WORLD. 209
from living, but if he had the whole collection of all his parts
and limbs cut off at once, he would die immediately. There
fore in the same manner, if all the elements of the world
together were all to disappear at one and the same moment,
then it would be necessary to admit that the world was liable to
corruption and destruction; but if each of these elements
separately only changes its nature so as to assimilate to that of
its nature, it is then rendered immortal rather than destroyed,
according to the philosophical statement of the tragic poet
" Nought that has once existed dies,
Though often what has been combine
Before, we separated find,
Invested with another form."
For it is the greatest folly imaginable to estimate the antiquity
of the human race from the state of art ; for if any one were to
follow the absurdity of such a system of reasoning as this, he
will prove the world to be very young indeed, and to have been
made scarcely a thousand years, since all those men whom we
have heard of traditionally as the discoverers in different
branches of science do not go back to a greater number of
years than that which I have mentioned.
But if we must speak of the arts as co-eval with the race of
mankind, then we must speak, drawing our arguments from
natural history, and not inconsiderately or carelessly. And
what is this history ? The destruction of the things on the
earth, not all together, but of the greatest number of them, is
attributed to two principal causes, the indescribable violence
and power of fire and water. And they say that each of these
elements attacks them in its turn, after very long periods of
revolving years. When, therefore, a conflagration seizes upon
things, a stream of ethereal fire being poured down from above
is frequently diffused over them, overrunning many districts of
the habitable world ; and when a deluge draws down the whole
of the rainy nature of water, the regular rivers and torrents
overflowing, and not only that, but even far exceeding the
ordinary measure of a common flood.
Accordingly, when the greater part of mankind is destroyed
in the manners above mentioned, besides an infinity of other
ways of less power and importance, it follows of necessity that
the arts also must fail, for it cannot be possible to discuss
science by itself without some one to reduce it to method and
VOL. IV. P
210 PHILO JUDJSUS.
practice. But when those common pestilences relax their
fury, and \vhen the human race begins again to recover vigour
and to flourish, descending from those who have not been
previously destroyed by the evils which pressed upon them,
then the arts also begin again to exist, not indeed as they were
at first, but in thinner numbers from the diminution of the
numbers of those who practise them.
I have now then set forth to the best of my ability what I
have been able to learn or to understand concerning the
indestructibility of the world.
THE FRAGMENTS OF THE LOST WORKS.
From Eusebiui Prepar. of the Gospel Lib. viii. c. 13.
BUT that you may not think that I am here arguing in a
sophistical manner, I will produce a man who is a Hebrew as
the interpreter for you of the meaning of the scripture ; a
man who inherited from his father a most accurate knowledge
of his national customs and laws, and who had learnt the
doctrines contained in them from learned teachers ; for such a
man was Philo. Listen then, to him, and hear how he inter
prets the words of God.
Why, then, does he use the expression, " In the image of
God I made man,"* as if he were speaking of that of some
other God, and not of having made him in the likeness of him
self ? This expression is used with great beauty and wisdom.
For it was impossible that anything mortal should be made in
the likeness of the most high God the Father of the universe ;
but it could only be made in the likeness of the second God,
who is the Word of the other ; for it was fitting that the
rational type in the soul of man should receive the impression
of the Word of God, since the God below the Word is superior
to all and every rational nature ; and it is not lawful for any
created thing to be made like the God who is above reason,
and who is endowed with a most excellent and special form ap
propriated to himself alone.
* Gencsia i. 27.
FRAGMENTS. 211
This is what I wish to quote from the first book of the ques
tions and answers of Philo.
From the same work, c. 21.
And the Hebrew Philo, in his treatise on Providence, speaks
in this way concerning matter.
But concerning the quantity of the essence, if indeed it
really has any existence, we must also speak. God took care
at the creation of the world that there should be an ample and
most sufficient supply of matter, so exact that nothing might
be wanting and nothing superfluous. For it would have been
absurd in the case of particular artisans, for them, when they are
occupied in making anything, and especially anything of much
value, to calculate the exact quantity of materials which they re
quire ; but for that being who is the original inventor of numbers
and measures, and the qualities which exist and are found in
them, to omit to take care to have just what was proper. I
will speak now with all freedom, and say that the world had
need for its fabrication of some precise quantity of materials,
neither more nor less ; since otherwise it would not have been
perfect, nor complete in all its parts, being thoroughly well
made, nor would it have been made perfect of a perfect
essence.
For it is an indispensable part of a workman who is
thoroughly well skilled in his art, before he begins making
any thing, to see that his materials are exactly sufficient;
therefore a man, even if he were most eminently skilled in the
knowledge of other things, still if he were not able altogether
to avoid error, which is so natural to mortals, would be very
likely to be deceived in respect of the quantity of materials
which he required when he was about to proceed to the exer
cise of art ; sometimes adding to it as too little, and sometimes
taking away from it as too much. But that Being who is, as it
were, a kind of fountain of all knowledge, was not likely to sup
ply anything in deficient or in superfluous quantities, inasmuch
as he employs measures elaborated in a most wonderful man
ner, so as to display perfect accuracy, and all of the most
praiseworthy character. But he who is inclined to talk
nonsense, at random, will easily do it, looking upon the
different works of all artisans as causes, and as having been
made in a more excellent manner, either by the addition or by
P 2
ojo PHILO JUD;EUS.
the subtraction of some material or other But it is the
peculiar occupatiou of sophistry to quibble and cavil ; while it i
the task of wisdom to investigate accurately everythini
exists in nature.
And this is the way in which Pbilo speaks on this subject.
From the eighth book of the same author, c. 5.
And first of all I will adduce what Philo says respecting
the journey of the Jews into Egypt, of which he has given an
account, following that which is given by Moses in the first
book of the Pentateuch, to which he has affixed the superscrip
tion hypothetically ; " where, arguing in behalf of the
Jew s as if he were addressing himself to their accusers, he
speaks in the following manner, affirming, -
That their ancient ancestor, the original founder c
race was a Chaldean ; and that this people emigrated from
iWpt, after having in former times left its abode in Syria,
bemff very numerous and consisting of countless myriads of
people ; and that when the land was no longer able to contain
them and moreover when a high spirit began to show itself
in the dispositions of their young men, and when, besides this,
Clod himself by visions and dreams began to show them that
lie willed that they should depart, and when, as the Deity
brought it about, nothing was less an object of desire to them
than their ancient native land ; on that account this ancestor
of theirs departed and journeyed into Egypt, whether in c<
(mciice of some express determination ot God, or whether H
was in consequence of some prophetic instinct of his own ; s
that from that time to the present the nation has had an
existence and a durability, and has become so exceedingly
populous, as it is at this moment.
And then, after a few more sentences, he says,
And they were led in this journey and emigration ot then
by a man who, if you will have it so, was in no respect superior
to the generality of his fellow countrymen, so incessantly did
they reproach him as a trickster and one who deceived them
with words. An admirable amount and kind of trickery and
deceit no doubt it was, by which he not only completely saved
the whole people which was oppressed by want of water and
hunger, and by ignorance of the way, and in a complete s
of destitution of all things, and led them forward as if m all
FRAGMENTS. 213
prosperity, and conducted them through all the nations lying
around, and kept them without any quarrelling with one another,
and in a state of complete subordination and obedience to him
self. And this too, not for a short time, but for a period of
such length, that it is not likely that even a single family would
continue in perfect unanimity and prosperity for such a time ;
for no thirst, no hunger, no decay of body, no fear of the
future, no ignorance of what was to befall them, ever excited
that deceived people, wlio were being led, as some will have it,
to their destruction, to rise against him who was deceiving them.
Yet what would you have us say ? That he had such excessive
art, or such great eloquence of speech, or such shrewdness,
that he could triumph over so many difficulties of such a
nature, which seemed likely to lead to the destruction of them
all ? Surely you must confess, either that the natures of the
men under him were not utterly ignorant or obstinate, but
were obedient and not inclined to neglect a prudent care of
the future ; or else that they were as wicked and perverse as
possible, but that God softened their obstinacy, and was, as it
were, a leader to them in respect both of the present and of
the future.
For that of these alternatives which appears to you to be the
truest of the two, appears equally to contribute to the praise,
and honour, and admiration of the whole nation.
These things, then, are what I have to say about this
exodus. But when they came into this land, how they were
settled here, and how they got possession of the country, they
show in their sacred records. And I moreover do not think it
necessary to describe it as by way of history, but rather to
enter into some speculations concerning them as to what was
their natural and likely course. For which of these two alterna
tives will you embrace? That while they were still very
numerous, although at last they were evilly afflicted, still, while
they were powerful and had arms in their hands, they took the
country by force, fighting with and defeating both the Syrians
and Phoanicians who met them in that their land ? Or shall
we suppose that they were unwarlike, and destitute of manly
courage, and altogether deficient in point of numbers, and
destitute of any supplies for war ; but that they met with respect
ful treatment from those nations, and obtained their laud from
214 rniLO JUD^EUS.
them who willingly surrendered it to them ? and that then
immediately, or at no distant period, they built a temple, and
did everything else which has any bearing on religion and
P1 For these circumstances, as it seems, would prove them to
have been a God-loving people, and beloved by God, and con
fessed to be such even by their enemies ; for those people into
whose territories they had suddenly come, as if to deprive them
of them, were of necessity their enemies. And if they met
with respectful treatment and honour from them, how can we
deny that they surpassed all other men in good fortune ?
And what shall we say after this in the second place, or m
the third place ? Shall we speak of their admirable code of
laws of their obedience, or of their devotion, and justice, and
holiness, and piety ? But in truth they looked upon that man,
whoever he was, who gave them these laws, with such excessive
admiration and veneration, that whatever he approved of they
immediately thought best also. Therefore, whether he spoke,
being influenced by his own reason, or because he was
inspired by the Deity, they referred every word of his to God.
And though many years have passed, I cannot tell the exact
number, but more than two thousand, still they have never
altered one word of what was written by him, but would rather
endure to die ten thousand times than to do any thing in
opposition to his laws and to the customs which he esta
blished.
After Philo has said this, he proceeds to give an abridgment
of the constitution established in the nation of the Jews by the
laws of Moses, speaking thus :
From the same book, c. 7
Now, is there anything among that people resembling these
circumstances, anything which appears to be of a mild and
gentle character, and which admits of invocations ot justice,
and pleas, and delays, and of assessments of damages, and on
the other hand of counter assessments? Not a word, but
every thing is simple, plain, and straightforward. _ f you
indulge in illicit connexions, if you commit adultery, if you do
violence to a child (for do not speak of doing so to a boy, but
even to a female child) ; and in like manner, if you prostitute
FRAGMENTS. 2 1 5
yourself, if you suffer any thing disgraceful contrary to what
becomes your age, or appear to do so, or are about to do so,
death is the penalty for such wickedness.
Again, if you behave with insult towards a slave, or towards
a free person, if you confine such an one in bonds, if you lead
him away and sell him, if you steal any thing, whether
common or sacred, if you commit acts of impiety, not only by
your deeds but even by any chance word, I will not venture
to say against God himself (may God be merciful to us, and
of the same opinion about these matters), but against your
father, or your mother, or your benefactor, death is equally the
penalty. And that too, not a common, or ordinary, or natural
death ; but he who has merely uttered a single impious word
must be stoned, as having committed no inferior impiety.
He also gives many other injunctions, such as these,
that wives shall serve their husbands, not indeed in any par
ticular so as to be insulted by them, but in the spirit of
reasonable obedience in all things ; that parents shall govern
their children for their preservation and benefit; that every
one shall be the lord of his own possessions, provided he has
not dedicated them to God, nor spoken of God as their owner ;
but if he has vowed them only by a single word, then it is not
lawful for him to lay hands upon or to touch them, but he must
at once separate himself from them all. May I never be
guilty of plundering the things which belong to God, or of
stealing what has been offered and dedicated to him by others.
And even, as I have said before, if a single word to that effect
has unintentionally fallen from a man, he must, instead of
taking away from what is already dedicated, add some offering
of his own ; for if he has said the word, he, by so speaking,
deprives himself of every thing. But if he repents, or wishes
to recall and amend what he has said, he shall be deprived also
of his very life. And the same principle extends to other
things, of which he is the owner.
If a man by any words dedicates that which is requisite to
support a wife, she shall be sacred and entitled to receive the
support. If a father makes such a promise to his son, or a
master to his servant, the rule is the same. And the way in
which a man may be released from any promise or vow which
he has made in such a manner can only be in the most perfect
and complete way, when the high priest discharges him from
210 PIIILO JUD^EUS.
it ; for he is the person entitled to receive it in due subordi
nation to God. And the next way is that which consists in
propitiating the mercy of God in behalf of those who are the
more immediate owners of the thing vowed, so that he may
not accept of what is thus dedicated, since it is necessary to
them. There are, besides these rules, ten thousand other
precepts, which refer to the unwritten customs and ordinances
of the nation.
Moreover, it is ordained in the laws themselves that no one
shall do to his neighbour what he would be unwilling to have
done to himself.
That a man shall not take up what he has not put down,
neither out of a garden, nor out of a wine-press, nor out of a
threshing-floor ; and that absolutely no one shall take anything,
whether it be great or small, out of a heap. That no one shall
refuse fire to one who begs it of him.
That no one shall cut off a stream of water, but that every
one shall contribute food to beggars and cripples, and that
such shall have favour with God. That no one shall keep
any one from performing funeral honours to the dead, but
shall even throw upon them so much earth as is sufficient to
protect them from impiety : that no one shall violate or move,
in any manner or degree whatever, the graves, or tombs, or
memorials of those who are dead. That no one shall add
bonds, or any evil, or heap any additional suffering on him
who is in trouble. That no one shall eradicate the generative
powers of a man. That no one shall cause the offspring of
women to be abortive by means of miscarriage, or by any other
contrivance. That no one shall treat animals, in any respect,
in a manner contrary to the injunctions imposed, whether by
God or by a lawgiver.
That no one shall cause his seed to disappear. That no one
shall enslave his offspring. That no one shall apply a false
balance, or an inadequate measure, or bad money. That no one
shall tell the secrets of his friends in a foreign land. Where,
m God s name, are these yokes of oxen of ours gone ? And
look also at other commandments besides these. It is or
dained, that no one shall fix the residence of the parents apart
from that of the children, not even if they are prisoners of
Avar ; nor that of a wife from that of her husband, even though
a man may be her master, having purchased her lawfully.
FRAGMENTS. 217
These commandments now are of a more solemn and import
ant character, but there are others of apparently a trivial and
ordinary kind. It is not lawful, says the lawgiver, to strip a
nest wholly of its young ; it is not lawful to reject the sup
plication of animals of any kind whatever, which flee to you
for refuge, not even if any of them are very insignificant. You
may say, perhaps, that these things are of no consequence
whatever, but still, at least, the law which speaks of these par
ticulars is of importance, and deserving of all imaginable care
and attention ; and the declarations are important, and so are
the curses which threaten those who violate these laws with
destruction ; and God looks over all such matters, and is an
avenger and punisher on every occasion and in every place.
And then after a few more sentences he adds,
And if it should happen that during a whole day, or I
should rather say, not one day only but many, and those too
not coming immediately one after another, but with intervals
between them, even intervals of a week at a time, the custom,
as is always natural, which is drawn from ordinary days pre
vails. Do you not wonder, that not a single one of all these
commandments has been violated ? Is not this a mark of great
temperance and self-restraint, derived to them from practice
alone, so that they act towards one another with perfect
equality, and are able to derive strength from those actions if
it be necessary ? Surely not so ; but the lawgiver thought
that it ought to be derived from some great and admirable
circumstance, that they should not only be competent to do
other things in the same manner, but should also be imbued
with a thorough knowledge of their national laws and cus
toms.
What then did he do on this sabbath day ? he commanded
all the people to assemble together in the same place, and
sitting down with one another, to listen to the laws with order
and reverence, in order that no one should be ignorant of any
thing that is contained in them ; and, in fact, they do con
stantly assemble together, and they do sit down one with
another, the multitude in general in silence, except when it is
customary to say any words of good omen, by way of assent to
what is being read. And then some priest who is present, or
some one of the elders, reads the sacred laws to them, and
inteprets each of them separately till eventide ; and then
218 PIIILO JUD^US.
when separate they depart, having gained some skill in the
sacred laws, and having made great advances towards piety.
Do not these objects appear to you to be of greater im
portance than any other pursuit can possibly be ? Therefore
they do not go to interpreters of laws to learn what they ought
to do ; and even without asking, they arc in no ignorance
respecting the laws, so as to be likely, through following their
own inclinations, to do wrong ; but if you violate or alter any
one of their laws, or if you ask any one of them about their
national laws or customs, they can all tell you at once, without
any difficulty; and the husband appears to be a master, en
dowed with sufficient authority to explain these laws to his
wife, a father to teach them to his children, and a master to
his servants.
And again, it is easy to speak in the same manner with
respect to the seventh year, though, perhaps, one is not to say
exactly the same things, for they do not abstain from all work
as they do on the sabbath days, only they leave their land
fallow till the next year, in order that so it may become pro
ductive ; for they think that thus it becomes much better after
having had this rest, and then that it may be cultivated again,
and not be dried up and exhausted by the uninterrupted con
tinuance of cultivation ; and you may see that a similar prac
tice conduces to strength of body, for not only do intervals of
relaxation contribute to health, but you may see too that phy
sicians also enjoin a degree of rest at times from work ; for
what is incessant, and uninterrupted, and always the same, is
likely to be injurious, especially in the case of hard work, the
cultivation of the land.
And a proof of this is, that if any one were to recommend
the people to cultivate the land itself much more, and to add
this seventh year also, and should promise them that the usual
crops of fruit should reward their labours, they still would not
adopt his advice, for they think that they are not alone entitled
to rest from their labours, and yet even if they were to do so,
it would be nothing strange; but they think that their land
also deserves a certain degree of rest and exemption, in order
again to receive a fresh beginning of care and cultivation;
since, in God s name, what could hinder them from letting it
out during the year of jubilee thus proposed, and then receiv
ing its annual produce once a year from those who rented and
FRAGMENTS. 219
cultivated it ? But as I said before, they will not admit of any
such expedient in any manner or degree whatever, out of care,
as it seems to me, for the welfare of the land ; and this is
truly a very great proof of their humanity and moderation.
For, since they themselves rest from their labours during
that year, they think that it is not right either to collect the
fruits or crops which are produced, nor to lay up any thing
which has not accrued to them from their own labours ; but, as
if God provided for them while the land is thus enjoying rest
and regulating itself according to its will, they think that any
one who chooses or who is in want, any traveller or stranger,
may gather the fruit that year with impunity.
However, this is enough to say to you on these matters ; for,
as to the fact of this law existing among them with regard to
the seventh day and seventh year, you will not inquire of me,
as you have perhaps heard it often from many persons, both
physicians, and investigators of natural history, and philo
sophers, who discuss this law about the seventh year, as to
the effect which it has on the nature of the universe, and
especially on the nature of man.
This is what he says about the seventh day.
From the same look, c. 8.
I shall be contented with the testimony of Philo on the
present occasion, which he has given about the matter which I
am here explaining in many passages of his treatises. And
now do you take that work which he has written in defence of
the Jewish nation, and read the following sentences in it.
But our lawgiver trained an innumerable body of his
pupils to partake in those things, who are called Essenes,
being, as I imagine, honoured with this appellation because of
their exceeding holiness.
And they dwell in many cities of Judaea, and in many
villages, and in great and populous communities. And this
sect of them is not an hereditary or family connexion ; for
family ties are not spoken of with reference to acts voluntarily
performed ; but it is adopted because of their admiration for
virtue and love of gentleness and humanity. At all events,
there are no children among the Essenes, no, nor any youths or
persons only just entering upon manhood; since the dispositions
of all such persons are unstable and liable to change, from the
220 PIIILO JUD^US.
imperfections incident to their age, but they are all full-grown
men, and even already declining towards old age, such as are
no longer carried away by the impetuosity of their bodily pas
sions, and are not under the influence of the appetites, but
such as enjoy a genuine freedom, the only true and real
liberty. And a proof of this is to be found in their life of
perfect freedom ; no one among them ventures at all to acquire
any property whatever of his own, neither house, nor slave, nor
farm, nor flocks and herds, nor any thing of any sort which
can be looked upon as the fountain or provision of riches ; but
they bring them together into the middle as a common stock,
and enjoy one common general benefit from it all.
And they all dwell in the same place, making clubs, and
societies, and combinations, and unions with one another, and
doing every thing throughout their whole lives with reference
to the general advantage ; but the different members of this
body have different employments in which they occupy them
selves, and labour without hesitation and without cessation,
making no mention of either cold, or heat, or any changes of
weather or temperature as an excuse for desisting from their
tasks. But before the sun rises they betake themselves to
their daily work, and they do not quit it till some time after it
has set, when they return home rejoicing no less than those
who have been exercising themselves in gymnastic contests ; for
they imagine that whatever they devote themselves to as a
practice is a sort of gymnastic exercise of more advantage to
life, and more pleasant both to soul and body, and of more
enduring benefit and equability, than mere athletic labours,
inasmuch as such toil does not cease to be practised with
delight when the age of vigour of body is passed ; for there
are some of them who are devoted to the practice of agricul
ture, being skilful in such things as pertain to the sowing and
cultivation of lands ; others again are shepherds, or cowherds,
and experienced in the management of every kind of animal ;
some are cunning in what relates to swarms of bees ; others
again are artisans and handicraftsmen, in order to guard against
suffering from the want of anything of which there is at times
an actual need ; and these men omit and delay nothing, which
is requisite for the innocent supply of the necessaries of life.
Accordingly, each of these men, who differ so widely in their
respective employments, when they have received their wages
FRAGMENTS. 221
give them up to one person who is appointed as the universal
steward and general manager ; and he, when he has received
the money, immediately goes and purchases what is necessary
and furnishes them with food in abundance, and all other
things of which the life of mankind stands in need. And those
who live together and eat at the same table are day after day
contented with the same things, being lovers of frugality and
moderation, and averse to all sumptuousness and extravagance
as a disease of both mind and body. And not only are their
tables in common but also their dress ; for in the winter there
are thick cloaks found, and in the summer light cheap mantles,
so that whoever wants one is at liberty without restraint to go
and take whichever kind he chooses ; since what belongs to
one belongs to all, and on the other hand whatever belongs to
the whole body belongs to each individual.
And again, if any one of them is sick he is cured from the
common resources, being attended to by the general care and
anxiety of the whole body. Accordingly the old men, even if
they happen to be childless, as if they were not only the fathers
of many children but were even also particularly happy in an
affectionate offspring, are accustomed to end their lives in a
most happy and prosperous and carefully attended old age,
being looked upon by such a number of people as worthy of so
much honour and provident regard that they think themselves
bound to care for them even more from inclination than from
any tie of natural affection.
Again, perceiving with more than ordinary acuteness and
accuracy, what is alone or at least above all other things cal
culated to dissolve such associations, they repudiate marriage ;
and at the same time they practise continence in an eminent
degree ; for no one of the Essenes ever marries a wife, because
woman is a selfish creature and one addicted to jealousy in an
immoderate degree, and terribly calculated to agitate and
overturn the natural inclinations of a man, and to mislead him
by her continual tricks ; for as she is always studying deceitful
speeches and all other kinds of hypocrisy, like an actress on
the stage, when she is alluring the eyes and ears of her
husband, she proceeds to cajole his predominant mind after
the servants have been deceived.
And again, if there are children she becomes full of pride
and all kinds of license in her speech, and all the obscuro
PHILO JUD^EUS.
sayings which she previously meditated in irony in a disguised
manner she now begins to utter with audacious confidence ;
and becoming utterly shameless she proceeds to acts of vio
lence, and does numbers of actions of which every one is hostile
to such associations; for the man who is bound under the
influence of the charms of a woman, or of children, by the
necessary ties of nature, being overwhelmed by the impulses
of affection, is no longer the same person towards others, but is
entirely changed, having, without being aware of it, become a
slave instead of a free man.
This now is the enviable system of life of these Essenes,
so that not only private individuals but even mighty kings,
admiring the men, venerate their sect, and increase their
dignity and majesty in a still higher degree by their approba
tion and by the honours which they confer on them.
From the same book, c. 13
These things then are what may be said on the subject of
the world having been created. And the same man also says a
great number of very novel and bold things in his treatise on
Providence, on the subject of the universe being governed by
prudence ; first of all putting forward the propositions of the
atheists, and then proceeding to reply to each of them in
regular order. And 1 will now proceed to extract some of the
arguments which he adduces, even though they may appear
somewhat prolix, because they are nevertheless necessary and
important, abridging indeed the greater portion of them. Now
he conducts his argument in this way ; these are his words.
Do you say then that there is providence in such a vast
confusion and disorder of affairs ? For, in fact, which of the
circumstances and occurrences of human life is regulated by
any principle of order? which of them is not full of all kinds
of irregularity and destruction ? Are you the only person who
is ignorant that blessings in complete abundance are heaped
upon the most wicked and worthless of mankind? such, for
instance, as wealth, a high reputation, honour in the eyes of
the multitude, authority ? moreover, health, a good condition of
the outward senses, beauty, strength, and unimpeded enjoy
ment of all good things, by means of an abundance of supplies
and resources and preparations of every kind, and in conse
quence of the peaceful good fortune and good condition of the
FRAGMENTS. 223
body? But all the lovers and practisers of wisdom and
prudence, and every kind of virtue, everyone of them I may
almost say, are poor, unknown, inglorious, and in a mean con
dition.
Having said thus much with respect to the outward circum
stances of, and a vast number of other things affecting, these
men, he then immediately proceeds to refute the objections
of his adversaries by the following arguments.
God is not a tyrant who practises cruelty and violence and
all the other acts of insolent authority like an inexorable
master, but he is rather a sovereign invested with a humane
and lawful authority, and as such he governs all the heaven
and the whole world in accordance with justice. And there is
no form of address with which a king can more appropriately
be saluted than the name of father ; for what, in human rela
tionships, parents are to their children, that also sovereigns are
to their states, and God towards the world, having adapted
these two most beautiful things by the unchangeable laws
of nature, by an indissoluble union, namely the authority of
the leader with the anxious care of a relation ; for as parents
are not wholly indifferent to even ill-behaved children, but,
having compassion on their unfortunate dispositions, they are
careful and anxious for their welfare, looking upon it as the
act of relentless and irreconcileable enemies to insult and
increase their misfortunes, but as the part of friends and rela
tions to lighten their disasters : and indeed in the excess of
their liberality they even give more to such children than to
those who have always been well conducted, knowing well that
to these last their own moderation is at all times an abundant
resource and means of riches, but that the others have no
other hope except in their parents, and that if they are disap
pointed in that they will be destitute of even the necessaries
of life.
So in the same manner, God, who is the father of all ra
tional understanding, takes care of all those beings who are
endovved with reason, and exercises a providential power for
the protection even of those who are living in a blameable
manner, giving them at the same time opportunity of correct
ing their errors, and nevertheless not violating the dictates of
his own merciful nature, of which virtue and humanity are the
regular attendants, being willing to have their dwelling in the
224 pniLO
God-created world ; this one argument now, do thou, my soul,
take to thyself, and store up within thyself as a sacred deposit,
and this other also as consistent with and in perfect harmony
with it. Do not ever be so deceived and wander from the truth
to such a degree as to think any wicked man happy, even
though he may be richer than Crcesus, and more sharp-sighted
than Lynceus, and more powerful than Milo of Crotena, and
more beautiful than Ganymede,
" Whom the immortal gods, for beauty s sake,
Did raise up from the vile earth to heaven,
To be the cup-bearer of mighty Jove." *
Accordingly, such a man, having shown his own da inon, I
mean to say his own mind, to be the slave of ten thousand
thousand different masters, such as love, appetite, pleasure,
fear, pain, folly, intemperance, cowardice, injustice, he can
never possibly be happy, even if the multitude, being utterly
misled and deprived of their judgment, were to think him so",
being corrupted by a double evil, pride and vain opinion, by
which souls without ballast must infallibly be tossed about
and driven out of their course ; for these evils, above all others,
injure the chief multitude of mankind.
If, then, fixing the eyes of the mind steadily upon the truth,
you should be inclined to contemplate the providence of God as far
as the powers of human reason are capable of doing it, then, when
you have attained to a closer conception of the true and onlvgood,
you will laugh at those things which belong to men which you
for some time admired ; for what is worse is always honoured
in the absence of what is better, as it then usurps its place ;
but when that which is better appears, then that which is
w r orse retires, and is contented with the second prize. There
fore, admiring that godlike excellence and beauty, you will by
all means perceive that none of the things previously men
tioned were by themselves thought worthy of the better portion
by God. On which account the mines of silver and gold are
the most worthless portion of the earth, which is altogether
and wholly unlit for the production of fruits and food ; for
abundance of riches is not like food, a thing without which one
cannot live. And the one great and manifest test of all these
things is hunger, by which it is seen what is in truth reallv
necessary and useful ; for a person when oppressed by hunger
* Homer s Iliad xx : 234.
FRAGMENTS. 22 >
would gladly give all the treasures in the whole world in
exchange for a little food ; but when there is an abundance of
necessary things poured out in a plentiful and unlimited sup
ply, and Mowing over all the cities of the land, then we, the
citizens, indulging luxuriously in the good things provided
by nature, are not contented to stop at them alone, but set up
satiated insolence as the guide of our lives, and devoting
ourselves to the acquisition of silver and gold, and of everything
else by which we hope to acquire gain, proceed in everything
like blind men, no longer exciting the eyes of our intellect by
reason of our covetousness, so far as to see that riches are but
the burden of the earth, and are the cause of continual and
uninterrupted war instead of peace.
Our garments are indeed, as some one of the poets says
somewhere, " the flower of the sheep ;" but with reference to
the art displayed in their manufacture, they are the praise of
the weavers. And if any one is proud of any glory which he
may have acquired, being greatly delighted at his popularity
among worthless people, he should know that he also is worth
less, for he delights in them. And let such a man pray to
receive puriGcation so as to have the disease of his ears healed,
as it is through his ears that his soul is affected with great
diseases. Again : let those men who are proud of their
personal strength and activity learn not to be high-minded on
such an account, looking at countless kinds of both domes
ticated and wild beasts, which are also endowed with great
strength and power; for it is the most absurd thing imaginable
for one who is a man to pride himself on the good qualities of
beasts, and that too when the beasts themselves are thought of
no importance whatever by him.
Again : why should any man in his senses rejoice at beauty
of person, which a short period must extinguish before it has
flourished for any great length of time, since time always
obscures its deceitful prime? and this too, when he sees that
even in lifeless things there are objects of surpassing beauty,
such as the works of painters, arid sculptors, and other artists,
displayed in paintings, and statues, and all kinds of embroidery,
and weaving, which are held in the greatest honour in Greece
and in the countries of the barbarians in every city. Of these
things, then, as J have said, not one is accounted by God worthy
of the better portion.
VOL. iv Q
00(5 PHILO JUD^US.
And why should we wonder if they are not highly esteemed
by God ? for they are not even by those men who are very
religious and devout, among whom those things which are
really good and virtuous are held in honour, inasmuch as they
have a good and well-disposed nature, and have improved their
natural good qualities by study and practice, of which a genuine
true philosophy is the "maker. But those who have devoted
themselves to "a bastard kind of philosophy have not even
imitated physicians who give their attention to the body, the
slave of the soul, though nevertheless they affirm that they are
healing the mistress, that is to say, the soul itself ; for then,
when any such man is sick, even if he be the great king him
self, passing over all the colonnades, and the men s chambers,
and the women s chambers, and the pictures, and the silver and
the gold, whether in money or in bullion, and the vast treasuresot
cups and works of embroidery, and all the rest of the celebrated
ornaments of kings, and the multitude of his servants, and of his
friends, or relatives, and subjects, and the chief officers who are
about his person, and his body-guards, they come up to his bed
side, paying no attention even to the decorations of his person,
and not stopping to notice with admiration that his bed is inlaid
with precious stones, or that his coverlet is of the finest work
manship and the most exquisite embroidery, nor that the
fashion of his garments is of superlative beauty, but they even
pull off the clothes in which he is wrapped, and lay hold of his
hands, and press his veins, and feel his pulse, and note its
beating accurately to see if it is in a healthy condition ; very
often too, they pull up his tunic and feel whether Ins stomach
is too full, whether his chest is feverish, whether his heart
beats irregularly. And then, when they have ascertained the
symptoms, they apply the appropriate remedies.
And in like manner, it would become philosophers who pro
fess to be versed in the healing science as applicable to the
soul, which is by nature the dominant part of the man, to
despise all the things which erroneous opinion raises up as
objects of pride, and to penetrate within, and to lay their
bauds upon the intellect itself, to see whether through passion
its pulses are of an uneven rapidity and moving in an irregular
and unnatural manner, and to touch the tongue, and see
whether it is rough and devoted to evil-speaking, whether it i.s
prostituted to evil purposes and unmanageable ; also to touch
FRAGMENTS. 227
the belly, and see whether it is swollen with the insatiable
characteristics of desire, and, in short, of any other passions,
and diseases, and infirmities, and to examine every one of
those feelings, if they appear to be in a state of confusion, so
that they may not be ignorant of what is proper to be applied
to the soul with a reference to its cure.
But now being lightened up all round by the brilliancy of
external things, as being unable to see that light which is
perceptible only by the intellect, they have passed their whole
existence in a state of error, not being able to penetrate as far
as royal thought, but being with difficulty able to reach the
outer courts, and admiring those servants who stand at the
gates of virtue, wealth, and glory, and health, and other
kindred circumstances, they fall down in adoration before
them. But as it would be an extravagance of insanity to take
blind men for judges of colour, or deaf men as judges of the
sounds of music, so it is a most preposterous act to take wicked
men as judges of real good. For these men are mutilated in
the most important parts of themselves, namely, their intellect,
over which folly has shed a deep darkness. Do we then now
wonder if Socrates, and such and such a virtuous man, has lived
in purity? men who have never once studied any of the means
of providing themselves with pecuniary resources, and who
have never, even w r hen it was in their power, condescended to
accept great gifts which have been tendered to their accept
ance by wealthy friends or mighty kings, because they looked
upon the acquisition of virtue as the only good, the only
beautiful thing, and have therefore laboured at that, and disre
garded all other good things.
And who is there who would not disregard spurious good
things in comparison of genuine ones? But if while they
received a mortal body, and were full of liability to all kinds of
human disasters, and lived among such a number of unjust
actions and unrighteous men, of which the very number is not
easy to compute accurately, they were plotted against by their
enemies, why do we blame nature when we ought rather to
accuse the barbarity of those who thus set upon them ? For
so in like manner, if they had been placed in a pestilential
climate, they would inevitably have become sick ; and wicked
ness is even more, or at all events not less, destructive than a
pestilential state of the atmosphere. But as when there is rain
Q 2
228 PIIILO JUD.EUS.
the wise man, if he is in the open air, must inevitahly get wet
through, and if the cold north wind blows he must be
oppressed by cold and shivering, and when summer is at its
heUit he must feel the heat, for it is a law of nature that the
bodies of men should be simultaneously affected by the changes
of the seasons ; so also in the same way a man who lives in
such places,
" Where slaughters dire and famines might prevail,
And all the ills which thus mankind assail,"
must inevitably pay the penalty which such evils inflict upon
"since in the case of Polycratcs at least, in retaliation for the
terrible acts of injustice and impiety which he committed,
there fell upon him great misery in his subsequent life as a
terrible requital for his previous good fortune. Add to this
that he was chastised by a mighty sovereign, and was crucified
by him, fulfilling the prediction of the oracle : knew
said he " long before I took it into my head to go to consult
the oracle, that I was anointed by the sun and washed by
Jupiter," for these enigmatical assertions, expressed in symbol-
ical lanuae having been originally couched in unintelligib
lamua*e, afterwards receive a most manifest confirmation by
theevents which followed them. But it was not only at the
end of his existence, but indeed during the whole period of his
life from its earliest commencement that he was, though with
out being aware of it, making his soul to depend wholly on his
bodv for as he was always in a state of alarm and trepidation,
he feared the multitude of enemies who might possibly attack
him, being well assured that no one in the world was really
well affected towards him, but that every one was hosti
him, and would turn out implacable enemies it he shou
unfortunate.
A"ain of unsuccessful and yet of never-ending precautions
those writers who have written the history of Sicily are wit
nesses, for they say that the tyrant of Sicily suspected even 1
most affectionately loved wile ; and a proof of this is that he
ordered the entrance of his chamber by winch she was about
to have access to him to be strewed with planks, in order that
she mi"ht never come upon him without being observed, but
that the noise and tumult made by her stepping on these boards
FRAGMENTS. 229
might indicate her approach beforehand ; and besides this he
compelled her to come not only without her robe, but even
naked in every part, and even in those which ought not to be
seen by men. And in addition to this he ordered the whole
of the flooring along the road to be cut in width and depth
like a trench made by farmers, out of fear lest anything
should be secretly concealed so as to plot against him, which
would inevitably be detected by the leaps and long steps
which a person coming along this path would be compelled to
take.
Of how many miseries, then, was that man full who took all
these precautions and practised all these contrivances against
his own wife, whom he ought to have trusted above all other
human beings? But he was like those men who scale pre
cipices and climb over abrupt and steep mountains for the
purpose of attaining to a more accurate comprehension of the
natures of things in heaven, who at last after they have with
great difficulty ascended to some overhanging ridge, find them
selves unable to advance any further as they are too much
exhausted to think of attempting the remaining portion of the
mountain, and also want courage to descend, being giddy at
the sight of the chasms and ravines below them ; for he, being
in love with sovereign power as a godlike thing to be desired
above all other objects, looked upon it as unsafe either to
remain where he was or to retreat, for he considered that if
he remained where he was innumerable other evils would
come upon him in rapid and uninterrupted succession, while if
he decided on retracing his steps his very life would be in
danger, as there were enemies around, if not as to their bodies
at all events in their minds, against him.
And he also showed the truth of all this by the treatment to
which he exposed a friend of his who spoke of the life of a
tyrant as one of complete and absolute happiness ; for, having
invited him to a banquet which had been prepared in a most
brilliant and costly manner, he ordered a sharp sword to be
suspended over his head by a very fine thread, and when he,
after he had sat down to the banquet, on a sudden perceived
it, riot daring to rise up and quit his place for fear of the
tyrant, and not being able to enjoy any of the things which
were prepared out of fear, he disregarded all the abundant and
superb luxuries by which he was surrounded, and keeping his
230 PIIILO JUDJ3US.
neck and his eyes turned upwards, sat in the expectation of
instant death.*
And when Dionysius perceived the state in which he was,
he said to him, " Do you then at last begin to understand the
true character of that illustrious and enviable life of ours, for
this is what it really is if a man chooses to speak of it without
flattery or disguise, since it contains indeed a great abundance
of resources and supplies, but no enjoyment of any real bless
ing ; and it causes its possessor incessant fears and irremedi
able and unavoidable dangers, and a disease worse than the
most contagious or most fatal sickness, which is continually
threatening inevitable death. But the inconsiderate multitude,
being deceived by the outward brilliancy and splendour of the
position, are like people who are attracted by showy looking
courtesans, who, concealing their real deformity under fine
clothes and golden ornaments, and pencilling their eyes from
want of any real beauty, manufacture a spurious beauty in order
to lie in wait for and catch the beholders.
Now men who are placed in situations of great prosperity
are full of such unhappiness as this, of the greatness of which
they themselves are fully aware, and they do not at all keep it
to themselves, but like men who under compulsion divulge
secret things, they often utter the truest possible expressions,
which are extorted from them by suffering, living in the con
tinual company of punishment both present and expected, just
like cattle who are being fattened up for sacrifice, for they too
* Horace alludes to the story of Damocles, Ocl. III. i. 16.
Districtus ensis cui semper impi;\
Cervice pendet, non Sicula) dapes
Dulcem elaborabunt saporem,
Non avium citharseque cautus
Somnum reducent. Somnus agrestium
Lenis virorum non humiles domoa
Fastidit.
Which may be translated
" Care murders sleep ; the man who s learnt to dread
The sword unsafely trembling o er his head,
In vain to court his sad distracted taste
The table groans beneath the varied feast.
Sad Philomel s untutored song is vain,
And vain the swelling flute s more laboured strain,
To close his eyes in sleep, the envied lot
Of weary peasant in his humbler cot."
FRAGMENTS. 231
are treated with the greatest possible attention in order to be
fit to be sacrificed by reason of their fleshiness and good con
dition. There are also some men who have suffered punish
ment, and that not concealed, but visible, and notorious for
the impiety of the means by which they have acquired riches,
the names and numbers of whom it would be superfluous to
enumerate, but it will be sufficient to bring forward one
instance as a specimen of the whole.
It is said, then, by those who have written the History of
the Sacred War in Phocis that as there was a law established
that any one who was guilty of sacrilege should be either
thrown down a precipice, or drowned in the sea, or burnt alive,
that those men who had pillaged the temple at Delphi, by
name Philomelus, and Onomarchus. and Phayllus, divided
these punishments among them, for that the first fell down a
rugged and precipitous rock and was dashed to pieces on the
stones, and that the second, when the horse which he was
riding grew restive and plunged down towards the sea, was
overwhelmed by the w r aves, and so fell alive into a devouring
gulf; and Phayllus was wasted away by a consumptive disease
(for the way in which the story is told about him is twofold),
or else perished in the temple at Aba3, being burnt in it when
it was destroyed by fire. For it must be the mere spirit of
obstinacy and arguing to say that all these events took place
by mere chance, for if indeed one or two of them had been
punished at different periods or by some other mode of punish
ment, then it would have been reasonable to impute their fate
to the uncertainty of fortune, but w T hen they all died together
and at one time, and by no other punishment but by that
precise end which is appointed in the laws for the punishment
of such crimes as those of which they had been guilty, it is
surely fair to say that they perished by the direct condemnation
of God.
But if any of the violent men who are unmentioned, and
who have at different times risen up against the people in their
several states, and have enslaved not only other nations, but
their own countries too, have still died without meeting with
punishment, it is not to be wondered at, for in the first place
man does not judge as God judges, because we investigate
what is visible to ourselves, but he descends into the secret
recesses of the soul without making any noise, and there con-
232 PIIILO JUD^EUS.
templates the mind in the clear light, as if in the sun ; for
stripping of! from it all the ornaments in which it is enveloped,
and seeing its devices and intentions naked, lie immediately
distinguishes between the bad and the good.
Let not ns then, preferring our own judgment to that of
God, assert that it is more unerring or more full of wisdom
than his, for that is not consistent with holiness; for in the
one there are many things which deceive it, such as the
treacherous outward senses, the insidious character of the
passions, the most terrible attacks of vice, but in the other
there is nothing which can at all conduce to deceit or error,
but justice and truth, by which each separate action is deter
mined on, and in this way is naturally rectified in the most
praiseworthy manner.
Do not thou, then, my good friend, consider tyrannical
power, that most unprofitable of all things, to be a seasonable
possession ; for neither is punishment disadvantageous, but it
is either more beneficial, or at all events not injurious to the
good to suffer due punishment, on which account it is expressly
comprehended in all laws which are wisely enacted, and those
who have established such laws are praised by every one ; for
what a tyrant is in a people, that is punishment in a law.
When therefore a want and terrible scarcity of virtue seizes
upon cities, and when a great abundance of folly overwhelms
everything, then God, like the stream of an overflowing torrent,
being desirous to wash away all the power and impetuosity of
wickedness, in order to purify our race, gives vigour and power
to those men who by their natures are fitted to exercise
dominion, for without a stern soul wickedness cannot be got
rid of. And just as cities keep executioners for the punish
ment of murderers, and traitors, and sacrilegious persons, not
because they approve of the dispositions of the men, but
because they have need of the serviceable part of their minis
trations; in the same manner the Ruler of this mighty city,
the worLl, appoints tyrants, like ordinary executioners, to be
over those cities in which he sees that violence, and injustice,
and impiety prevail, and all other kinds of evils in abundance,
that he may by these means put an end to their existence.
And then he thinks it right to pursue the guilty, as men who
have been serving these vices from the impulses of an impure
and pitiless soul, with every punishment imaginable, as the
FRAGMENTS. 233
ringleaders ; for as the power of fire when it has consumed the
fuel which was given to it, at last consumes itself also, so also
do those who have received supreme power over nations, when
they have exhausted the cities and rendered them destitute of
inhabitants, at last perish themselves among them, suffering
due punishment for all that they have done.
And why should we wonder if God employs the agency of
tyrants to get rid of wickedness when widely diffused over
cities, and countries, and nations? For he very often uses
other ministers, and himself brings about the same end by his
own resources, inflicting upon the nation famine, or pestilence,
or earthquakes, or any other heaven-sent calamity, by which
great and numerous multitudes perish every day, and by which
a great portion of the habitable world is made desolate, on
account of his care for the preservation of virtue.
Therefore I have now, as I conceive, spoken at sufficient
length on the present subject, namely, that no wicked man is
happy, by which fact above all others it may be established
that there is such a thing as providence ; but if you are not
thoroughly convinced, then tell me boldly what is the doubt
which is still lurking in your mind, for then both of us by
labouring together shall be able to see clearly what the real
truth is.
And after some more arguments, he proceeds thus :
God causes the violent storms of wind and rain which we
see, not for the injury of those who traverse the sea, as you
fancied, or of those who till the earth, but for the general
benefit of the whole of the human race, for with his water he
cleanses the earth, and with his breezes he purifies all the
regions beneath the moon, and by the united influence of both
he nourishes and promotes the growth and brings to perfection
both animals and plants. And if at times these things do
injure those who put to sea or who till the land at unseason
able moments, it is not to be wondered at, for these men are
hut a small portion of the human race, and the care of God is
exerted for the benefit of all mankind.
As, therefore, in a gymnastic school oil is placed there for
the common benefit of every one, but still it often happens
that the master of the school, by reason of some political
necessity changes the arrangement of the usual hours of
exercise, by which means some of those who wish to anoint
034 rniLO JUD.EUS.
themselves come too Lite ; in like manner God, who takes
cure of the whole world as if it were a city committed to his
charge, does sometimes cause the summer to resemble winter,
and winter to assume the characteristics of spring, for the
common benefit of the universe, even though some captains of
ships, or some cultivators of the ground, may very likely be
injured by this irregularity of the seasons. Therefore He.
being aware that the occasional interchanges of the elements
with one another, out of which the world was made, and of
which it consists, are a work of the greatest importance and
necessity, supplies them without allowing anything to be an
obstacle to them ; and frost and snow-storms, and other things
of that kind, follow the cooling of the air. And, again, light
nings and thunders arise from the collision and repercussion
of the clouds, none of which tilings are perhaps effected by any
immediate exertion of providence, but the rains and winds arc
the causes of existence, and nourishment, and growth to all
tbings which are upon the earth, and these phenomena are the
natural consequences of those others
For just as it often happens, when the master of a gymnas
tic school, out of rivalry, has gone to extravagant expense, then
some of those who are ignorant of all that is becoming, having
been bespattered with oil instead of water, let all the drops
from them fall upon the boards, and then a most slippery mud
is the result : nevertheless a man, whose appreciations were
just would not say that the .hard and the slippery state of the
ground was caused by the intention of the master of the
school, but that these things had resulted accidentally, in con
sequence of the abundant quantity of the tilings supplied.
Again, the rainbow, and the halo, and all other things of that
kind, are natural consequences of those things becoming
mingled with the clouds, not being occurrences which lead
and influence nature, but being the results and consequences
of the operations of nature.
Not but what these very things themselves do also afford
some signs of great importance to wise men, for, guiding
their conjectures by them, they predict calms and storms of
wind, and line weather, and tempests. Do you not sec the
porticoes which embellish the cities? the greater part of these
look towards the south, in order that those who walk under
FRAGMENTS. 235
them may be warm in the winter, and may be cool in the
summer.
There is also another thing which does not happen through
the intention of Him who made it, and what is this ? the
shadows which fall from the feet indicate the hours to our
experience. And again, fire is a most important work of
nature, but the consequence of fire is smoke, and nevertheless
even this too at times is of some service. At all events in
the heat, in the middle of the day, when the fire is rendered
invisible by the brilliancy of the beams of the sun, the ap
proach of enemies is indicated by the smoke, and the principle
which causes the rainbow is also the same which, in some
degree, regulates eclipses.
For eclipses are a natural consequence of the rules which
regulate the divine natures of the sun and moon ; and they
are indications either of the impending death of some king, or
of the destruction of some city, as Pindar also has told us in
enigmatical terms, alluding to such events as the conse
quences of the omens which I have now been mentioning.*
* This theory of the eclipses of the sun and other natural prodigies
being prophetic of events on earth, is expressed by Virgil in a passage
of the most exquisite beauty in reference to Caesar s death. Georg. i.
462.
Denique, quid vesper serua vehat, unde serenas
Ventus agat nubes, quid cogitet humidus auster,
Sol tibi signa dabit. Solem quis dicere falsum
Audeat ? Ille etiam caecos instare tumultus
Saepe monet, fraudemque et operta tumescere bella.
Ille etiam extincto niiseratus Cscsare Romam,
Quum caput obscura nitidum ferrugine texit
Impiaque aeternam timuerunt secula noctem.
Tempora quamquam illo tellus quoque, et aequora ponti,
Obscsenique canes, importunaoque volucres
Sigua dabant. Quoties Cyclopum eflervere in agros
Vidimus undantem ruptis foruacibus ./Etnam,
Flammarumque globos, liquefactaque volvere saxa !
Armorum sonitum toto Germania coelo
Audiit : insolitis tremuerunt motibus Alpes.
Vox quoque per lucos volgo exaudita silentis
Ingens : et simulacra modis palleutia miris
Visa sub obscurum noctis : pecudesque locuta?,
Infandum ! sistunt amues, terrseque dehiscunt,
Et moestuin inlacrimat templis ebur, aoraque audant.
Proluit insano contorquens vovtice silvas
Fluviorum rex Eridanus, camposque per omnia
236 PHILO JUD/EUS.
And the circle of the Milky Way partakes of the same
natural essences with the other stars ; but merely the fact that
it is hard to account for, is no reason that those who are ac-
Cum stabulis armenta tulit. Nee tempore eodem
Tristibus ant extis fibnc adparere minaces,
Ant puteis manare cruor cessavit : et altie
Per noctem resonare, lupis ululantibus, urbes :
Non alias coclo cecideruut plura sereno
Fulgura : nee diri toties arsere coniete.
Ergo inter sese paribus concurrere telis
Romauas acies iterum videre Philippi.
Or as it is translated by Dryden
" The unerring sun by certain signs declares
What the late eve or early morn prepares,
And when the south projects a stormy day,
And when the clearing north will puff the clouds away.
The sun reveals the secrets of the skv,
And who dares give the source of light the lie ?
The change of empires often he declares,
Fierce tumults, hidden treasons, open wars.
He first the fate of C.csar did foretell,
And pitied Rome, when Rome in Ciesar fell,
In iron clouds concealed the public light,
And impious mortals feared eternal night.
Nor was the fact foretold by him alone,
Nature herself stood forth and seconded the sun.
Karth. air, and seas with prodigies were sign- d,
And birds obscene and howling dogs divined ;
What rocks did . Etna s bellowing mouth expire
From her torn entrails ! and what floods of fire.
What clanks were heard in German skies afar
Of arms and armies rushing to the war.
Dire earthquakes rent the solid Alps below.
And from their .summits shook the eternal snow.
Pale spectres in the close of night were seen,
And voices heard of more than mortal men.
In silent groves dumb sheep and oxen spoke,
And streams ran backward and their beds forsook;
The y iwnir.g earth disclosed the abyss of hell,
The weeping statues did the wars foretell,
And holy sweat from brazen idols fell.
Then rising in his might, the king of floods
Hushed through the forests, tore the lofty woods,
And rolling o -wards, with a sweepy sway
Bore houses, l;m Is, and labouring hinds away.
Blood Sj tang from wells, wolves howled in turns by night,
And bud: Kg victims did the priests affright.
FRAGMENTS. 237
customed to investigate the principles cf nature should shrink
from examining into it ; for the discovery of those things is
most beneficial, and the investigation of them is intrinsically
most delightful for its own sake, to those who are fond of
learning.
For as the sun and moon exist in consequence of Provi
dence, so also do all things in heaven, even though we are
unable to trace out accurately the respective natures and pow
ers of each, and are, therefore, reduced to silence about them ;
and earthquakes, and pestilences, and the fall of thunderbolts,
and things of that kind, are said indeed to be sent by God,
but, in reality, they are not so, for God is absolutely not. the
cause of any evil whatever of any kind, but the natural changes
of the elements produce these effects, not as circumstances
which guide nature, but as those which are followed by
necessary results, and which do themselves follow naturally
upon their antecedent causes. Anl if some people, who think
themselves entitled to immunity meet with some injury
from these things, they are still not to find fault with their
management and dispensation ; for, in the first place, it does
not follow, that if some persons are reckoned virtuous among
men, they are so in real truth ; since the criteria by which
God judges are far more accurate than any of the tests by
which the human mind is guided. And, in the second place,
prophetic wisdom loves to contemplate those things in the
world which are of the most comprehensive nature, as in the
case of monarchies, and in the governments of armies, we see
that it is not any obscure, ignoble, or chance person who is
appointed to govern the cities or the armies.
And some persons say that as on occasion of the slaying of
tyrants, it is lawful that their relations also should be put to
death, in order that transgressions may be checked by the ter
rible magnitude of the punishment inflicted : in like manner
in pestilential diseases, it is necessary that some of those who
are not guilty should be involved in the destruction, in order
Such peals of thunder never poured from high,
Nor forky lightnings flashed from such a sullen sky ;
Ked meteor-- ran across the ethereal space,
Stars disappeared and comets took their place.
For this the Emathian plains once more were strewed
With Roman bodies, and just heaven thought good
To fatten twice those fields with Roman blood."
238 PHILO JUD^US.
that others who are at a distance may learn moderation. Besides
that, it is inevitable that those who are exposed to a pesti
lential atmosphere must become diseased just as all persons
who are exposed to a storm on board a ship must be all
exposed to equal danger. But those wild beasts which are
courageous have been created ; for we must not suppress the
truth (as if one were to anticipate the defence likely to bo
made by a man of powerful eloquence and tare it to pieces be
forehand), in order that men may, by practising against them,
acquire hardihood for the contests of war; for gymnastic exer
cises and continued hunting train men and inure their souls
in a greater degree even than their bodies to rely upon their
own courage, and energy, and strength, so as to disregard the
sudden attacks of their enemies.
But those men who are of peaceable character are at liberty
to keep themselves not only within their walls, but also even
within tents, and there to live in privacy, safe from the designs
of any enemies, having vast arid countless herds of domestic
animals to help their enjoyment ; since boars and lions, and
animals of that kind, are by their own instinct driven to a dis
tance from cities, not being inclined to expose themselves to
danger in consequence of the devices of men. And if any
men, being influenced by a spirit of laziness and indolence,
living without arms and without preparation, dwell fearlessly
among the haunts of wild beasts, then if anything happens to
them they must blame not nature but themselves, because
when they might have guarded against any such disasters,
they have neglected them. Accordingly, before now, I have
seen at the horse-races some persons acting in a most careless
manner, who, when they ought to have sat still and to have
beheld the races in an orderly manner, standing in the middle
have been knocked down by the horses feet and by the wheels,
and have met with a proper reward for their folly.
We have now, then, said enough on this subject.
But of reptiles, those which are venomous have not been
called into existence by an immediate providence, but by the
natural consequences of events, as I said before ; for they are
brought into life when the moisture which is in them changes
to a more violent heat ; and some are vivified by putrefaction,
as, for instance, the putrefaction of meat produces maggots, and
that which is caused by perspiration produces lice ; but all
FRAGMENTS. 230
those which are produced out of a kindred substance, and
which have their generation in accordance with the usual
spermatic principles which I have mentioned before, are very
naturally ascribed to an immediate providence. And I have
also heard two accounts given of them as having been created
for the advantage of mankind, which I should not think it well
to conceal. Now one of them is the following.
Some persons have said that venomous animals contribute
greatly to many of the objects of physicians, and that those
who reduce that science to a regular system use them in a
proper manner, and, acting with great wisdom and prudence,
have discovered antidotes, so as to be able to contribute to the
unexpected safety of those who were in the greatest possible
danger; and even at the present time one may see those
persons who apply themselves to the study of medicine, in a
careful and diligent manner, using all these animals and plants
in a most skilful manner in the composition of drugs.
The other account has no reference to the practice of phy
sicians, but only as it would seem to the studies of philosophers.
For it says that all these things have been prepared by God as
engines of punishment against offenders, just as generals and
rulers prepare halters and chains. On which account, though
they are quiet at other times, they are brought out with great
power in the case of people who have been condemned, and
whom nature in her incorruptible tribunal has sentenced to
death ; for that they lurk in secret holes and in houses, is a
falsehood ; for it is seen that these creatures flee out of the
cities into the fields and into desert places, to avoid man as
their master. Not but what, if this is true, there is a certain
sense and principle in it ; for rubbish is heaped up in recesses :
and quantities of sweepings, and. refuse, and such things, are
what venomous reptiles love to lurk in, besides the fact that
their smell has an attractive power over them.
Again, if swallows live among us, it is not at all strange, for
we abstain from hunting them ; and a desire of safety is im
planted not only in the souls of rational creatures, but also in
those of irrational animals.
But of those animals which tend to our enjoyment, there is
not one which lives with us by reason of the designs which we
form against them, except that some do live with those nations
to whom the use of them is forbidden by the law. There is a
QIO PHILO JUD/EUS.
city of Syria, on the sea shore, Ascalon by name : when I was
there, at the time when I was on my journey towards the
temple of my native land for the purpose of offering up prayers
and sacrifices therein, I saw a most incalculable number of
pigeons on the roads and about every house ; and when J
inquired the cause of their being there in such numbers, they
said that it was not lawful to catch them, for that the use of
them had been prohibited to the inhabitants from the earliest
ages ; and so the bird had become so thoroughly tame through
fearlessness, that it not only hovered about the roofs and came
into the houses, but approached their tables also, and grew
luxurious in the alliance which it had thus formed.
And in Egypt we may see a still more marvellous thing ;
for the crocodile is the most odious of all animals, and one
addicted to devour man ; and it is born and brought up in the
most sacred way, and although residing in the depths, it feels
the benefits which it receives from mankind ; for in those tribes,
among which it is honoured, it multiplies in the greatest de
gree, but among those who injure it it never appears at all :
so that there are places where even the most timid persons
when sailing by leap out of their ships and swim about with
their children.
And in the country of the Cyclops, since the race of these
men is a fabulous invention, there is no eatable fruit whatever
produced except such as is raised from seed and cultivated by
husbandmen, just as nothing is produced from that which does
not exist; but we must not accuse Greece as being sterile and
unproductive, for there is a great deal of deep and rich soil m
it ; and if the land of the barbarians is superior in fruitfulness,
though it is superior in the food which it produces, it is inferior
in tin: men who are nourished by the food, and for whose sake
the food is produced.
For Greece is the only country which really produces man,
that heavenly plant, that diviue offshort, producing that most
accurately refined reason which is appropriated by and akin
to knowledge ; and the cause is this, it is the nature of the
intellect to be rendered acute by the lightness of the air; on
which account Heraclitus said with great propriety, " Where
the soil is dry, there the soul is most wise and most excellent ;"
and in y one may conjecture this from the fact, that men who
are sober and contented with a little are wise, and that those
FRAGMENTS. 241
who are continually filling themselves with meat and drink
are the least sensible, as if their reasoning faculties were
drowned by the quantity which they swallow.
And on this account we see, in the countries of the bar
barians, trees and plants grow to the greatest possible size,
by reason of the abundance of nourishment which they receive ;
and we see too, that the irrational animals which are found in
these regions are the most prolific of any, but the mind is not
so, or, at all events, it is so in a very slight degree, because it
is elevated and raised out of the aether itself, while the inces
sant and uninterrupted evaporations of earth and water have
freely boiled over it. Again, the different kinds of fish, and
birds, and terrestrial animals, are not grounds for accusing
nature, which invites us to pleasure by those means, but are a
terrible reproach to us for our intemperate use of them, for it
was necessary, for the due completion of the universe, in order
that there should be order and regularity in every portion of
it, that there should be produced every possible species of
animal. But it was not necessary that that animal, which of
all others is most akin to wisdom, namely, man, should rush
with such eagerness to the enjoyment of it, as to change his
nature into something resembling the ferocity of wild beasts ;
on which account, even up to the present time, those who have
any regard for temperance entirely abstain from such things,
eating only vegetables, and herbs, and the fruits of trees, as
the most delicious and wholesome food.
And these men are instructors for those who look upon the
practice of eating such animals to be in accordance with
nature, and correct them, and are lawgivers to their respective
cities, being men who take care to check the immoderate
vehemence of the appetites, and who do not permit the
unrestrained use of everything to everybody.
Again, if roses, and crocuses, and all the other beautiful
variety of flowers which we see, contribute to health, it would
not follow that they all contribute to pleasure ; for the inde
scribable variety of them makes the powers of some of them
more conspicuous than those of others, just as there is a com
mingling of male and female, contributing to the generation of
an animal ; neither of them being calculated, by itself, to
produce the effect which the two produce in combination.
These things are said, in a most convincing manner, with
VOL. IV. K
0.12 PIIILO JUD/EUS.
reference to the rest of the questions raised by you, being quite
sufficient to produce conviction in the minds of all who are not
obstinately contentious on the subject of God taking great care
of human affairs.
FRAGMENTS,
EXTRACTED
FllOM THE PARALLELS OF JOHX OF DAMASCUS.
About the unstable and changeable condition of human affairs.
Page o26. C. If one is to tell the plain truth, man is
without real power in anything, never taking a firm hold of
anything. I do not mean merely of common things, but not
even of those which concern himself; neither of health, nor of
a good condition of the outward senses, nor of soundness in
respect of the other parts of his body, nor of his voice, nor of
his presence of mind ; for as to wealth, or glory, or friends, or
power, or all the other things which depend on fortune, who is
there who does not know how thoroughly unstable they are ?
So that we must of necessity confess that the supreme power
over everything belongs to one being alone, the true Lord of
all existing things.
About impious men, sinners, tCc.
P. 341. D. If you wish to be governed under God as your
kin<, take care not to sin ; but if you commit sin, how can you
be under the government of God as your king ?
About those people who liave renounced such and such a line of
conduct, and tJwn turning back again, have adopted that very
line ivhich they had renounced.
P. 313. D. Some men, making improvement, have returned
back to virtue before coming to the end, the ancient principle
of oligarchy having destroyed the principle of aristocracy lately
engendered in the soul, which having been quiet for a little
while, has subsequently come up over again with greater power
than before.
Ibid. When a man rightly establishes himself in a virtuous
life, with meditation, and practice, and good government, and
FRAGMENTS. 243
when having been known by all men as a pious man and one
who fears God, he falls into sin, that is a great fall, for he has
ascended up to the height of heaven, and fallen down into the
abyss of hell.
About resurrection and judgment.
P. 349. A. It is not possible with God that a wicked man
should lose his good reward for a single good thing which he
may have done among a great number of evil actions ; nor, on
the other hand, that a good man should escape punishment,
and not suffer it, if among many good actions he has done
wickedly in anything, for it is infallibly certain that God dis
tributes everything according to a just weight and balance.
Ibid. B. The mind is the witness to each individual of the
things which they have planned in secret, and conscience is an
incorruptible judge, and the most unerring of all judges.
About those ivlio are ruled.
P. 359. A. He who has learnt how to submit to be ruled,
immediately learns how to rule others ; for even if a man were
invested with the supreme power over all the earth and all the
sea, he would not be a true ruler unless he had also learnt and
been previously taught to submit to the rule of others.
About anarchy.
P. 359. D. Alas, how many and great evils are produced
by anarchy! Famine, war, the devastation of lands, the
deprivation of money, abductions, fears of slavery, and death.
About the foolish and senseless man, &c.
P. 3C2. E. No wicked man is rich, not even though he
should be the owner of all the mines in the whole world ; but
all foolish men are poor. Every foolish man is straitened,
being oppressed by covetousness, and ambition, and a love of
pleasure, and things of that sort, which do not permit the
mind to dwell at ease or to enjoy plenty of room.
P. 363. A. There is no greater evil to a man than folly,
and the being deprived of the proper use of his reasoning
powers and intellect.
P. 3(53. A. Ignorance is the cause of disease and destruc
tion.
244 PHILO JUD/EUS.
About deceit affecting the management of a household.
P. 307. D. Every stratagem is not blameable, since
guardians of the night appear to act properly when they lie in
wait tor robbers, and generals when they form ambuscades
against the enemy, whom they cannot catch without a strata
gem ; and the same principle is applicable to what are called
mand iivres, and to the artitices practised in the contests of
wrestlers, for in such cases deceit is accounted honourable.
About impossible things.
P. 370. B. It is as impossible that the love of the world
can co-exist with the love of God, as for light and darkness to
co-exist at the same time with one another.
About holy men.
P. 372. E. The happy nature is that which rejoices on
every occasion, and which is not discontented with anything
whatever which exists in the world, but is pleased with what
ever happens, as being good, and beautiful, and expedient.
About leisure and quiet.
P. 376. A. The wise man endeavours to secure quiet and
leisure, and periods of rest from work, that he may devote
himself peacefully to the meditations on divine matters.
About evil-speaking.
P. 379. D. Foul speakers and random accusers, who seek
to make a display of their art with vain words, being slow to
learn what is good, are very quick and ready at learning what
is of the opposite character.
About counsel.
P. 307. D. Everything which is not done with reason is
discreditable, just as what is done with reason is beautiful.
About old men.
P. 404. C. Old age is an nnniillcd harbour.
IbiiJ. Old age is the time when the vigour of the body is
passed by : the period when the passions can be checked.
About gymnasia.
P. 405. D. Continued practice makes knowledge firm, just
FRAGMENTS. 245
as want of practice engenders ignorance. And, again, practice
in any matter increases experience.
Ibid. Study is the nurse of knowledge.
About calumny.
P. 436. D. Calumniators and men discarded from the
divine grace, who are afflicted with the same evil disposition
of calumny with him, are in all respects hated and detested by
God, and removed to a distance from all happiness.
Ibid. What can be worse than calumny? for it seduces
the ears and perplexes the minds of those who listen to it, and
it makes them brutal and always on a watch for evil, like men
engaged in hunting; but those who are well ballasted and
restrained by prudent reason, hate the man who utters calum
nies more than him against whom they are uttered, reproving
and seeking to check all desire of blaming others until it be
either proved by evidence or demonstrated by undeniable
proof.
About justice and virtue.
P. 438. D. If any one embraces all the virtues with
earnestness and sobriety, he is a king, even though he may be
in a private station.
About voluntary and involuntary sins.
P. 526. B. As to sin intentionally is unjust, so to sin
unintentionally and out of ignorance is not at once justifiable,
but perhaps it is something between the two, that is between
righteousness and unrighteousness, and is of what some persons
call an indifferent character, for no sin can be an act of
righteousness.
About initiation into divine mysteries.
P. 533. C. It is not lawful to speak of the sacred mysteries
to the uninitiated.
About the sea.
P. 551. D. It is proper to marvel at the sea, by means of
which countries requite one another for the good things which
they receive from each other, and by which they receive what
they are in need of, and export what they have a suoeriluity of
240 rniLO JUDA:US.
About equality.
P. 556. D. To give equal tilings to unequal people is an
action of the greatest injustice.
About physicians and medical science.
A good physician would not be inclined to apply every kind
of salutary medicine at once and on the same day to a patient,
as he would know that by such a course lie would be doin^
him more harm than good, but he would measure out the
proper opportunities, and then give saving medicines in a
seasonable manner ; and he would apply different remedies at
different times, and so he would bring about the patient s
restoration to health by gentle degrees.
About opportunity.
P. 563. C. Say what is right, and at the time when it is
right, and you will not hear what is not right.
Hid. It is well to economise time.
About mysteries,
P. 576. D. Chatterers divulging what ought to be kept
buried in silence, do in a manner from a disease of the tongue
pour forth into people s ears things which are not worthy of
being heard.
About peojile who are in a state of pupillage.
P. 613. D. To inquire and put questions is the most useful
of habits with a view to acquiring instruction.
Ibid. He who hungers and thirsts after knowledge, and
who is eager to learn what he does not know, abandoning all
other objects of care, is eager to become a disciple, and day
and night watches at the doors of the houses of wise men.
Ibid. For any one to know that he is ignorant is a piece ot
wisdom, just as to know that one has done wrong is a piece of
righteousness.
About reproach.
P. 630. C. Never reproach any one with misfortune, for
nature is impartial, and the future is uncertain ; lest it you
yourself should fall into similar misfortunes, you should be
found to be convicted and condemned by your own conscience.
FRAGMENTS. 247
About a proper constitution.
P. 657. C. It is advantageous to submit to one s betters.
About a blameable constitution.
From the fifth book of the Essays on Genesis.
P. 658. E. A shameless look, and a high head, and a con
tinual rolling of the eyes, and a pompous strut in walking, and
a habit of blushing at nothing, however discreditable, are signs
of a most infamous soul, which stamps the obscure topics of
the reproaches which belong to itself upon the visible body.
About familiarity and 1t,abituation.
P. 681. D. A change of all kinds of circumstances at once
to the opposite direction is very harsh, especially when the
existing powers are established by the length of time that they
have lasted.
About correction.
P. C83. D. It is useful to be warned by the misfortunes of
others.
Ibid. Punishment very often warns and corrects those who
do wrong ; but if it fails to do so to them, at all events it
corrects the bystanders, for the punishments of others improve
most people, from fear lest they should suffer similar evils.
About associating with wicked men.
P. 692. A. Associations with wicked men are mischievous,
and very often the soul against its will receives the impression
of the insane wickedness of one s associates.
About wisdom.
P. 693. E. Every wise man is a friend of God.
About haughty men.
P. 693. E. Self-conceit, as the proverb of the ancients has
it, is the eradication of all improvement, for the man who is
full of self-conceit is incapable of improvement.
Self-conceit is by nature an unclean thing.
About natural things.
P. 711. C. As it is difficult to inoculate anything in a
248 PHILO JUD/EUS.
manner contrary to nature, and to introduce anything into
nature which does not belong to it, so likewise is it hard to
change things which are of such and such a nature from that
nature, and to restrain them ; for it has been well said by
some one, everything is vain if nature sets herself against it.
About man.
From the Questions arising in Genesis.
P. 748. A. What is the meaning of the expression, " until"*
thou return to the dust from which thou wast taken ? For man
was not formed of the dust alone, but also of the divine Spirit ;
but since he did not continue in an unchanged condition, he
neglected the divine command, and cutting off that constitution
which imitated the heaven from his better part, he made him
self over wholly to the earth ; for if he had been a lover of
virtue, which is immortal, he would beyond all question have
received heaven for his inheritance, but since what he sought
was pleasure, by means, of which the death of the soul is
brought upon mankind, he became appropriated to the earth.
About Adam.
From the Questions arising in Genesis.
P. 748. B. " And God brought all the animals to Adam,
to- see what he would call them;"f for God does not doubt,
but since he has given mind to man, the first born and most
excellent of his creatures, according to which he, being endowed
with knowledge, is by nature enabled to reason ; he excites
him, as an instructor excites his pupil, to a display of his
powers, and he contemplates the most excellent offspring of
his soul. And, again, he visibly by the example of this man
gives an outline of all that is voluntary in us, looking with
disfavour on those who affirm that everything happens through
necessity, by which some men must be influenced, he on that
account commanded man to take upon himself the regulation
of these things. And this is an employment peculiarly fitting
for man, as being endowed with a very high degree of know
ledge and most surpassing prudence, the giving of names to
the animals being suited to him not only as being wise, but
also as being the first nobly born creature.
For it was fitting that he should be the founder of the
* Genesis iii. 19. f Genesis iii. 19.
FRAGMENTS. 249
human race, and also the king of everything that is born of
the earth, and that he should have this as an especial honour
of his own, that, as he was the first who had any acquaintance
with the animals, he might also be the first inventor and
pronouncer of their names ; for it would have been absurd for
them to be left without names, and subsequently to have names
given to them by some younger man, to the honour and glory
of the elder.
And when Adam saw the figure of his wife, as the prophet
says, and that it had been produced not by any connexion, nor
out of a woman, as human beings in after times were produced,
but that she was as it were a nature on the borders between
these two kinds, like a graft from a shoot of another vine taken
off and grafted into a second one, on which account he says,
41 For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother,
and shall cleave to his wife, and they two shall become one
tlesh ;"* in saying which he used a most gentle expression,
which was at the same time most perfectly true, meaning that
they would be united by sympathy in their griefs and joys.
From the same book, or else from the last book of the Questions
arising in Exodus.
Truly the divine place is inaccessible, and one which is hard
to be approached, nor is it given even to the purest intellect
to be able to ascend to such a height as to touch it. It is
impossible for human nature to behold the face of the living
God ; but the word " face " is not used here in its literal
meaning, but it is a metaphorical expression, here intended to
manifest the purest and simplest form of the living God, since
man is not recognized more by anything than by his face,
according to his peculiar distinctive qualities and form. For
God does not say, " I am not visible in my nature." But
who, in fact, is more visible than he who is the Father of all
visible things? And being such with regard to being seen, I
am, says he, seen by no mortal man ; and the reason of this
is the inability of the created man to behold him.
And that I may not become prolix while weaving in all
kinds of arguments, it is inevitable that God must first be
created (which is not possible), in order for any one to be able
to comprehend God. But if any one dies as to this mortal
Genesis ii. 24.
250 PIIILO JUD;EUS.
life, but still lives, having received in exchange a life of
immortality, perhaps he will see what he never saw before.
All the different philosophical sects which have flourished in
Greece, and in the countries of the barbarians, when investi
gating the secrets of nature, have never been able to arrive at
a clear perception of even the most trivial circumstances ; and
a clear proof of this assertion may be found in the disagree
ments, and dissensions, and contentions of those of each sect
who are seeking to establish their own opinions, and to over
throw those of their adversaries. And the households of thur>o
who have been contending for the predominance of this and
that sect, have been the causes of universal wars, blinding the
human mind by their contradictory quarrels, which might
otherwise have been able to see the truth, and fighting hard
about what doctrines ought to be abandoned and what ought to
be preserved.
Now he who desires to form to himself a conception of the
most excellent of all beings, ought in the first place to stand
firm in his mind, being steadfastly fixed in one opinion, and
not varying or wandering in different directions. And in tin-
next place, he ought to take his stand upon nature, and upon
solid grounds, and to abandon all barren and corruptible things,
for if anything of a somewhat effeminate character approach
him, he will be disappointed of his object, and he will be
unable, even if he exert the most acute faculties of sight
imaginable, to behold the uncreated God ; so that he will
become blind before he sees him, on account of the brilliancy
of his beams and the flood of light which distils therefrom. Do
you not see that the power of fire in the case of those who
htand at a measured distance from it affords light to them, but
it burns those who approach too near? Take care that you do
not suffer such an injury as this in your mind, and lest an
extravagant desire of an impossible object destroy you.
About those u7to are governed.
Out of the first book of the Questions in Genesis.
T. 749. E. As pillars support whole houses, so also the
power of God supports the whole world, and the best and most
God-loving section of the human race.
Out of the Questions in Genesis.
P. 750. C. If any one is either in any house, or village, or
FRAGMENTS. 251
city, or nation, who is a lover of wisdom, it is absolutely
inevitable that that house or city should be the better for his
existence in it, for a virtuous man is a common good to all
men, bestowing on them advantages proceeding from himself
as from a prepared store.
About people who carry news, and act as intermediate
bearers of answers.
From the Questions arising in Exodus.
P. 751. B. The influx of evils agitates and disturbs the
soul, enveloping it in a giddiness which darkens its perceptions,
and compels it to suffer that power of sight which by nature
v,:is pre-eminent, but which by habit has become blinded, to be
obscured.
Ibid. There is nothing so opposite to and inconsistent with
the most holy powers of God as injustice.
About the sinner and offender.
From the Questions arising in Genesis.
-P. 751. C. Never to err in any point whatever is the
greatest blessing ; but when one has erred, to repent is next
akin to it, as a younger good, if one may say so, by the side of
an elder, for there are some persons who exult in the offences
which they have committed as if they had done good actions,
though they are in reality afflicted with a disease difficult to
be cured, or I sould rather say incurable.
About its being impossible to escape from God.
From the last book of Questions arising in Exodus.
P. 752. A. He contains all things, while yet he is himself
contained by nothing; for as place is that which contains
bodies, and that to which they flee for refuge, so also the
divine reason contains the universe and is that winch has com
pleted it.
About truth and faithful evidence.
From the second book of the Questions in Exodus.
P. 754. C. By some lawgivers the practice of giving hear
say evidence has been forbidden, on the ground that the truth
is established by the eye-sight, but falsehood by hearing.
252 PHILO JTJD/EUS.
About quiet and ease.
From the fourth book of the Questions in Genesis.
The wise man is desirous of peace and leisure, that he may
have time for meditation on heavenly things.
From the fifth book.
Ibid. E. For thus the lover of wisdom never unites with any
rash person, even though he may he closely united to him by
blood; nor does he ever consent to dwell with a wicked man,
being separated from the multitude by his reasoning powers, on
account of which he is said not to be a fellow voyager, or a
fellow citizen, or a companion of such men.
Ibid. The wise man is a sojourner and a settler, having
come as an emigrant from a life of confusion and disorder to
one suitable to peaceful and happy men.
About the fearful expulsion.
From the first book of the Questions in Genesis.
P. 772. B. But the essence of the angels is spiritual, but
they are very often made to resemble the appearance of men,
being transformed on any emergencies which arise.
From the second book of the same Questions.
Ibid. All the powers of God are winged, being always eager
and striving for the higher path which leads to the Father.
About Jicrctics.
From the first book of the Questions in Exodus.
P. 774. B. All those who have stumbled, being unable to
proceed with upright feet, go on slowly, being fatigued a long
time before they come to their journey s end ; so also the soul
is hindered from proceeding successfully on the path which
leads to piety if it has previously fallen in with any of the bye-
roads of wickedness, for they are great hindrances to it, and
the causes of its stumbling, by means of which the mind
becoming lame, proceeds too slowly on the road, according to
nature ; and this road, according to nature, is that which ends
at the Father of the universe.
From the same book.
The contentious investigations which men enter into about
the virtues of God, improve the intellect and train it in most
FRAGMENTS. 253
pleasant labours, which are also most beneficial to it, and
especially when men do not (as those of the present day do)
disguise themselves under a false appellation, and contend for
the doctrines in appearance only, but do, in an honest and
true heart, seek out truth in connection with knowledge.
From the second book of the same treatise.
not being more anxious to display melody and
harmony in their voices than in their minds ; the eloquence of
the wise man does not display its beauty in words only, but in
the matters which it proves by its words.
From the last book of the Questions in Exodus.
Those men who apply themselves to the study of the holy
scriptures ought not to cavil and quibble at syllables, but
ought first to look at the spirit and meaning of the nouns and
verbs used, and at the occasions on which and the manners in
which each expression is used ; for it often happens that the
same expressions are applied to different things at different
times ; and, on the contrary, opposite expressions are at dif
ferent times applied to the same thing with perfect consistency.
From the Questions in Genesis.
Those men act absurdly who judge of the whole from a
part, instead of, on the contrary, forming their estimate of a
part from their knowledge of the whole ; for this is the more
proper way to form one s opinion of anything, whether it be a
body or a doctrine ; therefore the divine code of laws is, in a
manner, a united creature, which one must regard in all its
parts and members at once with all one s eyes, and one must
contemplate the meaning and sense of the whole scripture
with accuracy and clearness, not disturbing its harmony nor
dissevering its unity ; for the parts will have a very different
appearance and character if they are once deprived of their
union.
From the fourth book of the same treatise.
Let there then be a law against all those who profess to
look on what is venerable and divine, in any other than a
respectful and holy spirit, inflicting punishment on their
blindness.
From the second book of the Questions in Exodus.
P. 775. There is nothing either more pleasant or more
Q54 PI1ILO JUDJEUS.
deserving of respect than to serve God, whose power is su
perior to that of the mightiest sovereign ; and it appears to me
that the greatest kings have also been chief priests, showing,
by their actions, that it is right for those who are the masters
of other men nevertheless to serve the servants of God.
About a king not Icing greatly respected.
From the first book of the Questions in Genesis.
[bid. E. Xo foolish man is a king even though he be
invested with supreme power by sea and land, but he only is a
king who is a virtuous and God-loving man, even though he
may be deprived of those supplies and revenues, by means of
which kings in general are strengthened in their sovereignty ;
for as a rudder, or a collection of drugs, or a flute, or a harp,
are all superfluities to a man who has no knowledge of the art
of steering, or medicine, or music, because he is not able to
employ any one of them to the purpose for which it is made,
while they may be said to be excellently adapted to and to be
very seasonable for a pilot, or a physician, or a musician ; so
also, since kingcraft is an art, and the best of arts, we must
look upon him who does not know how to exert it as a private
individual ; and as the man who does know how to exert it
well as the only king.
About the stable and unstable man.
From the Questions in Genesis.
P. 776. E. A facility of change must of necessity belong
to man, by reason of the unsteadiness of external circum
stances. Accordingly we thus oftentimes, after we have chosen
friends, and have associated with them for some time, though
we have nothing to accuse them of, turn away from them with
aversion as enemies.
About those u:ho change their minds and blame themselves.
P. 776. E. These are the words of Philo :
Caius, as he was ignorant of the greatness of the cause,
that he should never fall into death, suffered a more simple
punishment ; but his imitator, not being able to take refuge
in the plea of ignorance, is subjected to a double punish
ment ; on which account Lamech shall be avenged seventy
and seven fold, for the reason above mentioned, according to
FRAGMENTS. 255
which he was the second offender who had not thought fit to
take warning from the punishment of him who had offended
before, and he clearly receives his punishment, being a more
simple one ; as in numbers the units have a highly multiplied
power, resembling that of the decades, such as now Lamech,
changing his mind, denounces against himself.
From the same book of tbe same author.
P. 777. To be aware of what one has done amiss, and to
blame one s self, is the part of a righteous man ; but to be
insensible to such things causes still more grievous evils to the
soul, and the conduct of wicked men.
About the courage of a woman.
From Philo, from the Questions arising in Exodus.
Ibid. B. It is said by men who have applied themselves to
the study of natural philosophy, that the female is nothing else
but an imperfect male.
About the oracles of God.
The words of Philo, out of the second book of his Questions
arising in Genesis.
P. 782. A. It is not lawful to divulge the sacred mysteries
to the uninitiated until they are purified by a perfect purification ;
for the man who is not initiated, or who is of moderate capacity,
being unable either to hear or to see that nature which is in
corporeal and appreciable only by the intellect, being deceived
by the visible sight, will blame what ought not to be blamed.
Now, to divulge sacred mysteries to uninitiated people, is tha
act of a person who violates the laws of the privileges belong
ing to the priesthood.
From the same author.
Ibid. B. It is absurd that there should be a law in cities
that it is not lawful do divulge sacred mysteries to the unini
tiated, but that one may speak of the true rites and ceremonies
which lead to piety and holiness to ears full of folly. All men
must not partake of all things, nor of all discourses, above all,
of such as are sacred ; for those that desire to be admitted to a
participation in such things, ought to have many qualifications
beforehand. In the first place, what is the greatest and most
important, they ought to have deep feelings of piety towards
256 PHILO JUD^US.
the only true and living God, and correct notions of holiness,
avoiding all inextricable errors which perplex so many about
images and statues, and in fact about any erections whatever,
and about unlawful ceremonies, or illicit mysteries.
In the second place, they must be purified with all holy
purifications, both in soul and body, as far as it is allowed by
their national laws and customs. In the third place, they
must give credible evidence of their entering into the common
joy, so that they may not, after having partaken of the sacred
food, like intemperate youths, be changed by satiety and over
abundance, becoming like drunken men; which is not lawful.
About evil-doers.
The words of Philo, out of the Questions arising in Exodus.
P. 782. D. The man who lives in wickedness, bears about
destruction within him, since he has living with him that
which is both treacherous, designing, and hostile to him.
For the conscience of the wicked man is alone a sufficient
punishment to him, inflicting cowardice on his soul from its
own inmost feelings, as it feared blows.
From the same author.
Ibid. The life of the wicked man is subject to pain and
sorrow, arid full of fear ; and in everything which it does ac
cording to the outward senses, it is mingled with fear and grief
About monks who break their rotes.
The words of Fhilo, from the Questions arising in Exodus.
P. 7S4. G. The reasoning of some persons is very rapidly
satiated, who, though they have been borne upwards on wings
for n. little while, yet do presently return back again ; not so
much Hying upwards, says Philo, as being dragged down again
to the lowest depths of hell. Jiut happy are they who do not
draw back.
From the same author.
Ibid. Before now, some persons who have tasted happiness,
being very speedily satiated, after they have given hopes of
their being in health, have fallen back into the same disease
as before.
From the same author, out of the Questions arising in Genesis.
P. 781. D. To commit perjury is impious and mischievous.
FRAGMENTS. 257
About good friends.
The words of Philo, out of the first book of the Questions arising
in Exodus.
P. 788. I. We ought to look upon those men as our friends
who are inclined to assist us, and to requite our kindnesses
with kindness, even if they are destitute of power ; for friend
ship is a thing which is seen more in moments of necessity,
than in a steady conjunction or union of dispositions. So that
in the case of each person who unites with another in an
association of friendship, one may apply the expression of
Pythagoras to him, and say, " A friend is a second I."
About the mercies of God.
The words of Philo, out of the first book of the Questions arising
in Exodus.
P. 789. A. When the fruits of these crops which are raised
from seed are in a state of perfection, they receive the begin
nings of the generation of trees in order that the mercies of
God may last for ever, and then that one continually succeeding
the other, and connecting ends with beginnings and beginnings
with ends, they may be in reality never ending.
From the second book of the same treatise.
Ibid. The mercies of God give us not only what is neces
sary, but also all such things as conduce to a more excessive
and liberal enjoyment of life.
FRAGMENTS FKOM A MONKISH MANUSCRIPT.
About man : to show that God when he made him endowed
him with free will.
It is said to you, noble man, who live in obedience to the
divine precepts, endeavour with all thy might not only to
preserve the gifts which you have received unimpaired and
unalloyed, but also think them worthy of all imaginable honour
and regard, as being endowed with free will and independent
power, so that he who has committed them to your charge may
have no reason to find fault with you for having neglected to
take proper care of them ; and the Creator of the world has
VOL. iv. s
253 PHILO
entrusted to your care to employ them according to your own
deliberative purpose, a soul, and speech, and the outward
senses. Therefore, those men who receive these gifts in a
proper spirit, and who preserve them for him who has bestowed
them on them, have kept their intellect carefully in such a
way that it shall never think of anything else than of God and
his virtues; and their speech in such a manner that with
unwearied mouth it shall honour the Father of the universe
with praises and hymns ; and their outward senses in such a
way that after they have represented to themselves the whole
of the world which is perceptible to those senses, namely, the
heaven and the earth, and the natures which are between those
two, they may relate what they have seen in a pure aud guile
less manner to the soul.
About people who are governed.
The words of Philo, from the fourth book of his Allegorical
Interpretation of the Sacred Laws.
If you take away their resources of wealth from politicians,
you will find nothing left hut empty arrogance devoid of sense,
for as long as there is an abundant supply of external good
things, wisdom and presence of mind appear also to attend
them, but when that plenty is taken away all appearance of
wisdom is taken away at the same time.
About the best men.
From the same author, in hi* Treatise on Drunkenness.
Good men, to speak somewhat metaphorically, are of more
value than whole nations, since they support cities and con
stitutions as buttresses support large houses.
From the same author.
If it depended on wicked men, no city would ever enjoy
tranquillity ; but states continue free from seditious troubles on
account of the righteousness of one or two men who live in
them, whose virtue is a remedy for the diseases of war, because
God, who loves mankind, grants this effect as a reward to those
who are virtuous and honourable, so that they should not only
benefit themselves, but all who are near them.
From the same author.
There is no place upon earth more sacred than the mind of
FRAGMENTS. 259
a wise man, while all the virtues hover around like so many
stars.
About things which are uncertain and unknown to us.
The words of Philo.
The comprehension of the future does not belong to the
nature of man.
From the same author.
All things are not known to the mortal race.
From the same author.
God alone is acquainted with the ultimate results of things.
About evil report.
Quiet, which is free from danger, is better than words the
object of which is only to give pleasure.
About self-satisfied people, <&c.
The words of Philo.
The lawgiver says, " You shall not do all the things which
we will do here this day,* every one doing that which is
pleasant in his own sight," by which words he declares as
loudly as possible that there is no evil which may not be
produced by selfishness and self-sufficiency, which must be
eradicated from the mind as unholy feelings. Let no one
embrace that which is pleasing to himself rather than that
which is agreeable to nature, for the one is found to be the
cause of mischief and the other the cause of benefit.
From the same author.
Those who do everything for their own sake alone practise
selfishness, which is the greatest of evils, which produces
unsociability, want of fellowship, unfriendliness, injustice,
impiety, for nature has made man not like those beasts which
love solitude, but like the gregarious beasts which live together
like the most sociable of all creatures, that he may live not to
himself alone, but also to his father, and to his mother, and to
his brethren, and to his wife, and to his children, and to all
his other relations and friends, and to those of the same
borough as himself, and to those of the same tribe, and to
* Deuteronomy zii. 28.
S 2
260
PlilLO JUD^EUS.
his native country, and to his fellow countrymen, and to all
mankind, and moreover to the different parts of the universe
md to the whole world, and much more to the father and
Creator of the world, for he must be (if at least he is really
endowed with reason) sociable, loving the world, and loving
God, that he may also be beloved by God.
About God being incomprehensible.
From the first book of the Questions arising in Exodus.
There are thousands and thousands, I do not say only of
important matters, but also of those which appear to be most
trivial, which escape the human intellect.
From the same author.
No one may so far yield to unreasonable folly as to boast
that he has seen the invisible God.
About the doctrine that God has made angels to be
guardians of us.
The words of Philo, from the first book of the Questions arising in
Genesis.
As pillars support whole houses, so also do the divine powers
support the whole world, and that most excellent and God-
loving race of mankind.
About avoiding sin.
From the treatise on the Giants.
I think it absolutely impossible that no part of the soul
should become tainted, not even the outermost and lowest paits
of it, even if the man appears to be perfect among IE
About slowness of counsel.
Slow counsel is profitless, and change of purpose in ex
tremities is mischievous.
About heretical teachers, &c.
From the sr.me book.
\ teacher of a good and virtuous disposition, even if he sees
his pupils at first stiff-necked by nature, does not despair c
producing in them a change for the better; but, like a good
physician, he does not apply a remedy at once at the first
moment of the disease attacking the patient, but he gives
FRAGMENTS. 261
nature time that it may recede a little, so that he may first
make ready the path to safety, and then apply healthful and
salutary remedies. And in the same manner does the vir
tuous man apply the arguments and doctrines of philosophy.
If, when a pupil is first introduced to you, and first comes
to learn of you, you hasten to eradicate all his ignorance at
once, and attempt to introduce every kind of knowledge in a
lump, you will produce the contrary effect to that which you
desire, for it will not be likely that such an eradication, having
taken place all in a moment, will continue effectual, nor that
the pupil will be able at once to contain such an abundant
influx and overflow of instruction ; but being exceedingly per
plexed and troubled, he will resist both these operations, that
of eradicating one thing and that of introducing another ; but
the system of taking away his ignorance with gentleness and
moderation, and of, in the same manner, gently instilling wis
dom into the mind, will be the causes of admitted advantage.
About people ivho meditate and design mischief.
The words of Philo, from his treatise on Things Improperly Named.
The ordinary production of wickedness enslaves the mind,
even if it has not as yet produced any perfect fruit ; for it is,
as the proverb says, washing a brick, or taking up water in a
net, to try and eradicate wickedness out of the soul of man.
For " behold," says Moses, " with what designs the minds of
all men are impressed."* And he speaks truly, for he does
not say, what designs are attached to and adapted to it, but
that which has been considered with care and deliberation is
also explained with accuracy, and this too not slowly and with
difficulty, but from man s earliest youth, or as one may almost
say, from his very cradle, as if it were a part of him, kept iii
continual exercise.
About cowardly and wavering people.
Those who are unmanly from an innate effeminacy, falling
down of their own accord before they meet with any oppo
sition, are a disgrace and ridicule to themselves.
From the same author.
Wickedness in a foolish man has a twin offspring, for the
* Genesis viii. 21.
262 PUILO JUD^EUS.
foolish man is wavering and hesitating, mingling considerations
together which ought not to be mingled, and jumbling and
confusing what ought to be kept distinct, having as many
colours in his soul as a viper has in his body, and polluting
even his sound thoughts with those which cause trouble and
death.
From the same author.
The thoughts of a bad man are one thing, and his words
another, and his actions indeed are many, but they are all
inconsistent and at variance one with another, for he does not
say what he thinks, and he has decided on the contrary of
what he affirms, and he does things which are not consistent
with his original designs, so that, to speak truly, one may say
that the life of the wicked man is a life of enmity.
About distinctness.
The words of Thilo.
That which is not distinct is unsuited to a free man, being
the most shameful product of folly and haughtiness ; for as
distinctness in everything that is to be done is a mark of
acuteness and wisdom, and deserves honour and praise, so also
an absence of shame is a sign of folly and infamy, on which
account the other definition which you disregard, classifies
a man who is afflicted with this disease thus, saying, he is im
pious who does not know how to respect the face of an honour
able man, nor to rise up in the presence of an elder,* nor to
guide his own steps in the right way.
About those who serve God.
Tne servants of virtuous men submit to voluntary obedience
to God, for they are not servants to human caprices, but to
wise men ; and he who is the servant of wisdom may justly be
said to be also the servant of God.
About just men.
The words of Philo.
An irrcconcileable and endless war is carried on by the
* Juvenal speaks of this as a custom of the ancient Romans
Credebant hoc grande nefaa, et morte piandum,
Si juvenis votulo non assurrexerat ; ct si.
B irbato cuicumqu* pucr.
FRAGMENTS. 263
atheists against the godly, so that they threaten them even
with slavery.
About justice.
The words of Philo.
Justice, above all things, conduces to the safety hoth of man
kind and of the parts of the world, earth and heaven.
About the judgments of God.
From the same author.
It is good to begin every day with divine and holy employ
ments, and after that to proceed to the necessary duties of life.
On this account God has commanded us* to take care to obey
his commandments, and especially at the first moment of the
dawn, as soon as we are risen, to pay our adoration to Him,
that their offerings to God may precede every human occu
pation, having the recollection of God for their prompter and
leader.
From the same author.
Every soul which piety fertilises with its own mysteries is
necessarily awake for all holy services, and eager for the con
templation of those things which are worth being seen, for this
is the feeling of the soul at the great festival, and this is the
true season of joy.
About the difference between God and man.
The words of Thilo.
The things of creation are far removed from the uncreated
God, even though they are brought into close proximity fol
lowing the attractive mercies of the Saviour.
About bold and brave men.
The words of Philo, from hia treatise about the Giants.
It is a sign of courage not to be easily alarmed by the
terrors of death, and to* be full of cheerful confidence in dan
gers, and to be of valiant hardiness amid disasters, and to
prefer dying with honour to being saved disgracefully, and to
wish to be the cause of victory ; and a happy boldness, and a
cheerfulness of soul, and fortitude, are the atttendants on a
manly spirit.
* Deuteronomy vi. 7.
0-1 nilLO JUDJEUS.
About equality.
The words of Philo.
A.S an equality of measurement is the cause of the most
perfect blessings, so also a want of measure is the cause of the
greatest evils, as it dissolves that most useful bond of equality.
About drunkenness.
From the same author.
Inequality is a grievous thing and the cause of differences,
just as equality is free from all annoyances and contributes to
unite men for advantageous ends.
From the same autnor.
Obedience to the law and equality are the seeds of peace,
and the causes of safety and continued durability ; but in
equality and covetousness are excitements to war, and dissolvcrs
of all existing things.
About evil-doers.
The words of Philo.
Those things which chastise the first, are, if men are wist?.
preventatives of the second.
About the eye and sight.
The words of Philo, from the treatise about the Creation
of the World.
The outward senses resemble windows; for through them,
as through windows, the comprehension of the objects of the
outward senses enters into the mind, and again through them
the mind goes out to investigate such objects. Hut the sight
is a part of these windows, that is to say, of the outward
senses, since above all others it is akin to the soul, because it
is nearly connected with the most beautiful of all things,
namely light, and is a servant of divine things ; and, indeed,
that is the sense which first opened the way to philosophy.
For when the eye had beheld the motions of the sun and
moon, and the periodical revolutions of the stars, and the
unvarying motions of the whole host of heaven, and the inde
scribable order and harmony of the whole universe, and the
one unerring Creator of the world, it then related what it had
seen to reason, as having the supreme authority ; and reason,
having beheld with a still more acutely piercing eye both these
FRAGMENTS. 265
things, and things of a still more sublime character in their
appearance and species, and the great cause of all things, it
then immediately arrived at a due conception of God, and of
creation, and of providence; considering that the whole
nature of all things was not brought into existence of its own
accord, but that of necessity it had a creator, and a father,
and a guide, and a governor, who also created it, and who
also preserves everything which he has created.
About contentment.
The words of the same author.
If you have a great deal of wealth, take care and do not be
carried away by its overflow ; but endeavour to take hold of
some dry ground, in order to establish your mind with proper
firmness ; and this will be the proper exertion of justice and
fairness. And if you should have abundant supplies of all the
things requisite for the indulgence of those passions which lie
beneath the belly, be not carried away by such plenty, but op
pose to them a saving degree of contentedness, taking in this
way dry ground to stand upon instead of an absorbing quick
sand.
By the same author.
One should practise being contented with a little, for this
is being near God ; but the contrary habit is being very far
from him.
About faith in and piety towards God.
The words of Philo.
What can be a real sacrifice except the piety of a soul de
voted to the love of God ? whose grateful feelings are made
immortal by God, having conferred on them an immortal
duration like that of the sun and the moon, and the whole
world.
About ivicked and impious men.
From the same author.
The hopes of wicked men are unstable, as they expect a good
fate, but suffer a contrary destiny of which they are worthy.
About a bad conscience.
The words of Philo, from his treatise on Men and Things which are
Improperly Named.
Who is there who does wrong who is not convicted by his
260 PHILO JUD^EUS.
own conscience as if he were in a court of justice, even though
no man correct him ?
About advisers.
The words of Philo. from the Questions in Genesis.
Since the mind of those who have not studied philosophy is
blind with respect to many of the circumstances of life, one
must take those who do see the character of affairs for one s
guides.
About hasty talkers.
The words of Philo.
He who has not shame or fear for his companions, has an
unbridled mouth and a licentious tongue.
About perfection.
The words of Philo.
Perfection and an absence of deficiency are found in God
alone. But deficiency and imperfection exist in every man.
For man is taught, even if he be the wisest of his race, by
some other man, and he knows nothing without being taught
by his own nature. And if one man has more knowledge than
another, still he has it not naturally, but because of instruc
tion which he has received.
About those who think lowlily of themselves.
The words of Philo.
These things are proved to be most completely natural, that
the descent of the soul is its elation by means of self-conceit,
and that its ascent and elevation is its return from arrogance.
From the same author.
It is desirable to eradicate self-conceit, which is the friend
of endurance, and prudence, and justice,* and also to destroy
overbearing pride ; for it is no small proof and exercise of folly
to study virtue in an illegitimate manner.
From the same author.
If you are puffed up by glory and authority so as to desire
great things, then remember, like the skilful pilot of a ship, to
* It is evident that there is great corruption in this and the next
sentence.
FRAGMENTS. 267
take in your sails, that you may not be carried away into
absurd conduct.
About sleep.
The words of Philo.
Sleep, according to the prophet, is a trance, not indeed m
accordance with insanity, but proceeding from a relaxation of
the outward senses and the retreat of reason ; for at that time
the outward senses cease from attaching themselves to their
proper objects, and the mind is quiet, neither being any longer
under the influence nor affording any motion to them, and they,
being in consequence cut off from any energy because they are
separated from the objects which are perceptible to them, are
dissolved in a state of motionless inactivity.
From the same author.
Very naturally some who have been wise enough to arrive at
correct notions of the truth, have described sleep as a thing to
teach us to meditate upon death, and a shadow and outline of
the resurrection which is hereafter to follow, for it bears in
itself visible images of both conditions, for it removes the same
man from his state of perfection and brings him back to it.
About promises, <&c.
The words of Philo.
It is better absolutely never to make any promise at all than
not to assist another willingly, for no blame attaches to the one,
but great dislike on the part of those who are less powerful,
and intense hatred and long enduring punishment from those
who are more powerful, is the result of the other line of con
duct.
About haughty men, &c.
From the first book of the Sacred Allegory of the Holy Laws.
Some persons say that the last thing which the wise man
puts off is the tunic of vain glory, for even if a man gets the
mastery over his other passions, still he is inclined by nature
to be influenced by glory and the praises of the multitude.
From the same author.
Self-conceit is an impure thing by nature.
268 PHILO JUD.EUS.
About promises, <&c.
The words of Philo.
To give thanks to God is intrinsically right, but not to do so
to him in the first place, and not to begin with the first reasons
for gratitude, is blamea.ble, for it is not right to give the chief
honour to the creation, and the inferior honour to God, who is
the giver of all things in the creation; and indeed that is a
inosrculpable division, inasmuch as it is laying down a certam
disorder of order.
About envy.
The words of Philo.
Envy naturally attaches itself to whatever is great.
About industrious people.
The words of the same author.
The most perfect and greatest of all good things are usually
the result of laborious exercise and energetic vigorous labour
From the same author.
It is absurd for a man who is in the pursuit of honours to
flee from labours by which honours are acquired.
About the soul and the mind.
From the same author.
What is the meaning of the expression, "You shall not eat
the ilcsh in the blood of the soul?"* God appears by this
expression to intend to show that the blood is the essence of
the soul, that is to say, of the soul endowed with the outward
senses, not the soul spoken of in the most excellent sense of
the word, that is to say, as far as it is endued with reason and
intellect; for there are three divisions of the soul, one part
being nutritious, a second being endued with the outward
senses, and the third being endued with reason. Accordingly
the divine Spirit is the essence of the rational portion, accord
ing to the sacred historian of the creation of the world, for he
says that "God breathed into his face the breath of life."|
Fnit of that part which is endued with the outward senses, and
which has the revivifying power, blood is the essence, for he
says in another place that " the soul of all flesh is the blood ;"*
* Genesis is. -1. t Geuesis ii. 9. f Deuteronomy sii. 23.
FRAGMENTS. 269
but what is connected with the flesh is the outward sense and
the passions, and not the mind and the intellect; not but
what that expression, " in the blood of the soul," also indicates
that the soul is one thing and the body another. So that in
real truth the breath is the essence of the soul, but it has not
any place of itself independently of the blood, but it resembles
and is combined with blood.
About the assistance of God.
The words of Philo, from the fourth book of his treatise on the
Allegories contained in the Sacred Laws.
The extremity of happiness is the assistance of God, for
there can be no such thing as want when God gives his aid.
About the creation of the world.
From the same author, from the first book of the Questions
arising in Genesis.
It is impossible that the harmony, and arrangement, and
reason, and analogy, and that all the great accord and real
happiness which we see existing in the world can have been
originated by themselves, for it follows inevitably that these
things must have had a creator, and a father, and a regulator
and governor, who generated them in the first place, and who
now preserves what he has generated.
About the church of God.
From the same author.
God wishing to send down from heaven to the earth an
image of his divine virtue, out of his compassion for our race,
that it might not be destitute of a more excellent portion, and
that he might thus wash off the pollutions which defile our
miserable existence, so full of all dishonour, established his
church among us.
Bbout seeking God.
From the same author, from the last book of the Questions arising
in Exodus
The one most powerful relaxation of the soul leads to the
sacred love of the one living God, teaching mankind to take
God as its guide in all their plans, and words, and actions.
From the same author.
The extremity of happiness is to rest uncnangeaoly and
immovably on God alone.
a 70 PHILO JUD^US.
About the last day.
The words of Philo, from the second book of the Questions arising
in Exodus.
The stars are turned round and revolve in a regular circle,
some proceeding on in the same manner through the whole
heaven, and others have special eccentric motions of their own.
About the detestation of wickedness felt by God.
The words of Philo, from the second book of the Questions
arising in Exodus.
Some men think that repentance appears at times to take
possession of God on account of the oaths which he has sworn,
but they do not form correct notions ; for apart from the fact
that the Deity does not change, neither the expression, " God
repented," nor that, " And it grieved him at the heart,"* is
indicative of repentance, for the Deity is unchangeable ; but
they only show the character of the pure intellect which is
now deeply meditating on the cause for which he created man
upon the earth.
By the same author, from the same book.
There is no hesitation and no envy in God ; but he often
uses expressions indicative of hesitation or of uncertainty from
a reference to man, who is susceptible of such feelings ; for as
I have often said, there are altogether two supreme sources ;
in the one case God does not speak as man speaks, in the
other he instructs man as a man instructs his son, the former
being a sign of his power, the second of the way in which he
teaches and guides man.
About promises.
The words of Philo, from the last book of the Questions arising
in Exodus.
lie who does not offer to God first fruits of his own free
will does not really offer first fruits at all, even if ho brings
everything \\hich is great, with a most royal abundance of
treasure ; for the real lirst fruits consist not in the things
offered, but in the pious disposition of him who offers them.
A lout the mildness of God and his love for mankind.
Tho words of Philo, from the Questions arising in Exodus.
The mercies of God do always outstrip justice, for the work
* Gciiosia vi. 6.
FRAGMENTS. 271
which he has chosen for himself is that of doing good, and the
task of punishing follows that ; and it is common, when great
evils are about to arise, for an abundance of great and nu
merous blessings to happen first.
FRAGMENTS PRESERVED BY ANTONIUS.
Ser. I.
The virtues alone know how to regulate the affairs of men.
The contemplation of virtue is exceedingly beautiful, and
actions according to it, and the exercise of it, are desirable above
all things.
Ser. II.
If you wish to have a good reputation in a twofold manner,
then honour exceedingly those who are doing well, and reprove
those who are doing ill.
Ser. VIII.
When you are entreated to pardon offences, pardon willingly
those who have offended against you, because indulgence given
in requital for indulgence, and reconciliation with our fellow
servants, is a means of averting the divine auger.
Ser. IX.
The virtuous man is a lover of his race, and he is merciful
and inclined to pardon, and never bears ill will towards any
man whatever, but thinks it right to surpass in doing good
rather than in injuring.
Ibid.
What is beautiful is then beautiful, when a man has no
need of the assistance of another, but when he contains in
himself all the signs of excellence as his own.
Ser. X.
It is well that the worse should always follow the better, on
account of the hope of improvement.
Ser. XI.
One ought to call a city, and a country, and a house, happy,
272 P1IILO JUD^EUS.
when they contain a virtuous man ; and one ought to call thosn
miserable, when they have no such man within them.
Ser. XVI.
Those who are tyrannical in their natures, but without
power, make their designs succeed by treachery.
Ser. XX.
The friendships of the wicked are mischievous, and very
often the soul of such men, being influenced by such associa
tions, takes the impressions of downright insanity.
It is not the country which makes men bad, or the city
which makes them good, but the habits of living with such and
such men.
Ser. XXVIII.
One need not dread the blow of a weak man, nor the threat
of a fool.
Light-minded men, like empty vessels, may easily be taken
and moved by their ears.
Ser. XXX.
Nothing that is done can be beautiful without scientific con
templation, for knowledge is the offspring of counsel, but folly
is the source of all evils.
Every argument on behalf of justice is superfluous, when
those who listen are unanimous in a bad object.
Ser. XXXVIII.
The wicked man disturbs the city, and is eager for the con
fusion and the disorder of all men and all things within the
city; for a desire of interference, and covetousness, and the
acts of a demagogue, and the influence with the populace, are
looked upon as honours by such a man, and quiet he looks
upon with disdain.
Excellence is a thing difficult to find, or rather is absolutely
undiscoverable in a troubled life.
Ser. XLIII.
There is nothing so calculated to cause good will as kind
words, on account of good actions.
Ser. XLVII.
It is sufficient not to bear witness one s self, but that which
FRAGMENTS. 273
stands in need of the advocacy of another is inadequate to
bring conciliation to the mind.
Ser. LIT.
Reject with aversion the deceitful words of flatterers, for
they, obscuring reason, do not contribute to the truth of
things ; for either they praise actions which are deserving of
blame, or else they often blame things beyond all praise.
Ser. LVI.
Peace is the greatest blessing which no man is able to
afford, since this is a divine action.
Ser. LVII.
Behave to your servants in the same manner in which you
desire that God should behave to you ; for as we hear them
we shall be heard by him, and as we regard them we shall be
regarded by him. Let us therefore let our compassion outrun
compassion, that we may receive a like requital from him for
our mercy to them.
Ser. LXIX.
How great a relief of nature is sleep, it is the image of
death, and the rest of the outward senses.
Sleep is one thing only, but the desire of it has many
reasons and causes ; I mean from nature, from food, from fate,
and perhaps also from excessive and intense fasting, by means
of which the flesh, becoming unnerved and deprived of strength,
wishes to recover itself for subsequent actions by means of
sleep.
As much drinking is called a habit, so is much sleep, and
it is difficult to get rid of an inveterate habit.
Ser. LXXIV.
Pardon is apt to engender repentance.
Ser. LXXIX.
Shamelessness is the characteristic of a worthless man, and
modesty of a virtuous man, but never to feel either ashamed or
bold is a mark of one who is slow of comprehension, and who
is without the power of giving assent.
VOL. iv. T
274 PHILO
Ser. LXXXII.
Sirce God penetrates invisibly in the region of the soul, let
us prepare that region in the best manner that we are able to,
or rather that it may be a habitation fit for God, otherwise,
without our being aware of it, God will depart and remove t
some other abode.
The mind of a wise man is the house of God, and he is
called in an especial manner, the God of all mankind, as the
prophet says when speaking of the mind of a wise man, he
calls it " that in which God walks,"* as in a palace.
What is visible and actually before us is comprehended by
the eyes, but the pure faculty of reason extends even to what
is unseen and future.
Ser. LXXXVII.
God who is merciful by nature will never exonerate from
nuilt the man who swears falsely for an unrighteous object, as
such a man is impure and defiled, even though he may escape
the punishments inflicted by men.
Ser. XCIX.
Those things which are kept in the dark for a while by
envy, are at last released and brought to light.
Ser. CIV.
In his essential character a king is equal to every man, but
in the power of his authority and rank he is equal
who ruleth over all things ; for there is nothing on earth that
is higher than he. Therefore it becomes him as being
mortal not to be too much elated, and as being a and of
riot to yield too much to passion ; for if he is honoured as
bem" of the likeness of God, nevertheless he is in some degree
entangled in terrestrial and vile dust, by means of which he
should learn simnlicity and meekness towards all men.
Ser. CXVI.
A severe master is best for untractablo and foolish servants ;
for they, fearing his threats and punishments, though aga
their will, are made to do right by fear.
Ser. CXVIII.
It is the greatest praise of a servant to neglect nothing
* Leviticus xxvi. 12.
FRAGMENTS. 275
which his master commands, but to attempt with an honest
heart to perform in a proper and successful manner, even if it
be beyond his power, all that is commanded him with energy
and without hesitation.
Ser. CXXIII.
When once the wife of Philo was asked in an assembly of
many women why she alone of all her sex did not wear any
golden ornaments, she replied : The virtue of a husband is a
sufficient ornament for his wife."
Ser. CXXX.
The virtues of children are the glory of their fathers.
Those who are well acquainted with what is honourable and
virtuous, are happy in their children.
Ser. CXXXV.
To drink poison out of a golden goblet, and to take advice
from a foolish friend, is the same thing.
New vessels are better than old ones, but old friendship is
better than new.
The fruits produced by the earth come once a year ; but
those which we derive from friendship are to be gathered on
every occasion. Many men select for their friends not those
who are the most virtuous, but those who are rich.
Many who appear to be friends are not so, and many who
do not appear to be such are so in reality ; but it is the part
of a wise man to discern both these classes.
Ser. CLII.
Youth which is not willing to work is laying up misfortunes
for old age.
Ser. CLVI.
What is bad is, not being punished here, but being worthy
of punishment hereafter.
Ser. CXXXV.
God has implanted hope in the human race that, having a
comfort innate in them, those who have committed errors
which are not irremediable may feel their sorrows lightened.
T 2
276 PHILO JUD^EUS.
Ser. CLXXXII.
Pleasure appears to be an equable kind of motion, but in
reality it both is and is found to be rough.
The following Fragments are from an Anonymous Collection
in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.
Extracts from Philo.
About friends.
A steadiness towards one s friends is a sign of a general
stability of disposition, on which account one ought not to
form friendship till one has carefully tested the characters of
those with whom he proposes to form it ; for not only is the
forming of such friendship pleasant, but so also is the feeling
that one has not to bear by one s self burdens which oppress the
soul, and not to depart from the association ; for he who is the
cause of differences in friendship is not known to the generality
of men, but he is accustomed to bring common blame upon
both parties, and very commonly on the innocent party more
than on the guilty one.
Of secret things, you may share with mean persons those
which increase your virtue ; but as to those which deteriorate
your mind, you must not pursue them yourself, nor impute
them to your friends.
The life of man is like a sea, it is liable to every description
of agitation and change, even in the height of prosperity ; for
nothing earth-born is firmly established, but all such things
are carried about to and fro, like a vessel which is driven
about in the sea by contrary winds.
About sin.
Let us fear not the diseases which come upon us from
without, but those offences on which account diseases come,
diseases of the soul rather than of the body.
About pain.
Every foolish man is in a strait, being oppressed by cove-
tousness, and love of glory, and desire of pleasure, and things
of that sort, which do not allow the mind freedom of motion.
FRAGMENTS. 277
gluttony.
The sons of the physicians have laid it down as a maxim
that regularity is the parent of a healthy condition of the body,
paying but little attention to the health of the soul ; but we
lay it down that regularity is not only destructive of all dis
eases of the body, but much more do we recognise the fact that
the truest health is that which destroys the passions which
injure the soul.
About custom and familiarity.
An inveterate habit is more powerful than nature, and
little things, if they are not hindered, grow up and increase
and become of a large size.
The following Fragments are from an Unpublished Manuscript
in the Library of the French King,
From the works of the Hebrew Philo, on Genesis vi. 7.
Why is it that God, when he threatens to extirpate man
kind, does also destroy the irrational animals ? Because the
irrational animals were not originally created designedly for
their own sakes, but for the sake of man, and to perform
services of which he might be in need ; and when man was
destroyed it followed naturally that they should also be
destroyed at the same time, when the beings for whose sake
they had been created were no longer in existence.
From the same author, on Genesis xvii. 14.
The law does not treat any action done involuntarily as
guilty, since it even pardons a man who has committed
murder unintentionally ; but if a child is not circumcised eight
days after its birth, what evil has it done so as to be subjected
to the punishment of death? Therefore some persons say
that the manner of the punishment is to be referred to its
parents, and think that they ought to be punished severely as
having neglected the commandments of the law ; and others
think that it is by an excess of indignation that God is here
represented as inflicting punishment, as far as appearance
goes, on the child, in order that this inevitable punishment
Q78 PHILO JUD.EUS.
may be inflicted on those people of mature age who have
violated the law.
Not because the action of circumcision is important in itself,
but because if that is neglected the covenant itself is treated
with contempt when the seal by which it is recognised and
ratified is not made perfect.
From the same author, on Genesis xix. 23.
Why did the sun go forth upon the land when Lot entered
into Segor? And he says the very same place is a safety for
those who are making progress, and a punishment to those
who are inwardly wicked. And again the moment that the
sun rises in the beginning of the day it brings with it justice ;
wishing to show that the sun, and the day, and the light, and
everything else in the world which is beautiful and honourable,
are given only to the virtuous and to no worthless man who
embraces incurable wickedness.
From the same author, on Genesis xxvii. 24 27.
Having been spies rather than friends under truce, and
being prepared for either alternative ; for war if they saw that
the other was weak, and for peace if they found him stronger
than themselves.
From the same author, on Genesis xxvi. 28, &c.
These are the covenants which they made, not to be de
stroyed as the other nations had been, and the Philistines were
at a subsequent period by the Israelites ; whom the holy
scriptures call sometimes Canaanites, and sometimes Cappa-
docians ; but afterwards the Cappadocians emigrated.
From the same author, on Genesis xxvi. 30.
Xot on account of praise, for the wise man is not attracted
by flattery or by any other kind of subserviency, but because
he has accepted their repentance.
From the same author, on Genesis xxvii. 6, &c.
When he had two sons, the one good and the other guilty,
he says that he will bless the guilty one, not because he pre
ferred him to the good one, but because he knew that the
other one could do right by himself, but that the other was
convicted by his own disposition, and had no hope whatever of
FRAGMENTS. 279
salvation except in the prayers of his father ; and if he did not
obtain them, then he would be the most miserable of all men.
From the same author, on Genesis xxvii. 11, &c.
It is proper here to admire also the good will of his mother,
who confessed herself willing to take upon herself the cause
for his sake, in order that her son might have the honour to
which the two were entitled, for she is carried away by her
affection for both of them ; for she had feared his father,
lest she should be looked upon as imposing on him, and to be
niching away the honour to which the other was entitled ; and
his mother, lest he should be considered by her as disobedient
to her when she urged him vehemently ; on which account he
says, with great prudence and propriety, Will not my father
curse me ? and I shall be bringing a curse on myself. He had
confidence because of the promise of God, which said, " The
elder shall serve the younger." But, on the other hand, he
feared as a man, lest the blessing of his father, as a just man,
should overturn the assertion of God.
From the same author, on Genesis xxvii. 30.
He is not so indignant at his disappointment in not obtain
ing the blessings, as at the fact of his brother having been
thought worthy of them ; for being of an envious disposition,
he regarded his want of success as more desirable than even
his own advantage, and he shows this by his great and bitter
lamentations, and by his subsequent exclamation, " Bless me
now also, O my father."
From the same author.
But if he obtained it by fraud, a man will be inclined to
say, he was not to be praised. What then does his father say ?
" And he shall be blessed." But he appears by what he here
says to intimate, in an enigmatical and obscure manner, that
it does not follow that every stratagem is blameable, since
guardians of the night when they lie in wait for robbers, and
generals when they form ambuscades for enemies whom they
would not be able to subdue by open force, appear to act
rightly : and what are called stratagems proceed on the same
principle as the contests of wrestlers, for in these cases too
tricks are accounted honourable ; and those who by trickery
get the better of their antagonists are thought worthy of the
280 PHILO JUD^EUS.
prize, and of the crown of victory ; so that it is not a charge
against a man to say, he has done a thing by trick, but it is
rather a panegyric, being equivalent to saying, he has done it
skilfully, for the virtuous man does not do anything unskilfully.
From the same author, on Exodus xx. 25.
What is the meaning of " thy dagger," and what cornes next ?
Those who by their nature venture to make improper attempts,
and who by their own private endeavours metamorphose the
works of nature, defile what ought not to be defiled, for all the
things of nature are perfect and complete, and stand in need
of no addition.
From the same author, on Exodus xxii. 19.
He shows most evidently that he is a proselyte, inasmuch as
he is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, but in the
pleasures and appetites, and all the other passions of the soul ;
for the Hebrew race was not circumcised in Egypt, but being
ill-treated with every imaginable circumstance of ill-treat-
merit by the natural cruelty of the natives of the country to
strangers, it nevertheless lived among them with fortitude and
patience, and that not more from compulsion than voluntari.lv,
because of the refuge which it possessed in God the saviour,
who, sending down his beneficent power, delivered his suppli
ants from their difficult and apparently inextricable troubles.
On this account Moses adds, " For you know the soul of a
proselyte."* Now what is the mind of a proselyte ? a forsaking of
the opinions of the worshippers of many gods, and a union
with those who honour the one God, the Father of the uni
verse. In the second place, some persons call foreigners also
proselytes, and those are strangers who have come over to the
truth in the same manner with those who have been sojourn -
ers in Egypt ; for the one are strangers newly arrived in the
country, but the last are strangers also to the customs and
laws, but the common name of proselytes is given to both.
From the same author, on Exodus xxii. 22.
It is forbidden to injure a widow and orphan, for these are
under the protection of the especial providence of God, since
they are deprived of their natural protectors and guardians, for
God wills that those who enjoy natural associations should
* Exodus xxiii. 10.
FRAGMENTS. 281
make amends to the others from their own abundance of
resources.
From the same author, on Exodus xxiii. 1.
He says that we must not approach folly or falsehood, either
with the ears or with any other of the outward senses, for great
injuries are the result of being deceived ; on which account
some lawgivers have forbidden any one to give hearsay evi
dence, since the truth is confirmed by eyesight, but falsehood
by hearing.
From the same author, on Exodus xxiii. 6.
Poverty by itself claims compassion, in order to correct its
deficiencies, but when it comes to judgment, it then has for
the arbitrator the law of equity, for justice is a divine and in
corruptible thing, on which account it is expressly affirmed in
another passage that the judgment of God is just.*
From the same author, on Exodus xxiii. 18.
Instead of saying leavened bread must not come among the
things which are offered, but all things which are brought as a
sacrifice or an offering must be unleavened, he intimates two
most necessary things by an obscure and symbolical expression ;
one being to despise pleasure, for leaven is the seasoning of
food and not food itself; and the other being that it is not
right for men to be elated, because of being puffed up by vain
self-conceit ; for each is a wicked state, and pleasure and self-
conceit are both the offspring of one mother, deceit.
The blood of the sacrifices is a proof of a soul making its
offerings to God ; and it is not in accordance with the divine
law that things which will not unite should be mingled
together.
From the same author, on Exodus xxiii. 20.
One must suppose that the angel mentioned a little before
indicated the voice of God ; for the prophet is the messenger
of the Lord, who is the real speaker ; for it is inevitable that
he who hears with his ears, that is to say who firmly receives
what is said, must also accomplish what is said to him by his
actions ; for an action is the proof of what is said ; and he who
h obedient to what is said, and who performs actions corre-
* Deuteronomy xxxii. -1.
282 PHILO JUD^EUS.
spending to his orders, must of necessity have him who has
commanded him for his ally and champion, who in appearance
indeed brings assistance to his pupil, but in reality to his own
doctrines and commandments, which his enemies
and adversaries seek to overthrow.
From the same author, on Exodus xxiii. 24.
Pillars symbolically mean the doctrines which appear to
stand and to be firmly established. Now of the doctrines
established in this firm way, some are good, which ought to be
stored up and to be fixed in a most lasting manner; but
others are open to blame, and such it is desirable should be
overthrown. But the expression, "overthrowing you will over
throw, and destroying you will destroy," has such a meaning as
the following.
Some men pull down some things as if they meant to raise
them again, and destroy some things as if they meant at a
future time to re-establish them. But God wills that what
has been once destroyed and pulled down shall never be raised
or re-established again, but shall be utterly destroyed and for
ever, as being contrary to what is good or beautiful.
From the same author, on Exodus xxiii. 28.
And w r e ought to consider that the wasps are a sign of
unexpected power coming by the divine mission ; which,
bringing down its blows from high places so as to reach the
extremity of the ear, takes a good aim with all its strokes, and
regulating them well will meet with no failure whatever itself.
From the same author, on Exodus xxiii. 31.
These things God announced to them, if they obeyed him
and kept his commandments. But when they were found to
be transgressing and disobedient to the divine law, he then
contracted his promise from Dan to Beersheba.
From the same author, on Exodus xxiv. 9, 10.
The express command as uttered has a subsequent pro
position evident, as all were preserved in safety. But the real
meaning is that they all were of one mind in respect of piety
and differed in no good thing.
From the same author, on Exodus xxiv. 10.
When he speaks of the seventy men he means those with
FRAGMENTS. 283
Moses, and Aaron, and Nadab, and Abihu. And the state
ment that they did not differ, rather shows that they all
equally saw the place where God had stood, than that nothing
was left.
From the same author, on Exodus xxiv. 13.
He is most manifestly offended with those who being near
thought, out of their impiety or folly, that the motions of the
Deity were those of peace, and belonging to the act of
changing his abode ; for behold he says expressly, not that the
God who exists in essence, and who is duly thought of in
respect of his existence, came down, but that his glory came
down. And the acceptation of the word glory may be twofold ;
for in one sense it may signify the presence of his powers,
since the power of his army is spoken of as the glory of a
king ; and in another sense it may refer to the appearance of
him alone, and to the apprehension of his divine glory ; so
that an idea of the actual arrival of God may have been
created in the minds of those who were present, as if he had
come in order to give a most undeniable information to the
laws which were about to be given.
From the same author, on Exodus xxiv. 17.
But he says that the appearance of the glory of the Lord is
very like unto flame, or rather not that it is so, but that it
appears like it to the beholders ; since God shows what he
chose to appear to be, in order to strike the beholders with
amazement without in reality being what he appeared.
Accordingly he brings him before the face of the children of
Israel, affirming in the plainest language that it was an
appearance as of flame, but not a real flame. But as flame <
consumes every material which is exposed to it, so also when
the true conception of God once enters into the soul, it
destroys all the heterodox reasonings of impiety, and purifies
and sanctifies the whole mind.
From the same author, on Exodus xxiv. 18.
Because the generation which had thus quitted its former
abode was about to be condemned, and to wander in a state
of desolation for forty years, having received innumerable
benefits, but having displayed its ingratitude in still more
countless instances.
PHILO JUDJEUS.
A VOLUME
QUESTIONS, AND SOLUTIONS TO THOSE QUESTIONS,
WHICH ARISE IN GENESIS.*
BOOK I.
Why does Moses, revolving and considering the creation of
the world, say : " This is the book of the generation of heaven
and earth, when they were created ? t
1. The expression, "when they were created," indicates as it
seems an indeterminate time not accurately described. But
this argument will confute those authors who calculate a
certain number of years reduced to one, from the time when it
is possible that the world may have been created.
And again, the expression : " This is the book of tne gene
ration," is as it were indicative of the book as it follows, which
contains an account of the creation of the world ; in which it is
intimated that what has been related about the creation of the
world is consistent with strict truth.
What is the object of saying, " And God made every green
herb of the field, before it was upon the earth, and every grass
before it had sprung up?"J
2. He here by these expressions intimates in enigmatical
language the incorporeal species ; since the expression, " be
fore it was upon the earth, indicates the arriving at perfection
of every herb, and of all seeds and trees. But as to what he
says, that " before it had sprung up upon the earth," he had
made every green herb, and grass, et crctera, it is plain that the
incorporeal species, as being indicative of the others, were
created first, in accordance with intellectual nature, which
those things which are upon the earth perceptible to the out
ward senses were to imitate.
What is the meaning of saying : " A fountain went up from
the earth, and watered all the face of the earth ?"
III. But here the question is how it could be that the whole
* This work is translated from a Latin version made by Auclier
from an Armenian version of the fifth century.
t Genesis ii. 4. j Genesis ii. 5. Genesis ii. 7.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 285
earth was watered by one fountain, not only on account of its
size, but also because of the inequality of the montainous and
champaign situations? Unless, indeed, just as the whole
force of the king s cavalry is called " the horse," so the whole
multitude of the veins of the earth which supply drinkable
water, may perhaps be called the fountain, inasmuch as they all
bubble up like a fountain.
And that expression is peculiarly appropriate which says
that the fountain watered, not the whole earth, but its face ;
as in the living being it waters the chief and predominant
part (the mind or the countenance). Since that is the most
important part of the earth which can be good and fertile and
productive, and that is the part which stands in need of the
nourishment of fountains.
What is the man who was created ? And how is that man
distinguished who was made after the image of God ?
4. This man was created as perceptible to the senses, and
in the similitude of a Being appreciable only by the intellect ;
but he who in respect of his form is intellectual and incorpo
real, is the similitude of the archetypal model as to appearance,
and he is the form of the principal character ; but this is the
word of God, the first beginning of all things, the original
species or the archetypal idea, the first measure of the
universe.
Moreover, that man who was to be created as a vessel is
formed by a potter, was formed out of dust and clay as far as
his body was concerned; but he received his soul by God
breathing the breath of life into his face, so that the tempera
ment of his nature was combined of what was corruptible and
of what was incorruptible. But the other man, he who is
only so in form, is found to be unalloyed without any mixture
proceeding from an invisible, simple, and transparent nature.
Why is it said that God breathed into his face the breath of
life?
5. In the first place because life is the principal part of
the body ; for the rest was only made as a sort of foundation
or pedestal, and then life was put upon it as a statue. Besides,
* Genesis il 7.
Q8G PHILO JUD.EUS.
the sense is the fountain of the animal form, and sense resides
in the face.
Secondly, man is created to be a partaker not only of a soul
but also of a rational soul ; and the head is the temple of the
reason, as some writers have called it.
Why is God said to have planted a Paradise ? And for
whom ? And what is meant by a paradise ?
6. The word paradise, if taken literally, has no need of any
particular explanation; for it means a place thickly crowded
with every kind of tree ; but symbolically taken, it means
wisdom, intelligence both divine and human, and the proper
comprehension of the causes of things ; since it was proper,
after the creation of the world, to establish a contemplative
system of life, in order that man, by the sight of the world
and of the things which are contained in it, might be able to
attain to a correct notion of the praise due to the Father.
And since it was not possible for him to behold nature her
self, nor properly to praise the Creator of the universe without
wisdom, therefore the Creator planted the outline of it in the
rational soul of the principal guide of man, namely the mind,
as he planted trees in the paradise. And when we are told
that in the middle was the tree of life, that means the know
ledge not only of the creature, but also of the greater and
supreme cause of the universe ; for if any one is able to arrive
at a certain comprehension of that, he will be fortunate and
truly happy and immortal.
Moreover, after the creation of the world human wisdom was
created, as also after the creation of the world the Paradise
was planted ; and so the poets say that the chorus of musicians
was established in order to praise the Creator and his works ;
as Plato says, that the Creator was the first and greatest of
causes, and that the world was the most beautiful of all
creatures.
Why in Adin, or Eden, is God said to have planted the
Paradise towards the east?*
7. This is said in the first place because tne motion of
the world proceeds from the rising of the sun to its setting.
And it first exists in that quarter from which it is moved ;
* Genesis ii. 8.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 287
secondly, because tnat part of the world which is in the region
of the east is called the right side ; and that which is in the
region of the west is called the left side of the world.
Moreover the poet bears witness to this, calling the birds
from the east dexteras or right, and those on the west sinis-
tras or left ; * when he says, whether they go to the right to
the day and to the sun, or whether they go to the left towards
the dusky evening.
But the name Eden, when rightly understood, is an indica-
tion of all kinds of delights, and joys, and pleasures ; since all
good things and all blessings derive their beginning from the
place of the Lord. Thirdly, because wisdom itself is splendour
and light.
Why did God place man whom he had created in the Para
dise, but not that man who is after his own image ?f
8. Some persons have said, when they fancied that the
Paradise was a garden, that because the man who was created
was endowed with senses, therefore he naturally and properly
proceeded into a sensible place ; but the other man, who is
made after God s own image, being appreciable only by the
intellect, and invisible, had all the incorporeal species for his
share ; but I should rather say that the paradise was a symbol
of wisdom, for that created man is a kind of mixture, as hav
ing been compounded of soul and body, having work to do by
learning and discipline ; desiring according to " the law of
philosophy that he may become happy ; but he who is accord
ing to God s own image is in need of nothing, being by him-
* lie is referring here to Homer
Tvi tj <T oiojvolffi TavvTTTtpvyeffffi Ke\(vttQ
ni0/ivai, TUJV S OVTI /urarptTrw OUT
EiV iiri dt%i Iwai TT/oor 7/air HXto>re
E ,{ r> *, 7r> *P lff J l P* T0 r 7ro7r Zfyov r/ip
Eif oiWoc upiffTOQ a^vvtoQai TTfpi ird
Or as Pope translates it
" Ye vagrants of the sky ! your wings extend,
Or where the suns arise, or where descend;
To right, to left, unheeded take your way,
While I the dictates of high Heaven obey.
t Genesis ii. 15.
PHILO JUD/EUS.
elf a hearer, and being taught by himself, and being found to
be his own master by reason of his natural endowments.
Why does Moses say that every tree in the Paradise was
beautiful to look upon and good to eat ? *
He says this because the virtue of trees is of a twofold
nature consisting in bearing leaves and fruit, one of which
qualities is referred to the pleasing of the sight, the other to
the "ratification of the taste ; but the word beautiful was not
employed inappropriately. Indeed it is very proper that the
plants should be always green and flourishing perpetually, as
belonging to a divine Paradise, which as such must be ever
lasting ; and it is fit too that they should never degenerate so
as to lose their leaves.
But of the fruit he says, not that it was beautitul, but
it was good, speaking in a very philosophical spirit; since
men take food, not only because of the pleasure which it
affords, but also because of its use ; and use is the flowing forth
and imparting of some good.
What is meant by the tree of life, and why it was placed in
the middle of the Paradise ?
10 Some people have believed that, if there were really
l-,l:mts of a corporeal and deadly nature, there are also some
which are causes of life and immortality, because, they say,
life and death are opposed to one another, and because some
plants are ascertained to be unwholesome therefore of
necessity there must be others from which health may be
derived But what these are which are wholesome they know-
not; for generation, as the opinion of the wise has
beginning of corruption.
But perhaps we ought to look on these things as spoken in
an allegorical sense; for some say the tree of life belongs to
he earth, inasmuch as it is the earth which produces every-
thin" which is of use for life, whether it be the life of mankind
or of any other animal; since God has appointed the situation
in the centre for this plant, and the centre of the universe is
the earth. There are others who assert that what is meant
bv the tree of life is the centre between the seven circles ot
heaven ; but some affirm that it is the sun which is meant, as
that is nearly in the centre, between the different planets, and
* Genesis ii. 9.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 289
is likewise the cause of the four seasons, and since it is owin^
to him that every thing which exists is called into existence.
Others again understand by the tree of life the direction of
the soul, for this it is which renders the sense nervous and solid,
so as to produce actions corresponding to its nature, and to the
community of the parts of the body. But whatever is in the
middle is in a manner the primary cause and beginning of
things, like the leader of a chorus. But still, the best and
wisest authorities have considered that by the tree of life is
indicated the best of all the virtues of man, piety, by which
alone the mind attains to immortality.
What is meant by the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil ?*
11. This indeed exhibits that meaning which is sought for
in the letter of the Scriptures more clearly to the sight, as it
bears a manifest allegory on the face of it. What is meant
then under this figure is prudence, which is the comprehension
of science, by which all things are known and distinguished
from one another, whether they be good and beautiful, or bad
and unseemly, or in short every sort of contrariety is discerned ;
since some things belong to the better class, and some to the
worse.
Therefore the wisdom which exists in this world is not in
truth God himself, but the work of God ; that it is which sees
and thoroughly investigates every thing. But the wisdom
which exists in man sees in an incorrect and mixed manner
with somewhat darkened eyes ; for it is found to be in
competent to see and comprehend clearly and without alloy
each particular thing separately. Moreover, there is a kind of
deception mingled with human wisdom ; since very often there
are some shadows found which hinder the eyes from contem
plating a brilliant light ; since what the eye is in the body,
such also is the mind and wisdom in the soul.
What the river is which proceeded out of Ad in by which the
Paradise is watered, and from which the four rivers proceed,
the Phison, and the Gihon, and the Tigris, and the Euphrates ?
12. The sources of the Deglath and of the Arazania, that is
to say of the Tigris and Euphrates, are said to arise in the
* Genesis ii. 9. t Genesis ii. 11.
VOL. IV. U
Q90 PHILO JUD^US.
mountains of Armenia ; but there is no paradise there at
this day, nor do both the sources of both these rivers remain
there. Perhaps, therefore, we ought to consider that the
real situation of the Paradise is in a place at a distance from
this part of the world which we inhabit, and that it has a
river running beneath the earth, which pours forth many
veins of the largest size ; so that they, rising up together,
pour themselves forth into other veins, which receive them
on account of their great size, and then those have been
suppressed by the gulfs of the waves ; on which account,
through the impulse given to them by the violence which is
implanted in them, they burst out on the face of the earth
in other places, and also among others in the mountains of
Armenia. Therefore, those things which have been ac
counted the sources of the rivers, are rather their flowing
course ; or again, they may be said to be correctly looked
upon as sources, because by all means we must consider the
holy scriptures infallible, which point out the fact of four
rivers ; for the river is the beginning, and not the spring.
But perhaps this passage also contains an allegorical
meaning ; for the four rivers are the signs of four virtues :
Phi son being the sign of prudence, as deriving its name from
parsimony;* and Gihon being the sign of sobriety, as having
its employment in the regulation of meat and drink, and as
restraining the appetites of the belly, and of those parts which
are below the belly, as being earthly ; the Tigris again is the
sign of fortitude, for this it is which regulates the raging
commotion of anger within us ; and the Euphrates is the
sign of justice, since there is nothing in which the thoughts
of men exult more than in justice.
"Why it is that he not only describes the situation of toe
Euphrates, but also says that the Phison goes round all the
land of Evilat, and that the Gihon goes round all the laud of
Ethiopia, and that the Tigris goes toward Assyria ?f
13. The Tigris is a very cruel and mischievous river, as
the citizens of Babylon bear witness, and so do the magi,
who have found it to be of a character quite different from
the nature of other rivers ; however they might also have
another reason for looking on it with aversion.
* From Qudw, " parsimony." t Genesis ii.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 291
But the Euphrates is a gentler, and more salubrious, and
more nourishing stream. On which account, the wise men
of the Hebrews and Assyrians speak of it as one which
increases and extends itself; and on this account it is not
here characterised by its connection with other things, as
the other three rivers are, but by itself.
My own opinion is, that these expressions are all symbol
ical, for prudence is the virtue of the rational part of man ;
and it is in this that wickedness is sometimes found. And
fortitude is that portion of the human character which is
liable to degenerate into anger. And sobriety, again, may
be impaired by the desires, but anger and concupiscence are
the characteristics of beasts ; therefore the sacred historian
has here described those three rivers by the places which
they flow round. But he has not described the Euphrates
in that manner, as being the symbol of justice, for there is
no certain and limited portion of it allotted to the soul, but
a perfect harmony of the three parts of the soul and of the
three virtues is possessed by it.
Why God placed man in the Paradise with a twofold
object, namely, that he might both till it and keep it, when
the Paradise was in reality in need of no cultivation, because
it was perfect in everything, as having been planted by
God ; nor, again, did it require a keeper, for who was there
to ravage it ? *
14. These are the two objects which a cultivation of the land
must attain to and take care of, the cultivation of the land
and the safe keeping of the things which are in it, otherwise
it will be spoiled by laziness or else by devastation. But
although the Paradise did not stand in need of these
exertions, nevertheless it was proper that he who had the
regulation and care*of it committed to him, namely, the first
man, should be as it were a sort of pattern and law to all
workmen in future of everything which ought to be done by
them.
Moreover it was suitable that, though all the Paradise was
full of everything, it should still leave the cultivator some
grounds for care, and some means of displaying his industry ;
for instance, by digging around it, and tending it, and soften-
* Genesis ii. 15.
u 2
092 PIIILO JUD/EUS.
III.T it, and digging trenches, and irrigating it by water ; and
it was needful to attend to its safety, although there was
no one to lay it waste, because of the wild beasts, also more
especially in respect of the air and water ; as, for instance,
when a drought prevailed, to irrigate it with a plenteous
supply of water, and in moister weather to check the super
abundance of moisture by directing the course of the streams
in other directions.
AVhy, when God commanded the man to eat of every tree
within" the Paradise, he speaks in the singular number, and
says, "Thou shalt eat;" but when he commands that he
.shall abstain from the tree which would give him the know
ledge of good and evil, he speaks in the plural number, and
says, " Ye shall not eat of it, for in the day in which ye eat
ofit ye shall surely die ?" :
15. In the first place he uses this language Because ono
<rood was derived from many ; and that also is not unim
portant in these principles, since he who has done anything
which is of utility is one, and he who attains to anything
useful is also one ; but when 1 say one, I am speaking not
of that which in point of number comes before duality, but
of that one creative virtue by which many beings rightly
coalesce, and by their concord imitate singularity, as a nock,
a herd, a troop, a chorus, an army, a nation, a tribe, a family,
a state; for all these things being many members form 0110
community, being united by affection as by a kiss ;_ when
things which are not combined, and which have no principle
of union by reason of their duality and multitude, fall into
different divisions, for duality is the beginning of discord.
But two men living as if they were one, by the same
philosophy, practise an unalloyed and brilliant virtue, which
is free from all taint of wickedness ; but where good and
evil are mingled together the combination contains the
principle of death.
What is the meaning of the expression, " Ye shall surely
dic?"f
10. The death of the good is the beginning of another
life; for life is a twofold thing, one life being in the body,
Genesid ii. 1G. t Gcue.sis ii. 17.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 293
corruptible ; the other without the body, incorruptible.
Therefore one wicked man surely dies the death, who while
still breathing and among the living is in reality long since
buried, so as to retain in himself no single spark of real life,
which is perfect virtue. But a good man, who deserves so
high a title, does not surely die, but has his life prolonged,
and so attains to an eternal end.
"Why God says, " It is not good for man to be alone ; let
us make him a help meet for him ?"*
17. By these words God intimates that there is to be a
communion, not with all men, but with those who are
willing to be assisted and in their turn to assist others, even
though they may scarcely have any power to do so ; since
love consists not more in utility than in the harmonious
concord of trustworthy and steadfast manners ; so that
every one who joins in a communion of love may be entitled
to utter the expression of Pythagoras, " A friend is another
I."
Why, when God had already said, " Let us make a help
for man," he creates beasts and cattle ?f
18. Perhaps some gluttons and insatiably greedy persons
may say that God did this because beasts and flying things
were, as it were, necessary food for man, and his meetest
helper ; for that the eating of meat assists the belly so as to
conduce to the health and vigour of the body. But I should
think that by reason of the evil implanted in them by
nature animals of all kinds, whether terrestrial or flying in
the air, were in this age hostile to and contrary to man ; but
that in the case of the first man, as one adorned with every
imaginable virtue, they were, as it were, allies, and a rein
forcement in war, and farriliar friends, as being tame and
domestic by nature, and ihi? was the sole principle of their
familiarity with man, for this it was fit that servants should
dwell with their lord.
Why the creation of animals and flying creatures is men
tioned a second time, when the account of their creation had
already been given in the history of the six days ?
19. Perhaps those things which were created in the six
* Genesis ii. 18. f Genesis ii. J9.
094 PIIILO JUD^EUS.
davs were incorporeal angels, indicated under these symbol
ical expressions, being the appearances ot terrestrial and
flyiinr animals, but now they were produced m reality, being
the copies of what had been created before images per-
ceptible by the outward senses of invisible models.
Why did God bring every animal to man, that he might
give them their names ?*
20 He has here explained a great source of perplexity to
the students of philosophy, admonishing them that names
proceed from having been given, and not trom nature ; lor a
natural nomenclature is with peculiar fitness assigned to
each creature when a man of wisdom and pre-eminent
knowledge appears ; and, in fact, the office of assigning the
names to animals is one which particularly belongs to the
irind of the wise man alone, and indeed to the first man
born out of the earth, since it was fitting that the first ot
the human race, and the sovereign of all the animals born
out of the earth, should have the dignity assigned to him
For inasmuch as he was the first person to see the animal:
and as he was the first person who deserved to govern them
all as their chief, so also it was fitting that he should be
their first namer and the inventor of their names, since it
would have been inconsistent and mad to leave them with
out any names, or to allow them to receive names trom any
one bom at a later period, which would have been an insult
to and a derogation from the honour and glory due
first born.
But we may also adopt this idea, that the giving ot
to the different animals was so easily arranged that the very
moment that Adam gave the name the animal -
heard it ; being influenced by the name thus given t
by a familiar indication closely connected with it,
Why Moses says, "He brought the animals to Adam,
that he might see what ho would call them," when God can
never entertain a doubt rt
21. It is in truth inconsistent with the nature of God to
doubt ; therefore it does not appear that he was in doubt on
this occasion, but that since he had given intellect to man
* Genesis ii. 1 J t Ibid.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 295
as being the first man born out of the earth and endowed
with a great desire for virtue, by which he was made
thoroughly wise as if he had been endowed with wisdom by
nature, so as to consider all things like the proper Kuler
and Lord of all, God now caused him to be influenced to
display the proper performance of his task, and saw what
was really the most excellent point of his mind.
Besides this, by this statement he evidently indicates the
perfect free-will existing in us, refuting those who affirm
that everything exists by a certain necessity.
Or else because it belonged to man to employ the animals,
therefore he also gave him authority to give them names.
What is the meaning of the expression, " And whatever
he called each living thing, that was the name thereof?"
22. We must consider that Adam gave names not only to
all living creatures, but also to plants, and to everything
else which is inanimate, beginning with the more excellent
class ; for the living creature is superior to that which has
not life. Therefore the scripture considers the mention of
the better part sufficient, indicating by this mention to all
who are not utterly devoid of sense, that he in fact gave
names to everything, since it was easy to fix names to things
without life, which were never likely to change their place,
and which had no passions of the soul to exercise, but the
giving of proper appellations to living creatures was a more
difficult task on account of the motions of their bodies and
the various impulses of their souls, in accordance with
imagination and the variety of the outward senses, and the
different agitations of the mind from which the effects of
their works proceed. Therefore the mind could give names to
the more difficult classes of living creatures. And on this
account it was a very proper expression to employ, tha.t he
gave them names as being easy to name, because they were
near.
What is the meaning of the expression : " But for Adam
there was not found a helper like to him ?"*
23. Every thing was helping and assisting the prince of
the human race : the earth, the rivers, the seo, the air, the
* Genesis ii. 20.
JJ)f> PHILO JUDJEUS.
light, the heaven. Moreover, every species of fruit and
plant co-operated with him, and every herd of cattle, and
every beast which was not savage. Nevertheless, of all
these things which were assisting him, there was nothing
like himself, inasmuch as they were none of them human
beings. Therefore, God gave a certain indication that he
might show that man ought to be an assistant to and co-
operator with man, being endowed with perfect similarity to
one another in both body and soul.
What is the meaning of the statement, " And God sent
n trance upon Adain, and caused him to sleep ?"*
2-i. How it is that man sleeps is a question which has
caused an extraordinary amount of perplexity to philo
sophers. But yet our prophet has distinctly explained this
question ; for sleep is in itself properly a trance, not of that
kind which is more nearly allied to insanity, but of that
which is in accordance with the dissolution of the senses
and the absence of counsel ; for then the senses withdraw
from those things which are their proper object, and the
intellect withdraws from the senses, not strengthening their
nerves, nor giving any motion to those parts which have
received the power of action, inasmuch as they are with
drawn from the objects perceptible by the outward senses.
"What the rib is which God took from the man whom he
had formed out of the earth, and which he made into a
woman ?
25. The letter of this statement is plain enough ; for it is
expressed according to a symbol of the part, a half of the
whole, each party, the man and the woman, being as sections
of nature co-equal for the production of that genus which is
called man. But with respect to the mind, man is under
stood in a symbolical manner, and his one rib is virtue,
proceeding from the senses; but woman, who is the sensation
of counsel, will be more variable.
But some think that the rib ir.eans valour and vigour, on
which account men call a boxer who has strong loins
eminently strong.
Therefore, the lawgiver relates that the woman was
* (Jenesia ii. 21.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 297
formed out of the rib of the man, indicating by that expres
sion, that one half of the body of the man is woman. And
this is testified to by the formation of the body, by the way
in which it is put together, by its motions and vigour, bv
the force of the soul, and its strength ; for all things are
regarded as in a twofold light ; since, as the formation of the
man is more perfect, and, if one may so say, more double
than the formation of the woman, so also it required half the
time, that is to say forty days ; when, for the imperfect, and,
if I may so call it, half section of the man, that is to say the
woman, there was need of a double allowance, that is to say,
of eighty days, so that the doubling of the time required for
the nature of the man might be changed, in order to the
formation of the peculiar properties of the woman ; for that
body, and that soul, the nature of which is in a twofold ratio,
the body and soul, that is, of the man, require but half of
the delineation and formation : but that body of which the
nature and construction is in the ratio of one half, namely,
that of the woman, her formation and delineation is in a
twofold ratio.
"Why Moses calls the form, of the woman a building ? *
26. The union and plenitude of concord formed by the
man and woman is symbolically called a house ; but every
thing is altogether imperfect and destitute of a home, which
is deserted by a woman ; for to the man the public affairs of
the state are committed, but the particular affairs of the
house belong to the woman ; and a want of the woman will
be the destruction of the house ; but the actual presence of
the woman shows the regulation of the house.
"Why, as other animals and as man also was made, the
woman was not also made out of the earth, but out of the
rib of the man ?
27. This was so ordained in the first place, in order that
the woman might not be of equal dignity with the man. In
the second place, that she might not be of equal age with
him, but younger; since those who marry wives more
advanced in years than themselves deserve blame, as having
* Genesis ii. 22. The margin of our bible points out that the
Hebrew word translated " made/ means strictly " builded."
093 PHILO JUD^EUS.
overturned the law of nature. Thirdly, the design of God
was that the husband should take care of his wife, as ot a
necessary part of himself; but that the woman should
requite him in turn with service, as a portion of the
universe In the fourth place, he admonishes man by this
enigmatical intimation, that he should take care of his wife
as of his daughter ; and he admonishes the woman that she
should honour her husband as her father. And very rightly,
since the woman changes her habitation, passing from her
own oftsprhig to her husband. On which account it is
altogether right and proper that he who has received should
take upon himself the liability in respect of what has been
"iven ; and that she who has been removed should worthily
give the same honour to her husband which she has pre
viously given to her parents ; for the husband receives his
wife from her parents, as a deposit which is entrusted to
him ; and the woman receives her husband from the law.
"Why, when the man saw the woman who had been formed
in this manner, he proceeded to say: "She" (or "this" roSro)
" is now bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh : she shall
be called woman, because she has been taken out of man?
28. lie might have been amazed at what he had seen, and
have said in a negative manner: How can this exquisite
and desirable beauty have been derived from bones and from
flesh which are endowed with neither beauty nor elegance,
beincr o f a form so far more beautiful, and endowed with
such excessive life and grace? The matter is incredible
because she is like ; and yet it is credible, because God him
self has been her creator and painter.
A "am he might have said affirmatively: Truly she is a
living being, my bone and my flesh, for she exists by having
been taken from that bone and flesh of mine. But he
makes mention of his bone and flesh in a very natural
mariner ; for the human or corporeal tabernacle is the com
bination of bones, and flesh, and entrails, and veins, and
nerves, and ligaments, and blood-vessels, and breathing
tubes, and blood. And she is called woman (in Greek
yyvij) with great correctness, as the power of producing
* Genesis ii. 23. Woman, virgo, or virago, is here looked upon as
derived from rtV, "man ;" he also derives yi v/} from ytri aw.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 299
with fertility, either because she becomes pregnant through
the reception of the seed, and so brings forth ; or, as the
prophet says, because she was made out of man, not out
of the earth, as he was ; nor from seed, as all mankind after
them; but of a certain intermediate nature; and like a
branch, brought out of one vine to produce another vine.
"Why he says, " Therefore shall a man leave his father
and his mother, and cleave to his wife, and they shall be two
in one flesh ?"*
29. He here orders man to behave himself towards his
wife with such excess of affection in their intercourse, that
he is willing to leave his parents, not in order that by that
means it may be more suitable, but as they would scarcelv
be a motive for his fidelity to his wife. And we must
remark, that it is very excellent and prudently done, that he
has avoided saying that the woman is to leave her parents
and cleave to her husband, since the character of the man is
bolder than the nature of the woman ; but he says that the
man ought to do this for the sake of the woman ; for he is
borne on by a cheerful and willing impulse to the concord
of knowledge, to which, becoming wholly devoted, he re
strains and regulates his desires, and clings to his wife alone
like bird-lime. Especially because he himself, delighting in
his master-like authority, is to be respected for his pride :
but the woman, being in the rank of a servant, is praised,
for assenting to a life of communion.
And when it is said that the two are one flesh, that indi
cates that the flesh is very tangible and fully endowed with
outward senses, on which it depends to be afflicted with
pain and delighted with pleasure, so that both the man and
woman may derive pleasure and pain from the same sources,
and may feel the same ; aye, and may still more think the
same.
Why both of them, the man and the woman, are said to
have been naked, and not to have been ashamed ?f
30. They were not ashamed, in the first place, because
they were in the neighbourhood of the world, and the
different parts of the world are all naked, each of them
* Genesis ii. 24. f Genesis ii. 25.
300 PHILO JUD^EUS.
indicating some peculiar qualities, and having peculiar
coverings of their own. In the second place, on account of
the sincerity and simplicity of their manners and of their
natural disposition, which had no taint of pride about it.
For ambition had as yet no existence. Thirdly, because the
climate and the mildness of the atmosphere was a sufficient
covering for them, so as to prevent either cold or heat from
hurting them. In the fourth place, because they, by reason
of the relationship existing between themselves and the
world, could not receive injury from any part of it whatever,
as being related to them.
"Why does Moses say that the serpent was more cunning
than all the beasts of the field r*
31. One may probably affirm with truth that the ser
pent in reality is more cunning than any beast whatever.
But the reason why he appears to me to be spoken of in
these terms here is on account of the natural proneness of
mankind to vice, of which he is the symbol. And by vice I
mean concupiscence, inasmuch as those who are devoted to
pleasure are more cunning, and are the inventors of stra
tagems and means by which to indulge their passions. Being,
forsooth, very crafty in devising plans, both such as favour
pleasure and also such as procure means of enjoying it.
But it appears to me that since that animal, so superior in
wisdom, was about to seduce man, it is not the whole race
that is here meant to bo spoken of as so exceedingly wise,
but only that single serpent, for the- reason above mentioned.
Did the serpent speak with a human voice ?f
32. In the first place, it may be the fact that at the
beginning of the world even the other animals besides man
were not entirely destitute of the power of articulate speech,
but only that man excelled them in a greater fluency and
perspicuity of speech and language. In the second place,
when anything very marvellous requires to be done, God
changes the subject natures by which he means to operate.
Thirdly, because our soul is entirely filled with many errors,
and rendered deaf to all words except in one or two lan
guages to which it is accustomed ; but the souls of those who
* Genesis iii. 1. [ Genesis iii. 2.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 301
were first created were rendered acute to thoroughly under
stand every voice of every kind, in order that they might be
pure from evil and wholly unpolluted. Since we indeed are
not endowed with senses in such perfection, for those which
we have received are in some degree depraved, just as the
construction of our bodies too is small ; but the first created
men, as they received bodies of vast size reaching to a
gigantic height, must also of necessity have received more
accurate senses, and, what is more excellent still, a power of
examining into and hearing things in a philosophical manner.
For some people think, and perhaps with some reason, that
they were endowed with such eyes as enabled them to
behold even those natures, and essences, and operations,
which exist in heaven, as also ears by which they could
comprehend every kind of voice and language.
Why did the serpent accost the woman, and not the man ?*
33. The serpent, having formed his estimate of virtue,
devised a treacherous stratagem against them, for the sake
of bringing mortality on them. But the woman was more
accustomed to be deceived than the man. For his counsels
as well as his body are of a masculine sort, and competent
to disentangle the notions of seduction ; but the mind of
the woman is more effeminate, so that through her softness
she easily yields and is easily caught by the persuasions of
falsehood, which imitate the resemblance of truth.
Since therefore, in his old age, the serpentf strips himself
of his scales from the top of his head to his tail, he, by his
nakedness, reproaches man because he has exchanged death
for immortality. His nature is renewed by the beast, and
made to resemble every time. The woman, when she sees
this, is deceived; when she ought r rather to have looked
upon him as an example, who, while showing his ingenuity
towards her, was full of devices, but she was led to desire
to acquire a life which should be free from old age, and
from all decay.
* Genesis iii. 2.
+ The ancients believed that the serpent became young again by
casting his skin. Ovid says
Anguibus exuitur tenui cum pclle vetuata?.
302 PHILO JUD.EUS.
Why the serpent tells the woman lies, saying, " Q-od has
said, Ye shall not eat of every tree in the Paradise," when,
on the contrary, what G-od really had said was, " Ye shall
cat of every tree in the Paradise, except one ? "
34. It is the custom for contending arguers to speak
falsely in an artful manner, in order to produce ignorance of
the real facts, as was done in this case, since the man and
woman had been commanded to eat of all the trees but one.
But this insidious prompter of wickedness coming in, says
that the order which they had received was that they should
not eat of them all. He brought forward an ambiguous
statement us a slippery stumbling-block to cause the soul to
trip. For this expression, " Ye shall not eat of every tree/
means in the first place either, not even of one, which is
false ; or, secondly, not of every one, as if he intended to
say, there are some of which you may not eat, which is
true. Therefore he asserts such a falsehood more explicitly.
Why, when it was commanded them to avoid eating of
one plant alone, the woman made also a further addition to
this injunction, saying, " He said, Ye shall not eat of it,
neither shall ye touch it ? "t
35. In the first place she says this, because taste and
every other sense after its kind consists in the touch appro
priate to it. In the second place she says it that it may
seem to condemn them themselves, who did what they had
been forbidden. Eor if even the mere act of touching it
was prohibited, how could they who, besides touching the
tree, presumed to eat of the fruit, and so added a greater
transgression to the lesser one, be anything but condemnerB
and punishers of themselves ?
What is the meaning of the expression, " Ye shall be as
gods, knowing good and evil? "J
36. Whence was it that the serpent found the plural
word "gods," when there is only one true God, and when
this is the first time that he names him ? But perhaps
this arises from there having been in him a certain prescient
wisdom, by which he now declared the notion of the multi
tude of gods which was at a future time to prevail amongst
* Genesis iii. 4. f Genesis iii. 3. :^ Genesis iii. 5
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 303
men ; and, perhaps, history now relates this correctly at its
first being advanced not by any rational being, nor by any
creature of the higher class, but as having derived its origin
from the most virulent and vile of beasts and serpents,
since other similar creatures lie hid under the earth, and
their lurking places are in the holes and fissures of the
earth.
Moreover, it is the inseparable sign of a being endowed
with reason to look upon God as essentially one being, but
it is the mark of a beast to imagine that there are many
gods, and these too devoid of reason, and who can scarcely
be said with propriety to have any existence at all.
Moreover, the devil proceeds with great art, speaking by
the mouth of the serpent. Eor not only is there in the
Divinity the knowledge of good and evil, but there is also an
approval of wha.t is good and a repudiation of what is evil ;
but he does not speak of either of these feelings because
they were useful, but only suggested the mere knowledge of
the two contrary things, namely, of good and evil. In the
second place, the expression, " as gods," in the plural
number, is in this place not used inconsiderately, but in
order to give the idea of there being both a bad and a good
God. And these are of a twofold quality. Therefore it is
suitable to the notion of particular gods to have a know
ledge of contrary things ; but the Supreme Cause is above
all others.
Why the woman first touched the tree and ate of its
fruit, and the man afterwards, receiving it from her ?*
37. The words used first of all, by their own intrinsic
force, assert that it was suitable that immortality and every
good thing should be represented as under the power of the
man, and death and every evil under that of the woman.
But with reference to the mind, the woman, when under
stood symbolically, is sense, and the man is intellect. More
over, the outward senses do of necessity touch those things
which are perceptible by them ; but it is through the medium
of the outward senses" that things are transmitted to the
mind. Por the outward senses are influenced by the objects
* Genesis iii. 6.
30 t PHILO JUD^EUS.
which are presented to them ; and the intellect by the out
ward senses.
"What is the meaning of the expression, " And she gave
it to her husband to eat with her ? "*
38. "What has been just said bears on this point also,
since the time is nearly one and the same in which the out
ward senses are influenced by the object which is presented
to them, and the intellect has an impression made on it by
the outward senses.
What is the meaning of the expression, " And the eyes
of both of them were opened ? "f
39. That they were not created blind is manifest even
from this fact that as all other things, both animals and
plants, were created in perfection, so also man must have
been adorned with the things which are his most excellent
parts, namely, eyes. And we may especially prove this,
because a little while before the earth-born Adam was giving
names to all the animals on the earth. Therefore it is per
fectly plain that he saw them before doing so. Unless,
indeed, Moses used the expression " eyes " in a figurative
sense for the vision of the soul, by which alone the percep
tion of good and evil, of what is elegant or unsightly, and, in
fact, of all contrary natures, arise. But, if the eye is to be
taken separately as counsel, which is called the warning_ of
the understanding, then again there is a separate eye, which
is a certain something devoid of sound reason, which is
called opinion.
What is the meaning of the expression, " Because they
kncw that they were naked F "
40. They first arrived at the knowledge of this fact, that
is to say, of their nakedness, after they had eaten of the
forbidden fruit. Therefore, opinion was like the beginning
of wickedness, when they perceived that they had not as yet
used any covering, inasmuch as all parts of the universe are
immortal and incorruptible ; but they themselves imme
diately found themselves in need of some corruptible Cover
ings made with hands. But this knowledge was in the
Genesis iii. G. f Genesis iii. 7. + Ibid
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 305
nakedness itself, not as having been in itself the cause of
any change, but because their mind now conceived a novelty
unlike the rest of the universal world.
Why they sewed fig-leaves into girdles ?*
41. They did this in the first place, because the fruit of
the fig is very pleasant and agreeable to the taste. There
fore the sacred historian here, by a symbolical expression,
indicates those who sew together and join pleasures to plea
sures by every means and contrivance imaginable. Therefore
they bind them around the place where the parts of generation
are seated, as that is the instrument of important transactions.
And they do this, secondly, because although the fruit of
the fig-tree is, as I have already said, sweeter than any
other, yet its leaves are harder. And, therefore, Moses here
wishes by this symbol to intimate that the motions of plea
sure are slippery and smooth in appearance, but that they,
nevertheless, are in reality hard, so that it is impossible that
lie who feels them should be delighted, unless he was pre
viously sorrowful, and he will again become sorrowful. For
to be always sorrowing is a melancholy thing between a
double grief, the one being at its beginning, and the other
coming before the first is ended.
"What is meant by the statement that the sound was
heard of God walking in the Paradise ? was it the sound
of his voice, or of his feet ? and can God be said to walk ?t
42. Those gods who are in heaven, perceptible to our
outward senses, walk in a ring, proceeding onwards by a
circuitous track ; but the Supreme Cause is steadfast and
immoveable, as the ancients have decided. But the true
God gives some indication also, as if he wished to give a
sense of motion. For in truth even without his uttering
any words, the prophets hear him, by a certain virtue of
some diviner voice sounding in their ears, or perhaps being
even articulately uttered.
As therefore God is heard without uttering any sound,
so also he gives an idea of walking when he is not walking,
nay, though he is altogether immoveable. But do you not
see that before they had tasted of wickedness, as they were
* Genesis iii. 8. f Ibid.
YOL. IV. X
PHTLO JUD^EUS.
stable and constant, and immovcable and tranquil, and
untforrn so also in an equal manner must they have looked
upon the Deity as immoveable, as in fact he is. B t they
once had become endued with cunning, they, by judging from
he" selves, began to strip him of his attributes of immo
bility and unchangeableness, and conjectured that he 1
was subject to variation and change.
Why while they are hiding themselves from the face o
God, the woman is not mentioned first since she was the
tot to eat of the forbidden fruit: but why the man IB
spoken of in the first place; for the sacred historians
words are, And Adam and his wile hid themselves
ashamed, and indeed, of every good feeling and action.
Why they did not hide themselves in some other place,
t in the middle of the trees of the Paradise ?t
44 Every thing is not done by sinners with wisdom and
gacity but it often happens that while thieves are watch-
sagacity
garden in y wW g ch their offence had taken place they rid were
Srrested in the middle of the Paradise Uselt in orde, that
they mi<>ht be convicted of their sin too clearly to find am
refuge ^ven in flight itself. And this statement md.caes
iu a figurative manner that every wicked man takes refuge
" wickedness, and that every man who wholly devoted to
his passions flies to those pass.ous as to an asylum.
Why God asks. Adam, "Where art thou?" when he
know/everything : and why he does not also put the same
question to the woman ? J
45. The expression, "Where art thou ?" does nol
Genesis iii. 9. 1 Ibid. * Genesis iii. 10.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 307
seem to be a mere interrogatory, but rather a threat and a
conviction : " "Where art thou now, man ? from how many
good things art thou changed ? having forsaken immortality
and a life of the most perfect happiness, you have become
changed to death and misery in which you are buried."
But God did not condescend to put any question to the
woman at all, looking upon her as the cause of the evil
which had occurred, and as the guide to her husband to a
life of shame.
But there is an allegorical meaning in this passage,
because the principal part is the man, his guide, the mind,
having in itself the masculine principle, when it gives ear to
any one introduces also the defect of the female part,
namely that of the outward sense.
"Why the man says, " The woman gave me of the tree, and
I did eat;"* but the woman does not say, "The serpent
gave to me, but, " The serpent beguiled me and I did eat ?
46. The literal expression here affords grounds for that
probable opinion that woman is accustomed rather to be
deceived than to devise anything of importance out of her
own head ; but with the man the case is just the contrary.
But as regards the intellect, everything which is the object
of the outward senses beguiles and seduces each particular
sense of every imperfect being to which it is adapted. And
the sense then, being vitiated by the object, infects the
dominant and principal part, the mind, with its own taint.
Therefore the mind receives the impression from the outward
sense, giving it that which it has received itself. For the
outward sense is deceived and beguiled by the sensible
object submitted to it, but the senses of the wise man are
infallible, as are also the cogitations of his mind.
Why God curses the serpent first, then the woman, and
the man last of all?"t
47. The reason is that the order of the curses followed
the order in which the offences were committed. The first
offence was the deceit practised by the serpent ; the second
was the sin of the woman which was owing to him when
she abandoned herself to his seduction ; the third thing
* Genesis iii. 12, f Genesis iii. 14.
x 2
303 PHILO JUD.-EUS.
was the guilt of the man in yielding rather to the inclination
of the woman than to the commandment of God. But
this order is very admirable, containing within itself a
perfect allegory ; inasmuch as the serpent is the emblem of
desire, as is proved, and the woman of the outward sense ;
but the man is the symbol of intellect. Therefore the
infamous author of the sin is desire ; and that first deceives
the outward sense, and then the outward sense captivates
the mind.
Why the curse is pronounced on the serpent in this
manner, that he shall go on his breast and on his belly, and
cat dust, and be at enmity with the woman ?*
48. The words in themselves are plain enough, and we
have evidence of them in what we have seen. But the real
meaning contains an allegory concealed beneath it ; since
the serpent is the emblem of desire, representing under a
ligure a man devoted to pleasure. For he creeps upon his
breast and upon his belly, being filled with meat and drink
like cormorants, being inflamed by an insatiable cupidity,
and being incontinent in their voracity and devouring of
flesh, so that whatever relates to food is in every article some
thing earthly, on which account he is said to cat the dust.
But desire has naturally a quarrel with the outward sense,
which Moses here symbolically calls the woman; but where
the passions appear to be as it were guardians and champions
in behalf of the senses, nevertheless they are beyond all
question still more clearly flatterers forming devices against
them like so many enemies ; and it is the custom of those
who are contending with one another to perpetrate greater
evils by means of those things which they concede. Forsooth
they turn the eyes to the ruin of the sight, the ears to
hearing what is unwelcome ; and the rest of the outward
senses to insensibility. Moreover they cause dissolution and
paralysis to the entire body, taking away from it all sound
ness, and foolishly building up instead a great number of
most mischievous diseases.
"Why the curse pronounced against the woman is the
multiplication of her sadness and groans, that she shall bring
forth children in sorrow, and that her desire shall be to her
husband, and that she shall be ruled over by him rf
* Genesis iii. 1C. t Ibid.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 309
49. Every woman who is the companion for life of a hus
band suffers all those things, not indeed as a curse but as
necessary evils. But speaking figuratively, the human sense
is wholly subjected to severe labour and pain, being stricken
and wounded by domestic agitations. Now the following
are the train in the sendee of the outward senses : the
sight is the servant of the eyes, hearing of the ears, smelling
of the nostrils, taste of the mouth, feeling of the touch.
Since the life of the worthless and wicked man is full of pain
and want, it arises of necessity from these facts that every
thing which is done in accordance with the outward sense
must be mingled with pain and fear. In respect of the
mind a conversion of the outward sense takes place towards
the man not as to a companion, for it, like the woman, is
subject to authority as being depraved, but as to a master,
because it has chosen violence rather than justice.
"Why G-od, as he had pronounced a curse on the serpent
and on the woman which bore a relation to themselves and
to one another, he did not pronounce a similar one upon the
man, but connected the earth with him, saying," Cursed is
the earth for thy sake ; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it, thorns
and thistles shall it bring forth unto thee, and thou shalt
eat the grass of the field: in the sweat of thy brow shalt
thou eat thy bread.?"*
50. Since all intellect is a divine inspiration, God did not
judge it right to curse him in the manner deserved by his
offence ; but converted his curse so as to fall upon the earth
and his cultivation of it. But man, as a body of co-equal
nature and similar character to that of the earth and under
standing, is- its cultivator. When the cultivator is endowed
with virtue and diligence, then the body produces its
proper fruit, namely sanity, an excellent state of the outward
senses, strength, and beauty. But if the cultivator be a
savage, then every thing is different. For the body becomes
liable to a curse, since it has for its husbandman an intellect
unchastised and unsound. And its fruit is nothing useful,
but only thorns and thistles, sorrow and fear, and other vices
which every thought strikes down, and as it were pierces the
intellect with its darts.
* Genesis iii. 17.
310 PHILO JUD/EUS.
But grass here is symbolically used for food ; since man
has changed himself from a rational animal into a bruce
bcacfc, having neglected all divine food, which is given by
philosophy, by means of distinct words and laws to regulate
the will.
What is the meaning of the expression, " Until tliou rc-
turnest to the earth from which thou wast taken ;" for man
was not created out of the earth alone, but also of the divine
Spirit ?*
61. In the first place it is clear, that the first man who
was formed out of the earth was made up both of earth and
heaven; but because he did not continue uncorrupt, but
despised the commandment of Grod, fleeing from the most
excellent part, namely, from heaven, he gave himself up
wholly as a slave to the earth, the denser and heavier
clement.
In the second place, if any one burns with a desire of
virtue, which makes the soul immortal, he, beyond all ques
tion, attains to a heavenly inheritance ; but because he was
covetous of pleasure, by which spiritual death is engendered,
he again gives himself over a second time to the earth, on
which account it is said to him, " Dust thou art, and unto
dust shalt thou return;" therefore the earth, as it is the
beginning of a wicked and depraved man, so also it is his
end ; but heaven is the beginning and end of him who is
endowed with virtue.
Why Adam called his wife Life, and affirmed to her,
< ; Thou art the mother of all living ?"t
52. In the first place, Adam gave to the first created
woman that familiar name of Life, inasmuch as she was des
tined to be the fountain of all the generations which should
ever arise upon the earth after their time.
In the second place, he called her by this name because
she did not derive the existence of her substance out of the
earth, but out of a living creature, namely, out of one part
of the man, that is to say, out of his rib, which was formed
into a woman, and on that account she was called " life,"
because she was first made out of a living creature, and
* Genesis iii. 18. t Genesis iii 20.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 311
because the first beings who were endowed with reason were
to be generated from her. Nevertheless, it is possible that
this may have been a metaphorical expression ; for is not the
outward sense, which is a figurative emblem of the woman,
called with peculiar propriety " life r" because it is by the
possession of these senses that the living being is above all
other means distinguished from that which is not alive, as it
is by that that the imaginations and impulses of the soul
are set in motion, for the senses are the causes of each ; and,
in real truth the outward sense is the mother of all living
creatures, for as there could be no generation without a
mother, so also there could be no living creature without
sense.
Why Grod made garments of skins for Adam and his wife,
and clothed them ?*
53. Perhaps some one may laugh at the expressions here
used, considering the small value of the garments thus
made, as if they were not at all worthy of the labour of a
Creator of such dignity and greatness ; but a man who has
a proper appreciation of wisdom and virtue will rightly and
deservedly look upon this work as one very suitable for a
Grod, that, namely, of teaching wisdom to those who were
before labouring to no purpose ; and who, having but little
anxiety about procuring useful things, being seized with an
insane desire for miserable honours, have given themselves
up as slaves to convenience, looking upon the study of wis
dom and virtue with detestation, and being in love with
splendour of life and skill in mean and handicraft arts,
which is in no way connected with a virtuous man.
And these unhappy men do not know that a frugality,
which is in need of nothing, becomes, as it were, a relation and
neighbour to man, but that luxurious splendour is banished
to a distance as an enemy ; therefore the garment made of
skins, if one should come to a correct judgment, deserves to
be looked upon as a more noble possession than a purple
robe embroidered with various colours.
Therefore this is the literal meaning of the text ; but if
we look to the real meaning, then the garment of skins is a
figurative expression for the natural skin, that is to say, our
* Genesis iii. 21.
312 PHILO JUD^US.
body ; for God, when first of all he made the intellect, called
it Adam ; after that he created the outward sense, to which
he gave the name of Life. In the third place, he of necessity
also made a body, calling that by a figurative expression, a
garment of skins ; for it was fitting that the intellect and
the outward sense should be clothed in a body as in a o-ar-
meiit of skins; that the creature itself might first of all
appear worthy of divine virtue ; since by what power can
the formation of the human body be put together more ex
cellently, and in a more becoming manner, than by God ?
on which account he did put it together, and at the same
time he clothed it; when some prepare articles of human
clothing and others put them on ; but this natural clothing,
contemporary with the man himself, namely, the body, be
longed to the same Being both to make and to clothe the
man in after it was made.
Who those beings are to whom God says, " Behold, Adam
has become as one of us, to know good and evil ?"*
54. The expression, " one of us," indicates a plurality of
beings ; unless indeed we are to suppose, that Qod is con
versing with his own virtues, which he employed as instru
ments, as it were, to create the universe and all that is in
it; but that expression "as," resembles an enigma, and a
similitude, and a comparison, but is not declaratory of any
dissimilarity ; for that which is intelligible and sensibly
,L, r ood, and likewise that which is of a contrary character, is
known to God in a different manner from that in which it is
known to man ; since, in the same way in which the natures
of those who inquire and those who comprehend, and the
things themselves too which are inquired into, and per
ceived, and comprehended, are distinguished, virtue itself is
also capable of comprehending them. But all these things
arc similitudes, and forms, and images, among men; but
among the gods they are prototypes, models, indentions,
and more manifest examples of things which are somewhat
obscure ; but the unborn and uncreated Father joins himself
to no one, except with the intention of extending the honour
of his virtues.
Yv lrnt is the meaning of the words, " Lest perchance he
* Genesis iii. 22.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 313
put forth his hand and take of the tree of life, and eat and
live for ever;"* for there is no uncertainty and no envy
in God?
55. It is quite true that God never feels either uncer
tainty or envy ; nevertheless he often employs ambiguous
things and expressions, assenting to them as a man might
do ; for, as I have said before, the supreme providence is of
a twofold nature, sometimes being God, and not acting in
any respect as a man ; but, on some occasions, as a man
instructs his son, so likewise should the Lord God give
warning to you.
Therefore the first of these circumstances belongs to his
sovereign power, and the second to his disciplinary, and to
the first introduction to instruction, so as to insinuate into
man s heart a voluntary inclination, since that expression,
" lest perchance," is not to be taken as a proof of any hesi
tation on the part of God, but in relation to man, who, by
his nature, is prone to hesitation, and is a denunciation of
the inclinations which exist in him.
For when any appearance of anything whatever occurs to
any man, immediately there arises within him an impulse
towards that which appears, being caused by that very thing
which appears. And from this arises the second hesitating
kind of uncertainty, distracting the mind in various direc
tions, as to whether the thing is fit to be accepted, or
acquired, or not. And very likely present circumstances
have a respect to that second feeling; for, in truth, the
Divinity is incapable of any cunning, or malevolence, or
wickedness : it is absolutely impossible that God should
either envy the immortality or any other good fortune be
longing to any being. And we can bring the most unde
niable proof of this ; for it was not in consequence of any
one s entreaties that he created the world ; but, being a
merciful benefactor, rendering an essence previously un
tamed and unregulated, and liable to suffering, gentle and
pleasant, he did so by a vast harmony of blessings, and a
regulated arrangement of them, like a chorus ; and he being
himself the only sure being, planted the tree of life by his
own luminous character.
* Genesis iii. 23.
314 PHILO JUD^IUS.
Moreover, he was not influenced by the mediation or
exhortation of any other being in communicating incor
ruptibility to man. But while man existed as the purest
intellect, displaying no appearance either of work or of any
evil discourse, he was certain to have a fitting guide, to lead
him in the paths of piety, which is undoubted and genuine
immortality. But from the time when he began to be
converted to depravity, wishing for the things which belong
to mortal life, he wandered from immortality ; for it is not
fitting that craft and wickedness should be rendered im
mortal, and moreover it would be useless to the subject ;
since the longer the life is which is granted to the wicked
and depraved man, the more miserable is he than others, so
that his immortality becomes a grave misfortune to him.
"Why now he calls the Paradise "pleasure," when he is
sending man forth out of it to till the ground from which
ne was taken.*
56. The distinction of agriculture is conspicuous, when
man in the state of paradise, practising the cultivation of
wisdom as if he were employed in the cultivation of trees,
and enjoying the food of imperishable and most useful
fruits, was himself endowed with immortality likewise.
After that, being expelled from the place of wisdom, ho
experienced the opposite effects of ignorance, by which the
body is polluted, and at the same time the intellect is
blinded, and, being exposed to a want of proper food, he-
wastes away, and yields to a miserable death.
On which account, now, in contempt of the foolish man,
God calls the Paradise "pleasure," in order to put it in
opposition to a life of pain, and misery, and savageneas. In
truth, the life which is passed in wisdom is a pleasure, full
of liberal joy, and is the constant enjoyment of a rational
soul ; but that life which is destitute of wisdom is found to
be both savage and miserable, although it is excessively
deceived by the appetites, which pain both precedes and
follows.
Why God places a cherubim in front of the Paradise, and
a flaming sword, which turned every way, to keep the way
of the tree of life? f
* Genesis iii. 23 t Genesis ill 24.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 315
57. The name cherubim designates the two original vir
tues which belong to the Deity, namely, his creative and
his royal virtues. The one of which has the title of God,
the other, or the royal virtue, that of Lord. Now the form
of the creative power is a peaceable, and gentle, and benefi
cent virtue; but the royal power is a legislative, and
chastising, and correcting virtue. Moreover, by the
flaming sword he here symbolically intimates the heaven :
for the air is of a flaming colour, and turns itself round,
revolving about the universe.
Therefore, all these things assumed to themselves the
guardianship of the Paradise, because they are the presi
dents over wisdom, like a mirror ; since, to illustrate my
meaning by an example, the wisdom of the world is a sort of
mirror of the divine virtues, in the similitude of which it
was perfected, and by which the universe and all the things
in it are regulated and arranged. But the way to wisdom is
called philosophy (a word which means the love or the
pursuit of philosophy). And since the creative virtue is
endued with philosophy, being both philosophical and royal,
so also the world itself is philosophical.
Some persons however have fancied that it is the sun
which is indicated by the flaming sword; because, by its
constant revolutions and turnings every way, it marks out
the seasons of the year, as being the guardian of human life
and of every thing which serves to the life of all men.
"Whether it was properly said with respect to Cain : " I
have gotten a man from the Lord ?" *
58. Here there is a distinction made, as to from some one,
and out of some one, and by some thing. Out of some one,
as out of materials ; from some one, as from a cause ; and by
some thing, as by an instrument. But the Father and
Creator of all the world is not an instrument, but a cause.
Therefore he wanders from right wisdom who says, " That
what has been made has been made, not from God, but by
God."
Why the sacred historian first describes the employment
of the younger brother, Abel, saying : " He was a keeper of
sheep ; but Cain was a cultivator of the earth ?"f
Genesis iv. 1. f Genesis iv. 2.
3J6 PIIILO JUDJEUS.
59. Since, although the virtuous son was in point of time
younger than the wicked son, yet in point of virtue he was
older. On which account, on the present occasion, when
their actions are to be compared together, he is placed first.
Therefore one of them exercises a business, and takes care
of living creatures, although they are devoid of reason, gladly
taking upon himself the employment of a shepherd, which
is a princely office, and as it were a sort of rehearsal of royal
power ; but the other devotes his attention to earthly a ud
inanimate objects.
Why Cain after some days offers up the first-fruits of his
fruits, but when it is said that "Abel offered up first-fruits of
the first-born of his flock and of the fat," * "after some days"
is not added ?
GO. Moses here intimates the difference between a lover
of himself, and one who is thoroughly devoted to God ; for
the one took to himself the first-fruits of his fruits, and very
impiously looked upon God as worthy only of the secondary
and inferior offerings ; for the expression, "after some days,"
implies that he did not do so immediately ; and when it is
said that he offered of the fruits, that intimates that he did
7iot offer of the best fruits which he had, and herein displays
his iniquity.
But the other, without any delay, offered up the first-born
and eldest of all his flocks, in order that in this the Father
might not be treated unworthily.
Yv 7 hy, when he had begun with Cain, he still mentions
him here in the second place, when he says: "And God
had respect unto Abel and unto his offerings; but unto
Cain and unto his sacrifices he paid no attention ?"t
61. In the first place, because the good man, who is by
nature first, is not at first perceived by the outward senses
of imy man except in his own turn, and by people of virtuous
conduct. Secondly, because the good and the wicked man
are two distinct characters ; he accepts the good man, seeing
that he is a lover of what is good, and an eager student of
virtue ; but he rejects and regards with aversion the wicked
man, presuming that he will be prone to that side by tbo
* Genesis iv. 0. f Genesis iv. 5.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 317
order of nature. Therefore he says here with exceeding
fitness, that God had regard, not to the offerings, but to
those who offered them, rather than to the gifts themselves ;
for men have regard to and regulate their approbation by
the abundance and richness of offerings, but God looks at
the sincerity of the soul, having no regard to ambition or
illusion of any kind.
What is the meaning of the distinction here made be
tween a gift and a sacrifice ? *
62. The man who slays a sacrifice, after having made a
division, pours the blood around the altar and takes the flesh
home ; but he who offers it as a gift, offers as it should seem
the whole to him who accepts it. Therefore, the man who
is a lover of self is a distributor, like Cain ; but he who is a
lover of God is the giver of a free gift, as was Abel.
How it was that Cain became aware that his offering had
not pleased God?f
63. Perhaps he resolved his doubts, an additional cause
being added, for sorrow seized upon him and his counte
nance fell. Therefore, he took the sorrow which he felt as
an indication that he had been sacrificing what was not
pleasing or approved of, when joy and happiness would have
been suited to one who was sacrificing with purity of heart
and spirit.
Why is it that the expression used is not, because you do
not offer rightly ; but, because (or unless) you do not divide
rightly ?J
64. In the first place, we must understand that right
division and improper division are nothing else but order
and the want of it. And it is by order that the universal
world and its parts were made ; since the Creator of the
world, when he began to arrange and regulate the pre
viously untamed and unarranged power which was liable to
suffering, employed section and division. For he placed the
heavy elements which were prone to descend downwards by
their own nature, namely, the earth and the water, in the
centre of the universe ; but he placed the air and the fire at
* Genesis iv. 4. t Genesis iv. 5. Genesis iv. 7.
318 miLO JUD^EUS.
a greater altitude, as they were raised on high by reason of
their lightness.
But separating and dividing the pure nature, namely
heaven, he carried it round and diffused it over the universe,
so that it should be completely invisible to all men ; con
taining within itself the whole universe in all its parts.
Again, the statement that animals and plants are pro
duced out of seeds, some moist and some dry, what else
does it mean but the inevitable dissection and separation of
distinction ? Therefore it follows inevitably, that this order
and arrangement of the universe must be imitated in all
things, especially in feeling and acknowledging gratitude ;
by which we are invited to requite in some degree and
manner the kindnesses of those who have showered greater
benefits liberally on us. Moreover, to pay one s thanks to
God is an action which is intrinsically right in itself: and
it is not to be disapproved of that he should receive the
offerings due to him at the earliest moment, and fresh gifts
from the first-fruits of every thing, not being dishonoured by
any negligence on our part. Since it is not fitting that man
should reserve for himself the first and most excellent things
which are created, and should offer what is only second best
to the all-wise God and Creator ; for that division would be
faulty and blameworthy, showing a most preposterous and
unnatural arrangement.
AVhat is the meaning of the expression : " You have done
wrongly ; now rest ?"*
05. He is here giving very useful advice ; since, to do no
wrong at all is the greatest of all good things : but he who
sins, and who thus blushes and is overwhelmed with shame,
is near akin to him, being, if I may use such a phrase, as the
younger brother to the elder ; for those persons who pride
themselves on their errors as if they had not done wrong, are
afflicted with a disease which is difficult to cure, or rather
which is altogether incurable.
Why he seems to be giving what is good into the hand of
a wicked man, when he says, " And unto thee shall be his
desire ?"t
* Genesis iv. 8. t Ibid.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 319
66. He does not deliver good into his hand; but the
expression is heard with different feelings ; since he is
speaking, not of a pious man, but after the action is accom
plished, saying of him: The desire and resnect of the
impiety of this man s wickedness will be towards you. Do
not therefore talk about necessity, but about your own
habits, in order that thus he may represent the voluntary
action.
And again, the sentence, "And you shall be his ruler
over him," has a reference to the operation. In the first
place, you begin to act with wickedness ; and now behold,
another iniquity follows that great and injurious iniquity.
Therefore, he both thinks and affirms that this is the
principal part of all voluntary injury.
Why he slew his brother in the field ?*
67. That as all infecundity and sterility arises from a
neglect of sowing and planting land a second time, he may
be kept continually in mind of his wicked murder, and self-
blamed for it ; since the ground was not to be the same for
the future, after it was compelled, contrary to its nature, to
drink of human blood, to bring forth food to that man who
imbued it with the polluted stain of blood.
Why he who knows all things asks the fratricide : " Where
is thy brother Abel?" t
68. He puts this question to him because he wishes the
man to confess voluntarily and spontaneously, of his own
accord, so that he may not imagine that every thing is done
out of necessity; for he who had slain another through
necessity, would have confessed unwillingly, as having done
the deed unwillingly; since that which does not depend
upon ourselves does not deserve accusation ; but the man
who has done wrong intentionally denies it ; for those who
do wrong are liable to repentance. Therefore, he has inter
woven this principle in all parts of his legislation, because
the Deity himself is never the cause of evil.
Why he who had slain his brother makes answer as if he
were replying to a man ; and says, " I do not know : am I
my brother s keeper ?"J
* Genesia iv. 9. t Genesis iv. 10. J Genesis iv. 9.
20 PIIILO JUD/EUS.
G9. It is the opinion of an atheist to think that the eye of
God does not penetrate through every thing, and behold all
things at the same time ; pierc ing not only through what is
visible, but also through every thing which lurks in the
deepest and bottomless unfathomable abysses.
Suppose a person said to him, " How can you be ignorant
where your brother is, and how is it that you do not know
that, when as yet he is one out of the only four human beings
which exist in the world? He being one with both his parents,
and you his only brother." To this question the reply made
is: "I am not my brother s keeper." what a beautiful
apology ! And whose keeper and protector ought you to have
been, rather than your brother s ? But if you have excited
your diligence to give effect to violence, and injury, and fraud,
and homicide, which are the foulest and most abominable of
actions, why did you consider the safety of your brother a
secondary object ? "
What is the meaning of tfhe expresssion, " The voice of thy
brother s blood cries to me out of the earth ? " *
70. This is especially an example by which to take warning;
for the Deity listens to those who are worthy, although they
be dead, knowing that they are alive as to an incorporeal life.
But he averts his countenance from the prayers of the
wicked, although they are living a flourishing life, inasmuch
as he looks upon them as dead to any real life, carrying
about their bodies like a sepulchre ; and having buried their
miserable souls in it.
Why he is said to be cursed upon the earth ? f
71. The earth is the last portion of the world, therefore if
that utters curses, we must consider that the other elements
do likewise pour forth adequate maledictions ; for instance,
the fountains, and rivers, and sea, and the air, and the land,
and the fire, and the light, and the sun, and moon, and stars,
and in short the whole heaven. For if inanimate and
earthly nature, throwing off the yoke, wars against injury,
why may not still rather those natures do so which are of "a
purer character ? But as for him, against whom the parts
* Genesis iv. 10. f Genesis iv. 11
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 32 1
of the world carry on war, what hope of safety he can have
for the future, I know not.
"What is the meaning of the curse, " You shall be groaning
and trembling upon the earth?" *
72. This also is a general principle ; for in all evils there
are some things which are perceived immediately, and some
which are felt at a later period ; for those which are future
cause fear, and those which are felt at once bring sorrow.
What is the meaning of Cain saying, " My punishment is
too great for you to dismiss me ? f"
73. In truth there is no misery greater than to be deserted
and despised by God ; for the anarchy of fools is cruel and
very intolerable ; but to be despised by the great King, and
to fall down as an abject person cast down from the govern
ment of the Supreme Power is an indescribable affliction.
What is the meaning of Cain, when he says, " Everyone
who shall find me will kill me:" when there was scarcely
another human being in the world except his parents ? J
74. In the first place he might have received injury from
the parts of the world which indeed were made for the
advantage of the good and that they might partake of them,
but which nevertheless, derived from the wicked no slight
degree of revenge. In the second place it may be that he
said this, because he was apprehensive of injury from beasts,
and reptiles ; for nature has brought forth these animals with
the express object of their being instruments of vengeance
on the wicked.
In the third place, some people may imagine that he is
speaking with reference to his parents, on whom he hr,d
inflicted an unprecedented sorrow, and the first evil which
had happened to them, before they knew what death was.
Why whoever should slay Cain should bo liable to bear a
sevenfold punishment ?
75. As our soul consists of eight portions, being amis.
tomed to be divided in its rational and irrational individuality
* Genesis iv. 13. Our translation is, " My punishment is greater
than I can bear."
t Genets iv. 12. J Genesis iv. 14. Genesis iv 15
TOL. IV. Y
322 PHiLO JUD.EUS.
into seven subordinate parts, namely into the five outward
senses, and the instrument of vice, and the faculty of gene
ration ; those seven parts exist among the causes of wicked
ness and evil, on which account they likewise full under
judgment ; but the death of thj principal and dominant
portion of man, namely of the mind, is principally the
wickedness which exists in it. AVhoever therefore slays the
mind, mingling in it folly, and insensibility, instead of sense,
will cause dissolution also of the seven irrational parts ; since,
just as the principal and leading part had a portion from
virtue, in the s me manner likewise are its subject divisions
composed.
"Why a sign is put on him who had slain his brother, that
no one should kill him who found him : when it would have
been natural to do the contrary, namely, to give him over to
the hands of an executioner to be put to death ?*
76. This is said because, in the first place, the change of
the nature of living is one kind of death ; but continual
sorrow and unmixed fear are destitute of joy and devoid of all
good hope, and so they bring on many terrible and various
evils which are so many sensible deaths.
In the second place, the sacred historian designs at the
very beginning of his work to enunciate the law about the
incorruptibility of the soul, and to confute as deceitful those
who look upon the life which is contained in this body as the
only happy life ; for behold one of the two brothers is guilty
of those enormous crimes which have already been men
tioned, namely, impiety and fratricide ; and he is still alive,
and begetting offspring, and building cities. But the other
who was praised in respect of his piety is treacherously put
to death ; while the voice of the Lord not only clearly cries
out that that existence which is perceptible by the outward
senses is not good, and that such a death is not evil, but
ulso that that life which is in the fbsh is not life, but that
there is another given to mail free from old age, and more
immortal, which the incorporeal souls have rccjived ; for that
expression of the poet about Scylla,
That is not mortal but an endless woe/ f
* r.cnes s iv. iG.
t The line occurs, Homer, Ody.-s. xii. 113.
} tie TUt UV Ovi]Tl) dA\ dilUKlTUV KOKOV Iff lV-
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 323
is asserted in the same familiarity about a person who lives
ill arid passes a long life for many years in the practice of
wickedness.
In the third place, since Cain had perpetrated this fra
tricide of enormous guilt above all other crimes, he presents
himself to him, quite forgetful of the injury that he has done,
imposing on all judges a most peaceful law for the first crime;
not that they are not to destroy malefactors, but that restin"-
for a while with great patience and long suffering, they shall
study compassion rather than severity.
But God himself, with the most perfect wisdom, has laid
down the rule of familiarity and intelligence with reference
to the first sinner : not slaying the homicide, but destroying
him in another manner ; since he scarcely permitted him to
be enumerated among the generations of his father, but shows
him proscribed not only by his parents but by the whole
race of mankind, allotting him a state separate from that of
others, and secluded from the class of rational animals, as
one who had been expelled, and banished, and turned into
the nature of beasts.
"Why Lamech, after the fifth generation, blames himself
for the fratricide of his elder Cain ; saying, as the scripture
reports, to his wives, Adah and Zillah ; " I have slain a man
to my injury and a young man to my hurt ; since if vengeance
is taken upon Cain sevenfold, it shall certainly be taken on
Lamech seventy and sevenfold ? " *
77. In numerals one is before ten, both in order and in
virtue, for it is the first beginning and element and measure
of all things. But the number ten is subsequent, and is
measured by the other, being inferior to it, both in order
and virtue ; therefore, also, the number seven is antecedent
in its origin to and more ancient than the number seventy,
but the number seventy is younger than the number seven,
and contains the calculation of generations.
These premises being laid down, he who first committed
sin, as if he had been really always ignorant of evil, like
the first odd number, namely, the unit, is chastised more
simply ; but the second offender, because he had the first
for an example, so that there cannot possibly be any excuse
* Genesis iv. 23.
y 2
3iH PKILO
made for him, is guilty of a voluntary crime, and because
ho did not receive honourable wisdom from that more sim
ple punishment, the consequence will be that he will both
suffer all that first punishment, and will, moreover, receive
this second one, which is contained in the number ten.
For as in the horse-races they pay the groom who has
trained the horse twice as great a reward as they give to the
driver, so some wicked men. inclined to acts of injustice,
gain the miserable triumph of victory and then are punished
with a double punishment, both by the first one which is
contained in the unit, and also by the second which is
contained in the number ten ; besides, Cain being tho
author of a homicide, when he was ignorant of the great
ness of the pollution which he was incurring, because no
death had hitherto taken place in the world, suffered a more
simple punishment, namely, only a sevenfold penalty in the
order of the unit ; but as his imitator could not take refuge
in the same plea of ignorance, he ought to be subjected to
a twofold punishment, not only to one equal and similar to
that which had been inflicted on the first offender, but also
another, which should be the seventh among the decades.
In truth, according to the law, the trial which is before the
tribunal is a sevenfold one ; first of all, the eyes are put
on their trial, because they beheld what was not lawful ;
secondly, the ears are impeached, because they heard what
they ought not to have heard ; thirdly, the smell is brought
into question, as having been reduced by smoke and vapour ;
fourthly, fie taste is accused, as being subservient to the
pleasures of the belly ; fifthly, a charge is brought against
the taste, by means of which, besides the operations of the
senses above-mentioned, in respect of those things which
prevail over the spirit, other things, also, are superadded
separately, such as the takings of cities, the captivities of
men. the destructions of those citadels of cities in which
wisdom dwells ; sixthly, an accusation is urged against the
tongue and other instruments of speech, for being silent
as to what should be spoken of, and speaking of what
should be buried in silence ; and, in the seventh place, the
1 ;wcr part of the belly is impeached for inflaming and
exciting the passions by immoderate lust.
This is the meaning of that expression, according to which
.1 sevenfold vengeance wa:j taken upon Cain, but a seventy
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 325
and sevenfold vengeance upon Lamcch for the causes above
mentioned, because he was the second offender, not having
been taught by the punishment of the first delinquent, and
therefore he is altogether worthy to receive his punishment,
which is the more simple one, like the unit in numerals,
and, also, a manifold punishment too equal to the number ten.
"Why Adam, when he begat Seth, introduces him saying,
" God has raised up for me another seed in the place of
Abel whom Cain slew ? "*
78. In real truth Seth is another seed and the beginning
of a second nativity of Abel, in accordance with a certain
natural principle ; for Abel is like to one who comes down
below from above, on which account it was that he perished
injuriously ; but Seth resembles one who is proceeding up
wards from below, on which account he also increases.
And in proof of this argument Abel is explained as having
been brought back and offered upwards to God. But it
is not proper that everything should be raised and borne
upwards, but only that which is good, for God 13 in no
respect whatever the cause of evil.
Therefore, whatever is indistinct and uncertain, and
mingled, and in confusion and disorder, has also, very
properly, blame and praise mingled together : praise, be
cause it honours the cause, and blame, since as the occurrence
happened fortuitously, so it is without any plans having been
formed or any gratitude expressed. Moreover, nature also
separated the two sons from him ; it rendered the good one
worthy of immortality, resolving him into a voice inter
ceding with God ; but the wicked one it gave over to
corruption.
But the name Seth is interpreted " watered," according
to the variation of plants which grow by being watered,
and put forth shoots and bear fruit. But these things ave
the symbols of the soul, so that it is not lawful to assert
that the Divinity is the cause of all things equally, of the
bad as well as of the good, but only of the good, and th:it
alone ought to be planted alive.
Why Enos, the son of Seth, hoped to call upon t)ie name
of the Lord God rf
* Genesis iv. 2f>. t Genesis iv. 2G.
325 PHILO JUD.EU3.
79. The name Enos is interpreted "man; " and it is
received as meaning, not the whole of the combined man,
but as the rational part of the soul, namely, the intellect,
to which it is peculiarly becoming to hope, for irrational
animals are devoid of hope ; but hope is a sort of presage
of joy, and before joy there is an expectation of good
things.
\Vhy, after the mention of hope, Moses says, " This is
the book of the generations of men ? "
SO. It is by this that he made what has been said before
worthy of belief. What is man ? Man is a being which,
beyond all other races of animals, has received a copious
and wonderful portion of hope ; and this is as it were
inscribed on his very nature, and celebrated there ; for the
human intellect hopes by its own nature.
Why, in the genealogy of Adam, Moses no longer men
tions Cain, but only Se th, who, he says, was according to
his appearance and form ; on which account he proceeds
to retain the generations which descend from him in his
genealogy ?t
81. It can neither be lawful to enumerate a -wicked and
sinful murderer either in the list of reason or in that of
number ; for he must be cast out like dung, as some one
said, looking upon him as one of such a character; and on
this account the sacred historian neither points him out 513
the successor of his father who had been formed out of the
dust, nor as the head of succeeding generations ; but he
distributes both these characteristics to him who was with
out pollution, and names Seth, who is a drinker of water,
as having been watered by his father, and as begetting hope
in his own increase and progress ; on which account it is not
inconsiderately and foolishly that he says that lie was born
according to the form and appearance of his father, to the
reproof of his elder brother, who, on account of the foulness
<;f the murder which he had committed, has nothing in him
resembling his father, either in body or soul.
And on this account Moses has separated him from the
* Genesis v. I . + Genesis v. 3.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 327
family, and has given his share to his brother, being the
noble privilege of the birthright of the first-born.
What is the meaning of the verse, Enoch pleased God
after he begat Methuselah, two hundred years ?*
82. God appointed by the law the fountains of all good
things to be under the principles of generation itself. And
what I mean is something of this sort. A little while before
he appointed mercy and pardon to exist, now again he de
crees that penitence shall exist, not in any degree mocking
or reproaching these men, who are believed* to have offended,
and at the same time giving the soul an opportunity to mount
up from wickedness to virtue, like the conversion of those
who are proceeding towards a snare. For behold, the man
being made a husband and a father together with his birth,
makes a beginning of honesty.
And he is said to please God, for although lie does not
persevere in piety from the moment that he is born, never
theless, all that remaining period is counted to him as having
been spent in a praiseworthy mode of life, because he pleased
God for so many years. And these things are said, not be
cause it perhaps was, but it might perhaps have seemed
different; but he approves of the order of things, for
indulgence having been exemplified, in this case of Cain,
after no long interval of time, he introduces this statement^
that Enoch practised repentance, warning us by it that
repentance alone can procure indulgence.
Why Enoch, who cultivated repentance, is said to have
lived before his repentance a hundred and sixty-five years,
but two hundred after his repentance ?f
83. This number of a hundred and sixty-five is combined
of the singular addition of ten numbers from the unit to
ten ; as one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine,
ten, the total of which is fifty-five. And again, from that
by the addition of ten numbers, which, removing the unit
proceed upwards by twos, as two, four, six, eight, ten,
twelve, fourteen, sixteen, eighteen, twenty, which make a
* Genesis v. 22.
f Ibid. This is at variance with the statement in the Bible, which
says he lived sixty-five years before the birth of Methuselah, and
walked with God three hundred years.
S28 PIIILO JUJD.EUS.
hundred and ten ; the combination of which, with the num
bers first mentioned, produces a hundred and sixty-five ;
and in this addition the even numbers amount to twice as
much as the odd numbers ; for the woman is more violent
than the man, in the preposterous manner in which the
wicked man rules over the virtuous man, the outward sense
over the mind, the body over the outward sense, and matter
over its cause.
But the number two hundred, in which repentance was
practised, is combined of two numbers of one hundred, the
first hundred of which intimates a purification from injustice,
but the other indicates the plenitude of perfect virtue. In
truth, before anything else is done, the first thing is to cut olf
from a sick body every diseased part, and after that means of
cure are to be applied to it, fur this is the first step, and
the other the second. Moreover, the number two hundred
consists of fours, for it is produced as from seed, from four
triangular numbers, and from four tetragons, and from four
pentagons, and from four hexagons, and from four heptagons ;
and, as one may say, it fixes its step on the number seven.
Now the four triangles are these, one, three, six, ten, which
make twenty; the four tetragons are one, four, nine, six
teen, which make thirty ; from the four pentagons, one, five,
twelve, twenty-two, is made the number forty. Moreover, the
four hexagons, one, six, fifteen, twenty-eight, make fifty ; and
the four heptagons, one, seven, eighteen, thirty-four, make
sixty ; and all these numbers put together make two hundred.
Why the man who lives a life of repentance is said to have
lived three hundred and sixty-five years?*
84. In the first place, the year contains three hundred and
sixty-five days ; therefore, by the symbol of the solar orbit, the
sacred historian here indicates the life of the repentant man.
In the second place, as the sun is the cause of day and night,
performing his revolutions by day above the hemisphere of the
earth, and his course by night under the earth, so also the life
of the man of repentance consists of alternations of light and
darkness ; of darkness, that is, of times of agitation and cir
cumstances of injury; and of light, when the light of virtue
a:id its radiant brilliancv arises.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 329
In the third place, he lias assigned to him a complete num
ber, as the sun is ordained to be the chief of the stars of
heaven, under an appointed number, in the time which came
before the period of his repentance, to lead to the oblivion of
the sins previously committed ; since, as God is good, he be
stows the greatest favours most abundantly, and, at the same
time, he effaces the former offences of those who devote them
selves to him, and which might deserve chastisement, by a
recollection, of their virtues.
Why, when Enoch died, the sacred historian adds the
assertion, " He pleased God?"*
85. In the first place, he says this because, by such a
statement, he implies that the soul is immortal, inasmuch as
after it is stripped of the body, it still pleases a second time.
In the second place, he honours the repentant man with
praise, because he has persevered in the same alteration of
manners, and has never receded till he has arrived at com
plete perfection of life ; for behold, some men appear to be
readily sated after they have only tasted of excellence ; and
after a hope of recovery has been given to them, they relapse
again into the same disease.
What is the meaning of the expression, " lie was not found
because God translated him ?"t
86. In the first place, the end of virtuous and holy men is
not death but a translation and migration, and an approach to
some other place of abode.
In the second place, in this instance something marvellous
did take place ; for he was supposed to be carried off in such a
way as to be invisible, for then he was not found : and a proof
of this is, that he was sought for as being invisible, not only
as having been carried away from their sight, since translation
into another place is nothing else than a placing of a person
in another situation; but it is here suggested, that he was
translated from a visible place, perceptible by the outward
senses, into an incorporeal idea, appreciable only by the intel
lect. This mercy also was bestowed on the great prophet, for
his sepulchre also was known to no one.
And besides these two there was another, Elijah, who
* Genesis v. 24, t Ibid.
330 PHILO JUD^EUS.
ascended from the things of earth into heaven, according to
the divine appearance which \vas then presented to him, and
who thus followed higher things, or, to speak with more exact
propriety, was raised up to heaven.
How it was that immediately upon the nativity of Noah his
father says, " He will make us rest from labours and sorrows,
and from the earth, which the Lord God has cursed ?"*
87. The fathers of the saints did not prophesy except for
grave reasons and on important occasions ; for although those
who were rendered worthy of prophetical panegyric did not
prophecy at all times or on all subjects, they did so at all
events on one occasion and on one subject, with which they
were acquainted. Nor is this of no importance, but it is an
emblem and an example, since Noah is a kind of surname of
righteousness, of which, when the intellect is made a partaker,
it causes us to rest from all wicked works, and releases us from
sorrows and from fears, and renders us secure and joyful.
It also causes us to rest from that earthly nature which has
been previously laid under a curse, which this bodv, when
affected by pain, is connected with, especially in those persons
who give cause for it, and who wear out their lives with
pleasure. Nevertheless, if we examine attentively the events
and circumstances, and compare them with the letter of the
scriptures, the prophecy which has been already produced is
deceived, because, in the time of this man, there did not arise
any putting down of evils, but a more vehement obstinacy in
sin and great afflictions, and the unprecedented event of the
deluge. But you must note carefully, that Noah is the tenth
in generation from the earth-born Adam.
What is meant by the three sons of Noah being named
Shem, Ham, and Japhet?*
88.^ These names are the symbols of three human things,
what is good, what is bad, and what is indifferent ; Shem
is the symbol of what is good, Ham of what is bad, and
Japhet of what is indifferent.
Why from the time that the deluge drew near, the human
race is said to have increased so as to become a multitude ? |
39. Divine mercies do always precede judgment; since
* Gem^iR v. 29. f GcneBip v. 3?. * Generis vi. 1
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 331
the first work of God is to do good, and to destroy
follows afterwards ; but he himself (when terrible evils are
about to happen) loves to provide and is accustomed to
provide that previously an abundance of many and great
blessings shall be produced. On this principle also Egypt,
when there WHS about to be a barrenness and famine for seven
years as the prophet himself says,* was for an equal number
of years continuously made exceedingly fertile by the benefi
cent and saving power of the Creator of the universe.
And in the same way in which he showers benefits upon
men, he also teaches them to depart and to abstain from sin ;
that these blessings may not be turned into the contrary.
And on this account now, by the freedom of their institutions,
the cities of the world have increased in generous virtue, so
that if any corruption supervenes subsequently they may dis
approve of their own acts of wickedness as extraordinary and
irremediable ; not at all looking upon the divinity as the cause
of them, for that has no connection with wickedness or misery,
for the task of the Deity is only to bestow blessings.
What is the meaning of the expression, " My spirit shall
not always strive with man, because he is but flesh? "t
90. An oracle is here promulgated as if it were a law ; for
the divine spirit is not a motion of the air, but intellect and
wisdom ; just as it also flows over the man who with great
skill constructed the tabernacle of the Lord, namely upon
Bezaleel, when the scripture says, "And he filled him with
the divine spirit of wisdom and understanding." Therefore
that spirit comes upon men, but does not abide or persevere
in them ; and the Lord himself adds the reason, when he says,
" Because they are flesh." For the disposition of the flesh is
inconsistent with wisdom, inasmuch as it makes a bond of
alliance with desire ; on which account it is evident that
nothing important can be in the way of incorporeal and light
souls, or can be any hindrance to their discerning and com
prehending the condition of nature, because a pure disposition
is acquired together with constancy.
Why it is said that the days of man shall be a hundred and
twenty years ? J
91. God appears here to fix the limit of human life by
* Genesis xli. 28. t Genesis vi. 3. Genesis vi. 4.
332 rillLO JUD.EUS.
this number, indicating by it the manifold prerogative of
honour ; for in the first place this number proceeds from the
units, according to combination, from the number fifteen ;
but the principle of the number fifteen is that of a more
transparent appearance, since it is on the fifteenth day that
the moon is rendered full of light, borrowing its light of the
sun at the approach of evening, and restoring it to him again
in the morning ; so that during the night of the full moon the
darkness is scarcely visible, but it is all light.
In the second place, the number a hundred and twenty is a
triangular number, and is the fifteenth number consisting of
triangles.
Thirdly, it is so because it consists of a combination of odd
and even numbers, being contained by the power of the faculty
of the concurring numbers, sixty-four and fifty-six ; for the
equal number of sixty-four is compounded of the uniting of
these eight odd numbers, one, three, five, seven, nine, eleven,
thirteen, fifteen ; the reduction of which, by their parts into
squares, makes a sum total of sixty-four, and that is a cube,
liiid at the same time a square number.
But again from the seven double units there arises the
unequal number of fifty-six, being compounded of seven double
pairs, which generate other productions of them, two, four, six,
eight, ten, twelve, fourteen ; the sum total of which is fifty-six.
In the fourth place, it is compounded of four numbers, of
one triangle, namely fifteen: and of another square, namely
twenty-five ; and of a third quinquangular figure, thirty-five ;
;-nd of a fourth a sexangular figure forty-five, by the same
analogy : fur the fifth is always received according to each
appearance ; for from the unity of the triangles the fifth num
ber becomes fifteen; again the fifth of the quadrangular
number from the unit makes twenty-five; and the fifth of
the quinquangular number from the unit makes thirty-five ;
and the fifth of the sexangular number from the unit makes
forty -five.
But every one of these numbers is a divine and sacred
number, consisting of fifteens as has been already shown; and
the number twenty-five belongs to the tribe of Lcvi.* And
the number thirty-five comes from the double diagram r.f
arithmetic, geometry, and harmony; but sixteen, and eighteen,
* See Numbers viii. 21.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 333
and nineteen, and twenty-one, the combination of which
numbers amounts to seventy-four, is that according to which
seven months children are born. And forty-five consists of a
triple diagram ; but to this number, sixteen, nineteen, twenty-
two, and twenty-eight, belong : the combination of which
makes eighty-five, according to which nine months children
are produced.
Fifthly, this diagram has fifteen parts, and a twofold compo
sition, peculiarly belonging to itself ; forsooth when divided
by two it gives sixty, the measure of the age of all mankind ;
when divided by three it gives forty, the idea of prophecy ;
when divided by four it gives thirty, a nation ; when divided
by five, it makes twenty-four, the measure of day and night ;
when divided by six, it gives twenty, a beginning ; when
divided by eight, we have fifteen, the moon in the fulness of
brilliancy*; when divided by ten, it makes twelve, the
zodiac embellished with living animals; when divided by
twelve, it makes ten, holy ; when divided by fifteen, it gives
eight, the first ark ; when divided by twenty, it leaves six, the
number of creation ; when divided by twenty-four, it makes
five, the emblem of the outward sense ; when divided by
thirty it makes four, the beginning of solid measure ; when
divided by forty, it gives three, the symbol of fulness, the
beginning, the middle, and the end ; when divided by sixty,
it makes two, which is woman ; and when divided by the
whole number of a hundred and twenty, the product is one, or
man.
And every one of all these numbers is more natural, as is
proved in each of them, but the composition of them is twofold,
for the product is two hundred and forty, which is a sign that
it is worthy of a twofold life ; for as the number of years is
doubled, so also we may imagine that the life is doubled too ;
one being, in connection with the body, the other being
detached from the body, according to which every holy and
perfect man may receive the gift of prophecy.
Sixthly, because the fifth and sixth figures arise, the three
numbers being multiplied together, three times four times five,
since three times four times five make sixty ; so in like man
ner the next following numbers four times five times six make
a hundred and twenty, for four times five times six make
a hundred and twenty.
334 PHILO JUDyEUS.
Seventhly, when the number twenty has been taken in,
which is the beginning of the reduction of mankind, I mean
twenty, and being added to itself two or three times, so as to
make twenty, forty, and sixty, these added together make a
hundred and twenty. But perhaps the number a hundred and
twenty is not the general term of human life, but only of the
life of those men who existed at that time, and who were to
perish by the deluge after an interval of so many years, which
their kind Benefactor prolonged, giving them space for repent-
ance ; when, after the aforesaid term, they lived a longer time
in the subsequent ages.
On what principle it was that giants were born of angels and
women ?*
92. The poets call those men who were born out of the
earth giants, that is to say, sons of the earth. f But Moses
here uses this appellation improperly, and he uses it too very
often merely to denote the vast personal size of the principal
men, equal to that of Hajkf or Hercules.
But he relates that these giants were sprung from a
combined procreation of two natures, namely, from angels and
mortal women ; for the substance of angels is spiritual ; but it
occurs every now and then that on emergencies occurring they
have imitated the appearance of men, and transformed them
selves so as to assume the human shape; as they did on this
occasion, when forming connexions with women for the
production of giants. But if the children turn out imitators
of the wickedness of their mothers, departing from the virtue
of their fa tilers, let them depart, according to the determination
of the will of a depraved rac?, and because of their proud
contempt for the supreme De:ry, and so be condemned as
guiltv of voluntary and dclibera e wickedness.
But sometimes Moses styles the angels the sons of God,
inasmuch as they were not produced by any mortal, hut are
incorporeal, as being spirits destitute of any body ; or rather
that exhortcr and teacher of virtue, namely Muses, calls those
* dencsis vi. 4.
+ 1 he Greek name Tiyag is said to be derived from y/y and yivvau,
" to bring forth."
+ Hajk is sin addition of the Armenian translator; it is the name of
a fabulous patriarch of the Armenia j ua iou.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. < 335
men who are very excellent and endowed with great virtue the
sons of God ; and the wicked and depraved men he calls
bodies, or flesh.
What is the meaning of the expression : " God considered
anxiously, hecause he had made man upon the earth ; and he
resolved the matter in his mind?"*
93. Some persons imagine that it is intimated by these
words that the Deity repented ; but they are very wrong to
entertain such an idea, since the Deity is unchangeable.
Nor are the facts of his caring and thinking about the matter,
and of his agitating it in his mind, any proofs that he is
repenting, but only indications of a kind and determinate
counsel, according to which he displays care, revolving in his
mind the cause why he had made man upon the earth.
But since this earth is a place of misery, even that heavenly
being, man, who is a mixture compounded of soul and body,
from the very hour of his birth to that of his death, is nothing
else but the slave of the body. That the Deity therefore
should meditate and deliberate on these matters is nothing
surprising; since most men take to themselves wickedness
rather than virtue, being influenced by the twofold impulse
mentioned above ; namely, that of a body by its nature
corruptible, and placed in the terrible situation of earth, which
is the lowest of all places.
Why God, after having threatened to destroy mankind, says
that he will also destroy all the beasts likewise ; using the
expression, " from man to beast,f and from creeping things to
flying creatures ; " for how could irrational animals have com
mitted sin ?
94. This is the literal statement of the holy scripture, and
it informs us that animals were not necessarily and in their
primary cause created for their own sake, but for the sake of
mankind and to act as the servants of men ; and when the
men were destroyed, it followed necessarily and naturally that
they also should be destroyed with them, as soon as the men,
for whose sake they had been made, had ceased to exist.
* Cenesi. vi. 6. The translation of our bible is, "It repented God
that 1 e had made man upoii the earth."
t Geneais vi. 7.
330 pniLO juD-ffius.
But as to tbe hidden meaning conveyed by the statement,
since man is a symbol for the intellect which exists in us, and
animals for the outward sense, when the chief creature has
first been depraved and corrupted by wickedness, all the out
ward sense also perishes with him, because he had no relics
whatever of virtue, which is the cause of salvation.
Why God says, I am indignant that I made them?*
95. In the first place, Moses is here again relating what
took place, as if he were speaking of some illustrious action of
man, but, properly speaking, God does not feel anger, but is
exempt from, and superior to, all such perturbations of spirit.
Therefore Moses wishes here to point out, by an extravagant
form of expression, that the iniquities of man had grown to
such a height, that they stirred up and provoked to anger even
that very Being who by his nature was incapable of anger.
In the second place he warns us, by a figure, that foolish
actions are liable to punishment, but that those which proceed
from wise and deliberate counsel are praiseworthy.
Why it is afterwards said, that Noah found grace in the
sight of the Lord ? f
96. In the first place, the time calls for a comparison ; since
all the rest of mankind has been rejected for their ingratitude,
he places the just man in the place of them all, asserting that
ho had found favour with God, not because he alono was
deserving of favour, when the whole universal body of the
human race had had benefits and mercies heaped on them, but
because he alone had seemed to be mindful of the kindnesses
which he had received.
in the second place, when the whole generation had been
given over to destruction, with the exception of one single
family, it followed inevitably that that remaining household
should be asserted to have shown itself worthy of the divine
grace, that it might be, as it were, a seed and spark of a new
race of mankind. And what could be a greater grace and
mercy than that the man, of whom this is said, should be at
tho same time the end and beginning of the family of
mankind?
* Genesis vi 7. t Genesis vl. 8.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 337
Why does Moses enumerate the generations of Noah with
reference not to his ancestors but to his virtues ?*
97. He does this in the first place, because all the men of
that age were wicked : secondly, he is here imposing a law
upon the will, because, to an anxious follower of virtue, virtue
itself stands in the place of a real generation, if indeed men
are the means of the generation of men, but the virtues of
minds. And on this account it is that he says, he was a
just man, perfect, and one who pleased God ; but justice, and
perfection, and grace before God, are the greatest of virtues.
What was the meaning of Moses when he says, " And all
the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was
filled with iniquity ?"f
98. Moses himself has given us the reason why he speaks
thus, in the sentence in which he asserts that iniquity had
arisen by reason of the corruption of the earth ; for deliverance
from iniquity is righteousness, both in all the parts of the
world, in heaven, that is, and earth, and among men.
What is the meaning of his saying, " All flesh had cor
rupted his way upon the earth ?"J
99. In the first place, the sacred historian calls the man who
is devoted to the love of himself, flesh; therefore, when he
had already said he was flesh, he introduces not the same
flesh, but the flesh of the game being, namely, of man, or per
haps he is speaking even of man abstractedly considered ; for
every one who passes a life destitute of all civilisation, and
bewildered by intemperance, is flesh.
In the second place, he supposes here the cause of spiritual
corruption to be, as in truth it is, the flesh, because that is
the seat of desire ; and from it, as from a living spring, arise
all the peculiar appetites, and passions, and other affections.
In the third place, he very naturally says, that all flesh had
corrupted his way ; for " his" is a partial case, declined from
the nominative case of the pronoun " he, she, or it ;" for as for
the being to whom we refer honour, we scarcely dare to speak
of him by his own name, but we call him He. And it is from
this that the principle of the Pythagorean philosophers was
derived, who said, " He said it," speaking of their master in a
* Genesis vi. 9. t Genesis vi. 11. + Genesis vi. 12.
VOL. IV. Z
338 PIIILO JUD.-EUS.
glorious manner, since they feared to speak of him by name.
And the same custom has obtained in cities and in private
houses ; for the servants, when speaking of the arrival of their
master, say, " Here he comes ;" and so when the prince of any
individual city arrives, they use the same form of speech, " He
comes," when they speak of him.
But what is the purpose of this prolix enumeration of all
these instances on my part? The truth is, that I wished to
show that it is the Father of the universe who is spoken of
here ; since, indeed, all his good qualities, and all his marvel
lous names, are widely celebrated by the praise bestowed upon
the virtues ; and, therefore, out of reverence he has used that
name more cautiously, because he was about to bring on the
world the destruction of the flood ; but the case of the pronoun
" He" is used by way of honour in these phrases. ; All flesh
had corrupted His way," inasmuch as it is truly convicted of
having corrupted the way of the Father, in accordance with
the lusts, and desires, and pleasures of the body ; for these are
the enemies and opposers of the laws of continence, and par
simony, and chastity, and fortitude, and justice ; by which the
road which leads to God is found out and widened, so that it
should everywhere be a beaten and plain road.
What is the meaning of the statement, "All the time of man
has come against me, because the earth is filled with iniquity ?
10D. Those who resist the order of fate proceed upon these
and many other arguments, especially in that of sudden death,
which oftentimes produces great slaughter in a short period of
time ; as, for instance, in the overthrow of houses, in confla
grations, in shipwrecks, in civil tumults, in battles of cavalry,
in wars by land and in wars by sea, and in pestilences. To
all those who advance arguments of this kind we repeat the
same assertions which are here made by the prophet, on the
principle which is derived from himself. If indeed that ex
pression, "All the time of man has come against me," has a
meaning of this kind, the term which has been determined as
the period of living for all mankind, behold it is now brought
to one point and terminated at once by the deluge ; and since
this is the case, they will not live any longer according to the
* Genesis vi. 13. The version given here does not in the least
resemble that in our Bible.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 339
principle of fate which has been fixed ; so that the time of
each separate individual is now reduced to one, and has
received its destined termination at the same time, by I know
not what harmony and periodical revolution of the stars, by
which bodies the whole race of mankind is continually pre
served or destroyed. Let those, therefore, all receive these
things in any manner in which they choose who study these
things, and those too who argue against them.
Nevertheless we must first of all make this statement, that
nothing can be found so contrary to, so opposite to, so wholly
repugnant to, the wonderful virtue of the Deity as iniquity ;
therefore, after he said, " All the time of all mankind has come
up against me," he adds also the reason of its contrariety to
him, that the earth is filled with iniquity.
In the second place, Time, under the name of Chronos or
Saturn, is looked upon as a god by the wickedest of men, who
are desirous to lose sight of the one essential Being, on which
account he says, " The time of all mankind has come up
against me," because in fact the heathen make human time
into a god, and oppose him to the real true God. But, how
ever, it is now insinuated, in other passages also of scripture,
which run thus, " Time has departed to a distance from them,
but the Lord is in us :"* just as if he were to say, time is
looked upon by wicked men as the cause of the world, but by
wise men and virtuous men time is not looked upon in this
light, but God only, from whom all times and seasons do
proceed.
Again, God is the cause, not of all things, but only of good
things and good men, and of those men and things which are
in accordance with virtue ; for as he is free from all wicked
ness, so likewise he cannot be the cause of it.
In the third place, by that expression which he uses in this
manner, he indicates the excess of impiety, saying, " that the
time of all mankind has arrived," that is to say, that all men,
in every part of the world, have agreed together, with one
mind, to work wickedness ; but the other assertion which is
here made, that the whole earth is filled with iniquity, amounts
to this, that there is no part of it whatever free from wicked
ness, and which is also to receive and to bear righteousness.
* Numbers xiv. 9. Compare with this Isaiah viii., Jeremiah xlvi.
2128, Psalin l*xx 16.
z a
340 PHILO JUD/EUS.
And the expression, " against me," establishes the proof of
what has been said, inasmuch as it is only the judgment of
divine election which is altogether firm and lasting.
QUESTIONS, AND SOLUTIONS TO THOSE QUESTIONS,
WHICH ARISE IN GENESIS.
BOOK II.
WHAT is the preparation of Noah ?*
1. If any one should wish to make an examination of the
question of that ark of Noah s on more natural principles, he
will find it to have been the preparation of the human body,
as we shall see by the examination of each particular respect
ing it separately.
Why does he make the ark of squared pieces of wood ?f
2. He does this in the first place, because the figure of a
square, wherever it may be placed, is steady and firm, consist
ing as it does of right angles, and it is confirmed in a purer and
clearer manner by the nature of the human body.
In the second place, he does this because, although our body
is an instrument, and although every portion of it is rounded
off, nevertheless the limbs which are compounded of all theso
portions do, by some manner or other, evidently reduce that
circular orb to the figure of a quadrangle or square. For ex
ample, take the breast which is rather square than circular ;
in the same manner take the belly, after it is swollen with
food or by any natural excess, for there are some men pot
bellied by nature, who are to be excepted from our present
argument. But if any one looks upon the arms and hands,
and back and thighs, and feet of a man, he will find all these
limbs compounded of a mixture of the square, with the cir
cular figure at the same time.
In the third place, a quadrangular piece of wood shows in its
extension nearly every sort imaginable of uneven distinction,
inasmuch as its length is greater than its breadth, and its
breadth greater than its depth. And such also is the forma
tion of our bodies, which are compounded of one extension
* Genesis vi. 14. f Genesis vi. 16.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 341
which is great, of another which is of moderate size, of another
which is small, great in its length and small in its depth.
Why does God say, you shall make the ark in nests ?*
3. He gives this order very naturally, for the human body
is formed of holes like nests ; every one of which is nourished
and grows like a young bird, a certain spiritual force which ex
ists in it from its earliest origin penetrating through it, as, for
instance, some of the holes and nests are the eyes, in which
the faculty of sight has its abode ; other nests are the ears,
which are the place where hearing is situated. A third class
of nests are the nostrils, in which the sense of smell is
lodged. The fourth nest, which is of larger dimensions than
those already mentioned, is the mouth, which is the seat of
the taste ; and it has been made of large size, since, besides
taste, there is also another still more important instrument,
which is that of articulate speech, reposing in it, namely, the
tongue, which, as Socrates was wont to say, by beating in
every direction in various manners, and by touching different
parts, composes and forms a word, being, in truth, an instru
ment under the immediate guidance of reason.
And the nest is placed under the skull, and that which is
called the membrane of the brain is a certain nest, as it were,
of the genius of each man : as also the chest is a nest, in
which abide the lungs and the heart, and both these things
are receptacles of other internal organs ; the lungs being the
place in which the power of breathing is lodged, and the heart
being the abode of both the blood and the breath, for it has
two venticles, which are, as it were, a certain kind of nests or
receptacles in the breast ; blood, from which the veins, as if
they could perceive its operations, are irrigated ; and a breath
ing-hole, which again is extended over and irrigates the per
ceptive channels of respiration.
And both the harder as well as the softer parts do, like
nests prepared for the purpose, nourish the bones as real nests
nourish young birds ; the harder portion of which, namely,
the marrow, is the nest, and the softer flesh is the nest of
pleasure and pain ; and if any one should wish to investigate
the other parts, he will find that, in every respect, the nature
of man has much the same foundation as the ark.
* Genesis vi. 14. The word in our Bible is rooms, not neats.
342 PHILO JUD.EUS.
Why does God command the ark to be smeared with pitch,
both on the inside and on the outside ?*
4. Pitch is so called by reason of its bird-lime like tenacity,
because it glues together whatever was disunited before, so as
to form one indissoluble and indivisible joint. For everything
winch is held together by bird-lime is immediately held to a
natural union ; but our body being composed of many parts is
united on the outside, and is held together by its own proper
habit, but the previous habit of connection which binds those
things together is the soul, which, being situated in the middle,
penetrates through every part till it reaches the surface, and
then is turned back again from the surface to the centre, so
that our spiritual nature is rolled up compactly in a double
fold, being united in a firm solidity and union.
Therefore this ark is smeared with pitch, both on the inside
and the outside, for the reason here given.
But that ark which is placed in the holy of holies, and is
covered over with gold, is the similitude of the world ap
preciable only by the intellect, as is declared in the account
given of it : since just as there is a world appreciable by the
intellect incarnate in incorporeal figures existing at the same
time, consisting of a union of all figures by a certain invisible
harmony ; for, in proportion as gold is a more noble material
than pitch, in the same ratio is that ark, which is in the holy
of holies, superior to this one of which we are now speaking.
And again, God ordained that its measure should be qua
drangular, from a regard to usefulness ; but his object in the
other ark was not so much that it should be useful as that it
should be exempt from all possibility of decay ; for the nature
of incorporeal things, appreciable only by the intellect, is to be
exempt from decay, being incorruptible and permanent. The
one ark is tossed to and fro by the winds and the waters, but
the other has its station constantly in the holy of holies ; and
being stable it is akin to divine nature, as the other, which is
tossed about in every direction, and moved from one place to
another, is akin to and the emblem of created nature. Besides
this, that ark of the flood being, as it were, an example of cor
ruption, is raised on high, but the other, which is in the holy
of holies, imitates the incorruptible condition of eternity
* Genesis vi. 14.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 343
Why did God give the measures of the ark in the following
manner ; the length to be of three hundred cubits, and the
breadth thereof to be fifty cubits, and the height to be thirty
cubits : and above it was to be raised to a point in one cubit,
being brought together gradually like an obelisk?*
5. It was necessary that so vast a work should be con
structed in conformity with literal directions, in order that so
many animals, some of them of vast size, should be received
into it, as indviduals of each class were introduced with the
food necessary for them ; but if the matter is considered pro
perly with reference to its symbolical meaning, then, for the
comprehension of the formation of our body, we shall require
to make use not of the quantity of cubits, but of the certain
principles and proportions which are observed in them.
But the proportions which are contained in them are of
sixfold, and double, and other portions are added. For three
hundred is six times as many as fifty, and ten times as many
as thirty ; and again fifty is by two thirds a larger number than
thirty. Such then are also the proportions of the body ; for if
any one should choose to investigate the matter and inquire
into it carefully in all its points, he will find that man is
made in an exact proportion of measurement, neither being
too long or too little ; and if a string be let down from his
head to his feet, he will find that to reach that distance it
requires a string six times as long as the width of his chest,
and ten times as long as the depth of his ribs and thei r
breadth as a second part of depth added thereto. Such is the
certain proportion, received in accordance with nature, of the
human body formed on exact measurement of the most excel
lently made men, who are incorrect neither in the way of
excess nor of defect.
But again, it was with great wisdom and propriety that God
ordained the summit to be completed in cne cubit ; for the
upper part of the ark imitates the unity of the body ; the
head being forsooth as the citadel of the king, having for its
inhabitant the chief of all, the intellect.
But those parts which are below the head are divided into
separate portions, as for instance into the hands, and in an
especial decree into the lower parts, since the thighs, and legs,
Genesis vi. 1 5.
344 PHILO JUD^US.
and feet are all kept distinct from one another, therefore who
ever should wish to understand these matters, on the prin
ciple which I have pointed out, will easily comprehend the
analogy of the cubits as I have related it.
But above all things he must not be ignorant that each of
these different numbers of cubits has separately a certain ne
cessary proportion and principle, beginning with the first,
those in the length of the ark. Therefore in its length it is
composed of three hundred units, placed next to one another
in continuation, according to the augmentation of units, from
these twenty-four numbers, one, two, three, four, five, six,
seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen,
fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-
one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four. But the twenty-
fourth number is above all others a natural number, being
distributed among the hours of day and night, and also among
the characters of language,* and literal speech ; and it is also com
pounded of three cubes, being complete, full, and compacted
in equality.
For the number three constantly exhibits, as belonging to
itself, the first equality of all, having a beginning, and a mid
dle, and an end, all of which are equal to one another ; and
eight is the first cube, because it again has declared its first
equality with the rest.
But the number twenty-four has likewise a great number of
other virtues, since it is the substance of the number three
hundred, as has been already pointed out ; this then is its first
virtue ; and it has another, since it is compounded of twelvo
quadrangular figures, joined to one another by a continuous
unity ; and besides of two long figures, and twelve double
figures, being forsooth compounded of twos separately increased
by two and two.
Therefore the angular numbers which make up together the
twelve quadrangular figures are these ; one, three, five, seven,
nine, eleven, thirteen, fifteen, seventeen, nineteen, twenty-one,
and twenty-three ; but the quadrangular figure combines the
following numbers, one, four, nine, sixteen, twenty-five,
thirty-six, forty-nine, sixty-four, eighty-one, a hundred, a
hundred and twenty-one, and a hundred and twenty-four.
* Pie is referring to the Greek alphabet, which consists of twenty -
four letters.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 345
But those angular numbers which compose the other long
figures are these ; one, four, six, eight, ten, twelve, fourteen,
sixteen, eighteen, twenty, twenty-two, twenty-four, being
twelve in all ; and after these come the compound numbers,
two, six, twelve, twenty, thirty, forty-two, fifty-six, seventy-two,
ninety, a hundred and ten, a hundred and thirty-two, and a
hundred and fifty-six; being also twelve. And if you put
together the twelve quadrangular figures, you will find a hun
dred and forty-four, and if you add the other twelve long
figures, you will find a hundred and fifty-six ; and from the
combination of the two you will get the number three hundred,
and the concord of full, and complete, and perfect nature
rising up to the equal and infinite harmony ; for a complete and
perfect nature is the maker of equality, according to the
nature of a triangle ; but the equal and the infinite are the
factors of inequalitv, according to the composition of the other
long figure.
But the universe consists of a combination of equality and
inequality, on which account the Creator himself, even amid
the destruction of all earthly things, placed a sort of fixed
pattern of stability in the ark.
This then is enough to say about the number three hundred.
We must now proceed to speak of the fifty cubits, on the fol
lowing principle ; for in the first place it is composed of the
right angle of the quadrangular figures ; for a right angle is
compounded of three, four, and five ; and the square of these
is nine, sixteen, and twenty-five, the sum total of which when
added together is fifty ; in the second place, the perfect
number fifty is composed of these four triangles linked toge
ther, one, three, six, ten ; and again of these four equal
quadrangles also united together, one, four, nine, sixteen ;
therefore these triangles when collected together make twenty ;
and the quadrangles make thirty; and twenty and thirty
added together make fifty.
But if the triangle and the quadrangle are added together,
they make a heptangular figure : so that it is contained by its
virtue in the number of fifty, that divine and holy number ; to
which the prophet had regard when he proclaimed the jubilee
festival ; and the whole of the jubilee year is free and a deliverer.
The third theorem is three triangles beginning with the
unit, connected together in a continuous series, and three
346 PIIILO JUP.EUS.
cubes beginning also with the unit, and connected together in
a similar manner, which together make fifty ; the examples of
the first are one, four, and nine, which make fourteen ; the ex
amples of the second are, one, eight, and twenty-seven, which
together make thirty-six ; and the sum total of the two when
added together is fifty.
Again, thirty is in an especial manner a natural number, for
as in the series of units the number three is, so is the number
thirty in the series of decimals ; and that makes up the cycle
of the moon, being the collection of separate months in full
delineation ; secondly, it is composed of four numbers, which are
united in the continual series of these quadrangular figures,
one, four, nine, and sixteen, which together make up thirty ;
on which account it was not without some foundation and
sufficient reason that Ileraclitus called that number " genera
tion," when he said : a man in thirty years from the time of
his birth can become a grandfather, inasmuch as he arrives at
the age of puberty in his fourteenth year, at which age he is
capable of becoming a father ; and at the end of the year his
offspring arrives at the birth, and again in fifteen years more
begets another offspring like himself; and out of these names
of grandfathers, fathers, and sons, as also out of the names of
grandmothers, mothers, and daughters, a generation complete
in its offspring is produced.
What is the meaning of a door in the side : for he says,
" Thou shalt make a door in the side ? *
G. That door in the side very plainly betokens a human
building, which he has becomingly indicated by calling it, in
the side," by which door all the excrements of dung are east
out. In truth, as Socrates says, whether because he learnt it
from Moses or because he was influenced by the facts them
selves, the Creator, having due regard to the decency of our
body, has placed the exit and passage of the different ducts of
the body back out of the reach of the sense, in order that
while getting rid of the fetid portions of bile, we might not be
disgusted by beholding the full appearance of our excrements.
Therefore he has surrounded that passage by the back and
posteriors, which project out like hills, as also the buttocks aro
made soft for other objects.
* Genesis vi. 1C.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 347
Why has he said that the lower part of the ark was to be
made with two and with three stories ?*
7. He has here admirably indicated the receptacles of food,
calling them the inner parts of the house ; since food is corrup
tible, and what is corruptible belongs to the inward part, be
cause it is borne downwards, since some small portions of
meat and drink which we take are borne upwards, but the
greater part is secreted and cast out into dung ; and the intes
tines have been made in two and in three stories, because of the
providence of the Creator in order to supply abundant support
to his creatures ; for if he had made the receptacles of food
and its passage having a direct communication between the
bowels and the buttocks, some awkward circumstances must
have taken place ; in the first place there would have been a
frequent deficiency, and want and hunger, and sudden
evacuations also arising from divers unseasonable events ; in
the second place there would have been an immense hunger,
for when the receptacles are emptied, it is inevitable that hun
ger and thirst must immediately supervene, like absolute mis
tresses in difficulty from pregnancy, and then it follows also
that the pleasant appetite for food must be perverted into
greediness and into an unphilosophical state ; for nothing is
so very inconvenient as for the belly to be empty.
And in the third place, there will be death waiting at the
door ; since those persons must speedily be overtaken by death
who the very moment that they have done eating begin again
to be hungry, and the moment that they have drunk are again
thirsty, and who before they are thoroughly filled are again
evacuated and oppressed by hunger ; but owing to the Iftng
coils and windings of the bowels we are delivered from all
feelings of hunger, from all greediness, and from being prema
turely overtaken by death ; for while the food which has been
taken remains within us, not for such a time only as the dis
tance to be passed requires, but for so long as was necessary
for us, a change in it is effected ; since by the pressure to
which it is subjected, the strength of the food is extracted in
the first instance in the belly ; then it is warmed in the liver,
and drawn out ; after that whatever predominant flavour there
was is emitted upwards to the separate parts, in the case of
* Genesis vi. 16.
S48 PHILO JUD/EUS.
boys in order to contribute to their growth, and in the case of
full-grown men to add to their strength ; and then nature, col
lecting the remaining portions into dung and excrement, casts
them out.
Therefore a great deal of time is necessarily required for the
arrangement of so many and such important affairs, nature
effecting its operations without difficulty by perseverance.
Moreover the ark itself appears to me to be very fitly com-
pared to the human body ; for as nature is exceedingly prolitic
of living creatures, for that very reason it has prepared an
opposite receptacle similar to the earth for the creatures cor
rupted and destroyed by the flood ; for whatever was alive and
supported on the earth, the ark now bore within itself in a
more general manner, and on that account God ordained it,
being borne upon the waters as it was, to be as it were like the
earth, a mother and a nurse, and to exhibit the fathers of the
subsequent race as if pregnant with it, together with the sun
and moon, and the remaining multitude of the stars, and all
the host of heaven ; because men beholding by means of that
which was made by art, a comparison and analogy to the human
body, might in that manner be more manifestly taught, for
this was the cause of the various disputes among mankind ;
since there is nothing which has so much contributed to keep
man in a servile condition as the essential humours of the
body, and the defects which arise in consequence of them, and
most especially the vicious pleasures and desires.
Why does he say that the deluge will be to the corrupting of all
llesh in which there is the breath of life beneath the heaven?*
8. One may almost say that what he had previously spoken
in riddles he has now made plain; for there was no other
cause for the corruption of mankind, except that, being slaves
to pleasure and to desire, they did everything, and were
anxious about everything for that reason only ; moreover they
passed a life of extreme misery.
But he added also, in a very natural manner, the place
where the breath of life is, using the expression, " under hea
ven," because forsooth there are living beings also in heaven ;
for a happy body has not been made out of a heavenly sub
stance, as if in truth it had received some peculiar and admi
* Genesis vi. 17.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 849
rable condition, superior to that of other living creatures, but
heaven appeara to have been made especially worthy of and for
the sake of these admirable and divine living beings, all of
which are intellectual spirits ; so that they give a share and
participation in themselves and in the essence of vitality even
to the creatures which exist upon the earth, and give life to
all those which are capable of receiving it.
Why does he say, all things which existed upon the earth shall
be consumed ; for what sin can the beasts commit ? *
9. In the first place, as, when a sovereign is slain in battle
the military valour of the kingdom is also crushed, so also he
now has thought it reasonable that when the whole human
race, bearing analogy to a sovereign, is destroyed, he should
also destroy simultaneously with it the species of beasts like
wise, on which account also in pestilences the beasts die first,
and especially those which are bred up with and associate
with men, such as dogs and similar animals, and afterwards
the men die too.
In the second place, as, when the head is cut off, no one
blames nature if the other portions of the body also, numerous
and important as they are, are destroyed along with it, so too
now no one can find fault with anything, since man is as it
were the head and chief of all animals, and when he is de
stroyed it is not at all strange if all the rest of the beasts are
destroyed also along with him.
In the third place, animals were originally made, not for
their own sakes, as has been said by the philosophers, but in
order to do service to mankind, and for their use and glory ;
therefore it is very reasonable that when those beings are de
stroyed for the sake of whom they had their existence, they
also should be deprived of life, and this is the reason of this
assertion in its literal sense ; but with respect to its hidden
meaning we may say, when the soul is exposed to a deluge
from the overflow of vices, and is in a manner stifled by them,
those portions also which are on the earth, the earthly parts I
mean of the body, must of necessity likewise perish along with
it ; for life passed in wickedness is death ; the eyes though
they see perish, inasmuch as they see wrongly ; the ears also
though they hear perish, inasmuch as they hear wrongly ; and
* Genesis vi. 18.
350 rniLo JUD.EUS.
the whole body of the senses perishes, inasmuch as they are all
exercised wrongly.
What is the meaning of the expression, I will set up my
treaty with you ?*
10. In the first place, he here warns us that no man is the
inheritor of the divine substance, except him who is endowed
with virtue ; since the inheritance of men is possessed when
they themselves are no longer in existence, but when they are
dead ; but as God is everlasting he grants a participation in
his inheritance to wise men, rejoicing at their entering into
possession of it ; for he who has entered into possession of
everything is in want of nothing, but they who are in distress
from a want of all things are in the possession of no portion
of truth.
And on this account God, showing himself favourable to the
virtuous, benefits them, bestowing on them those things of
which they have need.
In the second place, he bestows on the wise man a certain
and more ample inheritance ; for he does not say, I will set up
my treaty for you, but with you ; that is to say, you are your
self a just and true treaty, which I will set up for the race
endued with reason, who have need of virtue, for a possession
and a glory to them.
Why does he say : " Enter thou and all thy house into the
ark, because I have seen that thou art a just man before me in
that generation ? " f
11. In the first place, certain faith receives approbation,
inasmuch as for the sake of one man who is just and worthy
many men are saved by reason of their relationship to him ;
as is the case too with sailors and armies, when the one have
a good captain and the others an excellent and skilful general.
In the second place, he extols the just man with praise, who
thus acquires virtues, not for himself alone, but also for his
whole family, which in this way deserves safety. And it is
with peculiar propriety that this expression is added, namely,
I have seen that thou art a just man before me;" for men
approve of the life of any one upon one principle, arid God on
Genesis vi. -9. t Geucbis vii 1.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 351
quite a different one ; for they judge by what is visible, but he
derives his tests from the invisible designs of the soul.
Moreover, that is a very remarkable expression which is
added as an insertion, namely, the one which says, " I have
seen that thou art a just man in this generation;" that he
might not appear to condemn those who had gone before, nor
cut off the future hope of coming generations. This is the
sense of the passage taken according to the letter.
But if we look at its inward meaning, when God will save
the intellect of the soul, which is the principal part of the
man, that is to say, the head of the family, then also he will
save the whole family along with him ; I mean all the parts,
and all those who bear an analogy to the parts, and to the
word which is uttered, and to the circumstances of the body ;
for what the intellect is in the soul, that also is the soul in the
body. All the parts of the soul are in good condition, owing
to the result of counsels, and all its family derives the benefit
along with it. But when the whole soul is in a good condition,
then also its habitation is again found to be benefited by its
advantages, that is to say, the body is benefited by purity of
morals and sobriety, those overstrained desires which are the
causes of diseases being cut off.
Why does he order seven of each of the clean animals; male
and female, to be taken into the ark, but of the unclean animals
only two, male and female, in order to preserve seed upon all
the earth ?
12. By divine ordinance he has asserted the number
seven to be clean, and the number two to be unclean ; since
the number seven is clean by nature, inasmuch as that is
a virgin number, free from all admixture, and without any
parent. Nor does it generate any thing, nor is it generated,
as each of those numbers which are below the number ten, on
account of their similitude to the unit, because it is uncreated
and unbegotten, and nothing is generated by it, although it is
itself the cause of creation and generation ; because itrouses
the virtues of all things which are well-arranged, for the gene
ration of created beings.
But the number two is not clean. In the first place
because it is empty, not solid ; and because it is not full!
* Genesis vii. 2.
352 PHILO JUD^US.
therefore neither is it clean ; because it is likewise the begin-
niii" of infinite immensity by reason of its materiality. It also
labours under inequality on account of the other long numbers:
for all the other numbers after two which are increased in a
twofold proportion are long numbers. But that which is un
equal is not clean, as neither is that which is material ; but
that which proceeds from such is fallible and inelegant, being
destitute of the purity of reason to conduct it to completeness
and perfection; and it conducts it to such by its own intrinsic
power, and by songs of harmony and equality.
This is enough to say on the physical part of the subject ; it
remains for us to speak of its moral bearings.
The irrational parts of our soul which are destitute of
intellect are divided into seven ; that is to say, into the five
senses, and the vocal organ, and the seminal organ. Now
these in a man endued with virtue are all clean, and by nature
feminine, inasmuch as they belong to the irrational species ;
but to a man who has come into full possession of his inherit
ance they are masculine ; for men endued with virtue are also
the parents of the virtue of counsel to themselves, the best part of
them not permitting them to come to the external senses in a
precipitate and unbridled manner, but repressing them and
leading them back to right reason.
But in the wicked man there exists a twofold wickedness ;
since the unjust man is full of doubts and perplexities, as a
hesitating person, mingling things which ought not to be mixed,
and connecting them with one another, confounding those
things which may very easily be kept separate. Such are
those passions which imbue the soul with some particular
colour, like a man spotted and leprous in body, the originally
sound counsel being infected and contaminated by that which
is destructive and fatal. But the principle of the entrance and
of the custody of animals is added in a natural manner ; for
he says, " for the sake of nourishing seed." If we take the
expression according to the letter, inasmuch as, although
particular individuals may be destroyed, still at least a race is
preserved to be the seed of future generations ; forsooth that
the intention of God, conceived at the formation of the world,
might remain for ever and ever uncxtinguishable, the different
races of creatures being preserved.
But if we regard the inward meaning of the words, it is
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 353
necessary that in the irrational parts of the soul, likewise,
there should be motions which are clean, as certain seminal
principles, although the animals themselves are not clean;
since the nature of mankind is capable of admitting contrarieties,
for instance, virtue and wickedness ; each of which he deline
ated at the creation of the world, by the tree bearing the name
of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Forsooth our
intellect, in which there is both knowledge and intelligence,
comprehends both good and evil; but good is akin to the
number seven, and evil is the brother of duality.
Moreover, the law of wisdom, which abounds in beauty, says
expressly and carefully, that seed is to be nourished, not in
one place only, but in all the earth, both naturally, in the first
instance, and also morally, in its peculiar sense ; because it is
very natural, and suitable to the character of God, to cause
that which in all parts and divisions of the world is said again
to be the seed of living beings, to fill places which have been
evacuated a second time with similar creatures, by a repeated
generation ; and not altogether to desert our body, inasmuch
as it is an earthly substance, as if it were a thing deserted by
and void of all principle of life.
Since, if we practise the drinking of wines and the eating of
meats, and indulge in the ardent desire of the female, and in
short practise in all things a delicate and luxurious life, we are
then only the bearers of a corpse in the body; but if God,
taking compassion on us, turns away the overflow of vices and
renders the soul dry, he will then begin to make the body
living, and to animate it with a purer soul, the governing
principle of which is wisdom.
Why, after the entrance of Noah into the ark, did seven days
elapse, after which the deluge came?"*
13. The kind Saviour of the world allows a space for the
repentance of sinners, in order that when they see the ark
placed in front of them as a sort of type, made with respect to
the then present time, and when they see all the different
kinds of living creatures shut up in it which the earth used to
bear on its surface, according to its parts adapted to the
different species, they might believe the predictions of the
deluge which had been made to them, so that, fearing total
* Genesis vii. 10.
VOL. IV. A A
354 PHILO JUD.EUS.
destruction above all things, they might be speedily converted,
destroying and eradicating all their iniquity and wickedness.
In the second place, this language is a most manifest repre
sentation of the exceeding great abundance of the kind mercy
of the beneficent Saviour, by destroying the wickedness of
many years, which from the time of their birth to old age has
extended itself over their conduct in those persons who practise
penitence for a few days, for the divine nature forgets all evil
and is a lover of virtue. When therefore it beholds faithful
virtue in the soul, it gives it honour in a wonderful degree, in
order, in the first place, to take away all kinds of evil which
impend over it from its sins.
In the third place, the number of seven days after the
entrance of Noah into the ark, during which the command of
God kept off the flood, is a recollection of the creation of the
world, the birthday festival of which is kept on the seventh
day, showing manifestly the authority of the Father; just as
if he were to say, "I am the Creator of the world, commanding
things to exist \vhich have no existence ; and at the same time
I am he who am now about to destroy the world with a great
flood. But the original cause of the creation of the world was
the goodness which is in me, and my kindness ; and the cause
of its impending destruction is the ingratitude and impiety of
those persons who have been loaded by benefits by me."
Therefore he causes an interval of seven days, in order that
the unbelieving may remember, and that those who have
abandoned their faith in the Parent of the world may in a
suppliant spirit return to the Creator of all things, and so may
entreat him again that his works may be everlasting ; and that
they may offer their entreaty, not with mouth and tongue, but
rather with the heart of amendment and penitence.
Why did the rain of the deluge last forty days and an equal
number of nights?*
14. In the first place, the word day is used in a double
sense. The one meaning that time which is from morning to
evening, that is to say, from the first rising of the sun in the
cast to his sinking in the west. Therefore they who make
definitions, say, "That is clay, as long as the sun shines on
the earth."
* Genesis vii. 4.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 355
In another sense, the word day is used of the day and night
together. And in this sense we say that a month consists of
thirty days, combining together and computing the period of
night in the same calculation.
These premises having been first laid down thus, I say that
the word now spoken of has not been incorrectly employed,
inasmuch as it implies forty days and forty nights ; but is also
so used in order to suggest a double number determined for the
generation of mankind, namely, forty and eighty, as many
men skilled in medicine, and indeed also in physical science,
have suggested ; but it is especially described in the sacred law|
which was to them also the first principle of natural science.
Since therefore destruction was on the point of overwhelming
all men and women every where on account of the excessive
combination of iniquities and quarrels, the Judge of all con
sidered it becoming to allot an equal time to their destruction
to that which he had consumed in the original creation of
nature and to the work of giving life to the world ; for the
principle of procreation is the perseverance of seed in the
different parts ; but it was necessary to honour the male creature
with pure light, which knows not the shade ; but the woman
had a mixture in her body of night and darkness.
Therefore, in the creation of the whole world, the excess of
the male or the unequal number, being composed of unity,
becomes the parent of square numbers ; but the woman who is
an unequal number, being compounded of duality, becomes the
parent of other long numbers. Moreover, the square is
splendour and light combining together by the equality of the
sides; but the other numbers being long necessarily exhibit
night and darkness by reason of their inequality, since that
which is in^ excess throws a shade over that which lies beneath
the excess.
In the second place, the number forty is the produce of
many virtues, as has been suggested in another place. It is
also often used for the judgment of legislation, both with
reference to those persons who have done any thing rightly
deserving of praise and honour, and also with reference to
those who on account of their sins meet with reproaches and
punishments; so that it is superfluous to adduce proofs to
demonstrate what is evident.
What is the meaning of the expression, " I will destroy
A A
056 PHILO JUDJEUS.
every living substance that I have made from off the face of
the earth?"*
15. Do you not all shrink back in astonishment when you
hear these words, by reason of the beauty of the sentence ? for
he has not said, " destroy from the earth," but " from the face
of the earth," that is to say from its surface ; in order, that is,
that in the lowest depth of the earth the vital efficacy of all
seeds might be preserved unhurt, and free from all injury
which could possibly bring damage to it; since the Creator
was not forgetful of his original design, but destroys those
only who come in his way, and who move only on the surface
of the earth, but leaves the roots in the depth, in order to
produce the generation of other causes.
Moreover, that expression, "I will destroy," was also
written by divine inspiration; for it happens that if we
remove the letters which require to be removed, the whole
table for the reception of letters remains the same. By which
he proves that he will destroy the fickle generation on account
of their impiety, but the conversation and essence of the
human race he will preserve for ever and ever to be the seed of
future generations. And what follows agrees with this, since
to the expression, " I will destroy," this other is also added, all
natural existence, every thing which exists, or rises upon the
earth; but existence is the destruction of the opposite cha
racteristics ; and that which is dissolved loses quality, but
retains body and materiality. This is the letter of what is
said.
But in the inward meaning, the flood is symbolically repre
sentative of spiritual dissolution. When therefore by the
grace of the Father we desire to throw away and to wash off
all sensible and corporeal qualities by which the intellect was
infected as by swelling sores, then the muddy slime is got rid
of as by a deluge, sweet waters and wholesome fountains
supervening.
Why does he say : "Noah did every thing which the Lord
commanded (or ordered) him?"f
16. A noble panegyric for the just man. In tne first place,
because with an ingenuous mind and a purpose full of affection
* Genreis vii. 4. t Genesis vii. 5.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 357
towards God he performed, not a part of what he had been
commanded, but the whole of God s commands. But the
second is the more true expression, because he does not choose
so much to command as to order him ; for masters command
their slaves, but friends order friends, and especially elder
friends order younger ones. Therefore it is a marvellous gift
to be found even in the rank of servants, and in the list of
ministers of God ; and it is a superabundant excess of kind
ness for any one to be a beloved friend to the most glorious
Uncreated Essence.
Moreover, the sacred writer has here carefully employed
both names, the Lord God, as declaratory of his superior
powers of destroying and benefiting, using the word Lord
first, and placing the name God, giving the idea of bene
ficence, second ; since it was a time of judgment let the
name which is the indication of his destroying power come
first. But still, as he is a kind and merciful king, he leaves
as relics the seminal elements by which the vacant places
may be replenished, for which reason, at the first beginning
of the account of the creation, the expression, "Let there be,"
was not an exterminating act of power, but a beneficent one.
Therefore, at the creation, he changed the appellations and
use of names ; but as the name God is an indication of his
beneficent power, the sacred writer has more frequently em
ployed that in his account of the creation of the universe,
but after everything was perfected then he called him Lord,
in reference to the creation itself, for this name betokens
royal power and the ability to destroy ; since, where the act
of generation is God is used first in order, but when punish
ment is spoken of the name Lord is placed before the name
God.
Why did the deluge take place in the six hundredth year of
the life of Noah, and in the seventh month, and on the twenty-
seventh day of the month ? *
17. Perhaps it happened that the just man was born at
the beginning of the month, at the first beginning of the
commencement of that very year which they are accustomed
to call the sacred year, out of honour, otherwise the sacred
historian would not have been so carefully accurate in fixing
* Genesis viL 11.
368 PIIILO JUDJEUS.
the clay and month when the deluge began to the seventh
month and the twenty-seventh dp.y of the month.
But, perhaps, by this minuteness he intended manifestly
to indicate the precise time of the vernal equinox, for that
always occurs on the twenty -seventh day of the seventh month.
But why was it that the deluge fell on the day of the vernal
equinox ? Because about that time the birth and increase
of everything take place, whether living creatures or plants ;
therefore the vengeance and punishment inflicted brings with
it the more terrible and dreadful threats, as happening at the
period of plenty and fertility of the sheaves of corn, and
indeed, in the very midst of that productiveness, and bringing
the evil of utter destruction as a reproof of the impiety of
those who are exposed to the punishment.
For behold, says he, all nature contains its own productions
within itself in the greatest abundance, namely, wheat and
barley, and everything else which is produced from seed,
brought on to complete generation, as, also, it begins to
generate the fruits of trees ; but you, like mortals, corrupt
its mercies, perverting the divine gifts, and purposes, and
mysteries.
But if the deluge had taken place at the autumnal equinox,
when there was nothing growing on the earth, but when all
the crops were collected into their proper storehouses, it would
not have, in any degree, been looked upon as a punishment,
but rather as a benefit, as the water would have cleansed the
plains and the mountains. But as the first man who was
produced out of the earth was also created at the same season
of the year, he whom the divine writer calls Adam, because
in fact it was on every account proper that the grandfather,
or original parent, or father of the human race, or by what
ever name we may choose to designate that original founder
of our kind, should be created at the season of the vernal
equinox, when all earthly productions were full of their fruit ;
but the vernal equinox takes place in the seventh month,
which is also called the first in other passages, with reference
to o, different idea.
Since, therefore, the first beginning of the generation of our
race, after the destruction caused by the deluge, commenced
with Noah, men being again sown and procreated, therefore
lie also is recognised as resembling the first man born of the
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 359
earth, as far as such resemblance or recognition is possible.
And the six hundredth year has for its origin the number
six ; and the world was created under the number six, there
fore, by this same number does he reprove the wicked, putting
them to shame because he would, unquestionably, never, after
he had created the universe by means of the number six, have
destroyed all the men who lived on the earth under the form
of six, if it had not been for the preposterous excess of their
iniquities. For the third power of six and the minor power
is the number six hundred, and the mean between both is
sixty, since the number ten more evidently represents the
likeness of unity, and the number a hundred represents the
minor power.
What is the meaning of the expression, " And the fountains
of the deep were broken, and the springs of heaven were
opened?"*
18. The literal meaning is plain enough, for it suggests
the two extremities of the universe, the heaven and the earth,
to have met together for the destruction of mortals deserving
of condemnation, the waters running forth to meet one another
from all quarters, for part of them bubbled up from out of the
earth, and part descended downwards from heaven ; and in
truth, that expression is very explicit, " The fountains were
broken up," for when a rupture is effected then the thing
confined rushes forth without any hindrance.
But with reference to the interior meaning of the expression
we may as well say this : the heaven is symbolically the hu
man intellect, and the earth is the sense and body, therefore
there is great distress and calamity when neither remains, but
when each threatens a secret attack. But what is the exact
meaning of my words ?
It often happens that acuteness of intellect exhibits cunning
and wickedness, and bears itself with bitterness in every re
spect when the lusts of the body are restrained and bridled ;
but the contrary fact often prevails, and the lusts rejoice in
their opportunities and proceed onward, gaining strength from
luxury and abundance of means ; therefore, the gate of these
lusts is the outward sense combined with the body ; but when
the intellect, neglecting outward circumstances, is consistent
* Genesis vii. 11.
360 PHILO JUD.EUS.
with itself, then the senses lie harmless, as if completely
abandoned ; but when both are united, the intellect in exert
ing all cunning and wickedness, and the body irrigated with
all the senses and gorged with every kind of vice to satiety,
then we are exposed to a deluge ; and this is in fact a great
deluge, when the streams of the intellect are opened by
iniquity, and folly, and greedy desire, and injustice, and
arrogance, and impiety, and when the fountains of the body
are opened by lust, and desire, and intemperance, and obscenity,
and gluttony, and lasciviousness, with relations and sisters, and
all irremediable diseases.
What is the meaning of the expression, "And the Lord shut
him in, closing the doors of the ark ? "*
19. Since we have said that the structure of the human
body is symbolically indicated by the ark, we must take notice,
also, that on the outside this body is enclosed by a hard and
dense skin, to be a covering to all its parts ; for nature has
made this as a sort of coat, to prevent either cold or heat
from being able to do man injury.
The literal meaning of the expression is plain enough, for
the door of the ark is carefully shut by divine virtue for the
sake of security, lest the water should enter in at any part,
as it was to be tossed about by the waves for an entire year.
What is the meaning of the expression, " And the water
was greatly increased, and bore up the ark which floated upon
the water ? "f
20. The literal meaning is plain enough, but it contains an
allegorical reference to our bodies, which ought to be borne
up as if on the water, and by fluctuating with our necessities
to subdue hunger and thirst, cold and heat, by which it is
agitated, disturbed, and kept in motion.
Why did the water overflow fifteen cubits above all tho
highest mountains ?J
21. With respect to the literal statement we must remark
that the excess was not merely one of fifteen cubits above all
high mountains but above those which were a great deal more
* Genesis rii. 16. f Genesis vii. 17. + Genesis vii. 19.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 361
lofty and high than some others ; therefore it was a great deal
more than that height above the lower ones.
But we must interpret this statement allegorically ; for the
loftier mountains shadow forth the senses in our body, because
it has been permitted to them to occupy the abode of stability
in the lofty region of our head. And there are five numbers
of these, each to be considered separately, so that they amount
in all to fifteen.
As, there is the faculty of sight, the thing which is visible,
the act of seeing.
The faculty of hearing, the thing which is audible, and the
act of hearing.
The faculty of smelling, the thing which can be smelled,
and the act of smelling.
The faculty of taste, the thing which can be tasted, and the
act of tasting.
The faculty of touch, the thing which can be touched, and
the act of touching.
These are the fifteen cubits in excess ; for they also are
overwhelmed by the overflow, being destroyed by the un
seasonable influx of infinite vices and evils.
What is the meaning of the expression, " And all flesh
capable of motion perished?"*
22. It is with especial propriety, and strictly in accordance
with natural truth, that the sacred historian has here pro
nounced all flesh capable of motion devoted to destruction ;
for flesh excites pleasures, and is excited by pleasures ; and
such affections are the causes of the destruction of souls, as
on the other hand sobriety and patience are the causes of
safety.
What is the meaning of the expression, " And everything
which was on the dry land died ? "f
23. The literal meaning is notorious, because in that great
deluge everything which was upon the earth was destroyed
and perished ; but with respect to the secret meaning, as,
since the material of timber, when it is parched and dry, is
readily consumed by fire, so, likewise, when the soul is not
mingled with wisdom, and justice, and piety, and the other
* Genesis vii. 21. t Genesis vii. 22.
302 PHILO JUD^US.
enduring virtues, which alone are able to impart real joy to
the thoughts, then it, being parched up and dried like a plant
which is deprived of any power of budding or producing seed,
or like a withered trunk, dies, being handed over to the mercy
of the overwhelming overflow of the body.
What is the meaning of the words, " It destroyed every
living substance which was on the face of the earth?" 4
24. The literal meaning of these words only announces a
plain statement of a fact, but it may be turned into an alle
gory in this manner. It is not without reason that the sacred
historian has used the words " a living substance," for that
is characteristic of ambition and pride, which lead men to
despise both divine and human laws ; but ambition and arro
gance do rather appear on the face of our earthly and corporeal
nature with an elated countenance and contracted brows.
Since there are some persons who come nearer. to one with
their feet, but with their chests, and necks, and heads lean
back, and are actually borne backwards and bend away like
a balance, so that with one half of their body, in consequence
of the position of their feet, they project forward, but back
ward with the upper portion of their chests, drawing them
selves back like those persons whose muscles and nerves are in
pain, by which they are prevented from stooping in a natural
manner. But men of this kind it was determined to put an
end to, as one may see from the records of the Lord and the
divine history of the scriptures.
What is the meaning of the words, " Noah remained alone,
and they who were with him in the ark ?" f
25. The literal meaning of this is evident ; but with re
spect to its concealed sense we may advance an opinion, that
the intellect which is desirous of studying justice and wisdom
does, like a tree, discard all noxious shoots which bud forth
about it, and rejects all extravagant humours of superfluous
vigour, I mean immoderate excess of the affections, and
wickedness, and all the effects of such.
Therefore he is here said to have been left alone with those
of his own kindred, and his kindred are properly all thoso
designs and thoughts of each individual, which are regulated
* Gen -as vii. 23. t Genesis vii. 24.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 363
in accordance with virtue, on which account the statement is
added "And he remained alone, and they who were with
him," in order to reveal a more genuine joy; but he remained
in the ark, that is to say, in the body, because it was purified
from every vice and spiritual disease, as the intellect was not
yet put in such a condition as to be wholly incorporeal.
And on this account also, we must render thanks to the
merciful Father, because he received his consort and colleague
no longer as one endowed with superior power, but to be sub
ordinate to his own power, on which account also the body is
not submerged in the deluge, but rising above the flood is not
at all destroyed by the eddies of the cataracts, which a cra
pulous, libidinous, vanity-loving will, overflowing all things,
raises to an eminence.
Why is it that the sacred writer says, " And God was
mindful of Noah, and of the beasts, and of the cattle," but
does not add that he remembered his wife and children ?*
26. As the husband agrees with and is equal to his wife,
and as the father is equal to his sons, there is no need of men
tioning more names than one, but one, the first, is sufficient ;
therefore, by naming Noah he, in effect, names all those who
were with him of his family; for when husband, and wife,
and children, and relations are all agitated by discord, then
it is no longer possible for such to be called one family, but
instead of being one they are many ; but when harmony exists
then one family is exhibited by one superior of the house, and
all are seen to depend upon that one, like the branches of a
tree which shoot out from it, or the fruit upon a vine branch
which does not fall off from it.
And in another part, also, the prophet has said, " Have a
regard to Abraham your father, and to Sarah who brought
you forth," where, because in fact it was one family, he displays
the agreement by mentioning the woman.
Why is it that the sacred writer made mention first of the
beasts and afterwards of the cattle, saying that God re
membered Noah, and the beasts, and the cattle ? t
27. In the first place, that poetical rule has not been
expressed in vain, that he led the bad into the middle;
* Genesis viii, 1. f Ibid.
301 PHILO JUDJEUS.
therefore he places the beasts in the middle, between the
domestic animals, that is to say the men and the cattle, in
order that they might be tamed and civilized by having an
intimate association with both.
In the second place, he thought it scarcely reasonable to
bestow a provident benefit on the beasts by themselves, because
he was about immediately to add a statement of the beginning
of the diminution of the deluge. This is the explanation of
the statement taken literally.
But with respect to the inner meaning, that just intellect,
dwelling in the body as if in the ark, possesses both beasts
and living animals, not those particular ones which bite and
hurt, but, that I may use such an expression, those general
kinds which contain in themselves the principles of seed and
origination ; since without these the soul cannot be manifest
in the body. Moreover, the soul of the foolish man employs
all poisonous and deadly animals, but that of the wise man
those only which have changed the nature of wild beasts into
that of domestic creatures.
What is the meaning of the expression, " He brought a
breath over the earth, and the water ceased ? "*
28. Some people say that what is here meant by "a breath "
is the wind, at which the deluge ceased. But I am not aware
that water is diminished by wind, but only that it is disturbed
and agitated into waves, for if it were otherwise the vast extent
of the sea would have been wholly dried up long ago.
Therefore it appears to me that the sacred writer here means
the breath of the Deity, by which the whole universe obtains
security at the same time with the calamities of the world,
and with those things which exist in the air, and in every
mixture of plants and animals. Since the deluge of that
time was no trilling infliction of water, but an immense and
boundless overflow, extending almost beyond the pillars of
Hercules and the great Mediterranean Sea, since the whole
earth and all the spaces of the mountains were covered with
water ; and it is scarcely likely that such a vast space could
have been cleared by a wind, but rather, as I have said, it
must have been done by some invisible and divine virtue.
* Genesid viii. 2.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 365
What is the meaning of the expression, " The fountains of
the deep were closed, and the cataracts of heaven ? "
29. In the first place, it is agreed upon by all that in the
first period of forty days the waters of punishment fell un
interruptedly, the lowest fountains of the earth being burst
asunder ; and from above, the cataracts of heaven being
opened, and pouring down until all places, both level and
mountainous, were covered with the inundation ; and for
another period of a hundred and fifty entire days the waters
did not cease to fall, nor did the streams cease to flow, nor
the springs to burst up, though still in milder quantities, not
so as to increase the existing flood, but only so as to secure
the duration of the existence of the deluge, which was also
assisted from on high ; and this is what is indicated in the
meantime by the statement that after a hundred and fifty
days the fountains and the cataracts were closed up ; therefore,
while as yet they were not closed up it is plain that they
were in action.
In the second place, it was necessary that that which afforded
the excessive supply of waters for the deluge, namely, the
double reservoir of water, the one from the fountains of the
earth, and the other from the pourings forth of heaven, should
be both closed, for the more the stores from which any material
is supplied fail, the more it is consumed by itself, especially
when divine virtue has given the command.
This is the literal meaning of the expression. But with
respect to the inner sense of the passage, since the deluge
of the mind arises from two things, for it arises partly from
counsel, as if from heaven, and in another degree also from
the body and from sense, as if from earth, the vices being
reciprocally introduced by the passions and the passions by
the vices, it was inevitably necessary that the word of the
divine physician entering in as a salutary visitation for the
purpose of healing the disease, should prevent both kinds of
overflow for the future ; for it is the first principle of the
medical art to drive away the cause of the infirmity and to
leave no longer any materials for disease ; and the scripture
teaches this, also, in the case of the leper, for when the
leprosy is checked and is prevented from extending further,
Genesis viii. 2.
306 PHILO JUDJEUS.
it then fixes the station and abode of the leprous man in the
same place by a law, because the character of being stationary
implies cleanliness, for that which is moved contrary to nature
is unclean.
What is the meaning of the statement that after a hundred
and fifty days the water began to abate ? *
30. We must here inquire whether those hundred and
fifty days, during which the water was abating, are to be
distinguished from the four months, or whether they have a
reference to the days previously mentioned, during which the
deluge went on unceasingly, as still increasing.
Why does he say, " The ark settled in the seventh month
on the seven and twentieth day of the month ? "f
31. It is reasonable here to consider how the beginning of
the deluge commences in the seventh month, on the twenty-
seventh day of the month, and how the diminution, when the
ark rested on the top of the mountains, again took place in
the seventh month and on the twenty-seventh day of the
month ; therefore we must say, that there is here an ho-
monymy of months and days, for the beginning of the flood
took place in the seventh month, beginning at the birthday
of the just man, near the time of the vernal equinox, and
its diminution took place in the seventh month, beginning
from the highest point of the flood at the autumnal equinox,
since the two equinoxes are separated from one another by
seven months, having an interval of five months between them.
For the seventh month of the equinox is also by its virtue
the first month, because the creation of the world took place
in it, on account of the abundance of all things at that season.
And, in like manner, the seventh month of the autumnal
equinox, which, according to time, is the first in dignity, having
its principle of that number seven derived from the air;
therefore, the deluge took place in the seventh month, not
according to time but according to nature, having for its
principle and commencement the spring season.
Why does he say, "In the tenth month, on the first day of
the month, the heads of the mountains appeared ? "
* Genesis viii. 3. t Genesis vii : . 4. Ibid.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 367
32. As in numerals the number ten is the extreme bound
of the units, being a definitive and perfect number, so too
it is the cycle and end of the units, and also the beginning and
cycle of the decades, and of infinity of numbers ; thus the
Creator, on the cessation of the deluge, condescended that the
tops of the mountains should appear in the number of the
decade, being a definitive and perfect number.
Why was it after forty days that the just man opened the
window of the ark ? *
33. We must observe carefully that the divine historian
uses the same number in speaking of the influx of the deluge
and in mentioning the cessation and complete removal of the
evil ; forsooth on the twenty-seventh day of the seventh month
in the six hundredth year of the life of Noah, that is to say in
the six hundredth year after his nativity, the deluge began at
the spring season ; but on the twenty -seventh day of the
seventh month, the ark rested on the top of the mountains at
the vernal equinox.
But it is plain from these circumstances that the deluge
became invisible in the six hundred and first year of Noah s
life, again on the seventh month and the twenty-seventh day
of it, so that after the lapse of an entire year, it again settled
and established the earth as it was at the moment of its de
struction, in the spring season, budding forth and covered with
verdure and full of all kinds of fruits.
But again in a similar manner the overflow of the deluge
took place for forty days, the cataracts of heaven being opened
and fountains bursting upwards from the lowest depths of the
earth ; and again a hope of renewal took place at intervals of
forty days after a sufficient cessation of the rains, when be
opened the window ; and again the duration of the permanent
deluge lasted for a period of a hundred and fifty days, as also
its gradual diminution occupied a period of a hundred and
fifty days ; so that we may well admire the equality of the
arrangement, for the evil increased and ceased according to the
same number, like \he moon, which from its first rise proceeds
in its increase according to an equal number, going onward to
its perfect fulness of light, and then again with an equal num
ber in its decrease, returning back to its original state, after
* Genesis viii. 5.
309 PHILO JUD/EUS.
having been previously full ; and in like manner in the case of
divine chastisements, the Creator preserves a regular order,
banishing all irregularity from the divine borders.
What is the window of the ark, which the just man opens ?*
34. The literal statement scarcely admits of any difficulty or
doubt, inasmuch as it is plain ; but with reference to the inner
meaning we have this to say : each separate part of the senses
has imitated the windows of the body, since it is through them
as through windows that the comprehension of sensible objects
enters into the intellect, and again it is through them that the
intellect stretches forth as if escaping ; but a portion of these
windows, the senses, the more noble portion too, I say, is the
sight ; inasmuch as that above all the rest is akin to the soul,
and it is intimately acquainted with light, the most beautiful
of the essences, and it is the minister of sacred things ; more
over that is the one which first laid open the road to philo
sophy.
For beholding the regular motion of the sun, and of the
moon, and the erratic course of the other planets, and the uner-
rin circular motion of the whole heaven, and the order and
harmony there existing beyond all calculation, as if it were
the one real creator of the whole world, it by itself related to
its one chief counsellor and director all that it saw : and then
intellect, seeing those things with its acute eye, and by those
things discerning superior demonstrative ideas, and the cause
of all those things, immediately perceived that there was a
God at the same moment that it arrived at the conception of
generation and providence, because forsooth it was plain that
this visible nature was not created by itself: for it was impos
sible that such a harmony, and order, and reason, and most
consistent analogy, and that a concord of such a character and
extent, and that such true and perfect felicity should exist by
its own power : but it was necessary that there must be some
Creator and parent of it acting like a governor and director,
who generated these things, and then having generated them
preserves them safe and sound.
Why did he send out a raven first ? f
35. If we look to the literal statement, the raven is saia to
* Genesis viii. 6. t lbid -
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 369
be an animal particularly set apart for being sent on messages
and employed in offices ; for to this very day many people
watch its mode of flight and its chattering, judging that it
gives some intimation of unknown facts ; but with respect to
the hidden meaning, as a raven is a black, and arrogant, and
speedy animal, it is a sign of wickedness, which brings night
and darkness over the soul, and it is also swift to meet all the
things of the world in its flight.
And also that it is very bold, so as at times to cause the
destruction of those who seek to catch it, since pride produces
also rash impudence, the opposite of which is virtue, which is
consistent with the brilliancy of light, and is by nature deco
rated with a modest bashfulness ; therefore it is quite natural
that if there was any darkness remaining behind in the intel
lect, darkness which exists in accordance with folly, he should
expel that and send it out beyond his borders.
Why did the raven after it had gone forth not return, when
there was not yet any part of the earth dried ?*
36. This passage admits of an allegorical interpretation
since injustice is contrary to the light of justice ; so that in
comparison of the admirable actions of the man endued with
virtue, it thinks it more desirable to rejoice with its kinsman
the deluge ; for injustice is a lover of confusion and corruption.
Why does lie speak here in an incorrect manner, " Till the
water was dried up from the earth ;" when it was not the
water which was dried up from the earth, but the earth which
was dried from the water ? f
37. He uses this expression in an allegorical sense, indicat
ing by the fall of the waters the immensity of vices, by which
when saturated and vigorous the soul is corrupted, but when
they are dried up and withered, it is preserved ; for then they
cannot inflict any mischief upon it, since they are become
impotent and dead.
Why does he in the second place send forth the dove, and
why does he send it forth from himself to see whether the
water had ceased, when he uses no such expressions about the
* Genesis viii. 7. + Ibid. j Genesia viil 8
VOL. IV. B B
370 PHILO JUD^US.
In the first place, the dove is a clean animal, and in the
second place it is tame, civilised, and one which associates
with mankind, on which account also the honour has been
allotted to it of being offered up upon the altar in sacrifices ;
and on this account the sacred writer, sanctioning this honour
and adding the weight of his assertion, has said, he sent it
forth from himself, declaring by this expression that it dwelt
with him ; and again, by the expression that it was to see
whether the water was abated, he displays the common anxiety
felt by both.
But those birds, the raven and the dove, are symbols of
wickedness and virtue : for the one, whether it is wickedness
or the raven, has no house, nor habitation, nor city, being an
insolent unsociable bird ; but the other, namely virtue, has a
regard to humanity, and to the public good : and so the man
endowed with virtue sends that bird forth as his ambassador
for desirable and salutary objects, wishing to receive from it
desirable information ; and she. like an ambassador, brings us
back genuine pleasure, so that what is hurtful may be
guarded against, and what is useful may be diligently and
carefully admitted.
Why did the dove, when it found no rest for its feet, return
to Noah?*
39. Is not the reason of this evident, and is it not a plain
proof that wickedness and virtue are symbolically indicated by
the raven and the dove ? For behold the dove, which is the
last sent out, finds no rest. How, then, could the raven, who
departed previously, while the calamity of the deluge was still
prevailing, find any place, and make a settlement ? For the
raven was neither a swan nor an ibis, nor did he belong to the
class of aquatic birds.
But the sacred writer here points out in an enigmatical
manner, that wickedness, when it has gone forth out of doors,
to the swelling whirlpools of the vices and passions which
overflow and corrupt the soul and life, joyfully admits them,
and dwells with and takes up its abode with them, as with its
nearest friends and relations ; but virtue, turning away with
loathing from even the first sight of them, at once springs
back, and does not return, scarcely finding rest for its feet ;
* Genesis viii. 9.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 371
finding, in fact, no standing ground anywhere, and no place
worthy of itself. For what other greater evil can there be
than this, that virtue should not be able to find in the soul
any place ever so small for rest and for abiding in ?
What is the meaning of the statement, " Putting forth his
hand, he received her, and brought her in to himself ?" *
40. The literal meaning is plain, but with respect to the
hidden sense we must elicit the truth carefully. The wise
man employs truth as an overseer of and ambassador in im
portant affairs, which, when it perceives that those natures are
worthy of it, abides among and dwells with them, correcting
them, and making them better, since wisdom is a very common,
and equal, and useful thing. But when, with reference to the
opposite natures, it sees that in some points they are prepos
terously redundant and in others altogether deficient, it returns
to its proper place ; and the man endowed with virtue admits
it in word, putting forth his hand to take it, and in fact
opening all his intellect for its reception, and unfolding it by
the perfect number, full and equal, with all imaginable prompti
tude.
Nor even then, when he had sent her forth from himself to
examine the natures of other things, had he separated it from
himself, but had only acted like the sun, which sends forth his
beams to give light to all things, because it is not at all con
sistent with the character of his boundless light to be separated
at all.
Why did he, after waiting yet seven other days, send forth
the dove a second time ?f
41. This is an excellent example for life, since although it
will behold natures obstinate at first, still the hope of changing
them into better natures is scarcely allowed to drop ; and as a
prudent physician does not in a moment apply a perfect cure to
a disease, or effect a complete restoration to health, but employs
salutary medicines after he has given nature an opportunity of
first opening the way to recovery, so too the man endowed with
virtue behaves with respect to the employment of the word
which is in accordance with the law of wisdom.
But the number seven is tlie sacred and dominical number,
* Genesis viii. 9. f Genesis viiL 10.
BBS
372 PHILO JUD^US.
according to which the Father of the universe, when he made
the world, is said to have looked upon his work. And the
contemplation of the world, and of all the things contained in
it, is nothing else but philosophy, and that excellent and select
portion of it which wisdom contains, comprehending within
itself also a work still more necessary to be seen.
What is the meaning of the expression, " The dove returned
a second time to him about evening, having in her mouth a
leaf and a thin branch of olive ?"*
42. All these separate points are selected and approved
signs the returning, the returning about evening, the having
an olive-leaf and a thin branch of that tree, and oil, and the
having it in her mouth ; but yet every one of these signs can
be examined with a certainty beyond certainty, for the return
is distinct from its previous return, for that one bore with it an
announcement of nature being wholly corrupted and rebellious,
and being wholly destroyed by the deluge, that is to say, by
great ignorance and insolence ; but this second return brings
the news of the world beginning to repent, but to find repent
ance is not an easy task, but is a difficult and laborious
business.
And it is on this account that the dove arrived in the
evening, having passed the whole day from morning to evening
in its visitations ; in word, indeed, examining places, but in
fact investigating the different parts of nature itself by con
tinual visitation, and seeing them all clearly from beginning to
end, for the evening is the indication of the end.
The third sign, again, is its bringing a leaf; but a leaf is a
small part of a tree, still it does not exist without a tree. And
the beginning of displaying repentance is somewhat corre
sponding to this, since the beginning of correction has some
slight indications about it, which we may call a leaf, by which
it appears to receive guardianship, but can easily be shaken
off ; so that the hope shall in that case not be great of attain
ing the desired improvement, which is typified by the leaf of
no other tree but of the olive alone, and oil is the material of
light. For wickedness, as I have said before, is profound
darkness, but virtue is luminous brilliancy, and repentance is
the beginning of light. But you must not yet suppose that
D O
* Geuesifl viii. 11.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 373
the beginning of repentance is only visible in branches just
germinating and beginning to look green, but that it exists too
while they are still dry, and while the seminal principle is dry
and quiescent.
And it is on this account that the fifth sign is shown, that,
namely, of the dove when it comes bearing a slender branch.
And the sixth sign is that this slender branch was in its
mouth, for the number six is the first perfect number, since
virtue bears in its mouth, that is to say in its conversation, the
seeds of wisdom and justice, or, in one word, of honesty of the
soul ; and not only bears this, but gives some portion of parti
cipation in it even to the foolish, by drawing up water for their
souls, and irrigating them with the desire of repentance for
their sins.
Why is it said, " And Noah knew that the waters had
ceased from off the earth?"*
43. The literal statement is plain, since if the leaf had been
taken up from off the water it would have been wet and soaked,
but now he says that it was dry and slender, as if it had
become dry by being on the earth which was dried. But with
reference to its inward meaning, the wise man takes it as a
symbol of repentance, and wishes to check the calamities of
excessive obstinacy by taking the leaf, since it was not yet green,
but slender, for the reason which has been already mentioned.
At the same time we may admire the Father on account of
his exceeding kindness, for although corruption had prevailed
over all the men who lived on the earth from the excess of
their iniquities, still there remained some relics of antiquity
and of that which was from the beginning, and a slight seed of
previous virtues ; by which it is intimated nevertheless that
the memory of all the good deeds that have been done from
the beginning is not wholly destroyed. On which account a
certain prophet, the kinsman and friend of Moses, uttered an
oracle of this kind, " If the omnipotent Lord had not left us a
seed, we should have been like blind and barren people," f able
neither to know the truth nor to generate it. And the Chal-
dseans in their native language call blindness and sterility
Sodom and Gomorrah.
* Genesis viii 11. f isaiah i. 9.
374 PHILO JUD^DS.
Why, in the third place, after seven other days, did he again
send forth the dove, which did not again return to him ?
44. According to the word, the dove made no more return
to him ; but what in fact is meant is virtue, which, however,
is not an indication of alienation, since, as I have said before,
she was not separated from him at that time, but sent forth
like a sun-beam to pay a visit of examination to the natures of
others, but then, not finding any one to listen to her precepts
of correction, she returns, and properly comes to him alone.
But this time she is no longer the possession of one single
individual, but is rather a common good to all those who have
been willing to receive the emanations of wisdom as if coming
up from the earth, those persons, that is, who from the very
beginning have laboured under a great thirst of perfect wisdom.
Why in the six hundred and first year of the life of ]Xoah,
and on the first day of the first month, did the waters of the
deluge cease from off the earth ? *
45. The word first, according to the defect of time, is spoken
of with reference either to the month or the man, and each
interpretation has reason to support it ; for if we are bound to
maintain that the water began to abate in the first month, we
are equally obliged to consider that the sacred historian in
tended also to speak of the seventh month, that is, of that
month which is the second equinox, since the same month is
both the first and the seventh ; that is to say, the first as
respects nature and virtue, and the seventh in point of time.
Therefore in another place he says,f " This month is unto
you the beginning of months, the first among the months of
the year;" calling that the first which is so in respect of
nature and virtue, and which as to number is in time the
seventh month, since the equinox has its appointed order in
regular series, and in point of time is assigned the better
season of the year. But if you take that word first to have
reference to the man, then it will be used with more truth,
and with strict propriety, for the just man was truly and
properly the first, as in a vessel the captain is the first man,
and in a state the prince. But he is first not only in virtue,
but also in order, inasmuch as in the very circumstances of the
* Genesis viii. 13. t Exodus xii. 2.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 875
regeneration of the second sowing of the human race he was
the beginning and the first.
Moreover, it is very admirably considered with reference to
this passage, that the deluge took place during the life of the
first man, and that again, when it abated, things returned to
their former steadiness, since after the deluge took place he
had to live by himself with his whole family, and after that
evil was removed he alone was found upon the earth during
the latter period of his life until the regeneration of mankind
began.
But it is not to no purpose that this testimony is given both
of the preceding portion of his life, and also of the later
period, for he alone burnt with a desire for that genuine life
which is in accordance with virtue, while all the rest of the
world were hastening on to death by reason of their fatal
wickednesses. Therefore of necessity the evil ceased on the
six hundred and first year of his life, since in truth the
destruction came with reference to the sixth number, and
safety was restored in unity, since unity is more a generative-
ness of the soul, and is the best for giving life, wherefore also
a deficiency of water in the sea takes place at the new moon,
in order that the units may be preferred in dignity both among
months and years, when God saves those things which are
upon the earth ; since the man who cultivates just habits is
called by the Hebrews in their native language Noah, but by
the Greeks he is named A/xa/og ; however, he is not exempted
from the laws affecting the body.
For although he is not subordinate to the power of others,
but is a prince, yet still, because he is nevertheless devoted to
death, as he is dead, the principle of that number six is
connected with unity ; since it was not in one year taken
separately that the deluge ceased, but together with the
number six (as contained in the number six hundred), which
is connected with it according to corporeality and inequality ;
since the other being a long number is in the first place six
(that is to say, six hundred) ; on which account it is said, in
the six hundred and first year. But the just man is so in his
generation, not in that which is general, nor again in that
in which he is just by comparison with the general corruption,
but according to some especial generation ; for his generation
bears with it a certain comparison. But that man also is
376 PHILO JUD^US.
deserving of praise whom God selected beyond all other gene
rations as being considered worthy of life, placing a limit to
that life, and to him as being about to be both the end and the
beginning of each generation and of each age ; the end of that
which is corruptible, the beginning of that which is to follow.
And truly it is much more proper to praise him who,
bending upwards with his whole body, looked up by reason of
his friendship with God.
What is the meaning of the expression, "And Xoah
opened the roof of the ark?"*
40. The text stands in need of no explanation. But with
reference to its meaning, because the ark is symbolically our
body, we must consider that that is spoken of as the roof of
our body, which covers it and for a long time preserves its
strength ; such is concupiscence, by which the body is pre
served and made to last, in a moderate degree, that is, and in
accordance with the law of nature ; as also it is dissolved bv
pain.
When therefore the intellect is attracted by a desire for
heavenly things it wishes to spring upwards, and in that way
it bursts asunder every appearance of concupiscence ; so that
that thing being as it were removed which threw a veil of
shade over it and obscured it, it might be able to apply its
senses to undisguised and incorporeal natures.
Why is it that the earth was dried up in the seventh month,
and on the twenty-seventh day ?f
47. Do you not see that he here calls that month the
seventh, which a little while before he styles the first ? for the
seventh, as far as relates to time, is the same, as 1 have said
before, as that which is the fh st in nature, being the beginning
of the equinox. But it is with great propriety that the begin
ning of the deluge is fixed to the seventh month, and the
twenty-seventh day of the month ; and again, the end and
cessation of the deluge is fixed to the same seventh month and
the same day ; for, both the deluge and the removal of life
took place at the equinox ; the principle of which we have
indicated a little time ago ; for the seventh month is found to
he synonymous with months and days of this time, and then
* Genesis viii. 13. f Genesis viii. 14.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 377
again, the twenty-seventh day occurs with the same meaning,
when the ark rested on the mountains.
This is the month which by nature is the seventh, but in
point of time the first, which in fact is the month of the
equinox. Therefore, at the equinoxes a power of selection is
given for seven months and twenty-seven days ; for the deluge
took place in the seventh month, on which the vernal equinox
takes place ; so that it is in time the seventh, but in nature
the first.
And the cessation of the deluge and the display of mercy
belong to the same measure, when the ark rested on the tops of
the mountains ; again in truth in the seventh month, but not
the same month, but in that in which the autumnal equinox
occurs ; that is to say, the seventh by nature, but the first in
point of time.
But the most perfect cure, the fact of the evil being wholly
dried up, is again fixed to the seventh month and the twenty-
seventh day of the vernal season ; in order that both the
beginning and the end of the deluge might find its boundary
at the same season ; and that the middle season when human
life is repaired, is fixed to the intermediate season.
In the meantime that expression is more certainly to be
observed, namely, that the whole year, by a strict computation
of days, made the deluge equal to the exact time of the
remedy ; for it began in the six hundredth year of Noah s age,
in the seventh month, and on the twenty-seventh day ; so
that the whole space of the intermediate time completed a
perfect year, the beginning being placed at the vernal equinox,
and the flood also ending equally at the same epoch of the
vernal equinox. And in this manner, after all things on earth,
things full of fruit, had undergone destruction, as I have said
before, now that the persons who used the fruits were also
destroyed, the earth being wholly relieved of all evil was again
found full of seeds and fruit-bearing trees, according to the
production of spring ; for he thought it reasonable that, as the
earth after it had suffered the deluge was in a similar con
dition when dried again to that in which it was before, so it
should now show itself, and pay the debt which it owed to
nature.
Nor ought any one to wonder that in one day the earth when
left to itself produced every thing by divine virtue, both seeds
378 PHILO JTJD.^US.
and trees, all complete entirely and suddenly, with perfect and
excellent herbs, and grain, and plants, and fruits ; since in the
creation of the world on one day of the six he finished and
brought to perfection the whole generation of plants. But the
present fruits were already perfect in themselves, and produced
all kinds of fruits in a manner suitable and corresponding to
the season of spring ; for all things are possible to God, who
scarcely requires time to effect any thing.
Why was it that after the earth was dried, Noah did not
depart out of the ark, before he had received a fresh command
from God, for God said to Xoah : " Go forth, thou, and thy
wife, and thy sons, and thy sons wives, together with all the
rest of the living creatures?"*
48. Justice is commonly inspired with fear, as on the other
hand injustice is rash and self-confident. But the proof of a
fear of God is the not giving up more to, or guiding one s self
more by one s own reason than by God. And above all other
men it was natural for that man who had seen the whole earth
suddenly become an immense sea, to suspect that it might be
possible that the same misfortune would again return.
Besides this, he also gave a thought to the corresponding
consequence, namely, that as he had entered into the ark at
the command of God, so it was fitting that he should also
leave it at the command of the same being ; for let no one
believe that he can ever do any thing perfectly unless God
himself guides him by his preventing precepts.
Why, when they entered into the ark was the order as fol
lows : first himself and his sons, and after them his wife and
his sons wives, but when they went forth the order was
changed, for the sacred historian says, " Noah and his wife
went forth, and after them his sous and his sons wives ?"t
40. By the literal statement the sacred writer gives an
obscure intimation, in the order in which they entered, that the
propagation of seed was taken away, but by the order of their
egress^ he implies the continuance of the process of generation ;
since, while they are entering, the sons are mentioned together
with their father, and the daughters-in-law with their mother-
in-law, but when they are going forth the wives are all mated
* Genettis viii. 16. t Genesis viii. IS.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 379
again, the father being accompanied by his wife, and each of
his sons also by his wife, since he chose to show by fact
rather than by words everything which it is fitting for his
friends to do.
Moreover he had in express words, and not by any vague
intimations, commanded the men, as they were about to enter
into the ark, that they while there were to keep themselves
from connection with women ; but now that they were about
to depart from it, he plainly intimates to them that offspring
is to be begotten in accordance with nature, by the order in
which he appoints their going forth ; nor did he employ words
only, in order to make his proclamation about the state of the
ark, saying, " After a destruction of all things on earth, of such
a character and of such extent, do not indulge in pleasures, for
that is not decorous. It is sufficient, however, for you to have
received your lives ; but while you are actually in the ark, to
ascend up into the marriage bed with your wives would be a
proof of your being devoted to lasciviousness."
And, indeed, it was natural for them, as being relations to
those who were being destroyed, to be moved with compassion
for the perishing human race, especially because they them
selves also were still in doubt whether, from some quarter or
other, calamity might not fall also upon themselves ; and be
sides these considerations it was absurd, while those who were
alive were perishing, for those in the ark to be contriving that
others who did not exist should be born, being warm at an
unreasonable time, and burning with an inopportune desire.
But after the anger of God ceased, then he commanded those
who had been delivered from the calamity, when they had again
gone forth out of the ark in order, to apply themselves to the
procreation of a succeeding generation, when he tells us, that
the men did not go forth with the men, nor the women with
the women, but the wives with their husbands.
But with respect to the inner meaning of this fact, we must
say this, that when the mind is about to wash off and cleanse
away its sins, then it is fit for male to live with male, that is
to say, for the intellect, the chief part of the man, to be as a
father, united to each separate thought, as a father to his sons,
without any admixture of the female race, which is in accord
ance with the outward sense ; since it is a time of battle, in
which it is necessary to keep the order of the cohort distinct.
380 PITILO JUDJEUS.
and to preserve it strictly in order, that the soldiers may not
be mingled in confusion, and so, instead of gaining a victory
over the enemy, be conquered themselves; but when the puri
fication is completed, and when the soul is dried up from all
ignorance, and when a complete deliverance from everything
pernicious has taken place, then it becomes the man to collect
his scattered forces together, not in order that masculine coun
sels may be rendered effeminate by softness, but that the
female race, that is to say, the outward senses, may clothe them
selves with the vigour of the male, attaining to masculine coun
sels, and from their receiving seed for the production of a
generation ; so that, from this time forth they may cherish, in
all things, sentiments of wisdom, and honour, and justice, and
courage, and, in one word, of virtue. But, besides this, it will
be reasonable also to take notice, that when once a confusion,
in the similitude of a deluge, has overwhelmed the intellect,
and when the different senses, being perplexed by the af Fairs
of this world, like so many bulwarks erected against them,
begin to quarrel, it is utterly impossible that any one should
be able, either to sow, or to conceive, or to generate any good
thing. But when all the hostile attacks of various agitations
and passions are checked, and when the ceaseless invasions of
lawless counsels are repressed, then the soul produces virtue
and excellent works, as the most fertile portion of the earth,
when dried, produces fruits.
Why did Noah build an altar without having been com
manded to do so ?*
50. The requital of gratitude which is due to God ought to
be offered to him without command, and without any delay or
hesitation, showing the mind to be free from vices ; for it be
comes that man, who has been endued with blessings by God,
to offer him his thanks with a grateful and willing mind ; but
he who delays to do so, waiting for an express command, is
ungrateful, being as it were compelled by necessity to honour
his benefactor.
Why is he said to have built an altar to God, and not to
the Lord ?f
51. In passages of beneficence and regeneration, as at the
* Genesis viiL 20. t Ibid.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 381
creation of the world, the sacred writer only refers to the be
neficent virtue of the Creator, by which he makes everything
in its integrity, and he implies this by concealing the royal
name of Lord, as one which bears with it supreme authority ;
therefore now also, since what he is describing is the begin
ning of the renewed generation of mankind, he borrows for his
description the beneficent virtue, which bears the name of
God ; for he used the kingly attribute, which declares his
imperial power, by which he is called Lord, when he was
describing the punishment inflicted by the flood.
What is the meaning of the statement, " He took of the
cattle and of the flying animals, and he offered whole burnt
offerings on the altar?"*
52. All this is said with reference to an inward meaning,
both because he received everything from God as a favour and
gift ; and also because he took of the clean sorts of animals,
and burnt those which were unpolluted and clean, as entire
and pure first fruits ; for they are proper victims for good men
to offer, and are themselves entire, being full of integrity ; and
they may be classed as fruits, for fruit is the end, for the sake
of which the plant exists.
This indeed is the literal statement; but with respect to
the inner meaning, the clean cattle and the clean birds are
the outward senses and intellect of the wise man, with the
thoughts which are received in his mind : all which things it
is reasonable to offer in their integrity as entire and perfect
fruit, in the way of a display of gratitude to the Father, and to
offer them to him as an unpolluted and clean oblation of a
victim.
Why does he offer his sacrifice to the beneficent virtue of
God, but the acceptance of it takes place by means of both the
qualities of the Lord and God, for Moses says, "And the
Lord God smelled a savour of sweetness ?"f
53. He says this since, when unexpectedly, after all hope
is gone, we are preserved from dangers which are coming over
us, we then, looking solely at the beneficence of him who has
preserved us, do, on account of our joy, display ingratitude,
and refer the benefits which we have received rather to the be-
* Genesis viii. 20. t Ibid.
382 PHILO JUD^EUS.
neficent power than to the Lord. But the beneficent preserver
himself, by means of both his attributes, looks down upon and
honourably accepts grateful minds, that he may not appear to
halt in rewarding them ; but he declares that such a display of
gratitude is pleasing to both attributes of the one God.*
What is the meaning of the words, " And the Lord God
said, repenting him, I will not again proceed to curse the
earth for the works of man, for the thoughts of the mind of
man are toward, and are diligently and ceaselessly exercised in,
wickedness from his youth up ; therefore I will not now pro
ceed to smite all living flesh as I have done at other times ? f
54. The reasons alleged appear to indicate a change of
purpose, which is an affection not usual nor akin to the divine
virtue ; for the dispositions of mankind are variable and incon
stant, so that all affairs among them are altogether uncertain ;
but with God nothing is uncertain, nothing incomprehensible,
for he is a being of mighty and consistent determination ; how
then, when reasons of the same kind are present to him, be
cause he was forsooth aware from the very beginning that the
mind of man was deliberately inclined to wallow in wickedness
from his youth on, could he have originally intended to destroy
the human race by a flood ; and yet afterwards say, that he
did not intend to destroy it any more, when the same evils
still exist in the mind ? But we must think that every kind of
expression of this sort is, by law, connected with learning and
the utility of instruction rather than with the nature of truth,
since there are, as it were, two kinds which occur in the whole
course of the law ; in the first place, as it is said, " Not as a
man ;" and in the second place, as it is said, " As a man," the
one God is believed to instruct his son.
That first expression relates to the actual truth ; for, in real
fact, God is not as a man, nor again, as the sun, nor as the
heaven, nor as the world, which is perceptible by the outward
senses, but as God, if it is justifiable to assert that also ; since
that most happy and blessed being will not endure similitude,
or comparison, or enigmatical description ; nay, rather he sur-
* Or, " But the one God very much likes to act by means of both his
attributes." Note to the Latin version.
| Genesis viii. 21.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 383
passes even blessedness and felicity itself, and whatever can be
imagined as better than and preferable to tbem.
But the second expression relates to instruction and direc
tion, I mean the express words, " As a man," in order that it
may be observed, that he is willing to impress us beings, born
of the earth, lest perchance we should unceasingly incur his
anger and his chastisement by our implacable hostility to him,
without any peace ; for it is sufficient for him to be roused and
embittered against us once, and once to exact vengeance against
sinners ; but to inflict punishment over and over again for the
same thing is the conduct of a savage and ferocious dispo
sition : since, says he, " when I shall inflict deserved retribu
tion, as is possible, on every one, I will cause a burning
recollection of my design to be preserved."
Therefore behold, the sacred historian has excellently ex
pressed himself, saying, " That God observed in his mind,"
for his mind and disposition rejoice in a superior degree of
constancy ; but our wills are found to be inconsistent and
vacillating, on which account we cannot be properly said to
observe and think with our minds, since it is by the thoughts
that the passage of the mind is allowed to take place,* but the
human intellect is unable to be extended over everything,
since it is incapable of penetrating all things in a perfect and
suitable manner.
But that expression, " I will not proceed any more to curse
the earth," is used with great propriety, for it is not becoming
to add more curses to what has already been done, because the
evils that have been inflicted are already complete; because,
although they are in some sense imperfect, inasmuch as the
Father is kind and merciful, and most humane, still he Ls
rather inclined to alleviate the evil than to add to men s
misery. But that is as it were the same thing, according to a
common proverb, to wash a brick, or to draw water properly,
and wholly to eradicate wickedness, with all its deeply im
printed tokens from the mind of man ; for if it is implanted in
it at first, it does not exist accidentally, but is engraven deeply
on it and clings to it.
But since the mind is a potential and principal part of the
* " If you connect the Armenian words in a different manner, the
sense will be meditation is the purification of the course of the mind,
and this is perhaps better." Note by the Latin Translator.
381 PHILO JUD.EUS.
soul, he introduces that word " diligently ;" but that which
has been weighed with diligence and care is exquisite
thought, examined more certainly than certainty itself. But
this diligence does not tend to any one evil, but as is plain,
to mischief, and to all mischief; nor does it exist in a per
functory manner ; but man is devoted to it from his youth,
not only in a manner, but from his very cradle, as if he
were in some degree united to, and nourished, and bred up
with sin.
But yet Grod says, " I will not any more smite all flesh ;"
giving notice that he will not, at any future time, destroy
every portion of mankind altogether, but only single indi
viduals, in ever such great numbers, who perpetrate un
speakable wickednesses ; for he does not leave wickedness
unpunished, nor does he grant it liberty or impunity, but
indulging his care for the human race on account of his
original design, he of necessity fixes destruction as a punish
ment for sinners.
"What is the meaning of the expression, " Sowing-time and
harvest, cold and heat, summer and spring, shall not cease
dav nor night ?"*
55. If taken literally this expression signifies the con
tinuation of the duration of the annual seasons, and that
the earthly temperature adapted to animals and plants is
]iot again to be destroyed ; since indeed, if the weather
is corrupted it would corrupt them likewise, and if it is
preserved in its existing state it would preserve them also
safe and sound ; for it is according to the weather and
temperature that all animals and plants are preserved safe
and sound, without any infirmity, being accustomed, in
some measure, to be produced separately, in an admirable
wav, and to grow up together. But nature is like a har
mony, composed of opposite sounds, both flat and sharp ;
for thus, also, the world is compounded of opposite qualities,
for when, in the first place, the mortal commixtures of cold
and heat, of moisture and dryness, preserve their natural
order, without any confusion, they are themselves a cause
which prevents destruction from overwhelming everything
upon the earth.
* Generic viii. 22.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 385
But if we regard the inward sense of the passage, the
seed time is the beginning and the harvest time is the end,
and both the beginning and the end are concurrent causes
of safety, for either thing alone is by itself imperfect, be
cause the beginning requires an end, and the end has a
natural inclination for the beginning; but cold and heat
bring round winter and autumn ; for the autumn is fiery,
but only in such a degree as succeeding in its annual re
volution to cool the fiery summer.
And, symbolically, with reference to the mind, cold
indicates fear, since it causes terror and trepidation ; but
heat indicates anger, because an angry disposition bears in
itself a resemblance to name and fire ; for it is necessary
that those things should always exist and always remain
among created and corruptible beings ; since summer and
spring have been instituted for the production of fruits;
spring for the perfecting of the seeds, and summer for the
perfecting of fruits and the buds of trees.
These things indeed are discerned symbolically in addition
to the inward sense of the words, producing a double fruit ;
what is necessary being computed in the season of spring,
and what is superfluous in the summer. Therefore neces
sary food is for the most part for the body, being whatever
is produced freely from seeds ; as virtues are necessary for
the soul. But as many fruits as come by way of excess
from trees in summer, besides the advantage which they are
to the body, do also bring corporeal goods to the mind, as
external advantages : for these external advantages are
subservient to the body, and the body is subservient to the
mind, and the mind to God. But day and night are the
measures of times and numbers ; and time and number exist
without interruption. Day indicates lucid wisdom, and
night betokens obscure folly.
Why was it that God, blessing Noah and his sons, said,
" Increase, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and rule
over it ; and let your fear and the dread of you be upon all
beasts, and upon flying fowls, and upon reptiles, and upon
the fishes which I have placed under your hand ? " *
56. This devotion of the inferior animals to man, God
* Genesis ix. 1.
VOL. IV. C C
3S6 miLO JUD/EUS.
also at the beginning of the creation bestowed on the sixth
day upon man, after he had created him in his own image ;
for the scripture saith, " And God made man ; in the image
of God created he him ; male and female created he them.
And God blessed them, and said, Be fruitful, -and multiply,
and replenish the earth ; and be ye lords over it, and be ye
rulers of the fishes, and of the flying fowls, and of every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."
And did he not by these words evidently intimate that
Noah, at the beginning of what we may call the second
creation of mankind, was found equal in honour to that
creature who in the first instance was made as to his form
in the likeness of himself? Therefore he equally assigned
both to the one and to the other the principality and power
over all the creatures that live upon the earth.
But do thou diligently take notice that he showed this
man, who at the time of the deluge was the only just man
and the king of all the creatures which live upon the earth,
to be equal in honour, not to the identical man who was first
created and formed out of the earth, but to that one who
was made according to the likeness and form of the true in
corporeal entity, to whom also he gives power, making him
a kino 1 , not the very created man (or the man formed out of
the earth), but him who is according to his form and
similitude, that is to say, incorporeal.
Wherefore also the creation of that man, who as to his
form is incorporeal, was marked to have taken place on the
sixth day, in accordance with the perfect number six; but
the creation of that man who was created after the com
pletion of the world and subsequent to the generation of all
animals on the seventh day, because it is after that that the
manly figure was fashioned out of clay. Therefore after the
days of generation he says, " on the seventh day of the
world;" for God had not yet rained upon the earth, and no
man did exist who could cultivate the earth. And then he
proceeds to say, " But God formed a man out of the clay of
the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life, and
man became a living soul."
Therefore how he" can be made worthy of the same kingly
power according to the image of the man thus formed, he, I
i;:ean, who is the beginning of the second creation of ma. ; -
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 887
kind, is indicated by the letter of the history that relates
these events.
But with reference to the inward sense of the passage we
must give an explanation in the following manner. God
wills that the souls of wise men should increase in the
magnitude and multitude of the beauty of their virtues, and
should fill the mind as if it were the earth with those
beauties, leaving no portion empty and void so as to become
occupied by folly. And he wills also that they should rule
over, and strike terror into, and inflict alarm upon all
beasts ; that is to say, he wills that all wickedness should
be subdued by their will, since wickedness is of an untamed
and savage nature. Also he willed that they should be
lords over all flying fowls, which by reason of their lightness
are raised on high, being armed with courage and empty
pride, and which thus cause the greatest mischief, being
scarcely controlled at all by fear. Moreover, he made them
rulers over all creeping things, which are the symbols of
destructive vices, for they creep through the whole soul,
namely, concupiscence, desire, sadness, and cowardice,
striking and goading; as also they are indicated by the
fishes, which eagerly cultivate a moist and delicate life, but
one which is far from being sober, wise, or lasting.
"Why does God say, "Every creeping thing which lives
shall be to you for food ? " *
57. Creeping things are of a twofold nature ; some being
venomous, and others domestic. The venomous ones are
serpents, which, instead of feet, use their bellies and breasts,
creeping upon the earth ; but the domestic ones are those
which have legs above their feet. This is the literal
meaning of the statement.
But if we look to the inward sense of it, then the creeping
things represent the foul vices, but the clean ones repre
sent joy ; for in connexion with the passion of concupiscence
there will exist joy and pleasure ; and in connexion with
desire there will be will and counsel, and in connexion with
sorrow goading and compunction, and in connexion with
avidity there will be fear.
Therefore such disordered perturbations of the passions
* Genesis ix. 3.
c c 2
388 ruiLO JUDJJUS.
threaten souls with death and destruction ; but the joys do
really live, as he himself has warned us in an allegory ; and
they also give life to those who possess them.
What is the meaning of the expression, " As the greeii
herb I have given you all things ? " *
58. Some persons say that by this expression, "As the
green herb I have given you all things," the eating of flesh
was permitted. But I say that even though God had
intended to give that permission, still that before all things
he must have intended to establish by law the necessary use
of herbs, that is to say of vegetables. And under the
general name of herb he includes all the other additional
descriptions of green food, without mentioning them ex
pressly in the law. But now the power of this command is
adapted not to one nation alone among all the select nations
of the earth which are desirous of wisdom, among which
religious continence is honoured, but to all mankind, who
cannot possibly be universally prohibited from eating flesh.
Nevertheless, perhaps the present expression has no re
ference to eating food, but rather to the possession erf the
power to do so; for in fact every herb is not necessarily
good to eat, nor again is it the uniform and invariable food
of all uniform living animals ; since God said that some
herbs were poisonous and deadly, and yet they are included
in the number all. Perhaps therefore, I say, he means to
express this, that all brute beasts are subjected to the
power of man, as we sow herbs and take care of them by
the cultivation of the land.
"What is the meaning of the expression, " You shall not
cat flesh in the blood of its life ? " f
59. God appears by this command to indicate that the
blood is the substance of the soul ; I mean of that soul
which exists by the external senses and by vitality, not of
that which is spoken of with a certain especial pre-eminence,
being the rational and intellectual soul ; for there are three
parts of the human soul ; one the nutritive part, another
that which is connected with the external senses, and the
third that which exists in reason. Therefore the rational
* (Jcueais ix. 3. t Genesis ix 4.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 389
part is the substance of the divine spirit according to the
sacred writer Moses : for in his account of the creation of
the world, he says, " God breathed into his face the breath
of life," as being what was to constitute his life. But of
that part of the soul which is connected with the external
senses and with vitality, blood is the substance ; for he says
in another place, "The blood exists in every breath of flesh."
It is with great propriety in fact that he has called the
blood the breath of all flesh, because there are in the flesh
senses and passions, but not intellect nor thoughts. But
again by the expression "the spirit of blood," he intimates that
the spirit is one thing and the blood another ; so that the
essence of the soul is truly and beyond all possible question
spirit. But that spirit has a place not by itself separately,
apart from the blood in the body ; but it is interwoven and
mingled with the blood.
As also the veins which exhibit a pulse, as if they were
vessels to convey breathing, bear with them most unmixed
and pure air, but blood likewise, though perhaps in a less
degree; for there are two vessels, the veins and the
breathing channels ; but the veins have more blood than
breath, and the breathing channels have more breath than
blood. Therefore the proper admixture in each vessel is
distinct, as the greater and the lesser proportion.
This is the meaning of these words when taken literally ;
but if we look to their inner meaning, he calls the blood of
the soul that warm and fiery virtue belonging to it which we
name courage. And he who is full of this wisdom despises
all food, and every pleasure of the belly, and of those parts
which are below the belly. But if any one adopts a profli
gate life, and becomes a wanderer like the wind, and
gradually inactive from laziness and a luxurious life, he in
fact does nothing else but fall upon his belly, as a reptile
creeping upon the earth, and greedily licking up earthly
things, closing his life without ever tasting of that heavenly
food which the souls which are desirous of wisdom receive.
What is the meaning of the expression, " The blood of
your souls will I require from every beast, and from the
hand of man s brother will I require the life of man ? " *
* Geuedia ix. 5.
390 ruiLO JUD^EUS.
GO. The multitude of creatures which do injury is two
fold ; some being beasts, and others men. But beasts are-
rather the least injurious of the two, because they have no
actual familiarity with those whom they wish to injure,
principally because they do not fall under their power, but
destroy those who have properly power over them. But
when he speaks of brothers, he means men who are
murderers, intimating these three things. First of all, that
all we men are akin to one another, and are brothers, being
connected with one another according to the relation of the
highest kind of kindred ; for we have received a lot, as being
the children of one and the same mother, rational nature.
In the second place, he intimates that very commonly
numerous and terrible quarrels arise, and acts of treachery
take place, between relations, and rather between brothers,
on account of the division of their inheritance, or on account
of some superiority of dignity in the household ; since a
quarrel between those of the same family is worse and alto
gether unseemly, because brothers who are really so by the
ties of nature meet in contest with a great knowledge of
one another s internal circumstances ; being therefore well
aware what kind of attack they must employ in their
present warfare.
But, in the third place, as it appears to me, he employs
the appellation of brothers in order to warn men of the im
placable and severe punishment which is reserved for mur
derers ; that they, without meeting any compassion, shall
suffer what they have inflicted ; for they have not slain
strangers, but their own brothers in blood.
It is with exceeding great propriety that he calls God the
protector and overseer of those who are slain by man ; for
although men despise the revenge, yet let them not behave
negligently, but although impure men of savage disposition
escape for the moment from danger, still let them know
that they arc already caught and brought before the greater
tribunal of justice, namely, before the divine judgment-
seat, which rises up to inflict vengeance on the^wicked for
the defence of those who have received shameful and un
worthy treatment.
This is the literal meaning of the words ; but if we look
to the inward sense of them they have a regard to the merit of
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 391
the purity of the soul, to which it is suitable to avoid unceas
ing destruction brought in from outward parts ; which merit,
that propitious and beneficent being, the most merciful and
only Saviour, does not despise ; but he expels and destroys
all its enemies who stand around it, calling them beasts, and
men brothers; for beasts are asymbolical expressionforfurious
men threatening calamitous death; but men and brothers
are both separate individual thoughts, and words uttered by
mouth and tongue, because they are akin to them, and, by
consequence, they bring on great and destructive evils,
leaving no stone unturned, no work or word omitted to do
injury.
"What is the meaning of the expression, "Whoso sheddeth
man s blood by man shall his blood be shed ? "
61. There is no excess in this declaration, but rather an
indication of a still more formidable denunciation, because he
says, " He himself shall be poured out like blood who pours
out blood." For that which is poured out flows forth and
is lost, so that it has no longer any power or substance.
And by this he shadows forth the fact that the souls of those
who perpetrate unworthy actions imitate the mortal body
in its corruption, as far as corruption is accustomed to come
upon individuals ; for the body is then dissolved into those
parts of which it was composed, returning into its proper
elements. But the miserable soul, labouring under distresses,
is borne hither and thither by the overflow of a lascivious
life ; and the very evils which have grown up along with it
are accustomed to suffer the same overflow, in the manner of
the parts of the limbs.
Why is it that he speaks as if of some other god, saying
that he made man after the image of God, and not that he
made him after his own image ?t
62. Very appropriately and without any falsehood was
this oracular sentence uttered by God, for no mortal thing
could have been formed on the similitude of the supreme
Father of the universe, but only after the pattern of the
second deity, who is the Word of the supreme Being;
since it is fitting that the rational soul of man should
* Genesis ix. 6.
g g PHILO JUD.EUS.
bear before it the type of the divine "Word ; since in his
first Word God is superior to the most rational possible
nature. But he who is superior to the AVord holds his rank
in a better and most singular pre-eminence, and how could
the creature possibly exhibit a likeness of him in himself?
Nevertheless he also wished to intimate this fact, that God
does rightly and correctly require vengeance, in order to the
defence of virtuous and consistent men, because such bear
in themselves a familiar acquaintance with his AVord, of
which the human mind is the similitude and form.
"What is the meaning of the words, "There shall not again
be a deluge to destroy all the earth ? "*
63. By his last saying he declares sufficiently that there
may be various inundations, but that there shall never be
one of such a character as to be able to change the whole
earth into a lake or sea.
This is the literal meaning of this saying.
But if we look to its inward sense, there a divine kindness
is intimated, according to which, although it is not every
part of the soul which is allowed to make proficiency in
every virtue, still some are adorned in a considerable degree.
So that, supposing any one is not able to display excellence
in his whole body, he still may labour with all diligence to
acquire all the means in his power to display excellence ;
and that exertion is within his reach. And it does not
follow that if any one is less highly endowed, or is unable
to make every portion of his life altogether perfect, that he
is on that account to despair of those things which he is
able to do and to attain to.
Since as there is power in every individual, he who
does not exert himself in accordance with it is both idle
and ungrateful ; idle because of his laziness, and ungrateful
because, though he has received most excellent means, he
still sets himself in opposition to the essential qualities o
things.
"Why does G-od say that, as a sign that he will never again
bring a deluge over the whole earth, he will placo his bow
in the clouds ?f
* Geno.su ix. 11. j Genesis ix. l:j.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 393
64. Some persons imagine that by the bow he means that
thing which by some is called Jupiter s belt, from its figure,
dwelling on its continual similitude to the rainbow ; but I do
not perceive that that has been positively asserted. In the
first place, because the bow aforesaid ought to have a pe
culiar and essential nature of its own, because it is called
the bow of God ; for he says, " I will set my bow in the
clouds." But that which belongs to God and is said to have
been set in any place aa his, indicates plainly that it is not
devoid of essence or of substance.
But the belt of Jupiter has not, properly speaking, any
separate nature of its own, but is merely an appearance o f
the solar rays on a wet cloud, all the phenomena of which
are non-existent and incorporeal. And moreover, this is a
further proof of that, that it is never seen at night, though
clouds exist by night as well as by day.
In the second place, we must also say that even in the
day-time, when clouds obscure the whole face of heaven,
the belt of Jupiter is never at all seen in them. But what
remains may also be affirmed without any falsehood, when
the Maker of the law says, "I will set my bow in the clouds;"
for, behold, while clouds are present there is no appear
ance of the belt of Jupiter visible. But he said, " "Where
there is a collection of clouds let there be a bow seen in the
clouds." Still it often happens, when the clouds are col
lected and when the air is obscured and thickened, that no
appearance of a rainbow is seen anywhere.
We must consider, therefore, whether haply the sacred
historian indicates something else by this mention of the
bow, namely, that in the very exercise of the mercy of God,
and also in the moment of his bitterness towards men on
earth, there still shall not be any ultimate destruction of
them, in the fashion of a bow, which is too soft and unfit
for such a purpose, nor shall there be any violence added, so
as to cause a rapid destruction, but there shall be a mode
rate determination, each attribute being carefully measured;
for the great deluge took place with a breaking asunder and
disruption of the clouds and of all things ; as he himself
asserts, when he says, " The fountains of the deep were
broken up." And yet it was not an unmeasured vehemence.
Moreover, a bow is not itself a weapon, but only an m-
394 rim/) JUD/EUS.
strumcnt for the use of weapons, namely, for the arrow
which strikes ; and the arrow being sent forth by means of
the bow strikes a part which is at a distance, while the parts
which are nearest to it remain unhurt. And this is given as a
proof that the whole earth shall never for the future suffer
any deluge, since no one arrow ever hits all places, but only
those which are at a distance.
Therefore the divine virtue, being invisible, is symbolically
indicated by the bow in the cloud ; being in truth dissolved
according to the figure of tranquillity, and condensed in ac
cordance with a cloud ; so that it does not permit all the
clouds to be altogether dissolved into water, so that the
earth may not be made a lake by an inundation, which it
carefully forbids, and arranges the condensation of air,
checking it as by a bridle, though it is at that time the more
accustomed to exhibit itself as rebellious by reason of its
excessive fulness. For by reason of the clouds it also shows
itself to be replenished, dripping, and saturated.
Why is it that after the sons of the just man have been
named Shem, Ham, and Japhet, he relates only the genera
tions of the middle one, saying, " And Ham was the father of
Canaan ;" and afterwards he adds, " These are the three sons
of Noah?"*
65. Mentioning four men, Noah and his sons, he says that
these were obedient. Because the grandson Canaan was in
his habits like his father who begat him, on that account,
instead of mentioning only one, he includes both in his
enumeration, so that they are four in number, three in
virtue. But in the meantime in the scripture he mentions
only the generations of the middle one, on account of the
just man whom he is going to speak of subsequently, because
although he was his father, since Ham is the father of
Canaan, still he does not mention the father with blame,
but with respect to the man with whom he thought it fair
that the son should be a partaker, he yet did not give the
father a participation with him.
In the second place, perhaps he thus gives a premonitory
warning also to those persons who by the acutcness of their
mental vision can see a long way off what is at a distance,
Genesis ix 18.
QUrSTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 395
namely, that he designs to take away the land of the Canaan-
ites from them after the lapse of many ages, and to give it
to his chosen people who are thoroughly devoted to God.
Therefore he chooses to designate the chief inhabitant
of that region, namely Canaan, and to show that he both
practised singular and peculiar wickedness of his own, and
also all the wickedness of his father, so that in every part
he might be convicted of an ignoble slavery and submission.
This is the literal meaning of these words. But if we
have a regard to the inward sense, he does not say that Ham
had a son named Canaan, but he predicates offspring of him
alone, saying, " Ham was the father of Canaan." Since such
a disposition as that of Ham is always the father of such
designs as those of Canaan, and that the very namea
themselves intimate this. For if we translate them into
another language, Ham means heat or hot; and Canaan
means merchants, or buyers, or causes, or recipients.
Accordingly, he is not now speaking manifestly of genera
tions, nor is he saying that one man is the father or the son
of another man, but he is evidently demonstrating the connec
tion between one counsel and another, by reason of its
alienation from all familiarity with virtue.
About the cultivation of the earth.
What is the meaning of the statement, " Noah began to be
a cultivator of the earth ? "*
66. He is here comparing Noah to the first created man
who was formed out of the earth ; for in that manner also
does he speak of him when he came forth out of the ark ;
since both then and now there took place a first beginning
of the cultivation of the land, each being after a deluge.
For also, at the time of the original creation of the world
the earth was, as it were, a lake, being covered by an inunda
tion of water, for the sacred historian could not tell us that
God said," Let the waters be gathered together into one body,
and let the dry land appear," unless it had previously been
inundated with waters which now returned into certain
depths of the earth.
Nor again is the expression a purposeless one, " He began
to be a, tiller of the earth," for in the second generation he
* Genesis ix. 20.
396 PIITLO JUDJEUS.
was himself the beginning of men, and also of seed, and of
the cultivation of the land, and of the life of all other things.
This is the literal meaning of the words.
But if we look to their inner sense, a distinction is made
between being a cultivator of the earth and a tiller 1 of it;
as the murderer of his brother is represented as tilling the
earth, but not as cultivating it. Eor by the earth our body is
symbolically represented, which is by its nature earthly, and
which the unjust and wicked man tills like a lazy hireling,
but which the man endued with virtue cultivates like a
skilful manager of plants and an agriculturist of good works
appointed to superintend it. Because the workman of the
body, the mind, as being carnal, procures carnal pleasures ;
but the cultivator of the earth is careful to produce useful
fruits, those, namely, which are to be obtained by the study
of continence, and modesty, and sound wisdom ; and he
primes away all superfluous excesses and bad habits which
spring up around, like the thin and misplaced branches of
trees.
Why does the just man first plant a vineyard ? *
It was very natural for it to be a subject of anxiety and
doubt to him in what quarter he was to find any plants after
the deluge, when everything upon the earth was destroyed.
Therefore it appeared natural, as was said a little while ago,
that the earth was made dry in the spring season; tln-n-t orc
when the spring produced the buds of trees, the roots and
stems of the vine could easily be found by the just man still
alive, and might thus be collected by him.
But we have to consider why the first thing he did was to
plant a vineyard, and why he did not rather sow wheat and
barley, since the latter are necessary productions of the
earth, without which life cannot be supported, but the
former is only a material for superfluous pleasure. The
answer is that Noah, adopting a salutary design, consecrated
and offered up to God those things which are necessary to
support life and which require no co-operation for the
production of the fruit ; but the superfluous plants lie devoted
to men ; for the use of wine is superfluous and not necessary.
As therefore God ordered fountains of water fit to drink to
* Genesis is. 20.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 397
burst up from the earth without the co-operation of man,
so he also of his own accord granted to man in a similar
manner wheat and barley, in order that he himself might be
the sole giver of each kind of food which serves for necessary
eating and drinking. But he did not take away the power
nor grudge them providing for themselves by their own
industry those things which contribute to pleasure.
What is the meaning of the statement, " He drank of the
wine and was drunken?" *
68. In the first place, the just man did not drink the
wine, but a portion of the wine, not the whole of it ; in which
case an incontinent and debauched man does not quit his
means of debauchery, till he has first swallowed all the wine
that there is before him ; but by the religious and sober man
everything necessary for food is used in a moderate degree.
And the expression, "he was drunken," is here to be taken
simply as equivalent to " he used the wine."
But there are two modes of getting drunk, the one is that
of an intemperate sottishuess which misuses wine, and this
offence is peculiar to the depraved and wicked man ; the
other is the use of wine, and this belongs to the wise. It is
therefore in the second of these meanings that the consistent
and wise Noah is here called drunken, not as having misused
but as having used wine.
What is the meaning of the statement, " He was naked in
his house ? "f
69. This is a praise of the wise man both in the literal
sense of the words, and also in their hidden meaning, that his
exhibition of nakedness took place not out of doors but in
his house, being concealed by the roof and walls of hia
house ; for the nakedness of the body is concealed by a
house which is made of stones and beams of wood : but the
covering and clothing of the soul is the discipline of wisdom.
Therefore there are two kinds of nakedness, one which
takes place by accident, which is the result of an involuntary
offence, because the just man, using,iflmay say so, his honesty
as if it were a garment with which he is clothed, stumbles
out of his own accord like men who are intoxicated, or who
* Genesis ix. 21. t Ibid
308 PITILO JUD^EUS.
are afflicted with insanity ; for in such men their oflVm-ns
are not deliberately committed : but it is his task and pleasing
duty to clothe himself, as with a garment, with the discipline
and study of honesty.
There is also another kind of nakedness of the soul which
is caused by perfect virtue, which expels from itself the
whole carnal weight of the body, as if it were flying from a
tomb, as indeed it has long been buried in it as in a tomb ^
as also it avoids pleasures, and also a groat number ^of
miseries arising from thediiferent passions and many anxieties
arising from misfortunes, and indeed all the evil effects of
these different circumstances. He therefore, who has been
able with distinction to pass through such various and great
dangers, and to escape such injuries, and to emancipate
himself from such evils, has attained to the destiny of hap
piness, without any stain or disgrace ; for I should pronounce
this to be the ornament and badge of beauty in those
individuals who have been rendered worthy to pass their
existence in an incorporeal manner.
"Why is it that the sacred writer has not simply said,
Ham saw his nakedness, but Ham the father of Canaan
saw the nakedness of his father ? *
70. By stating the fact thus, he both blames the son in the
father and the father in the son, as performing together in
common the deed of folly, and iniquity, and impiety, and every
other kind of wickedness. This is the literal meaning ot
the statement ; and as to the inner sense, we must look at
that in the same manner in which we have hitherto treated
these subjects.
What is the meaning of the statement, " He told it to his
two brothers out of doors ? " t
71. The sacred historian is here adding to the gravity of
the transaction. In the first place, because he did not report
the involuntary evil of his father to one brother only, but to
botli of them ; and no doubt if he had had any more he would
have told it to them all, as he did in fact to every one ho
could; and he did so with ridicule in his very words,
CeucHi:< is. 22. t rb;d -
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 399
making a jest of what ought not to have been treated with
laughter and derision, but rather with shame and fear min
gled with reverence.
In the second place,* when the historian says he told it
them, not in the house but out of the house, he evidently
points out that he displayed his father when naked, not only
to his brothers, but also to the bystanders with whom they
were, both men and women.
This is the literal information conveyed by the words.
But if we look to their inward meaning, then we shall see
that a depraved and malignant habit of life is full of derision
and contempt : and it is a bad thing to judge of the miseries
of others even by one s self like a chastising judge. But in
this case what has happened is worse than this, for any man
with a joyful mind to ridicule the involuntary misfortune of
a devoted disciple of wisdom, and to make a song of and
proclaim abroad his misery, is the part of a thoroughly hostile
accuser, who ought rather to have pardoned such an
occurrence than to have added accusation or vituperation
to it.
Moreover, because these three things are, as I have said
before, as it were brothers together ; namely, good, bad, and
indifferent, being all the offspring of one parent thought :
in accordance with each of these principles, they have been
found to be overseers, some celebrating virtues with praise,
others upholding acts of malignity, and others supporting
riches and honours and other good things which, however, are
not attached to and which are external to the body.
The overseers who emulate wickedness rejoice at the fall
of the wise man, and ridicule and disparage him, as if he had
done no good by the part which he adopts and to which he
applies himself as better for the mind, or for his body, or for
his external circumstances, to his internal virtues or to any
of the good things which are around and exterior to his body.
Unless indeed that man alone is eminently able to attain his
object, who applies himself to iniquity, as that alone is ac
customed to confer advantages on human life.
Pronouncing these and similar precepts, those who are
overseers of iniquity ridicule those who devote themselves
to virtue, and to those things by which virtue is produced
and consolidated : as some look upon those things to be
400 PIIILO JUD^EUS.
which are around the body, and outside it, and which may be
regarded in the light of instruments serving to that end.
What is the meaning of the statement, " Shem and Japhct,
taking a garment, laid it upon both their shoulders and went
backwards, and covered the nakedness of their father, and
they themselves did not see it ? " *
72. The literal meaning of the statement is evident ; but
with respect to the inner sense contained in it, we must say
that the light man who is in too great haste only sees those
things which are before his eyes and exposed to his sight :
but that the evil man also sees those things which are at
his back, that is to say, the future.
And since what is posterior is postponed to what is an
terior, so is what is future to what is present, the sight of
which is peculiar to the virtuous and wise man, who in truth
is a second Lynceus, being according to the fables gifted
with eyes in every part.
Therefore every wise man, who is not so much man as
actual intellect, walks backward, that is to say, he sees
what is behind him or future, as if it were placed in brilliant
light; and seeing every thing on all sides of him with a
perfect sight, and looking all around him, he is found to be
armed, arid protected, and fortified, so that no part of his
soul is ever found naked or in an unseemly plight, on ac
count of any accidents which occur unfortunately.
What is the meaning of the statement, "And Noah
became sober after the wine ? "f
73. The literal meaning is too notorious. Therefore we
need only hen; speak of what concerns the inner sense of
the words. When the intellect is strengthened, it is able
by its soberness to discern with a certain accuracy all
things, both before and behind it, both present, I mean, and
future ; but the man who can see neither what is present
nor what is future with accuracy, is afflicted by blindness ;
but he who sees the present, but who cannot also foresee
the future, and is not at all cautious, such a man is over
come by drunkenness and intoxication ; and he, lastly, who is
found to be able to look all around him, and to see, and
* Genesid ix. 23. f Genesis ix. 24.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 401
discern, and comprehend the different natures of things
both present and future, the watchfulness of sobriety is iu
that man.
Why is it that after the sacred historian has enumerated
Ham in the middle of the offspring of Noah, or has placed
him in the middle between his brethren, he nevertheless
points out that he was the younger, saying, " JS T oah saw
what his younger son had done to him ? " *
74. This is a manifest allegory, because he here takes as
the younger, not him who was so in age and in point of
time, but him who was younger in mind ; since wickedness
is unable to attain to a perception of the learning which is
proper to the elder; but the elder thoughts belong to a will
which is truly growing old, not indeed in body, but in mind.
Why did Noah when praying for Shem speak thus:
Blessed is the Lord God, the God of Shem : and Canaan
shall be his servant ?" f
75. The names Lord and God are here used together on
account of his principal attributes, both of benevolence and
t kingly power by which the world was created ; for as kin"
he created the world according to his beneficence ; but afte?
he had completed it then the world was arranged and set in
order by his attribute of kingly power. Therefore he at
that time rendered the wise man worthy of a common
honour, which the whole world also received, all the parts of
the world being formed in an admirable manner with the
attributes of the Lord and God, doing so by his especial
prerogative, munificently pouring forth the favour and
liberality of his beneficent power.
And it is on this account that the beneficent power of
God is mentioned twice. Once, as has been already stated
being placed in opposition to his kingly power; and a
second time without any such connexion, in order, forsooth
that the wise man having been rendered worthy of his gifts
both such as are common to him with others and such as
are peculiar to himself, he might also be rendered acceptable
both to the world and to God; to the world on account of
Genesis k. 25. t Genos : s . 28
TOL. IV.
402 PIIILO JUD.EUS.
the excellence imparted to him in common with it, and to
God for such as was peculiar to himself.
Why, when Noah prayed for Japhet, did he say, " God
shall enlarge Japhet, and bid him to dwell in the house oi
Shorn : and Canaan shall be their servant ? "
76. Without examining the literal statement, for the
meaning of that is plain, we had better approach the inner
sense contained in it, and examine that, in which the
second and third blessings mentioned are capable of an
enlarged and ample extension. As, for instance, good health,
and a vigorous state of the outward senses, and beauty, and
strength, and opulence, and nobleness of birth, and friends,
and the power of a prince, and numbers of other tilings.
And on this account he said, " God shall enlarge," &c.
Because taken separately, the abundant possession of
such numerous and great blessings has of itself
injurious to many persons who have scarcely dwelt with
justice, or wisdom, or any other virtues, the complete pos
session of which dispenses to man in an admirable manner the
advantages which arc external to and which surround the
body ; but the deprivation or absence of them leaves him
without the enjoyment or use of them ; and man, if deprived
of all good protectors, and of the use of these enjoyments, is
exposed to as much suffering as he is capable of. Therefore
he prays on behalf of the man who has those things which
are around and exterior to the body, that he may dwell m
the house of the wise man ; so that attending to the rules ot
all good men he may see and regulate his own course by
their example.
Why because Ham had sinned did God pronounce that
his son Canaan should be the servant of Ham and Japhet ? t
77. In the first place, God pronounced this sontonc3
because both father and son had displayed the same wicked
ness, being both united together and not separated, and
both indulging in the same disposition.
But in the second place, he did so because the i
would be exceedingly afflicted at the curse thus laid upon
the son, being sufficiently conscious that he was punished
* Genesis ix. 27. + IbilL
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 403
not so much for his own sake as for that of his father. And
so the leader and master of the two suffered the punishment
of his wicked counsels, and words, and actions.
This is the literal meaning of the statement. But if we
look to its inward meaning, then in reality they are no more
two different men than two different dispositions. And
this is made plain by the names given to them, which
manifestly denote the nature of the facts ; for Ham being
interpreted means heat or hot; and Canaan means mer
chants or causes.
Why was it that Noah lived after the deluge three
hundred and fifty years ? *
78. It is now declared that in two periods of seven years
the form of the world was originally created and now
renewed under Noah. But the wise man lives for a period
of fourteen quarters of a century ; and fourteen times
twenty-five is equal to seven times fifty, or fifty times
seven. And it is the principle of the seventh year and also
of the fiftieth, which has an especial order of its own
explained and ordained in Leviticus.
Why among the three sons of Noah does Ham appear
always to occupy the middle place, but the two extremities
are varied ; for when their birth is mentioned, Shem is
placed in the first rank, in this manner, Shem, Ham, and
Japhet; but when they are spoken of as fathers, then
Japhet is mentioned first, and the beginning of the enume
ration of the nation is derived from Japhet himself ? f
79. Those who inquire into the literal nature of the
divine writings think thus of the order in which these men
are mentioned, looking upon him who is the first named,
that is Shem, as the younger ; and upon him who is named
the last, that is Japhet, as the elder. However they may
choose to think of this let them, being guided by the
principle of mere opinion. But -we who look to the real
meaning of these statements think that there is here a
reference to the three things, good, bad, and indifferent;
which last are called secondary goods ; and we must there
fore think that the sacred writer always puts the bad in the
* Genesis ix. 28. t Genesis x. 14.
D D 2
401
middle, so that being confined at cither extremity it may bo
subdued on one side by t>hc one, and on the other side by
the other ; so that, being coniined, it may be kept in and
subdued.
But the good and the indifferent, or secondary good,
change the order with one another; for when there is such
great evil present, and yet not wholly and altogether, the
good rejoices in the first place, having the position of the
dispenser and chief of the whole. But when it is placed in
the position of the will in a state of conspiracy, and injustice
remains not only in the intellect but is also conducted to its
end by unjust works, then that first good is changed from
its original order into another place, together with all the
good habits which depend upon it, rejecting all education
and all arrangement, as being wholly unable to attain its
proposed end, just as a physician does when he sees an in
curable disease.
But the elder good manages that virtue which is around
the body and exterior to it; therefore, by observing the
extremities with greater caution, and closing in the beast
within its toils, it is sufficiently demonstrated that it does
not dare to bite or injure any more. But while it feels that
it has done no injuty, it is transferred into a more secure
and more permanent position, and then, a higher and better
fortified place being assigned to it, it easily retains the lower
position too as one easy to be preserved ; for, in con
sequence of the superior power of its guardian, it is always
practicable to watch it closely, since nothing is more mighty
than virtue.
"Why do the people of Ceos, and of Bhodes, and the isles
of the Gentiles, spring from Japhet?*
80. Since he has the name denoting breadth (namely
Japhet), being expanded in his growth and increase,
that part of the things of the world which have been
assigned by nature for the use of mankind, that is to say,
the earth, can no longer hold him, therefore he passes over
into the other part, that is to say, the sea and the islands
belonging to it.
This is the literal meaning of the statement.
* Genesis xvi. 4.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 405
But if we look to its inner sense, all the external bless
ings which are bestowed by nature, such as riches, and
honour, and principalities, are lavished and poured forth in
every direction on those men into whose hands they come,
and are also extended widely to others who are not so much
within reach ; so that in a greater, or at all events, in no less a
degree do they surround and hem the man in, in accordance
with the greediness of the lovers of riches and glory, since
they are eager for principalities, and are never satisfied be
cause of their insatiable desires.
Why the eldest son of Ham is Chus.*
81. The sacred historian has here produced a word most
completely in accordance with nature, saying that Chus was
the eider son of evil, Chus being the dissolved and loose
nature of the earth, for the earth, when dense and fertile,
and moist, is full of herbs, and hills, and trees, and is well
arranged for the production of different fruits ; but when
dissolved and reduced to dust and dry, it is unfruitful and
barren ; and besides it is tossed about in the air, when it is
raised from the ground by the wind, by its dust making
the air all alive.
Such as this is the first origin and the first shoots of evil
being destitute of the generation of good pursuits, and the
cause of barrenness to the soul and to all its parts.
Why was Chus the father of Nimrod, who began to be a
giant and a hunter before the Lord : on which account they
said, " Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord ? "f
The father in this case, having a nature truly dissolute
does not at all keep fast the spiritual bond of the soul, nor
of nature, nor of consistency of manners, but rather like a
giant born of the earth, prefers earthly to heavenly things
and thus appears to verity the ancient fable of the giants
and Titans ; for in truth he who is an emulator of earthly
and corruptible things is always engaged in a conflict with
heavenly and admirable natures, raising up earth as a bul
wark against heaven ; and those things which are below are
adverse to those which are above.
On which account there is much propriety in the expres
sion, he was a giant against God, which thus declares the
* Genesis x. 6. t Genesis x. 8.
406 PHILO JUD.EUS.
opposition of such beings to the deity ; for a wicked man is
nothing else than an enemy, contending against God : on
which account it has become a proverb that every one who
sins greatly ought to be referred to him as the original and
chief of sinners, being spoken of " as a second Nimrod."
Therefore his very name is an indication of his character, for
it is interpreted ^Ethiopian, and his art is that of hunting,
both of which things are detestable : an ^Ethiopian because
unmitigated wickedness has no participation in light, but
imitates night and darkness : and the practice of the hunts
man is as much as possible at variance with rational nature,
for he who lives among wild beasts wishes to live the life of
a beast, and to be equal to the brutes in the vices of wicked
ness.
QUESTIONS, AND SOLUTIONS TO THOSE QUESTIONS,
WHICH ARISE IN GENESIS.
LOOK III.
WHAT is the meaning of the expression, " I am the Lord
thy God who brought thee out of the land of the Chaldeans
to give thce this land for an inheritance ? " *
1. As the literal statement is plain enough, we need onlv
consider the inner meaning, which was meant to be inter
preted in this manner.
The law of the Chaldeans taken symbolically is mathema
tical speculation, one part of which is recognised to be
astronomy, which the Chaldseans study with great industry
and with great success. Therefore God is here honouring
the wise man with a gift ; in the first place, by taking men
out of the sect of the astrologers, that is to say, away from
the hallucinations of the Chahhrans, which, as they are diffi
cult to detect and refute, are found to be the cause of great
evils and wickedness, since they ascribe the attributes of the
Creator to created things, and persuade men to worship and
to venerate the works of the world as God.
In the second place, God honours him by granting to him
the wisdom which bears fruit, which he has here symboli-
* Genesis xv. 7.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 407
cally called the earth ; but the Father of the universe shows
that wisdom and virtue are invariable and immutable, since
it is not consistent with his character that God should show
to any one that which can undergo any variation or change,
for that which is shown by the being who is immutable and
consistent must be so too ; but that which is liable to
change, as being incessantly in the habit of suffering varia
tion, admits of no proper or divine demonstration.
Why does he say, " Lord, by what shall I know that I
shall inherit it ?"*
2. He here is seeking a sign for a ratification of the
promise ; but two things only are described deserving of
study ; one that which is an aifection of the mind, namely,
the belief in God according to his literal word ; the other
a being borne on with the most exceeding desire not to be
left in want of some signs, by which the hearer may feel, to
the conviction of his outer senses, a confirmation of the
promise : and to him who has given the promise he offers
worthy veneration by the appellation, " Lord."
For by this title he says, I know thee to be the Lord and
prince of all things, who art also able to do all things, and
there is no disability with thee. But in truth, if I have
already given credence to thy promise, still I nevertheless
wish to obtain speedily if not a completion of it, yet at all
events some evident signs by which its consummation may
be indicated ; in truth I am thy creature, and even if I were
to arrive at the highest degree of excellence, I am not
always able to restrain the violence of my desire, so as not,
when I have seen or heard anything good, to be contented
with obtaining it slowly and not immediately ; therefore I
entreat that thou wilt give me some means of knowledge,
by which I may comprehend those future events.
Why is it that he says, " Take for me a heifer of three years
old, and a goat of three years old, and a raven of three years
old, and a turtle dove and a pigeon ? " f
3. He here mentions five animals, which are offered on the
sacred altar ; for these are divided into classes of victims,
* Genesis xv. 8. t Genesis xv. 9.
408 PHILO JCTD.EUS.
three kinds of terrestrial animals, the ox, the goat, and the
sheep; and two kinds of birds, the turtle dove and tho
pigeon; for the sacred writer constantly tells us that the
everlasting reverence of victims derived its origin from tho
patriarch, who was also the origin of the race : but instead
of the expression, " Bring to me," he has very admirably used
the words, "Take for me; " since there is nothing especi
ally and peculiarly belonging to the creature, but everything
is the gift of and blessing bestowed by God, who is alto^e-
ther willing that when any one has received anything he
should offer thanks for it witli all his heart.
But he orders him to take every animal at the age of
three years ; since three is a full and perfect number, con
sisting _of a beginning, a middle, and an end; but still wo
may raise the question, why of these three animals, he takes
two females, the heifer, and the she-goat, and one male, the
ram ; may it not be perhaps because the heifer and the she-
goat are offered as an atonement for sin ; but the sheep is
not, as sin arises from frailty, and the female is frail ?
^ This much I have thought fit to say with especial appo-
sitenc^j to this question ; but I am not however ignorant
that all things of this kind o(f~r a handle to those who wish
to cavil, to disparage the sacred scriptures; therefore in this
instance they say that there is nothing here described and
indicated but a command to sacrifice, by the division of tho
animals and an examination of their entrails ; and what is
visible in them they affirm to be an indication of what is
convenient, and of the similitude which arises from tilings
visible.
But those men, as it appears to me, are of that class
which forms a part alone from a judgment of the whole, but
which on the contrary does not from a judgment of a part
form the whole, which last is the better wav of coming to an
opinion, as being that by which both the name and the fact
are altogether established.
Therefore the giving of the law, that is to say the sacred
scriptures, that 1 may so express myself, is a sort of living
unity, the whole of which one ought to examine carefully
with all one s eyes, and so discern with truth, and certainty,
and clearness, the universal intention of the whole of the
scripture without dissecting or lacerating its harmony,
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 409
or disuniting its unity; by any other mode everything
would appear utterly inconsistent and absurd, being disso
ciated from all community or equity.
What then is the intention of the delivery of the law as
exhibited to us? It is scientific, and so is everything
which describes scientific species ; since the offering of
sacrifice and all science admits of a consistent usage, and of
expressions well adapted to them, and of various opinions,
by which not only the footsteps of truth are occupied, but
sometimes are even darkened, as affection is by flattery ; but
in such way that the very things which are genuine and
established by experiment are perverted by things which
are both inconsistent and unproved.
And the natures of the animals above mentioned have an
intimate connection with the parts of the universe ; the ox
is connected with the earth, as being an animal employed in
drawing the plough and in tilling the earth ; the goat again
is connected with the water (it is called in Greek and Arme
nian a/g, or ajx), being an animal deriving its name from
driving and rushing on (from &yu or aieeu) ; since water
is an impetuous thing, and the course of rivers, and the
extent of the breadth of the sea, and the sea itself agitated
as it is by its ebb and flow, are witnesses of the propriety of
the name and of the closeness of the connection.
And the ram (aries) is connected with the air, as being a
very violent and vivacious animal, on which account too the
ram is more useful to mankind than any other animal as
affording them raiment.
Therefore, on account of these reasons, as I think, God
orders him first to take these two female animals, the cow
and the she-goat ; since both these elements, earth and water,
are material, and for the most part feminine. But the third he
will have a male, namely the ram ; becaues the air or wind
has been explained as masculine ; since the natures of all
things are divided into bodies or into earth and water, and
female animals exist by nature. But that which exhibits a
similitude to the soul is arranged under the head of air and
the breath of life. And this, as I have said, is masculine.
If therefore we are to call that masculine which is the moving
and active cause we must call that feminine which is moved
and passive.
410 PHILO JUD/EUS.
But the whole heaven is found to be familiarly connected
with flying birds such as the pigeon and turtle dove, being
distributed as it is into the rotatory path of the planets and
fixed stars.
Therefore he dedicates the pigeon to the planets, for that
is a tame and domestic animal, as also the planets are more
familiarly connected with us as being nearer to the earth,
and as having sympathies with us; but he consecrates th
turtle dove to the fixed stars, for that animal is a lover of
solitude, and flees from the conversation of the multitude 1 ,
and from all connection of every kind. And so also the
globe itself is remote, and a thing which wanders into the
furthest extremities of the world.
Therefore both the species of these two birds are assimi
lated to the divine attributes, since as Plato, the disciple of
Socrates, says it is fitting that the heaven should have a swift
chariot by reason of its very swift rotatory motion, which in
fact surpasses even the birds themselves in the velocity of
their course. But the birds above mentioned are singers ;
the prophet indicating by an enigmatical expression that
perfect music which exists in heaven harmoniously adapted
from the motion of the stars, since it is a proof of human
art when the corresponding music of the voices of animals
and of living instruments is adapted together by the industrv
of genius. But this heavenly music has been abundantly
extended over the earth by the Creator, as he has also
extended the rays of the sun, being always prompt to exer
cise his beneficent care for the human race.
For such music excites frenzy in the ears, and brings un
restrained pleasure to the mind ; and so causes men to
forget even their meat and drink, and even when hunger
brings death to the door to be willing even to die out of a
desire to hear music.
And if the song of the Sirens, * as Homer tells us, invites
the heavens so forcibly, that they forget while listening to
* He alludes here to the description in Homer :
SeipijvaQ /J,tv irpuTov cuf>ieai, ai pa re Trdi Tcrg
"OffTtg aicptig TrfXaiy KCII fyQoyyov ciKovay
tLtir>i)V(t)v, ry S ovri fvvfj, nai vrjiria r tKva
OlicaCt vo<rri)(Tavri Trapicrrarai, ovci yavvvrai
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 411
it, their country, their houses, their friends, and necessary
food ; how much more must that most perfect and consum
mate music, so truly heavenly and endowed with the highest
degree of harmony, when it touches the organs of the ear,
compel men to go mad and to yield to rapture.
AXXa re 2pr> Xiyup? GiXyovaiv doiSg,
Hfiivai iv Xujuuivr TTO\VQ d apty bartbtyiv 9i<,
AvSouiV TTvQoLlkvWV, TTtpl Sk OlVOl [JlLVvOoVfflV.
Od. xii. 39-47.
As translated by Pope :
" Next, where the Sirens dwell, you plough the seas ;
Their song is death, and makes destruction please.
Unblest the man, whom music wins to stay
Nigh the curst shore, and listen to the lay ;
No more that wretch shall view the joys of life,
His blooming offspring, or his beauteous wife !
In verdant meads they sport, and wide around
Lie human bones that whiten all the ground ;
The ground polluted floats with human gore, ^
And human carnage taints the dreadful shore."
And further on in the same book, the poet describes the effect of these
songs upon Ulysses.
Aiyvpijv S" 1 tvTvvov aoilrjv
Afi)p ay* td>i>, TroXvaiv OSvaev, /ifyu KvSoQ
N>ja KaTaaTr]ffov iva vtuirepjjv OTT aKOvay
Ov yap rig ryfe iraprjKaat vrjl ntXaiv
Hpiv y r lfieiuv ntXiyijpvv diro trro/iartuj/ U^
AXX oye rtpvpa/ifvo^ vtirai, ical TrXfiova tidwc.
"iSfitv yap TOI 7rdv0 oa ivi Tpoi y tvptiy
Apyaoi Tpwsc ", 0ewv lorTjn fioyrjffav
"Idpiv 9 oaffa yiviirai itri \Qovi TrovXvfioTtipi]. ^
c Qdaav, itiffcti oira Ka\Xi/iov, avrdp ipbv Krjp
X ctKOviptvai, Xvaai T iittXtvov kraipovq,
vai vtvarafov ol Sk TTpoirtaovrtQ tptaaov.
Od. xii. 183194
As translated by Pope :
" stay, pride of Greece ! Ulysses, stay !
cease thy course and listen our to lay !
Blest is the man ordained our voice to hear,
The song instructs the soul, and charms the ear.
Approach ! thy soul shall into raptures rise !
Approach ! and learn new wisdom from the wise !
We know whate er the kings of mighty name
Achieved at Ilion in the field of Fame ;
Whate er beneath the sun s bright journey lies.
stay and learn new wisdom from the wise !
412 PIIILO JUD^EUS.
But the reason on account of which every one of the
animals to be offered is to be three years of age has already
been explained ; and we must now discuss it under another
form of mystery, since it has been seen that every one of those
things which were called into existence and subsequently to
the moon, such as the earth, water, and air, rejoice in an order
connected with the number three.
In the divisions of earth there is a vast quantity of drv
continent, islands and peninsulas. Water is divided into .sea,,
rivers, and lakes ; and the air into the two equinoxes, the
vernal and the autumnal ; and they may be taken as one, for
they have an equal proportion of day and night, and accord
ingly the equinoxes are neither hot nor cold. Add to these the
changes of summer and winter, for the sun is borne through
those three circles into the seasons of summer, winter, and
the equinoxes. Therefore, in the first place, the natural
arrangement will be of this kind ; and the moral arrange
ment is properly thus.
In every one of us there are three things flesh, the outward
sense, and reason ; therefore the calf exhibits a familiarity with
the corporeal substance, since our flesh is subdued by, and kept
in subservience to, and in connection with the ministrations
of life ; also their nature is female according to matter, being
calculated rather to be passive and to be subject rather than
to be active.
But the similitude of the she-goat isconnected with the com
munion of the outward senses, either because all the objects
of those outward senses are each borne towards their ap
propriate sensation, or because each impulse 1 and motion of
the soul takes place in consequence of an imagination
formed of the objects received through the medium of the
external senses. And this is followed, in the first place, bv a
certain inflexion or alienation, which by some is called *an
occasion, that is to say, an impulse affecting each kind of
sense. But since the female is the outward sense, as being
passive in consequence of what is subjected to the outward
senses, therefore God has adapted to it a female animal, tho
she -goat.
But the ram is akin to Ihe word, or to reason. In the
first place, because it is a male animal; secondly, because it
is a working animal ; and thirdly, because it is the cause of
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 413
the world, and of the firmament ; that is to say, the ram is
so by means of the clothing which it supplies ; and reason,
or the word, is so in the arrangement of life ; for whatever
is not irregular and absurd immediately exhibits reason.
And there are two species of reason ; the one derived from
that nature by which the affairs of the world subjected to
the outward senses are finished ; the other from that of those
things which are called incorporeal species, by which the
affairs of that world which is the object of the intellect are
brought to their accomplishment. Therefore the pigeon
and the turtle dove are found to resemble these.
The pigeon, forsooth, resembles speculation in natural phi
losophy ; for it is a more familiar bird, as the objects of the
outward sense are exceedingly familiar to the sight: and the
soul of the inquirer into natural science flies upward as if it
were furnished with wings ; and being borne aloft is carried
round the heaven, discerning every part of every thing, and the
principles of every separate thing; for the turtle dove imitates
that species which is the subject of intellect and incorporeal ;
for as that animal is fond of solitude, so it is superior to the
violent species which come under the outward sense, associat
ing itself as it does with the invisible species by its essence.
Why does he say, " And he took unto him all these
things?"*
4. He has added also that expression, " And he took unto
him," with especial propriety ; for it is the sign cf a soul
thoroughly imbued with the love of God to ascribe whatever
good and noble theories and feelings it receives, not unto
itself, but wholly to God who is the giver of all benefits.
"What is the meaning of, " He divided them in the middle
and laid the pieces opposite to one another ? " t
5. Also the whole structure of the body, as of flesh, is to
be looked at in such a light as this according to its whole
creation ; for the parts are brothers ; not as they are divided
and placed opposite to one another; but, being naturally
inclined to one another, and having a mutual regard to cne
another, on account of their natural co-operation ; the
original Creator who gave them life making this division for
Genesis xv. 10. t Ibid -
414 PHILO JUD^US.
the sake of usefulness, so that one part should he opposed to
the other part, and again that both should reciprocally seek
one another in all necessary ministrations.
In this way he has directly separated the sense of sight,
distributing it equally to two eyes by placing the nose
between them and thus turning each eye to the other ; for the
pupils, if I may so say, lean both in one direction so as
mutually to behold the same thing, scarcely ever straying
beyond the position in which they are placed, but only
looking towards one another, especially when anything
comes across their sight.
And in similar manner the faculty of hearing is distributed
between the two ears, which are both reciprocally turned to
one another, both tending to one and the same operation.
And the sense of smell is divided between the two nostrils,
beingturned towards thetwo tubesof thenostrils,whicharenot
revolving around or inclined towards the cheeks, so as being
drawn in two different directions to look the one towards the
right and the other towards the left, but being both collected
together and turned inwards they await all smells with a
common action.
So also the hands are not made of an appearance contrary to
that of one another, but being like brothers and like divisible
parts, looking to one another mutually, and being prepared by
nature for an operation and employment suitable to them,
they thus act in the operations of receiving, giving, and
working. And the feet are not constituted differently from
the hands ; as each of them behaves in such a manner that
they both yield the one to the other, and progress is ell rctcd
by the motion of both together, so that nothing can be
accomplished by one alone. Nor is it only the feet and
shins, but also the legs and knee-pans, and hips, and the
breasts, and in fact everv part on the right or left of the
body, being divided in a similar manner, indicate one gene
ral harmony and correspondence and union as it were of
connatural parts ; that is to say, of all of those diHerent
members enumerated according to their separate species.
And generally, whoever considers together and in an equal
manner all the above mentioned parts thus subdivided, in
reference to their joint operation, will find one nature com
bined of the two parts. As the hands, united and connected
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 415
together with the fingers, are seen when in union with them to
exhibit a harmony; and the feet, when re-united in operation,
are seen to tend to union; and the ears, when similarly combined
in the figure of an amphitheatre, are seen to unite themselves,
in effect extending across the space which separates them.
Therefore our nB-ture, continually making in this manner a
division of those parts which exist in us according to each
separate species, has first of all separated and arranged the
different sections, placing them as it were opposite to one ano
ther in the same way in which it has arranged the world ;
and it has also arranged them with reference to the easy dis
charge of their several duties. And again it has combined each
of these members according to each species into one action,
and into the same operation, collecting together all of them
when considered generally.
Nor is it only the parts of the body which any one may
see thus united and in pairs, separated in their union, and
again united in their division, but the parts of the soul are
so too. But since the two superior sections of this are so
many separate classes, namely the rational and the irrational,
so also the separate parts of each section have their own
appropriate division ; as for instance, the rational part is
divided into the intention and into the uttered word ; and
that part which exists in accordance with the outward
senses is divided into the four senses ; for the fifth sense,
touch, is common to the other four, two of which, those with
which we see and hear, are philosophical senses, so that it is by
means of them that the power of living well is acquired for
us ; the others are non-philosophical, namely smell and taste,
but are servile, being created only for living ; for the sense
of smell, by means of its exercise, contains many things
which awaken it, and receives a continual breathing which
is as it were the continual food of living creatures ; there
fore smell and taste support this mortal body, but sight and
hearing afford service to the immortal soul.
Therefore these divisions of our members, according to our
body and soul, were made and separated by the Creator ;
however, we must know that the parts of the world also are
arranged in two divisions and are placed opposite to one
another; the earth being divided into mountainous and
champaign districts ; the water into sweet and salt, sweet
416 PHILO JUD^EUS.
being that which is supplied by springs and rivers, and salt
being that which comes from the sea; as also the atmo
sphere is divided into summer and winter, and also into
spring and autumn.
And it is on this account that Horaclitus wrote his books
about nature, having borrowed his theory of contraries from
our sacred historian, with the addition of an infinite number
of laborious arguments.
Why is it said, " But he did not divide the birds ? : *
G. He is shadowing forth a fifth and periodical nature,
from which the ancients say that the heaven was made ; for
the four elements are mixtures rather than elements : by
which he subdivides those things which are already divided
into those materials of which they were originally composed,
as the earth includes within itself a portion of the elements
of water, and also of air, and also of fire, which however
obtains the appellation not so much in accordance with our
apprehension of it, as with our sight ; and again the water
is not so clear or pure, as not to have some participation in
wind and earth ; and so also in each of the other elements
there is a certain tempering and combination ; but the fifth
substance is the only one which has been made unmixed
and pure, on which account it was not accustomed to be
mentioned at all.
Therefore it is well said, he did not divide the birds ;
since the heavenly nature, both of the planets and also of
the fixed stars, is raised on high like that of birds, in the
similitude of both kinds, that is to say, of clean birds, the
turtle dove and the pigeon, which scarcely admit of being
divided or cut up ; for the indivisible nature is of a fifth
essence, more unmixed and pure than the others, and there-
lore it more closely resembles unity.
What is the meaning of, " And the birds descended on the
bodies which were divided ?"
7. Since the three animals, the heifer, and the she-goat,
and the ram, were divided in a symbolical manner, they are
signs, as we have already said, of the earth, and water, and
air ; still it is necessary to give now a reason for this, ex-
* Genesis xv. 10. "f Genesis xv, 11.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 417
amining the truth carefully under the mystery of a simili
tude.
Perhaps therefore he designs and intimates by the de
scent of the birds on the cut pieces an invasion of ene
mies ; for all the nature of the world beneath the moon is
full of battles and ill will, both domestic and external ; and
the birds in truth appear to fly down on the divided bodies
for the sake of meat and drink ; naturally indeed it is the
stronger which descend upon the weaker animals, as upon
dead bodies, attacking them in general unexpectedly, but
they do not fly down on the turtle dove and pigeon, since
the heavenly bodies are free from desires and unconscious
of suffering wrong.
Why is it that he says, " Abraham passed over and sat
upon them?"*
8. Those who think that sacrifice is indicated by the
matters about which we are at present speaking will say
that the virtuous man, sitting as it were in a synagogue, has
examined into the entrails of the divided animals, as if that
were looked upon as an unerring symbol for the declaration
of the truth ; but we, who adhere to Moses and who are
thoroughly acquainted with the views of that teacher, one
who, turning away his face from every sophistical appearance
and prognostic, trusted in God alone, will rather say, that
he has here introduced the just man who is endued with
virtue with the birds themselves, who were congregated
together and flying about over him, intending to denote
nothing else by this parabolical presentation, but that he is
desirous of hindering injustice and covetousness, and is
most hostile to quarrels and wars, and a lover of consistency
and peace ; for he .himself is truly a guardian of peace.
Since no one state has ever rested in tranquillity owing to
the conduct of the wicked, but kingdoms have become fixed
steadily when one or two men endued with virtue have
arisen, whose virtue has put an end to civil disturbances,
God granting to those who are earnest in the pursuit of
virtue good habits calculated to procure them honour ;
and not to them only, but to those also who approach near
to the production of general advantage.
* Genesis xv. 11.
TOL. IT. E E
PIIILO
What is the meaning of the words, "About the time of
the setting of the sun a trance fell upon Abraham ; and lo,
a great horror of darkness came over him ? "
9 A certain divine excess was suddenly rendered calm to
the man endued with virtue ; for the trance, or ecstacy as
the word itself evidently points out, is nothing else than a
departure of the mind wandering beyond itself
But the class of prophets loves to be subject to such
influences ; for when it is divining, and when the intellect is
inspired with divine things, it no longer exi
since it receives the divine spirit within and permits it to
dwell with itself; or rather, as he himself has expressed it, a
spirit falls upon him ; since it does not come slowly over
him, but rushes down upon him suddenly.
Moreover, that which he has added afterwards applies
admirably, that a great horror of darkness fell upon him.
For all these things are ecstacies of the mind ; for he also
who is in a state of alarm is not in himself; but darkness is
a hindrance to his sight; and in proportion as the horror is
greater, so also do his powers of seeing and understand
became more obscured. .
And this is not said without reason : but as an indication
of the evident knowledge of prophecy by which oracl(
laws are given from God.
Why was it said to him, Thou shalt know to a certainty
that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs,
and shall be reduced to slavery, and shall be grievously
afflicted for forty years ?" J
10 That expression is admirably used," It was said to
him." since a prophet is supposed to utter something but
vet he is not pronouncing any command of his own, but
only the interpreter of another who sends something into
his mind ; and moreover whatever he does utter and deliver
in words is all true and divine. And in the first place he
dec-lares that a family of the human race is to dwell in a Ian.
belonging to another; for all things which are beneath the
rlorived from iZiarauai, in 2nd aor. act. iXciTr\v, " I was
t tKaraaiQ, derive
be.side myself."
X (jencsis xv. 13.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 419
Heaven are the possession of Grod, and those living creatures
which exist on the earth may more properly and truly be said
to be sojourners in a foreign land than to be dwelling in a
country of their own which by nature they have not got.
In the second place, he thus declares to us that every
mortal is a slave after his kind. But no man is found to be
free, but every one has many masters who vex and afflict him
both within and without ; for instance, without there are
the winter which affects him with the cold, the summer which
scorches him with heat, and hunger, and thirst, and many
other calamities ; and within there are pleasures and con
cupiscences, and sorrows, and fears. But his servitude is
limited to a period of four hundred years, during which the
aforesaid pleasures shall rise up against him. On which
account it has been said above, that Abraham passed over
and sat upon them, hindering and repelling them ; as far as
the literal words go, repelling those carnivorous birds which
were hovering over the divided animals, but in fact repelling
the afflictions which come upon men. Since a man who is
in his own proper nature a lover of, and also by diligent
practice a studier of virtue, is a most humane physician of
our race, and a true protector of it, and guardian of it from
evil. For all these things have an allegorical reference to
the soul.
For while the soul of the wise man, descending from above
from the sky, comes down upon and enters a mortal and is
sown in the field of the body, it is truly sojourning in a land
which is not his own. Since the earthly nature of the body
is wholly alien from pure intellect, and tends to subdue it
and to drag it downwards into slavery, bringing every kind
of affliction upon it, until the sorrow, bringing the attractive
multitude of vices to judgment, condemns them ; and thus
at last the soul is restored to freedom. And it is on this
account that he subsequently adds the sentence, " Neverthe
less the nation which they shall send I will judge : and after
wards they shall go forth with great substance ;" namely, with
the same measure, and still better. Because then the mind is
released from its mischievous colleague, departing out of the
body and being transferred not only with freedom but
also with much substance ; so as to leave nothing good or
useful behind to its enemies.
E E 2
4v>0 PHILO JUD^US.
Since every rational soul is productive, but he who thinks
himself loaded and endued with virtue in his own counsel,
is unable to preserve his fruit unto the end. For it becomes
a virtuous man to attain to the objects which he has intended
of his own accord, as also the counsels of wisdom correspond
to those objects. Since, as some trees, although they appear
productive at the first season of the budding of their i ruits,
are yet unable to bring them to maturity, so that the whole
fruit before it becomes ripe is shaken oil by every trifling
cause ; in the same manner the souls of inconstant men feel
many influences which contribute to their productiveness,
but nevertheless are uuable to keep them sound till they
arrive at perfection, as a man studious of virtue ought to do
in order eventually to gather them as his own possessions.
What is the meaning of, " But thou shalt go to thy fathers
in peace, being nourished in a fair old age ? "
11. Ife here clearly indicates the incorruptibility of the
soul: when it transfers itself out of the abode of the mortal
body and returns as it were to the metropolis of its native
country, from which it originally emigrated into the body.
Since to say to a dead man/ Thou shalt go to thy fathers,"
what else is this but to propose to him and set before him a
second existence apart from the body as far as it is proper
for the soul of the wise man to dwell by itself?
But when he says this he does not mean by the fathers of
Abraham his father, and his grandfather, and his great-grand
fathers after the flesh, for they were not all deserving of
praise so as to be by any possibility any honour to him
who arrived at the succession of the same order, but he
appears by this expression to be assigning to him for his
fathers, according to the opinion of many commentators, all
the elements into which the mortal man when deceased is
resolved.
But to me he appears to intend to indicate the incorporeal
substances and inhabiters of the divine world, whom in other
passages he is accustomed to call angels. Moreover the
words which follow are not by any means without an object,
that he is nourished in peace and in a fair old age. For the
wicked and depraved man is nourished in battle, and lives
* Genesis xv. 15.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 421
and departs in a very bad old age. But the good man, in
both phases of existence, both in that which is in connection
with the body and in that which is apart from the body,
cultivates peace, and is alone completely virtuous, such as
no foolish person is found to be, even though he should live
longer than an elephant ; on which account he here carefully
said, " Thou shalt go to thy fathers, being nourished not in
an advanced old age, but in a fair old age." For many
foolish persons also have their lives extended to a greatly
lengthened period, but it is only the man who is desirous of
virtue who enjoys a good old age and one endued with virtue.
Why is it that he says, " And in the fourth generation
they shall return again hither?"*
12. The number four is more fit than any other number,
for this reason, that as it is more perfect, and is the root and
foundation of the perfect number ten ; and it is according
to the principle of the number four that all collected are to
return hither, as he himself has said. But as he by himself
is perfect, so also those of whom he is the father are
evidently perfect.
But what is it that I am saying ? In the generation of
animals the sowing of the seed has the first place ; in the
second place, comes the fact of each instrument being, in
some manner, impressed by something akin to nature;
thirdly, there is the growth after the first formation of the
creature ; fourthly, after everything else comes the perfec
tion, that is to say, the birth. And the same principle and
order prevail in plants ; the seed is cast into the earth,
then it pushes its way both upwards and downwards, partly
in roots and partly in branches ; after that it increases ; and
fourthly, it produces fruit ; and in the same manner again
the trees, when made, first of all produce fruit, which sub
sequently grows ; then, as it becomes ripe, it changes colour ;
and, fourthly, and this is the last operation, it completes and
perfects its work, the consequence of which is the use and
enjoyment of it by men.
"What is the meaning of, " For the sins of the Amorites
were not as yet completed ?"f
Genesis xv. 16 f Ibid.
422 PHILO JUD^EUS.
13. Some persona have said, that by this expression of
the principle of Moses fate is expressly introduced, as if, in
truth, everything was to be accomplished according to some
particular hour and appointed period of time.
What is the meaning of, " And when the sun was in the
west a name arose ?"*
14. It means either that the sun himself appeared in the
west in the similitude of a flame, or that some other flame
appeared at eventide, not lightning, but some fire like it,
which descended from above. The manifest interpretation
of the oracle is this ; but we must now discuss that which
regards the inner sense.
What is the meaning of the expression, " Behold there
was a smoking furnace and torches of fires, which passed
through the middle of those divisions ?"f
15. The literal meaning of the statement is plain, for the
fountain or root of the divine word will have the victims
consumed, not by that fire which is given for our use, but
by that which descends from above, out of heaven, in order
that the purity of the essence of heaven may boar witness to
the sanctity of the victims.
But if we regard the inward meaning of the words, all
things which are done beneath the moon are here com
pared to a smoking furnace, on account of the vapour which
rises up out of the earth and water. As also the divisions
of nature are, as has been already shown, every portion of
the world being divided into two parts ; and by these there
are kindled, as it were, torches of fire, being powers which
are more rapid in motion and more efficacious, being burn
ing, in truth, like divine fiery discourses, at onetime keeping
the whole universe in a state of integrity reciprocally with
themselves, and at another cleansing away the superfluous
darkness.
But the following interpretation may also be given with
propriety in a more familiar manner. Human life is like
unto a smoking furnace, because it has not a pure fire and
an unalloyed brilliancy, but a great deal of smoke, smoking
darkly through the flame, which causes mist and darkness,
* Genesis xv. 17. t Genesis xv. 18.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 423
and an obscuration, not of the body but of the soul, so that
this last cannot discern things clearly, until God the re
deemer commands the heavenly lamps to arise, I mean those
more pure and more holy radiations which unite those parts
previously divided in two, on the right hand and on the left,
and, at the same time, illuminate them, being the causes of
harmony and of lucid clearness.
Why did he say, " On that day, God made a covenant with
Abraham, saying, To thy seed will I give this land, from
the river of Egypt to the great river Euphrates ?"<
16. The literal expression describes the boundaries of the
space which lies in the middle, between the two rivers
Egyptus and Euphrates, for anciently the river was also
called by the same name as the district, Egypt, as the poet
also testifies when he says
" And in the river Egypt did I fix
My double-oared ships." t
But if we look to the inner meaning of the expression, it
intimates happiness, which is the perfect fulness of three
good things, namely, of spiritual, and corporeal, and ex
ternal blessings, as some of those men describe it in their
panegyrics, who were afterwards called philosophers, such
as Aristotle and the Peripatetics ; nevertheless, such a giving
of the law as this is called Pythagorean.
Therefore the Egypt is a symbol of corporeal and external
blessings, and the Euphrates of spiritual advantages, in
which alone, it is plain, their real joy consists, which has
wisdom and all the other virtues for its foundation ; and the
boundaries of this happiness are very rightly described as
beginning with the Egyptus and ending with the Euphrates ;
for the things affecting the soul come at the end, which we
usually approach with difficulty after we have passed through
corporeal and external things, in such a manner that, by
this progress, we have felt our unity, the integrity of our
outward senses, and the beauty and strength which existed
in our youth, advance, increase, and come to maturity. And
* Genesis, xv. 19.
i The line is in Odyssey xiv. 258.
Sri/era <$* tv A/yt-Trry irorapp vict an<pii\i<roac.
424 PHILO JUD^EUS.
in a similar manner, those things which relate to acquiring
gain and to trafficking, as the management of ships, and
agriculture, and commerce ; for it is well said, that all
things, especially these above-mentioned, become a young
man.
Who are the Kenites, the Kenezitcs, and the Kadmon-
ites, and the Ilittites, and the Perizzites, and the Kephaims,
and the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Grirgashites, and the
Jebusites ?*
17. Ten nations of wickedness are here enumerated, which
he here destroys because of their neighbourhood, since the
number ten, when false and improperly stamped, is very
near to that which is good and an object of affection; but
the complete perfection of the number ten is exceedingly
fit, as being the measure of infinite numbers, since the world
is arranged in accordance with it, and so likewise is the
mind of the wise man, the substance of which, nevertheless,
wickedness perverts and overthrows, despising all very
necessary powers, so that that alone remains which the
sacred w r riter has said, namely, that the pursuit of virtue is
a blessing, for the wicked man is such that he embraces
vague opinions rather than truth, and of such is Ishmael,
though the seed of the prophets.
Why it was that Sarah, the wife of Abraham, bore him
no children ?f
18. The mother of opinion is here spoken of as barren.
In the first place in order that the son of generation mi^ht
appear more wonderful, as being born by a miracle. In the
second place in order that his conception and nativity might
appear to be owing not more to the marriage of the man
than to divine providence. For it is not owing to 1 he
faculty of conception that a barren woman should bear a
son, but rather to the operation of divine power. This is
the literal meaning of the statement.
But if we look to its inward sense, then we shall sav, in
the first place, that to bring forth is peculiar to the feiuale
sex, as to begot is the office of the male: therefore God
wills in the first place to render the mind, which is iiljed
* Genesis xv. 20. f Genesis xvi. 1.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 425
with virtue, like to the male sex rather than to the female,
thinking it suited to its character to be active, not passive.
In the second place both do generate, both the virtuous
mind and the wicked one : but they generate in a different
manner, and they produce contrary offspring, the virtuous
mind producing good and useful things, but the depraved or
wicked mind producing base and useless things.
In the third place he who is still advancing and making
progress is to be incited to the summit itself, and is near to
the light which by some persons is said to be delivered to
oblivion, and to be made unknown. He therefore, as he is
making progress, does not generate bad things, nor yet
good things, because he is not yet perfect ; but he resembles
that man who is neither sick nor yet thoroughly well, but
who, after a long sickness, is at last proceeding to con
valescence.
What is the meaning of the statement, she had an
Egyptian handmaid whose name was Hagar ?*
19. Hagar is interpreted travelling, and she is the servant
of a more perfect nature, being by nature an Egyptian less
naturally; for the study of encyclical learning loves an
abundance of knowledge, and abundant knowledge is, as it
were, the handmaid of virtue, since the whole course and
connection of sciences and arts is subservient to his use
who is able to profit by their acquisition so as to attain to
virtue, for virtue has the soul for its abode ; but the course
of arts and sciences stands in need of bodily instruments.
But the body is symbolically Egypt ; therefore the
sacred writer here properly asserts the likeness of encyclical
knowledge to Egypt. Nevertheless he has also given it a
name by reason of its travelling abroad, since sophistry is a
foreign thing, unconnected with the acquisition of that
wisdom which alone is native, and which alone is necessary,
which is the mistress of intermediate wisdom, and which
conducts itself in a beautiful course through the guidance
of encyclical studies.
Why did Sarah say to Abraham, Behold the Lord has
* Genesis xvi. 1 ,
4^0 F11ILO JUD^US.
shut me up so that I shall not bring forth : go in now unto
liiy handmaid so as to beget a son by her?*
20. In the actual letter of this statement it is the same
tiling to feel no envy, and also to provide for the welfare of
the wise man who is her husband and her genuine brother ;
so that she, wishing to find a remedy for her own barrenness
by means of her handmaid of whom she was mistress, gives
her as a concubine to her husband. But there is a still
greater abundance of her affection towards her husband
indicated by this ; for as she herself was accounted barren,
she did not think it reasonable that the family of her
husband should be left entirely without offspring, but
preferred his advantage to her own dignity. This is what
is indicated by this statement taken literally.
But if we look to the inner sense of the passage it bears
such an interpretation as this : it becomes those persons
who are unable in respect of their virtue to bring forth
beautiful works deserving of praise, to apply themselves to
the intermediate kind of study, and, if I may so express
myself, to procure themselves children from the encyclical
branches of knowledge ; for an abundance of knowledge
is as it were the whetstone of the mind and of the in
tellect.
And it is with great propriety that she says, The Lord
has shut me up ; for that which is shut up is general ly
opened again at a seasonable time. Therefore she was not
destitute of hope, nor was her wisdom fixed in the belief
that she should be for ever without offspring, but she knew
that some day or other she should bring forth. Neverthe
less she will not bring forth at present, but when the soul
displays the purity of its perfection. But inasmuch as it is
at present imperfect it is satisfied with using a milder kind
of learning, such as is attainable by encyclical studies. On
which account it is not without a purpose that in the sacred
contests at Olympia also, those who are unable to attain to
the first prize of victory are contented to bo thought
worthy of the second ; for there is offered to the com
petitors a first, and a second, and a third prize by the
presidents of the games, who are representatives of nature.
* Genesis xvi. 2.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 427
So now to her the sacred writer attributes the first prize of
virtues, and the second prize of encyclical study.
"Why has he called Abraham s wife Sarah, for he says,
Sarah the wife of Abraham, taking her handmaid llagar the
Egyptian, gave her into his hand ?*
21. The sacred writer here sums up with his approbation
the marriage of the good on account of those who are
incontinent and lascivious ; for those persons despise their
wise wives for the sake of concubines, whom they love with
a frantic passion : on which account he here introduces the
man endued with virtue, the constant husband of one wife,
at that time in which it was lawful for him to make use of
her handmaid ; and his wife in fact indicates that he is wise,
that is to say temperate, when he enters into the bed of
another woman, since his connection with his concubine
was only a connection of the body for the sake of propagat
ing children ; but his union w r ith his wife was that of two
souls joined together in harmony by heavenly affection.
This is the literal effect of the statement.
But if we look to the inner meaning of it, then he who
has truly entrusted all his secret wishes to wisdom, and
justice, and the other virtues, when once he has received
the counsel of wisdom, and has tasted the joys of a matri
monial connection with it, remains constant to it as the
partner and companion of his life ; although encyclical
education would lead him in a beautiful course, since when
the man eminent in virtue has become master of the
sciences of geometry, and arithmetic, and grammar, and
rhetoric, and the other exercises of the mind, he is not the
less on that account mindful of the pursuit of honesty, but
is borne on towards the one as to a necessary aim, to the
other as an accessory.
But it is altogether fair that that fact also should meet
with our approbation, the fact I mean of his calling his
handmaid also by the name of wife, because he went up to
her bed out of complacency to and at the exhortation of his
real wife, and not of his own genuine inclination ; on which
account he no longer calls her his handmaid, that even if it
* Genesis x.vi. 2.
PIIILO JUD^US.
were not wholly deserved still his handmaid having been
given to him to wife might at least obtain the same title.
But those who study allegory may be allowed to say that
the exercise of the middle discipline also stands in the place
of a concubine, having nevertheless the shape and orna
ments of a wife, for all encyclical learning re-produces in
itself and imitates genuine virtue.
What is the meaning of, " When she saw that she had
conceived her mistress was despised before her ?"*
22. The sacred writer now carefully calls Sarah the
mistress when it might else have been thought that her
dignity was diminished, and that she was surpassed by her
handmaid, that she, that is, who had no children, was sur
passed by her who was gifted with offspring.
But this kind of language is extended to nearly all the
necessary affairs of human life : for a poor man who is wise
is more approved of and is superior in authority to a
rich man who is destitute of wisdom and reputation, or
than a boasting man ; and even a sick man who is wise is
better than a foolish man who is well ; for whatever is
united with ^ wisdom is genuine, and is endued with an
authority of its own, but whatever is combined with folly is
found to be slavish and inconstant.
But it has been excellently said not that she despised her
mistress, but that her mistress was despised ; for the one
statement would imply an accusation of the person, but the
other contains only a declaration of an event. The scrip
ture forsooth does not intend here to impute blame to
any one while praising another, but only to hand down in
an intelligible manner the pure truth of the facts.
This is what is indicated by the literal statement. But if
we seek the inner meaning of the words, whoever honours
and embraces rank before genius and wisdom, and whoever
esteems and considers the external senses of more im
portance than prudence and counsel, is departing from the
real character of things, thinking that they have brought
forth mneh offspring, and that having produced a great
generation of visible things they are great and perfect
goods, and in a singular degree noble, but that barrenness
* Genesis xvi. 4.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 429
in this respect is evil, and deserving of disapprobation,
because they do not see that invisible seed and that
offspring which is appreciable only by the intellect, which
the mind is accustomed to generate in itself and by itself.
Why does Sarah as it were repent of what she has done,
saying to Abraham, I am receiving injury from you : I gave
my handmaid into your bosom, and now, because she sees
that she has conceived, I am despised before her ?*
23. This language indicates her anxiety and hesitation ;
displaying them first in the expression, " since," that is to
say from the time that I gave my handmaiden, and in the
second place it betokens a regard to the person of whom
complaint is made, for she says, " I am receiving injury from
you," a statement which in fact is a reproof, since she thinks
that her husband ought always to be preserved without any
stain, or any liability to blame, always virtuous and true,
and in no respect forgetful of her, for she always introduces
him, honouring him with all possible veneration, and calling
him lord.
Nevertheless, the first fact stated by her is true ; for
from the time that she gave her handmaiden to him to be
his concubine, she herself was looked upon as despised.
This is the literal meaning of her words.
But if we look to their inner sense, when any one bestows
on another the handmaid of wisdom, she being influenced
by the counsels of sophistry, will, because she is ignorant
of propriety, despise her mistress ; for as she herself pos
sesses encyclical knowledge, and is delighted with its bril
liancy, where every one of the separate branches of education
is by itself very attractive to the soul, as if it poesesses
the power of drawing it by force to itself, then she, the
handmaiden, can no longer agree with her mistress, that is
to say, with the image of wisdom and its glorious and admi
rable beauty, until that acute judge of all things, the word
of God, coming in, separates and distinguishes what is
probable from what is true, and the middle from the ex
tremities, and what is second from what is placed in the
first rank. On which account Sarah says, at the end of her
remonstrance, " Let God judge between me and thee."
* Genesis xvi. 5.
.};}0 PIIILO JUDvEUS.
AVhy does Abraham say, "Behold thy handmaid is in thy
hand, do unto her what seems good to thee i
24 The literal expression used by the wise man con-
tains a panegyric; for he does not call the woman who
had conceived by himself, his wife, or his concubine, but the
handmaiden of his wife. But since he saw that she also
was a mother, he did not indulge in anger and embitter t
feelings of her mind, but rather tranouillised her, and
her prudent.
But the passage contains an allegory in the express
In thy hand :" as if, if I may so say, sophistry lives under
the dominion of wisdom, which indeed does spring forth
from the same fountain, but only in one part, and :
rectly; nor does it preserve the whole ot its emanations
pure; but draws up with its waters many fetid things, and
man; others of a similar character. Since, therefore, it is
in thv hand and in thy power (for to whomsoever wisdom
belong he is possessed also of all the branches of encyclical
learning), do with it whatsoever pleases thee, for 1 am
quite persuaded that you will judge with not more severity
than justice; because thut very thing is especially agreeable
to you: I mean the distributing to every one according tc
his deserts, and giving to no one more than is just, eit
in the way of honouring or despising him.
Why does he say, Sarah afflicted her r t
25 The literal meaning of the words is plain : but if we
look to the inner sense of them, they contain a principle
of this kind. It is not every affliction that is injurious, but
there are even some occasions when they are salutary ; and
this is experienced by sick men at the hands ot physicians
and by boys under their tutors, and by foolish people from
those who correct them so as to bring the m to wisdom
And this I can by no means consent to call affliction, but
rather the salvation and benefit of both soul and body.
Kow a part of such benefit wisdom affords to the <
of encyclical knowledge; rightly admonishing the
which is devoted to an abundance of discipline, and which
is pregnant with sophism, not to rebel as it it had icum:
* Genesis xvi. 6.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 431
some great and excellent good, but to acquiesce and vene
rate that superior and more excellent nature as its genuine
mistress, in whose power is constancy itself, and authority
over all things.
Why did Hagar flee from her face ?*
26. It is not every soul which is capable of proper
respect and of submitting to salutary discipline, but the
mind which is gentle, and good-tempered, and consistent
loves reproof, and becomes more and more attached to those
who correct it. But the stubborn soul becomes malignant
and hates them, and turns from them, and flees away from
them, preferring those discourses which are agreeable rather
than those which tend to his advantage, and looking upon
them as more excellent.
"What is the meaning of the statement, " The angel of the
Lord found her sitting by a fountain of water in the desert
in the way to Sur ?"t
27. All these statements are as it were symbols by
which the sacred writer indicates that the well-instructed
soul, which is the possession of virtue, is nevertheless not
yet able to discern the beauty of her mistress. They are, I
say, symbols ; I mean the statements that she was found, and
that she was found by an angel in the desert, and in no
other way than that leading to Sur. However we must
begin with what is plain.
Now the too subtle sophist and the real lover of dispu
tations is commonly unable to be detected by reason of his
artifices and sophistical persuasions, with which he is ac
customed to deceive and perplex men. But he who, being
free from bad habits, has only an eager desire for obtaining
instruction by the course of encyclical training, although he
is difficult to be detected, is yet not altogether incapable of
being so ; for perdition is near at hand to him who cannot
be detected, but safety to him who can be discovered,
especially when he is sought for and found by a more holy
and more excellent spirit. And who is more holy and more
excellent than the angel of the Lord ? For it is to him
that it has been entrusted to seek out the erring soul, the
* Genesis xvi. 6. t Genesis xvi. 7.
432 PHILO JUD/EUS.
soul which, on account of its presumed erudition, is con
tinually ignorant of her whom it ought to respect, but still
she could be susceptible, of correction and amendment ; for
which object she was sought out. Nor was she found
imperfect, but ready to the hand, since the soul was found
which had fled from perfect virtue, not being able to submit
to discipline.
But the third symbol takes place after she is found and
after the discovery has been made by an angel, namely, in
the fact of her being found by a fountain, that is to say, by
nature ; for it is nature which bestows on clever people
abilities in proportion to the industry of each individual,
effacing unseasonable learning, which is no learning at all :
and praise is implied in the very place in which the soul is
found, which is thirsting after genius and after its placid
law, wishing to draw water while in the society of those who
drink wine ; for thus it associates with those who feed upon
and are delighted with the exercise of proper training,
where nature itself affords sufficient nourishment, namely,
education and instruction as if from a fountain.
The fourth symbol is contained in the fact that the
discovery took place in the desert ; since difficulty coming
over each of the outward senses, together with an influx of
each separate desire, represses the mind, and does not
permit it to drink pure Avater : but when it cannot avoid
these things as in the desert, it acquiesces, and. abandoning
the thoughts which agitated and perplexed it, it becomes
convalescent, so as to receive a hope not only of life, but
even of eternal life.
The fifth symbol is contained in the fact that she Avas
found in the way; for dispositions which aiv inrorri<nble
are led by devious paths ; but that one Avhich can be changed
for the better, lo ! it proceeds alon^ the road w.iich leads to
virtue, and that road is like a fortified wall an 1 guardian to
the souls which are capable of being saved, for Sur means
a fortified wall.
Do you not see, then, that the whole is a symbolical, or
indeed a legitimate, figure of an improving soul : .\mi, in.
fact, the soul which is improving docs not perish as one
which is wholly foolish does; for if tlu divine word bo
found by it, then again it seeks it ; and he who is iiot pure
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 433
and clean in his habits and disposition, flees from the divine
word; but yet he has a fountain of water in which he
washes away his vices and wickednesses, drawing from
thence the fertility of the law.
Besides this, it loves the desert, to which it has fled from
its vices and wickednesses, and when it has once beheld the
way of virtue it returns from the devious paths of wicked
ness. And all these things are fortified walls and bulwarks
to it, so as to protect it from being ever injured by any
words or circumstances which attack it, and from suffering
any damage.
Why did the angel say to her, " Hagar, the handmaid, of
Sarah, whence comest thou, and whither goest thou ?"*
28. The plain letter of the question requires no explana
tion, for it is exceedingly clear ; but with reference to the
inner meaning contained in it, there is some asperity ex
pressed; since the divine word is full of instruction, and
is a physician of the infirmity of the soul. Therefore the
angel says to her, "Whence comest thou?" knowest thou
not what good thou hast abandoned ? Art thou not altogether
lame and blind ? For thou dost not see at all ; and though
endowed with the outward senses, dost not feel, and dost
not appear to me to have any portion whatever of intellect,
as if thou wert quite senseless.
But " whither goest thou ?" Prom what excellence to
what misery ? Why have you so erred as to cast away the
blessings which you had in your power, and to pursue good
things which are more remote ?
Do not, do not, I say, act thus ; but, quitting your insane
impetuosity, go back again, and return into the same way as
before, looking upon wisdom as thy mistress, her whom you
had before as your governess and directress in all the things
which you did.
What is the meaning of the answer, " I am fleeing from
the face of Sarah, my mistress ? " f
29. It is reasonable to praise a sincere disposition, and to
think it friendly to truth. And moreover it is reasonable
now to admit the veracity of a mind which confesses what it
* Genesis xvi. 8. f Ibid.
VOL. IV. F F
434 PIIILO JUD/EUS.
has suffered; for she says, "I am fleeing from the face,"
that is to say, I have recoiled at the outward appearance of
wisdom and virtue ; since, beholding its royal and imperial
presence, she trembled, not being able to endure to look
upon its- majesty and sublimity, but rather thinking it an
object of avoidance ; for there are some people who do not
turn from virtue from any hatred of it, but from a reve
rential modesty, looking upon themselves as umvorthy to live
with such a mistress.
"Why did the angel say to her, " Ketum to thy mistress
and be humbled beneath her hands ? " *
30. As the letter is plain, we must rather investigate its
inner meaning. The word of God corrects that soul which
is able to be lured, and instructs it, and converts it, leading
it to wisdom as its mistress, that it may not, through being
abandoned by its mistress, rush at once into absurd folly.
But it warns it, not only to return to virtue, but also to be
humbled beneath its hands, that is to say, beneath its
several excellencies.
But there are two kinds of humiliation ; one, in accord
ance with defect, which arises from spiritual infirmity, Avhich
it is easy to overcome, seize upon, and reprove. But there
is another kind which the word of the Lord enjoins, pro
ceeding from reverence and modesty ; such as that humility
which children exhibit to their fathers, pupils to their
masters, and young men to the aged ; since it is very
advantageous to be obedient, and to be subject to tho.se who
are better than one s self; for he who has learnt to be under
authority is in a moment imbued with a power which he
alone may exercise ; for, although any one were to be
clothed with the authority of all the earth and sea, yet he
would not be able to possess the royal supremacy of virtue,
unless he had first been instructed and taught to obey.
Why did the angel say to her, "I will multiply thy seed,
an 1 it shall not be numbered for multitude ? " f
It is the honour of the docile mind not to be pre
sumptuous or rebellious on account of its progress in
knowledge, or because of the very useful seed \\hich it has
* Genesis xvi. 8. t Geijcssi.s xvi. 9.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 435
received from various kinds of erudition ; for it does not any
more, as word-catchers and cavillers do, employ all the
arguments of encyclical learning to establish any whimsical
object, but to prove the truth which is contained in them.
And when it has begun to prosecute that by diligent in
vestigation, it is then rendered worthy to behold the sight of
its mistress, free from all acceptance of persons, and from
all reproof.
"What is the meaning of the statement, " The angel said to
her, Behold, thou hast conceived, and thou shalt bring
forth a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael, because the
Lord has heard the voice of thy affliction ? " *
32. The literal sense of the words admits of no question
except this allegorical explanation. Erudition, which is
acquired and trained by the dispensation of virtue as a
mistress, is found not to be barren, but it has conceived the
seed of wisdom ; and when it has conceived it brings forth ;
but it brings forth a work which is not perfect but im
perfect, like an infant which has need of care, and aliment,
and nourishment ; for in truth, it is quite plain that the
offspring of a perfect soul is perfect, that is to say, its words
and works ; but that of the soul of the second class, which is
still lying iu servitude and subordination, is more imperfect.
On which account it had a certain name given to it,
Ishmael, which is interpreted "the hearing of Gk>d." But
hearing is honoured with the second dignity among the
outv/ard senses, being next to sight ; for nature has
arranged a succession of ranks in the contests of the senses,
giving the tirst place to the eyes, the second to the ears,
the third to the nostrils, and the fourth to that sense by
which we taste.
What is the meaning of the statement, " He shall be a
\vild man ; his hand shall be upon every one, and every one s
hand shall be upon him, and he shall dwell over against all
his brethren ?" f
33. If we look to the letter of the statement, up to this
time Ishmael has not any brothers, for he was the first
child of his parents. But the sacred writer is here figuring
* Genesis xvi. 11. f Genesis xvi 1 2
V F 2
43(i PHILO JUD^US.
a certain nature, too secret to be thoroughly investigated ;
for he has set forth the figure of his future character. And
!<uch a figure evidently represents the sophist whose mother
is erudition or wisdom. But the sophist himself is a man
of wild opinions ; since the wise man as being civilized is
fitted for living in cities, and for urbanity, or for statesman
like and political companionship ; but he who is wild and a
man of wild opinions is immediately also quarrelsome.
And it is on this account that the sacred writer makes an
addition, saying, " His hand shall be upon every one, and
every one s hand shall be upon him;" for the abundance of
science and the use of erudition is able to contradict all
men. As those men of the present day who are called
academicians and inquirers, consistently setting 110 bounds
to the determinations of their will and resolution, and
among the different opinions which they investigate pre-
f<MTin<T neither this nor that one, admit those men to be
philosophers who attack the opinions of every sect; and
those whom it has been usual to call opposers of will, as if
they called them t)=X^aa^o/ or ^v.^aa/xap/o/, because they in
the first place raise contentions and declare themselves the
champions of their national sect, not to be convinced or put
down by those who oppose them. But they are all kinsmen,
and as it were brothers of the same womb, being the off
spring of one mother, namely, of philosophy.
And it is on this account that lie says, "And he shall
dwell over against all his brethren;" for in good truth the
academician^and the inquirer are diametrically opposed to
sects, finding fault in each of them with their certain limi
tation of the resolution.
"Why does he say, " But llagar called on the name of the
Lord, who spoke to her, saying, Thou God who hast had
regard unto me. Because he said, In truth I have beheld
thee appearing before me. "
3-1. In the first place, take notice carefully that the
an<*el, after the manner of the handmaiden of wisdom, was
a minister to her on the part of God. But still why is he
here called Lord or God who ought only to have been styled
his angel ? It was in order to adapt the fact to the proper
* Genesis xvi. 13.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 437
person ; for it was right that the Lord and chief of all the
universe should appear to wisdom as God, and that his
word should appear as a minister to the handmaid and
servant of wisdom.
But we may not suppose that she mistakenly looked upon
the angel as God ; for those who are unable to behold the
first cause may easily be deceived and look upon the second
as the first ; in the same manner as he who has but weak
sight, not being able to behold the sun which is in heaven
in its real appearance, thinks that the ray which falls upon
the earth is the sun itself; and those who have never seen
the king attribute frequently the dignity of the supreme
sovereign to his ministers.
And in truth mild and rustic men who never have beheld
a city, not even from the summits of the hills where they
live, think every country house or farm-yard a mighty city,
and look upon the people who dwell there as citizens of a
great city, out of ignorance of what a city really is.
"What is the meaning of, " On this account she called that
well the well of him whom I have seen face to face ? " *
35. The well has both a spring and depth. But the
learning of the students of encyclical science is neither all
on the surface, nor is it destitute of first principles ; for it
has for its source corrective discipline. Therefore it is with
perfect correctness that she says that the angel appeared
before the well as God ; since the erudition of the encyclical
training possessing the second rank is supposed to rejoice in
the first authority, though it is in reality separated from
that first wisdom which it is permitted to wise men to
behold, but not to sophists.
"Why is the well said to have been between Cadesh and
Pharan ? f
36. Cadesh is interpreted holy, but Pharan is translated
hail, or corn.
What is the meaning of the statement, " Hagar brought
forth a son to Abraham ? " J
37. It is made in perfect accordance with nature ; for no
* Genesis xvi. 14. + Ibid. Genesis xvi. 1 .
438 PHILO JUDJEUS.
habit of possession brings forth for itself, but for him who
possesses it; as grammar does for the grammarian, and
music for the musician, and mathematical science for the
mathematician ; because it is a part of him, and stands in
need of him. And the habit is not received as a thing in
need of something, just as fire has no need of heat, for it is
heat to itself; and it gives a portion of the participation in
it to those who approach it.
"Why is Abraham said to have been eighty and six years
old when llagar bore Ishmael to him ?
38. Because the number which follows eighty, that is to
Fay six, is the first perfect number, being equal to its parts,
and being the first number which is composed of the multi
plication of an odd and an even number; receiving also
something from its efficient cause according to the odd or
redundant number, and from its material and effective
cause according to the even number. On which account,
among the most ancient of our ancestors, some persons have
called it matrimony, and others harmony; and our sacred
historian too has divided the creation of the world into six
days.
But among numbers, eighty rejoices in perfect harmony,
since it is composed of two generous diameters in a double
and treble proportion, according to the ligure of a square of
four sides. And it contains within itself all the four
inferences ; the arithmetical, and the geometrical, and tl in
harmonious one.
Being in the first place composed of double numbers, as
of six, eight, nine, twelve, the union of which makes thirty-
live ; in the second place of triple numbers, six, nine, twelve,
eighteen, the sum of which amounts to forty-live. And
from these two numbers thirty-live and forty-live, the whole
number eighty is completed.
Again, when the sacred historian Moses himself began by
divine inspiration to utter the oracular precepts which he
was commissioned to deliver, he was eighty years old. And
the first man who existed of our nation according to the law
of circumcision, being circumcised on the eighth day, being
eminent for virtue, bears that name of joy, being called Isaac
* Gctieais xvi. l ; i.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 439
in the Chaldaic tongue, and Isaac means laughter; being
naturally called so because nature rejoices or laughs at
everything, being never vexed at any thing which is done in
the world, but rather looking with complacency on every
thing which occurs as being done well and profitably.
Y/hy w r hen he was ninety and nine years old does the
sacred writer say, " The Lord God appeared to him and said,
I am the Lord thy God ?"*
39. He here makes use of both the titles of each superior
virtue, applying them in the case of his address to the wis-
man, because it was by them that all things were created,
arid by them that the world is regulated aftqr it had been
created. By one of them therefore the wise man, just in
the same manner as the world itself, was fashioned and made
according to the likeness of God ; and God is the name of
creative virtue ; and by the other of them that he was made
according to the Lord, as falling under his authority and
supreme power.
Therefore he designs here to show that the man who is
conspicuous in virtue is both a citizen of the world, and also
equal in dignity to the whole world, declaring that both the
virtues of the world, the divine and the royal attributes, are in
a singular manner appointed to and set over him as protectors.
And it was with great correctness and propriety that this
appearance took place when he was about ninety and nine
years old, because that number is very near the hundred.
And the number a hundred is composed of the number ten
multiplied by itself, which the sacred historian calls the
holy of holies.
Since the first court, the first ten, is simply called holy,
and that is permitted to be entered by the sweepers of the
temple ; but the ten of tens, which he again enjoins the
sweepers of the temple to pay above all things to the exist
ing high priest, is the number ten computed along with
the number a hundred, for what else is the tenth of the
tenths but the hundredth ?
However the number ninety and nine has been set forth
and adorned not only by its affinity to the number a hundred,
but it has also received a particular participation in a wonder-
* Genesis xvii. 1.
4-10 PIITLO JUD^EUS.
ful nature, since it consists of the number fifty, and of seven
times seven. For the fiftieth year, as the year of Pentecost
or the Jubilee, is called remission in the giving forth of the
law, as then all things are given their liberty, whether living
or inanimate.
And the mystery of the seventh year is one of quiet and
profound peace to both body and soul. For the seventh
is the recollection of all the good things which come of their
own accord without industry or labour, which at the first
creation of the world nature produced of herself; but the
number forty-nine, consisting as it does of seven times seven,
indicates no trifling blessings, but rather those which have
virtue and wisdom, in such a degree as to contribute to in
vincible and mighty constancy.
What is the meaning of, " Do thou please me, and keep
thyself from stain, and I will make my treaty between me and
thee, and I will multiply thce exceedingly ?*
40. God here lays down a law for the human race in a
somewhat familiar manner; for he who has no participation
in wickedness and is free from evil, will be perfectly good,
which is peculiar to incorporeal natures. But those who are
in the body are called good in proportion to the measure in
which wickedness and the practice of sin are removed from
them. Therefore the life of those men has appeared honour
able, not that of those who have been free from sickness
from the beginning to the end, but that of those who from a
state of infirmity have advanced to sanity ; on which account
he says directly and plainly, " Keep thyself free from stain,"
for it is sufficient to conduct a mortal nature to felicity not
to be blamed, and neither to do nor say anything deserving of
reproof; and such conduct is at once pleasing to the Father.
Therefore it is that he said, ; Do thou please me, and keep
thyself free from stain." Where the form of expression
implies a mutual conversion; since the habits which please
God do not deserve reproof, and he who keeps himself free
from stain and avoids reproof in all things is altogether
pleasing to God. Therefore he promises to bestow a double
blessing on him who keeps himself free from all reproof; in
the first place, to make him the guardian of the deposits of
* Genesis xvii. 1.
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 441
the divine covenant : and in the second place to cause him
to increase to a multitude without any limit.
For that expression, " I will make my treaty, or covenant,
between me and thee," shows the office of guardianship of the
truth which is entrusted to an honest man ; for the whole
treaty of God is the incorporeal word ; which is the form
and measure of the universe according to which this world
was made. And then repeating the expression, " I will
multiply thee exceedingly," twice manifestly shows the
immense numbers to which the multitude promised shall
grow, I mean the increase which shall take place in the
people, not in human virtue.
What is the meaning of, " Abraham fell on his face ?" *
41. The present expression is the interpretation of what
has already been promised ; for God had said, " Keep thyself
free from stain," but there is no other cause of a man leading
a life which is disapproved but the outward sense, because
that is the origin and source of the passions ; on which
account he rightly and properly falls on his face, that is to
say, the offences caused by the outward senses fall to the
bottom, showing that the man is now devoted to all good
works.
This is enough to say in the first place. But in the second
place we must say that he was so struck by the manifest
appearance of the living God that he was scarcely able to
behold him through fear, but fell to the ground and offered
adoration, being overwhelmed with awe at the appearance
which presented itself to him.
In the third place, he fell to the ground on account of the
revelation thus made to him, at the form of his appearance
by the living God who exists alone, whom he knew and
regarded as truth opposed to created nature ; since the one
exists in unvarying constancy and the other vacillates and
falls into its proper place, that is to say, to the earth.
What is the meaning of, " And God conversed with him,
saying, And I, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou
shalt be the father of a multitude of nations ?"f
42. Since he had previously used the expression, " treaty,"
* Genesis xvii. 3. f Genesis xvii. 4.
442 PHILO JUD/EUS.
lie now proceeds to say, do not seek that treaty in letters,
since I myself, in accordance with what has been said before,
am myself the genuine and true covenant.
For after he has shown himself and said, " I," he makes
an addition, saying, "Behold, my covenant," which is nothing
but I myself; for I am myself my covenant, according to
which my treaty and agreement are made and agreed to, and
according to which again all things are properly distributed
and arranged. JN T ow the form of this prototypal treaty is
put together from the ideas and incorporeal measures and
forms in accordance with which this world was made. Is it
not therefore a climax to the benefits which the Father be
stowed on the wise man, to raise him up and conduct him not
only from earth to heaven, nor only from heaven to the
incorporeal world appreciable only by the intellect, but also
to draw him up from this world to himself, showing himself
to him, not as he is in himself, for that is not possible but
as far as the visual organs of the beholder who beholds virtue
herself as appreciable by the intellect are able to attain to.
And it is on this account that he says, " Be no more a
son but a father ; and the father, not of one individual but
of a multitude ; and of a multitude, not according to a part,
but of all nations ; therefore of the revealed promises two
admit of a literal interpretation, but the third of one which
is rather spiritual. One of those which admit of a literal
interpretation is to be construed in this way : in truth thou
shalt be the father of nations, and shalt beget nations, that
is to say, each individual among thy sons shall be the
founder of a nation.
But the second is of this kind ; like a father you shall be
clothed with power over, and authority to rule, many na
tions ; for a lover of Grod is necessarily and at once also a
lover of men ; so that he will diligently devote his attention,
not only to his relations but also to all mankind, and
especially to those who are able to go through the discipline
of strict attention, and who are of a disposition the reverse
of anything cruel or hard, but of one which easily submits
to virtue, and willingly gives obedience to right reason.
But the third we may explain under this allegory: the
multitude of nations spoken of indicates as it were the
multifarious inclination of the will in each of our minds,
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 413
both those inclinations which it is accustomed to form with
reference to itself, and also those others which it admits by
the agency of the senses, as they enter clandestinely through
the intervention of the imagination, and if the mind pos
sesses the supreme authority over all these, it, like a com
mon father, turns them to better objects, cherishing their
infant opinions, as it were, with milk, exhorting those which
are older and more mature, though still imperfect, to im
provement, and honouring with commendation those which
perform their duty aright ; and again, putting a bridle, by
means of discipline and reproof, on those which rebel and
act rashly ; since, wishing to imitate the Deity, it receives a
twofold influx from the virtues of that same being, one from
his beneficent attributes and another from his avenging
might, as if from two sources ; therefore the docile receive
his kindness, and towards the rebellious he uses reproof; so
that some are led to improvement by praise and others by
chastisement : in truth, he who is eminent for virtue is able
to be of great, and extensive, and just service to all, accord
ing to his power.
What is the meaning of, " Thy name shall not be called
Abram, but Abraham shall thy name be ?"*
43. Some of those who are destitute of all knowledge of
music and dancing, some indeed being wholly foolish and
keeping aloof from the divine company, mock the one exist
ing or only wise Being, immaculate by nature, saying, in a
tone of vituperation, " Oh the great gift, the governor and
Lord of the whole universe has given one letter, by which
the name of the patriarch was to be increased and become
of great importance, so as to be made a trisyllable instead
of a dissyllable !" Oh the great misery, and wickedness, and
impiety, of such men ! If some persons dare, in any respect,
to endeavour to detract from God, being deceived by the
outward appearance of a name, when they ought rather to
thrust their minds down into the depths, and inquire into
the things themselves more closely, on account of the real
magnitude and importance of the possession.
Besides this, why do ye not think the concession of one
letter, although a small and easy gift, nevertheless an act of
* Genesis xvii. 5.
-4U PIIILO JUD.EUS.
providence ? and why do ye not weigh its value ? since,
above all things, the very first clement of language, as ex
pressed in letters, is A, both in order and in virtue. In the
second place, it is also a vowel, and the very first of vowels,
being placed above them as their head. In the third place,
because it does not belong to long properties, nor to short
properties, but it is of the number of those which comprise
each characteristic, for it is extended into greater length,
and then again it is recalled into shortness, by reason of its
softness, resembling wax, and being figured into many
shapes, and afterwards figuring words, according to infinite
numbers ; besides all this it is a cause, for it is the brother
of ^ unity, from which all things begin and in which all
things terminate.
Therefore, when any one sees such great beauty, and a
letter set forth with such great importance and necessity,
how can he accuse it as if he had not seen this ? for if he
has seen it, he then shows himself to be a person of insult
ing dispositioii and a hater of what is good ; and if he has
not seen a fact, which is so easy to comprehend, how does
he presume to ridicule and despise that which he does not
understand as if he did understand it ? But however these
things may be said by the way, as I stated before. But we
must now examine into its necessary and most important
task.
The addition of the letter A, by one single element,
changed and reformed the whole character of the mind,
causing it, instead of the sublime knowledge and learning
of sublime tilings, that is to say, instead of astronomy, to
acquire a comprehension of wisdom, since it is by the
knowledge of things above that the faculty is acquired of
mounting up to one portion of the world, that is to say, to
heaven, and to the periodical revolutions and motions of the
stars ; but wisdom has reference to the nature of all tilings,
both such as are visible to the outward senses, and such as
are appreciable only by the intellect, for the intellect is the
wisdom which gives a knowledge of divine and human
things and of their principles.
_ Therefore, in divine things there is something which is
visible, and something else which is invisible, and a demon
strative idea. And in human aflairs there are some things
QUESTIONS AND SOLUTIONS. 445
which are corporeal and some which are incorporeal ; to
attain to the right comprehension of which is a great task,
and a real employment for the abilities and courage of man.
But to be able, not only to behold the substances and
natures of the universe, but also the principles which regu
late each separate fact, indicates a virtue more perfect than
that which is allotted to mankind ; for it is necessary for
the mind, which perceives so many and such great things,
to be altogether and wholly eye, and to dispense with sleep,
passing its whole existence in the world in a state of inces
sant wakefulness, and being surrounded by a light which
knows no darkness, and which exhibits the appearance of
light itself, as by an ever-flashing lightning, taking God for
its leader and guide, to the comprehension of the know
ledge of those things which are, and to the faculty of
explaining their principles.
Therefore the dissyllabic name Abram is explained as
meaning " excellent father," on account of his affinity to the
knowledge of sublime wisdom, that is, astronomy and mathe
matics. But the trisyllabic name Abraham is interpreted
" the father of elect sound," being the name of a really wise
man ; for what else is sound in us, except the utterance of
a pronounced word? for which object we have an instru
ment constructed by nature, passing through the thick tube
of the throat, and united with the mouth and tongue ; and
the father of such a sound is our intellect, and elect intellect
is endued with virtue.
But if we are to keep to exact propriety, then it is plain
that the mind is the familiar and natural father of the
uttered word, because it is the especial property of the
father to beget, and the word is born from the mind ; and
it will be a certain proof of this if we recollect that when it
is set in motion by counsels it sounds, and when they are
absent it ceases to sound : and the evidences of this are the
rhetoricians and philosophers who demonstrate its habit by
objects ; for whenever the mind publishes abroad different
heads of designs, and in the manner of a mother about to
bring forth produces each individual means previously
stored up in itself, then also the word, flowing forth like a
fountain, is borne to the ears of the bystander as to its
appropriate receptacles : but when those are wanting, then
446 PIIILO JUD^EUS.
it also is unable to publish itself further, and rests, and the
sound is inactive as being struck by no one.
Now therefore, O ye men, full and crammed with super
fluous loquacity, ye men devoid of wisdom., does not the gift
of one single element appear to you to have been such that
by the intervention of a single letter the wise man is ren
dered worthy of the divine attribute of wisdom, than which
there is nothing more excellent in our nature ? because
instead of the sublime erudition of astronomy he gave him
intellect, that is to say, instead of a small part of wisdom, lie
gave him the whole and perfect blessing of entire wisdom,
since a knowledge of things above is included and compre
hended in wisdom, as a part is included in the whole ; for
mathematics are only a part.
But it becomes you, men, to consider this point also, that
the man who is well instructed and skilful in the investiga
tion of the nature of things above may by possibility be a
man of depraved and wicked habits ; but the wise man is
altogether approved as virtuous. Shall we then now any
longer ridicule this gift, than which nothing more excellent
can be found ? For what is more shameful than wicked
ness or more excellent than virtue ? Can anything be
found hen 1 not good, and is it not wholly opposed to evil ?
Or can this gift be compared to riches, or honour, or liberty,
or health, or to any other superfluous possession of any kind
around or exterior to the body ?
For the whole of philosophy is thus added to our life as ,1
sort of college of medicine to the soul, in order from thence
to dispense to it freedom from suffering and immunity from
disease ; but in truth it is noble to be a philosopher, and
that wonderful knowledge is truly noble; and the end is
even more admirable, on account of which the act is called
into existence.
Here therefore is wisdom, and that the best kind of wis
dom, which God called in the Chaldaic dialect Abraham,
namely the father of elect sound, giving as it were a defi
nition of a wise man ; for as the definition of man is a
morta 
