BIH^:^;^: ^^^!^
^lc < ? y<!-<Vt < X < i-X ,<X< < < <V. < .
m$r
1
foSI
v-.2
. /,,.,
"
WORKS
PIIILO JUDGED S,
THE CONTEMPORARY OF JOSEPHL S,
TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK,
C. D. YONGE, B.A,
VOL. II.
LONDON :
GEORGE BELL & SONS, YORK ST., COVENT GARDEN,
AND NEW YORK.
1894.
B
YB
V.2
EMMANUEL
10XDON :
MPRIXTKD FBOM THE STEREOTYPE PLATIS BT WM. CLOWES & SOKS,
&TAMFOKD STKEET AND CHARJXG CUOSS.
CONTENTS.
On the Confusion of Languages 1
On the Migration of Abraham 43
On the question, Who is the Heir of Divine Things . 94
On the Meeting for the sake of receiving Instruction . 157
On Fugitives .$(H^ . I /v*4- 194
On the question why certain Barnes in the Holy Scrip
tures are changed 238
On the doctrine that Dreams are sent from God. Book I. 292
Book II. 344
On the Life of the "Wise Man made perfect by Instruc
tion ; or, on the Unwritten Law, that is to say, on
Abraham 390
On the Life of a Man occupied with Affairs of State ;
or, on Joseph 453
A TREATISE
ON TUB
CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES.
I. As to the preceding topics, what has been already said will
be sufficient. We must next proceed to consider, and that in
no slight or cursory manner, the philosophical account which
Moses gives us of the confusion of languages ; for he speaks in
the following manner : " And all the earth had one pronuncia
tion, and there was one language among all men. And it came
to pass, as they were moving from the east, that they found a
plain in the land of Shinar, and dwelt there. And one man
said to his neighbour, Come, let us make bricks, and let us burr
them with fire ; and they had bricks for stone, and asphalt for
mortar. And they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city, and
a tower whose head shall reach to heaven ; and let us make for
ourselves a name, before we are scattered over the face of all
the earth. And the Lord came down to see the city, and the
tower, which the sons of men had builded. And the Lord said,
Behold, all mankind is one race, and there is but one language
among them all ; and they have begun to do this thing, and now
there will not fail unto them anything of all the things which
they desire to do. Come, let us go down and confuse their
language there, so that each may not understand the voice jf
his neighbour. And the Lord scattered them from thence
over the face of all the earth, and they desisted from building
the city, and the tower. On this account, the name of it was
called Confusion, because there the Lord confused the languages
of all the earth, and from thence the Lord scattered them over
the face of all the earth."*
II. Those who are discontented at the constitution under
which their fathers have lived, being always eager to blame and
to accuse the laws, being impious men, use these and similar
instances as foundations for their impiety, saying, "Are ye even
Oeneiiu xi 1.
VOL. IL B
2 PHILO JUD^US.
now speaking boastfully concerning your precepts, as if they
contained the rules of truth itself? For, behold, the books
which you call the sacred scriptures do also contain fables, at
which you arc accustomed to laugh, when you hear others re
lating them." And what is the use of devoting our leisure to
collecting the fables interspersed in so many places throughout
the history of the giving of the law, as if we had especial leisure
for the consideration of calumnies, and as if it were not better
to attend merely to what is under our hands and before us ?
Certainly, this one fable resembles that which is composed
about the Aloadae, who the greatest and most glorious of all
poets, Homer, says, had in contemplation to heap the three
loftiest mountains on one another, and to build them into one
mass, hoping that by this means there would be a road for
them, as they were desirous to mount up to heaven, and that
by these mountains it would be easy for them to be raised to
the height of the sky. And the verses of Homer on this sub
ject are these :
High on Olympus top they strove to raise
Gigantic Ossa ; and on Ossa s heights
To place the leafy Pelion, that heaven
Might thus become accessible.
But Olympus and Ossa and Pelion are the names of moun
tains. But instead of these mountains the lawgiver represents
a tower as having been built by these men, who, out of igno
rance and wicked ambition, were desirous to reach the heaven.
Every alienation of mind, then, is grievous ; for even if every
portion of the whole earth could be built over, a slight founda
tion being first laid, and then if a superstructure could be
raised in the fashion of a single pillar, it would still be an
enormous distance removed from the heavenly sphere, and
above all would it be so according to the tenets of those curious
philosophers who have affirmed that the earth is the centre of
the universe.
III. And there is also another story akin to this, related by
the devisers of fables, concerning the sameness of language
existing among animals : for they say that formerly, all the
animals in the world, whether land animals, or aquatic ones, or
winged ones, had but one language, and that, just as among
men Greeks speak the same language as Greeks, and the
present race of barbarians speak the same language as barba-
ON THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. 3
rians, exactly in the same manner every animal was able to
converse with every other animal with which it might meet,
and with which it did anything, or from which it suffered any
thing, so that they sympathised with one another at their
mutual misfortunes, and rejoiced whenever any of them met
with any good fortune ; for they could impart their pleasures
and their annoyances to one another by their sameness of lan
guage, so that they felt pleasure together and pain together ;
and this similarity of manners and union of feelings lasted,
until being sated with the great abundance of good things
which they enjoyed, as often happens, they were at last drawn
on to a desire of what was unattainable, and even sent an em
bassy to treat for immortality, requesting to be released from
old age, and to be always endowed with the vigour of youth,
saying, that already one animal of their body, and that a rep
tile, the serpent, bad received this gift ; for he, having put off
old age, was allowed again to grow young ; and that it was
absurd for the more important animals to be left behind by an
inferior one, or for their whole body to be distanced by one.
However, they suffered the punishment suitable to their auda
city, for they immediately were separated in their language, so
that, from that time forth, they have not been able to under
stand one another, by reason of the difference in the dialects
into which the one common language of them all had been
divided.
IV. But he who brings his account nearer the truth, has dis
tinguished between the rational and irrational animals, so that
he testifies that identity of language belonged to men alone :
and this also, as they say, is a fabulous story. And indeed
they affirm, that the separation of language into an infinite
variety of dialects, which Moses calls the confusion of tongues,
was effected as a remedy for sins, in order that men might not
be able to co-operate in common for deeds of wickedness through
understanding one another ; and that they might not, when
they were in a manner deprived of all means of communica
tion with one another, be able with united energies to apply
themselves to the same actions. But this precaution does not
appear to have turned out of any use ; for since that time,
though men have been separated into different nations, and
have no longer used one language, nevertheless, land and sea
have been repeatedly filled with unspeakable evils.
B vi
4 PHILO JUD^EU?.
For it was * ~t the languages which were the causes of men s
uniting for evil ohjects, but the emulation and rivalry of their
souls in wrong-doing. For even those who have had their
tongues cut out can intimate what they wish by nods and
looks, and other positions and motions of the body, not less
than by a distinct utterance of words. And besides this con
sideration, there is the fact that, very often, one nation by it
self, having not merely one language, but one code of laws, and
one system of manners, has arrived at such a pitch of iniquity
that, as to a superfluity of wickedness, it may counterbalance
the sins of all the men in the world put together. And again,
through ignorance of foreign languages, many persons, having
no foreknowledge of the future, have been anticipated and
overwhelmed by those who were plotting against them ; as, on
the other hand, by knowledge of foreign languages, men have
been able to repel fears and dangers with which they have been
threatened ; so that a community of language is an advanta
geous thing rather than an injurious one : since, even at the
present day, nothing contributes so greatly to the safety and
protection of the people of each country, and particularly of the
natives, as their being of one language. For if a man has learnt
many dialects, he immediately is looked upon with considera
tion and respect by those who are also acquainted with them,
as being already a friendly person, and contributing no small
introduction and means of friendship by reason of his famili
arity with words which they too understand ; which familiarity
very commonly imparts a feeling of security, that one is not
likely to suffer any great evil at the hands of such a man.
Why, then, did God remove sameness of language from among
men as a cause of evils, when it seems it should rather have
been established as a most useful thing ?
V. Those, then, who put these things together, and cavil at
them, and raise malicious objections, will be easily refuted
separately by those who ran produce ready solutions of all such
questions as arise from the plain words of the law, arguing in a
spirit far from contentious, and not encountering them by
sophisms drawn from any other source, but following the con
nection of natural consequences, which does not permit them to
stumble, but which easily puts aside any impediments that
arise, so that the course of their arguments proceeds without
any interruption or mishap.
ON THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. 5
We Ray then that by the expression, that "all the earth had
but one pronunciation and one language," is intimated a sym
phony of great and unspeakable evils, which cities have in
flicted upon cities, nations upon nations, and countries upon
countries, and through which men not only wrong one another,
but also behave with impiety towards God, and yet these
things are the iniquities of many ; but let us consider the in
effable multitude of evils which proceed from each individual
man, and especially when he is under the influence of that
ill-timed, and inharmonious, and unmusical agreement.
VI. Now who is there who does not know the great in
fluence of fortune, when men, in addition to the diseases or
mutilations of the body, are attacked also by poverty and want
of reputation? And again, when these things are further
united to diseases of the soul, in consequence of moody
melancholy, driving men beside themselves, or of extreme
old age, or of any other severe calamity which presses upon
them ? For even one of these evils here mentioned by itself,
when it opposes a man with violence, is sufficient to overthrow
and to crush even one who is very proud and haughty ; but
when all these evils, to wit, the evils of the body, and the
evils of the soul, and external misfortunes, all come together as
if in one regular battalion, moving by previous arrangement
at the same time, so as to attack him in one body, what reso
lution is there which they will not overpower ? For when the
guards are slain, it follows of necessity that he who relies on
his guards must fall. Now the guards of the body are wealth,
glory, and honours, which set it up and raise it on high, and
make it proud, just as the contrary things, dishonour, want
of reputation, and poverty, throw it down like so many
enemies.
Again, the body-guards of the soul are hearing, and seeing,
and smelling, and taste, and the whole band of the outward
senses, and also health, and strength, and vigour, and energy.
For the mind, when walking among and living in the company
of these things, as between well-fortified boundaries firmly
standing and solidly established, triumphs and rejoices,
meeting with no hindrance on any side to prevent it from
exerting its own impulses, but having its road in every direc
tion easy, and level, and open, and easy to be travelled. But
the things which are Bet in opposition and hostility to these
6 PHILO JUD^EUS.
guards are mutilation of the organs of the outward senses, and
disease, as I have said before, by which the mind is often pre
cipitated into disaster ; and these things are all the results of
fortune, very grievous and intrinsically miserable, but still, if
compared with those which are brought on ourselves by our
own deliberate will, they are far lighter.
VII. Let us now again in its turn consider what is the
united body of evils voluntarily incurred. Our soul being
capable of being divided into three divisions, one division is
said to have fallen to the lot of the mind and of reason, the
second to passion, and the third to appetite ; and each sepa
rate one of these has its own peculiar evils, and also they have
all common and mutual diseases. Since the mind reaps the
harvest which folly, and cowardice, and intemperance, and in
justice sow ; and passion brings forth frantic and insane strife
and conflict, and all the other numerous evils with which it is
pregnant; and appetite disseminates in every direction the
impetuous and fickle loves of youth which descend upon every
object, animate or inanimate, which it chances to meet with.
For then, as if in any vessel, the sailors, and the passengers,
and the pilots, had all, under the influence of insanity, agreed
to destroy it, those who have joined in the plot against it are
none the less involved in the same destruction.
For the heaviest of all evils, and almost the only one that is
incurable, is the unanimous energy of all the parts of the soul
agreeing to commit sin, not one of the parts being able to act
with soundness (just as is the case in an evil affecting the
whole people), so as to heal those that are sick ; but even the
physicians being diseased as well as their patients, whom the
pestilential disease has overwhelmed and weighs down under a
confessed calamity.
Of this great evil, that great deluge described by the law
giver is an image ; for the torrents from heaven continually
pouring down cataracts of wickedness itself with impetuous
violence, and springs from the ground (by which I mean the
body) continually bursting up and pouring forth streams of
every passion in great numbers and vast size, which, uniting
and being mingled in the same stream with the other
waters, are thrown into confusion, and overthrow the whole
region of the soul which has received them with incessant
eddies and whirlpools. " For," says Moses, " the Lord God,
ON THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. <
seeing that the wickedness of men were multiplied upon the
earth, and that every one did think continually in his heart
nothing but evil all his days, determined to punish man "
(and here by man I understand the mind, together with all
the reptiles and winged creatures, and all the rest of the
multitude of wild animals which surround him), by reason of
his incurable wickedness; and the punishment which God
decided upon was the deluge. For there was unbounded free
dom in sinning, and unlimited licence in doing wrong, no one
hindering it, but all restraints being shamelessly broken down
in such a way that there was no fear left behind to restrain those
who were thoroughly ready to snatch at abundant supplies for
enjoyment of every kind. And may we not say that this was
natural ? For it was not only one portion of the soul which
was corrupted in such a way that it could still be preserved by
the sound condition of the other parts ; but there was no part
whatever of it which was left free from disease or from cor
ruption. For the incorruptible Judge, says Moses, seeing that
every thought of man s heart (not one single idea by itself)
was evil continually, inflicted upon him a deserved punishment.
VIII. These are they who "made a treaty with one another
in the valley of Salt."* For the region of the vices and of
the passions is a hollow valley, rough, and full of ravines;
truly salt, and producing bitter pains ; and their treaty, as one
that was not worthy of being confirmed by any oath or by any
libation, the wise Abraham, who knew the character of it, an
nulled. For it is said in the scripture that, " All these men
made a treaty at the valley of Salt, that is the sea of Salt."
Do you not perceive that they who are barren of wisdom and
blinded as to the intellect which it would be natural to expect
should be sharp-sighted, having the name of Sodomites from
their real character," did, with all their people united together,
from young to old, surround the house in a circle "t (that is
to say, the house of the soul), in order to pollute and con
taminate those strangers from a foreign land, who had been
received in hospitality, namely, sacred and holy reasons, the
guards and defenders of the soul ; no one whatever attempting
either to resist those wrong doers, or to avoid doing wrong him
self? For Moses does not speak of some as having consented
and of others having stood aloof; but, as he says, " The wholi
Genesis xiv. 3. t GeueaU xix 4.
8 PHILO JDD^EUS.
people surrounded the house all together, both old and young,"
having entered into a conspiracy against all those holy actions
and words which it is customary to call angels.
IX. But Moses, the prophet of God, will meet them and
check them though they come on with exceeding boldness;
even though, placing in the front him who is the boldest and
the most forward and able speaker among them as their king,
namely speech, they rush on with one impulse, hoping to
increase their strength as they go on, and overflowing like a
river; "For behold," says Moses, "the king of Egypt is
coming to the water ; but do thou go to meet him, and stand on
the bank of the river."* Therefore the wicked man goes
forth to the stream of iniquities and passions, and all collected
evils, which are here likened to water ; but the wise man first
obtains from God, who always stands firm, an honour akin to
his undeviating, and in all respects and under all circumstances,
unchangeable power ; for we read in the scripture, "But do
thou stand here with me,"j" that having laid aside doubt and
vacillation, the dispositions of an infirm soul, he may put on
that most steadfast and trustworthy disposition, faith. In the
next place, even while standing still, he (which seems a most
extraordinary thing) goes forward to meet him ; for it is said
to him, "Thou shalt stand meeting him," and yet to go to
meet is a part of motion, while to stand still is regarded as
characteristic of tranquillity.
But the prophet does not here say things which are incon
sistent, but rather such as are exceedingly in accordance with
nature ; for the man whose mind is naturally disposed to be
tranquil, and is established undeviatingly, must necessarily
be at variance with all those who delight in disorder and con
fusion, and who by artificial storms seek to disturb him who
is capable of enjoying tranquillity.
X. It is very appropriately said that the meeting took place
on the bank of the river ; but the banks are also called the
lips, and the lips are the boundaries of the mouth, and are a
sort of fence to the tongue, through which the stream of
discourse is borne, when it begins to be uttered ; but those
v/ho hate virtue and who love learning, use speech as their ally
for the exposition of doctrines which are disapproved ; and
again on the other hand, virtuous men employ it for the
* Exodus vii. 15. + Deuteronomy v. 31.
ON THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES.
refutation of such doctrines, and for establishing the irresistible
strength of the better and true wisdom. When then, after
having had recourse to every expedient of contentious doctrines,
men are destroyed, being overwhelmed by the opposing violence
of contrary arguments, then the wise man will very justly and
suitably establish a most sacred chorus, and melodiously sing
a triumphal song ; " For," says Moses, * Israel saw the
Egyptians," not dead in any other place, but "on the bank
(y?/Xo?) of the river;"* meaning here by death, not the
separation of the soul from the body, but the impetuous onset
of unholy doctrines and assertions, which men utter by the
mouth, and tongue, and the other organs of speech.
But the death of speech is silence, not that silence which
well-bred people cultivate, making it a symbol of modesty
for this silence is itself a faculty and a sister of that one which
is developed in speech, arranging what is to be said with
reference to time but that silence which the sick and the
weary against their will endure, on account of the strength of
their antagonists, because they cannot find any handle to answer
them ; for whatever they touch slips away from them, and
whatever thing they seek to take their stand on does not
remain, so that they of necessity fall before they stand, like
that hydrostatic machine called the helix ; for in the middle
of that engine there are some steps, which the husbandman
when he desires to water his fields mounts up upon, but is
rolled round of necessity, and in order to avoid falling he is
continually catching at the nearest firm thing that he can lay
his hands on, which he takes hold of and so supports his whole
body ; for instead of his hands he uses his feet, and instead
of his feet he uses his hands ; for he stands on his hands,
by means of which, actions are usually done, and he acts with
his feet on which it is natural to stand.
XI. But many, who are not able vigorously to refute the
plausible inventions of the sophists, because they have not
very much practised discussion by reason of their continued
application to action, have taken refuge in the alliance of the
only wise Being, and have besought him to become their
defender. As one of the friends of Moses, when praying, says
in his hymns, " Let the treacherous lips become mute;"t and
how can they become mute if they are not curbed by the only
Exodus xiv. 30. t Psalm xxx. 19.
10 PHILO JUD^US.
being who has speech itself as his subject ? We must therefore
flee, without ever turning back, from all associations entered
into for the purposes of sin ; but the alliance made with the
companions of wisdom and knowledge must be confirmed. In
reference to which I admire those who say, " We are all one
man s sons, we are men of peace,"* because of their well-adapted
agreement; since how, I should say, could you, excellent men,
avoid being grieved at war, and delighted in peace, being the
sons of one and the same father, and he not mortal but im
mortal, the man of God, who being the reason of the ever
lasting God, is of necessity himself also immortal ?
For they who make out many beginnings of the origin of
the soul, being devoted to the evil which is called polytheism,
and turning each individual of them, to the honour of different
beings, have caused great confusion and dissension both at
home and abroad, from the beginning of their birth to the end of
their life, filling life with irreconcilable quarrels ; but they
\vho rejoice in one kind alone, and who honour one as their
father, namely right reason, admiring the well-arranged and
all-musical harmony of the virtues, live a tranquil and peaceful
life, not an inactive and ignoble one, as some persons think,
but one of great manliness, and sharpened, and vigorous
against those who endeavour to break the confederacy which
they have formed, and who are always studying to bring about
a violation of the oaths which have been taken ; for it has come
to pass that the men of peace have become men of war, sitting
down to attack and to oppose those who seek to overturn the
firmness of the soul.
XII. And there is testimony in support of this assertion of
mine ; first of all, in the disposition of every lover of virtue
which acknowledges these inclinations ; and secondly, in that
comrade of the band of the prophets, who being inspired with
a sacred frenzy, spoke thus, " O my mother, how hast thou
brought me forth, a man of war, and a man of disquietude to all
the earth! I have not benefited them, and they have not
benefited me ; nor is my strength free from their curses, "t
But is not every wise man of necessity an irreconcilable
enemy to all wicked men, not indeed using the apparatus of
triremes or warlike engines, or arms, or soldiers, for his defence,
but reasons ? For when he sees war stirred up in the midst
Genesia xlii. 11. t Jeremiah xv. 10.
ON THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. 1 1
of tranquil peace, so as to be continued and incessant among
all men, both public and private, not existing only among
nations and countries, and cities and villages, but also in every
house, and between each particular individual; who is there
who does not reproach and admonish and seek to correct the
foolish men whom he sees, and not by day only, but also by
night, his soul being unable to remain tranquil by reason of
the hatred of wickedness implanted in his nature ?
For they do in peace every thing that is done in war ; they
plunder, they ravage, they drag into slavery, they carry oil
booty, they lay waste, they* behave insolently, they assault, they
destroy, they pollute, they murder treacherously, they murder
openly if they are the more powerful ; for every one of them,
proposing to himself riches or glory as his object, aims all
the actions of his life as so many arrows at it, and neglects
equality, and pursues inequality, and repudiates associations,
and labours to acquire to himself all the possessions together
properly belonging to every one; he is a misanthrope and a
hater of all his fellows, making a hypocritical pretence of
benevolence, being a companion of a bastard kind of flatten-,
an enemy of genuine friendship, a foe to truth, a champion of
falsehood, slow to do good, swift to do injury, very ready to
calumniate, very slow to defend, clever at deceiving, most per
jured, most faithless, a slave of anger, yielding to pleasure, a
guardian of all that is evil, a destroyer of all that is good.
XIII. These and other similar gifts are the most desirable
treasures of peace, that blessing so celebrated and so admired,
which the mind of each individual among the foolish men sets
up for itself as an image, and admires and worships; at
whom, very naturally, every wise man is grieved, and is accus
tomed to say to his mother and nurse, wisdom, " mother,
what a person hast thou brought me forth!" not in strength
of body, but in energy and courage, a determined hater of
wickedness, a man of disquietude and battle, by nature peace
ful, and, on this very account, an enemy to those who pollute
the desirable beauty of peace. " I have done no good to them,
nor have they done any good to me ;" nor have they even de
rived any advantage from my good things, nor have I from
their evil things ; but according to the word of Moses, " I
have received no desirable thing from any one of them,"* in-
Numbers xvL 15.
12 PHILO JUDJSUS.
asmuch as I look upon as exceedingly pernicious every object
of their desire, which they treasure up in their hearts as the
greatest possible advantage ; " Nor has my strength failed by
reason of the curses which they laid upon me ;"* but em
bracing the divine doctrines with my most earnest power, I
was not wearied so as to give up, but rather I vigorously re
proached those who cursed me from their hearts.
For God made us to be a contradiction to our neighbours,
as is said in my hymns, meaning all of us who aim at right
reason : but are not all those people naturally fond of contra
diction who have a zeal for knowledge and virtue, being always
at variance with the neighbours of their soul, reproving the
pleasures which live in union with them, and reproving the
appetites which have the same abode, and looking morosely at
acts of cowardice and fear, and the whole body of passions and
vices ?
Reproving then every outward sense, the eyes for what they
saw, and the ears for what they heard, and the sense of smell
for the smells that presented themselves to it, the taste for
the flavours which were subjected to it, and moreover the
touch for its various powers developed in the body, with refer
ence to the peculiarities which come under its notice ; and
even uttered speech for the matters which it may have chosen
to discuss ; for what the outward sense has perceived, or how
it has done so, or why, or what speech has uttered, or how or
why, or in what manner, and how and why passion has dis
posed men, it is worth while to investigate in no superficial
manner, and to examine each of the errors into which they
fall ; but he who contradicts none of these things, but who
assents to every one of them in succession, without being
aware of it, is deceiving himself, and building up troublesome
neighbours for his soul, which he had better have as subjects
than as rulers ; for as rulers they will do him manifold and
great injury, since folly reigns among them ; but as subjects
they will serve him obediently in suitable matters, and will
not at all raise their heads in arrogance, as they will if they
are rulers.
Thus, indeed, while some are learning to be subjects, and
others are obtaining authority, not by knowledge only but also
by power, all the body-guards and champions of the soul, that
* Paalm Ixxix. 7.
ON THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. 1 3
is to say, its reasonings will keep them in order, and coming
to that which is most important among them will say, " Thy
children have taken the sura of the men that are warriors
among us, and there is not one of them who has disagreed ;"
but like musical instruments, skilfully tuned in all their tones,
so we sound in harmony in all our explanations, neither utter
ing any word nor doing any action which shall be unmelodious
or discordant, that we may by the contrast show, that the
other company of unlettered men is, in all respects, voiceless
and dead, and an object of deserved ridicule, namely, that
nourishment of the corporeal parts, Midian, and that his off
spring too, that mass of skins, whose name is Belphegor, is
asleep ; "for we are of the race of picked men of Israel, that
sees God, of whom not one has disagreed ;"t that the instru
ment of the universe, the whole world, may be melodiously
sounded in musical harmony.
On this account Moses says that the " reward of peace " + was
given to the very war-like reason, which is called Phinehas ;
because, having received a zeal for virtue, and having taken
up war against vice, he cut up the whole of generation ; and
in the second place, to all those who are willing, after a careful
examination arid investigation, using their eyes in preference
to their ears as a trustworthy witness, to believe that the human
race is full of infidelity, depending solely on opinion. There,
fore the afore-mentioned agreement is admirable ; and most
admirable of all is that common one which exceeds all the
harmonies of all the others, according to which the whole
people is represented as saying with one accord, "All the
things which God has spoken, we will obey and do." For
these men no longer obey reason as their ruler, but God, the
governor of the universe, by whom they are assisted so as to
display their energies in actions rather than in words. For
when they hear of others doing such and such things, these
men, which is a thing most contrary to what one would expect,
say that, from some inspiration of God, they will act first and
obey afterwards; in order that they may seem to have advanced
to good actions, not in consequence of instruction and admoni
tion, but by their own spontaneous and self-taught mind. And
then, when they have accomplished these actions, they say
* Numbers ml 49. f Exodus xxiv. 11.
J Numbers xxv. 12. Deuteronomy v. 27.
14 PHILO JUD^US
that they will obey in order that they may form an opinion of
what they have done, as to whether their actions are consistent
with the divine injunctions and the sacred admonitions of scrip
ture.
XIV. But those who conspired to commit injustice, he says,
" having come from the east, found a plain in the land of
Shinar, and dwelt there ; " * speaking most strictly in accord
ance with nature. For there is a twofold kind of dawning in
the soul, the one of a better sort, the other of a worse. That
is the better sort, when the light of the virtues shines forth like
the beams of the sun ; and that is the worse kind, when they
are overshadowed, and the vices show forth. Now, the follow
ing is an example of the former kind : " And God planted a
paradise in Eden, toward the east,"t not of terrestrial but of
celestial plants, which the planter caused to spring up from
the incorporeal light which exists around him, in such a way
as to be for ever inextinguishable.
I have also heard of one of the companions of Moses having
uttered such a speech as this : " Behold, a man whose name is
the East ! " J A very novel appellation indeed, if you consider
it as spoken of a man who is compounded of body and soul ;
but if you look upon it as applied to that incorporeal being who
in no respect differs from the divine image, you will then agree
that the name of the east has been given to him with great
felicity. For the Father of the universe has caused him to
spring up as the eldest son, whom, in another passage, he calls
the firstborn ; and he who is thus born, imitating the ways of
his father, has formed such and such species, looking to his
archetypal patterns.
XV. But an example of the worse kind of dawning is
afforded by the words used by the man who was willing " to
curse the people who were blessed by God." For he also is
represented as dwelling in the east. And this dawning, having
the same name as the former one, has nevertheless an opposite
nature to it, and is continually at war with it. For Balaam
says, " Balak sent for me out of Mesopotamia, from the
mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me the peoplo
whom God doth not curse." But the name of Balak, being
interpreted means, " void of sense ; " a very felicitous name.
* Genesis xi. 2. t Genesis ii. 8.
Zechariah vi. 12. Numbex-s xxiii. 7.
ON THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. 15
For how can it be otherwise than shocking to hope to deceive
the living God, and to turn aside his most enduring and firmly
established counsels by the sophistical devices of men ? On
this account he is represented as living in Mesopotamia, for
his mind is overwhelmed as in the middle of the depth of the
river, and is not able to emerge and to swim away. And this
condition is the dawning of folly and the setting of sound
reason.
They, then, who are tuned in an inharmonious symphony
are said to be moved from the east. Is this, then, the east
according to wickedness ? But the dawning in accordance
with virtue is described as a complete separation, and the
motion from the dawning according to vice is a united one, as
when the hands are moved, not separately and disjunctively,
but in a certain harmony and connection with the whole body.
For folly is to the wicked man the beginning of his energy in
the works which are contrary to nature, that is, of his approach
to the region of wickedness. But all those who have quitted
the region of virtue, and have set forth to go over to folly,
have found a most appropriate place in which they dwell,
which is called in the Hebrew language Shinar. And Shinar
in Greek, is called " shaking ; " for the whole life of the wicked
is shaken, and agitated, and torn to pieces, being always kept
in a state of commotion and confusion, and having no trace of
any genuine good laid up in itself. For as everything which
is not held together by close union, falls out of what is
violently shaken, in the very same manner, it seems to me,
that the soul is shaken of every man who associates with
others for the purpose of doing wrong ; for he casts away
every appearance of good, so that no shadow or image of it
ever appears.
XVI. Accordingly, the body-loving race of the Egyptians
is represented as fleeing, not from the water, but " under the
water," that is to say, beneath the impetuous speed of the
passions. And when it has once placed itself under the power
of the passions, it is shaken and agitated ; it casts away the
stable and peaceful qualities of virtue, and takes up in their
stead the turbulent and confused character of wickedness ; for
it is said that " God shook the Egyptians in the middle
of the sea, fleeing under the water." * These are they who
Exodus xiv. 27.
16 PH1LO JUD^US.
neither knew Joseph the diversified pride of life but
who, having their sins revealed, have not received any trace, or
shade, or image of goodness and excellence. For, says Moses,
* Another king arose over the Egyptians who knew not
Joseph,"* the latest and most modern good perceptible by the
outward senses, who utterly destroyed not only the perfectiona
but even all improvements, and all the energy which can be
exerted by the sight, and all the teaching which can be im
planted by means of the hearing, saying, " Come, curse me
Jacob ; and come, defy Israel for me ;" f an expression which is
equivalent to, Destroy both these things, the sight and the
hearing of the soul, that it may neither see nor hear any true
and genuine good thing ; for Israel is the emblem of seeing
and Jacob of hearing. Accordingly the mind of such persons
rejects the whole nature of good, being in some degree shaken;
and, on the other hand, the mind of good persons, setting up
a claim to the unmingled and unalloyed ideas of good things,
shakes off and discards all that is evil.
Consider, therefore, what the practiser of virtue says :
" Take up the foreign gods that are among you from out of
the midst of you, and purify yourselves, and change your
garments, and rise up and let us go to Bethel ; " J in order that,
even if Laban should demand a power of examining, the
images might not be found in his whole house, but only such
things as have a real subsistence and essence, being fixed like
pillars in the mind of the wise man, which the self-taught
offspring Isaac has received as his inheritance ; for he alone
receives his father s substance as his inheritance."
XVII. And take notice that Moses does not say that they
came unto a plain in which they remain, but that they " found
one, having searched around in every direction, and having
considered what might be the most suitable region for folly ;
for in reality every foolish man does not take from another for
himself, but he seeks for and finds evils, not being content
only with those which wicked nature proceeds towards of its
own accord, but also adding thereto such perfect skill in evil
as arises from constant practice in contriving wrong. And I
wish indeed that after he had remained there a brief time he
had changed his abode ; but even now he thinks fit to remain,
* Exodus i. 8. t Numbers xxiii. 7
1 Genesis xxxv. 2. Genesis xxv. 5.
ON THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. 17
for it is said that having found the plain they dwelt there ;
having settled there as if in their own country and not as if in
a foreign land ; for it would have been less terrible for men
who had fallen in with wicked actions to look upon them as
strange and foreign to them, and not to consider that they had
any kindred or connection with them. For if they had looked
upon themselves as sojourners among them, they would have
changed their abode at a subsequent time, but now having
settled fixedly among them they were likely to dwell there for
ever.
For this reason all the wise men mentioned in the books of
Moses are represented as sojourners, for their souls are sent
down from heaven upon earth as to a colony ; and on account
of their fondness for contemplation, and their love of learning,
they are accustomed to migrate to the terrestrial nature. Since
therefore having taken up their abode among bodies, they
behold all the mortal objects of the outward senses by their
means, they then subsequently return back from thence to
the place from which they set out at first, looking upon the
heavenly country in which they have the rights of citizens as
their native land, and as the earthly abode in which they dwell
for a while as in a foreign land.
For to those who are sent to be the inhabitants of a colony, the
country which has received them is in place of their original
mother country ; but still the land which has sent them forth
remains to them as the house to which they desire to return.
Therefore, very naturally, Abraham says to the guardians of
the dead and to the arrangers of mortal affairs, after he has
forsaken that life which is only dead and the tomb, " I am a
stranger and a sojourner among you, "* but ye are natives of
the country, honouring the dust and earth more than the soul,
thinking the name Ephron worthy of precedence, for Ephron,
being interpreted, means " a mound * and naturally, Jacob, the
practiser of virtue, bewails his being a sojourner in the body,
saying, " The days of the years of my life which I spend here as
a sojourner have been few and evil ; they have not come up to
the days of my fathers which they spent as sojourners." t
But to him who was self-taught the following injunction of
scripture was given, " Do not go down, " says the scripture, " to
Egypt," that is to say to passion ; "but dwell in this land
Genesis xxiii. 4. t Genesis xlvii. 9.
VOL. II. C
18 PHILO JUD^EUS.
land which I will tell thee of, "* namely, in the incorporeal
wisdom which cannot be pointed out to the eye; and be a
sojourner in this land, the substance which can be pointed out
and appreciated by the external sense. And this is said with a
view to show, that the wise man is a sojourner in a foreign
land, that is to say in the body perceptible by the outward
senses, who dwells among the virtues appreciable by the
intellect as in his native land, which virtues God utters" as in
no way differing from the divine word. But Moses says, " I
am a sojourner in a foreign land ; " speaking with peculiar
fitness, looking upon his abode in the body not only as a
foreign land, as sojourners do, but also as a land from which
one ought to feel alienated, and never look upon it as one s
home.
XVIII. But the wicked man, desiring to exhibit the fact that
identity of language, and the sameness of dialect does not consist
more in names and common words than in his participation in
iniquitous actions, begins to build a city and a tower as a
citadel for sovereign wickedness ; and he invites all his fellow
revellers to partake in his enterprise, preparing beforehand
abundance of suitable materials. For, " Come, " says he, " let
us make bricks, and let us bake them in the fire," an expression
equivalent to, Now we have all the parts of the soul mingled
together and in a state of confusion, so that there is no species
whatever the form of which is evident to be seen. Therefore it
will be consistent with these beginnings that, as we have
assumed a certain essence destitute of all particular species ;
and of all distinctive qualities, and have also taken up with
passion and vice, we should also divide it into suitable qualities,
and keep on reducing the proximate to the ultimate species ;
and with a view to the more distinct comprehension of them,
and also to this employment and enjoyment of them combined
with experience, which appears to produce many pleasures and
delights.
Come, therefore, all ye reasonings of counsellors, in some way
or the other to the assembly of the soul ; come, all ye who
meditate the destruction of justice and of all virtue, and let us
consider carefully how we may attain to the end which we
desire. Now of success in this matter these will be the most
established foundations : to give to things without form shape
Genobia xivi. 9 t Exodus ii. 29.
ON THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. 10
and character, and to distinguish each thing separately with
distinct outlines, lest, if they become shaken and lame (though
lived on firm foundations,) and if they have assumed a con
nection with the nature of a quadrangular shape, (for this is a
nature always unshaken), they may then, being established
stradily like a building of brick, support even those things which
are built upon them.
XIX. Of such a structure as this every mind adverse to
God, which we call the king of Egypt (that is to say of the
body), is found to be the maker. For Moses represents the
mind as rejoicing in the buildings made of brick ; for after
some being or other made the two substances of water and
earth to be the one dry and the other solid, and mingling the
two together, for they were easily dissoluble and corruptible,
made a third substance to be on the confines of the two, which
is called clay, he has never ceased from dissecting this into
small portions, giving its own appropriate figure to each of the
fragments, in order that they might be very well compacted
together, and very suitable to the objects for which they were
intended. For in this way what was being made was sure to
be very easily perfected.
Imitating this work, those men who are wicked in their
natures, when they mingle the irrational and extravagant im
pulses of the passions with the most grievous vices, are, in
reality, dissecting that which has been combined into various
species, and unhappy that they are fashioning them again and
reducing them into shape, by means of which the blockade of
the soul will be raised on high ; these being, in fact, the divi
sions of the outward sense into seeing, and hearing, and taste,
and smell, and touch. Passion, again, is divided into pleasure,
and appetite, and fear, and grief ; and the universal genus of
rices is divided into folly, and intemperance, and cowardice,
and injustice, and all the other vices which are akin to or closely
connected with them.
XX. And before now some persons, even more excessively
extravagant in wickedness than these, have not only prepared
their own souls for such actions, but have also put a force upon
those of a superior class and of the genus which is endowed
with acuteness of vision, and have " compelled them to make
bricks and to build strong cities"* for the mind, which has ap-
Exodus i. 11.
C 2
20 PHILO JUD^EUS.
peared to occupy the place of king, wishing to point out this fact,
that what is good is the slave of what is evil, and that subjec
tion to the passions is more powerful than tranquillity of soul, and
prudence, and all virtue is, but, as it were, a subject of folly and
all wickedness, so as of necessity to minister in all the matters
which the master power enjoins ; for behold, says Moses, the
most pure, and brilliant, and far-sighted eye of the soul, to
which alone it is permitted to behold God, by name Israel,
being formerly bound in the corporeal nets of Egypt, endures
severe commands, so as to be compelled to make bricks and all
sorts of things of clay with the most grievous and intolerable
labours, at which it is very naturally pained, and at which it
groans, having laid up this, as it were, to be its only treasure
amid its evils, the power of bewailing its present distresses
For it is said, very correctly, that " the children of Israel
groaned by reason of their tasks."* And what man in his
senses is there who, if he saw the tasks of the generality of
men, and the exceeding earnestness with which they labour at
the pursuits to which they are accustomed to devote them
selves, whether it be the acquisition of money, or glory, or the
enjoyment of pleasure, would not be greatly concerned and cry
out to God, the only Saviour, that he would lighten their
labours, and pay a ransom and price for the salvation of the
soul, so as to emancipate and deliver it?
What, then, is the surest freedom ? The service of the only
wise God, as the scriptures testify, in which it is said, " Send
forth the people, that they may serve me."f But it is a pecu
liar property of those who serve the living God neither to
regard the works of cup-bearers, or bakers, or cooks, or any-
other earthly employments, nor to trouble themselves about
arranging or adorning their bodies like bricks, but to mount up
with their reason to the height of heaven, having elected Moses,
the type of the race which loves God, to be the guide of their
path ; for then "they will see the place which is visible, "J on
which the unchangeable and unalterable God stands ; and the
footstool beneath his feet, which is, as it were, a work of
sapphire stone, and, as it were, a resemblance to the firmament
of heaven, namely, the world perceptible by the outward
senses, which he describes allegorically by these figures. For
it is very suitable for those who have made an association for
Exodus ii. 23. f Exodus viii. 1. t Exodus xxiv. 10.
ON THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. 21
the purpose of learning to desire to see him ; and, if they are
unable to do that, at least to see his image, the most sacred
word, and, next to that, the most perfect work of all the thing*
perceptible by the outward senses, namely, the world ? For to
philosophise is nothing else but to desire to see these things
accurately.
XXI. But he says that the world perceptible to the outward
senses is, as it were, the footstool of God on this account :
first of all, that he may show that there is no efficient cause in
the creatures ; secondly, for the purpose of displaying that
even the whole world has not a free and unrestrained sponta
neous motion of its own, but God, the ruler of the universe,
takes his stand upon it, regulating it and directing everything
in a saving manner by the helm of his wisdom, using, in truth,
neither hands nor feet, nor any other part whatever such aa
belongs to created objects ; for God is not as man, but the
reason why we at times represent him as such, for the sake of
instruction, is because we are unable to advance out of our
selves, but derive our apprehension of the uncreate God from
the circumstances with which we ourselves are surrounded.
And it is very beautifully said by Moses, in the form of a
parable, when he speaks of the world as if it resembled a brick ;
for the world appears to stand and to be firmly fixed like a
brick in a house, as far as the vision of the sight of the outward
senses can inform us, but it has a very swift motion, and one
which is able to outstrip all particular motions. For the eyes
of our body look upon the appearance of the sun by day and of
the moon by night as standing still, and yet who is there who
does not know that the rapidity of movements of these two
bodies is incomparable, since they go round the whole heaven
in one day ? Thus, indeed, the universal heaven itself also,
while appearing to stand still, revolves in a circle ; its move
ment being detected and comprehended by the invisible and
more divine eye which is placed in our mind.
XXII. And they are represented as baking the bricks in the
fire, for the purpose of intimating by this symbolical expression
that they are strengthened and hardened as to their vices and
their passions by warm and most energetic reason, so that they
can never be overthrown by the body-guards of wisdom, by
whom engines for their defeat are being continually put in
operation. On which account we have this further statement
22 PHILO JUD^US.
also made, " Their brick \vas to them for stone ;" for the weak
and lax character of that impetuosity which is not in company
with reason, when it is closely pressed and condensed so as to
assume a nature capable of solidity and resistance, owes thig
change to powerful reasons and most convincing demonstrations ;
the comprehension of such speculations being, in a manner,
endowed with manliness and vigour, which comprehensions,
while in a tender age, melt away by reason of the mixture of
the soul, which is not as yet able to consolidate and preserve
the character impressed upon it.
" And they had slime for mortar ;" not, on the contrary,
mortar for slime. For the wicked appear to strengthen and
fortify what is weak against what is more powerful, and from
their own resources to consolidate and preserve what melts and
flows away from such things, in order that they may aim and
shoot at virtue from a safe place. But the merciful God and
father of the good will not permit their buildings to be esta
blished in indissoluble safety, their work of melting zeal not
being able to withstand, but becoming like soft mud.
For, if their clay had become mortar, then perchance that
earthy thing perceptible by the outward senses, which is for
ever and ever in a continued state of flux, would have been
able to arrive at a safe and unalterable power ; but since, on
the contrary, their mortar became mere slime, we must not
despair, for there is in this, certain hope that the strong forti
fications of vice may be overthrown by the might of God.
Therefore the just man, even in the great and incessant deluge
of life, while he is not as yet able to see things really as they
are by the energy of his soul alone without the assistance of the
outward sense, will anoint "the ark," by which I understand
the body, "both within and without with pitch,"* strength
ening his imaginations and energies by his own resources ; but
when the danger has ceased and the violence of the flood
abated, then he will come forth, availing himself of his incor
poreal mind for the comprehension of truth.
For the good disposition being from the very birth of the
man planted in virtue, and being spoken of as such, its name
being Moses, dwelling in the whole world as his native city
and country, becoming, as it were, a cosmopolite, being bound
up in the body, smeared over as with bitumen and pitch, "f
Genesis vi. 14. t Exodus ii. 3.
ON THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. 23
and appearing to be able to receive and to contain in security
all the imaginations of all things which might be subjected to
the outward senses, weeps* at being so bound up, being over
whelmed with a desire for an incorporeal nature. And he
weeps over the miserable mind of men in general as being
wandering and puffed up with pride, inasmuch as, being elated
with false opinion, it thinks that it has in itself something
firm and safe, and, as a general fact, that there something im
mutable in some creature or other, though the example of
perpetual stability, which is at all times the same, is set up in
God alone.
XXI II. And the expression, " Come, and let us build our
selves a city and a tower, the top of which shall reach to
heaven." has such a meaning as this concealed beneath it : the
lawgiver does not conceive that those only are cities which are
built upon the earth, the materials of which are wood and
stone, but he thinks that there are other cities also which
men bear about with them, being built in their souls ; and
these are, as is natural, the archetypes and models of the
others, inasmuch as they have received a more divine building,
and the others are but imitations of them, as consisting of
perishable substances.
But there are two species of cities, the one better, the
other worse. That is the better which enjoys a democratic
government, a constitution which honours equality, the rulers
of which are law and justice ; and such a constitution as this
is a hymn to God. But that is the worse kind which adulte
rates this constitution, just as base and clipped money is
adulterated in the coinage, being, in fact, ochlocracy, which
admires inequality, in which injustice and lawlessness bear
sway. Now good men are enrolled as citizens in the consti
tution of the first-mentioned kind of city ; but the multitude
of the wicked clings to the other and worse sort, loving dis
order more than orderliness, and confusion rather than well-
established steadiness.
And the wicked man seeks for coadjutors in his practice of
wickedness, not looking upon himself as sufficient by himself.
And he exhorts the sight, and he exhorts the hearing, and he
exhorts every outward sense in succession, to range itself on
his side without delay, and every one of them to bring to him
* Exodus ii. 6.
24 PHILO JUD^US.
all things necessary for his service. And he raises up and
sharpens all the rest of the company of the passions, which are
by their own nature unmanageable, in order that by the ad
dition of practice and care they may become irresistible. The
mind, therefore, having called in these allies, says, " Let us
build ourselves a city ;" an expression equivalent to, Let us
fortify our own things ; let us fence them around to the best
of our power, so that we may not be easily taken by those
who attack us ; let us divide and distribute, as into tribes and
boroughs, each of the powers existing in the soul, allotting
some to the rational part, and some to the irrational part ;
let us choose competent rulers, wealth, glory, honour, pleasure,
by means of which we may be able to become masters of every
thing ; banishing to a distance justice, the invariable cause
of poverty and ingloriousness ; and let us enact laws, which
shall confirm the chief power and advantage to those who are
always able to get the better of others.
And let a tower be built in this city as a citadel, to be a
strong palace for the tyrant vice, whose feet shall walk upon,
the earth, and its head shall, through pride, be raised to such
a height as to reach even to heaven ; for, in good truth, it
rests not only upon human sins, but it also hastens forward
as far as heaven, pushing up its words of impiety and ungod
liness, since it either speaks of God so as to assert that he has
no existence, or that, though he exists, he has no providence,
or to affirm that the world had no beginning of creation, or
that, admitting that it has been created, it is borne on by
unsteady causes, just as chance may direct, at one time wrongly,
at another time in an irreproachable manner, just as often
happens in the case of chariots or ships. For sometimes the
voyage of a ship, or the course of a chariot, goes on properly
even without charioteers or pilots ; but success is not only now
and then owing to providences, but very often to human pru
dence and invariably to divine, since error is admitted to be
altogether incompatible with divine power. Now what object
can the foolish men have who, speaking figuratively, build up
the reasonings of wickedness like a tower, except the desire of
leaving behind them a name which shall be far from a good name?
XXIV. For they say, " Let us make for ourselves a name."
0, the excessive and profligate impudence of such a
saying ! What say ye ? When ye ought to seek to bury
ON THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. 25
your iniquities under night and profound darkness, and to
assume as a veil for them, shame, if not genuine, at all events
pretended shame, whether for the sake of gaining favour in the
eyes of the moderate and virtuous, or for that of avoiding
punishment for admitted wickedness ; do ye, nevertheless,
proceed to such a pitch of audacity, as all but to come forth and
display yourselves in the light and in the most brilliant beams
of the sun, and to fear neither the threats of better men, nor
the implacable justice of God, which impends over such un
godly and desperate men ? But ye think fit even to send
around in every direction reports, to carry intelligence of your
domestic iniquities, in order that no one may be uninformed of
or unacquainted with your deeds of daring wickedness, wretched
and infamous men that ye are.
What name, therefore, do ye wish to assume ? Is it the one
which is most suitable to your actions ? But is there not one
name only which is suited to them ? It may, perhaps, be one
ill genus ; but there are ten thousand such names in species,
which you will hear from others, even if ye keep silence your
selves. The names adapted to your conduct are, rashness
united with shamelessness, insolence combined with violence,
violence in union with homicide, corruption in combination
with adultery, undefined appetite accompanied by unmeasured
indulgence in pleasures, folly joined with impudence, injustice
united to crafty wickedness, theft combined with rapine, per
jury united with lying, impiety combined with utter lawless
ness. Such, and similar to these, are the names of such
actions. And it is well for them to boast over and pride
themselves, upon seeking for reputation from actions which it
would be more seemly to hide and to be ashamed of.
And, indeed, some persons do pride themselves on these
things, thinking that in consequence of them they do derive a
certain irresistible degree of power among men from this idea
being entertained respecting them ; but they will not escape the
divine vengeance for their enormous audacity, and very soon
they will have occasion not only to anticipate at a distance, but
even to see immediately impending their own death. For they
say, " Before we are dispersed, let us have a care for our
name and our glory." Should I not then say to them, Ye know
that ye will be dispersed ? Why, then, do ye commit iniquity ?
But perhaps he is here placing before us the manner of
26 PHILO JUD^JUS.
foolish men who, even when the very greatest punishments are
not obscurely impending over them, but are often visibly
threatening them, nevertheless do not hesitate to commit
iniquity. And the punishments, however they may seem to be
concealed, are in reality most notorious, which are inflicted by
God. For all the most wicked of men adopt ideas that they
can never escape the knowledge of the deity when doing
wrong, and that they shall never be able to ward off alto
gether the day of retribution. Since otherwise, how do they
know that they will be dispersed ? And yet they say, " Before
we are dispersed." But their conscience, which is within, con
victs them, and pricks them vehemently, when devoting them
selves to ungodliness, so as to draw them against their will to
a confession that all the circumstances affecting men are over
looked by a superior nature, and that justice is watching above,
as an incorruptible chastiser, hating the unjust actions of the
impious, and the reasonings and speeches which undertake
their defence.
XXV. But all these men are the offspring of that wicked
ness which is always dying but which never dies, the name of
which is Cain. Is not Cain represented as having begotten a
son whom he called Enoch,* and as building a city to which he
gave the same name, and as after a fashion building up created
and mortal things to the destruction of those things which
have received a more divine formation ? For the name Enoch,
being interpreted, means "thy grace." But every impious man
supposes that what he thinks and understands is owing to the
bounty of his intellect towards him ; that what he sees is the
gift of his eyes to him, what he hears of his ears, what he
smells of his nostrils, and so that each of his outward senses
bestows on him those perceptions which are in accordance with
them. Again, that it is the organs of the voice which endow
him with the capacity of speaking, and that there is actually
no such thing as a God at all, or at all events that he is not
the primary cause of things.
Because of these views he assigns to himself the first fruits
of the fruits which he extracts from the earth by his husbandry,
being contented afterwards to offer to God some of the fruit,
H d that too though he has a sound example at hand ; for
his brother offers a sacrifice of the offspring of the flock, offer-
iv. 17.
ON THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. 27
ing the firstborn, and not those which are of secondary value ;
confessing that the eldest causes of all existing things are
suited to the eldest and first cause. But the impious man
thinks exactly the contrary, namely, that the mind is endowed
with absolute power to do whatever it desires, and that the
outward senses have absolute power as to all that they feel,
for that both the mind and the outward senses decide in an
irreproachable and unerring manner, the one on bodies, and
the other on everything. Now what can be more open to
blame, or more capable of conviction by truth, than such ideas
as these ? Has not the mind been repeatedly convicted of
innumerable acts of folly? And have not all the outward
senses been convicted of bearing false witness, and that 1
not by irrational judges who, it is natural to suppose, may be
deceived, but before the tribunal of nature herselt, which it is
impossible to corrupt or to pervert ?
And indeed as the criteria both of our mind and of our
outward senses are liable to error respecting even ourselves,
it follows of necessity that we must make the corresponding
confession that God sheds upon the mind the power of intel
lect and on the outward senses the faculty of apprehension,
and that these benefits are conferred upon us not by our
own members but by him to whom also we owe our existence.
XXVI The children who have received from their father
the inheritance of self-love are eager to go on increasing up to
heaven, until justice, which loves virtue and hates iniquity,
coming destroys their cities which they have built up by the
side of their miserable souls, and the tower the name of which
is displayed in the book which is entitled the Book of Judg
ment And the name is, as the Hebrews say, Phanuel, whic
translated into our language means, "turning away from
God * For any strong building which is erected by means
plausible arguments is not built for the sake of any other
object except that of averting and alienating the mind 1
the honour due to God, than which object what can be more
iniquitous? But for the destruction of this strong fortifica
tion a ravager and an enemy of iniquity is prepared who i
alwavs full of hostility towards it; whom the Hebrews call
Gideon ; which name being interpreted means, " a retreat lor
robbers " " For," says Moses, " Gideon swore to the men ol
Phanuel sayin", On die day when I return victorious in peace,
S8 PHILO JUD^US.
I will overthrow this tower." * A very beautiful and most
becoming boast for the soul which hates wickedness and is
sharpened against the impious, namely, that it is resolved to
overthrow every reasoning which by its persuasions seeks to
turn the mind away from holiness, and this indeed is the
natural result. For when the mind turns round, then that
which turns away from it, and rejects it is again dissolved,
and this is the opportunity for destroying it which (a most
wonderful thing) he calls not war but peace. For, owing to
the stability and firmness of the mind which piety is accus
tomed to produce, every reasoning which impiety has formed
is overturned.
Many also have even erected the outward senses after the
fashion of a tower, raising them to such a height as to be able
to reach the very borders of heaven. But the term heaven
is here used symbolically to signify our mind, according to which
the best and most divine natures revolve. But they who dare
such deeds prefer the outward senses to the intellect, and
desire by means of the outward senses forcibly to destroy all
the objects of intellect, compelling those things which are, at
present masters to descend into the rank of servants, and rais
ing those things which are by nature slaves to the rank of
masters.
XXVII. And the statement, " The Lord went down to see
that city and that tower " must be listened to altogether as if
spoken in a figurative sense. For to think that the divinity
can go towards, or go from, or go down, or go to meet, or, in
short, that it has the same positions and motions as particular
animals, and that it is susceptible of real motion at all, is, to
use a common proverb, an impiety deserving of being
banished beyond the sea and beyond the world. But these
things are spoken, as if of man, by the lawgiver, of God who
is not invested with human form, for the sake of advantage to
us who are to be instructed, as I have often said before with
reference to other passages. Since who is there who does not
know that it is indispensable for a person who goes down, to
leave one place and to occupy another ? But all places are
filled at once by God, who surrounds them all and is not
surrounded by any of them, to whom alone it is possible to be
everywhere and also nowhere. Nowhere, because he himself
* Judges viii. 9.
ON THE CONFUSION* OF LANGUAGES. 29
created place and space at the same time that he created
bodies, and it is impious to say that the Creator is contained in
anything that he has created.
Again, he is everywhere, because, having extended his powers
so as to make them pervade earth, and water, and air, and
heaven, he has left no portion of th world desolate, but, hav
ing collected even-thing together, he has bound them with
chains which cannot be burst,* so that they are never eman
cipated, on which account he is especially to be praised with
hymns.
For that which is higher than all powers is understood to
exceed them, not merely in the fact of its existence. But the
power of this being which made and arranged everything is
with perfect truth called God, and it contains everything in its
bosom, and pervades every portion of the universe. But the
divine being, both invisible and incomprehensible, is indeed
everywhere, but still, in truth, he is nowhere visible or com
prehensible. But when he says, " I am he who stands before
thee,"t he appears indeed to be displayed and to be compre
hended, though before any exhibition or conception he was
superior to all created things. Therefore, no one of the words
*hich implies a motion from place to place is appropriate to
that God who exists only in essence ; such expressions, I mean,
as going upwards or downwards, to the right or to the left,
forwards or backwards. For he is not conceived of in any
one of the above mentioned ideas, inasmuch as he never
turns round or changes his place.
But, nevertheless, he is said to have come down and to have
seen, he who by his foreknowledge comprehends everything,
not only that has happened, but even before it happens ; and
this expression is used for the sake of exhortation and instruc
tion, in order that no man, indulging in uncertain conjectures
about matters which he is not present to behold may, while
standing afar off, be too prompt to believe idle fancies, but that
every one may come close to the facts, and examining each
one separately, may carefully and thoroughly consider them.
For certain sight is more deserving to be looked upon as a
The text ha* aoparoic, " invisibly" but I have followed Mangey *
translation, who reada appn^oif. The remainder of the sentence ia
exceedingly corrupt.
t Exodus xtli. .
SO PHILO JUD^US.
trustworthy witness than fallacious hearing. On which account
a law has been enacted among those nations which have the
most excellent constitution, that one must not give evidence
on hearsay, because by its own nature the tribunal of the sense
of hearing is liable to be corrupted. And Moses indeed says
in the prohibitory part of his law, "Thou shalt not receive vain
hearing. 1 * Meaning not only this, that one ought not to
receive false or silly reports by hearsay, but that, as far as the
clear comprehension of the truth is concerned, the hearing is
a long way behind the sight, being full of vanity.
XXVIII. We say that this is the reason why it is said that
God went down to see the city and the tower ; and the addition,
" Which the sons of men had built," is not a mere superfluity.
For perhaps some profanely disposed person may mock and
say, " The lawgiver is here teaching us a very novel kind of
lesson, when he says that no one else but the sons of men
build cities and towers ; for who, even of the most crazy
people is ignorant of what is so evident and notorious as that ?"
But we must not suppose that sucb a plain and unquestionable
fact as that, is what is intended to be conveyed by the mention
of it in the holy scriptures, but rather there is some hidden
meaning concealed under these apparently plain words which
we must trace out. What then is this hidden meaning ?
Those who, as it were, attribute many fathers to existing
things, and who represent the company of the gods as nume
rous, displaying great ignorance of the nature of things and
causing great confusion, and making pleasure the proper object
of the soul, are those who are, if we must tell the plain truth,
spoken of as the builders of the aforesaid city, and of the
citadel in it ; having increased the efficient causes of the
desired end, building them up like houses, being, as I imagine,
in no respect different from the children of the harlot whom
the law expels from the assembly of God, where it says, " The
offspring of a harlot shall not come into the assembly of the
Lord." t
Because, like archers shooting at random at many objects,
and not aiming skilfully or successfully at any one mark, so
these men, putting forward ten thousand principles and causes
for the creation of the universe, every one of which is false,
display a perfect ignorance of the one Creator and Father of
* Exodus xxiii. 1. f Deuteronomy xxiii. 2.
ON THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. 31
all things ; but they who have real knowledge, are properly
addressed as the sons of the one God, as Moses also entitles
them, where he says, " Ye are the sons of the Lord God."
And again, " God who begot thee ; " f and in another place,
"Is not he thy father?"
Accordingly, it is natural for those who have this disposition
of soul to look upon nothing as beautiful except what is good,
which is the citadel erected by those who are experienced in
this kind of warfare as a defence against the end of pleasure,
and as a means of defeating and destroying it. And even if
there be not as yet any one who is worthy to be called a son of
God, nevertheless let him labour earnestly to be adorned ac
cording to his first-born word, the eldest of his angels, as the
great archangel of many names ; for he is called, the authority,
anTr~tfalTnamd" of God, arid the Word, and man according to
God s image, and he who sees Israel. For which reason I was
induced a little while ago to praise the principles of those who
said, "We are all one man s sons." For even if we are not
yet suitable to be called the sons of God, still we may deserve
to be called the children of his eternal image, of his most
sacred word ; for the image v ~of"~GrJa v ~is his most ancient
word. .
And, indeed, in many passages of the law, the children of
Israel are called hearers of him that seeth, since hearing is
honoured with the second rank next after the sense of sight,
and since that which is in need of instruction is at all times
second to that which can receive clear impressions of the sub
jects submitted to it without any such information. And I
also admire the things which are spoken under divine inspira
tion in the books of Kings, according to which those who
flourished many generations afterwards and lived in a blame
less manner, are spoken of as the sons of David who wrote
hymns to God ; though, during his lifetime, even their great
grandfathers had not yet been born. The truth is, that the
birth here spoken of is that of souls made immortal by their
virtues, not of perishable bodies, and this birth is naturally
referred to the leaders of virtue, as its parents and progeni
tors.
XXIX. But against those who pride themselves on injustice,
Deuteronomy xiv. 1. t Deuteronomy xxxii. 18.
xlii. 11. I 2 Err. rui. 2.
32 PHILO JUD^US.
the Lord said, "Behold, there is one race and one language
among them all," an expression equivalent to, Behold, there
is one family and one bond of relationship, and also, one
harmony and agreement among them all together, no one being
in his mind at all alienated from or disconnected with his
neighbour, as is the case with illiterate men. For at times,
the organ of speech among them is, in all its tones, out of tune
and inharmonious in no slight degree, being in fact carefully
arranged so as to produce inharmoniousness, and having only
such a concert as will cause a want of melody.
And in the case of fevers,* one may see very similar effects ;
for they are periodical changes, in some recurring every day,
in others every third or every fourth day, as the sons of the
physicians say ; and they have also stated hours, both by day
and night, at which important crises may be expected, and
they at all times keep nearly the same order.
And the expression, " And they began to do this," is said
with no moderate indignation, because it has not been suffi
cient for wicked men to confuse all the principles of justice
which affect those of the same country as themselves, but they
have ventured to transgress even the laws of Heaven, sowing
injustice and reaping impiety. But these wretched men
derive no advantage, for though those who seek to inflict
mutual injuries on one another, succeed in many of the objects
which they have at heart, bringing to their accomplishment in
action what they have decided on in their unwise minds, yet
the case is not the same with the impious. For all things
belonging to the Deity are incapable of receiving either
damage or injury, and the unclean can only find out the be
ginnings of sinning in respect of them, but can never arrive
at the end which they propose to themselves ; on which ac
count this expression also occurs, " They began to do."
Men full of an insatiable desire of doing wrong, not being
content with the crimes which they can perpetrate on earth,
by sea, and in the air, inasmuch as they are of a perishable
nature, have determined to array themselves against the divine
natures existing in heaven ; which, as they are not reckoned
* I have tranBlated Mangey s Latin translation. He pronounces the
whole paueage in the original text corrupt and unintelligible. The
word translated fvr is iro\iTidoc, a word manifestly corrupt.
ON THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. 33
among existing creatures are also out of all reach of injury.
Even calumny itself can inflict no injury on those things if it
ventures to speak ill of them, inasmuch as they are never
moved from their everlasting and eternal natures, but it inflicts
incurable calamity on those who accuse it.
Are they not to be blamed, since indeed they have only
begun, being unable to arrive at the end of the impiety they
propose to themselves, are they not, I say, to be blamed just as
much as if they had accomplished all the objects that they had
in view? On this account also, Moses speaks of them as having
finished the tower, though in fact they had not yet completed
it, where he says, " The Lord went down to see the city and
the tower," not which the sons of men were going to build, but
which they had built.
XXX. What, then, is the proof that they had not entirely
completed this building ? First of all, the manifest notoriety
of the fact. For it is impossible for even so slight a portion of
the earth to touch the heaven, by reason of the cause before-
mentioned, that no centre can ever touch the circumference :
in the second place, because the aether (a/^f) is sacred fire and
an unquenchable flame, as its very name shows, being derived
from eu&u, to burn, which is a synonymous word with xa/.
And we have a witness in our favour in one portion of the
heavenly system of fire, that is in the sun, who, though he is
at such a distance from the earth, sends his beams down into
his inmost recesses, and sometimes warms and at times even
scorches the earth itself, and the air which reaches from the
earth up to the heavenly sphere, though it is by nature cold ;
for all those things which are removed to a distance from his
rapid course, or which are in an oblique direction, one side of
it only warms ; but those which are near to him, or in a direct
line from him, is violently burnt up.
If, then, these things are so, was it not necessary that those
men who were endeavouring to mount up to heaven must have
been stricken with thunderbolts and burnt up, their high-
minded and proud designs being unaccomplished by them?
This is the meaning which Moses appears to intend to convey,
figuratively, by the expressions which follow : " For they
* Thin passage again in the text IB unintelligible, and pronounced by
Manijey to b in a state of hopeless corruption.
VOL. II. D
34 PHILO JUD^US.
ceased," says he, "to build the city and the tower."* Not,
indeed, because they had finished their work, but because they
were prevented from accomplishing it by the confusion which
supervened. Nevertheless, they have not escaped blame for
their actions, inasmuch as they had decided on them and
attempted to carry them out.
XXXI. At all events, the law says that that soothsayer and
diviner who was led into folly in respect of his unstable conjec
tures (for the name, Balaam, being interpreted, means un
stable), " cursed the people that saw ;"f and that, too, though
as far as his words go he uttered only words of good omen and
prayers. The law here looking not at the words he uttered,
which, through the providence of God, did change their
character, becoming good money instead of base coinage, but
having regard to the intention in which injurious things were
resolved in preference to beneficial ones. But these things are,
by nature inimical to one another, conjectures being at variance
with truth, and vain opinion with knowledge, and prophecy,
which is not dictated by divine inspiration, being directly
opposed to sober wisdom.
And even if any one, rising up as it were from his ambush,
were to try, but to be unable, to slay a man, still he is none the
less liable to the punishment due to homicides, as the law
which is enacted about such persons shows. " For if," says
the law, " any one attacks his neighbour, wishing to slay him
by treachery, and escapes, thou shalt apprehend him, even at
the altar, to put him to death. "J And yet the thing con
demned is the attacking with intent to kill, not the actual
killing, but the law looks upon the intention to slay as equal
in guilt to the actual slaying ; on which account it does not
grant pardon to such a man even if he supplicates for it, but
bids one drag the man who has cherished so unholy a design
even from the temple itself.
And such a man is unholy, not merely because he has
plotted slaughter against a soul which might have lived for
ever through its acquisition and use of virtue, making an
attack on it through the agency of wickedness, but also because
he blames God as the cause of his ungodly audacity ; for the
word, " escapes," has such a meaning as this concealed under
: U Because many men wish to escape from accusations which
* Genesis xi. 8. t Deut. xxiii. 4. J Exodus xxi. 14.
ON THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. 35
are brought against themselves, and think it fitting that they
should be delivered from the punishments due to the offences
which they have committed, and so they attribute their own
iniquity to him who is the cause of no evil, but of all kinds of
good, namely, to God ; for which reason it was accounted as no
violation of divine law to drag such men even from the altars
themselves.
And it was an excessive punishment which was then de
nounced against the reasons which were thus built up and put
together for purposes of impiety ; which, however, perhaps
some foolish persons will look upon not as injury, but as a
benefit. " For," says Moses, " there shalt not fail to them any
one of the things which they have endeavoured to do."* Alas
for their unlimited and interminable misery ! All the objects
which the most insane intention fixes its desires upon shall be
successfully carried out, and shall obey its will, so that nothing
whatever shall fail, either small or great, but everything shall,
as it were, make haste to meet and to anticipate their require
ments.
XXXII. These things are an exhibition of a soul destitute
of prudence, and which meets with no impediment to its in
dulging in sin ; for whoever is not utterly incurable would
rather pray that all the purposes of his mind might fail, so
that if he had formed a resolution to steal, or to commit adul
tery, or to murder a man, or to commit sacrilege, or to perpe
trate any similar crime, he might not succeed, but might find
innumerable obstacles. For such hindrance would get rid of
the greatest of all diseases, injustice ; but any one who is free
from all fear is sure to admit this malady.
Why then, my friends, do you any longer praise or admire
the fortunes of tyrants, owing to which they succeed with ease
in everything which they undertake, and which a frenzied and
unrestrained mind prompts them to do? And yet one ought
rather to lament over them, since inability and powerlessness
to succeed in their objects is advantageous to the wicked, just
as abundant opportunity and power is the most beneficial thing
for the good. But one of the crowd of foolish men, perceiving
to what an abundant superfluity of misery indulgence in sinning
leads, said, speaking with perfect freedom, My wickedness in
too great for me to be forgiven."!
* Genesis xi. 6. t Genesis ir. 13.
D 2
36 PHILO JUIXEUS.
It is, therefore, very melancholy indeed for the soul, which
is by its own nature unmanageable, to be left without any re
straint ; while it is scarcely possible for any one to hold it in
with reins, and by that means, in conjunction with the infliction
of stripes, to reduce it to reason. On which account an oracle of
the all-merciful God has been given, full of gentleness, which
shadows forth good hopes to those who love instruction, in
these terms : " I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."*
For when the chains of the soul, by which it has been used to
be held in bondage, are loosened, then the greatest of all
calamities follows, namely, the being deserted by God, who
has fastened chains which can never be broken round the
universe, namely, his own powers, with which he binds every
thing, willing that it shall never more be released. Accord
ingly, he says, in another passage, that " all things which are
bound with a chain are pure ;"f since unbinding is the cause of
the destruction of that which is impure.
Beware, then, lest when you see a man accomplishing with
out difficulty all the objects which he endeavours to effect, you
admire him as a prosperous man ; take care rather to pity him
as a very unfortunate one, because* he passes his whole life in a
perfect destitution of virtue and a great abundance of vice.
XXXIII. And it is worth while to consider in no superficial
manner what the meaning is of that expression which is put
by Moses into the mouth of God : " Come, let us go down and
confuse their language there." J For here God is represented
as if he were speaking to some beings who were his coadjutors.
And the very same idea may be excited by what is said in the
account of the creation of the world, for there, too, Moses re
cords that " the Lord God said, Come, let us now make man
in our image ; man in our similitude. " The expression, " Let
us make," implying a number of creators. And, in another
place, we are told that God said, " Behold, the man, Adam, has
become as one of us, in respect of his knowing good and evil ;"||
for the expression, " as one of us," is not applicable to one
person, but to many.
In the first place then, we must say this, that there is no
existing being equal in honour to God, but there is one only
* Joshua i. 5. f Numbers xix. 1 5. % Genesis xL 7.
Genesis L 26. || Genesis iii. 22.
ON THE CONFCSION OF LANGUAGES. 37
ruler and governor and king, to whom alone it is granted to
govern and to arrange the universe. For the verse
A multitude of kings is never good,
Let there one sovereign, one sole monarch be,*
is not more justly said with respect to cities and men than
with respect to the world and to God ; for it is clear from the
necessity of things that there must be one creator, and one
father, and one master of the one universe.
XXXIV. This point then being thus granted, it is necessary
to convert with it also what follows, so as to adapt it properly.
Let us then consider what this is : God, being one, has about
him an unspeakable number of powers, all of which are
defenders and preservers of every thing that is created ; and
among these powers those also which are conversant with
punishment are involved. But even punishment is not a disad
vantageous thing, inasmuch as it is both a hindrance to and a
correction of doing wrong.
Again, it is by means of these powers that the incorporeal
world, perceptible by the intellect, has been put together, which
is the archetypal model of this invisible world, being com
pounded of invisible species, just as this world is of invisible
bodies. Some persons therefore, admiring exceedingly the
nature of both these worlds, have not only deified them in their
wholes, but have also deified the most beautiful parts of them,
such as the sun and the moon, and the entire heaven, which,
having no reverence for anything, they have called gods. But
Moses, perceiving their design, says, " O Lord, Lord, King ot
the gods,"t in order to show the difference between the ruler
and those subject to him, " And there is also in the air a most
sacred company of incorporeal souls as an attendant upon tho
heavenly souls ; for the word of prophecy is accustomed to call
these souls angels.
It happens therefore that the whole army of each of these
worlds, being marshalled in their suitable ranks, are servants
and ministers of the ruler who has marshalled them, whom
they follow as their leader, in obedience to the principles of law
and justice ; for it is impossible to suppose that the divine
army can even be detected in desertion. But it is suitable to
the character of the king to associate with his own powers,
and to avail himself of them, with a view to their ministrations
* Iliad ii. 204. t Deuteronomy x. 17.
38 PHILO JUD^EUS,
in such matters as it is not fitting should be settled by God
alone, for the Father of the universe has no need of anything,
so as to require assistance from any other quarter if he wishes
to make any thing.
But seeing at once what is becoming, both for himself and
for his works of creation, there are some things which he has
entrusted to his subordinate powers to fashion; and yethe has not
at once given even to them completely independent knowledge
to enable it to accomplish their objects, in order that no one
of those things which come to be created may be found to be
erroneously made.
XXXV. These things, then, it was necessary to give an idea
of beforehand ; but for what reason this was necessary we must now
say. The nature of animals was originally divided into the por
tion endowed with and into that devoid of reason, the two
being at variance with one another. Again the rational division
was subdivided into the perishable and imperishable species,
the perishable species being the race of mankind, and the
imperishable species being the company of incorporeal souls
which revolve about the air and heaven.
But these have no participation in wickedness, having
received from the very beginning an inheritance without stain
and full of happiness ; and not being bound up in the region of
interminable calamities, that is to say, in the body. The divi
sions also of the irrational part are free from any participation in
wickedness, inasmuch as, having no endowment of intellect,
they are never convicted of those deliberate acts of wickedness
which proceed upon consideration.
But man is almost the only one of all living things which,
having a thorough knowledge of good and evil, often chooses
that which is worst, and rejects those things which are worthy
of earnest pursuit, so that he is often most justly condemned
as being guilty of deliberate and studied crime.
Very appropriately therefore has God attributed the creation
of this being, man, to his lieutenants, saying, "Letws make man,"
in order that the successes of the intellect may be attributed
to him alone, but the errors of the being thus created, to his
subordinate power : for it did not appear to be suitable to the
dignity of God, the ruler of the universe, to make the road to
wickedness in a rational soul by his own agency ; for which
reason he has committed to those about him the creation of this
ON THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. 39
portion of the universe ; for it was necessary that the voluntary
principle, as the counterpoise to the involuntary principle,
should be established and made known, with a view to the
completion and perfection of the universe.
XXXVI. And this may be enough to say in this manner ,
and it is right that this point also should be considered,
namely that God is the cause only of what is good but is
absolutely the cause of no evil whatever, since he himself is
the most ancient of all existing things, and the most perfect of
all goods ; and it is most natural and becoming that he should
do what is most akin to his own nature, that is to say, that the
best of all beings should be the cause of all the best things,
but that the punishments appointed for the wicked are inflicted
by the means of his subordinate ministers. And there is an
evidence in favour of this assertion of mine in this expression,
which was uttered by the man who was made perfect by
practice ; " The God who nourished me from my youth up, the
angel who defended me from all evils ;"* for by these words he
already confesses that those genuine good things which nourish
the souls which love virtue, are referred to God as their sole
cause ; but the fate of the wicked is, on the other hand, referred
to the angels, and even they have not independent and absolute
power of inflicting punishment, that this salutary nature may
not afford an opportunity to any one of the things which tend
to destruction.
For this reason God says, " Come, let us go down and
confuse ;" for the wicked, deserving to meet with such punish
ment as this, that the merciful, and beneficent, and bounteous,
powers of God should become known to them chiefly by its
inflictions. Knowing therefore that these powers are beneficial
to the race of man, he has appointed the punishments to be
inflicted by other beings ; for it was expedient that he himself
should be looked upon as the cause of well-doing, but in such a
way that the fountains of his everlasting graces should be kept
unmingled with any evils, not merely with those that are really
evils, but even with those which are accounted such.
XXXVII. We must now examine what this confusion ia.
How then shall we enter on this examination? In this manner,
in my opinion. We have very often known those whom we had
knowledge of before, from certain similarities and a comparison
Genesis xlviii. 16.
40 PHILO JUD^US.
of circumstances which have some connection with them.
Therefore we also become acquainted with things in the same
manner, which it is not easy to form a conception of from their
own nature, from some similarity of other things connected
with them. What things then resemble confusion ? Mixture,
as the ancient report has it, and combination ; but mixture
takes place in dry things, and conbination is looked upon as
belonging to wet substances. Mixture then is a placing side
by side of different bodies in no regular order, as if any one
were to make a heap, bringing barley, and wheat, and pease,
and all sorts of other seeds, all into one mass ; but coubination
is not a placing side by side, but rather a mutual penetration
of dissimilar parts entering into one another at all points, so
that the distinctive qualities are still able to be distinguished by
some artificial skill, as they say is the case with respect to wine
and water ; for these substances coming together form a
combination, but that which is combined is not the less
capable of being resolved again into the distinctive qualities
from which it was originally formed.
For with a sponge saturated with oil it is possible for the
water to be taken up and for the wine to be left behind, which
may perhaps be because the origin of sponge is derived from
water, and therefore it is natural that water being a kindred
substance is calculated by nature to be taken up by the sponge
out of the combination, but that that substance which is of a
different nature, namely the wine, is naturally left behind.
But confusion is the destruction of all the original distinctive
qualities, owing to their component parts penetrating one an
other at every point, so as to generate one thing wholly differ
ent, as is the case in that composition of the physicians which
they call the tetrapharmacon. For that, I imagine, is made up
of wax, and fat, and pitch, and resin, all compounded together,
but when the medicine has once been compounded, then it is
impossible for it again to be resolved into the powers of which
it was originally composed, but every one of them is destroyed
separately, and the destruction of them all has produced one
other power of exceeding excellence. But when God threatens
impious reasonings with confusion, he is in fact not only com
manding the whole species and power of each separate wicked
ness to be destroyed, but also that thing which has been made
up of all their joint contributions ; so that neither the parts by
ON THE CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES. 41
themselves, nor the union and harmony of the whole, can con
tribute any strength hereafter towards the destruction of the
better part ; on which account, he says, " Let us then confuse
their language, so that each of them may not understand the
voice of his neighbour ;" which is equivalent to, let us make
each separate one of the parts of wickedness deaf and dumb,
so that it shall neither utter a voice of its own, nor be able to
sound in unison with any other part, so as to be a cause of
mischief.
XXXVII. This, now, is our opinion upon and interpretation
of this passage. But they who follow only what is plain and
easy, think that what is here intended to be recorded, is the
origin of the languages of the Greeks and barbarians, whom,
without blaming them (for, perhaps, they also put a correct
interpretation on the transaction), I would exhort not to be
content with stopping at this point, but to proceed onward to
look at the passage in a figurative way, considering that the
mere words of the scriptures are, as it were, but shadows of
bodies, and that the meanings which are apparent to investi
gation beneath them, are the real things to be pondered upon.
Accordingly, this lawgiver usually gives a handle for this doc
trine to those who are not utterly blind in their intellect ; as
in fact he does in his account of this very event, which we are
now discussing : for he has called what took place, confusion ;
and yet, if he had only intended to speak of the origin of lan
guages, he would have given a more felicitous name, and one of
better omen, calling it division instead of confusion : for things
that are divided, are not confused, but, on the contrary, are
distinguished from one another, and not only is the one name
contrary to the other, but the one fact is contrary to the other
fact.
For confusion, as I have already said, is the destruction of
simple powers for the production of one concrete power ; but
division is the dissection of one thing into many parts, as is the
case when one distinguishes a genus into its subordinate species :
so that, if the wise God had ordered his ministers to divide Ian
guage, which was previously only one, into the divisions of
several dialects, he would have used more appropriate expres
sions, which should have given a more accurate idea of the
case : calling what he did, dissection, or distribution, or division,
or something of that kind, but not confusion a name which ia
at variance with all of them.
43 PHILO JtJD^EUS.
But his especial object here is to dissolve the company of
wickedness, to put an end to their confederacy, to destroy their
community of action, to put out of sight and extirpate all their
powers, to overthrow the might of their dominion, which they
had strengthened by fearful lawlessness. Do you not see that
he also who made the parts of the soul did not unite any one
part to another in such a way as to enable one to discharge the
duties of the other ? But the eyes would never be able to hear,
nor the ears to see, nor the lips of the mouth to smell, nor
the nostrils to taste ; nor, again, could reason ever be exposed
to those influences which operate upon the outward senses, nor
again, would the outward senses be able to develop reason.
For the Creator knew that it was desirable that each of these
parts should not hear the voice of its neighbour, but that the
parts of the soul should each exert its own peculiar faculties
without confusion, for the advantage of living animals, and
should, with the same object, be deprived of any power of exert
ing themselves in common, and that all the powers of vice
should be brought to confusion and utter destruction, so that
they might neither in confederacy, nor separately, bo injurious
to the better parts.
On which account Moses tells us, " The Lord scattered them
from thence ;" which is equivalent to, he dispersed them, he
put them to flight, he banished them, he destroyed them ; for
to scatter is sometimes done with a view to the production, and
growth, and increase of other things ; but there is another kind
which has for its object overthrow and destruction: but God,
the planter of the world, wishes to sow in every one excellence,
but to scatter and drive from the world accursed impiety; that
the disposition which hates virtue may at last desist from
building up a city of wickedness, and a tower of impiety ; for
when these are put to the rout, then those who have long ago
been banished by the tyranny of folly, now, at one proclama
tion, find themselves able to return to their own country, God
having drawn up and confirmed the proclamation, as the scrip
tures show, in which it is expressly stated that, " Even though
thy dispersion be from one end of heaven to the other end
of heaven, he will bring thee together from thence."*
So that it is proper that the harmony of the virtues should
be arranged and cherished by God, and that he should dissolve
Deuteronomy xxx. 4.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 43
and destroy wickedness ; and confusion is a name most appro
priate to wickedness, of which every foolish man is a visible
proof, having all his words, and intentions, and actions, inca
pable of standing an examination and destitute of steadiness.
A TREATISE
THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM.
I. AND the Lord said to Abraham, " Depart from thy land,
and from thy kindred, and from thy father s house, to a land
which I will show thee ; and I will make thee into a great
nation. And I will bless thee, and I will magnify thy name,
and thou shalt be blessed. And I will bless them that bless
thee, and I will curse them that curse thee ; and in thy name
shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."*
God, wibhing to purify the soul of man, first of all gives it
an impulse towards complete salvation, namely, a change of
abode, BO as to quit the three regions of the body, the outward
sense and speech according to utterance ; for his country is the
emblem of the body, and his kindred are the symbol of the
outward sense, and his father s house of speech. Why so ?
Because the body derives its composition from the earth, and is
again dissolved into earth ; and Moses is a witness of this when
he says, " Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. "f
For he says, that man was compounded by God fashioning a
lump of clay into the form of a man ; and it follows of necessity
that, a composite being, when dissolved, must be dissolved into
its component parts. But the outward sense is nearly con
nected with and akin to the mind, the irrational part to the
rational, since they are both parts of one soul : but speech is the
abode of the father, because our father is the mind, which im
plants in each of its parts its own powers, and distributes its
energies among them, undertaking the care and superinteu
deuce of them all ; and the abode in which it dwells is speech,
a dwelling separated from all the rest of the house ; for as the
hearth is the abode of a man, so is speech of the mind : at all
* Qentaia xiL 1. t Geneaia iii. 19.
44 PHILO JUD^US.
events, it displays itself, and all the notions which it con
ceives, arranging them and setting them in order in speech,
as if in a house.
And you must not wonder that Moses has called speech m
man the abode of the mind, for he also says, that the mind 01
the universe, that is to say, God, has for his abode his own
word. And the practiser of virtue, Jacob, seizing on this
apprehension, confesses in express words that, "This is no other
than the house of God,"* an expression equivalent to, The house
of God is not this thing, or anything which can be made the
subject of ocular demonstration, or, in short, anything which
comes under the province of the outward senses, but is invisible,
destitute of all specific form, only to be comprehended by the
soul as soul. What, then, can it be except the Word, which
is more ancient than all the things which were the objects of
creation, and by means of which it is that the Ruler of the
universe, taking hold of it as a rudder, governs all things. And
when he was fashioning the world, he used this as his instru
ment for the blameless arrangement of all the things which
he was completing.
II. That he means by Abraham s country the body,
and by his kindred the outward senses, and by his fathers
house uttered speech, we have now shown. But the command,
" Depart from them, " is not like or equivalent to, Be separated
from them according to your essence, since that would be the
injunction of one who was pronouncing sentence of death.
But it is the same as saying, Be alienated from them in your
mind, allowing none of them to cling to you, standing above
them all ; they are your subjects, use them not as your rulers ;
since you are a king, learn to govern and not to be governed
know yourself all your life, as Moses teaches us in many
passages where he says, "Take heed to thyself, "t For thus
you will perceive what you ought to be obedient to, and what
you ought to be the master of. Depart therefore from the
earthly parts which envelop you, my friend, fleeing from that
base and polluted prison house the body, and from the keepers
as it were of the prison, its pleasures and appetites, putting
forth all your strength and all your power so as to suffer none
of thy good things to come to harm, but improving all your
good faculties together and unitedly. Depart also from thy
* Genesis xxviii. 17. f Exodus xxxiv. 12.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 45
kindred, outward senses ; for now indeed you have given your
self up to each of them to be made use of as it will, and you
have become a good, the property of others who have borrowed
you, having lost your own power over yourself. But you know
that, even though all men are silent on the subject, your
eyes lead you, and so do your ears, and all the rest of the
multitude of that kindred connection, towards those objects
which are pleasing to themselves. But if you choose to collect
again those portions of yourself which you have lent away, and
to invest yourself with the possession of yourself, without
separating off or alienating any part of it, you will have a happy
life, enjoying for ever and ever the fruit of good things which
belong not to strangers but to yourself.
But now rise up also and quit speech according to utterance,
which Moses here represents God as calling your father s house,
that you may not be deceived by the specious beauty of words
and names, and so be separated from that real beauty which
exists in the things themselves which are intended by these
names. For it is absurd for a shadow to be looked upon as of
more importance than the bodies themselves, or for an
imitation to carry off the palm from the model. Now the
interpretation resembles a shadow and an imitation, but the
natures of things signified under these expressions, thus
interpreted, resemble the bodies and original models which
the man who aims at being such and such rather than at
appearing so must cling to, removing to a distance from the
other things.
III. When therefore the mind begins to become acquainted
with itself, and to dwell among the speculations which come
under the province of the intellect, all the inclinations of the
soul for the species which is comprehensible by the intellect
will be repelled, which inclination is called by the Hebrews,
Lot; for which reason the wise man is represented as distinctly
saying, " Depart, and separate yourself from me ;"* for it is
impossible for a man who is overwhelmed with the love ol
incorporeal and imperishable objects to dwell with one, whose
everj inclination is towards the mortal objects of the outward
senses.
Very beautifully therefore has the sacred interpreter of
God s will entitled one entire holy volume of the giving of th
Genosia xiii. 9.
46 PHILO JUD^EUS.
law, the Exodus, having thus found out an appropriate name
for the oracles contained therein. For being a man desirous
of giving instruction and exceedingly ready to admonish and
correct, he desires to remove the whole of the people of the
soul as a multitude capable of receiving admonition and
correction from the country of Egypt, that is to say, the body,
and to take them out from among its inhabitants, thinking it
a most terrible and grievous burden that the mind which is
endowed with the faculty of sight should be oppressed by the
pleasures of the flesh, and should obey whatever commands
the relentless desires choose to impose upon it.
Therefore, after the merciful God has instructed this people,
groaning and bitterly weeping for the abundance of the things
concerning the body, and the exceeding supply of external
things (for it is said, "The children of Israel groaned by
reason of the works ")* when, God, I say, had instructed them
about their going out, the prophet himself led them forth iu
safety.
But there are some persons who have made a treaty with the
body to last till the day of their death, and who have buried
themselves in it as in a chest or coffin or whatever else you
like to call it, of whom all the parts which are devoted to the
slavery of the body arid of the passions are consigned to
oblivion and buried. But if anything well-affected towards
virtue has shot up by the side of it, that is preserved in the
recollection, by means of which good things are naturally
destined to be kept alive.
IV. Accordingly, the sacred scriptures command the bones
of Joseph I mean by this the only parts of such a soul as
were left behind, being species which know no corruption and
which deserve to have mention made of them to be preserved,
thinking it preposterous for pure things riot to be united to
pure things. And what is especially worthy of being mentioned
is this, that he believed that God would visit the race which
was capable of seeing,"t and would not give it up for ever and
ever to ignorance, that blind mistress, but would distinguish
between the immortal and the mortal parts of the soul, and
leave in Egypt those parts which were conversant about the
pleasures of the body and the other immoderate indulgences of
the passions ; but with respect to those parts which are im-
* Exodua ii. 23. t Genesia 1. 24.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 47
perishable, would make a covenant that they should be
conducted onwards with those persons who were going up to
the cities of virtue and would further ratify this covenant with
an oath,
What then are the parts which are imperishable ? In the first
place, a perfect alienation from pleasure which says, " Let us lie
down together,"* and let us enjoy human enjoyments; secondly,
presence of mind combined with fortitude, by means of which
the soul separates and distinguishes from one another those
things which by vain opinions are accounted good things, as so
many dreams, confessing that " the only true and accurate
explanations of things are to be found with God ; "f and that
all those imaginings, which exist in the unsteady, puffed up,
and arrogant life of those men who are not yet purified, but
who delight in those pleasures which proceed from bakers, and
cooks, and wine-bearers, are uncertain and indistinct ; so that
such a man is not a subject but a ruler of Egypt, that is to say
of the whole region of the body ; so that " he boasted of being
of the race of the Hebrews, "J who were accustomed to rise up
and leave the objects of the outward senses, and to go over to
those of the intellect ; for the name Hebrew, being interpreted,
means " one who passes over, " because he boasted that " here
he had done nothing."
For to do nothing of those things which are thought much
of among the wicked, but to hate them all and reject them, is
praiseworthy in no slight degree ; as it is to despise immoderate
indulgence of the desires and all other passions ; to fear God,
if a man is not yet capable of loving him, and even while in
Kgypt to have a desire for real life.
V. Which he who sees, marvelling at (and indeed it was
enough j| to cause astonishment), says, " It is a great thing for
me if my son Joseph is still alive, ^[ and has not died at the
same time with vain opinions and the body which, is but a
lifeless carcass ; and he also confessed that " it was the work
of God, "** and not of any created being, that he was recognised
by his brethren, and so could put into commotion and agitation,
and put to the rout by force, all the dispositions devoted to the
Genesis xxxix. 7. t Genesis xl. 8.
* Genesis xl. 15. Genesis xl. 17.
ll Genesis xliL 18. U Genes* xlv. 28.
Ganeain L 19.
48 PHILO JUD^DS.
body which flattered themselves that they could stand firmly
on their own doctrines ; he also said that " he had not been
sent away by men, but had been appointed by God"* for the
legitimate overseeing of the body and of all external things ;
but there are many other things also resembling these, being
of a superior and more sacred kind of order ; and they do not
endure to abide in Egypt, the house of the body, and are
never buried in a coffin at all, but depart to a distance outside
of every thing mortal, and follow the words of the lawgiver,
namely, Moses, who is the guide of their path.
For Moses, being the nurse as it were and tutor of good
works, and good expressions, and good intentions, which, even
if at times they are mingled with those of an opposite cha
racter by reason of the somewhat confused medely which exists
in mortal man ; are nevertheless distinguished when they
have passed, so that all the seeds and plants of excellence
may not be destroyed and perish for ever and ever. And he
exhorts men very vigorously to quit that which is called the
mother of every thing that is absurd, without any delay or
sluggishness, but rather using exceeding swiftness; for he
says that men " must sacrifice the pascha, in haste,"f and
the word pascha, being interpreted, means a " passing over," in
order that the mind, exerting its reasonings without any doubt,
and also an energetic willingness and promptness, may, with
out ever turning back make a passing over from the passions,
to gratitude to God the Saviour, who has led it forth beyond
all its expectations to freedom.
VI. And why do we wonder if he exhorts the man who is
led away by the force of unreasonable passions, neither to yield,
nor to allow himself to be carried away by the impetuosity of
its onward course, but to exert all his strength, to resist, and
if he is unable to resist effectually, then to flee. For the
second advance towards safety on the part of those who are
unable to make a good resistance is flight. When the occa
sion does not permit the man who is a combatant by nature,
and who has never been a slave of the passions, but who is
always undergoing the toil of resistance to every separate one
of them, to put forth all his powers of antagonism at all times,
lest from the continuance of his struggles against them he may
gradually contract a painful infection from them ; for thero
Genesis rlv. 5. t Exodus xii. 12.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 49
have before now been many instances of men having become
imitators of the wickedness to which they were previously
antagonists, as, on the other hand, some opposers of virtue have
become copiers of that.
And for this reason the following scripture has been given
to men, " Return to the land of thy father and to thy family,
and I will be with thee ;"* which is equivalent to saying, you
have been a perfect wrestler for me, and you have been
thought worthy of the prize and crown of victory, virtue
having been the establisher of the contest and proposing to
give prizes of victory; and now get rid of your fondness for
contention, that you may not be always labouring but that you
may be able to enjoy the fruit of your labours, which will
never happen to you if you remain here dwelling among the
objects of the external senses, and wasting your time among
the distinctive qualities of the body, of which Laban is the
leader (and this name means " distinctive quality; ") but you
must be an emigrant and must return to your native land, the
land of the sacred word, and in some sense of the father of all
those who practise virtue, which is wisdom, the best possible
abiding place for those souls which love virtue.
In this country you have a race which learns everything of
itself, and is self-taught, which has no share in the infantine
food of milk, but which by the divine oracle " has been forbid
den to go down to Egypt, "f and to put itself in the way of
the attractive pleasures of the flesh, surnamed Isaac ; and if
you receive his inheritance, you will of necessity discard labour,
for excessive abundance of things ready prepared, and of good
things offered to your hand, will be the causes of cessation
from toil. And the fountain from which good things are poured
forth is the presence of the bounteous and beneficent God ;
on which account setting the seal to his loving kindnesses he
says, " I will be with thee."
VII. How then should any good thing be wanting when
the all-accomplishing God is at all times present with his
graces, which are his virgin daughters, which he, the Father,
who begot them, always cherishes as virgins, free from all im
pure contact and pollution ? Then all cares, and labours, and
exercises of practice, have a respite ; and everything that is
useful is at the same time given to everybody without the em-
Geneaia zxxi. 3. t Geneaia xxvi. 2.
VOL. IL E
50 PHILO JUD^US.
ployment of art, by the prescient care of nature; and the
rapid influx of all these spontaneous blessings is called relax
ation, since the mind is then relaxed and released from its
energies as to its own peculiar objects, and is as it were eman
cipated from its yearly burdens,* by reason of the multitude of
the things which are incessantly showered and rained upon it ;
and these things are in their own nature most admirable and
most beautiful ; for of the things of which the soul is in travail
by herself, the greater part are premature and abortive pro
geny ; but those on which God pours his showers and which
he waters, are produced in a perfect, and entire, and most
excellent state.
I am not ashamed to relate what has happened to me
myself, which I know from having experienced it ten thou
sand times. Sometimes, when I have desired to come to my
usual employment of writing on the doctrines of philosophy,
though I have known accurately what it was proper to set
down, I have found my mind barren and unproductive, and
have been completely unsuccessful in my object, being indig
nant at my mind for the uncertainty and vanity of its then
existing opinions, and filled with amazement at the power of
the living God, by whom the womb of the soul is at times
opened and at times closed up ; and sometimes when I have
come to my work empty I have suddenly become full, ideas
being, in an invisible manner, showered upon me, and im
planted in me from on high ; so that, through the influence of
divine inspiration, I have become greatly excited, and have
known neither the place in which I was nor those who were
present, nor myself, nor what I was saying, nor what I was
vriting ; for then I have been conscious of a richness of inter
pretation, an enjoyment of light, a most penetrating sight, a
most manifest energy in all that was to be done, having such
an effect on my mind as the clearest ocular demonstration
\vould have on the eyes.
VIII. That then which is shown is that thing so worthy of
being beheld, so worthy of being contemplated, so worthy of
being beloved, the perfect good, the nature of which is to
change and sweeten the bitternesses of the soul, the most
Here again Mangey supposes the text to be hopelessly corrupt.
The word there is iicovaiwv, for which he proposes and translate*
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 51
beautiful additional seasoning, full of all kinds of sweetnesses,
by the addition of which, even those things which are not
nutritious become salutary food ; for it is said, that " the
Lord showed him (Moses) a tree, and he cast it into the
water,"* that is to say, into the mind, dissolved, and relaxed,
and full of bitterness, that it might become sweetened and
serviceable. But this tree promises not only food but likewise
immortality ; for Moses tells us, that the tree of life was
planted in the midst of the paradise, being, in fact, goodness
surrounded as by a body-guurd by all the particular virtues,
and by the actions in accordance with them ; for it is virtue
which has received the inheritance of the most central and
excellent place in the soul.
And he who sees is the wise man ; for the foolish are blind,
or at best dim sighted. On this account I have before men
tioned, that the then prophets were called seers ;t and Jacob,
the practiser of virtue, was desirous to give his ears in ex
change for his eyes, if he could only see what he had
previously heard described, and accordingly he receives an
inheritance according to sight, having passed over that which
was derived from hearing ; for the coin of learning and in
struction, which is synonymous with Jacob, is re-coined into
the seeing Israel, in consequence of which he, the faculty of
seeing, beholds the divine light, which is in no respect dif
ferent from knowledge, which opens the eye of the soul, and
leads it on to embrace the most conspicuous and manifest
comprehension of existing things:* for as it is through music
that the principles of music are understood, and through each
separate art that its principles are comprehended, so also it is
owing to wisdom that what is wise is contemplated : but not
only is wisdom like light, the instrument of seeing, but it does
also behold itself. This, in God, is the light which is the
archetypal model of the sun, and the sun itself is only its
image and copy ; and he who shows each thing is the only
all-knowing being, God ; for men are called knowing only
because they appear to know ; but God, who really does know,
is spoken of, as to his knowledge, in a manner inferior to its
Exodus TV. 25. t 1 Samuel ix. 9.
J This again is Mangey a emendation. The Greek text has wnov,
which ia either nonsense, or at least the opposite of what must be
meant.
2
52 PHILO JUD^US.
real nature, for everything that is ever spoken in his praiso
comes short of the real power of the living God.
And he recommends his wisdom, not merely by the fact
that it was he who created the world, but also by that of his
having established the knowledge of everything that has hap
pened, or that has been created in the firmest manner close
to himself; for it is said, that " God saw all the things that
he bad made,"* which is an expression equivalent not to, He
directed his sight towards each thing, but to, He conceived a
knowledge, and understanding, and comprehension, of all the
things that he had made. It was very proper, therefore, to
teach and to instruct, and to point out to the ignorant, each
separate thing, but it was unnecessary to do so to the all-
knowing God, who is not like a man, benefited by art, but
who is himself confessed to be the beginning and source of all
; rts and sciences.
IX. And Moses speaks very cautiously, inasmuch as he
defines not the present time but the future in the promise
which he records, when he says, " Not that which I do show
you, but that which I will show you ;"| as a testimony to the
faith with which the soul believed in God, showing its gratitude
not by what had been already done, but by its expectation of
the future ; for, being kept in a state of suspense and eager
ness by good hope, and thinking that even what was not
present would beyond all question be present immediately, on
account of its most certain faith in him who had promised,
it found a reward, the perfect good ; for in another passage it
is said that Abraham believed in God.
And in the same way, God, when showing Moses all the
land, says that, " I have shown it to thy eyes, but thou shalt
not enter therein,"^: Do not then fancy that this is spoken
of the death of the all-wise Moses, as some inconsiderate
persons believe ; for it is a piece of folly to think that slaves
should have the country of virtue assigned to them in
preference to the friends of God. But first of all, God wishes
to make it understood by you that there is one place for
infants and another for full-grown men, the one being called
practice and the other wisdom ; and secondly, that the most
teautiful of all the things in nature are rather such as can be
seen than such as can be acquired ; for how can it be possible
Genesis i. 31. f Genesis xv. 5. + Deut xxxiv. 4.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 58
to acquire possession of those things which are endowed in the
same degree with the diviner attributes? But it is not impos
sible to see them, though it may not be given to all men to do
so, for this may be permitted only to the purest and most
acute-sighted race, to whom the father of the universe, when
he displays his own works, is giving the greatest of all
gifts.
For what life can be better than that which is devoted to
speculation, or what can be more closely connected with
rational existence ; for which reason it is that though the
voices of mortal beings are judged of by the faculty of hearing,
nevertheless the scriptures present to us the words of God, to
be actually visible to us like light; for in them it is said that,
All the people saw the voice of God;"* they do not say,
"heard it," since what took place was not a beating of the air
by means of the organs of the mouth and tongue, but a most
exceedingly brilliant ray of virtue, not different in any respect
from the source of reason, which also in another passage is
spoken of in the following manner, * Ye have seen that I
spake unto you from out of heaven,"t not "Ye have heard,"
for the same reason.
But there are passages where he distinguishes between what
is heard and what is seen, and between the sense of seeing and
that of hearing, as where he says, " Ye heard the sound of the
words, but ye saw no similitude, only ye heard a voice ;"
speaking here with excessive precision; for the discourse
which was divided into nouns and verbs, and in short into all
the different parts of speech, he has very appropriately spoken
of as something to be heard ; for in fact that is examined by
the sense of hearing ; but that which has nothing to do with
either nouns or verbs, but is the voice of God, and seen by
the eye of the soul, he very properly represents as visible ;
and having previously reminded them, " Ye saw no similitude,"
he proceeds to say, " Only ye heard a voice, which ye all saw;"
for this must be what is understood as implied in those words.
So that the words of God have for their tribunal and judge the
sense of sight, which is situated in the soul ; but those which
are subdivided into nouns, and verbs, and other parts of speech,
have for their judge the sense of hearing.
But as the writer being new in all kinds of knowledge, has
Exodus xx. 18. . t Exodua xx. 22. J Deut iv. 12.
54 PHILO JUD^US.
also introduced this novelty both in his accounts of domestic
and of foreign matters, saying that the voice is a thing to be
judged of by the sight, which in point of fact is almost the
only thing in us which is not an object of sight, with the single
exception of the mind ; for the things which are the objects or
the rest of the outward senses are, every one of them, visible
to the sight, such as colours, tastes, smells, things that are hot
or cold, things that are smooth or rough, things that are soft
or hard, inasmuch as they are substantial bodies. And what
is meant by this I will explain more distinctly : a flavour is
appreciable by the sight, not inasmuch as it is flavour, but so
far as it is a mere substance, for in so far as it is flavour the
sense of taste will judge of it ; again a smell, in so far as it is
a smell, will be decided upon by the nostrils, but inasmuch as
it is a bodily substance, it will also be judged of by the eyes :
and the other objects of sense will be tested in this manner;
but voice is not appreciable by the sense of sight, neither
inasmuch as it is a body, if indeed it is a body at all, nor
inasmuch as it can be heard ; but there are these two things
in us which are wholly invisible mind and speech ; but the
sound that proceeds from us does not the least resemble the
divine organ of voice ; for one organ of voice is mingled with
the air, and flies to a kindred region with itself, namely to the
ears ; but the divine organ consists of unmixed and unalloyed
speech, which outstrips the sense of hearing by reason of its
fineness, and which is discerned by a pure soul, by means of
its acuteness in the faculty of sight.
X. Therefore, after having left all mortal things, God, as I
have said before, gives, as his first gift to the soul, an exhibition
and an opportunity of contemplating mortal things: and in the
second place he gives it an improvement in the doctrines of
virtue, in respect both of their numbers and of their im
portance ; for he says, "And I will make thee into a mighty
nation," using this expression with reference to the multitude
of the nation, and with reference to the increase and im
provement of what was already great ; and that this quantity
in each kind, that is to say, both as to magnitude and as
to number, was greatly increased, is pointed out by the king of
Egypt, where he says, " For behold," says he, " the race of the
children of Israel is a great multitude."*
Exodus L 9.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 55
Since both these facts bear witness to the race which had
the power of beholding the living God, that it had derived
increase both in number and in magnitude, and as having
done so, had met with prosjerity, both in its life and in its
language ; for he does not say here (as any one would say who
paid attention to the connection of the words which he was
using), a numerous multitude, but he says, "A great multitude,"
knowing that the word numerous by itself implies an im
perfect multitude, unless in addition to its numbers it has the
attributes of intelligence and knowledge; for what advantage is
it to comprehend many subjects of speculation, unless each
of them receives a power of growth to a suitable size ; for in
like manner a field is not perfect in which there are in
numerable plants growing on the ground, and no plant has
grown up by means of the skill of the husbandman so as to
arrive at perfection, unless it is now able to produce fruit.
But the beginning and the end of the greatness and
numerousness of good things is the ceaseless and uninterrupted
recollection of God, and an invocation of his assistance in the
civil and domestic, confused and continual, warfare of life ;
for Moses says, " Behold, the people is wise and full of
knowledge; this is a mighty nation; for what nation is there so
great, that has God so near, as the Lord our God is to us in
all the circumstances in which we call upon him?"* Therefore
it has been plainly shown that there is power with God,
which is a suitable and useful helper and defender, and the
ruler himself comes nearer to the assistance of those persons
who are worthy to be assisted.
XI. But who are they who are worthy to obtain such a
mercy as this ? It is plain that they are all lovers of wisdom
and knowledge ; for these are the wise people and the people
of knowledge of whom he speaks, each of whom may naturally
be called great, since he aims at great things, and at one great
thing with excessive earnestness and eagerness, namely, at
never being separated from the Almighty God, but at being
able to endure his approach when he comes near steadily, and
without any amazement or display.
This is the definition of great, to be near to God, or at least
to be near to that thing to which God is near ; forsooth the
world and the wise citizen of the world are both full of many
Deuteronomy iv. 6.
56 PHILO JUD^US.
and great good things, but all the rest of the multitude of
men is involved in numerous evils, and in but few good things ;
for the good is rare in the agitated and confused life of man.
On which account it is said in the sacred scriptures, " It is not
because you are numerous beyond all the nations that the
Lord has selected you above them all, and has chosen you out;
for in truth you are but few in comparison of all nations, but it
is because the Lord loves you ;"* for if any one were to choose
to distribute the multitude of one soul as if according to
nations, he would find a great many ranks totally destitute of
all order, of which pleasures, or appetites or griefs, or fears, or
again follies and iniquities, and all the other vices which are
connected with or akin to them, are the leaders, and he would
find but one rank alone well regulated, that namely which is
under the leadership of right reason,
Among men, then, the unjust multitude is usually honoured
more than one single just person ; but in the eye of God a
small company that is good is preferred to an infinite number
of persons who are unjust. And, on that account, he warns
men never to consent to a multitude of such a character;
" For," says he, " thou shalt not join with a multitude to do
evil."t May one, then, join a few to do so? One may never
join a single bad man. But a bad man, though he be but a
single individual, is a multitude in wickedness, and it is the
greatest possible evil to join with him ; for, on the contrary, it
is becoming rather to oppose him and to make war upon him
with fearless energy. " For if," says Moses, " you go forth to
war against your enemies and see a horse," the emblem of arro
gant and restive passion which scorns all control, " and a rider,"
the symbol of the mind devoted to the service of the passions,
riding upon it, " and a great body of your people," admirers of
those before-mentioned passions, and following in a solid
phalanx, "you shall not be terrified so as to flee from them,"
for you, though only a single person, shall have a single being
for your ally, " because the Lord your God is on your side ;"J
for his advance to battle puts an end to war, builds up peace
again, overthrows numbers of long-accustomed evils, preserves
the scanty race which loves God, to whom every one who be
comes subject hates and abominates the ranks of the more
earthly armies.
Deut. vii. 7. t Exodus xxiii. 2. J Deui. xx. !
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 57
XII. "For," says Moses, "you shall not eat those animals
which have a multitude of feet, being numbered among all the
reptiles that are upon the earth ; because they are an abomina
tion."* But the soul is not deserving of being hated which
goes upon the earth in one part of itself, but only that which
does so with all or with the greatest proportion of its parts,
and which is exceedingly greedy about the things of the body,
and which, in short, is unable to penetrate into and contem
plate the divine revolutions of the heaven. And, moreover, as
the animal with many feet is accursed among reptiles, so also is
that which has no feet at all ; the one for the cause already
mentioned, and the other because it entirely falls upon the
ground in all its parts, not being supported off the ground by
anything, not even for the briefest minute.
For Moses says that, " Everything which goes upon its belly
is unclean ;"f meaning, under this figurative expression, to
point out those who pursue the pleasures of the belly. But
some going far beyond these persons in wickedness, not only
indulge in every description of desire, but also acquire that
passion which is akin to desire, namely, anger, wishing to
excite the whole of the irrational part of the soul and to destroy
the mind. For what has been said in words, indeed, is appli
cable to the serpent, but in reality it is meant to apply to every
man who is irrational and a slave to his passions, being truly a
divine oracle, " Upon thy breast and upon thy belly shalt thou
go;" | for anger has its abode about the breast, and the seat of
desire is in the belly. But the foolish man proceeds always by
means of the two passions together, both anger and desire,
omitting no opportunity, and discarding reason as his pilot and
judge.
But the man who is contrary to him has extirpated anger
and desire from his nature, and has enlisted himself under
divine reason as his guide ; as also Moses, that faithful servant
of God, did. Who, when he is offering the burnt offerings of
the soul, " washes out the belly ;" that is to say, he washes out
the whole seat of desires, and he takes away " the breast of the
ram of the consecration ;" || that is to say, the whole of the war
like disposition, that so the remainder, the better portion of
the soul, the rational part, having no longer anything to draw
Leviticus xi. 42. f Leviticus xi. 43. J Genesis UL 14.
f Exodus xxix. 2G. [j Leviticus viii. 29.
PHILO JUD^US.
it in a different direction or to counteract its natural impulses,
may indulge its own free and noble inclinations towards every
thing that is beautiful ; for, in this way, it will improve both in
quantity and in magnitude. For it is said, " How long shall
this people exasperate me ? and till what time will they refuse
to believe me in all the signs which I have done among them ?
I will smite them with death and I will destroy them, and I
will make thee and thy father s house into a mighty nation,
greater and mightier than this."*
For when the great multitude of the passions which indulge
in anger and desire in the soul is put to the rout, then imme
diately those affections which depend on its rational nature rise
up and become brilliant ; for as the reptile with many feet and
that with no feet at all, though they are exactly opposite to
one another in the race of reptiles, are both pronounced un
clean, so also the opinion which denies any God, and that
which worships a multitude of Gods, though quite opposite in
the soul, are both profane. And a proof of this is that the law
banishes them both "from the sacred assembly,"! forbidding
the atheistical opinion, as a eunuch and mutilated person, to
come into the assembly ; and the polytheistic, inasmuch as it
prohibits any one born of a harlot from either hearing or speak
ing in the assembly. For he who worships no God at all is
barren, and he who worships a multitude is the son of a
harlot, who is in a state of blindness as to his true father, and
who on this account is figuratively spoken of as having many
fathers, instead of one.
XIII. There have now been two gifts of God already men
tioned : the hope of a life devoted to contemplation, and an
improvement in good things in respect both of quantity and of
magnitude. The third gift is blessing, without which it is not
possible that the graces already mentioned can be confirmed ;
for the scripture says, "And I will bless thee ;" that is to say, I
will give thee a word which shall be praised ; for the portion tv
(in fiXo/jjcrw, I will bless), is always applicable to virtue. And
of speech, one kind is like a spring and another kind is like a
stream ; that which is in the mind being like the spring, and
the utterance through the medium of the mouth and tongue
resembling a stream. And it is great riches for either species
of speech to be improved, for the mind to be so by exerting
* Numbers xiv. 11. t Deuteronomy xxiii. 2.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 59
soundness of reason in everything, whether important or unim
portant, or for the utterance to be so when under the guidance
of right instruction ; for many men think, indeed, most excel
lently, but are betrayed by a bad interpreter, namely, speech,
because they have not throughly worked up the whole course
of encyclical instruction. Others, again, have been exceedingly
skilful in explaining their ideas, but very bad hands at forming
intentions, as, for instance, those who are called sophists, for
the mind of these sophists is destitute of all harmony and of all
real learning ; but their speeches, which are uttered by the
organs of their voice, are full of music and beauty.
But God gives no imperfect gifts to his subjects, but all his
presents are complete and perfect. On which account he now
dispenses blessing not to one section only, that of speech, but
to both portions ; thinking it proper that the man who has re
ceived a benefit should also conceive the most excellent notions,
and should also be able to explain what he has conceived in a
powerful manner ; for perfection, as it seems, consists in the
two points, of being able to form clear and just conceptions and
intentions, and also of being able to interpret them correctly^
Do you not see that Abel (and the name Abel is the name of
one who mourns over mortal things, and attributes happiness
to immortal things), has a mind wholly free from all liability
to reproach ? And yet, from not being practised in discussions,
he is defeated by one who is clever as an antagonist in such
things, Cain being able to get the better of him more through
superiority of skill than of strength ; for which reason, though
I admire him on account of the good fortune with which he
was endowed by nature, I nevertheless blame the disposition in
him that, when he was challenged to a contest of discussion, he
came forward to contend, when he ought to have abided by his
usual tranquillity, discarding all love for contention. But if
he was determined by all means to enter into such a contest,
then still he ought not to have engaged in it until he had
sufficiently practised himself in the exercises of the art ; for men
who have been long versed in political strife are usually accus
tomed to get the better of men of uncultivated acuteness.
XIV. For this reason also the all-accomplished Moses
deprecates coming to a consideration of reasonable looking
and plausible arguments, from the time that God began to
cause the light of truth to shine upon him; through the
00 PHILO JUD^US.
immortal words of his knowledge and wisdom. But he is not
the less led on to the contemplation of these arguments, not
for the sake of becoming skilful in many things (for the
contemplation of God himself and of his most sacred powers,
are quite sufficient for a man who is fond of contemplation),
but with a view to get the better of the sophists in Egypt,
where fabulous and plausible inventions are looked upon as
entitled to higher honour than a clear statement of truth.
When, therefore, the mind walks abroad among the affairs
of the ruler of the universe, it requires nothing further as an
object of contemplation, since the mind alone is the most
piercing of all eyes as applied to the objects of the intellect;
but when it is directed towards those things which are
properly objects of the outward senses, or to any passion, or
substance, of which the land of Egypt is the emblem, then it
will have need of skill and power in argument. On which
account Moses is directed also to take Aaron with him as an
addition, Aaron being the symbol of uttered speech, "Behold,"
says God, "is not Aaron thy brother?"* For one rational
nature being the mother of them both, it follows of course
that the offspring are brothers, "I know that he will speak."
For it is the office of the mind to comprehend, and of
utterance to speak. "He," says God, "will speak for thee."
For the mind not being able to give an adequate exposition of
the part which is assigned to it, uses its neighbour speech as
an interpreter, for the purpose of explaining what it feels.
Presently he further adds, " Behold he will come to meet
thee," since in truth speech when it meets the conceptions,
and embodies them in words, and names stamps what had
before no impression on it, so as to make it current coin. And
further on he says, "And when he seeth thee he will rejoice
in himself;" for speech rejoices and exults when the
conception is not indistinct, because it being clear and evident
employs speech as an unerring and fluent expositor of itself,
having a full supply of appropriate and felicitous expressions
full of abundant distinctness and intelligibility.
XV. At all events when the conceptions are at all
indistinct and ambiguous, speech is the treading as it were on
empty air, and often stumbles and meets with a severe fall, so
as never to be able to rise again. " And thou shalt speak to
Exodus iv. 14.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 61
him, and thou shall give my words into his mouth," which is
equivalent to, Thou shalt suggest to him conceptions which
are in no respect different from divine language and divine
arguments. For without some one to offer suggestions, speech
will not speak ; and the mind is what suggests to speech, as
God suggests to the mind. "And he shall speak for thee to
the people, and he shall be thy mouth, and thou shalt he to
him as God. " And there is a most emphatic meaning in the
expression, " He shall speak for thee, " that is to say, He shall
interpret thy conceptions, and "He shall be thy mouth." For
the stream of speech being borne through the tongue and
mouth conveys the conceptions abroad. But speech is the
interpreter of the mind to men, while again mind is by means
of speech the interpreter to God ; but these thoughts are
those of which God alone is the overseer.
Therefore it is necessary for any one who is about to enter
into a contest of sophistry, to pay attention to all his words
with such vigorous earnestness, that he may not only be able
to escape from the manoeuvres of his adversaries, but may also
in his turn attack them, and get the better of them, both in
skill and in power. Do you not see that conjurors and
enchanters, who attempting to contend against the divine word
with their sophistries, and who daring to endeavour to do other
tilings of a similar kind, labour not so much to display their
own knowledge, as to tear to pieces and turn in to ridicule what
was done? * For they even transform their rods into the nature
of serpents, and change water into the complexion of blood,
and by their incantations they attract the remainder of the
frogs to the land, and, like miserable men as they are, they
increase everything for their own destruction, and while
thinking to deceive others they are deceived themselves. And
how was it possible for Moses to encounter such men as these
unless he had prepared speech, the interpreter of his mind,
namely Aaron ? who now indeed is called his mouth ; but in
a subsequent passage we shall find that he is called a prophet,
when also the mind, being under the influence of divine
inspiration, is called God.
11 For," says God, I give thee as a God to Pharaoh, and
Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet, "f O the harmonious
and well-organised consequence ! For that which interprets
* Exodus vii. 12. t Exodus viL 1.
62 PHILO JUD^US.
the will of God is the prophetical race, being under the
influence of divine possession and frenzy. Therefore " the rod
of Aaron swallowed up their rods,"* as the holy scripture tells
us. For all sophistical reasons are swallowed up and destroyed
by the varied skilfulness of nature ; so that they are forced to
confess that what is done is "the finger of God,"f an expression
equivalent to confessing the truth of the divine scripture
which asserts that sophistry is always subdued by wisdom.
For the sacred account tells us that " the tables" on which the
commandments were engraved as on a pillar, "were also
written by the finger of God."* On which account the con
jurors were not able to stand before Moses, but fell down as in
a wrestling match, being overcome by the superior strength
of their antagonist.
XVI. What then is the fourth gift ? The having a great
name, for God says, "I will magnify thy name;" and the
meaning of this, as it appears to me, is as follows ; as to be
good is honourable, so also to appear to be so is advantageous.
And truth is better than appearance, but perfect happiness is
when the two are combined. For there are great numbers of
people who apply themselves to virtue in genuine honesty and
sincerity, and who admire its genuine beauty, having no regard
to the reputation which they may have with the multitude,
and who in consequence have been plotted against, being
thought wicked though in reality they are good. And indeed
there is no advantage whatever in seeming, unless being has
also been added long before, as is the case with respect to
bodies ; for if all men were to fancy that one who was labouring
under a disease was in good health, or that one in good health
was labouring under a disease, still their opinion would not of
itself create either disease or good health. But the man to
whom God has given both things, namely both to be good and
virtuous and also to appear so, that man is truly happy, and
has a name which is really magnified. And one must have a
prudent regard for a good reputation as a thing of great
importance, and one which greatly benefits the life which is
dependent on the body. And it falls to the lot of every
one who, rejoicing with contentment, changes none of the
* Exodus vii. 12. t Exodus viii. 19.
Exodus zxxii. 16. Genesis xii. 2.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 63
existing laws, but zealously preserves the constitution of his
native hind.
For there are some men, who, looking upon written laws as
symbols of things appreciable by the intellect, have studied
some things with superlluous accuracy, and have treated others
with neglectful indifference ; whom I should blame for their
levity ; for they ought to attend to both classes of things,
applying themselves both to an accurate investigation of
invisible things, and also to an irreproachable observance of
those laws which are notorious. 13ut now men living solitarily
by themselves as if they were in a desert, or else as if they
were mere souls unconnected with the body, and as if they had
no knowledge of any city, or village, or house, or in short of
any company of men whatever, overlook what appears to the
many to be true, and seek for plain naked truth by itself,
whom the sacred scripture teaches not to neglect a good
reputation, and not to break through any established customs
which divine men of greater wisdom than any in our time
have enacted or established. For although the seventh day is
a lesson to teach us the power which exists in the uncreated
God, and also that the creature is entitled to rest from his
labours, it does not follow that on that account we may
abrogate the laws which are established respecting it, so as to
light a fire, or till land, or carry burdens, or bring accusations,
or conduct suits at law, or demand a restoration of a deposit,
or exact the repayment of a debt, or do any other of the
things which are usually permitted at times which are not days
of festival. Nor does it follow, because the feast is the
symbol of the joy of the soul and of its gratitude towards
God, that we are to repudiate the assemblies ordained at the
periodical seasons of the year; nor because the rite of
circumcision is an emblem of the excision of pleasures and of
all the passions, and of the destruction of that impious opinion,
according to which the mind has imagined itself to be by
itself competent to produce offspring, does it follow that we
are to annul the law which has been enacted about circumcision.
Since we shall neglect the laws about the due observance of
the ceremonies in the temple, and numbers of others too, if
we exclude all figurative interpretation and attend only to
those things which are expressly ordained in plain words.
But it is right to think that this class of things resembles
04 PHILO JUD^EUS
the body, and the other class the soul ; therefore, just as we
take care of the body because it is the abode of the soul, so
also must we take care of the laws that are enacted in plain
terms : for while they are regarded, those other things also
will be more clearly understood, of which these laws are the
symbols, and in the same way one will escape blame and accu
sation from men in general. Do you not see that Abraham
also says, that both small and great blessings fell to the share of
the wise man, and he calls the great things, " all that he had,"
and his possessions, which it is allowed to the legitimate son
alone to receive as his inheritance ; but the small things he
calls gifts, of which the illegitimate children and those born of
concubines, are also accounted worthy. The one, therefore,
resemble those laws which are natural, and the other those
which derive their origin from human enactment.
XVII. I also admire Leah, that woman endued with all
virtue, who, at the birth of Asher, who is the symbol of that
bastard wealth, which is perceptible by the outward senses,
says, " Blessed am I, because all women shall call me happy."*
For she sees plainly that she will have a favourable reputation,
thinking that she deserves to be praised, not only by those
reasonings which are really masculine and manly, which have
a nature free from all spot and stain, and which honour that
which is really honest and incorrupt, but also by those more
feminine reasonings which are in every respect overcome by
those things which are visible, and which are unable to com
prehend any object of contemplation which is beyond them.
But it is the part of a perfect soul to set up a claim, not only
to be, but also to appear to be, and, to labour earnestly not
merely to have a good reputation in the houses of the men, but
also in the secret chambers of the women.
On which account Moses also committed the preparation of
the sacred works of the tabernacle not only to men, but also to
women, who were to aid in making them ; for all " the woven
works of hyacinthine colour, and of purple and of scarlet work,
and of fine linen, and of goats hair, do the women make ; "
and they also contribute their own ornaments without hesi
tation, " seals, and ear-rings, and finger-rings, and armlets, and
tablets, all jewels of gold,"t everything, in short, of which
gold was the material, gladly giving up the ornaments of their
Genesis xxx. 13. t Exodus xxxv. 22.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 65
person in exchange for piety ; and, moreover, carrying their
real to a still higher degree, they likewise consecrated even
their mirrors, that a laver might be made of them,"* in order
that those who were about to assist at the sacrifices, washing
their hands and their feet, that is to say, those works about
which the mind is occupied and on which it is fixed, may have
a view of themselves in a mirror according to the recollection
of those mirrors of which the laver was made ; for in this way
they will never permit anything disgraceful to remain in any
portion of the soul. And now they will dedicate the offering of
fasting and patience, the most beautiful and sacred, and perfect
of offerings.
But these real citizens and virtuous women are really as it
were the outward senses, by whom Leah, that is virtue, desires
to be honoured. But they who kindle an additional fire
against the miserable mind are destitute of any city. For we
read in the scripture that even, " women still burnt additional
tire to Moab."f But may we not in this way say that so each
of the outward senses of the foolish man when set on lire by
the appropriate objects of outward sense, does also set fire to
the mind, spreading over it an exceeding and interminable
flame with irresistible vigour and impetuosity. At all events
it is best to propitiate the array of women, that is to say,
of the outward senses in the soul, just as it is desirable to do
so with respect to the men, that is to say, with respect to the
particular reasonings. For in this manner we shall arrange a
more excellent system of life in a very beautiful manner.
XVIII. On this account also the self-instructed Isaac prays
to the lover of wisdom, that he may be able to comprehend
both those good things which are perceptible by the outward
senses, and those which are appreciable only by the intellect.
For he says, " May God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of
the fatness of the earth, "J a prayer equivalent, to May he in the
first place pour upon thee a continual and heavenly rain appre
ciable by the intellect, not violently so as to wash thee away,
but mildly and gently like dew, so as to benefit thee. And in
the second place, may he bestow upon thee that earthly wealth
which is perceptible by the outward senses, fat and fertile,
having drained off its opposite, namely poverty, from the soul
and from all its parts.
Exodua xxxviii. 8. t Numbers xxi. 30. J Genesis xxvii. 28.
VOL. I!. F
66 PHILO JUD^US.
But if you examine the great high priest, that is to say
reason, you will find him entertaining ideas in harmony with
these, and having his sacred garments richly embroidered by
all the powers which are comprehensible either by the outward
senses or by the intellect ; the other portion of which clothing
would require a more prolix explanation than is practicable
on the present occasion, and we must pass it by for the
present. But the extreme portions, those namely at the
head and at the feet, we will examine,
There is then on the head " a golden leaf,"* pure, having
on it the impression of a seal, " Holiness to the Lord."
And on the feet there are, " on the fringe of the inner garment,
bells and small flowerets. "t But this seal is an idea of ideas,
according to which (iod fashioned the world, being an incor
poreal idea, comprehensible only by the intellect. And the
flowerets and the bells are symbols of distinctive qualities
perceptible by the outward senses ; of which the facul
ties of hearing and of seeing are the judges. And he
adds, with exceeding accuracy of investigation, " The voice of
him shall be heard as he enters into the holy place," in order
that when the soul enters into the places appreciable by theintel-
lect, and divine, and truly holy, the very outward senses may
likewise be benefited, and may sound in unison, in accordance
with virtue ; and our whole system, like a melodious chorus of
many men, may sing iu concert one well-harmonised melody
composed of different sounds well combined, the thoughts in
spiring the leading notes (for the objects of intellect are the
leaders of the chorus) ; and the objects of the external senses,
singing in melodies, accord the symphonies which follow, which
are compared to individual members of the chorus.
For, in short, as the law says, it was not right for the soul
to be deprived of " its necessaries, and its garments, and its
place of abode, "J these three things; but it ought rather to
have had each of them allotted to it in a durable manner.
Now the necessaries of the soul are those good things which
are perceptible only by the intellect, which ought, and indeed
are bound by the law of nature, to be attached to it ; and the
clothing means those things which relate to the exterior and
visible ornament of human life ; arid the place of abode is
continued diligence and care respecting each of the species
* Exodus xxviii. 36. t Exodus xxviii. 34. $ Exodua xxi. 10.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. C7
before mentioned, in order that the objects of the outward
senses may appear as the invisible objects of the intellect do
also.
XIX. There is, also, a fifth gift, which consists only in the
bare fact of existence ; and it is mentioned after all the pre
vious ones, not because it is inferior to them, but rather because
it overtops and excels them all ; for what can be a greater
blessing than to be formed by nature, and to be, without any
falsehood or fictitious pretence, really good and worthy of the
most perfect praise ? * For," says God, " thou shalt be
blessed"* (rJAoyTiro;) ; not merely a person who is blessed
(riXoyj^o;), for this latter fact is estimated by the opinions
and report of the multitude, but the other depends on a person
being, in real truth, deserving of blessings; for as the being
praiseworthv (rb f^aivirov ma/) differs from being praised, being
superior to it ; and as the being blameworthy differs from being
blamed, in being worse ; for the one depends upon a person s
natural character, while the other is affirmed only with refer
ence to his being considered such and such. And real genuine
nature is a more reliable thing than opinion ; so, also, to he
blessed by men, that is to say, to be celebrated by their praises
and benedictions, is of less vaJue than to be formed by nature
so as to be worthy of blessing, even though all men should ho
silent respecting one, and this last is what is meant in the
scriptures by the term blessed (iv /.tyr,?):
XX. These are the good things which are given to him who
is about to be wise. But let us now examine what God, for
the sake of the wise man, bestows on the rest of mankind also.
He says, " I will bless those who bless thee, and curse those
who curse thee."t Now that this is said by way of doing
honour to the good man, is plain to every one. And this, too,
is not the only reason why it is said, hut it is said also ou
account of the harmonious consequence which exists in things ;
for he who praises a good man is himself worthy of encomium,
and he who blames him is, on the other hand, deserving of
blame. But it is not so much the power of those who utter or
who write praise or blame that is trusted to, as the real character
of what is due ; so tliat those persons would not really appear
to praise or to blame at all who, in either case, adopt or intro
duce any falsehood of their own. Do you not see flatterers why,
2. t Geneain \ii. 3.
V 2
68 PHILO JUD^EUS.
day and night, weary and annoy the ears of those to whom
they address their flatteries, and who not only nod assent to
every word that they say, but who also string together long
sentences, and connect rhapsodies, and often pray to them with
their mouths, but who are continually cursing them in their
hearts ? What, then, would any one in his senses say ? Would
he not pronounce that those who speak thus are, in reality,
enemies rather than friends, and do in reality blame them
rather than praise them, even if they put together whole dramas
full of panegyric and sing them in their honour?
Therefore, the vain Balaam, although he sang hymns of
exceeding sublimity to God, among which, also, is that one
beginning, " God is not as a man,"* the most beautiful of all
songs, and who uttered panegyrics on the seeing multitude,
Israel, going through a countless body of particulars, is rightly
judged by the wise lawgiver to have been an impious man and
accursed, and to have been cursing rather than blessing ; for
he says that he was hired for money by the enemy, and so be
came an evil prophet of evil things, bearing in his soul most
bitter curses against the God loving nature, but being com
pelled to utter prophetically with his mouth and tongue the
most exquisite and sublime prayers in their favour ; for the
things that he said, being very excellent, were, in fact, suggested
by the God who loves virtue ; but the curses which he conceived
in his mind (for they were wicked) were the offspring of his
mind, which hated virtue.
And the sacred scripture bears testimony to this fact ; for it
says, " God did not grant to Balaam leave to curse thee, but
turned his curses into blessing ;"f though, in fact, all the
words that he uttered were full of good omen. But he who
looks into all that is laid up in the recesses of the heart, and
who alone has the power to see those things which are invisible
to created beings, from these secret things has passed a con
demnatory decree, being in his own person at once the most
indubitable of witnesses and the most incorruptible of judges,
since even the contrary thing is praised, namely, for a man
who appears to calumniate and to accuse with his mouth, in
his heart to be blessing, and praising, and speaking words of
good omen. This, as it would seem, is the custom of those
who correct youth, and of preceptors, and of parents, and of
* Numbers xxiii. 19. t Deuteronomy xxiii. 5.
ON THE MIORATION OF ABRAHAM. 69
elders, and of rulers, and of laws ; for they, at times, do each of
them reprove and punish, and by these means render the souls
of those who are under their instruction better. And of these
men no one is an enemy to his pupil, but they are all of them
friendly to all of them ; but it is the office of friends who have
a genuine and unalloyed good will to others to speak freely,
without any unfriendly purpose.
Therefore, as far as blessings, and praises, and prayers, or, on
the other hand, reproaches and curses are concerned, one
must not so much be guided by what proceeds out of the mouth
by utterance, as by what is in the heart, by which, as by the
original source of them all, both kinds of speeches are esti
mated.
XXI. These, then, are the things which, he says, happen in
the first instance to others on account of the good man, when
they seek to load him with either praise or blame, or with
blessings or curses. But that which comes next in order is the
most important thing; that when they are silent, still no
portion of the rational nature is left without a participation in
the benefits ; for God says that, In thee shall all the nations
of the world be blessed." And this is a promise exceedingly full
of doctrine ; for if the mind is always free from disease and
from injury, it then exerts all the tribes of feelings which
affect it, and all its powers in a state of sound health, namely,
its powers of seeing and of hearing, and all those which belong
to the outward senses ; and, moreover, all its appetites which
are conversant about pleasures and desires, and all those feel
ings likewise which being reduced from a state of agitation to
one of tranquillity, receive a better character from the change.
Before now, indeed, cities, and countries, and peoples, and
nations of the earth, have enjoyed the greatest happiness and
prosperity in consequence of the virtue and prudence of the
individual ; especially so when, in addition to a good disposition
and wisdom, God has also given him irresistible power, as he
may have given to a musician or to any artist the proper
instruments for music, or for carrying out any other art, or as
wood is supplied as a material for fire ; for in good truth the
just man is the prop of all the human race ; and he, bringing all
that he has into the common stock for the advantage of these
who can use it, bestows his treasures ungrudgingly, and what
70 PHILO JUD^US.
ever he finds that he has not got in himself, he prays for to the
only giver of all wealth, the all-bounteous God.
And (.rod, opening the treasures of heaven, pours forth and
showers down upon him all kinds of good things together ; so
that all the channels on earth are filled with them to over
flowing. And these blessings he at all times freely bestows,
never rejecting the prayer of supplication which is addressed
to him ; for it is said in another passage, when Moses ad
dresses him with supplication : " I am favourable to them
according to thy word."* And this expression, as it seems,
is equivalent to the other: "In thee all the nations of the
earth shall be blessed." On which account also the wise
Abraham, who had had experience of the goodness of God in
all things, believes that even if all other things are destroyed,
still a small fragment of virtue would be preserved, like a spark
of fire, and that for the sake of this little spark, he pities those
other things also, so as to raise them up when fallen, and re
kindle them when extinct.
For even the slightest spark of fire that is still smouldering,
when it is fanned and re-kindled will set fire to a large pile :
and so too the smallest spark of virtue, when it beams up, being
wakened into life by good hopes, gives light to what has previously
been dim-sighted and blind, and causes what has been withered
to shoot up again, and whatever is barren and unproductive it
transforms and brings to abundance of prolific power. Thus a
good, which is but rare, is, by the kindness of God, made
abundant and showered upon men, making everything else to
resemble itself.
XXII. Let us therefore pray that the mind may be in the
soul like a pillar in a house, and, in like manner, that the
just man may be firmly established in the human race for the
relief of all diseases ; for while he is in vigorous health, one
must not abandon all hope of complete safety, as through the
medium of him, I imagine God the Saviour extending his all-
healing medicine, that is to say, his propitious and merciful
power to his suppliants and worshippers, bids them employ it
for the salvation of those who are sick ; spreading it like a
salve over the wounds of the soul, which folly, and injustice,
and all the other multitude of vices, being sharpened up, have
* Numbers xiv. 20.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 71
grievously inflicted upon it. And a most visible example of
this is the righteous Noah, who, when so many portions of the
soul were swallowed up in the great deluge, himself vigorously
overtopped the waves and floated on their surface, and so rose
above all the dangers which threatened him ; and when he
had escaped in safety, he sent out great and beautiful roots
from himself, from "which, like a tree, the whole crop of
wisdom sprang up, which, bearing useful fruit, put forth the
three fruits of the seeing creature, Israel, the measures of
time, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
For, virtue is, and will be, and has been in everything ;
which virtue perhaps is at times obscured among men by the
want of opportunity, but which opportunity the minister of
God again brings to light. Since Sarah, that is to say, pru
dence, brings forth a male child, flourishing, not according to
the periodical seasons of the year, but according to those
seasons and felicitous occasions which have no connection with
time; for it is said, "I will surely return and visit thee
according to the time of life ; and Sarah, thy wife, shall have
a son."*
XXIII. We have now, then, said enough about the gifts
which God is accustomed to bestow on those who are to
become perfect, and through the medium of them on others
also.
In the next passage it is said, that Abraham went as the
Lord commanded him."t And this is the end which is cele
brated among those who study philosophy in the best manner,
namely, to live in accordance with nature. And this takes
place when the mind, entering into the path of virtue, treads
in the steps of right reason, and follows God, remembering
his commandments, and at all times and in all places confirm
ing them both by word and deed ; " for " he went as the Lord
commanded him." And the meaning of this is, as God com
mands (and he commands in a beautiful and praiseworthy
manner), in that very manner does the virtuous man act,
guiding the path of his life in a blameless way, so that the
actions of the wise man are in no respect different from the
divine commands. At all events, God is represented in
another passage as saying, " Abraham has kept all my law.":}:
And law is nothing else but the word of God, enjoining what
Genesis xviii. 10. t Genesis xii. 4. Geneui* xxvi. 5.
72 PHILO JUD^EUS.
is right, and forbidding what is not right, as lie bears witness,
where he says, " He received the law from his words."*
If, then, the divine word is the law, and if the righteous
man does the law, then by all means he also performs the
the word of God. So that, as I said before, the words of God
are the actions of the wise man. Accordingly, the end is
according to the most holy Moses, to follow God ; as he says
also in another passage, " Thou shalt walk after the Lord thy
God ; "f not meaning that he should employ the motion of his
legs ; for the earth is the support of a man, but whether the
whole world is sufficient to be the support of God, I do not
know ; but he seems here to be speaking allegorically, intend*
ing to represent the way in which the soul follows the divine
doctrines, which has a direct reference to the honour due to the
great cause of all things.
XXIV. And he also, with a wish further to excite an irre
sistible desire of what is good, enjoins one to cleave to it;
for he says, " Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and him only
shalt thou serve ; and thou shalt cleave to him." j What, then,
is this cleaving ? What ? Surely it is piety and faith ; for
these virtues adapt and invite the mind to incorruptible nature.
For Abraham also, when he believed, is said to have " come
hear to God." If, therefore, while you are walking you are
neither fatigued, so as to give way and stumble, nor are so
careless as to turn to either the right hand or to the left hand,
and so to stray and miss the direct road which lies between the
two ; but if, imitating good runners, you finish the course of life
without stumbling or error, you will deservedly obtain the
crown and worthy prize of victory when you have arrived at
your desired end.
For is not this the crown and the prize of victory not to miss
the proposed end of ones labours, but to arrive at that goal of
prudence which is so difficult to be reached ? What, then, is
the object of having right wisdom ? To be able to condemn
one s own folly and that of every created being. For to be
aware that one knows nothing is the end of all knowledge, since
there is only one wise being, who is also the only God. On
which account Moses very beautifully has represented the
father of the universe as being also the inspector and superin
* Deut. xxxiii. 4. "t" Deut. xiii. 4.
J Deut. x. 20. Genesis xviii. 23.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 73
tendent of all that he has created, saying, " God saw all that
he had made, and behold it was very good."* For it was not
possible for any one to have an accurate view of all that had
been created, except for the Creator.
Come, then, ye who are full of arrogance, and ignorance, and
of exceeding insolence, ye that are wise in your own conceit,
and who say not only that ye know accurately what each thing
is, but that you are also able to explain the causes why it is so,
showing daring with great rashness, as if ye had either been
present at the creation of the world, and had actually seen how
and from what each separate thing was made, or had been
counsellors of the Creator concerning the things which were
created. Come, and at once abandoning all other things, learn
to know yourselves, and tell us plainly what ye yourselves are in
respect of your bodies, in respect of your souls, in respect of
your external senses, and in respect of your reason.
Tell us now with respect to one, and that the smallest,
perhaps, of the senses, what sight is, and how it is that you
see ; tell us what hearing is, and how is it that you hear ; tell
us what taste is, what touch is, what smell is, and how it is
that you exercise the energies of each of these faculties; and
what the sources of them are from which they originate. For
do not tell me long stories about the moon and the sun, and all
the other things in heaven and in the world, which are at such
a distance from us and which are so different in their natures,
empty-minded creatures that you are, before you examine into
and become acquainted with yourselves ; for when you have
learnt to understand yourselves, then perhaps one may believe
you when you enter into explanations respecting other things.
But till you are able to tell what you yourselves are, do not
expect ever to be looked upon as truth-telling judges or
witnesses with respect to others.
XXV. Since, then, these things are in this state, the mind,
when it is rendered perfect, will pay its proper tribute to the
God who causes perfection, according to that most sacred scrip
ture, " For the law is, that tribute belongs to the Lord."i
When does the mind pay it ? When ? " On the third day it
comes to the place which God has told it of,"J having paaeed
by the greater portions of the differences of time, and being
now passing over to that nature which has no connection with
Genesis L 31. t Numbers xxxi. 40. J Generis xxii. 4.
74: PHILO JUD.EUS.
time ; for then it will sacrifice its beloved son, not a man (for
the wise man is not a slayer of his children), but the male off
spring of a virtuously living soul, the fruit which germinates
from it, as to which it knows not how it bore it, the divina
shoot, which, when it appears, the soul then having appeared
to be pregnant, confesses that it does not understand the good
which has happened to it, saying, " Who will tell to
Abraham?"* as if, in fact, he would refuse to believe about the
rising up of the self-taught race, that " Sarah was suckling a
child," not that the child was being suckled by Sarah. For
the self-taught offspring is nourished by no one, but is itself
the nourishment of others as being competent to teach, and
having no need to learn ; for "I have brought forth a son, "
not like the Egyptian women, in the flower of my age and in
the height of my bodily vigour, but like the Hebrew souls, " in
my old age," | when all the objects of the outward senses and
all mortal things are faded, and when the objects of the intel
lect and immortal things are in their full vigour and worthy of
all estimation and honour.
And I have brought forth, too, without requiring the aid of
the midwife s skill ; for we bring forth even before any skill
or knowledge of man can come to us, without any of the ordi
nary means of assistance to help us, God having sown and
generated an excellent offspring, which, in accordance with the
law made concerning gratitude, very properly requites its
creator with gratitude and honour. For, says God, "My
gifts, and my offerings, and my first fruits, you have taken care
to bring to me."J
XXVI. This is the end of the path of those who follow the
arguments and injunctions contained in the law, and who walk
in the way which God leads them in ; but he who falls short
of this, on account of his hunger after pleasure and his greedi
ness for the indulgence of his passions, by name Amalek ;
for the interpretation of the name Amalek is, " the people that
licks up " shall be cut off. And the sacred scriptures teach
us that this disposition is an insidious one ; for when it per
ceives that the most vigorous portion of the power of the soul
has passed over, then, " rising up from its ambuscade, it cuts
to pieces the fatigued portion like a rearguard."
* Genesis xxi. 7. f Exodus i. 18.
^ Numbers xxviii. 2. Deuteronomy xxv. 17.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 75
And of fatigue there is one kind which easily succumbs
through the weakness of its reason which is unable to support
the labours, which are to be encountered in the cause of virtue,
and so, like those who are surprised in the rearguard, it is
easily overcome. But the other kind is willing U> endure
honourable toil, vigorously persevering in all good things, and
not choosing to bear anything whatever that is bad, not even
though it be ever so trifling, but rejecting it as though it
were the heaviest of burdens.
On which account, the law has also, by a very felicitous
appellation, called virtue Leah, which name, being interpreted,
means " wearied ; " for she very naturally thought the life of
the wicked heavy and burdensome, and in its own nature
wearisome ; and did not choose even to look upon it, turning
her eyes only on what is beautiful ; and let the mind labour
not only to* follow God without any relaxation or want of
vigour, but also to walk onwards by the straight path, turning
to neither side, neither to the right nor yet to the left, as the
earthly Edom did, seeking out of the way lurking places,
at one time being full of excesses and superfluities, and at
another of differences and short comings ; for it is better to
proceed along the middle road, which is that which is really
the royal road, and which the great and only King, God, has
widened to be a most suitable abode for the souls that love
virtue. On which account some also of those who prosecute
a gentle kind of philosophy, which is conversant chiefly about
the society of mankind, have pronounced the virtues to be
means, placing them on the confines between two extremes.
Since, on the one hand, excessive pride, being full of much
insolence is an evil, and to take up with a humble and self-
abasing demeanour is to expose one s self to be trampled upon;
but the mean, which is compounded of both, in a gentle manner
is advantageous.
XXVII. We must also inquire what the meaning of the
expression, " He went with Lot," * is. Now, the name Lot,
being interpreted, means " declination ;" and the mind declines
or inclines, at one time rejecting what is good, and at another
time what is evil. And both these declinations are often seen
in one and the same thing. For there are some hesitating
and wavering people who incline to both sides in turn, like a
* Gunebia xiL 4.
76 PHILO JDD^EUS.
ship which is tossed about by different winds, or like the
different sides of a scale, being unable to rest firmly on one
thing ; people whom one cannot praise even when they turn to
the better side, for they are influenced by impulse, and not by
deliberate meaning. Now, of these men Lot is a spectator,
who Moses here says went with the lover of wisdom. But it
was very well that when he began to accompany him he should
unlearn ignorance, and should never again return to it. But
etill he goes with him, not in the hope of deriving improve
ment from an imitation of a better man, but with a view of
persecuting him also with a counter attraction and allurements
in an opposite direction, and of leading him where there was a
chance of his falling.
And a proof of this is, that the one, having fallen back again
into his ancient disease, departs, having been taken prisoner by
those enemies who are in the soul; but the other, having guarded
against all his designs, concealed in ambuscade, took every ima
ginable care to live at a distance from him. But the separate
habitation he will arrange hereafter, but not yet. For at pre
sent, his speculations, as would be likely to be the case with a
man who has but lately begun to apply himself to divine contem
plation, have a want of solidity and steadiness in them. But
when they have become more compact, and are established on a
firmer footing, then he will be able to separate from himself the
alluring and flattering disposition as an irreconcileable enemy,
and one difficult to subdue : for this is that disposition which
attaches itself to the soul in such a manner as to be difficult to
shake off, hindering it from proceeding swiftly on its progress
towards virtue.
This, too, when we leave Egypt, that is to say, the whole of the
district connected with the body, being anxious to unlearn our
subjection to the passions, in accordance with the language and
precepts of the prophet Moses, follows us close, checking and
impeding our zeal in the departure, and out of envy causing
delay to the rapidity of setting forth ; for it is said, " And a
great mixed multitude went up with them, and sheep, and oxen,
and very much cattle."* But this mixed multitude, if one
is to speak the plain truth, are the cattle-like and irrational
doctrines of the soul.
XXVIII. And it is with particular beauty and propriety that
* Exodus xii. 38.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 77
he calls the soul of the wicked man a mixed multitude : for it
is truly a company which has been collected and brought toge
ther from all quarters, and composed of a promiscuous body of
numerous and antagonist opinions, being, though only one in
point of number, of infinite variety by reason of its versatility
and diversity ; on which account, besides the word " mixed,"
there is also added the epithet " great :" for he who looks at one
end only is truly simple, and unmixed, and plain ; but he who
proposes to himself many objects of life is manifold, and mixed,
and rough, in real truth : on which account the sacred scrip
tures say, that that practiser of virtue, Jacob, was a smooth man,
and that Esau, the practiser of what is shameful, was a hairy or
rough man.
On account, then, of this mixed and rough multitude collected
together from mixed opinions collected from all imaginable
quarters, the mind which was able to exert great speed when it
was fleeing from the country of the body, that is, from Egypt,
and which was able in those days to receive the inheritance of
virtue, being assisted by a threefold light, the memory of past
things, the energy of present things, and the hope of the future,
passed that exceeding length of time, forty years, in going up
and down, and all around, wandering in every direction by reason
of the diversity of manners, when it ought rather to have pro
ceeded by the straight and most advantageous way.
This is he who not only rejoiced in a few species of desire, but
who also chose to pass by none whatever entirely, so that he
might obtain the whole entire genus in which every species is
included ; for it is said that, 4< the mixed multitude that was
among them desired all kinds of concupiscence,"* that is to say,
the very genus of concupiscence itself, and not some one species;
and sitting down they wept. For the mind is conscious that it
is possessed of but slight power, and when it is not able to ob
tain what it desires, it weeps and groans ; and yet it ought to
rejoice when it fails to be able to indulge its passions, or to be
come infected with diseases, and it ought to think their want and
absence a very great piece of good fortune. But it very ofteu
happens to the followers of virtue, also, to become languid and
to weep, either because they are bewailing the calamities of
the foolish, on account of their participation in their common
Numbers xi. 4,
78 PHILO JUD^BUS.
nature, and their natural love for their race, or through excess
of joy.
And this excess of joy arises whenever on a sudden an abun-
dance of all kinds of good coming together are showered down
to overflowing, without having been previously expected ; in
reference to which kind of joy it is that the poet appears to me
to have used the expression
Smiling amid her tears.*
For exceeding joy, the best of all feelings, falling on
the soul when completely unexpected, makes it greater
than it was before, so that the body can no longer contain
it by reason of its bulk and magnitude ; and so, being
closely packed and pressed down, it distils drops which
it is the fashion to call tears, concerning which it is said in
the Psalms, " Thou shalt give me to eat bread steeped in
tears ;"f and again, " My tears have been my bread day and
night ; " J for the food of the mind are tears such as are visible,
proceeding from laughter seated internally and excited by
virtuous causes, when the divine desire instilled into our
hearts changes the song which was merely the lament of the
creature into the hymn of the uncreated God.
XXIX. Some persons then repudiate this mixed and rough
multitude, and raise a wall of fortification to keep it from
them, rejoicing only in the race which loves God ; but some, on
the other hand, form associations with it, thinking it desirable
to arrange their own lives according to such a system that they
can place them on the confines between human and divine
virtues, in order that they may touch both those which are
virtues in truth and those which are such in appearance.
Now the disposition which concerns itself in the affairs of
state adheres to this opinion, which disposition it is usual to
call Joseph, with whom, when he is about to bring his father,
there go up " all the servants of Pharaoh, and the elders of
his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, and all the
whole family of Joseph, himself, and his brothers, and all his
father s house." You see here that this disposition which is
conversant about affairs of state is placed between the house
of Pharaoh and his father s house, in order that it might
equally reach the affairs of the body, that is to say, of Egypt ;
* Homer s Iliad, vi. 484. t Psalm Ixxx. 5.
$ Psalm xlii. 3. Genesis 1. 7.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 79
and those of the soul, which are all laid up in his father s
house as in a treasury; for when he says, " I am of God,"*
and all the other things which are akin to or connected with
him nhide among the established laws of his father s house ;
and when he mounts up into the second chariot of the mind,
which appears to hear sovereign sway, namely Pharaoh, he is
again establishing Egyptian pride. And he is more miserable
who is looked upon as a king of considerable renown, and who
is borne along in the chariot which has the precedence ; for to
be pre-eminent in what is not honourable is the most conspi
cuous disgrace, just as it is a lighter evil to come off second
best in such a contest.
But you may leani to perceive how wavering a disposition
such a man has from the oaths which he swears, swearing at
one time " by the health of Pharaoh, "f and then again, on the
contrary, "not by the health of Pharaoh." But this latter
formula of oath, which contains a negation, looks as if it were
the injunction of hl father s house, which is always medi
tating the destruction of the passions, and wishing that they
should die ; but the other brings us back to the discipline of
Egypt, which desires that these passions should be preserved ;
on which account, although so great a multitude went up
together, he still does not call it a mixed multitude, s nce to a
person who is endowed with a real power of seeing, and who
is a lover of virtue, every thing which is not virtue nor an
action of virtue, appears to be mixed and confused ; but to him
who still loves the things of earth, the prizes of earth do by
themselves seem to be worthy of love and worthy of honour.
XXX. Accordingly, as I have already said, the lovers of
wisdom will raise a wall of exclusion against the man who.
like a drone, has resolved to injure his profitable labours, and
who follows him with this object, and he will receive those who,
out of their admiration of what is honourable, follow him
with a view to imitating him ; assigning to each of them that
portion which is suited to them ; for, says he, " of the
men who went with me. Eschol, Annan, and Mamre shall
receive a share." % And by these names of persons he means
dispositions which are good by nature and fond of contempla
tion ; for Kschol is an emblem of a good disposition, having a
name of fire, since a good disposition is full of good daring
Gentfiigl. 19. f Genesis xlii. 1C. J Genosin xiv. 24.
80 PHILO JUD^US.
and fervour, and adheres to what it has ever applied itself.
And Annan is the symbol of a man fond of contemplation ;
for the name, being interpreted, means " the eyes," from the
fact that the eyes of the soul also are opened by cheerfulness ;
and of both these persons a life of contemplation is the inhe
ritance, which is entitled Mamre, which name is derived from
seeing ; and to the contemplative man, the faculty of seeing
is most appropriate and most peculiarly belonging.
But when the mind, having been under the tuition of these
trainers, finds nothing wanting for practice, it then proceeds
onwards with and accompanies perfect wisdom, not outstrip
ping it nor being outstripped by it, but marching alongside of
it step by step, with equal pace. And the words of scripture
show this, in which it is distinctly stated that " they both of
them went together, and came to the plain which God had
mentioned to them;" a most excellent equality of virtues,
better than any rivalry, an equality of labour with a natural
good condition of body, and an equality of art with self-
instructed nature, so that both of them are able to carry off
equal prizes of virtue ; as if the arts of painting and statuary were
not only able, as they are at present, to make representations
devoid of motion or animation, but were able also to invest the
objects which they paint or form with motion and life ; for in
that case the arts which were previously imitative of the works
of nature would appear now to have become the natures them
selves.
XXXI. But whoever is raised on high to such a sublime
elevation will never any more allow any of the portions of his
eoul to dwell below among mortal men, but will draw them all
up to himself as if they were suspended by a rope ; for which
reason a sacred injunction of the following purport was given
to the wise man, * Go thou up to thy Lord, thou, and Aaron,
and Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel. "t
And the meaning of this injunction is as follows, " Go up, O
soul, to the view of the living God, in an orderly manner,
rationally, voluntarily, fearlessly, lovingly, in the holy and
perfect numbers of seven multiplied tenfold." For Aaron is
described in the law as the prophet of Moses, being loudly
uttered speech prophesying to the mind. And Nadab is inter
preted " voluntary," that is to say, the man who honours the
* Genesia xxii. 3. t Exodua xxiv. 1.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 81
Deity without compulsion ; and the interpretation of the
uame Abihu is, my father." This man is one who has not
need of a master by reason of his folly, more than of a father by
reason of his wisdom, namely such a father as God the ruler of
the world. And these powers are the body-guards of the mind
which is worthy to bear sovereign sway, which ought also to
attend upon the king, and conduct him on his way.
But the soul is afraid by itself to rise up to the contempla
tion of the living God, if it does not know the road, from being
lifted up by a union of ignorance and audacity ; and the falls
which are caused by such a union of ignorance and great
rashness are very serious ; on which account Moses prays that
he may have God himself as his guide to the road which leads
to him. For he says, " If thou wilt not thyself go with me,
then do not thou lead me hence."* Because every motion
which is without the divine approbation is mischievous, and it
is better for men to remain here wandering about in this mortal
life, as the greater portion of the human race does, than raising
themselves up to heaven in pride and arrogance, to encounter
an overthrow, as has happened to countless numbers of
sophists, who have looked upon wisdom as only a discovery of
plausible arguments, and not, as it is, a certain belief in and
well-assured knowledge of facts. And perhaps too there id
ome such meaning as this intended to be conveyed by these
words, do not raise me up on high, bestowing on me riches, or
glory, or honours, or authority, or any other of those things
which are usually ranked as good, unless you intend also to go
with them and me yourself ; for these things are o ten cal
culated to cause either great mischief, or great advantage to
their possessors ; advantage when God is the guide of their
mind ; injury when the contrary is the case. For to great
numbers of people the things which are called good not being
so in reality have been the causes of irremediable evils, but
the man who follows God does of necessity have for his fellow
travellers all those reasons which are the attendants of God,
which we are accustomed to call angels.
At all events, it is said that " Abraham went with them
conducting them on their way."t Oh the admirable praise!
according to which, he who was conducting others was himself
conducted by them, only giving what he was receiving; not
Eicodua xxziii. 16. f Qeuebia xviii. Id
VOL. 1L G
82 PHILO JUD^US.
giving ono thing instead of another, but only that one single
thing, w lich wa.s prepared as a retributory gift, for until a man
is made perfect he uses divine reason as the guide of his path,
for that is the sacred oracle of scripture : Behold, I send my
angel before thy face that he may keep thee in the road, so as
to lead thee into the land which I have prepared for thee.
Attend thou to him, and listen to him ; do not disobey him ; for
he will not pardon your transgressions, for my name is in
him."* But when he has arrived at the height of perfect
knowledge, then, running forward vigorously, he keeps up with
the speed of him who was previously leading him in his way ;
for in this way they will both become attendants of God who
is the guide of all things ; no one of those who hold erroneous
opinions accompanying them any longer, and even Lot himself,
who turned on one side the soul, which might have been
upright and inflexible, removing and living at a distance.
XXXII. And " Abraham," says Moses, " was seventy-five
years of age, when he departed out of Charran." Now con
cerning the number of seventy-five years (for this contains a
calculation corresponding to what has been previously ad
vanced,) we will enter into an accurate examination hereafter.
But first of all we will examine what Charran is, and what is
meant by the departure from this country to go and live
in another. Now it is not probable that any one of those persons
who are acquainted with the law are ignorant that Abraham
had previously migrated from Chaldsea when he came to live
in Charran. But after his father died he then departed from
this land of Chaldsea, so that he had now migrated from two
different places. What then shall we say ?
The Chaldeans appear beyond all other men to have devoted
themselves to the study of astronomy and of genealogies;
adapting things on earth to things sublime, and also adapting
the things of heaven to those on earth, and like people who,
availing themselves of the principles of music, exhibit a most
perfect symphony as existing in the universe by the common
union and sympathy of the parts for one another, which though
separated as to place, are not disunited in regard of kindred.
These men, then, imagined that this world which we behold
was the only world in the existing universe, and was either
God himself, or else that it contained within itself God, that
Exodus xxiii. 20.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 83
is, the soul of the universe. Then, having erected fate and
necessity into gods, they filled human life with excessive impiety,
teaching men that with the exception of those things which
are apparent there is no other cause whatever of anything, but
that it is the periodical revolutions of the sun, and moon, and
other stars, which distribute good and evil to all existing
beings.
Moses indeed appears to have in some degree subscribed to
the doctrine of the common union and sympathy existing
between the parts of the universe, as he has said that the world
was one and created (for as it is a created tiling and also one,
it is reasonable to suppose that the same elementary essences are
laid as the foundations of all the particular effects which arise,
as happens with respect to united bodies that they reciprocally
contain each other) ; but he differs from them widely in their
opinion of God, not intimating that either the world itself, or
the soul of the world, is the original God, nor that the
stars or their motions are the primary causes of the events
which happen among men ; but he teaches that this universe
is held together by invisible powers, which the Creator has
spread from the extreme borders of the earth to heaven, making
a beautiful provision to prevent what he has joined together
from being dissolved ; for the indissoluble chains which bind
the universe are his powers.
On which account even though it may be said somewhere in
the declaration of the law, " God is in the heaven above, and
in the earth beneath," let no one suppose that God is here
spoken of according to his essence. For the living God
conUiins everything, and it is impiety to suppose that he is
contained by any thing, but what is meant is, that his power
according to which he made, and arranged, and established the
universe, is both in heaven and earth. And this, to speak
correctly, is goodness, which has driven away from itself envy,
which hates virtue and detests what is good, and which
generates those virtues by which it has brought all existing
things into existence and exhibited them as they are.
Since the living God is indeed conceived of in opinion
everywhere, but in real truth he is seen nowhere ; so that
divine scripture is most completely true in which it is said,
" Here am I," speaking of him who cannot be shown as if he
were being shown, of "him who is invisible as if he were
a 2
84 PHILO JUD^US.
visible, before thou existedst." * For he proceeds onward before
the created universe, and outside of it, and not contained or
borne onward in any of the things whose existence began after
his.
XXXIII. These things then having been now said for the
purpose of overturning the opinions of the Chaldeans ; he
thinks that it is desirable to lead off and invite away those
who are still Chaldaizing in their minds to the truth of his
teaching, and he begins thus :
41 Why," says he, " my excellent friends do you raise your
selves up in such a sudden manner from the earth, and soar to
such a height ? and why do ye rise above the air, and tread the
ethereal expanse, investigating accurately the motions of the
sun, and the periodical revolutions of the moon, and the
harmonious and much-renowned paths of the rest of the stars ?
for these things are too great for your comprehension, inasmuch
as they have received a more blessed and divine position.
Descend therefore from heaven, and when you have come down,
do not, on the other hand, employ yourselves in the investigation
of the earth and the sea, and the rivers, and the natures of
plants and animals, but rather seek to become acquainted with
yourselves and your own nature, and do not prefer to dwell
anywhere else, rather than in yourselves. For by contemplating
the things which are to be seen in your own dwelling, that
which bears the mastery therein, and that which is in subjection ;
that which has life, and that which is inanimate ; that which is
endowed with and that which is destitute of reason , that which
is immortal, and that which is mortal ; that which is better,
and that which is worse ; you will at once arrive at a correct
knowledge of God and of his works. For you will perceive
that there is a mind in you and in the universe ; and that your
mind, having asserted its authority and power over all the things
in you, has brought each of the parts into subjection to himself.
In like manner also, the mind of the universe being invested
with the supremacy, governs the world by independent law and
justice, having a providential regard not only for those things
which are of more importance, but also for those which appear
to be somewhat obscure.
XXXIV. Abandoning therefore your superfluous anxiety to
* Exodus xvii. 6.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 85
investigate the things of heaven, dwell, as I said just now
within yourselves, forsaking the land of the Chaldeans, that is,
opinion, and migrating to Charran the region of the outward
sense, which is the corporeal abode of the mind. For the name
Charran, being interpreted, means "a hole ;" and holes are the
emblems of the places of the outward sense. For in some
sense they are all holes and caves, the eyes being the caves
in which the sight dwells, the ears those of hearing, the nostrils
those of smelling, the throat the cavern of taste, and the whole
frame of the body, being the abode of touch. Do ye therefore,
dwelling among these things, remain tranquil and quiet, and
investigate with all the exactness in your power the nature of
each, and when you have learnt what there is good and bad in
each part, avoid the one and choose the other.
And when you have thoroughly and perfectly considered the
whole of your own habitation, and have understood what rela
tive importance each of its parts possesses, then rouse your
selves up and seek to accomplish a migration from hence,
which shall announce to you, not death, but immortality ; the
evident proofs of which you will see even while involved in
the corporeal cares perceptible by the outward senses, some
times while in deep slumber (for then the mind, roaming
abroad, and straying beyond the confines of the outward
senses, and of all the other affections of the body, begins to
associate with itself, looking on truth as at a mirror, and dis
carding all the imaginations which it had contracted from the
outward senses, becomes inspired by the truest divination
respecting the future, through the instrumentality of dreams),
and at other times in your waking moments. For when,
being under the influence of some philosophical speculations,
you are allured onwards, then the mind follows this, and for
gets all the other things which concern its corporeal abode ;
and if the external senses prevent it from arriving at an accu
rate sight of the objects of the intellect, then those who are
fond of contemplation take care to diminish the impetuosity
of its attack, for they close their eyes and stop up their ears,
and check the rapid motion of the other organ, and choose to
abide in tranquillity and darkness, that the eye of the soul, to
which God has granted the power of understanding the objects
of the intellect, may never be overshadowed by any of thoso
objects appreciable only by the outward senses.
86 PHILO JUD^US.
XXXV. Having then in this manner learnt to accomplish
the abandonment of mortal things, you shall become instructed
in the proper doctrines respecting the uncreated God, unless
indeed you think that our mind, when it has put off the body,
the external senses, and reason, can, when destitute of all
these things and naked, perceive existing things, and that the
mind of the universe, that is to say, God, does not dwell out
side of all material nature, and that he contains everything
and is not contained by anything ; and further, he does not pe
netrate beyond things by his intellect alone, like a man, but
also by his essential nature, as is natural for a God to do ; for
it is not our mind which made the body, but that is the work
Df something else, on which account it is contained in the body
as in a vessel ; but the mind of the universe created the uni
verse, and the Creator is better than the created, therefore it
can never be contained in what is inferior to itself; besides
that it is not suitable for the father to be contained in the
son, but rather for the son to derive increase from the love of
the father.
And in this manner the mind, migrating for a short time,
will come to the father"of piety and holiness, removing at first to
a distance from genealogical science, which originally did
erroneously persuade it to fancy that the world was the primary
god, and not the creature of the first God, and that the motions
and agitations of the stars were the causes to men of disaster,
or, on the contrary, of good fortune. After that the mind,
coming to a due consideration of itself, and studying philo
sophically the things affecting its own abode, that is the things
of the body, the things of the outward sense, the things of reason,
and knowing, as the line in the poet has it
That in those halls both good and ill are planned ;*
Then, opening the road for itself, and hoping by travelling along
it to arrive at a notion of the father of the universe, so difficult
to be understood by any guesses or conjectures, when it has
come to understand itself accurately, it will very likely be able
to comprehend the nature of God; no longer remaining in
Charran, that is in the organs of outward sense,but returning
to itself. For it is impossible, while it is still in a state of
motion, in a manner appreciable by the outward sense rather
Homer. Odyssey, iv. 392.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 87
than by the intellect, to arrive at a proper consideration of tho
living God.
XXXVI. On which account also that disposition which is
ranked in the highest class by God, by name Samuel, does not
explain the just precepts of kingly power to Saul, while he is
still Iving among the pots, but only after he has drawn him
out from thence: for he inquires whether the man is still
coming hither, and the sacred oracle answers, " Behold, he is
hidden among tho stuff." * What, then, ought he who hears
this answer, and who is by nature inclined to receive instruc
tion, to do, but to draw him out at once from thence .
Accordingly, we are told, "He ran up and took him out from
thence, because he who was abiding among the vessels of the
soul, that is, the body and the outward senses, was not worthy
to hear the doctrines and laws of the kingdom (and by tho
kingdom, we mean wisdom, since we call the wise man a king);
but when he has risen up and changed his place, then the
mist around him is dissipated, and he will be able to see clearly.
Very appropriately, therefore, does the companion of know
ledge think it right to leave the region of the outward sense,
by name Charran ; and he leaves it when he is seventy-five
years old ; and this number is on the confines of the nature
discernible by the outward senses, and of that intelligible by the
intellect, and of the older and younger, and also of perishable
and imperishable nature ; for the elder, the imperishable
ratio, that comprehensible by the intellect, exists in the
seventy ; the younger ratio, discernible by the outward senses,
is equal in number to the five outward senses. In this ktter
also the practiser of virtue is seen exercising himself when be
has not yet been able to carry off the perfect prize of victory ;
for, it is said, that all the souls which came out of Jacob were
seventy and five ; f for to him, while wrestling, and not
shrinking at all from the truly sacred contest, for the acqui
sition of virtue, belong the souls which are the offspring of
the body, and which have not yet acquired reason, but are still
attracted by the multitude of the outward senses.
For Jacob is the name of one who is wrestling and engaged
in a contest and trying to trip up his antagonist, not of one who
has gained the victory. But when he appeared to have gained
ability to behold God, his name was changed to Israel, and
1 Samuel x. 22. t Genesis xlvL 27.
88 PHILO JUD.42US.
then he uses only the computation of seventy, having extir
pated the number five, the number of the outward senses ; for
it is said, that " thy fathers went down to Egypt, being seventy
souls."* This is the number which is familiar to Moses the
wise man : for it happened that those who were selected as
carefully picked men out of the whole multitude, were seventy
in number ; and those all elders, not only in point of age, but
also in wisdom and counsel, and in prudence, and in ancient
integrity of manners. And this number is consecrated and
dedicated to God when the perfect fruits of the soul are
offered up.
For, on the feast of tabernacles, besides all other sacrifices,
it is ordered that the priest should offer up seventy heifers for
a, burnt offering. Again, it is in accordance with the compu
tation of seventy that the phials of the princes are provided,
for each of them is of the weight of seventy shekels ; since
whatever things are associated and confederate together in the
soul, and dear to one another, have a power which is truly at
tractive, namely, the sacred computation of seventy, which
Egypt, the nature which hates virtue, and loves to indulge the
passions, is introduced as lamenting ; for mourning among
them is computed at seventy days.f
XXXVII. This number, therefore, as I have said before, is
familiar to Moses, but the number of the five outward senses is
familiar to him who embraces the body and external things,
which it is customary to call Joseph ; for he pays such attention
to those things, that he presents his own uterine brother,^: the
offspring of the outward sense, for he had no acquaintance at all
with those who were only his brothers as sons of the same father,
with five exceedingly beautiful garments, thinking the outward
senses things of exceeding beauty, and worthy of being adorned
and honoured by him. Moreover, he also enacts laws for the
whole of Egypt, that they should honour them, and pay taxes,
and tribute to them every year as to their kings ; for he com
mands them to take a fifth part of the corn, that is to say, to
store up in the treasury abundant materials and nourishment
for the five outward senses, in order that each of them might
rejoice while filling itself unrestrainedly with suitable food, and
that it might weigh down and overwhelm the mind with the
* Deuteronomy x. 22. t Genesis 1. 8.
$ Genesis xlv. 22. Genesis xlvii 24.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 89
multitude of things which were thus brought upon it ; for
during the banquet of the outer senses, the mind is labouring
under a famine, as, on the contrary, when the outward senses
are fasting, the mind is feasting.
Do you not see that the five daughters of Salpaad, which
we, using allegorical expressions, call the outward senses, were
born of the tribe of Manasseh, who is the son of Joseph, the
elder son in point of time, but the younger in rank and power ?
and very naturally, for he is so called from forgetfulness, which
is a thing of equal power with an outward sense. But recol
lection is placed in the second rank, after memory, of which
Ephraim is the namesake ; and the interpretation of the name
of Ephraim is, " bearing fruit ;" and the most beautiful and nu
tritious fruit in souls is a memory which never forgets ; there
fore the virgins speak to one another in a becoming manner,
saying, " Our father is dead." Now the death of recollection
is forgetfulness : " And he has died not for his own sin,"*
speaking very righteously, for forgetfulness is not a voluntary
affection, but is one of those things which are not actually in
us, but which come upon us from without. And they were not
his sons, but his daughters ; since the power of memory, as
being what has its existence by its own nature, is the parent
of male children ; but forgetfulness, arising from the slumber
of reason, is the parent of female children, for it is destitute of
reason ; and the outward senses are the daughters of the irra
tional part of the soul.
But if any one has outrun him in speed, and has become a
follower of Moses, though he is not yet able to keep pace with
him, he will use a compound and mixed number, namely, that
of 1 five and seventy, which is the symbol of the nature which is
both perceptible by the outward senses and intelligible by the
intellect, the two uniting together for the production of one
irreproachable species.
XXXVIII. 1 very much admire Rebecca, who is patience,
because she, at that time, recommends the man who is perfect
in his soul, and who has destroyed the roughnesses of the
passions and vices, to flee and return to Charran ; for she says,
" Now, therefore, my child, hear my voice, and rise up and
depart, and flee away to Laban, my brother, to Charran, and
dwell with him certain days, until the anger and rage of thy
* Numbers xxvii. 3.
90 PHILO JUD^US.
brother is turned from being against thee, and till he forgets
what thou hast done to him."* And it is with great beauty
that she here calls going by the road, which leads to the out
ward senses, a fleeing away ; for, in truth, the mind is then a
fugitive, when, having left its own appropriate objects which
are comprehensible to the understanding, it turns to the oppo
site rank of those which are perceptible by the outward senses.
And there are cases in which to run away is useful, when a
person adopts this line of conduct, not out of hatred to his supe
rior, but in order to avoid the snares which are laid for him by
his inferior.
What, then, is the recommendation of patience ? A most
admirable and excellent one. If ever, she says, you see the
passion of rage and anger highly provoked and excited to fero
city either in thyself or in any one else, which is nourished by
irrational and unmanageable nature, do not excite it further and
make it more savage, for then perhaps it will inflict incurable
wounds ; but cool its fervour, and pacify its too highly inflamed
disposition, for if it be tamed and rendered tractable it will do
you less injury.
What, then, are the means by which it can be tamed and
pacified ? Having, as far as appearance goes, assumed another
form and another character, follow it, first of all, wherever it
pleases, and, opposing it in nothing, admit that you have the
same objects of love and hatred with itself, for by these means
it will be rendered propitious ; and, when it is pacified, then
you may lay aside your pretence, and, not expecting any longer
to suffer any evil at its hand, you may with indifference return
to the care of your own objects ; for it is on this account that
Charran is represented as full of cattle, and as having tenders
of flocks for its inhabitants. For what region could be more
suitable for irrational nature, and for those who have undertaken
the care and superintendence of it, than the external senses
which exist in us ? Accordingly, when the practiser of virtue
asks, "From whence come ye?" the shepherds answer him
truly, that they come "from Charran. "f For the irrational
powers come from the external sense, as the rational ones
come from the mind. And when he further inquires whether
they know Laban, they very naturally assert that they do know
him, for the outward sense is acquainted with complexion and
* Genesis zzvii. 43. t Genesis xxix. 4.
ON THE MIGRATION OF ABRAHAM. 91
with every distinctive quality, as it thinks ; and of complexion
and distinctive qualities Laban is the symbol.
And he himself, when at last he is made perfect, will quit
the abode of the outward senses, and will set up the abode of
the soul as belonging to the soul, which, while still among
labours and among the external senses, he gives a vivid descrip
tion of; for he says, "When shall I make myself, also, a
house ?" * When, disregarding the objects of the external senses
and the external senses themselves, shall I dwell in mind and
intellect, being, in name, going to and fro among and dwelling
among the objects of contemplation, like those souls which are
fond of investigating invisible objects, which it is usual to cull
midwives ? For they also make suitable coverings and phylac
teries for souls which are devoted to virtue ; but the strongest
and most defensible abode was the fear of God, to those, at
least, who have him for an impregnable fortress and wall.
" For," says Moses, " when the midwives feared God they
made themselves houses." t
XXX IX. The mind, therefore, going forth out of the places
which are in Charran, is said " to have travelled through the
land until it came to the place of Sichem, to a lofty oak. J
And let us now consider what this travelling through the land
means. The disposition which is fond of learning is inquisitive
and exceedingly curious by nature, going everywhere without
fear or hesitation and prying into every place, and not choosing
to leave anything in existence, whether person or thing, not
thoroughly "investigated ; for it is by nature extraordinarily
greedy of everything that can be seen or heard, so as not only
not to" be satisfied with the things of its own country, but even
to desire foreign things which are established at a great dis
tance. At all events, they say that it is an absurd thing for
merchants and dealers to "cross the seas for the sake of gam,
and to travel all round the habitable world, not allowing any
considerations of summer, or winter, or violent gales, or con
trary winds, or old age, or bodily sickness, or the society of
friends, or the unspeakable pleasures arising from wife, or
children, or one s other relations, or love of one s country, or
the enjoyment of political connections, or the safe fruition of
one s money and other possessions, or, in fact, anything what
ever, whether great or small, to be any hindrance to them ; and
Qenesia xxx. 30. t Exodus i 21 % Geneuia xiL 6.
2 PHILO JUDGED S.
yet for men, for the sake of that most beautiful and desirable
of all possessions, the only one which is peculiar to the human
race, namely, wisdom, to be unwilling to cross over every sea
and to penetrate every recess of the earth, inquiring whenever
they can find anything beautiful either to see or to hear, and
tracing out such things with all imaginable zeal and earnest
ness, until they arrive at the enjoyment of the things which
are thus sought for and desired.
Do thou then, O my soul, travel through the land, and through
man, bringing if you think fit, each individual man to a judg
ment of the things which concern him ; as, for instance, what
the body is, and under what influences, whether active or
passive, it co-operates with the mind ; what the external sense
is, and in what manner that assists the dominant mind ; what
speech is, and of what it becomes the interpreter so as to
contribute to virtue ; what are pleasure and desire ; what are
pain and fear ; and what art is capable of supplying a remedy
for these things; by the aid of which a man when infected
with these feelings may easily escape, or else perhaps may never
be infected at all : what folly is, what intemperance, what com
mitting injustice, what the whole multitude of other diseases,
which it is the nature of all destructive vice to engender; and also
what are the means by which they can be averted. And also, on
the contrary, what justice is, what prudence is, and temperance,
and manly courage, and deliberate wisdom, and in short what
each virtue is, and what the mastery over the passions is, and
in what way each of these virtues is usually produced.
Travel also through the greatest and most perfect being,
namely this world, and consider all its parts, how they are
separated in respect of place and united in respect of power ;
and also what is this invisible chain of harmony and unity,
which connects all those parts ; and if while considering those
matters, tbou canst not easily comprehend what thou seekest
to know, persevere and be not wearied ; for these matters are
not attainable without a struggle, but they are only found out
with difficulty and by means of much and great labour ; on
which account the man fond of learning is taken up to the field
of Sichem ; and the name Sichem, being interpreted means, "a
shoulder," and intimates labour, since it is on the shoulders that
men are accustomed to bear burdens. As Moses also mentions in
another passage, when speaking of a certain athlete he pro-
ON THE MIGRATION OT ABRAHAM. 93
ceeds in this manner, " He put his shoulder to the labour and
became a husbandman."*
So that never, O my mind, do thou become effeminate and
yield; but even if a*ny thing does appear difficult to be
discovered by contemplation, still opening the seeing faculties
that are in thyself, look inwards and investigate existing things
more accurately, and never close thy eyes whether intentionally
or unintentionally ; for sleep is a blind thing as wakefulness
is a sharp-sighted thing. And it is well to be content if by
assiduity in investigation it is granted to thee to arrive at a
correct conception of the objects of thy search. Do you not
see that the scripture says that a lofty oak was planted in
Sichem ? meaning under this figurative expression to represent
the labour of instruction which never gives in, and never bends
through weariness, but is solid, firm, and invincible, which the
man who wishes to be perfect must of necessity exert, in order
that the tribunal of the soul, by name Dinah, for the interpre
tation of the name Dinah is "judgment" may not be seized by
the exertions of that man who, being a plotter against prudence,
is labouring in an opposite direction.
For he who bears the same name as this place, namely
Sichem, the son of Hamor, that is, of irrational nature ; for the
name Hamor means " an ass ; " giving himself up to folly and
being bred up with shamelessness and audacity, infamous man
that he was, attempted to pollute and to defile the judicial
faculties of the mind ; if the pupils and friends of wisdom,
Sichem and Levi, had not speedily come up, having made the
defences of their house safe, and destroyed those who were
still involved in the labour devoted to pleasure and to the
indulgence of the passions and uncircumcised. For though
there was a sacred scripture that, " There should be no harlot
among the daughters of the seer, Israel," t these men, having
ravished a virgin soul, hoped to escape notice ; for there is
never a scarcity of avengers against those who violate treaties ;
but even though some persons fancy there may be, they will
only fancy it, and will in the reality of the fact be proved to
entertain a false opinion.
For justice hates the wicked, and is implacable, and a relent
less avenger of all unrighteous actions, overthrowing the ranks
<>t those who defile virtue, and when they are overthrown, then
Geneuis xlix. 15. t GcneaU xxxir. 1.
C4 PHILO JUD^EUS.
again the soul, which before appeared to be defiled, changes and
returns to its virgin state. I say, which appeared to be
denied, because, in fact, it never was defiled; for of invo
luntary accidents that which affects the patient is not in
reality his suffering, just as what is done by a person who
does wrong unintentionally, the wrong is not really his action.
A TREATISE
ON THE Qt KSTION
WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS.
I. IN the treatise preceding the present one, we discussed
the question of rewards to the best of our ability. Our
present purpose is to examine who is the heir of the things of
God ; for after the wise man heard the oracle, which being
divinely given, said, "Thy reward is exceedingly great;"* he
inquired, saying, " What wilt thou give me, master ? And I
shall depart childless : but my son who is the child of my
handmaid will inherit after me, this Eliezer of Damascus *
And in another place he says, " Since thou hast not given me
any seed, but one born in my house shall be my heir." And
yet who would not have been amazed at the dignity and
greatness of him who delivered this oracle, so as to become
silent and mute before him, if not out of fear, still at all
events from excess of joy? For excessive griefs stop the
mouth, and so also do excessive joys ; on which account Moses
confesses that he is "a man of a slight voice and slow of
speech from the time when God first began to converse with
him."t
And this testimony of the prophet is unerring ; for it is
natural for the organs of speech to be checked, and for the
reason which is collected in the mind to be borne onwards
with unrestrained impetuosity, philosophically examining the
unceasing beauty of ideas not of words, with fluent and sub
lime power ; and the most admirable virtues are boldness and
freedom of speech at suitable times towards one s betters, so
that the sentence in the comic poet appears to me to be uttered
with truth rather than with comic humour :
* Genesis xv. 1. t Exodus iv. 10.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 95
If a slave is always dumb,
He is scarcely worth a crumb :
Let him, freely told, boldly epeak.
II. When then has a slave freedom of speech towards his
master? Is it not when he is conscious that he has not
wronged him, but that he has done and said everything with a
view to the advantage of his owner? When therefore is it
proper for the servant of God to use freedom of speech to the
ruler and master of himself, and of the whole word ? Is it
not when he is free from all sins, and is aware in his con
science that he loves his master, feeling more joy at the fact
of being a servant of God, than he would if he were sovereign
over the whole race of mankind, and were invested without
any effort on his part with the supreme authority over land
and sea. And he mentions the ministrations and services by
which Abraham displayed his love to his master in the last
sentence of the divine oracle given to his son, " I will give to
thee and to thy seed all this land, and in thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed, because Abraham thy father
obeyed my voice, and kept all my precepts, and all my com
mandments, and my laws, and my judgments."* And it is the
greatest possible praise of a sen-ant that he does not neglect
a single tiling of the commandments which his master lays
upon him, but that he labours earnestly without any hesitation
and with all his vigour, and even beyond his power to perform
them all with a well affected mind.
III. There are persons, then, to whom it is becoming to listen
but not to speak, with respect to whom it is said, " Be silent
and hear," t a very admirable injunction ; for ignorance is a
very bad and a very audacious thing, the first remedy for
which ia silence, and the second, attention to those who pre
sent you with anything worthy of your listening to. Let no
one, however, think that this is all that is signified by those
few words, " Be silent and hear ; " but that there is also some
thing greater in them which may give a lesson to any one.
For these words do not recommend you only to be silent with
your tongues, and to hear with your ears, but also to conduct
yourself thus in both these respects in your soul ; for many
persons when they have come to listen to some one, have
nevertheless not come with their minds, but wander outside,
Genesis xxvi. 3. t Deuteronomy xzvii. 9.
03 PHILO JUD^US.
and keep on thinking of thousands upon thousands of things
within themselves, whether concerning their relations, or
strangers, or themselves, which at that moment they ought
not to remember at all, but which in short they, re-collecting
to themselves in regular order, and thus by reason of the ex
cessive tumult which they keep alive in themselves, thev are
unable to hear the speaker. For he speaks as if he were not
among men, but among inanimate statues who have indeed ears,
but no sense of hearing.
If, therefore, the mind chooses to associate neither with
things wandering about outside, nor with those which are stored
up within it, but, remaining quiet and silent, directs its whole
attention to the speaker, keeping silent in accordance with the
injunction of Moses, it will be able to listen with all attention,
but otherwise it would not be able to do so.
IV. Silence, then, is a desirable thing for those who are
ignorant, but for those who desire knowledge, and who have at
the same time a love for their master s freedom of speech, is a
most necessary possession. Accordingly it is said, in the book
of Exodus, " The Lord will fight for us, and you will be silent."*
And, immediately afterwards, there is added a scripture in the
following words : " And the Lord said unto Moses, Why dost
thou cry unto me ? As it is proper for those persons to be
silent who can say nothing worthy of being listened to, and
for those to speak who, through love of wisdom, believe in
God ; and not only to speak quietly but to cry out with exceed
ing noise, not indeed with the noise of the mouth and tongue,
by means of which they say that the air is affected with a
rotatory motion, and so is rendered capable of being perceived
by the hearing, but by the all-instructed and very loudly speak
ing organ of that voice of which no mortal man is the hearer,
but only the uncreated and immortal God.
For the well-arranged and carefully attuned melody of that
harmony which is perceptible by the intellect, the invisible
musician, perceptible by the intellect, is alone able to compre
hend ; but no one of those involved in the entanglements of the
outward senses can appreciate it. Accordingly, when the
entire organ of the mind sounds according to the symphony of
the diapason and of the double diapason, the hearer, as it were,
asks (for he does not ask in reality, since everything is known
* Exodus xiv. 4.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 97
to God), "Why dost thou cry unto me?" Is it in supplica
tion that evils mny be averted, or in thankfulness for a par
ticipation in good things which have been already enjoyed, or
for a combination of both reasons ?
V. But the man who appears to be endued with a thin
voice, and with slowness of speech, and to be almost dumb, is
nevertheless found to be talkative, so that in one place he is
represented not merely as speaking, but even as crying out ;
and, in another, as exerting a ceaseless and uninterrupted flow
of words ; for, says the scripture, " Moses spoke, and God
answered him with a voice."* He did not speak in brief
periods or sentences, but in one continuously extended speech :
and God also instructed him, not in brief sentences, but gave
him one unbroken and continuous answer. And whenever
there is an answer, there then must of necessity have been, in
every case, a question. But whenever any one puts a question
it is respecting something which he does not know, because he
is desirous to learn ; inasmuch as he is aware that there is no
thing so useful with regard to acquiring knowledge as to ask,
to inquire, to investigate, to appear to know nothing, and not
to have an idea that one comprehends anything firmly.
The wise, therefore, take God for their teacher and instructor ;
and those who are less perfectly initiated in wisdom take the
wise men for theirs. On which account they say, also, " Do
thou speak with us, and let not God speak to us, lest we die."t
And the virtuous man uses such freedom of speech as not only
to speak and cry out, but even to advance positive claims with
true confidence and genuine feeling ; for the expression, " If
thou forgivest them their sin, forgive them ; and if not, then
wipe me out of the book which thou hast written." J And this
sentence also, "Did I conceive all this reople in my womb?
Or have I brought them forth, that thou sayest unto me, Take
them up into thy bosom, as a nurse takes her sucking child. "
And also that passage where we read, " From whence am I to
get flesh to give to all this people, because they cry unto me ?
Shall sheep and oxen be sacrificed, or shall all the fish of tho
tea be collected together, to satisfy them ?" And again, Lord,
why hast thou afflicted this people?" And again, " Why hast
thou sent me T And, in another place, " From the time that
Exodus xix. 19. f Exodns xx 19.
* Exodua xxxii. 32. Numbers xi. 11.
VOL. II H
98 PHILO JUD^EUS.
I went forth to speak to Pharaoh in thy name, he has afflicted
the people." And again. " Thou hast not delivered thy
people."* For these, and similar things, any one would have
feared to say to any king of this earth ; but to deliver such
sentiments, and to speak freely to God, was an instance of
what ought not to be called extreme audacity, but of good con
fidence ; because all the wise are dear to God, and especially
those who are wise with the wisdom of the most sacred giving
of the law.
And freedom of speech is nearly akin to friendship ; since
to whom would any one speak with more freedom than to his
own friend? very appropriately therefore is Moses spoken of
in the scriptures as dear to God, when he goes through an
account of all the dangers which he had incurred by reason of
his boldness, in such a way that they seem to deserve to be
attributed to friendship rather than to arrogance ; for audacity
belongs to the character of the arrogant man ; but good con
fidence belongs to the friend.
VI. But consider again that confidence is tempered with
prudent caution ; for the question, " What wilt thou give to
me?"t displays confidence, and the addition, "0 master,"
exhibits prudent confidence. And being in the habit of using
two causes or two appellations, with respect to the cause of all
things, namely the title of Lord, and also that of God, he has
in this instance used neither of them, but calls them by the name
of master, speaking with caution and with exceeding propriety ;
and indeed the two appellations lord and master, are said to
be synonymous. But even if the two names are one and the
same" things, still the titles differ in respect of the meaning
attached to them ; for the title lord, rv^/og, is derived from
the word, xvgog authority, which is a firm thing, in contra
distinction to that which is infirm and invalid, axveov. But
the term master, dtavorris, is derived from deo-pbs, a chain ; from
which word 6eos, fear, also comes in my opinion, so that the
master is a lord, and, as one may say a lord, to be feared, not
only inasmuch as he has authority and dominion over every
thing, but also inasmuch as he is able to strike one with fear and
terror; and perhaps also since he is the master of the universe;
* Exodus v. 22. t Deut xxxiiL 1. J Qeneeia rv. 2.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 99
holding it together in such a manner as to be insoluble, and
binding up again what portions of it are dissolved.
But he who says, " Master, what wilt thou give unto me?""
does, in the real meaning of his words say, this, " I am not
ignorant of thy overpowering might, and I know the formidable
nature of thy sovereignty; I fear and tremble, and again I feel
confidence : for thou hast given me an oracular command not
fear, thou hast given to me the tongue of instruction, that I
might know when I ought to speak ; thou hast unloosened my
mouth which before was sewed up, thou hast opened it, and
hast also made it articulate ; thou hast appointed it to utter
what ought to be spoken, confirming that sacred oracle, " I will
open thy mouth, and I will tell thee what thou oughtest to
speak." * For who was I, that thou shouldest give me a portion
of thy speech, that thou shouldest promise me a reward as it
it were my due, namely, a more perfect blessing of thy grace
and bounty ? Am I not an emigrant from my country ? am I
not driven away from my kindred ? am I not banished and
alienated from my father s house ? do not all men call me an
outcast and a fugitive, a desolate and dishonoured man ? but
thou, O master, art ray country, thou art my kindred, thou art my
paternal hearth, thou art my honour, thou art my freedom of
speech, my great, and famous, and inalienable wealth, why
therefore shall I not have courage to say what I think ? and
why shall I not ask questions, when I desire to learn something
more 9
But nevertheless, though I say that I feel confidence, I do
again confess that I am stricken with awe and amazement, and
that I do not feel within myself an unmixed spirit of battle,
but fear mingled with confidence, as perhaps many people will
easily imagine, a closely combined conjunction of the two
feelings ; therefore I drink insatiably of this well-mixed cup,
which persuades me neither to speak freely without prudent
caution ; nor, on the other hand, to think so much of caution us
to lose my freedom of speech. For I have learnt to appre
ciate my own nothingness, and to look up to the excessive and
unapproachable height of thy munificence and whenever I know-
that I am myself " but dust and ashes," or even, what is still more
worthless, if there is any such thing, then I feel confidence to
approach thee, humbling myself, and casting myself down to
* Exodus iv. 12.
H 4
100 PHILO JUDJEUS.
the ground, so completely changed as scarcely to seem to
exist.
VII. Now such a disposition of the soul, Abraham, the
inspector, has deeply engraved on my memory. For, says the
scripture, " Abraham came near and said, Now have 1 begun
to speak unto the Lord, I that am but dust and ashes ;" *
since then there was an opportunity given to the creature to
approach the Creator, when he recognised his own nothingness.
But the expression, " What wilt thou give me?" is not so much
the language of one who is in doubt, as of one feeling and
expressing gratitude at the multitude and greatness of the
blessings which he has already enjoyed. " What wilt thou
give me ?" for, in fact, what more is there left for me to ex
pect ? for, O bountiful God ! thy graces and mercies are
boundless and unlimited, and they have no boundary and no
end, bursting up like fountains full of perfection, which are
continually drawn upon and are never dry. And it is worth
while to contemplate, not merely the ever-abounding torrent
of thy bounties, but also those fields of ours which are irri
gated by them ; for if a superfluous and too excessive stream
be poured over them, then the place will become a marshy
and swampy plain instead of fertile land ; for our land has
need of irrigation, carefully measured out with a view to cause
fertility, and not unmeasured. And on this account I will
ask, What wilt thou give me, thou who hast already be
stowed on me unspeakable mercies, and almost all things, so
that mortal nature is incapable of containing them ? For what
remains that I wish to know, and to have, and to acquire, is
this : who could be worthy of thy works, who could deserve to
inherit them?
"I shall depart from life childless ;"t having received a
short-lived and ephemeral blessing, which speedily passes
away, when I prayed for the contrary, namely, for one which
should last many days, a long time; which should be free
from all mishap, which should never die, but should be able to
sow seeds of itself, and to stretch forth roots for the sake of
giving it firmness, and which should raise its trunk upwards
10 heaven, and hold its head on high ; for it is necessary that
human virtue must walk upon the earth, and must, at the
time, strive to reach heaven ; that there being hospi-
Geneaia xviii. 27. t Genesis xv. 2.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 1 1
tably received by immortality, it may pass all future time in
freedom from all evil, for I know that thou hatest a barren
and unproductive soul, thou who art thyself the supporter of
things that have no existence, and the parent of all tilings.
Since thou hast given especial grace to the race which has the
faculty of seeing, so that it shall never be barren, and never
be childless ; and as I myself have been assigned to that race
as a part of it, I am justly desirous of an heir; for, perceiving
that that race is inextinguishable, I think it would be a most
shameful thing of me to be indifferent to the sight of my own
nature, separated from all that is good.
Therefore I am a suppliant to thee, and I implore thee, that
those seeds and sparks being kindled and cherished, the saving
light of virtue may burn up and give light, which being borne
on like a torch, delivered from hand to hand in constant suc
cession, may last as long as the world. Moreover, thou hast
inspired those men who practise virtue with a desire for chil
dren of the sowing and generation of the soul; and they,
having received such a portion have, in their joy, spoken and
said, " The children which God hath mercifully given to thy
servant,"* of whom migration is the nurse and guardian,
whose souls are simple, and tender, and well disposed, being
calculated easily to receive the beautiful and most God-like im
pressions of virtue ; and teach me also this saying, " Whether
the son of Meshech, my servant, born in my house, is compe
tent to become the inheritor of thy graces," for up to this
time I have not received the son whom I hoped for, and of
the one whom I have received I have no hope.
VIII. But who Meshech is, and who her son is, must be
examined in no superficial manner. Now the interpretation
of the name Meshech is, " out of a kiss ;" but a kiss differs from
loving ; for the one exhibits usually a discovery of souls united
together by good-will, but the other intimates only a bare and
superficial salutation when some necessity has brought the two
parties to the same place. For as the meaning " to stoop ^
(X-JTTI/V) is not contained in (avaxiwrre/v) " to lift up the head,"
nor "to drink" (cmw) in, "to absorb" (xaraw), nor "a
horse " (7-rcoj) in the word Oua^/Tcro;) " a bag," so also " to
love" (p/Xcft) is not necessarily contained in "to kiss" (xara-
p/Xsft); since men yielding to the bitter necessities of life
* Genesis zxxiii. 5.
102 PHILO JUD^EUS.
offer this salutation to numbers of their enemies. But what
that salutation is which consists of a kiss, but not of sincere
friendship for us, I will explain without any reservation or
concealment. It is, forsooth, that life which exists in union
with the external senses, which is called Meshech, being com
pletely secured and defended, which there is no one who does
not love, which men in general look upon as their mistress,
but which virtuous men consider their handmaid, not a foreign
slave or one bought with a price, but born in the house, and in
some sense, a fellow citizen with themselves. Well, one class
of these men have learnt to kiss this, not to love it ; but the
other class have learnt to love it to excess, and to think it an
object of desire above all things.
But Laban, the hater of virtue, will neither be able to kiss
the virtues which are assigned to the man who is inclined to
the practice of virtue, but, making his own life to depend on
hypocrisy and false pretences, he, as if indignant, for he is not
in reality affected, says, " I was not accounted worthy to kiss
my children and my daughters;"* speaking very naturally
and decorously, for we have all been taught to hate irony
irreconcileably. Do thou, therefore, love the virtues, and
embrace them with thy soul, and then you will be not at all
desirous to kiss, which is but the false money of friendship ;
* For have they not yet any part or inheritance in thy house ?
have they not been reckoned as aliens before thee ? and hast
not thou sold them and devoured the money ?f" so that you
could neither at any subsequent time recover it, after having
devoured the price of their safety and their ransom. Do you
pretend, therefore, to wish to kiss, or else to wage endless war
against all the judges ? But Aaron will not kiss Moses,
though he will love him with the genuine affection of his
heart. ** For," says the scripture, " he loved him, and they
embraced one another. "
IX. But there are three kinds of life. The first life, to
God ; the second, with respect to the creature ; the third, is
on the borders of both, being compounded of the two others.
Now, the life to God has not descended to us, and has not
come to the necessities of the body. Again, life with respect
to the creature has not wholly ascended up to heaven, nor has
it sought to ascend, but it lurks in unapproachable recesses, and
* Genesis xxxi. 28. t Genesis xxxi. 14. J Exodua xviil 7.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 103
rejoices in a life which is no life. And the mingled kind is
that one which often ascends upwards, being conducted up-
wards by the better part, and it gazes on divine things, and
contemplates them ; but still it often turns back, being dragged
in the contrary direction by the worse part : and when the
portion of the better life, as if placed in the balance of a scale,
outweighs the whole, then the weight of the opposite kinds of
life is dragged in the contrary direction, so that the lightest
weight appears to be in the opposite scale.
But Moses having, without any contest or doubt, given the
crown of victory to that kind of life which is life to God, brings
that forward as the best, likening the other two kinds to two
women one of whom he calls beloved, and the other hated,
givhxr them both most appropriate names. For who is there
who Ts not at times influenced by the pleasures and delights
which he receives by means of his eyes, or by those which reach
him through the medium of his ears, or of his sense of taste,
or of his sense of smell and touch ? And who is there who
does not hate the contrary things, want and self-denial, and a
life of austerity, and seeking after knowledge, which has never
any share in amusement or laughter, but is full of gravity, and
cares and labours, loving contemplation, an enemy to ignorance,
superior to money, and glory, and pleasure, but under the do
minion of temperance and true glory, and of that wealth which
sees and is not blind? These, then, are at all times the eldest
offspring of wisdom.
X. But Moses thinks those things which, though young*
in point of time are nevertheless honourable by nature, worthy
of the first honours of the birth-right, giving them a double
share, and taking from the others half of their share ; for, says
he " If a man have two wives, the one beloved and the other
hated and if they lx)th bear children, then when he is about
to distribute his property, he shall not be able to give the
portion belonging to the first-bom to the son of her who is
beloved,"* namely, to the son of pleasure ; for he is but young,
even though in point of time he may be old ; but he looks
upon the son of her who is hated, namely, of wisdom, as the
elder, ever since he was a child ; and, accordingly, to him he
has assigned a double share.
But because we have, on a previous occasion, explained
Deuteronomy xxi. 15.
104 PHILO JUD^US.
iigurative sense of this passage, \ve will now pass on to what
comes next, to the passage before us ; after we have first ex
plained this point, that " God is said to have opened the
womb of her who was hated," and thus to have caused to arise
an offspring of virtuous practices and good actions, while -the
wife, who was reputed to be beloved, was from that time forth
barren: "For the Lord," says the scripture, "seeing that
Leah was hated, opened her womb, but Rachel was barren."*
Is it not then the case, that when the soul is pregnant, and
begins to bring forth such things as are becoming to the soul,
then all those objects of the outward senses are barren and
unproductive, objects to which the salutation belongs, which is
given by a kiss and not by genuine affection ?
XI. Each individual then among us is the son of life ac
cording to the outward sense, which he calls Meshech, honour
ing and admiring the foster-mother and nurse of the mortal
race, namely, the outward sense, whom also, when the earthly
mind, by name Adam, saw after it had been created, he
named her life his own death ; for, says the scripture, " Adam
called his wife s name Eve (&?}), because she was the mother
of all living,"t that is to say, of those who are in real truth
dead as to the life of the soul ; but they who really live have
wisdom for their mother and the outward sense for their slave,
which has been created by nature for the purpose of minister
ing to knowledge ; and the name of that man who was born of
life (w^), whom we have recognized by a kiss, he calls
Damascus, which name, being interpreted, means " the blood
of a sack;" by this figurative language, calling the body a
sack, with great power and felicity ; and by blood, he means
the life which depends on the blood.
For since the soul is spoken of in two ways, first of all as
a whole, secondly, as to the dominant part of it, which, to
speak properly, is the soul of the soul, just as the eye is both
the whole orb, and also the most important part of that orb,
that namely by which we see ; it seemed good to the law-giver
that the essence of the soul should likewise be two-fold ; blood
being the essence of the entire soul, and the divine Spirit
being the essence of the dominant part of it : accordingly he
says, in express words, " The soul of all flesh is the blood
thereof."* He does well here to attribute the flow of blood to
* Genesis xxLx. 31. "f Genesis iii. 20. Genesis ix. 8.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 105
the mass of flesh, combining two things appropriate to one
another ; but the essence of the mind he has not made to de
pend on any created thing, but has represented it as breathed
into man by God from above. For, says Moses, " The Crea
tor of the universe breathed into his face the breath of life,
and man became a living soul,"* who also, it is recorded,
was fashioned after the image of the Creator.
XII. So that the race of mankind also is twofold, the one
being the race of those who live by the divine Spirit and
reason ; the other of those who exist according to blood and
the pleasure of the flesh. This species is formed of the earth,
but that other is an accurate copy of the divine image ; and
that description of us which is but fashioned clay, and which is
kneaded up with blood, has need, in no slight degree, of as
sistance from God ; on which account it is said, this Damas
cus of Eleazar.f But the name Eleazar, being interpreted,
means, " God is my helper." Since the mass of the body,
which is filled with blood, being of itself easily dissolved and
dead, has its existence through, and is kept alive by, the pro
vidence of God, who holds his arm and shield of defence over
it, while our race cannot, by any resources of its own, exist in
a state of firmness and safety for a single day.
Do you not see that the second of the sons of Moses has also
the same name as this man ? For " the name of the second,"
says the scripture, "was Eleazar."^ And he adds the reason :
* for the Lord has been my helper, and has delivered me out
of the hand of Pharaoh." But those who are still companions
of that life which owes its existence to blood, and which is
appreciable by the outward senses, are attacked by that
disposition which is such a formidable disperser of piety, by
name Pharaoh ; from whose sovereignty, full as it is of law
lessness and cruelty, it is impossible to escape, unless Eleazar
be born in the soul, and unless one puts one s hope of succour
in the only Saviour.
And it is with particular beauty that he speaks of Damascus
with reference, not to his father, but to his mother ; in order
to show that the soul depending on blood, by means of which
the brute animals live, is akin properly to the female race ;
the race of his mother, and has no share in the male race.
But this is not the case with virtue, that is with Sarah ; forsho
Genesis ii. 7. t Genesis xv. 2. J Exodus xviii. 4.
106 PHILO JUD^US.
has none but a male offspring, being borne only of God who is
he father of all things, being that authority which has no
mother. " For truly," says the scripture, " she is my sister
y my father s side, but not by my mother s."*
XIII. We have now explained what it was necessary for you
to be apprised of as a preliminary. For the first part of the
argument had a sort of enigmatical obscurity. But we must
examine with more accurate particularity what the man who is
fond of learning seeks. Perhaps then it is something of this
sort : to know whether any one who is desirous of that life which
is dependent on blood and who claims an interest in the objects
of the outward sense, can become an inheritor of incorporeal
and divine things ? for of such only he who is inspired from
above is thought worthy, having received a portion of heavenly
and divine inheritance, being in fact the most pure mind,
disregarding not merely the body but also the other fragment
of the soul, which being devoid of reason is mixed up with
blood, kindling the fervid passions and excited appetites.
Accordingly it pushes its inquiries in this manner: since
you have not given to me a seed which is capable of becoming
its own instructor, namely, that seed which is able to be com
prehended by the intellect, " Shall the slave born in my house
be my heir ?" the offspring of that life which is dependent
upon blood. Then God, making haste, anticipated the speaker,
sending, as one may say, instruction on in advance of speech.
" For immediately," says the scripture, " the voice of God
came to him, saying, He shall not be thy heir ;"J nor any one
else of those who come to an exhibition of the outward senses.
For the incorporeal natures are the inheritors of those things
which can only be appreciated by the intellect.
And it has been especially observed here, that the scripture
does not say he spoke to him or conversed with him, but the
expression is, " The voice of God came to him ;" as if God
uttering a loud and unceasing sound, in order that the voice
1 eing thus distributed into every soul, might leave no part
destitute of proper instruction, but that all parts might every
where be filled with healthy learning.
XIV. Who, then, shall be the heir ? Not that reasoning
which remains in the prison of the body according to its own
voluntary intention, but that which is loosened from those
* Genesis xx. 12. t Genesis xv. 3.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 107
bonds and emancipated, and which has advanced beyond the
walls, and if it be possible to say so, has itself forsaken itself.
" For he," says the scripture, " who shall come out from thee,
he shall be thy heir." Therefore if any desire comes upon
thee, O soul, to be the inheritor of the good things of God,
leave not only thy country,* the body, and thy kindred, the
outward senses, and thy father s house, that is speech ; but
also flee from thyself, and depart out of thyself, like the
Cerybantes, or those possessed with demons, being driven to
fren/y, and inspired by some prophetic inspiration. For while
the mind is in a state of enthusiastic inspiration, and while it
is no longer mistress of itself, but is agitated and drawn into
fren/y by heavenly love, and drawn upwards to that object,
truth removing all impediments out of its way, and making
every thing before it plain, that so it may advance by a level
and easy road, its destiny is to become an inheritor of the
things of God.
But, mind ! take confidence, and explain to us how you de
part and emigrate from those former things, you who utter things
perceptible only by the intellect to those who have been taught
to hear rightly, always saying, I emigrated from my sojourn in
the body when I learnt to despise the flesh, and I emigrated
from the outward sense when I learnt to look upon the objects
of outward sense as things which had no existence in reality
condemning its judicial faculties as spurious and corrupted, and
full of false opinion, and also condemning the objects submit
ted to that judgment as speciously devised to allure and to de
ceive, and to snatch the truth from out of the middle of nature.
Again, I departed from speech when I convicted it of great
unreasonableness, although it talked of sublime subjects and
puffed itself up ; for it dared a not inconsiderable deed of daring,
namely, to show me bodies through the medium of shadows,
and things by means of words, which was impossible ; therefore
it kept stumbling about over repeated obstacles, and kept on
talking vainly, being unable by common expressions to give a
clear representation and understanding of the peculiar proper
ties of the subjects with which it was dealing. But I, learning
bv experience, like an infant and untaught child, decided
that it was better to depart from all these tilings, and to attri
bute the powers of each to God, who makes and consolidates
Genesis xii. 1
108 PHILO JUD^EUS.
the body, and who prepares the outward senses so as to feel
appropriately, and who gives to speech the power of speaking
at its desire ; and in the same manner in which you have de
parted from the other things, now rise up and emigrate from
thyself. But what is the meaning of this expression ? Do
not treasure up in thyself the faculties of perceiving, and think
ing, and comprehending, but offer and dedicate these things to
him who is the cause of thinking accurately, and of compre
hending without being deceived.
XV. But it is the holier of the all-sacred places in the
temple which receives this offering ; for it appears that there
are two ; the one discernible only by the intellect, and the other
perceptible by the outward senses. Now, of these creatures
which are perceptible by the outward senses, this world is the
receptacle ; but of those things which are truly invisible, the
world, which is discernible only by the intellect, is the maga*
zine : but he that goes out from us and desires to become an
attendant of God, is the inheritor of the much celebrated
wealth of nature ; he bears witness, who says, " He brought
him out, and said unto him, Look up to heaven ;" * since that
is the treasury of the good things of God. " May the Lord,"
says he, " open to thee the treasury of his good things, f that
is, the heaven ; out of which he who furnishes the supply does
incessantly rain the most perfect joys.
Look up, then, so as to convict the blind race of common
men, which, though it appears to see, is blind. For how can
it be otherwise than blind, when it sees evil instead of good,
and what is unjust instead of what is just, and the indulgence
of the passions, instead of a mastery over them, and things
mortal, instead of things immortal, and when it runs away
from its monitors and correctors, and from conviction and in
struction, and admits flatterers, and the reasonings of idleness,
and ignorance, and luxury, all exerted in the cause of pleasure ?
The good man, then, alone sees ; in reference to whom the
ancients also called the prophets, seers. J;
But he who advanced further outwards, not only seeing, but
seeing God, was called Israel ; the meaning of which name is,
" seeing God " But others, even if they ever do open their eyes,
still bend them down towards the earth, pursuing only earthly
things, and being bred up among material objects ; for the one
raises his eyes to the sky, beholding the manna, the divine
* Genesis xv. 5. t Deut. xxviii. 12. J 1 Samuel ix. 9.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 109
word, the heavenly, incorruptible food of the soul, which is food
of contemplation : but the others fix their eyes on garlic and
onions, food which causes pain to the eyes, and troubles the
sight, and makes men wink, and on other unsavoury food, of
leeks, and dead fish, the appropriate provender of Egypt.
** For," says the scripture, " we remembered the fish which we
ate in Egypt without payment, and the gourds, and the cucum
bers, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic ; but now our soul is
dry, and our eyes behold nothing but manna."*
XVI. And the statement, " He led him out"t (i&ya.ytv al
jco), has a bearing also on moral considerations, though some
persons, through their want of instruction in moral philosophy,
are accustomed to ridicule it, saying, " For js any one ever led
out in (J /Va7ra/),orled in out (g/Ve p^sra/ ?)?" "Certainly,"
I would reply, " you ridiculous and very foolish man ; for you
have never learnt how to trace the dispositions of the soul ;
but by this language of yours you only seek to understand those
motions of bodies which are exerted in change of place. On
which account it seems paradoxical to you to speak of any one
coming out into (0iM Jffu), or going in out (sijef^era/
fw) ; but to those acquainted with Moses none of these things
seem inconsistent."
Would you not say that the perfect high priest when, being
in the inmost shrine, he is performing his national sacrifices, is
both within and without at the same time ? within in respect
of his visible body, but without in respect of his soul, which is
roaming about and wandering ? And again, on the other hand,
would you not say that a man who was not of the family
consecrated to the priesthood, but who was a lover of God and
beloved bv God, though standing without the holy shrine, was
nevertheless in reality in its inmost parts? looking upon his
whole life in the body as a sojourning in a foreign land ; but
while he is able to live only in the soul, then he thinks that
he is abiding in his own country.
For every fool is cutside of friendship, even though he may
not depart for one moment from daily association with people
But every wise man is within friendship, even if he be dwelling
at a distance, not merely in a different country, but in another
climate and region of the world. But, according to Moses, a
friend is so near to one as to differ in no respect from oiie a
Numbers xl 5. t Genesis xv. 5.
110 PHILO JUD^EUS.
own soul, for he says, " the friend who is like thy soul."* And
again he says, " The priest shall not be a man by himself, when
he goeth into the holy of holies, until he cometh out ;" t speak
ing not with reference to the motions of the body, but to those
of the soul ; for the mind, while it is offering holy sacrifices
to God in all purity, is not a human but a divine mind ; but
wh^n it is serving any human object, it then descends from
heaven and becomes changed, or rather it falls to the earth and
goes out, even though the mind may still remain within.
Very correctly, therefore, it is said, he led him out (f>j
,u) of the prison according to the body, of the caves existing
in he external senses, of the sophistries displayed in deceit
ful speech ; and beyond all this, out of himself and out of the
idea that by his own self-exerted, self-implanted, and inde
pendent power he was able to conceive and comprehend.
XVII. And after he has conducted him out, he says to him,
" Look up to heaven, and count the stars, if thou art able to
number them; thus shall be thy seed. "^ He says very beautifully,
"Thus shall be thy seed," not so great shall it. be, equal in number
to the stars ; for he does not intend here to allude to their mul
titude only, but also to an infinite number of other circum
stances which contribute to entire and perfect happiness. " Thus
shall thy seed be," says God, as the ethereal firmament which
thou beholdest, so heavenly, so full of unshadowed and pure
brilliancy (for night is driven away from heaven, and darkness
from virtue,) most thoroughly like the stars, beautifully adorned,
having an arrangement which knows no deviation, but which is
always the same and proceeding in the same way. For he means
him to speak of the soul of the wise man as a copy of heaven, or,
if one may use such a hyperbolical expression, as an actual heaven
upon earth, having pure appearances in the air, and well
arranged motions, and harmonious progress, and periodical
revolutions of divine character, star-like and brilliant rays of
virtue.
But if it is impossible to find out the number of the stars
which are perceptible by the outward senses, how much more
so must it be to count those which are discernible only by the
intellect ? for in proportion, I suppose, as that which judges is
better or worse than that which is judged of (for the mind is
* Deut. xin. 6. t Leviticus xvi. 17. + Genesis xv. 5.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS 1 1 1
better than the outward sense, and the outward sense is duller
than the intellect ; in the same ratio do the subjects of the
judgment differ : so that the objects of the intellect are in
finitely superior to those of the outward senses ; for the eyes
in the body are the smallest imaginable portion of the eye of
the soul ; for the one is like the sun, but the others only re
semble lamps, which are at one time lighted and at another
extinguished.
XVIII. Therefore that is a necessary addition which is sub
joined, " Abraham believed in God,"* to the praise of him
who did thus believe. And yet, perhaps, some one may say,
44 Do you judge this worthy of praise? who would not give his
attention to God when saying or promising anything, even if
he were the most wicked and impious of all men ?" To whom
we will reply, " Do not, do not, my good man, without further
inquiry, either rob the wise man of his due praise, or attribute
to unworthy persons that most perfect of the virtues, faith ;
and do not blame our opinion on this point ; for if you are
willing to enter upon a deeper investigation into this subject,
and are not content with examining it superficially, you will
then see clearly, that without the assistance or addition of
something else, it is not easy to believe in God on account of
that connection with mortality in which we are involved,
which compels us to put some trust in money, and glory, and
authority, and friends, and health, and vigour of body, and
in numeVous other things ; but to wash off all these extraneous
things, to disbelieve in creation, which is, in all respects, un
trustworthy as far as regards itself, and to believe in the only
true and faithful God, is the work of a great and heavenly
mind, which is no longer allured or influenced by any of the
circumstances usually affecting human life.
XIX. And it is well added in the scripture, " And it was
counted to him for righteousness :" for nothing is so righteous
as to have an unalloyed and entire belief in the only God.
But this, although both just and consistent with reason,
was considered an incredible thing on account of the incredu
lity of the generality of men, whom the holy scripture con
demns, saying, that " to anchor firmly and unchangeably on
the only fiving God, is a thing to be admired among men,
who have no possession of true unmingled good, but is not to
Geneaia xv. l>.
112 PHILO JUD^EUS.
be wondered at if truth guide the judgment; but it is the
especial attribute of justice.
XX. The scripture proceeds : "And he said unto him I am
God, who brought thee out of the land of the Chaldaeans, so
as to give thee this land to inherit it." These words exhibit
not only a promise, but a confirmation of an ancient promise ;
for the good which was previously bestowed upon him was the
departure from the Chaldaean. philosophy, which was occupied
about the things of the air, which taught men to suppose that
the world was not the work of God, but was God himself;
and that good and evil is caused in the case of all existing
things, by the motions and fixed periodical revolutions of the
stars, and that on these motions the origin of all good and evil
depends ; and the equable (6,aaX^) and regular motion of
these bodies in heaven, persuaded those simple men to look
upon these things as omens, for the name of the Chaldeans
being interpreted is synonymous with equability (6/>taXoV7j5).
But the new blessing which is promised is the acquisition of
that wisdom which is not taught by the outward senses, but is
comprehended by the pure mind, and by which the best of all
emigrations is confirmed ; when the soul departs from astro
nomy and learns to apply itself to natural philosophy, and to
exchange unsure conjecture for certain apprehension, and, to
speak with real truth, to quit the creature for the Creator, and
the world for its father and maker ; for the scriptures tell us,
that the votaries of the Chaldaean philosophy believed in the
heaven, but that he who abandoned that sect believed in the
ruler of the heaven and the manager of the whole world,
namely, in God. A very beautiful inheritance, greater per
haps than the power of him who receives it, but worthy of the
greatness of the giver.
XXI. But it is not sufficient for the lover of wisdom to
have a hope of good things, and to expect all kinds of ad
mirable things, because of the predictions given to him, but
unless he also knows the manner in which he is to arrive at
the succession of his inheritance, he thinks it very grievous,
inasmuch as he thirsts after knowledge, and has an insatiable
desire of attaining to it; on which account he puts a question,
saying, " Lord God, how shall I know that I shall inherit
it?" Perhaps some one may say that this question is at
variance with perfect faith, for that to feel such a difficulty is
ON WHO 2S THE HEIR OP DIVINE THINGS. 113
the part of one who doubts, but that it is the part of one who
believes to seek for nothing further. We must say, therefore,
that he both doubts and has believed, but not about the same
matter, far from it, for he has believed that he is to be an in
heritor of wisdom, but he only seeks to know the manner in
which this event will take place ; that it really will take place
he does by all means confidently comprehend, in accordance
with the divine promises.
Therefore the teacher having praised the desire for learn
ing which he feels, begins his explanation with the first
elementary instruction, in which this is set down as the first
and most necessary thing, " Take for me." * The sentence is
brief, but the meaning is great ; for there are not a few things
implied in these words. In the first place you have, says God,
no good thing of your own, but whatever you fancy that yon
have, another has bestowed it upon you. From which it is
inferred that all things are the property of God who gives
them, but that they do not belong to the creature which only
existed after him, and which stretches forth its hands to take
them. In the second place, he says, even if you take them,
take them not for yourself, but think what is thus given you a
loan or deposit, and be ready to restore it to him who has de
posited it with, or contributed it to you, requiting an older
favour with a newer one, and an original kindness with one
proffered instead of it, as justice and propriety require.
XXII. For many men have become wicked in respect of
such sacred deposits, having, through their immoderate covet-
ousness improperly used the property of others as their own.
But do thou, O good man ! endeavour with all thy strength,
not only to present what you have received without injury and
without adulteration, but also to take even more care than that
of such things, that he who has deposited them with you may
have no grounds to blame the care which has been exercised
by you. And what the Creator of man has deposited in your
custody are soul, speech, and external sense ; which are sym
bolically named a heifer, a ram, and a goat, in the sacred scrip
tures. But these things some persons have at once appropriated
through self-love, but others have stored them up so as to be
able to return them in due season. Now, of those who have
appropriated them, it is impossible to tell the number; for
* Genesis rv. 9.
VOL. II. I
114 PHILO JUD^US.
who of us is there who does not think his soul, and his speech,
and his external senses, all taken together, to be his own pro
perty, thinking that to feel, and to speak, and to comprehend,
depend upon himself alone ? But of those who really preserve
their faith holy and inviolate, the number is very small.
Such men attribute to God these three things: the soul,
the external sense, and speech. For they have received all
these things, not for themselves, but for him, in whose favour
they naturally and appropriately confess that the energies ac
cording to each of these three things depend upon him, namely,
the imaginations and apprehensions of the mind, the explana
tions of speech, and the perceptions of the outward senses.
Those, now, who attribute these things to themselves, have
received an allotment worthy of their own perverseness, namely,
a soul fond of plotting against others, polluted with irrational
passions, and enveloped in a multitude of vices ; at one time
eager to indulge in violent insolence through its gluttony and
lasciviousness, as though it were in a brothel ; at another time
held fast by the multitude of its iniquities as in a prison, with
wicked (not men but) actions which deserve to be led before
all the judges. Secondly, speech insolent, loquacious, sharp
ened against the truth, injurious to ail who come in its way,
and bringing disgrace upon those who possess it. Thirdly, the
external sense, insatiable, always filling itself with the objects
of the outward senses, but through its immoderate appetites
never able to be satisfied, disregarding all its monitors and cor
rectors, so as to refuse to look upon or to listen to them, and
to reject with disdain all that they say to it for its good. But
those who take these things not for themselves but for God,
attribute each one of them to him, guarding that which they
have acquired in a truly holy and religious manner, keeping
their mind, so that it shall think of nothing else but the things
relating to God and to his excellencies, and their speech so as
to make it, with unrestrained mouth, and with encomiums, and
hymns, and announcements of happiness, honour the father of
the universe, collecting together and exhibiting all its powers of
interpretation and utterance in this one office ; and regulating
the external senses, so that forming a conception of the whole
of that world which is perceptible by them, they may, in a
guileless, honest, and pure manner, relate to the soul all the
heaven and earth, and the natures whose home is between the
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 115
two, and all animals and plants, and their respective energies and
faculties, and all their motions and their stationary existence.
For God has implanted in the mind a power of comprehend
ing that world, which is appreciable only by the intellect, by
its own power, but the invisible world by means of the external
senses. And if any one were able in all his parts to live to
God rather than to himself, looking by means of the external
senses into those things which are their proper objects, for the
sake of finding out the truth; and through the medium of the
soul, investigating in a philosophical spirit the proper objects of
intelligence, and those things which have a real existence, and
by means of liis organs of voice, singing hymns in praise of the
world and of its Creator, he will have a happy and a blessed life.
XXIII. I think then that this is what intimated in the
words, " Take for me ; " God, intending to send down the per
fection of his divine virtue from heaven to earth, out of pity
for our race, in order that it might not be left destitute of a
better portion, prepared in a symbolical manner the sacred
tabernacle and the things in it, a thing made after the model
and in imitation of wisdom. For he says that he has erected
his oracle as a tabernacle in the midst of our impurity, in order
that we may have something whereby we may be purified,
washing off and cleansing all those things which dirt and
defile our miserable life, full of all evil reputation as it is.
Let us now then see in what manner he has commanded us
to bring in the different things which are to contribute to the
furnishing of the tabernacle. " The Lord, " says the scripture,
" spake unto Moses saying, Speak unto the children of Israel,
and take ye first-fruits for me of whatever it shall seem good
to your heart to take my first-fruits. * Therefore here also
there is an injunction to take not for themselves but for God,
examining who it is who gives these things, and doing no
injury to what is given, but preserving it free from danger, and
free from spot, perfect and entire. And the injunction, by
which he orders the first fruits to be offered to himself, is full
of doctrine ; for in real truth the beginnings both of bodies
and of things are investigated with reference to God alone ;
and search if you wish to understand everything, plants and
animals, and arts and sciences.
Are then the first castings of the seed of plants, the action*
Exodus xxv. 1.
116 PHILO JUD^EUS.
of husbandry or the invisible works of invisible nature? What
more need I ask ? What are the works of men and other
animals ? Have not they parents as co-operating causes, as it
were, and also nature as the primary and more important and
real cause ? And is not nature the fountain, and root, and
foundation of all arts and sciences, or any other name you
please to give to the oldest of principles, nature, upon which
all speculations are built up ? And if nature be not first laid as
the foundation, everything is imperfect, and on this account
some one seems to me to have said with great felicity :
The first beginning is quite half the whole.
XXIV. Very appropriately therefore does the sacred scrip
ture command the first-fruits to be offered up to the all-ruling
God. And in another passage we read " The Lord spake unto
Moses saying, Sanctify to me all the-first born : all that is
first brought forth, all that openeth the womb among the
children of Israel, whether of man or beast is mine,"* so that
it is openly asserted in these words, that all the first things,
whether in point of time or of power, are the property of God,
and most especially all the first-born ; since the whole of that
race which is imperishable shall justly be apportioned to the
immortal God ; and if there is anything, in short, which openeth
the womb, whether of man which here means speech and reason,
or of beast which signifies the outward sense and the body ;
for that which openeth the womb of all these things, whether
of the mind, so as to enable it to comprehend the things
appreciable only by the intellect, or of the speech so as to
enable it to exercise the energies of voice, or of the external
senses, so as to qualify them to receive the impressions which
are made upon them by their appropriate subjects, or of the
body to fit it for its appropriate stationary conditions or
motions, is the invisible, spermatic, technical, and divine Word,
which shall most properly be dedicated to the Father.
And, indeed, as are the beginnings of God so likewise are
the ends of God ; and Moses is a witness to this, where he
commands to " separate off the end, and to confess that it is
due to God."t The things in the world do also bear witness.
* Exodus xiii. 2.
f There is probably some corruption here. The marginal reference
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. ] 17
How so? The beginning of a plant is the seed, and the end
is the fruit, each of them being the work, not of husbandry,
but of nature. Again, of knowledge the beginning is nature,
as has been shown, but the end can never reach mankind, for
no man is perfect in any branch of study whatever ; but it is a
plain truth, that all excellence and perfection belong to one
Being alone ; we therefore are borne on, for the future, on the
confines of beginning and end, learning, teaching, tilling the
ground, working up everything else, as if we were really effect
ing something, that the creature also may seem to be doing
something ; therefore, with a more perfect knowledge, Moses
has confessed that the first-fruits and the end belong to God,
speaking of the creation of the world, where he says, " In the
beginning God created . . . "* And again he says, " God
finished the heaven and the earth." Now therefore he says,
" Take for me," assigning to himself what becomes him, and
admonishing his hearer not to adulterate what is given to him,
but to take care of it in a manner worthy of its importance.
And again, in another passage, he who has need of nothing,
and who on this account takes nothing, will confess that he
does take something, for the sake of giving to his worshippers
the feeling of piety, and of implanting in them an eagerness
after holiness, and moreover sharpening their zeal in his ser
vice, as one who favourably receives the genuine worship and
service of a willing soul, " For behold," says he, " I have
taken the Levites instead of all the first-born that openeth the
womb among the children of Israel ; they shall be their ran
som ;"f therefore we take and give, but we are said to take
with strict accuracy, but it is only by a metaphorical abuse of
the term that we are said to give, for the reasons which I have
already mentioned. And it is very felicitously that he has
called the Levites a ransom, for nothing so completely con
ducts the mind to freedom as its fleeing for refuge to and
becoming a suppliant of God ; and this is what the consecrated
tribe of the Levites particularly professes to be.
XXV. Having now, therefore, said as much as is proper on
these subjects, let us proceed onwards to what comes next ;
for we have postponed the consideration of many things which
ia to Numbers xxi. 41, and there are only thirty -five verses in the
chapter. The same thing haa occurred in one or two previous instance*
* Geneaui LI. | Num. iii. 12.
118 PHILO JUD^EUS.
ought to be examined into with exactness. " Take for me,
says God, k{ a heifer which has never been yoked and has
never been ill-treated, tender and young,"* and exulting ;
that is to say, a soul adapted easily to receive government, and
instruction, and supsrintendence. " Take for me also a ram,"
that is to say, speech contentious and perfect, capable of dis
secting and overthrowing the sophistries of those who advance
contrary opinions, and capable also of ensuring safety, and
good order, and regularity to him who uses it. " Take for
me," also the external sense, which lives and directs all its
energies to the world, which is perceptible by it, that is, "a
goat," three complete years old, enjoying solid strength in a
perfect number, having beginning, middle, and end. Besides
all these things, " a turtle dove and a pigeon," that is to say,
divine and human wisdom, both of them being winged, and
being animals accustomed to soar on high, still different from
one another, as much as genus differs from species or a copy
from the model ; for divine wisdom is fond of lonely places,
loving solitude, on account of the only God, whose possession
she is ; and this is called a turtle-dove, symbolically ; but the
other is quiet and tame, and gregarious, haunting the cities of
men, and rejoicing in its abode among mortals, and so they
liken her to a pigeon.
XXVI. Moses appears to me to have intended figuratively
to represent these virtues when he calls the midwives of the
Egyptians, Shiphrah and Puah,t for the name Shiphrah, being
interpreted, means " a little bird," and Puah means " red."
Now it is the especial property of divine wisdom, like a bird,
to be always soaring on high ; but it is the characteristic of
human wisdom to study modesty and temperance, so as to
blush at all objects which are worthy to cause a blush ; and as
a very manifest proof of this the scripture says, " He took for
himself all these things.";}: This is the praise of a virtuous
man, who preserves the sacred deposit of those things which
he has received, the soul, the outward sense, speech, divine
wisdom, human knowledge, in a pure and guileless manner,
not for himself, but only for him who has trusted him. After
this the scripture proceeds to say, " And he divided them in
the middle," not explaining who did so, in order that you may
understand that it was the untaught God who divided them,
* Genesis xv. 9. f Exodus i. 15. % Genesis xv. 10
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 1 1 9
and that he divided all the natures of bodies and of things one
after another, which appeared to be closely fitted together and
united by his^vvord, which cuts throufln flvfflrt.frinf| wV>u>h
being sharpened to ttfe~ Tfnest possible edge, never ceases
dtvuTTii^ ull tlic nl,j L vts uf tin- outward senses, and when it hns
gone through them all, and arrived at the things which are
called atoms and indivisible, then again this divider begins
from them to divide those things which may be contemplated
by the speculations of reason into unspeakable and indescriba
ble portions, and to " beat the gold into thin plates,"* like
hairs, as Moses says, making them into one length without
breadth, like unsubstantial lines. Each therefore of the three
victims he divided in the midst, dividing the soul into the ra
tional and the irrational part, speech into truth and falsehood,
and the outward sense into imaginations which can be and
which cannot be comprehended ; and these divisions he im
mediately places exactly opposite to one another, that is, the
rational part opposite to the irrational, truth to falsebood, what
is comprehensible to what is incomprehensible, leaving the
birds undivided ; for it was impossible to divide the incorporeal
and divine sciences into contrarieties at variance with one
another.
XXVII. But as the discussion on the subject of a division
into equal portions, and on that of opposite contrarieties, is of
great extent and of necessary importance, we will not wholly
pass it by, nor will we dwell on it with prolixity, but, investi
gating it as it is, we will be content with such things as seem
suitable to the occasion.
For as the Creator divided our soul and our limbs in
the middle, so also, in the same manner, did he divide
the essence of the universe when he made the world ; for.
having taken it, he began to divide it thus : in the first
instance, he made two divisions, the heavy and the light,
separating that which was thick from that which w;is
more subtle. After that, he again made a second division of
each, dividing the subtle part into air and fire, and the denser
portion into water and earth ; and, first of all, he laid down
those elements, which are perceptible by the outward senses,
to be, as it were, the foundations of the world which is percep
tible by the outward senses. . Again, he subdivided heavy and
Exodus xxxiz. 3.
120 PHILO JUD^US.
light according to other ideas, for he divided the light into
cold and hot ; and the cold he called air, and that which was
hot by nature he called fire. The heavy, again, he divided
into wet and dry ; and the dry he called land, and the wet he
called water and each of these, again, received other further
subdivisions ; for the land was divided into continents and
islands, and the water into sea and rivers, and all drinkable
springs, and the air was divided into the solstices of summer
and winter ; fire, also, was divided into what is useful (but fire
is a most insatiable and destructive thing), and also by a dif
ferent division into what is saving; and this division was
assigned for the conformation of the heaven.
But as he divided the things when entire, so also did he
divide the particular divisions, some of which were animated
and others inanimate ; and of those which were inanimate he
made a division into those which always remain in the same
place, the bond of which is habit, and those which move, not
indeed in the way of changing their place, but so us to grow,
which indescribable nature has vivified. Again of these, those
which are of wild materials are productive of wild fruits, which
are the food of brute beasts ; but others producing good fruit,
the cultivation of which has called forth diligent superin
tendence and care, and these produce fruit for the tamest of
all animals, namely, for man, that he may enjoy them. And
not only did he divide the inanimate things, and those which
had received a soul and vitality in one manner for of these
he defined one species as that of irrational, and one as that of
rational animals but he also again subdivided each of these
things, dividing the irrational into the wild and the tame
species, and the rational into the mortal and the immortal.
Again, of the mortal he made two divisions, one of which he
called men, and the other women ; and, in the same manner,
he divided the irrational animals into male and female.
And these things were also subjected to other necessary
divisions, which made distinctions between them ; winged
animals being distinguished from terrestrial, terrestrial from
aquatic creatures, and aquatic creatures, again, from both
extremities. Thus God, having sharpened his own word, the
divider of all things, divides the essence of the universe which
is destitute of form, and destitute of all distinctive qualities,
and the four elements of the world which were separated from
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 121
this essence, and the plants and animals which were consoli
dated by means of these elements.
XXVIII. But since Moses not only uses the expression,
" he divided," but says further, " he divided in the midst," it is
necessary to say a few words on the subject of equal divisions ;
for that which is divided skilfully just in the middle makes
two equal divisions. And no man could ever possibly divide
anything into two exactly equal parts ; but it is inevitable that
one of the divisions must fall a little short, or exceed a little,
if not much, at all events by a small quantity, in every
instance, which indeed escapes the perception of our outward
senses which attend only to the larger and more tangible
burdens of nature and custom, but which are unable to com
prehend atoms and indivisible things. But it is established
by the incorruptible word of truth that there is nothing equal
in inequality.
God alone therefore seems to be exactly just, and to be the
only being able to divide in the middle bodies and things, in
such a manner that none of the divisions shall be greater or
less than the other by the smallest and most indivisible
portion, and he alone is able to attain to sublime and perfect
equality.
If therefore there were but one idea of perfect equality,
what has been said would be quite sufficient for the purpose.
But as there are many, we must not hesitate to add some
considerations which are suitable. For the word " equal " is
used in one sense when speaking of numbers, as when we say
that two are equal to two, and three to three ; and speak of
other numbers in the same manner. But in another sense
when speaking of magnitude, as equal in length or breadth, or
depth, which are all different proportions. For wrestler
compared with wrestler, or cubit with cubit are equal in
magnitude but different in power, as is the case also with
measures and weights. But the idea of equality is a neces
sary one, and so is that of equality in proportion, according
to which a few things are looked upon as equal to many, and
small things are equal to larger ones. And their proportion
ate equality, cities are accustomed to use at suitable times,
when they command every citizen to contribute an equal
share of his property, not equal in number, but in proportion
to the value of his assessment, so that in bouie cases he who
122 PHILO JUD^US.
contributes a hundred drachms will appear to have brought
an equal sum with him who contributes a talent.
XXIX. These things being thus previously sketched out,
see now how God, dividing things in the middle, has divided
them into equal portions according to all the ideas of equality
which occur in the creation of the universe. He has divided
the heavy things so as to make them equal in number to the
light ones, two to two ; that is to say, so that the earth and the
water, being things of weight, are equal in number to those
which are by nature light, air and fire. Again, he has made
one equal to one, the driest thing to the wettest thing, the earth
to the water ; and the coldest thing to the hottest thing, the
air to the fire, So, in the same manner, he has divided light
from darkness, and day from night, and summer from winter,
and autumn from spring ; and so on.
Again, he has divided things so as to make his divisions
equal in point of magnitude ; such as the parallel cycles in
heaven, and those which belong to the equinoxes both of
spring and autumn, and those which belong to the winter and
summer solstice. And on the earth he has divided the zones,
two being equal to one another, which being placed close to
the poles are frozen with cold, and on this account are
uninhabitable. And two he has placed on the borders
between these two and the torrid zone, and these two they
say are the abode of a happy temperature of the air, one of
them lying towards the south and the other towards the north.
Now the divisions of time are equal in point of length, the
longest day being equal to the longest night, and again the
shortest day being equal to the shortest night, and the mean
length of day to the mean length of night. And the equal
magnitude of other days and nights appears to be indicated
chiefly by the equinoxes. From the spring equinox to the
summer solstice, day receives an addition to its length, and
night, on the other hand, submits to a diminution ; until the
longest day and the shortest night are both completed. And
then after the summer solstice the sun, turning back again the
same road, neither more quickly nor more slowly than he
advanced, but always preserving the same difference in the
same manner, having a constantly equal arrangement,
proceeds on till the autumnal equinox ; and then, having made
day and night both equal, it begins to increase the length of
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 123
the night, diminishing the day until the time of the winter
solstice. And when it has made the night the longest night,
and the day the shortest day, then returning back again and
adopting the same distances as before, he again comes to the
spring equinox.
Thus the differences of time which appear to be unequal,
do in reality possess a perfect equality in respect of magnitude,
not indeed at the same seasons, but at different seasons of
the year.
XXX. And a very similar effect is seen in the different
parts of animals and especially of men. For hand is equal to
hand, and foot to foot, and nearly all the other limbs of the
body are equal to their corresponding members in magnitude,
those on the left hand being equal to those on the right.
And there are an exceeding number of things which are equal
to one another in power, both among wet things and dry
things, the judgment on which is seen in measures and
scales, and things of that kind. And nearly all things are
equal as respects proportion, even all the little and all the
great things in the whole world. For those who have
examined the questions of natural philosophy with some
accuracy say that the four elements are all equal in propor
tionate equality. And it is by proportion that the whole
world is compounded together, and united, and endowed with
consistency so as to remain firm for ever, proportion having
distributed equality to each of its parts. And they say also that
the four elements which are in us, dryness, and moisture, and
cold, and heat have all been mixed together and well adapted
by proportionate equality, and in fact that our whole com posi
tion is nothing but a mixture of the four powers combined
together by an equality of proportion.
XXXI. "But any one who examines all these things might
add an interminable list of arguments and instances to this
one present discussion. If he considered he would find the
very smallest animals equal to the largest as to proportion ; aa
for instance he would find the swallow equal to the eagle, the
herring equal to the whale, and the ant equal to the elephant.
For body and soul, and again pains and pleasures, and more
over affection for and dislike towards things, and all tho
other feelings which the nature of animals experience, are
nearly all of them similar, being made equal by the rule of
124 PHILO JUD^EUS.
proportion. Thus some men have felt confidence even to
declare that the smallest of animals, man, is equal to the
whole world, considering that each of them consists of a body
and a rational soul, so that, using a figurative expression, they
have called rnan a little world, and the world a large man.
And in teaching this they are not very wide of the mark, but
they know that the art of God according to which he created
all things, admitting neither any extraordinary intensity nor
any relaxation ; but always remaining the same, made every
single existing thing perfectly, according to its own excessive
and consummate perfection, the Creator employing all numbers
and all the ideas which tend to perfection.
XXXII. For, as Moses says, " He judged according to the
little and according to the great,"* engendering and fashioning
everything, and not taking anything away from the display of
his art by reason of the obscurity of his materials, not adding
anything because of their brilliancy ; since all the artists who
have any reputation wish to work up whatever materials they
take in an admirable manner, whether they are costly or
whether they are inexpensive. And before now, some persons,
having even an extraordinary love of distinction, have even
spent more skill in working up materials of little value, than
they have devoted to those which are costly, wishing to make
up for the deficiencies of the material by the additional
display of their skill. But there is no material which has any
value in the eyes of God, because he has given all materials
an equal share of his skill. In reference to which it is said
in the sacred scriptures, " God saw all that he had made, and,
behold, it was very good/ t But the things which receive an
equal degree of praise, are by all means held in equal estima
tion by him who confers the praise ; and what God praised
was not the materials which he had worked up into creation,
destitute of life and of melody, and easily dissolved, and
moreover in their own intrinsic nature perishable, and out of
all proportion and full of iniquity, but rather his own skilful
work, completed according to one equal and well-proportioned
power and knowledge always alike and identical. In reference
to which all things were also accounted equal and similar by
all the rules of proportion, according to the principles of art
and knowledge.
* Deuteronomy L 17. t Genesis L 31.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 125
XXXIII. And if there is any one in the world who is a
praiser of equality, that man is Moses. In the first place
composing hymns in its honour, and in every place, and calling
it the especial property of justice, as in fact its very name to
some degree shows, to divide* bodies and things into two
equal parts ; and in the second place blaming injustice, the
worker of the most disgraceful inequality ; and inequality has
been the parent of two wars, foreign and civil war, as on the
other hand equality is the parent of peace. And he also utters
the most manifest panegyric on justice, and the most unde
niable reproach of injustice when he says, " You shall not
commit injustice in any judgment, nor in measures, or weights,
or balances : a just balance, and just weights, and a just heap,
shall be yours."f And in Deuteronomy he says, " There shall
not be a false weight in thy bag ; thy weight shalt be true and
just ; there shall not be a little weight and a large one ; that
thy days may be multiplied upon the earth, which the Lord
thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, because every one who
committeth injustice is an abomination to the Lord."*
Therefore God, who loveth justice, hates and abominates
injustice, the beginning of sedition and of evils ; and in one
passage the lawgiver represents equality as the muse of justice
beginning with the creation of the entire heaven. For he
says, " And God made a separation between the light and
between the darkness, and he called the light day, and the dark
ness he called night. " For it is equality which allotted night
and day and light and darkness to existing things. It is
equality also that divided the human race into man and woman,
making two divisions, unequal in strength, but most perfectly
equal for the purpose which nature had principally in view, the
generation of a third human being like themselves. For, says
Moses, " God made man; in the image of God created he him ;
male and female created he them. || He no longer says "him,"
but them" in the plural number, adapting the species to the
genus, which have, as I have already said, been divided with
perfect equality.
XXXIV. And he apportioned cold and heat, and summer
* The Greek is $i\a rifivftv, as if SiKaioffvvt}, "justice," werb
derived from Si\a, " in two parts "
t Leviticus xix. 35. Deuteronomy xxv. 13.
g Genesis i. 4. || Genesis i. 26.
126 PHILO JUD^EUS.
and spring, the different seasons of the year, divided by the
same dividing Word. And the three days which passed
before the creation of the sun, are equal in number to the
three days of the first week which came after the creation of
the sun, the number six being dissected equally in order to
display the character of eternity and of time. For thus God
allotted three days to eternity before the appearance of the
sun, and those which came after the sun he allotted to time ;
the sun being an imitation of eternity, and time and eternity
being the two primary powers of the living God ; the one his
beneficent power, in accordance with which he made the
world, and in respect of which he is called God ; the other his
chastening power, according to which he rules and governs
what he has created, in respect of which he is further denomi
nated Lord, and these two he here states to be divided in the
middle by him standing above them both. " For," says he,
" I will speak to you from above the mercy-seat, in the midst,
between the two cherubims ; "* that he might show that the most
ancient powers of the living God are equal ; that is to say, his
beneficent and his chastising power, being both divided by the
same dividing Word.
XXXV. But what are the pillars of the ten generic laws
which he calls tables ? They are two ; equal in number to
the parts of the soul, the rational and irrational part, which
must be instructed and corrected, being again divided by the
Lawgiver; "for the tables were the work of God, and the
writing was the writing of God engraven on the tables. "f
And, indeed, of the ten commandments engraved on these
tables which are properly and especially laws, there is an
equal division into two numbers of five ; the first of which con
tains- the principle of justice relating to God, and the second
those relating to man.
Now of those principles of justice relating to God, the first
law enunciated is one which opposes the polytheistic doctrine,
and teaches us that the world is ruled over by one sole gover
nor. The second is one forbidding men to make gods of
things which are not the causes of anything, by means of the
treacherous arts of painters and sculptors, whom Moses
banished from his own constitution which he proposed to
establish, condemning them to everlasting banishment, in
* Exodus xxv. 22. t Exodus xxxii. 16.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 127
order that the only true God might be honoured in truth and
simplicity. The third law is one about the name of the Lord,
not about that name which has not yet reached his creatures ;
for that name is unspeakable, but about the name which is
constantly applied to him as displayed in his powers ; for it is
commanded that we shall not take his name in vain. The
fourth commandment is concerning the seventh day, always
virgin, and without any mother, in order that creation, taking
care that it may be always free from labour, may in this way
come to a recollection of him who does everything without
being seen.
The fifth commandment is about the honour due to parents.
For this also is a sacred command ; having reference not to
men, but to him who is the cause of birth and existence to
the universe, in accordance with whom it is that fathers and
mothers appear to generate children ; not generating them
themselves, but only being the instruments of generation in
his hands. And this command is placed, as it were, on the
borders between the two tables of laws relating to God and
those relating to man, and so it bounds the five which con
cern piety, and that five also which comprehend a prevention
of injury to one s fellows. Since mortal parents are the boun
daries of the immortal powers, which, generating everything
according to nature, have permitted this lowest and mortal
race to imitate their own powers of generation, and so to
propagate its own seed ; for God is the beginning of all gene
ration, and the mortal species of mankind, being the lowest
and least honoured of all, is the end.
The other table of five is the prohibition of adultery, of
murder, of theft, of false witness, and of covetousness. These
are generic rules, comprehending nearly all offences whatever,
and to one of these rules each particular and special action is
naturally referrible.
XXXVI. But you see also that the regularly occurring daily
sacrifices are divided into equal portions ; one portion being the
sacrifice which the priests offer in their own behalf, consisting
of the finest wheat-flour, and the other being that which they
offer on behalf of the whole nation ; consisting of two lambs,
which they are especially commanded to offer. * For the law
commands them to offer one half of the sacrifices above-
* Leviticus vl 20.
128 PHILO JUD^EUS.
mentioned early in the morning, and the other half at the time
of the evening twilight, in order that God may receive his
proper tribute of thanks for the blessings which are showered
upon all men during the night.
You see also that the loaves which are placed upon the
sacred table are divided by the twelve into equal parts, so as
to be distributed to each company of six in number, and are so
placed as a memorial of the tribes which are of a corresponding
number ; one half of whom, virtue, that is Leah, received as her
share, having become the mother of six leaders of tribes ; and
the other half fell to the lot of Rachel s children and those of
the other women.
You see also that the twelve stones of an emerald upon the
garment which reached down to the priests feet are divided
equally on the right and on the left side of the garment ; on
which, being divided into equal numbers of six, the names
of the twelve patriarchs of the tribes were engraved, being
divine characters engraved on pillars, memorials of divine
natures. What more need I say ? Has he not also, taking
two mountains symbolically to mean two races, and having
again divided them on principles of the equality of proportion,
allotted one to those who bless, and the other to those who
curse ; appointing leaders of tribes over each in order to give
admonitions to those who have need of them, and to show them
that the curses are equal in number to the blessings, and
nearly, if it may be lawful to say so, of equal value ? For the
praises of the good and the reproaches of the wicked are of
equal service, since to avoid evil and to choose good are, among
all persons of sound sense, looked upon as one and the same
thing.
XXXVII. A great impression is made upon me by the
selection and division of the two goats which are brought as an
offering for the purpose of atonement, and which are divided
by an obscure and uncertain principle of division, namely, by
lot. For of two principles, the one which is occupied about
the affairs of divine virtue is consecrated and set apart to be
offered to God ; but that which devotes itself to the concerns
of human unhappiness is appropriated to the banished creature,
for the share which that has obtained the sacred scriptures
-call the scape- goat, since it is removed from its place, and
pursued and driven away to a great distance from virtue.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 129
And, as is the case with respect to good and unadulterated
money, so also, as there are many things in nature, does not
the invisible divider appear to you to divide them into equal
I>ortions, and to distribute the good money which has stood
the test to the lover of instruction, and that which has not
been properly coined, and which is bad, to the man who is
ignorant ? for, says Moses, " that which had no mark belonged
to Laban, and that which was marked belonged to Jacob."*
For the soul, being as some ancient writer has said, a waxen
tablet, while it is hard and resisting, repels and refuses the
impressions which are attempted to be stamped upon it ; and
remains of necessity undistinguished by any figure. But
when it becomes tractable and yielding in a moderate degree,
it then receives deep impressions, and having taken off the
stamp given by the seal, it preserves accurately the appear
ances which are impressed upon it, so that they cannot be
effaced
XXX VI II. Moreover, the equal division of the sacrifices of
blood is certainly calculated to excite our admiration : which
division the chief priest Moses, having nature for his teacher,
made ; for, says the scripture, " He, taking the half of the
blood, poured it into the bowls ; and the other half he poured
out upon the altar. f In order to show that the sacred genus
of wisdom is of a twofold nature, the one kind being divine,
and the other human : and the divine kind is unmingled and
unadulterated, on which account it sacrifices to the pure, and
unalloyed, and only God existing in unity ; but the human
kind is of a mixed and alloyed nature, and therefore dissi
pates the unanimity and community of our mixed, and com
bined, and compound race, and effects any thing rather than
a proper harmony of either melodies or morals.
But the unmixed and unadulterated portion of the soul is
the pure mind, which, being inspired by heaven from above,
when it is preserved in a state free from all disease and from
all mishap is very suitably all poured forth and resolved into
the elements of a sacred libation, and so restored in a fitting
manner to God, who inspired it and preserved it free from
any infliction of evil ; but the mixed portion is entirely that of
the outward senses, and for this part nature has made suitable
Genesis xrx. 42. t Exodua xxiv. 6.
VOL. II. K
130 PHILO JUD.EUS.
craters. Now, the craters of the sense of seeing are the eyes,
those of hearing are the ears, those of smelling are the
nostrils, and so on with the appropriate receptacles for each of
the senses. On these craters the sacred word pours a portion
of blood, thinking it right that the irrational part of us should
become endowed with soul and vitality, and should in some
manner become rational ; following the guidance of admonition,
and purifying itself from the deceitful alluring powers of the
objects of the outward sense which aim to overcome it.
Was it not in the same manner that the holy double-drachm
was divided?* That we should purify the half of it, namely,
a drachm, offering it as the ransom for our souls : which the
only free, the only delivering God, when addressed in the
voice of supplication, and sometimes even without any suppli
cation, by force delivers from the cruel and bitter despotism of
the passions and iniquities ; but the other portion we may
leave to the race w r hich is never free, but which is of a slavish
disposition ; of which class was the man who said, " I have
loved my lord;"f that is to say, the mind which is the
master in me ; " and my wife," that is to say, the outward
sense which is dear to him, and the housekeeper of his pas
sions ; " and my children," that is to say, the evils which are
the offspring of them ; " I will not depart free." For it is
quite inevitable that such a description of persons as this must
obtain a lot which is no lot, and that the scapegoat bought with
the double drachm, must be given to them, which is just the
opposite of the drachm and of unity which is offered up to Grod.
And it is the nature of unity not to be capable of either addi
tion or subtraction, inasmuch as it is the image of the only
complete God ; for all other things are intrinsically and by
their own nature loose ; and if there is any where any thing
consolidated, that has been bound by the word of God, for this
word is glue and a chain, filling all things with its essence
And the word, which connects together and fastens every
thing, is peculiarly full itself of itself, having no need whatever
of any thing beyond.
XXXIX. Very naturally therefore does Moses say, "He
who is rich will not add anything, and he who is poor will not
diminish anything of the half of the double drachm," $ which is,
* Exodus xxx. 13. t Exodus xxi. 5. Exodus xxx. 15.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 131
as I have said before, a drachm, and a unit ; to which every
member might quote that line of the poet :
With thee I ll end, with thee I will begin.
For even an infinitely infinite number, being made of a con
tinuation of other numbeis, when dissolved must end in a unit :
and again it must begin with a unit, being afterwards com*
pounded so as to make an illimitable multitude; on which
account those who have made the investigation of such matters
their study, have not called the unit a number, but rather an
element, and the beginning of number. .
Again this heavenly food of the soul which Moses calls
manna, the word of God divides in equal portions among all
who are to use it ; taking care of equality in an extraordinary
degree. And Moses bears witness to this where he says, " He
who had much had not too much, and he who had but little
was in no want;"* since they all used that wonderful and most
desirable measure of proportion. On which account it hap
pened to the Israelites to learn that each of them was collect
ing not more for the men who were related to him than for the
reasonings and manners which were akin to him. For as much
as was sufficient for each man, that he was allotted in a
prudent manner, so as neither to feel any want or any super
fluity.
XL. And we may find something very much resembling
this equality, according to analogy in the case of the festival
which is called the passover ; and the passover is when the
soul is anxious to unlearn its subjection to the irrational
passions, and willingly submits itself to a reasonable mastery
over them. For it is expressly said, " If there be few that are
in thy house, so as not to be sufficient in number for a sheep,
then thou shalt take thy nearest neighbour in addition,
according to the number of souls,"f so that each person may
receive a sufficient share in proportion to the number of his
family, being such as he is found to be worthy of and to have
need of.
But when, as if it were some country, he wishes to divide
out virtue among its inhabitants, he then allows the more
numerous body to have more, and the less numerous to have
less, thinking it reasonable not to allot a larger share to a
* Exodus xvl 18. t Exodus xii 16.
K 2
132 PHILO JUD^US.
smaller number, nor a smaller share to a larger number ; for
in such a case they would neither of them be suited to their
respective portions.
XLI. But the most manifest instance of equality in respect
of number, is exhibited in the sacred offerings of the twelve
princes, and again in the portions of those offerings which are
distributed among the chiefs. For, says the scripture, " There
shall be an equal share allotted to each of the sons of Aaron."*
Equality is also very beautifully displayed in respect of the
composition of spices for purposes of fumigation ; for we read,
" Take to thyself sweet odours, stacte, onycha, galbanum, these
sweet spices with pure frankincense, all of the most chosen
kinds, all of equal weight and thou shalt make of it a
perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, a pure
composition, a holy \vork."f For the Lord enjoins here that
each of the separate portions shall be equal to each, with a
view to the proper composition of the whole.
And as I imagine these four ingredients of which the
entire perfume is composed are emblems of the four elements
of which the whole world is made ; he likens the stacte to
water, the onycha to land, the galbanum to the air, and the
pure transparent frankincense to fire ; for stacte, which derives
its name from the drops (<sraywig) in which it falls is liquid,
and onycha is dry and earth-like, the sweet smelling gal
banum is added by way of giving a representation of the
air, for there is fragrance in the air ; and the transparency
which there is in frankincense serves for a representation of
fire. On which account also, he has separated the things
which have weight from those which are light, uniting the one
class by a closely connecting combination, and bringing forth
the other in a disunited form ; as where he says, " Take to thy
self sweet odours, stacte, onycha," these things being weighty
he mentions unconnectedly, being the symbols of earth and
water. Afterwards he begins afresh with the other class, which
he mentions in combination, saying, " And the sweet spice of
galbanum and the transparent frankincense," these again
being in their own nature emblems of the light things, air and
fire.
And the harmonious composition and mixture of these
things is truly his most ancient and most perfect holy work,
* Numbers vii. 5. } Exodus xxx. 34
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 133
namely, the world ; which, speaking of it under the emblem
of perfume, he thinks is bound to show gratitude to its
Creator. So that in name the composition which has been
carefully fabricated by the art of the ajxrthecary may be offered
up, but in real fact the whole world which was created by
divine wisdom may be consecrated and dedicated, being made
a burnt offering of early in the morning and also in the
evening. For such a life as this becomes the world, namely,
continually and without ceasing to be giving thanks to its
Father and Creator, so as to stop short of nothing but evapo
rating and reducing itself into its original element, in order to
show that it stores up and conceals nothing, but dedicates
itself wholly as a pious offering to God who created it.
XLII. And I marvel also at that sacred word which runs
on with zeal, in one continued course, without taking breath,
" In order to stand in the midst between the dead and the
living ; and immediately," says Moses, " the plague was
stayed. * But the evils which grind down and break to
pieces and crush our souls were not likely either to be stayed
or lightened, unless the reasoning, dear to God, had separated
off the holy men who live in sincerity, from the unholy who
in real truth are dead ; for, owing to the mere fact of being
near those who are sick, it has often happened that those who
were in perfect health have caught their disease, and have
been at die point of death : and it was impossible for them
any longer to be exposed to this affliction if they once sepa
rated by a strong boundary fixed in the middle between them,
which will preserve the better part by keeping off the inroads
and attacks of the worse.
And I man-el still more, when listening to the sacred
oracles I learn from them in what manner " a cloud came in
the midst f" between the army of the Egyptians and the com
pany of the children of Israel ; for the cloud no longer
permitted the race, which is temperate and beloved by God,
to be persecuted by that which was devoted to the passions
and a foe to God ; being a covering and a protection to its
friends, but a weapon of vengeance and chastisement against
its enemies ; for it gently showers down wisdom on the minds
which study virtue wisdom which cannot be visited by any
evil. But on those minds which are ill-disposed and uupro-
* Numbers xvi. 48. t Exodus liv. 19.
134 PHILO JUD^US.
ductive of knowledge, it pours forth a whole body of punish
ments, bringing upon them the most pitiable destruction of the
deluge.
And the Father who created the universe has given to his
archangelic and most ancient Word a pre-eminent gift, to
stand on the confines of both, and separated that which had
been created from the Creator. And this same Word is con
tinually a suppliant to the immortal God on behalf of the
mortal race, which is exposed to affliction and misery ; and is
also the ambassador, sent by the Ruler of all, to the subject
race. And the Word rejoices in the gift, and, exulting in it,
announces it and boasts of it, saying, " And I stood in the
midst, between the Lord and you;"* neither being uncreate
as God, nor yet created as you, but being in the midst
between these two extremities, like a hostage, as it were, to
both parties : a hostage to the Creator, as a pledge and secu
rity that the whole race would never fly off and revolt entirely,
choosing disorder rather than order ; and to the creature, to
lead it to entertain a confident hope that the merciful God
would not overlook his own work. For I will proclaim peace
ful intelligence to the creation from him who has determined
to destroy wars, namely God, who is ever the guardian of
peace.
XLIII. Therefore the sacred Word, having given us instruc
tion respecting the division into equal parts, leads us also to
the knowledge of opposites, saying that God placed the
divisions " opposite to one another ;"f for in fact nearly all
the things that exist in the world, are by nature opposite to
one another. And we must begin with the first.
Hot is opposite to cold, and dry to wet, and light to heavy,
and darkness to light, and night to day ; also in heaven that
which is fixed is opposite to the wandering planetary motion,
and in the air a clear sky is opposite to clouds, winter to
summer, autumn to spring, for the one is blooming and the
other fading. Again, of things on earth, sweet water is
opposite to bitter, and barren to fertile laud. Again, there are
other things contrary to one another, as visible bodies to
incorporeal, things endowed with vitality to things inanimate,
rational to irrational, mortal to immortal, things discernible by
the outward sense to things perceptible only by the intellect ;
* Numbers xvi. 48. f Genesis xv. 10.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 135
things comprehensible to things incomprehensible, elements
to things concrete and perfected, beginning to end, generation
to destruction, life to death, disease to health, white to black,
the right to the left, justice to injustice, wisdom to folly,
courage to cowardice, temperance to intemperance, virtue to
vice ; and all the species of one class to all the species of the
other class.
Again, grammatical knowledge is contrary to ignorance of
the same subject, musical science to unacquaintance with
music, an educated to an illiterate condition ; and, in short,
skill in art to want of skill. Again, in the different arts there
are vocal elements and mute elements, there are sharp and
flat sounds, there are straight and circular lines. Once more,
in animals and plants, there are some barren and some pro
ductive ; some very prolific, others which yield but small
increase ; animals oviparous and animals viviparous ; animals
with soft skins, and others with hard shells ; some wild and
some tractable creatures; some fond of solitude, and others
gregarious.
To go on further : poverty is opposite to wealth, glory to want
of reputation, baseness of birth to nobility, want to abundance,
war to peace, law to lawlessness, a bad to a good disposition,
inactivity to labour, youth to old age, power to want of power,
weakness to strength. And why need I enumerate every class
separately, when these are unlimited and indescribable by
reason of their multitude / Very beautifully, therefore, has
the interpreter of the writings of nature, taking pity upon our
idleness aud want of consideration, taught every one of us in
an invisible manner, as he does now, to arrange everything in
such a way as to produce an exact opposition, not arranging
them in wholes, but in equal divisions ; for one thing consists
of the two opposite parts ; and when that one thing is bisected
then the opposite parts are easily known. Is not this the
thing which the Greeks say that Heraclitus, that great
philosopher who is so celebrated among them, put forth as the
leading principle of his whole philosophy, and boasted of it as
if it were a new discovery ? For it is in reality an ancient
discovery of Moses, that out of the same thing opposite things
are produced having the ratio of parts to the whole, as has
here been shown.
XL VI. These matters then we will examine into accurately
136 PHTLO JUD^EUS.
on another occasion ; but there is this other point also, which
does not deserve to be passed over in silence. For the divi^
sions into two equal parts which have been mentioned become
six in number, since three animals were divided, so that the
Word which divided them made up the number seven, dividing
the two triads and establishing itself in the midst of them.
And a thing very similar to this appears to me to be very
clearly shown in the matter of the sacred candlestick ; for that
also was made having six branches, three on each side, and
the main candlestick itself in the middle made the seventh,
dividing and separating the two triads; for it is made of
carved work, a divine work of exquisite skill and highly
admired, being made of one solid piece of pure gold. For the
unit, being one and single and pure, begot the number seven,
which had no mother but is bom of itself alone, without taking
any additional material whatever to aid him.
But those who praise gold say a great many other things
by way of panegyric on it, but dwell on two especial points
as most particularly important and excellent ; one that it does
not receive poison, the other that it can be beaten out or melted
out into the thinnest possible plates, while still remaining
unbroken. Therefore it is very naturally taken as an emblem
of that greater nature, which, being extended and diffused
every where so as to penetrate in every direction, is wholly full of
everything, and also connects all other things with the most
admirable arrangement.
Concerning the candlestick above mentioned, the artist speaks
again a second time and says, that from its different branches
there are three arms projecting out on each side, equals in all
respects to one another, and having on the top lamps like nuts,
in the shape of flowers supporting the lights ; * the seventh
flower being fashioned on the top of the candlestick of solid
gold, and having seven golden places for lights above them ; so
that in many accounts it has been believed to be fashioned in
such a manner because the number six is divided into two
triads by the Word, making the seventh and being placed in the
midst of them ; as indeed is the case now. For the entire candle
stick with its six most entire and principal parts was made so
as to consist of seven lamps, and seven flowers, and seven lights ;
and the six lights are divided by the seventh. And in like
* Excdus xxv. 33.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 137
manner the flowers are divided by that which comes in the
middle ; and in the same manner also the lamps are divided by
the seventh which comes in the middle. But the six branches,
and the equal number of arms which shoot out are divided by
the main trunk itself which makes up the number seven.
XLV. But the long discussion which some people start with
respect to each of these, must be postponed to a subsequent
opportunity. Thus much alone we must remind our readers of
at this moment, that the sacred candlestick and the seven lights
upon it are an imitation of the wandering of the seven planets
through the heaven. How so ? some one will say. Because,
we will reply, in the same manner as the lights, so also does
every one of the planets shed its rays. They therefore, being
more brilliant, do transmit more brilliant beams to the earth,
and brilliant beyond them all is he who is the centre one of the
seven, the sun. And I call him the centre, not merely because
he has the central position, as some have thought, but also
because he has on many other accounts a right to be ministered
unto and attended by the others accompanying him as body-
guards on each side, "by reason of his dignity and his magnitude,
and the great benefits which he pours upon all earthly things.
But men, being unable completely to comprehend the
arrangement of the planets (and in fact what other of the
heavenly bodies can they understand with certainty and clear
ness?) speak according to their conjectures. And these persons
appear to me to form the best conjectures on such subjects, who,
having assigned the central position to the sun, say that there
is an equal number of planets, namely, those atx>ve him and
below him. Those above him being Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars ;
then comes the Sun himself, and next to him Mercury, Venus,
and the Moon, which last is close to the air. The Creator
therefore, wishing that there should be a model upon earth
among us of the seven-lighted sphere as it exists in heaven,
ordained this exquisite work to be made, namely, this candle
stick. And its likeness to the soul is often pointed out too ; for
the soul is divisible into three parts, and each of the parts, as
bus been already pointed out, is divided into two more. And
thus there being six divisions, the sacred and divine Word, the
divider of them all, very naturally makes up the number seven.
XLVI. This other point also is too important to deserve to
be passed over in silence : that, as there are three vessels
138 PHILO JUD^EUS.
among the sacred furniture, a candlestick a bath, and an altar
of incense ; the altar of incense has reference to that grati
tude which is exhibited for the bestowal of the elements, as
has been shown before, since it does itself also receive a por
tion from these four, receiving wood from the earth, and the
spices which are burnt from the water ; for, being first of all
liquefied, they are dissolved into drops of moisture, and vapour
from the air, and form the fire the spark which kindles the
whole ; and the composition of frankincense, and galbanum,
and onycha, and stacte, is a symbol of the four elements ; and
the table is referred to the gratitude which is displayed for
the mortal things which are made out of the elements, for
loaves and libations are placed upon it, which the creatures
who stand in need of nourishment must of necessity use. And
the candlestick has reference to the gratitude exhibited for all
the things existing in heaven, in order that no portion of the
world may lie under the imputation of ingratitude ; but that
we may see that every single part of it gives thanks, the ele
ments, the things made of them, and not those only which
are made on earth, but also those in heaven.
XL VI I. And it is worth while to consider why, after
having explained the measures of the table and of the altar of
incense, he has given no such description of the candlestick ;
may it not be, perhaps, for the reason that the elements and
all the mortal things which are compounded of them, of which
the table and the altar of incense are symbols, have been
measured, inasmuch as they are terminated in heaven ? For that
which surrounds anything is invariably the measure of that
which is surrounded ; but the heaven, of which the candlestick
is the symbol, is of infinite magnitude ; for it is indeed sur
rounded, but not, according to the account of Moses, by a
vacuum, nor by any substance, nor by anything which is of
equal magnitude with itself, nor by anything of unlimited size,
in accordance with the marvellous fables which we touched
upon when speaking of the building of the tower ; but its boun
dary is God, and he also is its ruler and the director of its
course.
As, therefore, the living God is incomprehensible, so also
that which is bounded by him is not measured by any mea
sures which come within the range of our intellect : and,
perhaps, inasmuch as it is of circular form and skilfully
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 139
fashioned into a perfect sphere, it has no participation in either
length or breadth.
XLV1II. Therefore, after he has said what is becoming on
this subject, he proceeds to add, " But the birds he did not
divide;"* meaning, by the term birds, the two reasonings
which are winged and inclined by nature to soar to the investi
gation of sublime subjects ; one of them being the archetypal
pattern and above us, and the other being the copy of the
former and abiding among us. And Moses calls the one
which is above us the image of God, and the one which abides
among us the impression of that image, " For," says he, "God
made man," not an image, " but after the image. "f So that the
mind which is in each of us, which is in reality and truth the man,
is a third image proceeding from the Creator. But the inter
mediate one is a model of the one and a copy of the other. But
by nature our mind is indivisible ; for the Creator, having
divided the irrational part of the soul into six portions, has
made six divisions of it, namely, sight, taste, hearing, smell
ing, touch, and voice ; but the rational part, which is called
the mind he has left undivided, according to the likeness of
the entire heaven. For in this, also, there is is a report that
the outermost sphere, which is destitute of motion, is pre
served without being divided, but that the inner one is divided
into six portions, and thus completes the seven circles of what
are called the planets : for I imagine the heaven is in the
world the same thing that the soul is in the human being.
They say, therefore, that these two natures, full of reason and
comprehension that, I mean, which exists in man and that
which exists in the world are both at all times entire and
indivisible.
On this account, therefore, it is that the scriptures tell us,
" He did not divide the birds." For our own mind is here
compared to a dove, since that is a creature which is tame and
domesticated among us ; and the turtle dove is compared to
the model presented by the other, that is to say, by the mind
of the world, the heaven ; for the word of God is fond of
retirement, and solitude, and privacy ; not mixing itself up
with the crowd of things which have been created and will be
destroyed, but being at all times accustomed to roam on high,
and being anxious to be an attendant only on the one supreme
Being.
Gcnesii rv. 10. t Genes!* i. 27.
140 PHILO JUDJEUS.
Therefore, the two natures are indivisible; the nature, I
mean, of the reasoning power in us, and of the divine Word
above us; but though they are indivisible themselves, they
divide an innumerable multitude of other things. For it is
the divine Word which divided and distributed every thing in
nature ; and it is our own mind which divides every thing and
every body which it comprehends, by the exertion of its intel
lect in an infinite manner, into an infinite number of parts,
and which, in fact, never ceases from dividing. And this
happens by reason of its resemblance to the Creator and
Father of the universe ; for the divine nature, being unmin-
gled, uncombined with any thing else, and most completely
destitute of parts, has been to the whole world the cause of
mixture, and combination, and of an infinite variety of parts :
so that, very naturally, the two things which thus resemble
each other, both the mind which is in us and that which is
above us, being without parts and indivisible, will still be able
in a powerful manner to divide and distribute all existing
things.
XLIX. Therefore, after Moses has mentioned the facts of
birds not being cut in two pieces or divided, he proceeds to
say, " And the birds came down and descended upon the bodies
which were divided;"* using indeed expressions which are
synonymous, but still representing the variance which exists in
the facts in a most visible manner to those who are able to see.
For it is contrary to nature that birds should come down, when
they have been given wings for the purpose of soaring on high.
For, as the earth is the most appropriate place for land animals,
and above all for reptiles, which do not endure even to crawl
upon it, but seek caves and lurking places, avoiding the regions
which are above, on account of their kindred with the things
which are below ; so, in the same manner, the air is the appro
priate abode for the winged race, the element which is by
nature light is the proper home for those creatures which are
light by reason of their being feathered.
When, therefore, those creatures, whose nature it is to
traverse the air and who ought to roam through the aether,
descend and come down upon the land, they are unable to live
a life according to their nature. On the other hand, Moses
approves, in no ordinary degree, of whatever reptiles are able
* Genesis xv. 11.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 141
to take a leap in an upward direction. At all events he says,
"Ye shall eat of these winged reptiles which go upon four feet,
and which have legs above their feet so as to be able by them
to leap up from the ground."* But these reptiles are the
emblems of souls, which like reptiles being rooted in the earthly
body, when they are raised up, get strength to soar on high,
taking the heaven in exchange for the earth, and immortality
in exchange for destruction. We must, therefore, think that
they are full of every description of misery, which, having
been brought up in the air, and in the aether which is tiie
purest of all things, have changed their abode (not being able
to bear the satiety of divine things), and have descended to
that mortal and evil district, the earth.
And there are innumerable imaginations concerning an
innumerable variety of things which roam about upon it also ;
some voluntary, and some out of ignorance, which are in no
respect different from winged creatures, and which Moses
compares to the birds that come down. And of these imagina
tions those which take the upward course belong to the better
class, since virtue, which conducts the mind towards heaven
and the divine country, travels with them. But those which
take the downward course belong to the worse class, since
wickedness guides them and drags them in the contrary
direction by force. And their very names do, to a great extent,
show the opposite character of the places. For virtue (uptrr,)
has derived its name not only from the word (a/0<r/;) choice,
but also from the fact of its being lifted up (vapu rb a/g<rt)a/),
for it is lifted up (a /^rai) and borne on high because it always
loves heavenly things ; but wickedness (xax/a) is so called
from its tendency to go downwards (acri roD xdru Ksyj^pr^tvai),
and also because it compels those who practise it to fall down
to the bottom (xaraT/crrs/v).
Accordingly the thoughts of the soul which are at variance
with one another, flying towards and descending upon the
earth, both come down themselves and also throw the mind
down too, mingling with bodies in a disgraceful degree, and
with things which are perceptible by the outward senses, not
discernible by the intellect, imperfect not entire, perishable
and not living. For they mix themselves up not only with
bodies, but also with the divisions of the bodies which have
* Leviticus xi. 21.
142 PHILO JUD^EUS.
been divided in two parts. And it is quite impossible that
things which have been divided in this way should ever again
admit of adaptation and union ; since the nerves of the spirit,
which were the strongest natural bond in them, are cut in
two.
L. Moreover, Moses introduces a very true opinion when he
teaches us that justice and every virtue loves the soul, but
that wickedness and every vice is attached to the body ; and
that what is friendly to the one is in every case of necessity
hostile to the other, as is the case even now. For having
figuratively represented the wars of the soul, he then intro
duces birds as eager to involve themselves with and to cling to
the bodies, and to satiate themselves with the flesh, the inroads
and attacks of which the virtuous man, desiring to check, is
said to sit by them as if he were a sort of curator or overseer
of them. For when his domestic affairs were thrown into con
fusion by domestic sedition, and when the armies of the enemy
were proceeding against him, he collected a wise council and
deliberated with respect to the adversaries ; in order that if he
could possibly do so, using persuasion he might both put an
end to the foreign war, and also remove the domestic confusion ;
for it was desirable to disperse those enemies who were
gathering over him like a cloud, and who were full of irre-
concileable enmity to him ; and equally so to re-establish with
the other party the relations which had previously existed.
Now those who are irreconcilable and implacable enemies
are set down thus ; the follies and intemperances of the soul,
cowardice and injustice, and all the other irrational appetites
which are accustomed to be generated by luxuriant and impo
tent appetite, raising their heads high and becoming restiff,
and preventing the mind from proceeding in its straight
course ; and very often throwing its whole system into confusion
and beating it down.
But the attacks and conflicts of those powers which are not
irreconcilable resemble the frequent effect of the discussions
and quarrels about doctrines which arise among the Sophists.
For inasmuch as they all labour for one end, namely the con
templation of the things of nature, they may be said to be friends ;
but inasmuch as they do not agree in their particular investi
gations they may be said to be in a state of domestic sedition ;
as, for instance, those who affirm the universe to be uncreated
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS 143
are at variance with those who insist upon its creation ; and
again those who urge that it will be destroyed are at strife
with those who affirm that it is indeed perishable by nature
but that it never will be destroyed, because it is held together
by a more powerful chain, the will of the Creator. And again,
those who affirm that there is nothing self-existent, but that
everything has been created, are at variance with those who
are of a contrary opinion, Those too, who say that man is
he measure of all things, differ from those who would restrain
the judicial faculties of the outward senses and of the intellect.
And, in short, to sum up all these differences in a few words,
those who represent everything as incomprehensible are at
variance with those who say that a great number of things are
properly understood.
And the sun, and the moon, and the whole heaven, and the
earth, and the air, and the water, and all the things that are
connected with them, afford subject for strife and contention
to those who are fond of examining into such subjects, and
who investigate their essences, and distinctive qualities, and
changes, and alterations, and moreover their origin and the
method of their destruction ; and making no superficial
investigation into the magnitude and motion of the heavenly
bodies, they adopt all sorts of different opinions, never agreeing
together, until some man, who is at the same time skilful at
disentangling controversies and calculated to judge, takes his
seat on the tribunal, and comes to a clear perception of the
progeny of each individual s soul, and discards those which do
not deserve to be maintained, and preserves those which are
good, and which be pronounces worthy of suitable providential
care. And all the controversies of philosophy are full of
disagreement, since the truth escapes the intellect which is
given to plausibilities and conjectures: for it is the very
difficulty of discovering and seizing hold of the nature of truth
that, in my opinion, has given rise to so many quarrels.
LI. " And about the setting of the sun a trance fell upon
Abraham, and, behold, fear with great darkness fell upon him."*
Now there is one kind of trance which is a sort of frantic
delirium, causing infirmity of mind, either through old age,
or melancholy, or some other similar cause. There is another
kind which is excessive consteniation, arising usually from
* Geiieaia xv. 12.
144 PHILO JUD^US.
things which happen suddenly and unexpectedly. Another
kind is mere tranquillity of the mind, arising when it is inclined
by nature to be quiet : but that which is the best description of
all is a divinely inspired and more vehement sort of enthu
siasm, which the race of prophets is subject to.
Now the first kind Moses mentions in the curses which are
recorded in Deuteronomy : for he says that, " delirium and
blindness, and aberration of mind shall seize on the impious,"*
so that they shall differ in no respect from blind persons at
mid-day, being like people feeling their way in deep darkness.
The second kind he mentions in many places ; for he says,
"And Isaac was astonished with a great astonishment, and
said, Who, then, is it who went out to hunt for game for me,
and who brought it to me ? And I ate of it all before you
come, and I have blessed him ; yea, and he shall be blessed. "f
And, again, with reference to Jacob, who disbelieved those
who told him that " Joseph is alive, and is ruler over the whole
land of Egypt ; for he," says the scripture, " was amazed in
his mind, for he believed them not." J And, again, in Exodus,
in the assembly of the people, we read : " For the whole of
the mountain of Sinai was enveloped in smoke, because God
descended upon it in fire. And the smoke went up as the
vapour of a furnace, and the whole people was greatly asto
nished. ^ Also, in Leviticus, when speaking of the conse
cration of the priests on the eighth day, when fire came out
from heaven and licked up what was on the altar, and the
burnt-offerings and the fat, the historian proceeds immediately
to tell us, " And the whole people saw it and were astonished,
and fell upon their faces ;"|| for such astonishment as this
causes alarm and consternation.
And ought we not especially to wonder in the case of Esau,
that he who was skilful in hunting was nevertheless himself
continually caught and supplanted, having acquired his skill to
his own injury and not to his advantage, and that he never used
any great care to catch anything in his hunts ? And also in
the case of Jacob, that he hunts without having acquired any
skill by learning, but only as he is moved by nature ; and that
he brings what he has caught to the examiner, who will dis
tinguish whether it deserves to be approved; on which account
* Deui. xxviii. 28. t Genesis xxvii. 83. J Genesis xlv. 26.
Exodus xix. 18. II Leviticus ix. 24.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 145
he " eateth of it all."* For everything that relates to medi
tation is wholesome food, whether it be investigation, or
consideration, or hearing, or reading, or prayer, or self-restraint,
or a contempt for things indifferent : and he ate, as I imagine,
the first fruits of them all, but he did not eat the whole of all ;
for some appropriate food must be left for him who meditates
as a reward for his pains. And the words, " before you came,"
are added out of regard for the nature of the thing ; for if
passion enters into the soul, we shall not enjoy temperance.
And it convicts the worthless man as slow, and hesitating, and
procrastinating, as to the works of instruction, but not as to
those of intemperance. Therefore Egypt contains inspectors
of works, who devote themselves with energy to securing the
enjoyment of the passions. But Moses, on the other hand,
commands the Israelites to eat the passover in haste, and to
celebrate the migration from these passions in this way. And
Judah says : " For if we had not delayed, we should by this
time have returned, and have arrived again in Egypt ; aye,
and a second time should we have returned safe from thence."f
And very naturally did Jacob wonder whether the mind was
still in the body ; that is to say, whether Joseph was alive to
virtue and ruling over the body, and not being ruled over by it.
And any one who chooses to go through all the other instances,
would be able to trace out the truth. But our present subject
does not require any accurate discussion of these matters ; on
which account we had better return to the point from which we
set out.
With respect to the third kind of trance, he philosophises
in this manner when speaking of the creation of the woman ;
" For the Lord God," says Moses, "cast a trance upon Adam,
and he slept. " Here calling the quietness and tranquillity of
mind a trance ; for the slumber of the mind is the awaking of
the outward sense : and, again, the awaking of the intellect is
the reducing of the outward senses to a state of inactivity-
Li I. An instance of the fourth kind of trance is the one
which we are now considering : " And about the setting of the
sun a trance fell upon Abraham," he being thrown into a state
of enthusiasm and inspired by the Deity. But this is not the
only thing which shows him to have been a prophet, but also
the express words which are engraven in the sacred scriptures
Genesis xxviL 33. f Genesis xliii. 9. J Genesis ii. 21.
VOL. II. L
146 PHILO JUD^US.
as on a pillar. When some one endeavoured to separate
Sarah, that is, the virtue which is derived from nature, from
him, as if she had not been the peculiar property of the wise
man alone, but had also belonged to every one who made any
pretence to wisdom, God said, " Give the man back his wife,
because he is a prophet, and he will pray for thee, and thou
shalt live;"* and the sacred scriptures testify in the case of
every good man, that he is a prophet ; for a prophet says
nothing of his own, but everything which he says is strange
and prompted by some one else ; and it is not lawful for a
wicked man to be an interpreter of God, as also no wicked
man can be properly said to be inspired ; but this statement is
only appropriate to the wise man alone, since he alone is a
sounding instrument of God s voice, being struck and moved
to sound in an invisible manner by him.
Accordingly, all those whom Moses describes as just persons
he has also represented as inspired and prophesying. Noah
was a just man; was he not also by that fact a prophet? or
did he, without being possessed by any divine inspiration,
utter those prayers and curses which he applied to the gene
rations which should come hereafter, and all of which were
eventually confirmed by the reality of the facts ? Why should
I speak of Isaac ? Why of Jacob ? For these also are mani
festly found to have been prophets by many other circum
stances, and especially by their addresses to their children. For
the annunciation, " Assemble yourselves together, that I may
tell you what shall happen to you in the last days,"| was the
expression of a man possessed by inspiration ; for the know
ledge of the future is not appropriate to, or natural to, man.
What shall we say of Moses ? is he not celebrated everywhere
as a prophet? For the scripture says, " If there shall be
among you a prophet of the Lord, I will make myself known
unto him in a vision, "J but to Moses God appeared in his ac
tual appearance and not by a riddle. And again we read,
" There arose not any more any prophet like unto Moses,
whom the Lord knew face to face." Very admirably, there
fore, does the historian here point out, that Abraham was
under the influence of inspiration when he says that, " About
the setting of the sun a trance fell upon him."
* Genesis rx. 7. t Genesis xlix. 2.
J Numbers xii. 6. Deuteronomy xxxiv. 10.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 147
LIII. And under the symbol of the sun he intimates our
mind : for what reasoning is in us, that the sun is in the world.
Since each of them gives light, the one casting a light which
is perceptible by the outward senses, to shine upon the uni
verse ; and the other shedding their beams, discernible only by
the intellect by means of our apprehensions, upon ourselves.
As long therefore as our mind still shines around and hovers
around, pouring as it were a noontide light into the whole
soul, we, being masters of ourselves, are not possessed by any
extraneous influence; but when it approaches its setting,
then, as is natural, a trance, which proceeds from inspiration,
takes violent hold of us, and madness seizes upon us, for
when the divine light shines the human light sets, and when
the divine light sets this other rises and shines, and this very
frequently happens to the race of prophets ; for the mind that
is in us is removed from its place at the arrival of the divine
Spirit, but is again restored to its previous habitation when
that Spirit departs, for it is contrary to holy law for what is
mortal to dwell with what is immortal.
On this account the setting of our reason, and the darkness
which surrounds it, causes a trance and a heaven-inflicted
madness. After that the historian connects with his preced
ing account what follows in consistency with it, saying, " And
it was said to Abraham for in real truth the prophet, even
when he appears to be speaking, is silent, and another being
is employing his vocal organs, his mouth and tongue, for the
explanation of what things he chooses ; and operating on these
organs by some invisible and very skilful act, he makes them
utter a sweet and harmonious sound, full of every kind of
melody.
LIV. And it is well to hear what the things are which are
thus said to have been predicted to Abraham. In the first
place, that God does not grant to the man who loves virtue to
dwell in the body as in his own native land, but only to
sojourn in it as in a foreign country. For knowing," says
the scripture, "thou shalt know that thy seed shall be sojourners
in a land which is not theirs."* But the district of the body
is akin to every bid man, and in it he is desirous to abide as a
dweller, not as a sojourner. Accordingly, these words contain
this as one lesson ; another is, that the things which bring
Genesis xv. 13
148 PHILO JUD^EUS.
slavery and disaster and bitter humiliation, as the prophet
himself tells us, upon the soul are the dwellings upon earth.
For the affections of the body are truly spurious and foreign,
being produced by the flesh, in which they are rooted. And
this slavery lasts four hundred years in accordance with the
powers of the four passions.
For when pleasure rules, the mind is elated and puffed up,
being carried away by empty vanity. Again, when appetite
gets the upper hand, a desire for absent things is engendered,
which suspends the mind upon unaccomplished hopes, as if in
a halter ; for then the mind is always thirsting and yet is
unable to drink, enduring the punishment of Tantalus. Again,
when under the influence of grief, the mind is tortured and
contracted, like trees the leaves of which are falling off and
withering ; for all its flourishing and nutritious particles are
dried up. Also, when fire obtains the supremacy, no one any
longer chooses to remain, but betakes to flight and running
away, thinking that that is the only way in which he can be
saved. For appetite, having an attractive power even if the
object which is desired retreats, compels one to pursue it ; and
fear, on the other hand, causing alienation, separates one from
it, and makes one remove to a distance from what is presented
to one s view.
LY. But the supremacy of these different passions before
mentioned inflicts terrible slavery on those who are ruled over
by them, until God, the umpire and judge of all things, sepa
rates that which is ill treated from that which is inflicting
ill treatment, and delivers the former and blesses it with
perfect freedom, and inflicts upon the other a retribution for
the wickedness which it has committed. For we read in the
next verse, " And the nation to which they shall be slaves I
will judge, and after that they shall go forth -with great
substance."* For it is inevitable that a mortal man must
obey the nature of the passions, and that a man who has been
born must endure the fate which is allotted to him as appro
priate ; but it is the will of God to lighten the evils which are
planted contemporaneously with our birth. So that even if we
<it th beginning suffer such evils as are properly assigned to us,
become slaves of cruel masters, and if God also performs what
is his peculiar work, proclaiming emancipation and freedom to
Genesis xv. 14.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 149
tne souls which address their supplications to him, then he
not only gives men a release from their bondage and a means
of departure from their prison all guarded round as it is, but
he also gives them the means of travelling, which he here
calls substance.
And what is this ? When the mind having come down
from above from heaven becomes entangled in the necessities
of the body, then, although it is not allured by any of these,
still, like a eunuch or impotent person, it embraces pleasant
evils. But if it remains in its own nature, then, being truly a
man, it resists and discards them instead of being overthrown
by them, being initiated in all the parts of complete encyclical
learning ; from which it derives a desire for contemplation,
and acquires temperance and patience, very vigorous virtues,
leaving its former abode, and finding a means of return back
to its own country, and bringing with it all the lessons of
instruction, which are here called supplies for the journey.
LVI. Having said thus much on these subjects, the histo
rian proceeds : " And thou shalt depart to thy fathers, having
lived in peace, in a good old age."* Therefore we, who are
imperfect, are made war upon, and we become slaves, and only
with difficulty do we find any relief from the dangers which
impend over us. But the perfect race, exempt from slavery
and free from the perils of war, is bred up in peace and the
firmest freedom. And there is a particular lesson to be learnt
from his representing the good man not as dying but depart
ing, in order to show that the race of the soul, which is
completely purified, cannot be extinguished and cannot die,
but only departs in the way of migration from this earth to
heaven, not undergoing that dissolution and destruction which
death appears to bring with it And after the words, " Thou
shalt depart," he adds, "to thy fathers. It is here worth
while to consider what kind of fathers is meant ; for God can
never mean those who had passed their lives in the country of
the Chaldeans, among whom alone he had lived as being his
relations, because he had been commanded by a sacred oracle
to depart from those who were his kinsmen by blood.
For, says the historian, " The Lord said unto Abraham,
Depart from out of thy land, and from thy kindred, and from
thy father s house, to a land which I will show thee ; and I will
Genesis xv. 15.
150 PHILO JUD^US.
make thee into a great nation."* For how can it be reason
able for him who was once been removed from his abode by
the interference of Divine Providence, to return and dwell
again in the same place ? And how could it be reasonable for
one who was about to be the leader of a new nation and 01
another race to be again assigned to his ancient one ? For
God would never have given to him a new character, and a
new nation and family, if he had not wholly and entirely sepa
rated him from his ancient one. For that man is truly a chief
of a nation and ruler of a family, from whom, as from a root,
sprang that branch so fond of investigating and contemplating
the affairs of our nature, by name Israel, since an express com
mand has been given " to remove the old things from before
the face of those which are new." J For where is any longer
the use of investigations into antiquity, and ancient, and long-
established customs, to those in whom on a sudden, when they
have no such expectation, God rains all kinds of new blessings
in a mass ?
LVII. Therefore, when he says "fathers," he means not
those whose souls have departed from them, and who are
buried in the tombs of the land of Chaldea ; but, as some say,
the sun, and the moon, and the other stars : for some affirm
that it is owing to these bodies that the nature of all the
things in the world has its existence. But as some other
persons think he means the archetypal ideas, those models of
these things which are perceptible by the outward senses and
visible ; which models, however, are only perceptible by the
intellect and invisible ; and that it is to these that the mind
of the wise man emigrates. Some, again, have fancied that
by " fathers," are here meant the four principles and powers
of which the world is composed the earth, the water, the air,
and the fire ; for they say, that all created things are very
properly dissolved into these elements. For as nouns, and
verbs, and all the other parts of speech, consist of the elements
of grammar, and again are resolvable into these ultimate prin
ciples, so, in the same manner, each individual among us,
being compounded of the four elements, and borrowing small
portions from each essence, does, at certain fixed periods, repay
what he has borrowed, giving what he has dry to the earth,
* Genesis xii. 1. t Leviticus xxvi 10
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 151
what moisture he has to the water, what heat he has to the
fire, and what cold he has to the air.
These then are the things of the body; but the intellectual and
heavenly race of the soul will ascend to the purest aether as to
its father. For the fifth essence, as the account of the ancients
tells us, may be a certain one, which brings things round in a
cycle, differing from the other four as being superior to them,
from which the stars and the whole heavens appear to be
generated, and of which, as a natural consequence, one must
lay it down that the human soul is a fragment.
LVIII. And the expression, "After having lived in peace,"
is used with much propriety ; because nearly all or the greater
portion of the human race lives rather in war and among all
the evils of war. And of wars, one kind proceeds from external
enemies, and is brought on by want of reputation, and by low-
ness of origin, and by other things of that kind. But another
kind arises from ones domestic enemies; some about the
body, such as weaknesses, stains, all kinds of mutilations, and
a whole body of other unspeakable evils ; and others affecting
the soul, such as passions, diseases, infirmities, terrible and
most grievous inflictions, and incurable calamities arising from
folly and injustice, and other similar evils.
Therefore he speaks of him who has lived in peace, who has
enjoyed a serene and tranquil life, as a man truly happy and
blessed. When then shall this happen ? When all external
things prosper with me, in such a way as to tend to my
abundance and to my glory. When the things relating to the
body are in a favourable state, so as to give me good health and
strength ; and when the things relating to my soul are in a
similar state, so as to enable it to enjoy the virtues. For each
of these requires its own appropriate body-guards. Now the
body is attended in that capacity by glory, and abundance, and
a sufficient provision of wealth ; and the soul by the wholeness,
and soundness, and thoroughly healthy state of the body ; and
the mind by those speculations which are concerned about the
sciences.
Since it is plain to all those who are versed in the holy
scriptures, that when peace is here mentioned, it is not that
peace which cities enjoy. For Abraham bore a part in many
terrible wars, out of which he appears to have come tri
umphantly. And indeed the being forced to depart from his
152 PHILO JUD^EUS
native country, and to leave his home, and his inability to dwell
in his native city, and his being driven hither and thither, and
wandering about by desolate and unfrequented roads, would
have been a terrible war for one who had not put his trust in
certain divine oracles and promises.
There was also a third calamity, of a formidable nature, also
to be borne by him, a famine, worse than the departure from
his home, or than all the evils of war. What peace then did
he enjoy ? For I imagine to be driven from his former home,
and to have no settled abode, and to be unable to make any
effectual resistance to very powerful monarchs, and to be
oppressed with hunger, seem like indications, not of one war,
but of many wars of various kinds. But, according to those
interpretations which are figurative, every one of these events
is an instance and proof of unalloyed peace. For an absence
of the passions, and a complete scarcity of them, and the
destruction of inimical acts of iniquity, and a departure from
the opinions of the Chaldseans to the doctrine which loves God,
that is to say, from the created being, perceptible by the
outward senses, to the great Cause and Creator of all things,
who is appreciable only by the intellect, are things which
supply a good system of laws and stability.
And God promises the man who enjoys such a peace as this
a glorious old age, not indeed one which shall last an exceeding
time, but he promises him a life with wisdom. For tranquillity
and happiness are better than length of years, in proportion as
a short period of light is better than everlasting darkness.
For well did one of the prophets say : " He had rather live one
day in company with virtue, than ten thousand years in the
shadow of death , "* under this figurative expression of shadow,
intimating the life of the wicked. And Moses says the very-
same thing, intimating it by his actions rather than by his
words. For the man who he says shall enjoy a glorious old
age, he has at the same time represented as more short-lived
than almost any one of those who preceded him. Speaking in
a philosophical manner, and teaching us who it is who does
truly enjoy a happy old age, that we may not conceive pride
respecting old age from anything that affects the visible body,
as such pride is full of shame and many disgraceful circum
stances. But, that keeping our eyes fixed on wisdom of
* Psalm Ixxxiv. 11.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS. 153
counsel, and steadiness of soul, we may ascribe to such men
and testify in their favour that they have a glorious old age,
(ytgat) akin to, and bearing nearly the same name as honour
(yipccj). Listen, therefore, in such a spirit as to think his
words a good lesson, to this statement of the lawgiver, that the
good man alone has a happy old age, and that he is the most
long-lived of men ; but that the wicked man is the most
short-lived of men, living only to die, or rather having already
died as to the life of virtue.
LIX. In the next verses it is said, " And in the fourth ge
neration they shall return hither," not merely in order that
the time may be exactly marked out to him, in which his
descendants shall become inhabitants of the holy land, but
also in order to represent to him the perfect and complete
re-establishment of virtue ; and this takes place as it were in
the fourth generation, but how it does so it is worth while to
consider.
The child, after it is brought forth, during its age of in
fancy, till it has completed its first period of seven years, has
a pure unmixed nature, very like a smooth waxen tablet,
which has not yet been stamped with the indelible impressions
of good or evil ; for all the things which appear to be engraved
upon it are soon confused and effaced by reason of its mois
ture : this is as it were the first age of the soul.
The second is that which, after the age of infancy is passed,
begins to live among evils, some of which it is also accustomed
to generate from itself, and others it cheerfully receives from
other sources, for the teachers of evil deeds are infinite in
number ; nurses, and tutors, and parents, and the laws in dif
ferent states, whether written or unwritten, which make ob
jects of admiration out of things which ought to be laughed at;
and even without teachers nature itself is easily inclined to
learn what is improper, so as to be continually weighed down
by the abundance of its evils ; " For," says the scripture,
" the mind of man is carefully devoted to evil from his
youth."* This is that most accursed period which is figura
tively called an age, but also especially the age of youth, in
which the body is full of youthful vigour, and the soul is puffed
up; the passions, which have hitherto lain hid, being now
Genesis riii. 21.
154 PHILO JUD^EtJS.
fanned into a flame, and burning up the threshing-floors, and
crops, and fields, and whatever they meet with.
This diseased generation or age must be remedied by some
third age, acting towards it the part of medical philosophy, so
that it shall be charmed with salutary and saving words, by
means of which it will receive an evacuation of the immoderate
satiety of evil actions, and a fulness of a sort of hungry empti
ness, and terrible desolation of good deeds. Therefore, after
the application of this cure, there comes first the age, in which
power and vigour grow up in the soul, in accordance with the
most certain comprehension of wisdom, and the undeviating
and solid character which exists in all the virtues. This is
the meaning of the expression, " And in the fourth generation
they shall return hither." For according to the fourth number
thus pointed "out the soul, which has turned away from doing
evil, is proclaimed as the inheritor of wisdom ; for the first
number is that into which it is not possible to receive any
idea of either good or evil, since the soul is as yet destitute of
all impressions ; and the second is that in which we indulge
in a rapid course of the passions ; and the third is that in
which we are healed, repelling the infections of disease, and
at last ceasing to feel the evil vigour of the passions; the
fourth is that in which we acquire complete and perfect health
and vigour, when rejecting what is bad we appear to endeavour
to apply to what is good, which previously was not in our
power.
LX. But up to what time this is to be he tells us himself,
when he says, " For the wickednesses of the Amorites are not
yet fulfilled."* And such words as these give an occasion to
weaker brethren to fancy, that Moses represents fate and ne
cessity as the causes of all things that exist or take place : but
we must not be ignorant that he was well acquainted with the
consequences, and connection, and reciprocal dependence of
the causes of things, inasmuch as he was a philosophical manj
accustomed to converse with God : and he does not attribute
the causes of things which exist, or which take place, to these
powers ; for he imagined to himself some other more ancient
power, mounted upon the universe, like a charioteer, or like
the pilot of a ship ; for this power steers the whole common
vessel of the world in which all things sail, and he bridles the
* Genesis xv. 11.
ON WHO IS THE HEIR OF DIVINE THINGS 155
course of the winged chariot, the entire heaven, exerting an
independent and absolute sovereign authority. What then are
we to say about these subjects? The name Amorites, being
interpreted, means " talkers ;" and numbers of those who have
received that greatest of all the blessings bestowed upon man
by nature, namely speech, have abused and corrupted it, em
ploying it ungratefully and treacherously, to the injury of her
who has bestowed it. Such are flatterers, impostors, devisers
of plausible sophistries, men who rather cultivate the skill to
delude and to cheat, and who have no care to speak truly, and
these men study indistinctness. Now indistinctness is equiva
lent to deep darkness in discourse ; and darkness is the great
assistant of robbers, on which account Moses has adorned the
chief priest with distinct demonstration and truth; thinking it
proper that the discourse of the virtuous man should be clear,
and perspicuous, and true ; but men in general pursue that
which is indistinct and false, under the banner of which the
whole misguided multitude of ordinary careless men enrols
itself.
Therefore, as long as " the offences of the Amorites are not
fulfilled," that is to say, the evils of sophistical arguments by
reason of their not having been refuted, but while they still
influence us, having an attractive power by reason of their
plausibility, we being unable to turn away and forsake them,
remain in their power from being allured by them. But if
once all unreal plausibilities are convicted and refuted by true
proofs, and if their offences are shown to be full and running
over, then we shall flee away without ever turning back, and
as it were slipping our cables we shall set sail from the region
of falsehoods and sophistries, hastening to cast anchor in the
safe harbours and havens of truth.
And in this way, I look upon it as sufficiently proved in the
spirit of my original proposition that it is impossible for a man
to reject, and to hate, and to forsake plausible falsehood, unless
the evils arising from it are seen to be full and complete ; and
they will be shown to be so, by its being refuted in no super
ficial way, by the establishment on the other hand, and by the
complete confirmation of truth.
LXI. In the next verse the historian proceeds to say, "and
when the sun approached its setting, there was a flame;"*
* Genesis xv. 17.
156 PHILO JUD^US.
showing that virtue is a thing which is not bom till late, and
indeed which, as some persons have said, is only confirmed
and established at the very setting of life. And he compares
virtue to a flame ; for as the flame consumes whatever
materials are exposed to it, and gives light to all the air in its
neighbourhood, in the same manner does virtue burn up all
the offences, and fills the whole mind with light. But while
discourses, which are neither divided nor properly distributed,
prevail over us by reason of their plausibilities, which he here
calls the Amorites, we are not able to see the most brilliant
and unshaded light. But we are like a furnace which has not
a pure flame, but, as he himself says, emits only smoke, being
gradually kindled by the sparks of knowledge, but not as yet
being able to stand the hardening and test of pure fire.
But we owe great gratitude to him who has scattered those
sparks, in order that our mind may not become cold like a
lifeless corpse, but being warmed and vivified by the gentle
increasing heat of virtue, may feel a glow until it receives the
change to holy fire, like Nadab and Abihu. But smoke exists
before fire, and compels those who come near it to weep ; but
both fire and smoke often come together. For, being delighted
at the messengers of virtue, we hope to attain perfection
therein, and if we are not yet able to arrive at it, then we can
scarcely through our grief forbear from tears. For when an
excessive desire is implanted in our breasts, they hasten to
pursue the desired object, and our faces are full of chagrin
until we attain it.
And how he has compared the soul of the man, who loves
instruction and who cherishes a hope of arirving at perfection,
to a furnace, because each is a vessel in which food is cooked,
the one being the vessel in which those meats which are perish
able are prepared, and the other that suited to the reception of
the imperishable virtues.
Arid the burning torches of fire which are lighted up are the
judgments of God who bears the torch, being bright and
radiant, which are accustomed to be always placed in the
middle between the divided portions ; I mean by this the
portions set in opposition to one another, of which the whole
world is composed. For we read in the scripture, " The lamps
of fire which were in the midst between the divided portions,"*
* Genesis rv. 17.
ON SEEKING INSTRUCTION. 157
that you may know that the divine powers which go through
the middle of both bodies and things, destroy none of them ;
for both the divisions remain unhurt, but only divide and
discriminate in a most excellent manner between the natures
of each.
LXII. Therefore, the wise man has now been sufficiently
proved to be the inheritor of the knowledge of the subjects
above mentioned. " For," says the historian, " on that day
the Lord made a covenant with Abraham, saying, to thy seed
will I give this land."* But what land does he mean but that
which has been already mentioned, to which he is now making
reference? The fruit of which is the safe and most certain
comprehension of the wisdom of God, according to which it
preserves for its dividers all the good things which exist with
out any admixture or taint of evil, as if they had been
incorruptible from their very beginning. After this he proceeds
to add, " from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river
Euphrates." Showing that those men who are perfect have
their beginnings in the body, and the outward sense, and the
organic parts, without which we cannot live , for they are
useful for instruction in the life which is in union with the
body ; but they have their end with the wisdom of God, which
is truly the great river, overflowing with joy, and cheerfulness,
and all other blessings. For he has not described the country
as reaching from the river Euphrates to the river of Egypt
(for he would never have brought over virtue towards the
passions of the body), but on the contrary, he has said from the
river of Egypt to the river Euphrates. For the migrations
are from mortal things to things incorruptible.
A TREATISE
ON THB
MEETING FOR THE SAKE OF SEEKING INSTRUCTION.
I. " BI;T Sarah the wife of Abraham had not borne him any
child. And she had an Egyptian handmaiden, whose name
was Hagar. And Sarah said unto Abraham, Behold, the Lord
* Genesis xv. 18.
158 PHILO JUDJEUS.
has closed me up, so that I should not bear children ; go in
unto my handmaiden that thou mayest have children by her."*
The name Sarah, being interpreted, means " my princedom."
And the wisdom which is in me, and the temperance which is
in me, and the particular justice, and each of the other virtues
which belong to me alone, are the princedom of me alone.
For such virtue, being a queen from its birth, rules over and
governs me who have determined on obeying it.
Now this virtue, Moses (making a most paradoxical assertion)
reports, as being both barren and also most prolific, since he
affirms that the most populous of all nations is sprung from it.
For, in real truth, virtue is barren with respect to all things
which are evil, but is so exceedingly prolific of good things,
that it stands in no need of the art of the midwife, for it
anticipates it by bringing forth before its arrival. Therefore
animals and plants, after considerable intervals and inter
ruptions, bring forth their appropriate fruits, once, or at most
twice a year ; according to the number of times which nature
has appointed each of them, and which is properly adapted to
the seasons of the year. But virtue without any interruption,
without any interval or any cessation, is continually bringing
forth at all times and on all occasions, not indeed children, but
virtuous reasonings, and irreproachable counsels, and praise
worthy actions.
II. But neither is wealth, which it is not possible to employ,
of any advantage to its possessors, nor is the fertility of wisdom
of any service to us, unless it also brings forth such things as
are serviceable to us. For some persons it judges to be in
every respect worthy of living in its company; but others
appear to have not yet arrived at such an age, as to be able to
support so highly praised and well regulated a charge ; whom,
however, it permits to enter upon the preliminaries of marriage,
holding out to them a hope that they may hereafter consummate
the wedlock.
Sarah therefore, the virtue which rules over my soul, has
brought forth, but, she has not brought forth for me (for I
should never as yet have been able, since I am quite young,
to receive her offspring) ; she has brought forth, I say, wisdom,
and the doing of just actions, and piety, by reason of the
multitude of illegitimate children whom the vain opinions
* Genesis xvi. 1.
ON SEEKING INSTRUCTION. 159
have brought forth to me. For the education of the offspring,
and the constant superintendence and incessant care which
they require, have compelled me to neglect the legitimate
children, who are really citizens. It is well, therefore, to pray
that virtue may not only bring forth, since she is prolific even
without a prayer, but that she also may bring for us ; in
order that we, receiving a share of her seed and of her offspring,
mav be happy. For she is accustomed to bring forth children
to God alone, restoring with burning gratitude the first fruits
of all the blessings which she has received, to him, who, as
Moses says, "opened her womb,"* which was at all times
virgin. For he also says that the lamp, that archetypal model
after which the copy is made, shines in one part, that is to say,
in the part which is turned towards God.t For since that
completes the number of seven, and stands in the middle of
the six branches, which are divided into two lots of three each,
acting as body-guards to it on either side, it sends its rays
upwards toward that one being, namely God, thinking its light
too brilliant for mortal sight to be able to stand its proximity.
III. On this account he does not say that Sarah did not
bring forth at all, but only that she did not bring forth for him,
for Abraham. For we are not as yet capable of becoming the
fathers of the offspring of virtue, unless we first of all have a
connection with her handmaiden ; and the handmaiden of
wisdom is the encyclical knowledge of music and logic, arrived
at by previous instruction. For as in houses there are vesti
bules placed in front of staircases, and as in cities there are
suburbs, through which one must pass in order to enter into
the cities ; so also the encyclical branches of instruction are
placed in front of virtue, for they are the road which conducts
to her. And as you must know that it is common for there to
be great preludes to great propositions, and the greatest of all
propositions is virtue, for it is conversant about the most
important of all materials, namely, about the universal life of
man ; very naturally, therefore, that will not employ any short
preface, but rather it will use as such, grammar, geometry,
astronomy, rhetoric, music, and all the other sorts of contem
plation which proceed in accordance with reason ; of which
Hagar, the handmaid of Sarah, is an emblem, as we will
proceed to show.
Geneai* JLJUX. 81. t Exodus xxv. 31.
160 PHILO JUD^US.
" For Sarah," says Moses, " said unto Abraham, Behold, the
Lord has closed me up, so that I may not bear children. Go
in unto my handmaiden, that thou mayest have children by
her/ Now, we must take out of the present discussion those
conjunctions and connections of body with body which have
pleasure for their end. For this is the connection of the mind
with virtue, which is desirous to have children by her, and
which, if it cannot do so at once, is at all events taught to
espouse her handmaid, namely, intermediate instruction.
IV. And here it is worth while to admire wisdom, by reason
of its modesty, which has not thought fit to reproach us with
the slowness of our generation, or our absolute barrenness.
And this, too, though the oracle says truly that she brought
forth no child, not out of envy, but because of the unsuitable-
ness of our own selves. For, says she, " The Lord has closed
me up so, that I may not bear children." And she no longer
adds the words, " to you," that she may not appear to mention
the misfortunes of others, or to reproach them with theirs.
14 Therefore," says she, " go thou in to my handmaiden," that
is to say, to the intermediate instruction of the intermediate
and encyclical branches of knowledge, " that you may first have
children by her;" for hereafter you shall be able to enjoy a
connection with her mistress, tending to the procreation of
legitimate children. For grammar, by teaching you the
histories which are to be found in the works of the poets and
historians, will give you intelligence and abundant learning ;
and, moreover, will teach you to look with contempt on all the
vain fables which erroneous opinions invent, on account of the
ill success which history tells us that the heroes and demigods
who are celebrated among those writers, meet with.
And music will teach what is inharmonious in the way of
rhythm, and what is ill arranged in harmony, and, rejecting all
that is out of tune and all that is inconsistent with melody,
will guide what was previously discordant to concord. And
geometry, sowing the seeds of equality and just proportion in
the soul, which is fond of learning, will, by means of the beauty
of continued contemplation, implant in you an admiration ^of
justice. And rhetoric, having sharpened the mind for
contemplation in general, and having exercised and trained the
faculties of speech in interpretation and explanation, will make
man really rational, taking care of that peculiar and especial
ON SEEKING INSTRUCTION. 101
duly which nature has bestowed upon it, but upon no other
animal whatever. And dialectic science, which is the sister,
the twin sister of rhetoric, as some persons have called it,
separating true from false arguments, and refuting the
plausibilities of sophistical arguments, will cure the great
disease of the soul, deceit.
It is profitable, therefore, to abide among these and other
sciences resembling them, and to devote one s especial atten
tion to them. For perhaps, I say, as has happened to
many, we shall become known to the queenly virtues by
means of their subjects and handmaidens. Do you not see
tint our bodies do not use solid and costly food before they
have first, in their age of infancy, used such as had no variety,
UuJ consisted merely of milk ? And, in the same way, think
also that infantine food is prepared for the soul, namely the
encyclical sciences, and the contemplations which are directed
to each of them ; but that the more perfect and becoming
food, namely the virtues, is prepared for those who are really
full-grown men.
V. Now the first characteristics of the intermediate instruc
tion are represented by two symbols, the race and the name.
As to race, the handmaiden is an Egyptian, and her name is
Hagar ; and this name, being interpreted, means "emigration."
For it follows of necessity that the man who delights in the
encyclical contemplations, and who joins himself as a
companion to varied learning, is as such enrolled under the
banners of the earthly and Egyptian body ; and that he stands
in need of eyes in order to see and to read, and of ears in order
to attend and to hear, and of his other external senses, in such
a manner as to be able to unfold each of the objects of the
external sense. For it is not natural to suppose that the
subject of judgment can possibly be comprehended without
8 Atie power which is to .judge ; and the power which judges
cl ihe objects of the external sense is the external sense, so
that without the external sense it would not be possible for any
thing in that world which is perceptible by the external sense
to be accurately known, tnuugh those are the matters which are
the principal field for philosophical speculation.
Hut the external sense, being that portion of the soul which
most resembles the body, is deeply rooted in the entire vessel
of the soul ; and the vessel of the soul is, by a figurative way
VOL. II. M
162 PIIILO JUD^US.
of speaking, called Egypt. And there is this one characteristic
derived from her race, which the handmaiden of virtue
possesses. But what or what kind of characteristic that is
which is derived from the name, we must now proceed to
consider.
The intermediate instruction has the same rank and classi
fication as a sojourner. For all knowledge, and wisdom, and
virtue, are the only real native and original inhabitants and
citizens of the universe. And all the other kinds of instruction,
which obtain the second, and third, and lowest honours, are on
the confines, between foreigners and citizens. For they are
not connected with either race without some alloy, and yet
again they are connected with both according to a certain
community and participation. For they are sojourners from
the fact of their passing their time among citizens ; but from
the fact of their not being settled inhabitants, they also
resemble foreigners. In the same manner, according to my
idea, as adopted children, inasmuch as they inherit the
property of those who have adopted them, resemble real
legitimate children ; but inasmuch as they were not begotten
by them, they resemble strangers. The same relation, then,
that a mistress has to her handmaidens, or a wife, who is a
cititzn, to a concubine, that same relation has virtue, that is
Sarah, to education, that is Hagar. So that very naturally,
since the husband, by name Abraham, is one who has an
admiration for contemplation and knowledge ; virtue, that is
Sarah, would be his wife, and Hagar, that is all kinds of
encylical accomplishment, would be his concubine. Whoever,
therefore, has acquired wisdom from his teachers, would never
reject Hagar. For the acquisition of all the preliminary
branches of education is wholly necessary.
VI. But if any one, having determined on perseveringly
enduring labours in the cause of virtue, devotes himself to
continued study, practising and meditating without intermis
sion, that man will marry two citizens, and also an equal
number of concubines, the handmaidens of the citizens. And
each of these has a different appearance and a different nature.
For instance, of the two citizen wives, one is a most healthy
and well established and peaceful motion, whom from the
circumstances the historians called Leah: and the other
resembles a whetstone and is called Rachel, in the pursuit of
ON SEEKING INSTRUCTION. 163
whom the mind, which is fond of labour and fond of exercises,
is much sharpened and excited ; and the name, being inter
preted, means the "sight of profanation ;* not because she sees
profanely, but, on the contrary, because she thinks the things
which are seen and which are the objects of the external
senses, not brilliant but common and profane in comparison of
the pure and untainted nature of those things which are invi
sible and which are only discernible by the intellect.
For since our soul is composed of two parts, and since the one
contains the rational faculties, and the other the irrational ones,
it follows that each part must have its own peculiar virtue, Leah
being the virtue of the rational part, and Rachel of the irra
tional. For the one trains us, by means of the external senses
and the parts of speech, to look contemptuously upon all things
which it is proper to disregard, such as glory, and wealth, and
pleasure, which the principal and general multitude of common
men look upon as things to be admired and striven for, their
sense of hearing being corrupted, and the tribunal of all the
other external senses being corrupted likewise. But the other
teaches us to turn away from that uneven and rough road
which is never approached by souls that love virtue, and to go
smoothly along the smooth road without any stumbling and
without meeting any hindrances in the path. Therefore the
handmaiden of the former of the two citizen wives will neces
sarily be the power of interpretation as exercised by means of
the organs of speech, and also the rational invention of
sophisms, deceiving man by a well-imagined plausibility ;
and its necessary nourishment is meat and drink.
The historian has recorded for us the names of the two
handmaidens, calling them Zilpah and Billah.* The name
Zilpah, being interpreted, means "a mouth going forth," a
symbol of that nature which interprets and speaks. But
Billah means " a swallowing," which is the first and most
necessary support of all mortal animals. For it is by swallow
ing that our bodies are established firmly, and the cables of
life are attached to this action as to a sure foundation. Accord
ingly the practiser of virtue lives with all the aforesaid powers,
with some as with free women and citizens, and with others
as slaves and concubines. For he is enamoured of the motion
of Leah ; and a smooth (Xi/a) motion existing in a body would
Genesis ux. 1.
M vi
164 PHILO JUD^US.
1)0 calculated to produce health, and, when existing in a soul, it
would produce virtue and justice. But he loves Rachel, wrest
ling with his passions, and preparing himself for a struggle
of temperance, arraying himself in opposition to all the objects
of the external senses. Tor there are two kinds of advantage,
either that according to which we enjoy blessings, as in peace,
or else that which comes from arraying one s self in opposition
to and from removing evils as in war. Now Leah is the
wife according to whom it happens to the husband to enjoy
the elder, and more important, and dominant blessings; and
Rachel the wife, according to whom he obtains what resemble
the sports of war. Such then is his way, if left with his
citizen wives.
But the practiser of virtue also wants Billah, that is, swallow
ing, but as a slave and a concubine ; for without food and
vitality, living well could not possibly be the lot of the man,
since things indifferent are always the foundation of what is
better ; and he also wants Zilpah, that is to say, interpre
tation by means of utterance, in order that the rational part
itself may, in a twofold manner, contribute to perfection, both
from the fountain existing in the intellect, and also from the
stream flowing therefrom in the organ of the voice.
VII. But these men were husbands of many wives and con
cubines, not only of such as were citizens, as the sacred
scriptures tell us. But Isaac had neither many wives nor any
concubine at all, but only his first and wedded wife, who lived
with him all his life. Why was this? Because the virtue
acquired by teaching, which Abraham pursues, requires many
things, both such as are legitimate according to prudence, and
such also as are illegitimate according to the exegetioal con
templations of preliminary instruction. And there is also a
virtue which is made perfect by practice, to which Jacob ap
pears to have been devoted ; for exercises consist of many and
various dogmas and doctrines, some leading and others follow-
ing, some leading the way, and others arriving later, and
bringing at one time more serious, and at other times lighter
labours. But the self-instructed race, of which Isaac was a
partaker, the excellent country of the mastery over the pas
sions, has received as its share a nature simple, and unmixed,
and unalloyed, standing in no need of either practice or
instruction in which thjere is need of the concubine sciences,
ON SEEKING INSTRUCTION. 165
and not only of the citizen wives ; for when God has showered
clown from above that most requisite benefit of knowledge, self-
taught, and having no need of a preceptor, it would be
impossible any longer for a man to live with the slavish and
concubine arts, having a desire for bastard doctrines as his
children.
For the man who has arrived at this honour, is inscribed as
the husband of the mistress and princess virtue ; and she is
called in the Greek language, perseverance, but among the
Hebrews her name is Kebekkah. For he who, by reason of
the happy constitution of his own nature and by the prolific
fertility of his soul, has attained to wisdom without encounter
ing labour or enduring hardship, stands in need of no further
improvement ; for he has at hand the perfect gifts of God,
inspired by means of those most ancient graces, and he wishes
ami prays that they may remain lasting. In reference to
which, it appears to me to be that the Author of all goodness
gave him perseverance as his wife, in order that his mercies
might endure for ever to the man who had her for his wife.
VIII. Now recollection only comes in the second rank after
memory, as inferior to it ; and he who recollects is inferior to him
who remembers ; for the latter resembles a man in an uninter
rupted state of good health, but the other is like a man recover
ing from a disease, for forgetfulness is a disease of the memory ;
and it follows inevitably that the man who exerts his recollec
tion has previously forgotten what he now recollects. There
fore the sacred scriptures call memory Ephraim, which name,
being interpreted, means " fruit-bearing. ** But the Hebrews
call recollection, after forgetfulness, Manasseh ; for, in good
truth, the soul of the man who remembers does bear as fruit
the things which he has learned, losing nothing of them ; but
the soul of the man who exerts recollection, is only escaping
from forgetfulness, by which it was detained before it recol
lected ; therefore a citizen wife, memory, lives with the man
who is endowed with remembrance. But the concubine
recollection, a Syrian by birth, insolent and overbearing, lives
with the man who forgets; for the meaning of the name
Syria, is " sublimity ;" and the son of the concubine recol
lection is Machir, as the Hebrews call him ; but the Greeks
interpret the name to mean " of the father." For those who
recollect a thing think that the mind is the father and cause
of their recollecting, and do not consider that this same en-
166 PH1LO JUDJEUS.
dowment of the mind did also before contain " forgetfulness,"
though it never would have received it if it had had memory
in its power.
For it is said in the scripture, " And the sons of Manasseh
were Ashriel whom she bare, but his concubine, the Aramitess,
bare Machir; and Machir was the father of Gilead."* And
Nachor, also, the brother of Abraham, had two wives, one
a citizen and the other a concubine. And the name of
the citizen was Milcah ; and the name of the concubine
was Rumah. But let no one who is in his senses suspect
that the wise legislator recorded this as a historical genea
logy, but it is rather an explanation of things which are
able to benefit the soul by means of symbols. And when we
have translated the names into our own language, we shall
understand the real meanings intended to be conveyed by
them. Come, then, let us now investigate each of them.
II. The name Nachor, being interpreted, means " a rest
from light;" and Milcah moans "princess;" and Rumah
means " she who sees something." Therefore, to have light in
the mind is good ; but cessation from light, and tranquillity,
and immobility is not perfect good, for it is advantageous to
have evils tranquil, but it is desirable to have blessings in
motion ; for what advantage is there in a man s having a tune
ful voice, if he keeps silent? or in his having the skill of a
flute player, if he does not play the flute? or of his knowing
the harp , if he does not strike it ? or, in short, what good is
there in any artist whatever, if he does not exercise his art?
for theoretical knowledge, without putting it in practice, is of
no advantage whatever to those who possess it. For a man,
though skilful in the contest of the pancratium, or in boxing,
or in wrestling, would derive no advantage from his athletic
prowess if his hands were tied behind him ; and he who was
thoroughly practised in running would derive no advantage
from his fleetness of foot if he were afflicted with the gout, or
if he were to meet with any other injury to his feet. And the
light of the soul, which is the most brilliant and the most like
the sun, is knowledge ; for as the eyes are lightened up by
beams, so is the mind made brilliant by wisdom, and becomes
gradually accustomed to see more acutely from being conti
nually anointed with new speculations.
Therefore, Nachor is interpreted " a cessation from light,"
* 1 Chronicles vii. 14.
ON SEEKING INSTRUCTION. 167
very naturally ; for, inasmuch as he is a relation of the wise
Abraham, he partakes of that light which is according to
wisdom : but inasmuch as he did not join him in his emigra
tion from the created to the uncreated being, from the world
to the Creator of the world, he has acquired only a lame and
Pluperfect knowledge, intermittent and delaying, or rather put
together like a lifeless statue : for he does not depart and quit
iu.s abode in the Chaluaein country, that is to say, he does not
feq urate himself from the speculations concerning astronomy ;
honouring that which is created rather than him who created it,
and the world in preference to God ; or rather, I should say,
looking on the world itself as an absolute independent God,
and not as the work of an absolute God.
X. And he takes Milcah for his wife, not being some queen
who by the dispensations of fortune governs some nation of
men, or some city, but only one who bears a common name,
the same as here. For, just as a person would not be widelv
wrong who called the world, as being the most excellent of all
created things, the king of the objects of the external sense ;
so, also, one may call the knowledge which is conversant about
the heaven, which knowledge those who study astronomy and
the Chaldsans possess in an eminent degree, the queen of all the
sciences. This, therefore, is the wife who is a citizen ; but
the concubine is she who sees one only of all existing things
&t a time, even though it may be the most worthless of all.
If m given, therefore, to the most excellent race to see the
wc/st excellent of things, namely, the really living God ; for
tfce name Israel, being interpreted, means " seeing God."
But to him who aims at the second prize, it is allowed to see
that which is second best, namely, the heaven which is percep
tible by the external senses, and the harmonious arrangement
of the stars therein, and their truly musical and well-regulated
motion. The third class are the sceptics, who do not apply
themselves to the most excellent objects, either of the intellect
or of the external senses, which exist in nature, because they
are always occupying themselves with petty sophistries, and
small cavils, and criticisms. These have for their companions
the concubine Human, who sees something which is very
miuute, because they are unable to approach the investigation
of bettor things, by means of which they might benefit their
own life. For, as among physicians that which is callr
168 PHILO JUD.EUS.
theoretical medical skill, is a long way from doing any good to
those that are sick for diseases are cured by medicines, and
by operations, and by regimen, and not by discussions or
theories; so also in philosophy, there is a set of wora-
traffickers and word-eaters, who have neither the will nor the
skill to heal a life which is full of infirmities, but who, from
their very earliest infancy to the extremity of old age, are not
ashamed to cavil, and quibble, and wrangle about figurative
expressions, as if happiness consisted in an interminable and
profitless minuteness of accuracy in the matter of nouns and
verbs, and not in the improving and ameliorating the moral
character, the true fountain of the persons disposition ; and in
expelling the vices, and driving them out of its boundaries,
and establishing the virtues as settlers within them.
XI. Now the wicked also have a desire for concubines, that
is, for vain opinions and doctrines ; accordingly Moses tells ua
that Thimna, the concubine of Eliphah the son of Esau,
bore Amalek to Eliphah.* Alas, for the eminent ignobleness
of the descendant! And you will see this ignobleness the
more clearly, if you abandon the idea that this expression is
used about a man, and rather consider the soul, with a kind of
anatomical dissection. The historian then calls the irrational
and immoderate desires and impetuosity of the passions,
Amalek ; now the name Amalek, being interpreted, means
" the people looking up." For as the power of fire consumes
the materials which are offered to it, so in the same manner
does passion, when boiling over lick up and destroy everything
with which it meets. And the father of this passion is very
properly described as Eliphah ; for this name, being interpreted,
means " God has scattered me." But does it not follow that
when God scatters, and disperses, and discards the soul, banish
ing it from himself, irrational passion is at once engendered ?
For He plants the mind which can really behold him, and which
is really attached to God, the vine of a good kind, stretching
out its roots so as to make them everlasting, and giving it abun
dance of fruit for the acquisition and enjoyment of the virtues.
On which account Moses prays, saying, " Bring them in and
plant them in,"t in order that those divine shoots may not be
ephemeral, but long-lived and lasting for ever and ever.
And banishing the unjust and ungodly soul, he disperses it
Genesis xxxvi. 12. t Exodus xv. 17.
ON SEEKING INSTRUCTION. 109
aiul drives it to a distance from himself to the region of the
pleasures and appetites and acts of injustice ; and this region
is, with exceeding appropriateness, called the region of the
impious, more ritly than that one which is fabled as existing in
the shades below." For indeed, the real hell is the life of the
wicked, which is audacious, and flagitious, and liable to all
kinds of curses.
XII. There is also in another place the following sentence
deeply engraven : " When the Most High came down to scatter
the nations, as he dispersed the sons of Adam,"* he drove out
all earthly dispositions, which had no desire to see any good
thing from heaven ; depriving them of house and city, and
rendering them truly wanderers on the face of the earth.
For no house, nor city, nor anything else which relates to society
and participation, is preserved for any one of the wicked ;
but they are deprived of all settled habitation, and dispersed
abroad, being moved in every direction, and living a life of
continued emigration, and not being able to become settled any
where. Therefore the wicked man has for his children, wicked
ness, by his wife who is a citizen, and passion by his concubine ;
for the whole soul, like a free citizen, is a companion of reason,
but that which is open to reproach brings forth wickedness.
But the nature of the body is a concubine, by means of whom
the birth of the passion is beheld ; and the body is the region
of the pleasures and passions, and it is called Thamnah, which
name, being interpreted, signifies a " fluctuating abandonment "
For the soul becomes faint and powerless by reason of the
passions having received much tossing about and agitation
from the body, on account of the violent storm which bursts
forth from immoderate impetuosity.
But as the head is the chief of all the aforementioned parts of
an animal, so is Esau the chief of this race, whose name is at one
time interpreted " an oak," and at another, " a thing made." It
is interpreted an oak, in reference to his being unbending, and
implacable, and obstinate, and stiff-necked by nature, and
having folly for his chief fellow counsellor, and being as such
of a truly oaken character. And it is interpreted a thing made,"
inasmuch as a life according to folly is an invention and a
fable, full of tragic pomp and vain boasting ; and, on the other
hand, of mockery and comic ridicule, having in it nothing
Deuteronomy xxxii. 8.
170 PHILO JUD^EUS.
sound, being fall of falsehood, having utterly cast off truth, and
disregarding as a thing of no value, that nature which is void
of distinctive qualities, or of particular species, but plain and
sincere, which the practiser of virtue loves. And Moses bears
witness to this, when he says that " Jacob was a man without
artifice, dwelling in a house;"* so that he who is contrary to
him, must necessarily be destitute of a house, the companion
of invention, and of things made, and of fabulous nonsense,
or rather bring himself a theatre and a fable.
XIII. The connection therefore between the reason which
is devoted to contemplation and those powers which are
citizen wives, or concubines, has here been explained to the
best of my power. We must now proceed to investigate
what follows, and endeavour to frame a proper connection
for an argument. " Abraham, " says the sacred historian,
"listened to the voice of Sarah. "f For it is necessary for
him who is a learner to be obedient to the injunctions of
virtue : but yet all men are not so obedient, but only those
who are inspired with an exceedingly vehement love for
knowledge. Since almost every day the places where there is
anything to hear and the theatres are crowded, and those who
study philosophy go on without ever stopping to take breath in
one long continued discussion about virtue. But still what
advantage is derived from all that is said ? For men, instead
of attending, turn their mind in other directions, some to
marine and mercantile affairs, others to rents and agriculture ;
some to public honours and affairs of state, some to the gains
to be derived from each different profession and art, others to
revenging themselves upon their enemies, others again to the
enjoyments to be derived from the indulgence of the amorous
appetites, and in short every body is under the influence of
some distracting idea or other : so that, as fai as the subjects
of the discussion are concerned, they are completely deaf, and
are present with their bodies only, but are at a distance as to
their minds, being in no particular different from images or
statues. And if any persons do attend, they sit all that time
only listening, and when they have departed they do not
recollect a word of what has been said, but they have come
in fact rather to be pleased through the medium of their
bearing than with the view of deriving any solid advantage ;
* Genesis xxv. 27. t Genesis xvl 2.
ON SEEKING INSTRUCTION. J71
BO that their soul has not been able to comprehend any
thing or to become pregnant with any new idea, and even the
cause which at first excited their pleasure soon ceases and
their attention is extinguished.
There is a third kind of persons to whom what is said is
for a time attended to and remembered, as if still sounding in
their ears : but still they are found to be sophists rather than
philosophers : of these men the language indeed is praiseworthy
but the life is blameable ; for they are powerful at speaking,
but have no ability to do what is best. It is therefore hardly
possible to find a man who is inclined to attend and endowed
with a good memory, honouring deeds rather than words ; as is
testified to in the praise of the man fond of hearing in the
the words, " He listened to the voice of Sarah." For he is
not represented merely as hearing but also as listening to :
and this last is a particularly felicitous expression to indicate
one who approves of and is influenced by what he hears.
And the expression, " to the voice," is not inconsiderately or
incorrectlv used in preference to saying he listened to Sarah
speaking." For it is the especial character of a learner to
listen to the voice and words of his teacher; for by these alone
is he taught. But he who acquires what is good by practice,
and solitary meditation, and not by instruction, does not
attend to what is taid but rather to those who say it, imitating
the lives of those men in their actions which are in each parti
cular irreproachable. For it is said, in the case of Jacob when
he was sent away to form a marriage among his kinsmen, "Jacob
listened to his mother and his father, and went into Mesopo
tamia."* He listened not to their voice, nor to their words,
for it was fitting that he who was an imitator of their actions
should be a practiser of virtue not a listener to speeches.
For this is the peculiar character of one who is being taught,
but the other is the mark of one who is enduring labours, in
order that from this instance we may comprehend the
difference between a practiser and a learner, the one being regu
lated with regard to him who is speaking, and the other wtih
regard to his speech.
XIV. Therefore, continues the sacred historian, Sarah, the
wife of Abraham, having taken Hagar, the Egyptian woman,
her own handmaiden, ten years after Abzaluuu had begun to
* Qeuesia xxviiiu *.
172 PHILO JUD^IUS.
dwell in the land of Canaan, gave her to Abraham her
"husband, to be his wife."* Wickedness is by nature an
envious, and bitter, and evil disposed thing, but virtue is
gentle, and inclined to communion, and friendly ; wishing in
every possible manner to benefit those who are well disposed,
either by its own power or by the means of others. So now
accordingly, as we are not able to become the fathers of
children by prudence, she espouses us to her own handmaiden,
encyclical instruction, as I have said before, and all but
endures to be the bridesmaid and manager of the marriage ;
for it is said that Sarah herself took this woman and gave her
to her own husband.
And here it is worth while to raise the question why it is
that now again Moses calls the wife of Abraham Sarah, when he
had already repeatedly told us what her name was before ; for
he was not a writer who ever indulged in that worst description
of prolixity, tautology. "What, then, are we to say ? Since
she is about to betroth to him the handmaiden of wisdom,
encyclical instruction, he says that she did not forget the duty
which she owed to her mistress, but knew that she was, both
in law and in her master s feelings, his wife, and that she her
self was only such because of necessity and the force of oppor
tunity. And this happens to every man who is fond of
learning. And he who has experienced it may be looked upon
as the most trustworthy witness to this fact. At all events I,
when I was first excited by the stimulus of philosophy to feel
a desire for it, when I was very young connected myself with
one of her handmaidens, namely, grammar ; and all the
offspring of which I became the father by her, such as writing,
reading, and the acquaintance with the works of the poets and
historians, I attributed to the mistress. And at a subsequent
time, forming connection with another of her handmaidens,
geometry, and admiring her beauty (for she had beautiful
symmetry and proportions in all her parts), I still appropriated
none of the offspring, but carried them to the citizen wife, and
bestowed them on her. I was desirous also to form a similar
connection with a third, and she was full of good rhythm,
well arranged, and well limbed, and was called music. And
by her I became the parent of diatonic, and chromatic,
and harmonic, and combined and separate melodies, and
all the different concords belonging to fourths and to fifths,
* Genesis xvi. 3.
ON SEEKING INSTRUCTION. 173
and to the diapason. And, again, I concealed none of all
these things, in order that my legitimate citizen wife might
become wealthy, being ministered unto by a multitude of ten
thousand servants ; for some men, being attracted by the
charms of handmaidens, have neglected their true mistress,
philosophy, and have grown old, some in poetry, and others in
the study of painting, and others in the mixture of colours,
and others in ten thousand other pursuits, without ever being
able to return to the proper mistress ; for each act has its own
peculiar brilliancies, certain attractive powers, by which some
persons are allured and overcome, forgetting all the covenants
which they have made with philosophy ; but he who abides by
the agreements which he has made, provides every thing from
all quarters with a view to pleasing her.
Very appropriately, therefore, does the sacred scripture,
admiring his good faith in respect of his legitimate wife, say
that even now Sarah was his true wife, inasmuch as he only
took his handmaid into his bed out of complaisance towards
her; and, indeed, in the same manner as the encyclical
branches of education contribute to the proper comprehension
of philosophy, so also does philosophy aid in the acquisition of
wisdom ; fo/philosophy is an attentive study of wisdom, and
wisdom is the knowledge of all divine and human things, and
of the respective causes of them. Therefore, just as encyclical
accomplishments are the handmaidens of philosophy, so also is
philosophy the handmaiden of wisdom ; but philosophy teaches
temperance with regard to the belly, and temperance with
regard to the parts below the belly, and also temperance and
restraint of the tongue. Now these qualities are said to be
worthy of praise for their own sakes, but they would appear
more respectable still if they were cultivated for the sake of
doing honour to and giving pleasure to God.
We must, therefore, always remember the legitimate mis
tress when we are about to espouse her handmaidens ; and let
us be said indeed to be the husbands of the latter, but still let
our legitimate mistress be our real wife, and not be merely
called such.
XV. Again, she gives Hagar to him, not the first moment
that he arrives in the country of the Canaanites, but after he
has abode there ten years. And what the meaning of this
statement is we must investigate in no careless manner.
174 PHILO JUD.EUS.
Now, at the beginning of our existence, our soul dwelt
among the passions alone as its foster-brethren, griefs, pains,
fears, desires, and pleasures, which reach it through the
medium of the external senses, before reason was as yet able
to see good and evil, and to distinguish accurately the points
wherein these things differ from one another, but while it was
still wavering and hesitating, and as it were closing its eyes in
profound sleeep ; but as time advances, when advancing out of
the age of infancy we are on the point of becoming young men,
then, without any delay, the double trunk of virtue arid wicked
ness springs forth out of one root, and we attain to a compre
hension of them both, but still we by all means choose one of
the two ; those who are well disposed choosing virtue, and those
of the contrary character choosing wickedness. These things,
now, being previously sketched out in this manner, we must
become aware that Egypt is the symbol of the passions ar.d
the land of the Canaardtes, the emblem of the wickednesses ;
so that it is in strict accordance with natural probability that
God, after having roused his people and made them depart
from Egypt, leads them into the country of the Canaanites :
for the man, as I have said before, at his very earliest birth
had the Egyptian passions assigned him to dwell among, being
deeply rooted in pleasures and in pains ; and at a subsequent
time he departs as if to found a colony, and migrates towards
wickedness. His reason now being inclined to a more acute
sight, and comprehending accurately both the opposite
extremes of good and of evil, but nevertheless choosing the
worse part, because it has a great share in mortal nature, to
which what is evil is in some degree akin, as also the contrary,
namely, good, is akin to the divine nature.
XVI. But these are the different countries of each respect
ive nature ; passions, that is to say, Egypt, being the country
of the age of childhood ; and wickedness, that is the land of
Canaan, being the country of the age of youth. But the
sacred scripture, although it is well acquainted with the
different countries of the mortal race, suggests to us what
ought to be done and what will be advantageous to us, enjoin
ing us to hate the heathen, and their laws, and their customs,
in that passage where he says, " And the Lord spake unto
Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto
them, I ain the Lord your God ; ye shall not behave according
ON SEEKING INSTRUCTION. 175
to the customs of Egypt in which ye dwelt among them, and
ye shall not walk in their laws. Ye shall do my judgments,
and ve shall not do according to the customs of the land of
Canaan, into which I am leading you to dwell there. And ye
shall keep my commandments, and ye shall walk in them. I
am the Lord your God. And ye shall keep all my command
ments and my judgments, and ye shall do them. He that
doeth them the same shall live in them. I am the Lord your
God : and ye shall keep all my commandments and my judg
ments. *
Therefore, real true life, ahove everything else, consists in
the judgments and commandments of God, so that the customs
and practices of the impious must be death: but there are
some races which take no note of passions and of wickednesses,
from whom the multitudes of impious persons and wickedness
are sprung.
Therefore, ten years after our departure to settle in the land
of the Canaanites let us marry Hagar, since from the first
moment that we become rational beings, we seek for ignorance
and a deficiency of knowledge which is pernicious in its own
nature ; but at a subsequent period, and at a perfect number,
namely, the legal number of the decade, we come to feel a
desire for that instruction which is able to benefit us.
XVII. But the sons of the musicians have accurately and
carefully investigated the question respecting the decade ; and
the most sacred Moses has composed a hymn, with no slight
degree of skill, attributing the most excellent things to this
number of the decade, such as prayers, first-fruits, the
continual and unceasing offerings of the priests, the observance
of the passover, the atonement.f the remission of debts, and
the return to the ancient allotments of property at the end of
every fifty years ;J the preparation and furnishing of the
indissoluble tabernacle, and ten thousand other things v.hich
it would take a long time to enumerate. However, we must
not pass over the most important points.
In the first place he represents Noah to us (and this man
is the first who is specially entitled just, in the holy scriptures),
as the tenth in succession from him who was formed out of the
earth, not intending by this statement to indicate the number
Leviticus xviii 1. t Leviticus xxiii. 27.
J Leviticua xxv. 9. S Exodua xxvi. 1.
176 PHILO JUD^US.
of years that had elapsed, but rather to show clearly that as
the decade is the most perfect boundary and end of the num
bers which proceed onwards from the unit, so also just in the
soul is the perfection and true end of the actions of human
life. For the number three when multiplied by itself so as to
make nine, the oracles have pronounced to be the most warlike
of numbers ; but when one is added to it so as to complete the
number ten, then they receive it as a friendly one. And as a
proof of this, they allege the kingdoms of the nine kings,*
(when the civil war was fanned into a flame, the four passions
rising up against the five outward senses, and when the entire
soul, like a city, was in danger of being subjected to an utter
overthrow and destruction,) which the wise Abraham, appear
ing as the tenth king, put an end to, by joining in the warfare.
He then caused a calm instead of a storm, and health instead
of disease, and life, if one may speak the plain truth, instead
of death, showing himself as the trophy-bearer of God who
giveth the victory, to whom also he consecrated the tenths as
a grateful offering on account of his victory.
Moreover, he also separates off the tenth of all the cattle
which come " under the rod,"f I mean by this under instruction,
and of all those which are of a tame and tractable sort, pro
nouncing them to be holy by an express provision of the law.
In order that so, by many concurrent testimonies, we may learn
the particular and especial appropriateness of the number ten
to God, and of the number nine to our mortal race.
XVIII. But also it is expressly ordered, that men should
offer as first fruits the tenths, not only of animals, but also of
all the things which grow up out of the earth ; " For," says
the scripture, " every tenth of the earth from the seed and
from the fruit of every tree, is holy to the Lord : and every
tenth of oxen and sheep, and everything of any cattle which
passes under the rod, of all these the tenth shall be holy to the
Lord." You see that he thinks that it is proper to make an
offering, by way of first fruits from the corporeal mass that is
around us, which is really earthly and wooden ; for life, and
durability, and increase, and good health, fall to his share
through the divine grace. You see also, that again an express
command is "given to offer first-fruits from all the irrational
animals that are around ourselves ; and by these are meant
* Genesis xiv. 1. t Leviticus xxvii. 32.
ON SEEKING INSTRUCTION. 177
the outward senses. For to see, and to hear, and to smell, and
to taste, and also to touch are divine gifts, for which it is out
duty to give thanks.
But not only are we taught to thank the giver of all good
ness for these earthly, and wooden, and corporeal things, and
for the irrational animals, the outward senses, hut also for the
mind, which, to speak with strict propriety, is man in man, the
better in the worse, the immortal in the mortal. On this
account I think it is, that God ordered to be consecrated the
whole of the first-born, the tenth, I mean the tribe of Levi,
taking them in exchange for the first-born, for the preservation
and protection of holiness, and piety, and sacred ministrations,
which all have reference to the honour of God. For the first
and best thing in ourselves is our reason, and it is very proper
to offer up the first-fruits of our cleverness, and acuteness, and
comprehension, and prudence, and of all our other faculties
which we have in connection with our reason as first-fruits to
God, who has bestowed upon us this great abundance of power
of exerting our intelligence. From this consideration it was,
that Jacob, the practiser of virtue, at the beginning of his
prayers, says : " Of all that thou givest me, I will set apart
and consecrate a tenth to thee."* And the sacred scripture,
which was written after the prayers on occasion of victory,
which ]\lelchisedek, who had received a self-instructed and self-
taught priesthood, makes, says : " For he gave him a tenth of
all the things, "f assigning to him the outward senses the
faculty of feeling properly, and by the sense of speech the
faculty of speaking well, and by the senses connected with the
mind the faculty of thinking well.
Very beautifully, therefore, and at the same time most
unavoidably, does the sacred historian tell us in the fashion of
an incidental narrative, when the memorial of that heavenly and
divine food was consecrated in the golden urn, that " gomor
was the tenth part of three measures."! For in us men there
appear to be three measures, the outward senses, and speech,
and mind. The outward sense being the measure of the
objects of outward sense, speech being the measure of nouns
and verbs, and of whatever is said ; and the mind being the
measure of those things which can only be perceived by the
intellect. We must therefore offer first-fruits of each of these
* Genesis xiviil 22. f Genesis xiv. 20. * Eiodus xvi. 36.
VOL. II. y
178 PHILO
three measures as a sacred tenth, in order that our powers of
speaking, and of feeling, and of comprehending, may be seen to
be irreproachable and sound, in reference to and in connection
with God. For this is the true and just measure, and the
things that relate to ourselves are false and unjust measures.
XIX. Very appropriately, therefore, in the case of sacrifices
also, the tenth part of the measure of fine wheat flour will be
brought upon the altar, together with the victims. But the
number of nine, which is what is left of the number ten, will
remain among us. And the daily sacrifice of the priests
corresponds also to these facts. For it is expressly commanded
to them to offer every day the tenth part of an ephah *of fine
wheat flour. For, passing over the ninth number, the god who
was only discernible by the outward senses and by opinion,
they learnt to worship the tenth, who is the only living and true
God. For the world had nine portions assigned to it, eight in
heaven, namely the portion of the fixed stars and the seven
planets which are all borne forward in the same arrangement,
and the ninth being the earth in conjunction with the air and
water. For of these things there is only one bond and
connection, though they admit all kinds of various changes and
alterations. Therefore men in general have paid honours to
these nine portions, and to the world which is compounded of
them. But the perfect man honours only that being who is
above the nine, and who is their creator, being the tenth
portion, namely God. For having examined into the whole of
his works, he has felt a love for the creator of them, and he
has become anxious to be his suppliant and servant. On this
account the priest offers up a tenth every day to the tenth, the
only and everlasting God. This is, to speak properly, the
spiritual passover of the soul, the passing over of all the
passions and of every object of the outward senses to the tenth,
which is the proper object of the intellect, and which is divine.
For it is said in the scripture : " On the tenth day of this
month let each of them take a sheep according to his house ; "f
in order that from the tenth, there may be consecrated to the
tenth, that is to God, the sacrifices which have been preserved
in the soul, which is illuminated in two portions out of the
three, until it is entirely changed in every part, and becomes a
heavenly brilliancy like a full moon, at the height of its
^Exodus x. 20. t Exodus xii. 3.
ON SEEKING INSTRUCTION. 179
increase at the end of the second week, and so is able not only
to guard, but even to sacrifice uninjured and faultless improve
ments, that is to say, propitiations. For this propitiation also
is established in the tenth day of the month, when the soul
addresses its supplications to the tenth portion, namely to God,
and has learnt, by its own sagacity and acuteness, the insigni
ficance and nothingness of the creature, and also the excessive
perfection and pre-eminent excellence in all good things of the
uncreated God.
Therefore God becomes at once propitious, and propitious
too, even without any supplications being addressed to him, to
those who abase and humble themselves, and who are not
puffed up with vain arrogance and self-opinion. This is
remission and deliverance, this is complete freedom of the soul,
shaking off the wanderings in which it wandered, and fleeing
for a secure anchorage to the one nature which cannot wander,
and which rises up to return to the lot which it formerlv
received when it had brilliant aspirations, and when it
vigorously toiled in labours which had virtuous ends for their
object. For then admiring it for its exertions, the holy
scripture honoured it, giving it a most especial honour, an
immortal inheritance, a place namely in the imperishable race.
This is what the wise Abraham supplicates for, when that
which in word indeed is the land of Sodom, but in real fact is
the soul made barren of all good things and blinded as to its
reason, is about to be burnt up, in order that if the memorial
of justice, namely the tenth* part be found in it, it may obtain
a sort of amnesty. Therefore he begins his supplication with
a prayer for pardon, connected with the number fifty, and
terminates with the number ten, the lowest number for whose
deliverance he can dare to entreat.
XX. From which consideration it appears to me to have
been, that Moses, after the appointment of chiliarchs, or com
manders of thousands, and of centurians, and of captains of
fifties.t thought proper to appoint captains of ten over all, in
order that if the mind was not able to be improved by means
of the elder orders, it might at least be purified by these last
in order. And the son of the man who was devoted to learning,
learnt a very beautiful doctrine when he went on that admirable
embassy, asking in marriage for the self-taught wise man that
* Geueeia xviil 32. t Exodus xviii. 25.
N 2
ISO PHILO JUD^EUS.
most appropriate sister, namely, perseverance. For he takes
ten camels,* a reminding of the number ten, that is to say, of
right instruction, from among many and, indeed, infinite
memorials of the Lord. He also takes of his good things,
evidently not silver, nor any gold, nor any other of those things
which consist of perishable materials ; for Moses never gave
the favourable appellation of good to any of these things, but
those genuine good things which are the only good things of
the soul ; and those he appropriates for the use of his journey,
and for his purposes of traffic, namely, instruction, improve
ment, study, desire, admiration, enthusiasm, prophecy, and the
love of doing good actions; to which objects, a man who
devotes all his care, and who practises the actions calculated
to ensure their attainment, when he is about, as it were, to
anchor in a safe harbour after having been tossed in a stormy
sea, will take two earrings, each of a drachm in weight,
and two golden armlets of ten shekels weight of gold for the
arms of her who is sought in marriage.t Oh the divine
ornament ! We may understand that the drachm means the
faculty of hearing, and the unbroken unit, and the attractive
nature ; for it is not becoming for hearing to have leisure to
attend to anything except to that speech alone which sets
forth in a suitable manner the virtues of the one and only
God. And the ten shekels weight of gold mean attempts at
works ; for the actions, in accordance with wisdom, are esta
blished in perfect numbers, and every one of them is more
precious than gold.
XXI. Something of this kind, now, is the contribution
made by the princes, selected and appointed with reference
to worth and merit, which they made when the soul being
properly prepared and adorned by philosophy, was celebrating
the festival of the dedication in a sacred and becoming
manner, giving thanks to God its teacher and its guide;
for it "offers up a censer full of frankincense, ten golden
shekels in weight,"^: in order that the wise man alone may
judge of the odours which are exhaled by prudence and by
every virtue. But when they appear to be made propitious,
then Moses will sing a sacred hymn over them, saying, " The
Lord has smelt the smell of a sweet savour," using the word
to smell here as equivalent to approving of ; for God is not
Genesis xxiv. 10. t Genesia xxiv. 22. Numbers vii. 14.
ON SEEKING INSTRUCTION. ISl
formed like a man, nor has he any need of nostrils, or of any
other organic parts. But as he proceeds onwards he speaks
alsoo f the divine abode, the tabernacle, and its ten curtains ;"*
for, in fact, the compound edifice of entire wisdom has been
assigned the perfect number, the number ten.
And wisdom is the court and palace of the all governing and
only absolute and independent king. Accordingly, this is his
abode, discernible only by the intellect ; but the world is per
ceptible by the outward senses; since Moses made the curtains
of such things as are symbols of the four elements, for they
were made of fine flax, and of hyacinthiue colour, and of purple,
and of scarlet, four numbers, as I have said before. Now the
fine flax is an emblem of the earth, for the flax grows out of
the earth ; and the hyacinthine colour is a symbol of the air,
for it is black by nature ; purple (vcep-joa), again, is a symbol
of the water ; for the cause of this dye is derived from the sea,
being the shell-fish of the same name (rj To^puga) ; and scarlet
is a symbol of fire, for it most nearly resembles a flame.
Again, that omnipotent overseer and ruler of the universe
reproved the state of Egypt, when rebellious against the rein,
when it was extolling with grandiloquent words the mind as an
adversary of God, and bestowing on it all the ensigns of kingly
authority, such as the throne, the sceptre, the diadem ; and
chastised it with ten stripes and severe punishment. And in
the same manner, also, he promises the wise Abraham that he
will work for him the overthrow and complete destruction of
ten nations f exactly, neither more nor less, and that be will
give the country of those who are thus destroyed to his
descendants ; in every instance choosing to employ the number
ten, both for praise and for blame, and also for honour and for
punishment. And yet why do we mention these things ? For
what is more important than this is the fact, that Moses gave
laws to that sacred and divine assembly in a code of ten com-
mandments in all. And these are the commandments which
are the generic heads, and roots, and principles of the infinite
multitude of particular laws ; being the everlasting source of
all commands, and containing every imaginable injunction and
prohibition to the great advantage of those who use them.
XXII. Very naturally, therefore, is the connection of
Abraham with Hagar, placed at the end of ten years after his
Eiodua xxvi. 1. f Deuteronomy vii 1.
132 PHILO JUD^US.
arrival in the land of the Chaldaeans. For it does not follow
that the first moment that we become endowed with reason,
while our intellect is still in a somewhat fluid state, we are
able at once to derive encyclical instruction. But when we
have attained to intelligence and acuteness of comprehension,
then we no longer have a light and superficial mind, but rather
a firm and solid intellect which we can exercise on every sub
ject. And it is for this reason that the expression which
follows is added, in connection with the former statement,
" And he went in unto Hagar." For it was becoming for the
scholar to go to his teacher, who was a man of learning, in
order to learn such branches of instruction as are suited to the
nature of man. For now, also, the pupil is represented as
going to the place where he may obtain learning ; but learning
very often anticipates him and runs forward to meet him,
having driven out envy from her habitation, and she attracts
those towards her who are well inclined to her. Accordingly,
one may read that virtue, that is Leah, went forward to meet
the practiser of virtue, and said unto him, " To-day you shall
come in to me,"* when he was returning from the fields. For
where was the man who had the care of the seeds and plants
of knowledge found to come, except to that virtue which he
himself had cultivated ?
XXIII. But there are times when virtue, as if making
experiment of those who come to her as pupils, to see how
much eagerness and earnestness they have, does not come
forward to meet them, but veiling her face like Tamar, sits
down in the public road, giving room to those who are travel
ling along the road to look upon her as a harlot, in order that
those who are over curious on the subject may take off her veil
and disclose her features, and may behold the untouched, and
unpolluted, and most exquisite, and truly virgin beauty of
modesty and chastity. Who then is he who is fond of in
vestigating, and desirous of learning, and who thinks it not right
to leave any of those things which are disguised or concealed
unconsidered and unexamined? Who is he, I say, but the
chief captain and king, he who abides by and rejoices in
the agreements which he has made with God, by name Judah?
For says the scripture, "He turned aside out of his road to
i er. and said unto her, Suffer me to come in unto thee."
* Genesis xxx. 16. t Genesis xxxviii. 16.
ON SEEKING INSTRUCTION. 1P3
(but he was not inclined to offer her any violence), and to see
what is that power which is thus veiled, and for what purpose
it is thus adorned ; and after they had come together it is
written, " And she conceived ; " but the name of the person is
not expressly mentioned. For art conceives and carries along
with it him who is learning it, persuading him to feel
amorously inclined towards her; and also he who is learning
carries with him her who is teaching him, whenever he is fond
of learning.
And it often happens that he who professes some one of the
indifferent branches of knowledge, when he meets with a pupil
of good natural qualifications, boasts of his success in teaching,
thinking that he, by himself and alone, is the cause of his
pupil s facility in learning. And then, becoming elated and
puffing himself, up he holds his head high, and draws up his
eyebrows and becomes full of pride, and asks very higli terms
from those who desire to become his pupils ; but those whom
he perceives to be poor but still to be eager for instruction, he
rejects and repels, as if he were the only person who had
found a treasure of wisdom. This is the meaning of the ex
pression, " to conceive," namely, to be full of pride, and to be
puffed up with arrogance beyond all moderation, on which
account some persons have appeared to dishonour the queen of
all the intermediate and indifferent branches of knowledge,
virtue, who deserves to be honoured, even for her own sake.
All the souls, therefore, which, in connection with prudence,
are pregnant of real things, do nevertheless bring forth, sepa
rating and distinguishing between things previously in con
fusion, like Kebekkah ; for she having conceived in her womb
ideas of two nations, the knowledge of virtue and the know
ledge of wickedness, having a fortunate labour separated and
distinguished between the nature of each ; but those which
have conceived without prudence either miscarry or else
bring forth an offspring inclined to evil contention and so
phistry, always either aiming darts and arrows at others, or
having darts and arrows aimed at themselves. And may we
not say that this is natural ? for some fancy that they are just
conceiving, and others that they are actually pregnant, which
is a very different thing ; for those who think that they are
already pregnant attribute their pregnancy and the birth of
their offspring to themselves, and pride themselves upon it;
184 PHILO JUD^US.
but those who look upon themselves as now conceiving, admit
that they have of themselves nothing which they can call
peculiarly their own, but they receive the seed and the pros
pects of posterity which are showered upon them from without,
and they admire him who bestows it, and repel the greatest of
evils, namely self-love, by that perfect good, piety towards
the gods.
XXIV. In this manner also the seeds of the legislative wis
dom, which exists among men, were sown, " For there was,"
says the same historian, " a man of the tribe of Levi, named
Amram, who took to wife one of the daughters of Levi, and
had her, and she conceived and brought forth a male child ;
and seeing that he was a goodly child they concealed him for
three months."* This is Moses, the purest mind, the child
that is really goodly ; the child that received at the same time
all legislative and prophetic skill by the means of inspired
and heaven-bestowed wisdom ; who, being by birth a member
of the tribe of Levi, and being flourishing both in the things
relating to his mother and in those affecting his father, clings
to the truth ; and the greatest profession ever made by the
author and chief of this tribe is this, for he makes bold to say,
that " the only God is alone to be honoured by me ;" and
nothing besides of all the things that are inferior to Him,
neither earth, nor sea, nor rivers, nor the nature of the air,
nor the nature of the winds, nor the changes of the atmo
sphere, nor the appearances of any animals or plants, nor
the sun, nor the moon, nor the multitude of the stars
moving about in well-arranged revolutions, nor the whole
heaven, nor the entire world.
This is a boast of a great and magnanimous soul, to rise
above all creation, and to overleap its boundaries, and to cling
to the great uncreated God alone, according to his sacred com
mands, in which we are expressly enjoined " to cleave unto
him."f Therefore he, in requital, bestows himself as their in
heritance upon those who do cleave unto him, and who serve
him without intermission ; and the sacred scripture bears its
testimony in behalf of this assertion, where it says, " The Lord
himself is his inheritance. "J
Thus the souls which are already pregnant are naturally
likely to bring forth children, rather than those which are now
* Exodus ii. 1. f Deut. xxx. 20. + Deut. x. 9.
ON SEEKING INSTRUCTION. 1R5
receiving the seed. But as the eyes of the body do oftentimes
see obscurely, and often on the other hand see clearly, so in
the same manner does the eye of the soul, at times, receive
the particular impressions conveyed to it by things in a most
confused and indistinct manner, and at other times it beholds
them with the greatest purity and clearness ; therefore an in
distinct and not clearly manifested conception resembles an
embryo which has not yet received any distinct character or
similitude within the womb : but that which is clear and dis
tinctly visible, is like one which is completely formed, and
which is already fashioned in an artistic manner as to both its
inward and its outward parts, and which has already received
its suitable character. And with respect to these matters the
following law has been enacted with great beauty and pro
priety : " If while two men are fighting one should strike a
woman who is great with child, and her child should come
from her before it is completely formed, he shall be mulcted
in a fine, according to what the husband of the woman shall
impose upon him, and he shall pay the fine deservedly. But
if the child be fully formed, he shall pay life for life."*
For it was not the same thing, to destroy a perfect and an
imperfect work of the mind, nor is what is only likened by a
figure similar to what is really comprehended, nor is what is
only hoped for similar to what really exists. On thia account,
in one case, an uncertain penalty is affixed to an uncertain
action ; in another, a definite punishment is enacted by law
against an act which is perfected, but which is perfected not
with respect to virtue, but with reference to what is done in an
irreproachable manner, according to some act. For it is not
she who has just received the seed, but she who has been for
some time pregnant, who brings forth this offspring, professing
boasting rather than modesty. For it is impossible that she
who has been pregnant some time should miscarry, since it is
lilting that the plant should be conducted to perfection by him
who sowed it ; but it is not strange if some mishap should
befall the woman who was pregnant, since she was afflicted
with a disease beyond the art of the physician.
XXV. And do not suppose that Hagar is represented as
beholding herself as pregnant, by the words, " seeing that she
had conceived," but as beholding her mistress Sarah ; for after-
* Exodua xxi. 22.
186 PHILO JUD^EUS.
wards she speaks of herself, and says, " Seeing that she was
pregnant, she was despised before her."* Why so ? Because the
intermediate and indifferent arts, and the sciences in accord
ance with them, see indeed of what they are pregnant, but
they nevertheless see in every respect but dimly ; but the
sciences comprehend clearly and very distinctly. For science
is something beyond art, having derived from reason a certain
firmness and exemption from error ; for this is the definition ot
art, a system of comprehensions well practised with reference
to some desirable end, the word desirable being very properly
added by reason of the abundance of evil arts. But the
definition of science is a safe and firm comprehension, which,
through reason, is not liable to any error. Therefore we call
music and grammar, and other pursuits, arts ; for those also
who are made perfect in them, as musicians, or grammarians,
are called artists. But we call philosophy and the other virtues,
sciences, and those who are possessed of the knowledge of
them we call scientific ; for they are prudent, and temperate,
and philosophical, not one of whom is ever deceived in the
doctrines of a philosophy which he himself has cultivated, any
more than the artists, whom I have mentioned before, err in
their speculations with respect to their indifferent arts.
For as the eyes see, and still the mind sees more clearly
by means of the eyes ; and as the ears hear, but nevertheless
the mind hears better through the medium of the ears ; and as
the nostrils smell, and yet the soul smells more precisely
through the instrumentality of the nostrils ; and in like manner,
as the other external senses comprehend their respective
appropriate objects, still the mind comprehends them also
more purely and distinctly by their ministration. For to speak
properly, it is the mind which is the eye of eyes, the hearing
of hearing, and the more pure external sense of each of the
external senses, using them as ministers in a court of justice,
and itself deciding on the nature of the objects submitted to it,
so as to approve of some and to reject others. In the same
way, those that are called the intermediate arts, resembling the
faculties of the body, indulge in contemplations according to
certain simple observations of them, but the sciences do so with
greater accuracy and with an exceedingly careful investigation.
For the same relation that the mind bears to the outward
* Genesis xvi. 4.
ON SEEKING INSTRUCTION. 187
sense, that same does science bear towards art ; for, as has been
said before, the soul is as it were the outward sense of the
outward sense ; therefore each of them has attracted to itself
some slight things of nature, concerning which it labours and
occupies itself, geometry having appropriated lines, and music
sounds, and philosophy the whole nature of existing things.
For this world is its subject matter, and so is the whole
essence, both visible and invisible, of existing things.
What then is there wonderful if the soul, which sees both
the whole and the parts, sees them too better than they do, as
if it were furnished with larger and more acute eyes ? Very
naturally, therefore, proper philosophy will behold intermediate
instruction its handmaiden, and see that she is pregnant, more
than the other will see that she is.
XXVI. And yet even this is not unknown to any one, namely,
that philosophy has bestowed upon all the particular sciences
their first principles and seeds, from which speculations
respecting them appear to arise. For it is geometry which
invented equilateral and scalene triangles, and circles, and
polygons, and all kinds of other figures. But it was no
longer geometry that discovered the nature of a point, and a
line, and a superficies, and a solid, which are the roots and
foundations of the aforementioned figures. For from whence
could it define and pronounce that a point is that which has
no parts, that a line is length without breadth ; that a super
ficies is that which has only length and breadtli ; that a solid
is that which has the three properties, length, breadth, and
depth ? For these discoveries belong to philosophy, and the
consideration of these definitions belongs wholly to the phi
losopher. Again, to write and read is the undertaking of this
more imperfect kind of grammar, which some people, pervert
ing the name of, call grammatistica. But to the more perfect
kind of grammar belongs the explanation of the great works
of the poets and historians.
When, therefore, men are going through the different parts
of speech, are they not in so doing trying to drag over to
themselves and appropriate as a kind of accessory the dis
coveries of philosophy? For it is the peculiar province of
philosophy to inquire what a conjunction, what a noun, what a
verb, what a common noun, what a particular noun, what is
deficient in a speech, what is superfluous, what is an aflirma-
188 PHILO JUD^US.
tive, what an interrogative, what an indirect question, what is
a comprehensive expression, what is a supplicatory form of
address. For this is a science which has been compounded
for the purpose of the investigation of independent propo
sitions, and axioms, and categorems. But, moreover, has not
the whole question of semi-vowels, or vowels, or such elements
as are completely mute, and the consideration of the sense in
which each of these expressions is ordinarily used, and in
short every notion connected with the voice, and the elements,
and the parts of speech, been thoroughly worked out and
brought to an accurate system by philosophy? And those
thieves, after having as it were carried off a few drops from her
torrent, and having sought to impregnate their own shallow
souls with what they have stolen, are not ashamed to bring
forth her resources as their own.
XXVII. On which account, being elated and proud, they
disregard the mistress to whom in reality the authority and
the complete confirmation of their contemplations belong.
But she, perceiving their neglect, will convict them, and will
speak freely to them, and say, " I am treated unjustly, and in
utter violation of our agreement, as far as depends on you who
transgress the covenants entered into between us ; for from the
time that you first took to your bosom the elementary branches
of education, you have honoured above measure the offspring
of my handmaiden, and have respected her as your wife, and
you have so completely repudiated me that you never by any
chance came to the same place with me. And perhaps this
may be only a suspicion of mine respecting you, arising from
your open connection with my servant, which leads me to
conjecture your alienation from myself, though it is not really
manifest. But if your disposition is contrary to that which I
suspect, still it is impossible for any one else to know this, but
it is easy to God alone." On which account she says very
appropriately, " May God judge between thee and me ;* not
making haste to condemn him beforehand as having done her
wrong, but intimating a doubt, that perhaps he may speedily
do her right, which in point of fact is seen to be the case not
long afterwards, when he, excusing himself and remedying her
doubts, says to her, " Behold thy handmaiden is in thy hands,
do unto her as it seemeth good to thee."
* Genesis xvi. 5.
ON SEEKING INSTRUCTION. JS9
For also, when he calls her her handmaiden, he confesses
both fuels, both that she is a slave and also that she is a
child ; for the name of the handmaiden (vaidio-xr,) suits both
these circumstances. At the same time also, he confesses the
contrary things, opposing the child to the full-grown woman,
and the mistress to her slave, all but crying out in plain
words : I embrace indeed encyclical instruction as a younger
maiden and as a handmaiden, but I honour knowledge and
prudence as full-grown and a mistress.
And the expression, " She is in thy hands," means, she is in
thy power and subject to thee. And this is also a symbol of
something else of this nature, namely, that the qualities of
the handmaiden come to the hands of the body ; for the
encyclical branches of knowledge have need of the bodily
organs and faculties ; but the qualities of the mistress reach
the soul ; for the things which belong to prudence and know
ledge romp under the province of reason ; so that in proportion
as the mind is more powerful and more efficacious than, and
in short superior to. the hand, in the same proportion also do
I look upon knowledge and wisdom as more admirable than
encyclical accomplishment, and I honour them in a higher
degree.
Do thou, therefore, thou who both art the mistress, and
who art so accounted by me, take all my encyclical instruction
and use it as thy handmaid, doing to it as it shall seem good
to thee ; for I am not unaware that whatever pleases thee is
in all respects good even though it may not always be
pleasant, and is useful even though it be far removed from
being agreeable. But admonition and reproof are both good
and profitable to those who stand in need of correction, which
indeed the holy scriptures call by another name, and de
nominate affliction.
XXVIII. On which account the historian presently adds,
" And she afflicted her ;" an expression equivalent to, she
admonished and corrected her. For a sharp spear is very
profitable for those who are corrupted by over security and
indolences, just as it is of use with restive horses ; since they
can scarcely be subdued and made manageable by the whip
and by gentle leading. Do you not see how they are utterly
unaffected by the prizes proposed to them?* They are fat,
* Ttm is scarcely Benue, but the truth probably is that the ptuwage
190 PHILO JUD^US.
they are stout, they are sleek, they breathe hard ; then they
take up the actions of impiety, miserable and wretched men
that they are, seeking a melancholy reward, being proclaimed
and crowned as conquerors by ungodliness. For by reason of
the prosperity which was constantly flowing gently towards
them, they looked upon themselves as silver or golden gods,
after the fashion of adulterated money, forgetting the real and
true coinage.
And Moses testifies to this view of the matter when he says,
" He got fat, he became stout, he became swollen, and forsook
God who had created him."* So that if excessive relaxation
begets the greatest of all evils, impiety, its contrary, affliction,
in accordance with the law produces that perfect good, much
praised correction ; and proceeding outward from this point, he
also calls the unleavened bread the symbol of the first festival,
" the bread of affliction."t And yet who is there who does
not know that feasts and festivals produce cheerful joy and
delectation, and not affliction ? But it is plain that he is here
using in a perverted sense this word for the labour of him
who is the corrector. For the most numerous and greatest
blessings are usually acquired by laborious practice and exer
cise, and by vigorously excited labour. But the festival of the
soul is emulation, which is labour to attain those things which
are most excellent and which are brought to perfection ; on
which account it is expressly commanded to " eat the unlea
vened bread with bitter herbs ;"{ not by way of an additional
dish, but because men in general look upon the fact of being
prevented from swelling and boiling over with their appetites,
but being forced to contract and restrain them as a grievous
thing, thinking it a bitter thing to unlearn the indulgence of
their passions, which is the real feast and festival of a mind
which loves honourable contests.
XXIX. It is for this reason that the law, as it appears to
me, was given in a place which is called Bitterness ; for to do
wrong is pleasant, but to act justly is laborious. And this is
the most unerring law ; for the sacred history says, " And after
they had gone out from the passions of Egypt they came to
is corrupt. Maugey proposes one or two emendations, but they are
not very satisfactory.
" Deuteronomy xxxii. 15. f Deuteronomy xvi. 3.
J Exodus xii. 8.
ON SEEKING INSTRUCTION. 191
Marah : and they were not able to drink of the water at
Marah, for it was bitter. On this account the name of that
place was called Bitterness. And the people murmured
against Moses, saying, What shall we drink ? And Moses
cried unto the Lord ; and the Lord showed him a stick, and
he cast it into the water, and the water was made sweet. And
then he gave him justification and judgment, and then he
tempted him."* For the invisible trial and proofs of the
soul are in labouring and in enduring bitterness ; for then it is
hard to know which way it will incline ; for many men are
very speedily fatigued and fall away, thinking labour a terrible
adversary, and they let their hands fall out of weakness, like
tired wrestlers, determining to return to Egypt to the indul
gence of their passions.
But others, with much endurance and great vigour, support
ing the fearful and terrible events of the wilderness pass
through the contest of life, keeping their life safe from over
throw and from destruction, and rising up in vigorous contest
against the necessities of nature, such as hunger, thirst, cold,
and heat, which are in the habit of reducing other persons to
slavery, and subduing them with great exuberance of strength.
And the cause of this is not merely labour, but also the sweet
ness with which it is combined ; for the scripture says, " And
the water was made sweet." But sweet and pleasant labour
is called by another name, fondness for labour; for that which
is sweet in labour is the love of, and desire for, and admiration
of, and friendship for, what is honourable. Let no one, there
fore, reject such affliction as this, and let no one think that
the table of festivity and cheerfulness is called the bread of
affliction for injury rather than for advantage ; for the soul
which is rightly admonished is supported by the doctrines of
instruction.
XXX. This unleavened cake is so sacred that it is enjoined
in the holy scriptures, " to place in the innermost part of the
temple, on the golden table, twelve loaves of unleavened bread,
corresponding in number to the twelve tribes ; and those
loaves shall be called the shew-bread."f And, again, it is in
the law expressly " forbidden to offer any leaven or any honey
upon the altar ;"J for it is a difficult thing to consecrate as
holy either the sweetnesses of the pleasures according to the
* Exodus xv. 23. f Exodus xxv. 30. J Leviticus ii. 11.
192 PHILO JUD^US.
body, or the light and unsubstantial elations of the soul, since
they are by their own intrinsic nature profane and unholy.
Does not, then, the prophetic word, by name Moses, very
rightly speak in dignified language when he says, " Thou shalt
remember all the road by which the Lord God led thee in the
wilderness, and how he afflicted thee, and tried thee, and
proved thee, that he might know what was in thy heart, and
whether thou wouldest keep his commandments. Did he not
afflict thee and oppress thee with hunger, and feed thee with
manna which thy fathers knew not, that he might make thee
know that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God?"*
Who, then, is so impious as to conceive that God is one who
afflicts, and who brings that most pitiable death of hunger
upon those who are not able to live without food ? For God is
good, and the cause of good things, bounteous, the saviour, the
supporter, the giver of wealth, the giver of great gifts,
driving out wickedness from the sacred boundaries ; for thus
did he drive out the burdens of the earth, Adam and Cain,
from paradise. Let us, then, not be led aside by words, but
let us consider and examine what meaning is intended to be
conveyed under figurative expressions, and pronounce that the
words " he afflicted," are equivalent to " he instructed, and he
admonished, and he corrected." And when it is said that he
oppressed them with hunger, it does not mean that he caused
a deficiency of meat and drink, but of pleasures, and desires,
and fear, and grief, and acts of injustice, and, in short, of all
things which are the works of wickedness or of the passions.
And what is said immediately afterwards is an evidence of this :
" He fed thee with manna." Is it, then, proper to call that food
which, without any exertion or hardship on his part, and with
out any trouble of his is given to man, not out of the earth as
is usual, but from heaven, a marvellous work, afforded for the
benefit of those who are to be permitted to avail themselves of
it, the cause of hunger and affliction, and not r ather, on the con
trary, the cause of prosperity and happiness, of freedom from
fear, and of a happy state of orderly living ? But men in
general and the common herd think that those who are
nourished on the word of God live in a miserable and wretched
manner ; for they are without the taste of the all-nourishing
* Deuteronomy viii. 2.
ON SEEKING INSTRUCTION. 193
food of wisdom ; but they are not aware that they are living
in the height of happiness.
XXXI. Thus, therefore, there is a certain description of
affliction which is profitable, so that its very most humiliating
form, even slavery, is accounted a great good. And there is a
father who is recorded in the sacred writings as having prayed
for this, for his son, namely, the most excellent Isaac for the
foolish Esau ; for he says somewhere, " By thy sword shalt
thou live, and thou shalt serve thy brother."* Judging that
destiny to be the most advantageous one for a man who had
chosen war rather than peace, and who was as it were con
stantly armed and engaged in battle, by reason of the sedition
and disorder constantly existing in his soul, the destiny
namely of being a subject and a servant, and of obeying all
the commands which the lover of temperance should lay upon
him.
And it is from this consideration, as it appears to me that
one of the disciples of Moses, by name the peaceful, who in
his native language is called Solomon, says, " My son, neglect
not the instruction of God, and be not grieved when thou art
reproved by him ; for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth ;
and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."t Thus, then!
scourging and reproof are looked upon as good, so that by
means of it agreement and relationship with God arise. For
what can be more nearly related than a son is to his father
and a father to his son ?
But, that we may not seem to be too prolix connecting one
argument with another, we will, besides what we have already
said, just add one most evident proof that a certain descrip
tion of affliction is the work of virtue. For there is such a
law as this, " Thou shalt not afflict any widow or orphan, but
if thou dost afflict them with wickedness." What does
this mean ? Is it then possible to be afflicted by something
else? For if afflictions were the work of wickedness alone,
then it would be superfluous to add what would be admitted by
all, and which would be understood without any such addition.
But, you will most certainly say, I know that men are
reproved by virtue, and instructed by wisdom ; on which
account I do not blame every kind of affliction, but I very
greatly admire that which is the work of justice an 1 cf the
* Genesia xivii. 40. f Proverbs iii. 11.
VOL. II.
Ifl4 PHILO JUD^US.
law ; for that corrects by means of punishment, but that
which proceeds from folly and wickedness and is pernicious, I
do as becomes me, detest, and pronounce real evil. When,
therefore, you hear that Hagar was afflicted by Sarah, you must
not suppose that any of those things befell her, which arise
from rivalry and quarrels among women ; for the question is
not here about woman, but about minds; the one being
practised in the branches of elementary instruction, and the
other being devoted to the labours of virtue.
A TREATISE ON FUGITIVES.
I "AND Sarah afflicted her, and she fled from before her
face . And the angel of the Lord found her sitting by a
fountain of water in the wilderness, by a fountain which is m
the way to Shur. And the angel of the Lord said unto her :
Thou handmaiden of Sarah, whence art thou come? and
whither art thou going? And she answered and said :
fleeing from the face of Sarah, my mistress. And the angel
of the Lord said unto her : < Return unto thy mistress and be
thou humbled beneath her hands. And the angel of the Lord
said unto her: Behold, thou art with child, and thou shalt
bring forth a son, and shall call his name Ishmae , because the
Lord has heard the cry of thy humiliation. He shall be a rude
man; his hand shall be against every man, and every n
a Havfna n nour former treatise spoken what was becoming
respecting the preliminary branches of education, and respecting
afflLion we will now proceed in regular order to discuss the
topic of fugitives. Now Moses often mentions persons who
flee, as here he says concerning Hagar, that being afflict ed she
fled from the face of her mistress I think therefore that
there are three causes for flight-hatred fear and shame.
Now women leave their husbands out of hatred, and for the
same reason men desert their wives. But children flee fiom
their parents, and servants from their masters ou ;o : fear
And lastly, friends avoid their companions out of shame, wne
Genesis xvi. 8.
ON FUGITIVES. 195
they have done anything which is displeasing to them And
before now I have known instances of fathers who have led a
life of effeminate luxury, reverencing the austere and philo
sophical lives of their sons, and out of shame preferring to live
in the country rather than in the city.
Now of all these three causes, one may find instances
revealed in the sacred scriptures Accordingly, Jacob, the
practiser of virtue, fled from his father-in-law Laban out of
hatred, and from his brother Esau out of fear, as I shall show
presently. But Hagar flees out of shame. And a proof of
this is, that the angel, that is the word of God, met her, with
the intent to recommend her what she ought to do, and to
guide her in her return to her mistress s house. For he
encouraged her, and said unto her : The Lord has heard the
cry of thy humiliation," which you uttered, not out of fear, nor
yet out of hatred. For the one is the feeling of an ignoble
soul, and the other of one which loves contention, but under
the influence of that copy of temperance and modesty, shame.
For it was natural, if she had fled out of fear, that he would
have encouraged her mistress, who was holding out threats to
alarm her, to comfort her, and to restore her to tranquillity.
For then it would have been safe for the fugitive to return, and
not before. But no one intercedes for her to her mistress,
inasmuch as she was already appeased by herself. But this
angel, who is reproof, at the same time friendly and full of
advice, out of his good-will teaches her not to feel only shame,
but also to entertain confidence, for that modesty is but half
a virtue, when separated from proper boldness.
II. Therefore the account which follows will show these
characteristics more accurately. But we must return to the
heads of the question which we have already set forth, and
begin with those who flee under the influence of hatred.
" For," says the scripture, "Jacob concealed his purpose from
Laban the Syrian, so as not to tell him that he was, fleeing, and
he fled, he and all that he had."* What then was the cause of
his hatred ? For perhaps you are desirous to hear this.
There are some persons who make to themselves gods of
substance destitute of all distinctive quality, and species, and
shape, neither knowing the cause which puts things in motion,
nor showing any anxiety to learn of those who do know, but
Genesis xvi. 8.
o 2
196 PHILO JCD.EUS.
being contented with their ignorance and want of understanding
of the most important kind of learning, which was in fact the
first and only thing of which it was absolutely necessary to
labour for the understanding. Laban now is one of this kind
of persons ; for the sacred scriptures attribute to him a flock
devoid of all distinctive marks. And matter, without any
distinctive characteristics, is without any marks in the universe,
and so is in men the soul, which is destitute of learning and
which has no instructors. But there are others who belong to
a better portion, who say that the mind has come and arranged
everything, bringing the disorder which arose from an ochlo
cracy among all existing things, into the order established by
the legitimate authority of kingly power. Of this company
Jacob is a follower, who presides over the marked and party-
coloured flock.
On the other hand the species in the universe is distin
guished by marks and is of varied colour, and so also in men is
the mind which has been well instructed and which is fond of
learning. And he who is marked, and who is the companion
of true kingly power, having received a great deal of the social
affection from nature, goes to him who has no distinguishing
marks, and who, as I have said, makes himself gods of the
material powers, and who thinks that besides them there is no
effectual cause of anything, to teach him that his opinions are
not correct. For the world has been created, and has by all
means derived its existence from some extraneous cause.
But the word itself of the Creator is the seal by which each of
existing things is invested with form. In accordance with
which fact perfect species also does from the very beginning
follow things when created, as being an impression and image
of the perfect word. For the animal when first created is
imperfect as to quantity ; and a proof of this is the gradual
growth which takes place at each successive age. But it is
perfect as to quality. For the same quality remains in it, as
having been stamped upon it by the divine word which abides
permanently and never charges.
III. But seeing that he is dumb with respect to learning
and to all desirable and legitimate authority, he very naturally
thinks of flight. For he is afraid that in addition to not being
able to derive any advantage, he may even be injured. For all
connections with the foolish injures us, and very often the soul
ON FUGITIVES. J97
against its will becomes stamped with the impression of theii
insanity of mind. And, in truth, instruction is naturally a
thing inimical to ignorance, and so is industry to indifference.
In reference to which fact the powers devoted to practice and
meditation, when they are set free, cry out, giving a full
account of the causes of their hatred : " Have we not any
longer a share and an inheritance in the house of our father ?
Are we not now accounted aliens by him ? For he has sold
us, and he has eaten up and devoured our money. All the
wealth and all the glory which God took from our father shall
belong to us and to our children/ * For those who are free
both in name and also in their minds do not consider any
foolish person as either rich or glorious, but look upon all
such persons, so to say, as inglorious and poor, even if they
exceed the fortune of wealthy kings. For they do not say
that they will have the riches of their father, but the riches
which have been taken away ; nor do they say that they shall
possess his glory, but the glory which has been taken away
from him.
But the wicked man is deprived of all genuine riches and
of all true and honourable glory ; for these blessings are
procured by wisdom, and temperance, and the kindred dispo
sitions of the soul, and are inherited by those souls which love
virtue. Therefore, it is not the things which belong to the
wicked man, but those of which he is destitute, that are the
abundance and the glory of the good. And he is destitute of
virtues which are their possession, in order that what is said
in another place may be consistent with the passage already
quoted : " Let us sacrifice the abominations of Egypt to the
Lord our God."f For the virtues are perfect and blameless offer
ings, and so are the actions in accordance with virtue, which
the Egyptian body, being devoted to the passions, abominates ;
for, as in this passage, those things which, according to the
principles of natural philosophy, are reckoned profane among
the Egyptians are called sacred by the Israelites who see
acutely, and are all offered as sacrifices ; so, in the same
manner, the man who is the companion of virtue will be the
heir of those things of which every foolish man is deprived and
destitute.
And these things are true glory, which in fact differs in no
* Genesis xxxi. 14. f Exodua viii. 26.
198 PHILO JUD^US.
respect from knowledge, and wealth, not blind wealth, but
that which is the most sharp-sighted of all existing things,
which never receives any base money, not even anything what
ever devoid of life unless it be thoroughly tried and approved.
Very naturally, therefore, that person will flee from him who
has no participation in divine blessings, who even in the mat
ters in which he accuses another does without perceiving it
accuse himself also, when he says, " If thou hadst told me I
would have sent thee away."* For this very thing was a worthy
cause for your being deserted, if you, being the servant of an
infinite number of masters, pretending to have been invested
with command and authority, proclaimed liberty to others.
But I, says he, did not take a man as my assistant in the
road which leads to virtue, but I listened to the divine oracles
which enjoined me to depart from hence, and which even now
continues to direct my course. And how would you have sent
me away? surely, as you boast, using pompous language, with
a joy which to me would have been sorrowful, with music
which would have been no music, with dances, and noises des
titute of articulate sound and of reason, striking blows on the
soul through the medium of the ears, and with the harp, and
-with sounds unsuited to the lyre, and unsuited to harmony,
not being so much organs, as the actions of a whole life.
But these are the things by reason of which I meditated
flight ; but you, as it seems, contemplated dragging me back
from my flight, in order that I might return on account of
the deceitful and seductive nature of the external senses, by
which I was scarcely able to permit myself to be carried forward.
IV. Hatred then, was the cause of the flight which I have
been here describing ; but fear was the cause of the one which
I am about to mention. For, says the sacred historian,
Rebekkah said unto Jacob, " Behold, Esau thy brother threat-
eneth to kill thee : now therefore, my son, hear my voice, and
rise up, and flee to Laban my brother, to Charran, and dwell
with him certain days, until the anger of thy brother is turned
away, and he forget what thou hast done unto him ; and then
I will send again, and fetch thee back from thence. "f For it
was worth while to fear, lest the worse portion of the soul,
lying in an ambuscade, or else moving forwards openly to the
attack, might overthrow and cast down the better part ; and so
* Genesis xxxi. 27. t Genesis xxvii. 42.
ON FUGITIVES. 199
ire counsel of the right-minded perseverance, Rebekkah, was
very good.
But she says, when you see the bad man coming in with
great impetuosity, against virtue, and making great account of
those things which it is more proper to disregard, such as
wealth, glory, and pleasure, and praising the performance of
actions of injustice, as being the cause of all the advantages
before mentioned : for we see that those who act unjustly, are,
for the most part, men possessed of much silver, and of much
gold, and of high reputation. Do not then, turn away to the
opposite road, and devote yourself to a life of penury, and
abasement, and austerity, and solitude ; for, by so doing, you
will irritate your adversary, and arm a more bitter enemy
against yourself. Consider, therefore, now by what conduct
you may avoid his attacks ; apply yourself to the same things,
I do not mean the same pursuits, but to the same things which
are the efficient causes of those things which have been men
tioned ; to honours, to offices of authority, to silver, to gold,
to possessions, to money, to colours, to forms, to exceeding
nicety; and when you meet with such things, then, like a
skilful workman, impress the most beautiful appearance on the
material substances : and perfect a most excellent work.
Do you not know, that if a man unacquainted with navigation,
takes the management of a ship, which might otherwise have
reached the harbour in safety, he overturns it? but that a man,
skilful as a pilot, has often saved a ship which otherwise must
have been lost? And also, some sick persons, owing to the
unskilfulness of their medical attendants, have been severely
afflicted with disease ; while others, through the skill of their
doctors, have escaped from dangerous sicknesses ? And why
need I have been prolix on this point ; for always the things
which are done with skill, are a conviction of those which are
done unskilfully ; and the true praise of the one is an unerring
accusation of the other.
V. If therefore, you wish to convict a wicked man, who is
also possessed of great wealth, do not disdain an abundance of
money ; for the unhappy man will soon show himself in his
true colours, either as an illiberal and slavish-minded skin-flint,
and parer of people by usury, or else as a profligate and intem
perate spendthrift, very ready to devour and to squander, and
a most zealous companion of harlots and brothel keeper*
200 PHILO JCD.EUS.
and pimps, and of every kind of profligate company. But you
will rather bestow your contributions on those who are in want
of friends, and will do favours to, and bestow your liberality on,
your country, and will assist to portion out the daughters of
needy parents, giving them, in addition to their inheritance,
a most sufficient dowry ; and in fact, very nearly throwing all
your own property into the common stock, you will invite to a
participation in it all who are worthy of favour.
And, in the same manner, when you wish to reprove any
wicked man who is mad with a high opinion of himself and
full of boasting, while you are able yourself to attain to dis
tinguished honours, do not disdainfully reject the praise of the
multitude : for by so doing you will trip up and supplant the
miserable man who takes long strides, and who gives himself
airs. For he will abuse his own renown for the purpose of
behaving with insolence and contumely to others who are
better than he, promoting those who are worse, so as to set
them above them ; while you, on the contrary, will give all
worthy persons a share in your renown, giving in this manner
security to those who are good, and by your admonitions
improving those who are not so good. And if you ever go to
a drinking party or to a costly entertainment, go with a good
confidence ; for you will put to shame the intemperate man by
your own dexterity. For he, falling on his belly, and opening
his insatiable desires even before he opens his mouth, will glut
himself in a most shameless and indecorous manner, and will
seize the things belonging to his neighbour, and will lick up
everything without thinking.
And when he is completely sated with eating, then drinking,
as the poets say, with his mouth open, he v/ill make himself
an object for the laughter and ridicule of all those who behold
him. But do you adopt a moderate course without being com
pelled thereto, and if ever you are constrained to indulge your
self in things beyond moderation, still make reason the
governor of the necessity, and never go so far as to change
pleasure into unpleasantness, but, if we may speak in such a
manner, be drunk in a sober manner.
VI. And here therefore truth may not unreasonably blame
those who, without any examination, abandon the business and
means of regulating a civil life, and who say that they have
learnt to despise glory and pleasure ; for those men are be-
ON FUGITIVES. 201
having insolently, and do not really despise these things,
making an open boast of their sordid, and melancholy, and
stern appearance, and putting forth their austere and dirty
way of living as a hait, as if they were lovers of orderly be
haviour, and modesty, and endurance ; but they are not able
to deceive those who look into them with greater accuracy, and
who pierce within their disguise, and who are riot led astray
by outward show ; for having removed these veils and cover
ings from the others, they see what is treasured up and con-
cealed within, and learn what kind of qualities and nature are
theirs : and if they are good they admire them, and if they
are evil they ridicule them, and hate them because of their
hypocrisy.
Let us then say to such persons, " Are ye zealous admirers
and imitators of a life which hates mixing with and joining
in the society of others, a solitary and uncompanionable life ?
For what specimen of virtue have you ever exhibited while
living in the society of others? Do ye disdain money? Have
you, then, who have been professed money-dealers, been
desirous to act justly ? Professing to disregard the pleasures
of the belly and of the parts beneath the belly, have you
behaved with moderation when you have had abundant oppor
tunities of indulging these appetites? Do you despise glory?
Then, when you have been placed in situations of authority,
have you cultivated an affable humility ? Perhaps you have
ridiculed a participation in the affairs of state, not considering
how useful an employment that is. Have you then first
exercised yourselves in, and directed your attention to, the
public and the private business of life? and having become
skilful politicians and experienced economists by means of the
kindred virtues of economical and political science, have you,
in your exceeding abundance of these things, prepared for
your migration to another and a better kind of life ? For it is
proper to go through a practical life before beginning tho
theoretical one: as being a sort of rehearsal of the more
perfect contest and exhibition.
In this way it is possible to escape from the charge of hesi
tation and indolence. Thus also an express injunction is given
to the Levites to fulfil their works till the time that they are
fifty years of age ; and after they are released from all active
ministrations, to consider and contemplate each particular
202 PHILO JUD^US.
thing, receiving as a reward for their well-doing in active life,
another life which delights only in knowledge and contem
plation. And at other times it is necessary that those who
think themselves worthy to claim the just things of God,
should first of all fulfil their human duties ; for it is great folly
to expect to attain to what is of greater importance, while one
is unable properly to discharge what is of less consequence.
First of all, therefore, be ye known for your virtue among men,
that you may also become established by that which relates to
God." This is the advice which perseverance gives to the man
inclined to the practice of virtue ; but we must now examine
her several expressions with accuracy.
VII. " Behold," says she, " Esau thy brother threatens
thee." But is it not natural for that disposition, hard as oak
and obstinate through ignorance, by name Esau, who offers the
baits of mortal life to lead you to your destruction ; such baits,
I mean, as wealth, glory, pleasure, and other kindred tempta
tions, to seek to kill thee ? But do you, my child ! flee from this
contest at present, for you have not as yet had complete strength
for it given to you, but still the nerves of your soul, like those
of a child, are somewhat soft and weak. And it is for this
reason that she calls him " my child," which is a name of
affection, and also one which indicates his tender age ; for we
look upon the disposition which is inclined to the practice of
virtue, and which is young, as worthy of affection in comparison
of the full-grown man.
But such a person is worthy to carry off the prizes which
are proposed for children, but he is not yet able to win the
prizes offered for the men. But the best contest for men to
engage in is the service of the only God. Therefore if, even
before we have been completely purified, but while we appear
only to have proceeded so far as to wash off the things which
defile our life, we have arrived at the vestibule of God s service,
we departed again more quickly than we approached, not
being able to endure the austere way of living dictated by that
service, nor the sleepless desire to please God, nor the con
tinual and unwearied labour ; flee, therefore, at this present
time from what is best and from what is worst. What is worst
are the fabulous inventions, the unmetrical and inharmonious
poerns, the conceptions and persuasions which from ignorance
are hard and stubborn, of which Esau is the namesake. What
ON FUGITIVES. 203
is best is the offering ; for the race inclined to service i? an
offering meet for God, being consecrated to him alone in the
great chief priesthood ; for to dwell with what is evil is most
pernicious, and to dwell with perfect good is most dangerous.
Accordingly Jacob both flees from Esau, and also dwells apart
from his parents ; for being fond of practising virtue and
still labouring at it, he flees from wickedness, and yet is un
able to live in company with perfect virtue so as to have no
need of an instructor.
VIII. On which account we read, "He will depart to
Laban," not to him as the Syrian, but as the brother of his
mother ; that is to say, he will go to the brilliancies of life ;
for Laban, being interpreted, means " white." And when he
has arrived there he will not hold his head too high, from
being puffed up with the happy events of fortune ; for the word
Syrian, being translated, means " sublime." But now he does
not recollect the Syrian Laban, but the brother of Rebekkah ;
for the means of life being given to a bad man, inflate and
raise up to a great height the mind which is devoid of wisdom,
which is called the Syrian ; but if they are bestowed on a lover
of instruction, then they make the mind inclined to abide by
the steady and solid doctrines of virtue and excellence. This is
the brother of Rebekkah, that is to say, of perseverance, and
he dwells in Charran, which name, being interpreted, means
" holes," a symbol of the external senses ; for he who is still
moving about in mortal life has need of the organs of the ex
ternal senses. " Dwell, therefore," says she, " O my child, with
him," not all thy life, but " certain days ;* that is to say, learn
to be acquainted with the country of the external senses ; know
thyself and thy own parts, and what each is, and for what end
it was made, and how it is by nature calculated to energise,
and who it is who moves those marvellous things, and pulls
the strings, being himself invisible, in an invisible manner,
whether it is the mind that is in tliee, or the mind of the
universe.
And when you have become thoroughly acquainted with
yourself, then examine accurately also the peculiar qualities of
Laban ; the things which are accounted brilliant instances of
the success of empty glory ; but do not you be deceived by
any one of them, but like a good workman adapt them all in a
rtkiiful manner to your own necessities ; for if, while immersed
204 PHILO JUD^EUS.
in this political and much confused life, you display a stable
and well-instructed disposition, I will send for you from thence
that you may receive the same prize which also your parents
received : and the prize is the unchangeable and unhesitating
service of the only wise God.
IX. And his father also gives him similar precepts, adding
a few trifling injunctions ; for he says, " Rise up and flee into
Mesopotamia, to the house of Bethuel, the father of thy
mother, and from thence take a wife to thyself of the daughters
of Laban thy mother s brother."* Again, he also forbears to
speak of Laban as a Syrian, but he calls him Rebekkah s
brother, who is about to form a connection with the practiser of
virtue by means of intermarriage.
Flee, therefore, into Mesopotamia, that is to say, into the
middle of the rapid torrent of life, and take care not to be
washed away and swollowed up by its whirlpools, but standing
firmly, vigorously repel the violent, impetuous course of affairs
which overflows and rushes upon thee from above, from both
sides, and from every quarter ; for you will find the house of
wisdom a calm and secure haven, which will gladly receive
you when you are anchored within it.
But Bethuel in the sacred scriptures is called wisdom ; and
this name, being translated, means " the daughter of God ;"
and the legitimate daughter, always a virgin, having received
a nature which shall never be touched or defiled, both on
account of her own orderly decency, and also because of the
high dignity of her Father. And he calls Bethuel the
father of Rebekkah. How, then, can the daughter of God,
namely, wisdom, be properly called a father ? is it because the
name indeed of wisdom is feminine but the sex masculine ?
For indeed all the virtues bear the names of women, but have
the powers and actions of most full-grown men, since whatever
is subsequent to God, even if it be the most ancient of all
other things, still has only the second place when compared
with that omnipotent Being, and appears not so much mascu
line as feminine, in accordance with its likeness to the other
creatures ; for as the male always has the precedence, the
female falls short, and is inferior in rank.
We say, therefore, without paying any attention to the
difference here existing in the names, that wisdom, the
Genesis xxviii. 2.
ON FUGITIVES. 205
daughter of good, is both male and a father, and that it is that
which sows the seed of, and which begets learning in, souls,
and also education, and knowledge, and prudence, all honour
able and praiseworthy things. And from this source it is that
Jacob, the practiser of wisdom, seeks to procure a wife for
himself; for from what other quarter should he seek a partner
rather than from the house of wisdom ? and where else should
he find an opinion free from all reproach, with which to live
all his life ?....*
X. But Moses has spoken more accurately about flights
when he was establishing the law with respect to homicides,
in which he goes through every species of homicide, that of
intentional murder, that of unintentional slaying, that of
murder by deliberate attack, or by crafty treachery. Repeat
the law : " If any man strike another and he die, the striker
shall die the death. And if a man do it not intentionally,
but if God delivers him into his hand, then I will give thee
a place to which he who has slain another shall flee. And if
any one set upon his neighbour to slay him by treachery, and
flee away, thou shalt drag him even from the altar to put him
to death. "f Knowing very well that the law is here adding no
superfluous word from any indescribable impetuosity in its
description of the matter, I doubted within myself why it does
not merely say that he who has slain another shall die, and
why it has added, that he shall die the death ; for how else
does any one die, who dies at all, except dying the death ?
Therefore, betaking myself for instruction to a wise woman,
whose name is Consideration, I was released from my difficulty,
for she taught me that some persons who are living are dead,
and that some who are dead still live : she pronounced that
the wicked, even if they arrive at the latest period of old age,
are only dead, inasmuch as they arc deprived of life according
to virtue ; but that the good, even if they are separated from
all union with the body, live for ever, inasmuch as they have
received an immortal portion.
XL Moreover, she confirmed this opinion of hers by the
sacred scriptures, one of which ran in this form : " You who
cleave unto the Lord your God are all alive to this day : " for
she saw that those who sought refuge with God and became
* The rest of this chapter is lost.
f Exodua xxi. 12. + Deuteronomy iv. 4.
206 PHILO JUD^US.
his suppliants, were the only living persons, and that all
others were dead. And Moses, it seems, testifies to the
immortality of those persons, when he adds, " You are all
alive to this day ;" and this day is interminable eternity, from
which there is no departure ; for the periods of months, and
years, and, in short, all the divisions of time, are only the
inventions of men doing honour to number. But the unerring
proper name of eternity is " to-day ; " for the sun is always the
same, without ever changing, going at one time beneath the
earth, and at another time above the earth, and by him it
is that day and night, the measures of time, are distinguished.
She also confirmed her statement by another passage in
scripture of the following purport : " Behold, I have set
before thy face life and death, good and evil."* Therefore, O
all-wise man, good and virtue mean life, and evil and wicked
ness mean death. And in another passage we read, " This is
thy life, and thy length of days, to love the Lord thy God."f
This is the most admirable definition of immortal life, to be
occupied by a love and affection for God unembarrassed by
any connection with the flesh or with the body. Thus, the
priests, Nadab and Abihu, die in order that they may live ;
taking an immortal existence in exchange for this mortal life,
and departing from the creature to the uncreated God. And
it is with reference to this fact that the symbols of incorrupti
bility are thus celebrated : " Then they died before the
Lord ; " J that is to say, they lived ; for it is not lawful for any
dead person to come into the sight of the Lord.
And again, this is what the Lord himself has said, " I will
be sanctified in those who come nigh unto me." " But the
dead," as it is also said in the Psalms, " shall not praise the
Lord, "|| for that is the work of the living; but Cain, that
shameless man, that fratricide, is no where spoken of in the
law as dying ; but there is an oracle delivered respecting him
in such words as these : " The Lord God put a mark upon
Cain, as a sign that no one who found him should kill him."^[
Why so ? Because, I imagine, wickedness is an evil which
can never end, but which is kindled and is never able to be
* Deuteronomy xxx. 1 5. t Deuteronomy xxx. 20.
Leviticu^ x. 2. $ Leviticus x. 3.
|j Psalm cxiii 25. TJ Genesis iv. l>.
ON FUGITIVES. 207
extinguished ; so that the lines of the poet may well be applied
to wickedness
And she is of no mortal race,
But an immortal foul disgrace.
Immortal, indeed, as to the life among us on earth, since
with reference to the life with God it is lifeless and dead, and
S iome one has said, more worthless and odious than dung.
XII. But it was by all means necessary that different
regions should be assigned to different things, the heaven
to good things, the earth to what is evil ; for the tendency
of good is to soar on high, and if it ever comes down to us,
for its Father is very bounteous, it still is very justly
anxious to return again to heaven. But evil remains here,
living at the greatest possible distance from the divine choir,
always hovering around mortal life, and unable to die from
among the human race. This, too, one of the most eminent
among the men who have been admired for their wisdom has
asserted, speaking in a magnificent strain in the Theaetetus,
where he says, " But it is impossible for evils to come to
an end. For it is indispensable that there should always be
something in opposition to God. And it is equally impos
sible that it should have its place in the divine regions ; but it
must of necessity hover around mortal nature and this place
where we live ; on which account we ought to endeavour to
flee from this place as speedily as possible. And our flight
will be a likening of ourselves to God, to the best of our
power. And such a likening consists of being just and holy in
conjunction with prudence."* Very naturally, therefore, Cain,
the symbol of wickedness, will not die, for wickedness must of
necessity be always alive in the mortal race of mankind ; so
that the expression, " to die the death," is not incorrectly
spoken of the homicide, for the reasons which have here been
given.
XIII. And the expression, "not intentionally, but if God
deliver him into his hand," is used with exceeding propriety
with reference to those who commit an unintentional homi
cide ; for it seems to Moses here, that our intentional actions
are the fruit of our own mind and will, but that our uninten
tional actions proceed from the will of God. 1 mean by this,
not our sins, but, on the contrary, those things which are the
Plato. Theaetetus, p. 176.
208 PHILO JUD^US.
punishment of our sins ; for it is not becoming for God himself
to inflict punishment, as being the first and most excellent
Lawgiver ; but he punishes by the ministry of others, and not
by his" own act. It is very suitable to his character that he
himself should bestow his graces, and his free gifts, and his
great benefits, inasmuch as he is by nature good and bountiful.
But it is not fitting that he should inflict his punishments fur
ther than by his mere command, inasmuch as he is a king ;
but he must act in this by the instrumentality of others, who
are suitable for such purposes.
And the practiser of virtue, Jacob, bears his testimony in
support of this doctrine of mine, where he says, " The God
who has nourished me from my youth up, the angel who deli
vered me from all my evils."* For the more ancient benefits,
those by which the soul is nourished, he attributes to God, but
the more recent ones, which are caused by the errors of the
soul, he attributes to the servant of God. On this account, I
imagine it is, that when Moses was speaking philosophically of
the creation of the world, while he described every thing else as
having been created by God alone, he mentions man alone as
having been made by him in conjunction with other assistants ;
for, says Moses, " God said, Let us make man in our image."t
The expression, " let us make," indicating a plurality of
makers. Here, therefore, the Father is conversing with his
own powers, to whom he has assigned the task of making
the mortal part of our soul, acting in imitation of his own skill
while he was fashioning the rational part within us, thinking
it right that the dominant part within the soul should be the
work of the Ruler of all things, but that the part which is to
be kept in subjection should be made by those who are subject
to him. And he made us of the powers which were subordi
nate to him, not only for the reason which has been mentioned,
but also because the soul of man alone was destined to receive
notions of good and of evil, and to choose one of the two, since
it could not adopt both. Therefore, he thought it necessary to
assign the origin of evil to other workmen than himself, but
to retain the generation of good for himself alone.
XIV. On which account, after Moses had already put in
God s mouth this expression, " Let us make man," as if speak
ing to several persons, he adds, as if he were speaking only of
* Genesis xlviii. J5. t Genenis i. 26.
ON FUGITIVES. 209
one, " God made man." For, in fact, the one God alone is tho
sole Creator of the real man, who is the purest mind ; but a
plurality of workmen are the makers of that which is called
man, the being compounded of external senses ; for which
reason the especial real man is spoken of with the article ; for
the words of Moses are, " The God made the man ;" that is to
say, he made that reason destitute of species and free from all
admixture. But he speaks of man in general without the
addition of the article ; for the expression, " Let us make
man," shows that he means the being compounded of irra
tional and rational nature.
In accordance with this he has also not attributed the bless
ing of the virtuous and the cursing of the wicked to the same
ministers, though both these offices receive praise. But since
the blessing of the good has the precedence in panegyrics, and
the affixing curses on the wicked is in the second rank of those
who are appointed for these duties (and they are the chiefs,
and leaders of the race, twelve in number, whom it is cus
tomary to call the patriarchs), he has assigned the better six,
who nre the best for the task of blessing, namely, Simeon,
Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin ; and the others
he has appointed for the curses, namely, the first and last sons
of Leah, Reuben, and Zabulon, and the four bastard sons by
the handmaidens ; for the chiefs of the royal tribe, and of the
tribe consecrated to the priesthood, Judah and Levi, are
reckoned in the former class.
Very naturally, therefore, does God give up those who have
done deeds worthy of death to the hands of others for punish
ment, wishing to teach us that the nature of evil is banished
to a distance from the divine choir, since even punishment,
which, though a good, has in it some imitation of evil, is con
firmed by others. And the expression, " I will give theo a
Slace to which lie who has slain a man unintentionally shall
ee," appears to me to be spoken with exceeding propriety ;
for what he calls a place is not a region filled by the body, but
is rather, in a figure, God himself, because he, surrounding all
things, is not surrounded himself, and because he is that to
which all things flee for refuge. It is proper, therefore, for
him who appears to have been involuntarily changed to say
that this change has come upon him by the divine will, just as
it is not proper for him to say so who has done evil of his
VOL. II. P
210 PHILO JUD^US.
own accord ; and he says that he will give this place, not to
him who has slain the man, but to him with whom he is con
versing, so that the inhabitant of it shall be one person, but
he who flees to it for refuge another ; for God has given his
own word a country to inhabit, namely, his own knowledge, as
if it were a native of it. But to the man who is under the
pollution of involuntary error he has given a foreign home as
to a stranger, not a country as to a citizen.
XV. Having now said thus much in a philosophical spirit
with respect to involuntary offences, he proceeds to legislate
concerning the man who rises up to attack another, or who
treacherously plots his death, saying, " But if any one attacks
his neighbour so as to slay him by treachery, and he flees to
God," that is to say to the place which has already been spoken
of under a figure, from which life is given to all men. For he
says also in another passage : " Whosoever shall flee thither
shall live." But is not everlasting life a fleeing for refuge to the
living God ? and is not a fleeing from his presence death ?
But if anyone sets upon another, he by all means is committing
iniquity by deliberate purpose, and that which is done with
treachery is liable to be accounted among voluntary actions,
just as, on the other hand, that which is done without treachery
is not subject to blame. There is nothing therefore of the
wicked actions which are done secretly, and treacherously, and
of malice aforethought, which we can properly say are done
through the will of God, but they are done only through our
own will. For, as I have said before, the storehouses of
wickedness are in us ourselves, and those of good alouo are
with God.
Whosoever therefore flees for refuge, that is to say, whoso
ever accuses not himself, but God as the cause of his offence,
let him be punished, being deprived of that refuge to the altar
which tends to salvation and security, and which is meant for
suppliants alone. And is not this proper ? For the altar is
full of victims, in which there is no spot, I mean of innocent
and thoroughly purified souls. But to pronounce the Deity the
cause of evil is a spot which it is hard to cure, or rather which
is altogether incurable.
Those who have cultivated such a disposition as to be lovers
of themselves rather than lovers of God, may remain at a
distance from the sacred places, in order that as polluted and
ON FUGITIVES. 211
impure persons, they may not behold, not even from a distance,
the sacred flame of the evil which is unextinguishably set on
fire, and purified, and dedicated to God with entire and perfect
power. Very beautifully, therefore, did one of the wise men of
old, hastening on to this same conclusion, find confidence to say
that " God is in no respect and in no place unjust, but he is
the most righteous being possible. There is nothing that more
nearly resembles him than the man who is as just as possible.
Around is the strength, and the real ability, and power of man.
and also nothingness and unmanliness. For the knowledge of
him is wisdom and true virtue ; but the ignorance of him is real
ignorance and manifest wickedness. And all other things
which appear to be cleverness or wisdom, if they be displayed
in political affairs are troublesome, and if in acts, are sordul.*
XVI. Therefore, having further commanded the unholy man
who is a speaker of evil against divine things to be removed
from the most holy places and to be given up to punishment,
he proceeds to say, " Whosoever hateth his father or his
mother, let him die."t And in a similar strain he says, "He
who accuseth his father or his mother, let him die." He here
all but cries out and shouts that there is no pardon whatever
to be given to those who blaspheme the Deity. For if they
who bring accusations against their mortal parents are led
away to death, what punishment must we think that those
men deserve who venture to blaspheme the Father and Creator
of the universe? And what accusation can be more dis
graceful than to say that the origin of evil is not in us but in
God ? Drive away, therefore, drive away, O ye who have
been initiated in, and who are the hierophants of, the sacred
mysteries, drive away, I say, the souls which are mixed and
in a confused crowd, and brought together promiscuously from
all quarters, those unpurified and still polluted souls, which
have their ears not closed, and their tongues unrestrained, and
which bear about all the instruments of their misery ready
prepared, in order that they may hear all things, even those
which it is not lawful to hear. But they who have been
instructed in the difference between voluntary and involuntary
offences, and who have received a tongue which speaketh good
things instead of one which delighteth in accusation, when
they do right are to be praised, and when they err contrary to
Plato. Thecetetus, p. 176. t Exodus xxi 15.
P 2
2 12 PHILO JUD^EUS.
their intention, they are not greatly to be blamed, for which
reason cities have been set apart for them to flee imto for
refuge.
XVII. And it is worth while to examine with all the accu
racy possible into some necessary points relating to this place.
They are four in number. One, why it is that the cities which
were set apart for the fugitives were not chosen out of those
cities which the other tribes received as their portion, but
only out of those which were assigned to the tribe of Levi.
The second point is, why they were six in number, and neither
more nor fewer. The third is, why three of them were beyond
Jordan, and the other three in the land of the Canaanites.
The fourth is, why the death of the high priest was appointed
to the fugitives as a limit, after which they might return. We
must, therefore, say what is suitable on each of these heads,
beginning with the first in order.
It is with exceeding propriety that the command is given to
flee only to those cities which had been assigned to the
tribe of Levi; for the Levites themselves are in a manner
fugitives, inasmuch as they, for the sake of pleasing God,
have left parents, and children, and brethren, and all their
mortal relations. Therefore the original leader of this com
pany is represented as saying to his father and mother, " I
have not seen you, and my brethren I do not know, and my
sons I disown,"* in order to be able to serve the living God
without allowing any opposite attraction to draw him away.
But real flight is a deprivation of all that is nearest and
dearest to a man. And it introduces one fugitive to another,
so as to make them forget what they have done by reason of
the similarity of their actions. Either, therefore, it is for this
reason alone, or perhaps for this other also, that the Levitical
tribe of the persons set apart for the service of the temple ran
up, and at one onset slew those who had made a god of the
golden calf, the pride of Egypt, killing all who had arrived at
the age of puberty, being inflamed with righteous anger, com
bined with enthusiasm, and a certain heaven-sent inspiration :
" And every one slew his brother, and his neighbour, and him
that was nearest to him."f The body being the brother of the
soul, and the irrational part the neighbour of the rational, and
the uttered speech that which is nearest to the mind.
* Deuteronomy xxxiii. 9. t Exodus xxxii. 26.
ON FUGITIVES. 213
For by the following means alone can that which is most
excellent within us become adapted for and inclined to the
service of him who is the most excellent of all existing beings.
In the first place, if man be resolved into soul, the bodv,
which is akin to it as a brother, being separated and cut off
from it, and also all its insatiable desires ; and in the second
place when the soul has, as I have already said, cast off the
irrational part, which is the neighbour of the rational part ; for
this, like a torrent, being divided into five channels, excites
the impetuosity of the passions through all the external senses,
as so many aqueducts. Then, in regular order, the reason
removes to a distance and separates the uttered speech which
appeared to be the nearest to it of all things, in order that
speech, according to the intention, might alone be left, free
from the body, free from the entanglements of the outward
senses, and free from all uttered speech ; for when it is left in
this manner existing in a solitary manner, it will embrace
that which alone is to be embraced with purity, and in such a
way that it cannot be drawn away.
In addition to what has been said above, we must also
mention this point, that the tribe of Levi is the tribe of the
ministers of the temple and of the priests, to whom the
service and ministration of holy things is assigned ; and they
also perform sacred service who have committed unintentional
homicide, since, according to Moses, " God gives into their
hands " those who have done things worthy of death, with a
view to their execution. But it is the duty of the one body
to know the good, and of the other body to chastise the
wicked.
XVIII. These then are the reasons on account of which
they who have committed unintentional homicide fly only to
those cities which belong to the ministers of the temple. We
must now proceed to mention what these cities are, and why
they are six in number. Perhaps we may say that the most
ancient, and the strongest, and the most excellent metropolis,
for I may not call it merely a city, is the divine word, to flee
to which first is the most advantageous course of all. But the
other five, being as it were colonies of that one, are the powers
of Him who utters the word, the chief of which is his creative
power, according to which the Creator made the world with a
Exodus xxi. 31.
214 PHILO JUD^US.
word ; the second is his kingly power, according to which he
who has created rules over what is created ; the third is his
merciful power, in respect of which the Creator pities and
shows mercy towards his own work ; the fourth is his legis
lative power, by which he forbids what may not be done.
# * * * *
And these are very beautiful and most excellently fenced
cities, the best possible refuge for souls which are worthy to
be saved for ever ; and the establishment of them is merciful
and humane, calculated to excite men, to aid and to encourage
them in good hopes.
Who else could more greatly display the exceeding abun
dance of his mercy, of all the powers which are able to benefit
us, towards such an exceeding variety of persons who err by
unintentional misdeeds, and who have neither the same
strength nor the same weakness ? Therefore he exhorts him
who is able to run swiftly to strain onwards, without stopping
to take breath, to the highest word of God, which is the
fountain of wisdom, in order that by drinking of that stream
he may find everlasting life instead of death. But he urges
him who is not so swift of foot to flee for refuge to the creative
power which Moses calls God, since it is by that power that
all things were made and arranged ; for to him who compre
hends that everything has been created, that comprehension
alone, and the knowledge of the Creator, is a great acquisition
of good, which immediately persuades the creature to love
him who created it. Him, again, who is still less ready he
bids flee to his kingly power ; for that which is in subjection
is corrected by the fear of him who rules it, and by necessity
which keeps it in order, even if the child is not kept in the
right way by love for his father.
Again, in the case of him who is not able to reach the
boundaries which have been already mentioned, in respect of
their being a long way off, there are other goals appointed for
them at a shorter distance, the cities namely of the necessary
powers, the city of the power of the mercy, the city of the
power which enjoins what is right, the city of the power which
forbids what is not right : for he who is already persuaded
that the Deity is not implacable, but is merciful by reason of
the gentleness of his nature, then, even if he has previously
sinned, subsequently repents from a hope of pardon. And he who
ON FUGITIVES. 215
has adopted the notion that God is a lawgiver obeys all the
injunctions which as such he imposes, and so will be happy ;
and he who is last of all will find the last refuge, namely, the
escape from evil, even thougli he may not be able to arrive at
a participation in the more desirable good tilings.
XIX. These, then, are the six cities which Moses calls
cities of refuge, five of which have had their figures set forth
in the sacred scriptures, and their images are there likewise.
The images of the cities of command and prohibition are the
laws in the ark ; that of the merciful power of God is the
covering of the ark, and he calls it the mercy-seat. The
images of the creative power and of the kingly power are the
winged cherubim which are placed upon it. But the divine
word which is above these does not come into any visible
appearance, inasmuch as it is not like to any of the things
that come under the external senses, but is itself an image of
God, the most ancient of all the objects of intellect in the
whole world, and that which is placed in the closest proximity
to the only truly existing God, without any partition or
distance being interposed between them : for it is said, " I
will speak unto thee from above the mercy-seat, in the midst,
between the two cherubim."* So that the word is, as it were,
the charioteer of the powers, and he who utters it is the rider,
who directs the charioteer how to proceed with a view to the
proper guidance of the universe.
Therefore, he who is so far removed from committing any
intentional misdeeds, that he is even free from all uninten
tional offence, will have God himself for his inheritance, and
will dwell in him alone. But those who fall into errors which
proceed not from wilful purpose, but which are done without
premeditation, will have the aforesaid places of refuge in all
abundance and fulness.
Now of the cities of refuge there are three on the other side
of Jordan, which are at a great distance from our race. What
cities are they ? The word of the Governor of the universe,
and his creative power, and his kingly power: for to these
belong the heaven and the whole world. But those which, as
it were, participate in us, and which are near to us, and which
almost touch the unfortunate race of mankind which is alone
capable of sinning, are the three on this side of the river; the
Exodus xxv. 22.
216 PHILO JUD^US.
merciful power, the power which enjoins what is to be done,
the power which prohibits what ought not to be done : for
these powers touch us. For what need can there he of pro
hibition to persons who are not likely to do wrong ? And what
need of injunction to people who are not by nature inclined to
stumble ? And what need of mercy can those persons have
who will absolutely never do wrong at all ? But our race of
mankind has need of all these things because it is by nature
inclined and liable to offences both voluntary and involuntary.
XX. The fourth and last of the points which we proposed
to discuss, is the appointing as a period for the return of the
fugitives the death of the high priest, which, if taken in the
literal sense, causes me great perplexity ; for a very unequal
punishment is imposed by this enactment on those who have
done the very same things, since some will be in banishment
for a longer time, and others for a shorter time ; for some of
the high priests live to a very old age, and others die very
early, and some are appointed while young men, and others
not until they are old. And again of those who are convicted
of unintentional homicide, some have been banished at the
beginning of the high priest s entrance into office, and some
when the high priest has been at the very point of death. So
that some are deprived of their country for a very long time,
and others suffer the same infliction only for a day, if it
chance to be so ; after which they lift up their heads, and
exult, and so return among those whose nearest relations have
been slain by them.
This difficult and scarcely explicable perplexity we may
escape if we adopt the inner and allegorical explanation in
accordance with natural philosophy. For we say that the
high priest is not a man, but is the word of God, whoTmb iil[r
only no participation in intentional errors, but none even in
those which are involuntary. For Moses says that Tie cannot
be defiled neither in respect of his father, that is, the mind,
nor of his mother, that is, the external sense ;* because, I
imagine, he has received imperishable and wholly pure parents,
God being his father, who is also the father of all things,
and wisdom being his mother, by means of whom the universe
arrived at creation ; and also because he is anointed with oil,
by which I mean that the principal part of him is illuminated
* Leviticus xxi. 11.
ON FUGITIVES. 2 I/
with a light like the beams of the sun, so as to be thought
worthy to be clothed with garments.
And the most ancient word of the living God is clothed
with the^vord as~witH~ garment, for it has put on earth, and
water, and air, and fire, and the things which proceed from
these elements. But the particular soul is clothed with the
body, and the mind of the wise man is clothed with the
virtues. And it is said that he will never take the mitre off
from his head, he will never lay aside the kingly diadem, the
symbol of an authority which is not indeed absolute, but only
that of a viceroy, but which is nevertheless an object of
admiration. Nor will he " rend his clothes ;" for the word of
the Hying God being the bond of every thing, as has been sai3
before, holds all tilings together, and binds all the parts, and
prevents them from being loosened or separated.
And the particular soul, as far as it has received power, does
not permit any of the parts of the body to be separated or
cut off contrary to their nature ; but as far as depends upon
itself, it preserves every thing entire, and conducts the differ
ent parts to a harmony and indissoluble union with one
another. But the mind of the wise man being thoroughly
purified, preserves the virtues in an unbroken and unimpaired
condition, having adapted their natural kindred and commu
nion with a still more solid good will.
XXI. This high priest, as Moses says, "shall not enter into
any soul that is dead." But the death of the soul is a life
according to wickedness : so that he must never touch any
pollution such as folly is fond of dealing with. And to him
also " a virgin of the sacred race is joined ;" that is to say, an
opinion for ever pure, and undefiled, and imperishable ; for
he " may never become the husband of a widow, or of one who
has been divorced, or of one who is a profane person, or of one
who is a harlot," since he is always proclaiming an endless
and irreconcileable war against them. For it is a hateful
thing to him to be widowed with respect to virtue, and to be.
divorced and driven away by her ; and in like manner all per
suasion of this kind is profane and unholy.
But that promiscuous evil abandoned to many husbands,
and to the worship of many gods, that is, a harlot, he does not
think fit even to look upon, being content with her who has
chosen for herself one husband and father only, the all-govern-
218 PHILO JUD^US.
ing God. There is a certain extravagance of perfection visible
in this disposition. He has known* the man who has vowed
the great vow in some instances offending unintentionally,
even if not of deliberate purpose ; for he says, " But if any one
die before him suddenly, he shall be at once polluted." For
if of things without deliberation anything coming from without
strikes down suddenly, such things do at once pollute the soul,
but not with a pollution which remains for any length of time,
inasmuch as they are unintentional actions. And about these
actions the high priest (standing above them, as he also does
above those which are voluntary) is indifferent.
But I am not saying this at random, but for the sake of
proving that the period of the death of the high priest is a
most natural termination of exile to be appointed by the law,
so as to allow of the return of the fugitives. As long, there
fore, as this most sacred word lives and survives in the soul, it
is impossible for any involuntary error to enter into it ; for it
is by nature so framed as to have no participation in, and to
be incapable of admitting any kind of error. But if it dies
(not meaning by this that it is itself destroyed, but that it is
separated from our soul), then a return is at once granted to
intentional offences. For if while the word remained and was
healthy in us, error was driven to a distance, by all means,
when the word departs, error will be introduced. For the
undefiled high priest, conscience, has derived from nature this
most especial honour, that no error of the mind can find any
place within him ; on which account it is worth our while to
pray that the high priest may live in the soul, being at the
same time both a judge and a convictor, who having received
jurisdiction over the whole of our minds, is not altered in his
appearance or purpose by any of those things which are brought
under his judgment.
XXII. Having now, therefore, said what was proper on the
subject of fugitives, we will proceed with what follows in the
regular order of the context. In the first place it is said,
" The angel of the Lord found her in the way,"* pitying the
soul which out of modesty had voluntarily committed the
* There is some obscurity in the sense here. Mangey proposes
instead of olPt TTO, to read ovdtTrov, but it does not seem any more
intelligible than that in the text.
f Genesis xvi. 7.
ON FUGITIVES 219
danger of wandering about, and very nearly becoming a con
ductor of her roturn to opinion void of error. It is desirable
also not to pass over in silence the things which are said in a
philosophical strain by the lawgiver on the subject of discovery
and investigation ; for he represents some persons as neither
investigating nor discovering anything, others as succeeding
in both these paths, others as having chosen only one of them;
of which last class some who seek do not find, and others find
without having sought.
Those, then, who have no desire for either discovery or
investigation have shamefully debased their reason by ignorance
and indifference, and though they had it in their power to see
acutelv, they have become blind. Thus he says that " Lot s
wife turning backwards became a pillar of salt;"* not here
inventing a fable, but pointing out the proper nature of the
event.
For whoever despises his teacher, and under the influence
of an innate and habitual indolence forsakes what is in front
of him, by means of which it may be in his power to see, and
to hear, and to exert his other powers, so as to form a judg
ment in things of nature, and turns his head round so as to
keep his eyes on what is behind him, that man has an admi
ration for blindness in the affairs of life, as well as in the
parts of the body, and becomes a pillar, like a lifeless and
senseless stone. For, as Moses says, " such men have not
hearts to understand, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear,"f
but make the whole of their life blind, and deaf, and senseless
and mutilated in every respect, so as not to be worth living,
caring for none of those matters which deserve their attention.
XXIII. And the leader of this company is the king of the
region of the body. " For," says Moses, Pharaoh turned
himself about and went into his house, and did not set his
heart to this thing either,"]: which statement is equivalent to,
he did not take notice of anything whatever, but allowed him
self to become dried up like a plant which has no care taken
of it by the farmer, and to lose his fertility and become barren.
Those then who take counsel, and consider matters, and who
investigate everything carefully, sharpen and rouse their
minds : and the mind being duly exercised bears its appro
priate fruit of cleverness and intelligence, by means of which
Genesis xix. 26 t Deut. xxix. 4. Ezodua vii. 23.
220 PHILO JUD^EUS.
the power of repelling all deceitful things is acquired. But
the man who is an enemy to consideration blunts and breaks
the edges of his wisdom ; we must therefore discard the truly
senseless and lifeless company of such men as these, and choose
those who exert their powers of consideration and discovery.
And presently the political disposition is introduced, which,
without being at all over ambitious of glory, has a desire for
that better generation, which the virtues have received as
their inheritance, and which consequently seeks and finds it ;
for, says the scripture, " A man found Joseph in the plain,
and asked him saying, What seekest thou ; and he said, I am
seeking my brothers; tell me where they are feeding their
flocks : and the man said unto him, They are departed from
hence ;. for I heard them saying, Let us go into Dothan ; and
Joseph went after his brethren and found them in Dothan."*
The name Dothan is interpreted, " a sufficient abandonment,"
being a symbol of the soul which has in no slight degree but
altogether escaped those vain opinions, which resemble the
pursuits of women rather than those of men. On which
account virtue, that is Sarah, is very beautifully described as
having given up "the manner of women," f which is the
object of pursuit to those men who live an unmanly and truly
feminine life. But the wise man is also " added when leav
ing,":}; according to Moses, speaking most strictly in accord
ance with nature. For the deprivation of empty opinion must
necessarily be the addition of true opinion.
But if any one, passing his days in a mortal, and promiscuous,
and variously formed life, and having abundant resources of
wealth and riches, considers and inquires concerning that
better generation which looks only to what is good, he is
worthy of being received, if the dreams and visions of those
things, which are fancied to be and which appear to be good,
do not again overwhelm him and immerse him in luxury.
For if he abides in contemplation of the soul without any
adulteration, proceeding and following in the track of the
tilings which he is seeking, he will never give up his search
till he has attained to the objects of his wishes ; but he will
find none of the things which he desires among the wicked.
Why not ? Because they departed from hence. Having
abandoned the studies of our friends they have changed their
* Genesis xxxvii. 15. t Genesis xviii. 11. J Genesis xsv. 17.
ON FUGITIVES. 221
abode from the country of the pious, and settled in the desert
of the wicked. But the real man, the convictor that dwells in
the soul says this, who when he sees the soul in perplexity,
and considering and investigating deeply, exerts a prudent
care in its behalf, that it may not wander and so miss the
right road.
XXIV. I very greatly wonder at those persons also, I mean
at him who is fond of asking questions about what is in the
middle between two extremes, and who says, <l Behold the fire
and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? *
And also at him who answers, " My son, God will provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offering," and who afterwards finds
what is given as a ransom ; " For behold a single ram was
caught by his horns in a shrub of Sabec." Let us therefore
consider what it is that he who is seeking doubts about, and
what he who answers reveals, and in the third place what the
thing is which was found.
Now what the inquirer asks is something of this kind :
Behold the efficient cause, the fire ; behold also the passive
part, the material, the wood. Where is the third party, the
thing to be effected ? As if he said, Behold the mind, the
fervid and kindled spirit ; behold also the objects of intelli
gence, as it were so much material or fuel ; where is the third
thing, the act of perceiving ? Or, again, Behold the sight,
behold the colour, where is the act of seeing ? And, in short,
generally, behold the external sense, behold the thing to be
judged of ; but where are the objects of the external sense, the
material, the exertion of the feeling ? To him who puts these
questions, answer is very properly made, " God will provide for
himself." For the third thing is the peculiar work of God ;
for it is owing to his providential arrangement that the mind
comprehends, and the sight sees, and that every external sense
is exerted. " And a ram is found caught by his horns ;" that is
to say, reason is found silent and withholding its assent ; for
silence is the most excellent of offerings, and so is a with
holding of assent to those matters of which there are not clear
proofs ; therefore this is all that ought to be said, " God will
provide for himself," he to whom all things are known, who
illuminates the universe by the most brilliant of all lights,
himself. But the other things are not to be said by creatures
Genesis xiii. 7.
222 PHILO JUD^US.
over whom great darkness is poured ; but quiet is a means of
safety in darkness.
XXV. Those also who have inquired what it is that
nourishes the sou], for as Moses says, " They knew not what
it was," learnt at last and found that it was the word of God
and the divine reason, from which flow all kinds of instinctive
and everlasting wisdom. This is the heavenly nourishment
which the holy scripture indicates, saying, in the character of
the cause of all things, " Behold I rain upon you bread from
heaven;"* for in real truth it is God who showers down
heavenly wisdom from above upon all the intellects which are
properly disposed for the reception of it, and which are fond of
contemplation. But those who have seen and tasted it, are
exceedingly delighted with it, and understand indeed what
they feel, but do not know what the cause is which has affected
them ; and on this account they inquire, " What is this which
is sweeter than honey and whiter than snow?" And they will
be taught by the interpreter of the divine will, that " This is
the bread which the Lord has given them to eat/ f
What then is this bread ? Tell us. " This," says he, " is
the word which the Lord has appointed." This divine ap
pointment at the same time both illuminates and sweetens the
soul, which is endowed with sight, sl.ining upon it with the
beams of truth, and sweetening with the sweet virtue of per
suasion those who thirst and hunger after excellence. And
the prophet also having himself inquired what was the cause of
meeting with success, finds it to be associated with the only
God ; for when he was doubting and asking, Who am I, and
what am 1, that I shall deliver the seeing race of Israel from
the disposition hostile to God, which seems to be a king?
He is taught by the oracle that, " I will be with thee." And,
indeed, inquiries into individual matters have a certain ele
gant and philosophical kind of meditation in them ; for how
can they avoid it ? But the inquiry into the nature of God,
the most excellent of all things, who is incomparable, and the
cause of all things, at once delights those who betake themselves
to its consideration, and it is riot imperfect inasmuch as he, out
of his own merciful nature, comes forward to meet it, display
ing himself by his virgin graces, and willingly to all those who
are desirous to see him. Not, indeed, such as he is, for that
* Exodus xvi. 4. t Exodus xvi. 15.
O\ FUGITIVES. 223
is impossible, since Moses also turned away his face, * for he
feared to see God face to face ; but as far as it is possible for
created nature to approach by its own power those things which
are only discernible to the mind. And this also is written
among the hortatory precepts, for, says Moses, " Ye shall turn
unto the Lord your God, and shall find him, when ye seek
him with all your heart, and with all your soul."f
XXVI. Having now spoken at sufficient length on this
point also, let us proceed in regular order to consider the third
head of our subject, in which the seeking existed, but the
finding did not follow it. At all events Laban, who examined
the entire spiritual house of the practiser of virtue, " did not,"
as Moses says, " find the images," I for it was full of real
things, and not of dreams and vain fantasies. Nor did the in
habitants of Sodom, blind in their minds, who were insanely
eager to defile the holy and unpolluted reasonings, " find the
road which led to this" object ; but, as the sacred scriptures
tell us, they were wearied with their exertions to find the door,
although they ran in a circle all round the house, and left no
stone unturned for the accomplishment of their unnatural and
impious desires.
And before now some persons, wishing to be kings instead
of doorkeepers, and to put an end to the most beautiful thing
in life, namely order, having not only failed in obtaining the
success which they hoped to meet with through injustice, but
have even been compelled to part with that which they had in
their hands; for the law tells us that the companions of
Korah. who coveted the priesthood, lost both what they wished
for and what they had : for as children and men do not learn
the same things, but there are institutions adapted to each
age, so also there are by nature some souls which are always
childish, even though they are in bodies which have grown
old ; and on the other hand, there are some which have arrived
at complete perfection in bodies which are still in the prime
and vigour of early youth.
But those men will deservedly incur the imputation of folly
\vho desire objects too great for their own nature, since every
thing which is beyond one s power will vanish away through
the intensity of its o*n vehemence. And so Pharaoh also,
Exodus Hi. 6. t Deuteronomy ir. 29.
J Genesis xxxi 33. Geueaia xix. 11.
224 PHILO JUD^EUS.
when " seeking to kill Moses,"* the prophetic race, will never
find him, although he has heard that a heavy accusation is
brought against him, as if he has attempted to destroy all the
supreme authority of the body by two attacks, the first of
which he made upon the Egyptian disposition, which was
fortifying pleasure as a citadel against the soul ; for " having
smote him," with an accidental instrument that came to hand,
" he buried him in the sand,"f thinking that the two doctrines,
of pleasure being the first and greatest good, and of atoms
being the origin of the universe, both proceed from the same
source.
The second attack he made upon him who was cutting into
small pieces the nature of the good, and assigning one portion
to the soul, another to the body, and another to external cir
cumstances ; for he wishes the good to be entire, being
assigned to the best thing in us, the intellect alone, as its
inheritance, and not being adapted to anything inanimate.
XXVII. Nor does he, who is sent forth to search for that
virtue which is invincible and embittered against the ridi
culous pursuits of men, by name Tamar, find her. And this
failure of his is strictly in accordance with nature ; for we
read in the scripture, " And Judah sent a kid in the hands of
his shepherd, the Adullamite, to receive back his pledge from
the woman, and he found her not : and he asked the men of
the place, Where is the harlot who was in ^Enan by the way-
Bide ? and they said, There is no harlot in this place. And he
returned back to Judah, and said unto him, I have not found
her, and the men of the place say that there is no harlot
there. And Judah said, Let her keep the things, only let me
not be made a laughing-stock, I because I have sent the kid,
and you because you have not found her."J Oh, the ad
mirable trial ! oh, the temptation becoming sacred things !
Who gave the pledge ? Why the mind, forsooth, which was
eager to purchase the most excellent possession, piety towards
God, by three pledges or symbols, namely a ring, and an
armlet, and a staff, signifying confidence and sure faith ; the
connection and union of reason with life, arid of life with
reason ; and upright and unchanging instruction on which it is
profitable to rely. Therefore he examines the question ;*a to
whether he had properly given this pledge. What, then, in
* Exodus ii. 15. f Exodus ii. 12. Genesis xxxviii. 20.
ON FUGITIVES. 225
the examination ? to throw down some bait having an at
tractive power, such as glory, or riches, or bodily health, or
something similar, and to see to which it will incline, like the
balance in a scale ; for if there is any inclination to any one
of these things the pledge is not sure. Therefore he sent a
kid in order to recover back his pledge from the woman, not
because he had determined by all means to recover it, but
only in the case of her being unworthy to retain it. And
when will this be ? when she willingly exchanges what is of
importance for what is indifferent, preferring spurious to
genuine good.
Now the genuine good things are faith, the connection and
union of words with deeds, and the rule of right instruction,
as on the other hand the evils are, faithlessness, a want of
such connection between words and deeds, and ignorance.
And spurious goods are those which depend upon appetite
devoid of reason ; for " when he sought her he did not find
her ;" for what is good is hard to be found, or, one may even
say, is utterly impossible to be found in a confused life. And
if one inquires whether the soul, which is a harlot, is in every
place of virtue, one will be distinctly told that it is not, and
that it has not been previously ; for a common, unchaste, and
wanton, and utterly shameless woman, selling the flower of
her beauty at a low price, and making her external parts both
bright with purifications and washings, but leaving her inward
parts unclean and vile, and being like pictures painted with
colours about the face because of the absence of all natural
beauty ; she who pursues that promiscuous evil called the vice
of having many husbands, as if it were a good, coveting
polygamy, and laying herself open for infinite variety, and
being mocked and insulted at the same time by ten thousand
bodies and things, " is not there."
He, then, who sent the messenger to inquire, hearing this,
having removed envy to a distance from himself, and being
gentle in his nature, rejoices in no moderate degree, and says,
* Perhaps, then, according to my prayer, she is truly a vir
tuous mind, a citizen wife, excelling in modesty, and chastity,
and all other virtues, cleaving to one husband alone, being
content with the administration of one household, and rejoic
ing in the authority of one husband ; and if she is such au
one, let her keep what I have given her the instruction and
VOL. II. <J
226 PH1LO JUD^GUS.
the connection of reason with life and of life with reason, and,
what is the most necessary of all things, surety and faith.
But let us not be laughed at as appearing to have given gifts
which were not merited, while we think that we gave what is
most suitable to the soul ; for I, indeed, did what was proper
for a man to do who wished to make experiment of and to
test her disposition, throwing out a bait and sending a mes
senger ; but he has showed me that her nature is not easily
caught. And it is not clear to me why it is not easily caught ;
for I have seen ten thousand persons of the extremely wicked
class doing the same things as those who are extremely good,
but not with the same purpose, since the one class has truth
and the other only hypocrisy, and it is very hard to distinguish
the one from the" other, for very often reality is overpowered
by appearance.
XXVIII. Also the person who loves virtue seeks a goat by
reason of his sins, but does not find one ; for, already, as the
sacred scripture tells us, " it has been burnt."* Now we
mast consider what is intimated under this figurative expres
sion how never to do any thing wrong is the peculiar attri
bute of God ; and to repent is the part of a wise man. But
this is very difficult and very hard to attain to. Accordingly
the scripture says that "Moses sought and sought again" a
reason for repentance for his sins in mortal life ; for he was
very anxious to find a soul which was stripped of sin, and
coming forward naked of all offence without shame. But
nevertheless he did not find one, the flame, I mean by this
the very quickly moving irrational desire, rushing inwards and
devouring the whole soul.
For what is smaller in numbers is usually overpowered
by what is more numerous, and what is slower by what
is more speedy, and what is to come hereafter by what is
present. Now what is contracted in quantity, and slow, and
future, is repentance ; what is numerous, and swift, and conti
nuous in human life is, iniquity. Very naturally, therefore,
when any one falls into error, he says that he is unable to eat
of what is offered by reason of his sins, so that his conscience
will not permit him to be nourished by repentance ; on which
account it is said in the scripture, * Moses heard, and it pleased
him."t F r tne things which relate to the creature are very
* LeviticuB x. 16. t Leviticus xvi. 20.
ON FUGITIVES. 227
far removed from the things which relate to God ; for to the
creature only those things which are visible are known, but to
God, even those things also which are invisible. And that
man is crazy who, speaking falsely instead of truly, while
still committing iniquity, asserts that he has repented. It is
like as if one who had a disease were to pretend that he was
in good health ; for he, as it seems, will only get more sick,
since he does not choose to apply any of the remedies which
are conducive to health.
XXIX. On one occasion Moses was urged on, by a desire of
learning, to investigate the causes through which the most
necessary of the things in the world are brought to perfection ;
for seeing how many things come to an end, and are produced
afresh in creation, being again destroyed, and again abiding,
he marvelled, and was amazed, and cried out, saying, " The
bush (fBdroi) burns, and is not consumed. 1 * For he docs not
trouble his head about the inaccessible (a/3arof) country as
being the abode of divine natures. But now that he is about to
undertake a labour which will have no success and no end, he
is relieved by the mercy and providence of God, the Saviour
of all men, who has given warning out of his holy shrine, " Do
not approach near this place," which is equivalent to, Do not
approach this consideration ; for it is a business requiring more
labour, and more energy, and care, and fondness for investiga
tion than can be suited to human power. But be content with
admiring what is created ; and do not be over-curious about
the causes why each thing is created or destroyed.
" For the place," says God, " on which thou standest is holy
ground. "t What kind of place is that? Is it not plain that
it is that which relates to the principles of causes, which is the
only one that he has adapted to the divine natures, not think
ing any more competent to aim at a clear understanding of the
principles of causes ? But he who, out of his desire for learn
ing, has raised his head above the whole world begins to
inquire concerning the Creator of the world who this being is
who is so difficult to see and whose nature it is so difficult
to conjecture, whether he is a body, or an incorporeal being, or
something above these things, or whether he is a simple
nature like a unit, or a compound being or any ordinary existing
thing. And when he sees how difficult to ascertain, and ho\
* Exodus iii. 2. + Exodua iii. .
Q 1
228 PHILO JUD.EUS.
difficult to understand this is, he then prays to be allowed to
leani from God himself who God is ; for he has never hoped
to be able to learn this from any other of the beings that are
around him. But nevertheless, though inquiring into the
essence of the living God he has heard nothing. For, says
God, "thou shalt see my back parts, but my face thou shalt
not behold."* For it is sufficient for the wise man to know
the consequences, and the things which are after God ; but he
who wishes to see the principal essence will be blinded by the
exceeding brilliancy of his rays before he can see it.
XXX. Having now said thus much concerning the third
head of our subject, we will proceed to the fourth and last of the
propositions we proposed to examine, according to which
discovery sometimes comes to meet us without there having
been any search. To this order belongs every self-taught
and self- instructed wise man ; for such an one has not been
.mproved by consideration, and care, and labour, but from the
first moment of his birth he has found wisdom ready preoared
and showered upon him from above from heaven, of which he
drinks an unmixed draught and on which he feasts, and con
tinues being intoxicated with a sober intoxication with correct
ness of reason. This is the man whom the law calls Isaac,
whom the soul did not conceive at one time and bring forth at
another, for says the scripture, " having conceived him she
brought him forth, "f as if without any consideration of time.
For it was not a man who was now being thus brought
forth, but a conception of the purest character, beautiful rather
in its nature than in consequence of any study ; for which
reason also she who brings him forth is said to have given up
the usual manner of women, that is to say her usual, and
reasonable, and human customs. For the self-taught race is
something new, and beyond any description, and truly divine,
existing not by any human conceptions, but by some inspired
frenzy. Are you ignorant that the Hebrews stand in no
need of mid wives for their delivery ? But they, as Moses says,
" bring forth before the midwives can arrive," by which is
meant that they have nature alone for a coadjutor, without
having any need of methods, or arts, or sciences.
And Moses gives very beautiful and very natural definitions
ef what is taught a man by himself: one being such a thing
Exodus xxxiii. 23. f Genesis xxi. 2.
ON FCGITIVES. 229
as is speedily discovered, the other what God himself has
given us ; accordingly, that which is taught by others requires
a long time, but what is taught a man by himself is quick,
and in a manner independent of time. And the one again has
God for its expounder, but the other has man. Now the first
definition he has placed in the question, " What is this that
thou has found so quickly, O my son?"* But the other is
contained in the answer to this question, " What the Lord God
gave unto me."
XXXI. There is also a third definition of what is taught a
man by himself, namely that which of its own accord rises
upwards. For it is said in the hortatory injunctions, Ye
shall not sow, neither shall ye reap those things which arise
from the earth of their own accord." f
For nature has no need of any art since God himself sows those
things, and by his agricultural skill brings to perfection, as if
they grew of themselves, things which do not grow of themselves,
except inasmuch as they stand in need of no human assistance
whatever. Hut this is not so much a positive exhortation as
an announcement of his opinion, for if he had been giving a
positive recommendation he would have said, "Do not sow, and
do not reap:" but as he is only giving his opinion, he says,
" Ye shall not sow, neither shall ye reap." For as to those
things with which we meet by the voluntary bounty of nature,
of these we cannot find either the beginnings or the ends in
ourselves as if we were the causes of them : therefore the
beginning is the seed-time and the end the harvest time. And
it is better to understand these things thus: every beginning
and every end is spontaneous, that is to say, it is the work
of nature and not of ourselves. For instance ; what is the
beginning of learning. It is plain that it is a nature in the
person who is taught which is well calculated to receive the
particular subjects of meditation submitted to him. Again
what is the beginning of being made perfect ? If we are to
speak plainly without keeping anything back, it is nature.
Therefore he who teaches is also indeed to effect improvement,
but it is God alone, the most excellent nature of all, who is
able to conduct one to supreme perfection.
He who is bred up among such doctrines as these has ever
lasting peace, and is released from wearisome and endless
Genesis xxrii. 20. t Genesis xxv. 11
230 PHILO JUD^US.
labours. And according to the lawgiver there is no difference
between peace and a week ; for in each creation lays aside the
appearance of energising and rests. Very properly, therefore,
si it said, " And the sabbath of the law shall be food for you,"
speaking figuratively. For the only thing which is really
nourishing and really enjoyable is rest in God ; which confers
the greatest good, undisturbed peace. Peace, therefore, among
cities is mixed up with civil war ; but the peace of the soul has
no mixture in it of any kind of difference.
And the lawgiver appears to me to be recommending most
manifestly that kind of discovery which is not preceded by any
search, in the following words, " When the Lord thy God shall
lead thee into the land which he swore to thy fathers that he
would give to thee, large and beautiful cities which thou
buildedst not, houses full of all good things which thou filledst
not, cisterns hewn out of the quarries which thou hewedst not,
vineyards and olive gardens which thou plantedst not."* You
see here the ungrudging abundance of all the great blessings
which are ready, and poured forth for man s possession and
enjoyment. And the generic virtues are here likened to
cities, because they are of the most comprehensive kind ; and
the specific virtues are likened to houses, because they are
contracted into a narrower circle ; and the souls of a good
disposition are likened to cisterns, which are well inclined to
receive wisdom, as the cisterns are calculated to receive water ;
and the improvement, and growth, and production of fruit, are
compared to vineyards and olive gardens ; and the fruit of
knowledge is a life of contemplation, which produces unmixed
joy, equal to that which proceeds from wine , and a light
appreciable only by the intellect, as if from a flame of which
oil is the nourishment.
XXXII. Having now said thus much on the subject of
discovery, we will proceed in due order to what comes next in
the context. Moses proceeds, " Therefore the angel of the
Lord found her sitting by a fountain of water." Now a foun
tain is spoken of in many senses ; in one manner our mind is
meant by a fountain, in another the rational habit and
instruction; in a third sense a bad disposition is intiti mated ;
in a fourth sense a good disposition, the contrary of the pre
ceding ; in a fifth sense, the Creator and Father of the
universe is himself thus spoken of in a figure ; and there are
* Deuteronomy vi. 10.
ON FUGITIVES. 231
passages written in the sacred scriptures which give proofs of
these things. What they are we must now consider. Now in
the very beginning of the history of the law there is a passage
to the "following effect : " And a fountain went up from the
earth, and watered all the face of the earth."* Those men.
then, who are not initiated in allegory and in the nature which
loves to hide itself, liken the fountain here mentioned to the
river f Kgypt, which every year overflows and makes all the
adjacent plains a lake, almost appearing to exhibit a power imi
tating and equal to that of heaven ; for what the heaven during
winter bestows on other countries, the Nile affords to Egypt at
the height of summer ; for the heaven sends rain from above
upon the earth, but the river, raining upward from below, which
seems a most paradoxical statement, irrigates the corn-fields.
And it is starting from this point that Moses has described
the Egyptian disposition as an atheistical one, because it values
the earth above the heaven, and the things of the earth above
the things of heaven, and the body above the soul ; but, how
ever, we shall have an opportunity of speaking on these sub
jects hereafter when occasion permits.
But at present, for we must study not to be too prolix, we
had better have recourse to an explanation which may be
drawn from looking on the words as used figuratively ; and \ye
may say that the meaning of the statement that " a fountain
went up and watered all the face of the earth,** is something
of this kind. The dominant part of us, like a fountain, pours
forth many powers through the veins of the earth as it were,
till they reach the organs of the external senses, that is to say,
the eyes, and ears, and nostrils, and other organs ; and these
organs in every animal are situated about the head and face.
Therefore, the face, which is the dominant portion of the body,
is irrigated as from a fountain from the dominant portion of
the soul; making the spirit, which is calculated for seeing,
reach to the eyes, that which has the power of hearing reach
the ears, the spirit of smelling reach the nostrils, that of taste
the mouth, and causing that of touch to pervade the whole
surface of the tady.
XXX II I. There are also many various fountains of instruc
tion, by means of which most nutritious reasonings have
sprung up like the trunks of palm-trees ; " for," says Moses,
* Genesis ii. 6.
232 PHILO JUD.EUS.
44 they came to Aileim, and in Aileim there were twelve foun
tains of water and seventy trunks of palm-trees. And they
pitched their tents there by the side of the water."* The
name Aileim is interpreted to mean 44 vestibules/ a symbol of
the approach to virtue. For as vestibules are the beginning
of a house, so also are the encyclical preliminary branches of
instruction the beginning of virtue, and twelve is the perfect
number, of which the circle of the zodiac in the heaven is a
witness, studded as it is with such numbers of brilliant con
stellations. The periodical revolution of the sun is another
witness, for he accomplishes his circle in twelve months, and
men also reckon the hours of the day and of the night as equal
in number to the months of the year, and the passages are not
few in which Moses celebrates this number, describing the
twelve tribes of his nation, appointing by law the offering of
the twelve cakes of shewbread, and ordering twelve stones, on
which inscriptions are engraved, to be woven into the sacred
robe of the garment, reaching down to the feet of the high-
priest, on his oracular dress.
He also celebrates the number seven, multiplied by the
number ten ; at one time speaking of the seventy palm-trees
by the fountains, and in other passages he speaks of the
elders, who were only seventy in number, to whom the divine
and prophetical Spirit was vouchsafed. And again, it is the
same number of heifers which are sacrificed at the solemn fes
tival of the feast of tabernacles,t in a regular and proper
division and order, for they are not all sacrificed together, but
in seven days, the beginning being made with thirteen bulls ;
for thus, by every day subtracting one till they come to the
number seven, the arranged number of seventy is properly
completed.
And when they have come to the gates of virtue, the pre
liminary liberal sciences, and have seen the fountains, and the
stems of the palm-trees growing by them, they are said to
pitch their tents, not by the palm-trees, but by the waters.
Why is this ? Because those who carry off the prizes of per
fect virtue are adorned with palm-leaves and with fillets ; but
those who are still exercising themselves in the preliminary
branches of instruction, as people thirsting for learning, settle
* Exodus xv. 27. *r Numbers xxix. 13.
ON FUGITIVES. 233
themselves by the side of those sciences which are able to
bedew and irrigate their souls.
XXXIV. Such then are the fountains of intermediate in
struction. Let us now consider the fountain of folly, concerning
which the lawgiver speaks thus, " Whosoever shall lie with a
woman who is sitting apart has uncovered her fountain, and
she has uncovered the issue of her blood ; they shall loth be
destroyed."* He here calls the external sense a woman, re
presenting the mind as her husband. "When therefore the
woman, having forsaken her legitimate husband, settles near
those objects of the external sense which allures and destroys,
and embraces them all in an amorous manner; then there
fore, if the mind be turned to sleep when it is necessary that
it should be awakened, it has uncovered the fountain of the
external sense, that is itself, that is to say, it has rendered
itself, without a covering and without a wall, and easy to be
plotted against. But nevertheless the woman also has un
covered the fountain of her blood, for every external sense,
when flowing towards the external object appreciable by it, is
cheered and restrained by being under the dominion of the
reason ; and it is left in a solitary condition, being deprived of
any proper governor. And as the most terrible misfortune for
a city is to be without walls, so the most unfortunate state for
a soul is to be without a guardian.
When, then, is it without a guardian ? Js it not when the
sight is without any covering, being poured forth upon the
objects of sight ; and when the hearing is without a covering,
being occupied in drinking in all kinds of sounds ; and when
the sense of smell is uncovered, and the kindred powers are
left to themselves, and so are most ready to suffer whatever
the invading enemy niay be disposed to inflict? And that
speech is uncovered and uttered which speaks ten thousand
things in an unseasonable manner, without any thing to
restrain its impetuosity ; therefore flowing on unrestrainedly,
it overturns many noble purposes and plans of life which were
previously sailing on erect as though in calm weather.
This is that great deluge in which " the cataracts of heaven
were opened "t by heaven I here mean of the mind and
the fountains of the bottomless pit were revealed : that is to
say, of the outward sense ; for in this way alone is the soul
* Leviticus xx. 18. f Genesis vii. 11.
234 PHILO JUD^US.
overwhelmed, iniquities being broken up and poured over it
from above, as from the heaven of the mind, and the passions
irrigating it from below, as from the earth of the outward
senses. For which reason Moses forbids a man to uncover
the nakedness of his father or his mother,* well knowing how
great an evil it is not to check and to conceal the offences of the
mind and of the external sense, but to bring them forward and
display them as though they were good actions.
XXXV. These are the fountains of errors. We must now
examine that of prudence. To this one it is that perseverance,
that is to say, Rebecca, descends ;t and after she has filled up
the whole vessel of her soul she goes up again, the lawgiver,
most strictly in accordance with natural truth, calling her
return an ascent ; for whoever brings his mind to descend
from over-arrogant haughtiness is raised to a great height of
virtue. For Moses says, " And having gone down to the
fountain, she filled her ewer, and went up again." This is
that divine wisdom from which all the particular sciences are
irrigated, and all the souls which love contemplation and are
filled with a love of what is most excellent ; and to this
fountain the sacred scripture most appropriately assigns a
name, calling it "judgment" and "holy." For says the
historian, " Having turned hack, they came to the fountain of
judgment ; this is the fountain of Caddes/ J and the interpre
tation of the name Caddes is holy. It all but cries out and
shouts that the wisdom of God is holy, bringing with it nothing
of the earth, and that it is the judgment of the universe by
which all contrarieties are separated from one another.
XXXVI. We must now speak also concerning that highest
and most excellent of fountains which the Father of the
universe spake of by the mouths of the prophets ; for he has
said somewhere, " They have left me, the fountain of life, and
they have digged for themselves cisterns already worn out,
which will not be able to hold water ;" therefore God is the
most ancient of all fountains. And is not this very natural ?
For he it is who has irrigated the whole of this world ; and I
am amazed when I hear that this is the fountain of life, for
God alone is the cause of animation and life, and most
especially of rational animation and of that life which is in
* Leviticus xviii 7. + Genesis xxiv. 15.
J Genesis xiv. 7. Jeremiah ii. 13.
ON FUGITIVES. 235
union with prudence; for the matter is dead. But God is
something more than life ; he is, as he himself has said, the
everlasting fountain of living.
But the wicked having fled away, and having passed their
time without ever tasting the draught of immortality, have
digged, insane persons that they are, for themselves, and not
first for God, having preferred their own actions to the
heavenly and celestial things, and the things which proceed
from care to those which are spontaneous and ready. Then
they dig, not as the wise men Abraham and Isaac did, making
wells, but cisterns, which have no good nutritious stream
belonging to and proceeding from themselves, but requiring an
influx from without, which must proceed from instruction.
While the teachers are always pouring into the ears of their
disciples all kinds of doctrines and speculations of science
altogether, admonishing them to retain them in their minds,
and to preserve them when faithfully committed to memory.
But now they are but worn-out cisterns, that is to say, all
the channels of the ill-educated soul are broken and leaky, not
being able to hold and to preserve the influx of those streams
which are able to profit.
XXXVII. We have now then said as much as the time will
permit us to say on the subject of the fountains , and it is
with great accuracy and propriety that the sacred scriptures
represent Hagar as found at the fountain, and not as drawing
water from it : for the soul has not as yet made such an
advance as to be fit to use the unmixed draught of wisdom ;
but it is not forbidden from making its abode in its neighbour
hood. And all the road which is made by instruction is easy
to travel, and most safe, and most solid, and strong, on which
account the scripture tells us that she was found in the road
leading to Shur ; and the name Shur being interpreted means
a wall or a direction. Therefore its convicter, speaking to the
soul, says, "Whence comest thou, and whither goest thou?"
And it says, not because it doubts, and not so much by way of
asking a question, as in a downcast and reproachful spirit, for
an angel cannot be ignorant of anything that concerns us, and
a proof of this is, that he is well acquainted even with the
thing? which are in the womb, and which are invisible to the
creature, inasmuch as he says, " Behold thou art with child,
and thou shult bring forth a son, and shalt call his name
236 PBILO
Jshmacl :" for to know that that which is conceived is a male
child does not belong to human power, any more than it does to
foretell the description of life which the child who is not yet
born will adopt, namely, that it will be rude life, and not that
of a citizen or of a polished man.
The expression, " Whence comest thou? is said by way of
reproving the soul, which is fleeing from the better and domi
nant opinion, of which she is the handmaiden, not in name
more than in fact, and by remaining in subjection to which
she would gain great glory. And the expression, " And whither
goest thou ?" means, you are running after uncertain things,
having discarded and thrown away confessed good. It
is well, therefore, to praise her for rejoicing at this admo
nition. And she shows a proof of her delighting in it, by not
bringing any accusation against her mistress, and by attribut
ing the cause of her running away to her own self, and by
her making no reply to the second question, " Whither goest
thou?" for it is a matter of uncertainty ; and it is both safe and
necessary to restrain one s self from speaking of what is uncer
tain.
XXXVIII. Therefore the convicter of the soul approving of
her in respect of her obedience says, Return unto thy mistress ;
for the government of the teacher is profitable to the disciple,
and servitude in subjection to wisdom is advantageous to her
who is imperfect ; and when thou returnest, " be thou humbled
under her hands : " a very beautiful humiliation, compre
hending the destruction of irrational pride. For thus, after a
gentle travail, thou wilt bring forth a male child, by name
Ishmael, corrected by divine admonitions ; for Ishmael, being
interpreted, means "the hearing of God;" and hearing is
considered as entitled to only the second prize after seeing ;
but seeing is the inheritance of the legitimate and first-born
son, Israel ; for the name Israel, being interpreted, means
" seeing God."
For it is possible for a man to hear false statements as
though they were true, because hearing is a deceitful thing ;
but seeing is a sense which cannot be deceived, by which a
man perceives existing things as they really are. But the
angel describes the ciaracteristics of the disposition which is
born of Hagar, by saying that lie will be a rude man ; as if
he had sxid that he would be a man wise about rude matters.
ON FUGITIVES. 237
and not as yet thought worthy of that which is the truly divine
and political portion of life : and this is virtue, by means of
which it is the nature of the moral character to be humanised.
And by his saying, " His hand shall be against every man, and
every man s hand against him," he means to describe the design
and plan of life of a sophist, who professes an over-curious
scepticism, and who rejoices in disputatious arguments.
Such a man shoots at all the followers of learning, and in
his own person opposes all men, both publicly and privately,
and is shot at by all who very naturally repel him as if they
were acting in defence of their own offspring, that is to say,
of the doctrines which their soul has brought forth.
He also adds a third characteristic of him, saying, " He shall
dwell before the face of all his brethren." In these words all
but expressly declaring that he will wage an everlasting battle
and war against them, face to face, for ever. Therefore the
soul, which is pregnant with sophistical reasoning, says to the
convicter who is addressing her, Thou art God, who hast be
held me :" an expression equivalent to, Thou art the creator
of my plans and of my offspring. And may we not look upon
this as a very natural reply on her part ? For of these souls
which are free, and, as it were truly citi/ens, the Creator is
free, and a deliverer ; but of slavish minds, slaves are the
creators.
And the angels are the servants of God, and are considered
actual gods by those who are in toil and slavery ; on this ac
count, says Moses, she called the well, " The well where I saw-
in front of me." But O, thou soul ! advancing in wisdom and
plunging deep into the knowledge of the elementary parts of
encyclical instruction, thou wast not able to see the cause of
thy" knowledge in instruction as in a mirror. But the most
appropriate place for such a well is in the midst, between
Caddes and liarad ; and the name Barad, being interpreted,
means "in common," and Caddes means "holy;" for the
person who is in a state of imprisonment is on the confines
between what is holy and what is profane, fleeing from what is
wicked, and being not yet able to live in the comoany of what
is perfectly good.
238 PHILO JUDvEUS.
A TREATISE
ON THE QL KSTION
WHY CERTAIN NAMES IN THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
ARE CHANGED.
I. " ABRAHAM was ninety and nine years old ; and the Lord
appeared unto Abraham, and said unto him, I am thy God."*
The number ot nine, when added to the number ninety, is
very near to a hundred ; in which number the self-taught race
shone forth, namely Isaac, the most excellent joy of all enjoy
ments ; for he was born when his father was a hundred years
old. Moreover the first fruits of the tribe of Levi are given
up to the priests ;f for they having taken tithes, offer up other
tenths from them as from their own fruits, which thus com
prise the number of a hundred; for the number ten is the
symbol of improvement, and the number a hundred is the
symbol of perfection ; and he that is in the middle is always
striving to reach the extremity, exerting the inborn goodness
of his nature, by which he says, that the Lord of the universe
has appeared to him.
But do not thou think that this appearance presented itself
to the eyes of the body, for they see no things but such as are
perceptible to the outward senses ; but those objects of the
outward senses are compound ones, full of destruction ; but
the Deity is not a compound object, and is indestructible : but
the eye which receives the impression of the divine appear
ance is the eye of the soul; for besides this, those things
which it is only the eyes of the body that see, are only seen by
them because they take light as a coadjutor, and light is
different, both from the object seen and from the things which
see it.
But all these things which the soul sees of itself, and
through its own power, it sees without the co-operation of any
thing or any one else ; for the things which the soul does thus
comprehend are a light to themselves, and in the same way
also we learn the sciences ; for the mind, applying its never-
closing and never-slumbering eye to their doctrines and specu
lations, sees them by no spurious light, but by that genuine
* Genetsia xrii. 1. t Numbers xviii. 26.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 239
light which shines forth from itself. When therefore you
hear that God has been seen by man, you must consider that
this is said without any reference to that light which is per
ceptible by the external senses, for it is natural that that
which is appreciable only by the intellect should be presented
to the intellect alone ; and the fountain of the purest light is
God ; so that when God appears to the soul he pours forth
his beams without any shade, and beaming with the most
radiant brilliancy.
II. Do not, however, think that the living God, he who is
truly living, is ever seen so as to be comprehended by any
human being ; for we have no power in ourselves to see any
thing, by which we may be aLle to conceive any adequate
notion of him ; we have no external sense suited to that pur
pose (for he is not an object which can be discerned by the
outward sense), nor any strength adequate to it ; therefore,
Moses, the spectator of the invisible nature, the man who really
saw God (for the sacred scriptures say that he entered " into
the darkness."* by which expression they mean figuratively to
intimate the invisible essence), having investigated every part
of every thing, sought to see clearly the much-desired and only
God ; but when he found nothing, not even any appearance at
all resembling what he had hoped to behold ; he, then, giving
up all idea of receiving instruction on that point from any
other source, flies to the very being himself whom he was
seeking, and entreats him, saying, " Show me thyself that 1
may see thee so as to know thee."t
But, nevertheless, he fails to obtain the end which he had
proposed to himself, and which he had accounted the must all-
sufficient gift for the most excellent race of creation, mankind,
namely a knowledge of those bodies and things which are
belnv the living God. For it is said unto him, " Thou shalt
see my back parts, but my face shall not be beheld by thee."J
As if it were meant to answer him : Those bodies and things
which are beneath the living God may come within thy com
prehension, even though every thing would not be at once
comprehended by thee, since that one being is not by his
nature capable of being beheld by man. And what wonder is
tht-re if the living God is beyond the reach of the comprehen
sion of man, when even the mind that is in each of us is
Exodus xx. 21. t Exodus xxxiii. 13. Exodus xxxiii. 23.
2-10 PHILO JUD.-EUS.
unintelligible and unknown to us? Who has ever beheld the
essence of the soul? the obscure nature of which has given
rise to an infinite number of contests among the sophists who
have brought forward opposite opinions, some of which are
inconsistent with any kind of nature.
It was, therefore, quite consistent with reason that no
proper name could with propriety be assigned to him who is
in truth the living God. Do you not see that to the prophet
who is really desirous of making an honest inquiry after the
truth, and who asks what answer he is to give to those who
question him as to the name of him who has sent him, he
says, "I am that I am,"* which is equivalent to saying, " It
is my nature to be, not to be described by name :" but in
order that the human race may not be wholly destitute of any
appellation which they may give to the most excellent of
beings, I allow >ou to use the word Lord as a name ; the Lord
God of three natures of instruction, and of holiness, and of
the practice of virtue ; of which Abraham, and Isaac, and
Jacob are recorded as the symbols. For this, says he, is the
everlasting name, as if it had been investigated and discerned
in time as it exists in reference to us, and not in that time
which was before all time ; and it is also a memorial not
placed beyond recollection or intelligence, and again it is
addressed to persons who have been born, not to uncreated
natures.
For these men have need of the complete use of the divine
name who come to a created or mortal generation, in order
that, if they cannot attain to the best thing, they may at least
arrive at the best possible name, and arrange themselves in
accordance with that ; and the sacred oracle which is delivered
as from the mouth of the Ruler of the universe, speaks of the
proper name of God never having been revealed to any one,
when God is represented as saying, " For I have not shown
them my name ;"f for by a slight change in the figure of
speech here used, the meaning of what is said would be some
thing of this kind : " My proper name I have not revealed to
them," but only that which is commonly used, though with
some misapplication, because of the reasons above-mentioned.
And, indeed, the living God is so completely indescribable,
that even those powers which minister unto him do not
* Exodus iii. 14. t Exodus vi. 3.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 241
announce bis proper name to us. At all events, after the
wrestling match in which the practiser of virtue wrestled for
the sake of the acquisition of virtue, he says to the invisible
Master, " Tell me thy name ;"* but he said, " Why askest
thou me my name?" And he does not tell him his peculiar
and proper name, for says he, it is sufficient for thee to be
taught my ordinary explanations. But as for names which
are the symbols of created things, do not seek to find them
among immortal natures.
III. Therefore do not doubt either whether that which is
more ancient than any existing thing is indescribable, when
his very word is not to be mentioned by us according to its
proper name. So that we must understand that the expression,
" The Lord was seen by Abraham, "f means not as if the
Cause of all things had shone forth and become visible, (for
what human mind is able to contain the greatness of his
appearance ?) but as if some one of the powers which surround
him, that is to say, his kingly power, had presented itself to
the sight, for the appellation Lord belongs to authority and
sovereignty.
But when our mind was occupied with the wisdom of the
Chaldeans, studying the sublime things which exist in the
world, it made as it were the circuit of all the efficient powers
as causes of what existed ; but when it emigrated from the
Chaldean doctrines, it then knew that it was moving under
the guidance and direction of a governor, of whose authority it
perceived the appearance. On which account it is said, " The
.Lord," not the living God, " was seen ;" as if it had been
meant to say, the king appeared, he who was from the begin
ning, but who was not as yet recognized by the soul, which,
indeed, was late in learning, but which did not continue for
ever in ignorance, but received a notion of there being an
authority nnd governing power among existing things.
And when the ruler has appeared, then he in a still greater
degree benefits his disciple and beholder, saying, " I am thy
God ;"J for I should say to him, " What is there of all the
things which form a part of creation of which thou art not the
God ?" But hig word, which is his interpreter, will teach me
that he is not at present speaking of the world, of which he is
by all means the creator and the God, but about the sou s of
Genesis xixii. 29. f Genesis xvii 1. J Genesis xvi .
VOL. II. R
242 PHILO JU1XEUS.
men, which he has thought worthy of a different kind of care ;
for he thinks fit to be called the Lord and Master of bad
men, but the God of those who are in a state of advancement
and improvement ; and of those which are the most excellent
and the most perfect, both Lord and God at once. On which
account, having made Pharaoh the very extreme instance of
impiety, he has never once called himself his Lord or his God ;
but he calls the wise Moses so, for he says to him, " Behold I
give thee as a god to Pharaoh."* But he has in many passages
of the sacred oracles delivered by him, called himself Lord.
For instance, we read such a passage as this : " Thus says the
Lord ;"t and at the very beginning we read, " The Lord spake
unto Moses, saying, I am the Lord, say unto Pharaoh, the
kin<* of Egypt, all the things which I say unto thee.":}: And
Moses, in another place, says, " Behold, when I go forth out of
the city I will spread out my hands unto the Lord, and the
sounds shall cease, and the hail, and there shall be no more
rain, that thou mayest know that the earth is the Lord s ;"
that is to say, every thing that is made of body or of earth,
" and that thou," that is the mind which bears in itself the
images of things, " and thy servants," that is the particular
reasonings which act as body-guards to the mind, " for I know
that ye do not yet fear the Lord ;" by which he means not
the Lord who is spoken of commonly and in different senses,
but him who is truly the Master of all things.
For there is in truth no created Lord, not even if a king
shall have extended his authority and spread it from one end
of the world even to the other end, but only the uncreated
God, the real governor, whose authority he who reverences and
fears receives a most beneficial reward, namely, the admo
nitions of God, but utterly miserable destruction awaits the
man who despises him ; therefore he is held forth as the Lord
of the foolish, striking them with a terror which is appropriate
to him as ruler. But he is the God of those who are im
proved ; as we read now, " I am thy God, I am thy God, be
thou increased and multiplied." || And in the case of those
who are perfect, he is both together, both Lord and God ; as
we read in the ten commandments, "I am the Lord thy
* Genesis vii. 1. + Exodus vii. 7.
J Exodus vi. 29. Exodus ix. J9.
|| Genesis xvii. 1, also xxxv. 2.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 243
God."* And in another passage it is written, " The Lord
God of our fathers, f
For he thinks it right for the wicked man to be governed by a
master as by a lord ; that, being in a state of alarm and groan
ing, he may have the fear of a master suspended over him ; but
him who is advancing in improvement he thinks deserving to
receive benefits as from God in order that by means of these
benefits he may arrive at perfection ; and him who is complete
and perfect he thinks should be both governed as by the Lord,
and benefited as by God ; for the last man remains for ever un
changeable, and he is, by all means and in all respects, the man
of God : and this is especially shown to be the fact in the case
of Moses ; for, says the scripture, " This is the blessing which
Moses, the man of God, blessed."* O the man thus thought
worthy of this all-beautiful and sacred recompense, to give
himself as a requital for the divine Providence ! But do not
thou think that he is in the same sense a man and the man
of God ; for he is said to be a man as being a possession of
God, but the man of God as boasting in and being benefited
by him. And if thou wishest to have God as the inheritance
of thy mind, then do thou in the first place labour to become
yourself an inheritance worthy of him, and thou wilt be such
if thou avoidest all laws made by hands and voluntary.
IV. But it is not right to be ignorant of this thing either,
that the statement, " I am thy God," is made by a certain
figurative misuse of language rather than with strict propriety ;
for the living God, inasmuch as he is living, does not consist
in relation to anything ; for he himself is full of himself, and
he is sufficient for himself, and he existed before the creation
of the world, and equally after the creation of the universe ; for
he is immovable and unchangeable, having no need of any
other thing or being whatever, so that all things belong to him,
but, properly speaking, he does not belong to anything. And
of the powers which he has extended towards creation for the
advantage of the world which is thus put together, some are
spoken of, as it were, in relation to these things; as for
instance his kingly and his beneficent power ; for he is the
king of something, and the benefactor of something there
Exodus xx. 2. f Deuteronomy iv. 1.
t Deuteronomy xxxiii. 1. Geneaia xvii 1.
R 2
244 PHILO JUDJEUS.
being inevitably something which is ruled over and which
receives the benefits.
Akin to these powers is the creative power which is called
God : for by means of this power the Father, who begot and
created all things, did also disperse and arrange them ; so that
the expression, " I am thy God," is equivalent to, " I am thy
maker and creator ;" and it is the greatest of all possible gifts
to have him for one s maker, who has also been the maker of
the whole world. The soul, indeed, of the wicked man he did
not make, for wickedness is hateful to God : and the soul,
which is between good and bad, he made not by himself alone,
according to the most sacred historian Moses, since that, like
wax, was about to receive the different impressions of good and
evil. On which account it is said in the scriptures, " Let us
make man in our own image," that if it receives a bad im
pression it may appear to be the work of others, but if it re
ceives a good impression it may then appear to be the work of
him who is the Creator only of what is beautiful and good.
By all means, therefore, that must be a good man to whom
he says, " I am thy God," as he has had him alone for his
creator without the co-operation of any other being. More
over he brings up with this that doctrine which is established
in many other passages, showing that God is the creator only
of those men who are virtuous and wise ; and the whole of this
company has voluntarily deprived itself of the abundant
possession of external things, and has neglected those things
which are dear to the flesh. For the athletes of vigorous
health and high spirit have erected their servile bodies as a
sort of fortification against the soul, but those men who have
been devoted to the pursuit of instruction, and who are pale,
and weak, and emaciated, having overloaded the vigour of the
body with the powers of the soul, and, if one must tell the
plain truth, being entirely dissolved into one species of soul,
have through the energy of their minds become quite disen
tangled from the body.
Therefore that which is earthly is very naturally destroyed
and overwhelmed when the entire mind resolves in every
particular to make itself acceptable to God. But the race of
these persons is rare and scarcely to be found, and one may
almost say is unable to exist; and the following oracle, which
is given with respect to Enoch, proves this: "Enoch pleased
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 245
God, and he was not found;"* for by what kind of contem
plation could a man attain to this good thing? What seas
must he cross over? What islands, or what continents, must
he visit? Must he dwell among the Greeks or among the
barbarians ? Are there not even to the present day some of
those persons who have attained to perfection in philosophy,
who suy that there is no such thing as wisdom in the world,
since there is also no such thing as a wise man ? for that from
the very beginning of the creation of mankind up to the
present moment, there has never been any one who could be
considered entirely blameless, for that it is impossible for a
man who is bound up in a mortal body to be entirely and
altogether happy.
Now whether these things are said correctly we will consider
at the proper time : but at present let us stick to the subject
before us, and follow the scripture, and say that there is such
a thing as wisdom existing, and that he who loves wisdom is
wise. But though the wise man has thus an actual existence
he has escaped the notice of us who are wicked : for what is
good will not unite with what is bad. On this account it is
Uiat "the disposition which pleased God was not found :" as if
in truth it had a real existence, but was concealed and had fled
away to avoid any meeting in the same place with us, since it
is said to have been translated ; the meaning of which ex
pression is that it emigrated and departed from its sojourn in
this mortal life, to an abode in immortal life.
V. These men then, being mad with this divinely inspired
madness, were made more ferocious ; but there are others who
are companions of a more manageable and humanised wisdom.
By those men piety is practised to a most eminent degree,
and the observance due to man is not neglected. And the
sacred oracles are witnesses of this in which Abraham is
addressed (the words being put in the mouth of God), "Thou
shult be pleasing in my sight,"t that is to say, thou shalt be
pleasing, not only to me but also to my works, in my eyes as
judge, and overseer, and superintendant ; for if you honour your
parents, or show mercy to the poor, or do good to your friends,
or fight in defence of your country, or pay proper attention to
the common principles of justice towards all men, you most
Geneaw v. 24. t Genesis xvii. 3.
246 PH1LO JUD^US.
certainly are pleasing to those with whom you associate, and
you are also acceptable in the sight of God : for he sees all
things with an eye which never slumbers, and he unites to
himself with especial favour all that is good, and that he accepts
and embraces.
Therefore the practiser of virtue, even while praying, proves
the very same thing, saying, " The God to whom my fathers
were acceptable,"* and he adds also the words " before him,"
for the sake of giving you to know the difference, the real prac
tical difference between the expression, " to please God," by
itself, and the same words with the addition of the sentence,
" before him." For the one expression gives both meanings,
and the other only one. Thus also Moses, in his exhortatory
admonitions, recommends his disciples such and such things,
saying, " Thou shalt do what is pleasing before the Lord thy
God, "I as if he were to say, Do such things as shall be worthy
to appear before God, and what he when he sees them will
accept. And these things are wont to appear equally pure
both externally and internally. J And proceeding onwards
from thence he wove the tent of the tabernacle with two
boundaries of space, placing a veil between the two, in order to
separate what is within from what is without. And also he
gilded the sacred ark, the place wherein the laws were kept,
both within and without ; and he gave the great high priest
two robes, the inner one made of linen, and the outer one
beautifully embroidered, with one robe reaching to the feet.
For these and such things as these are symbols of the soul
which in its inner parts shows itself pure towards God, and in its
exterior parts shows itself without reproach in reference to the
world which is perceptible to the outward senses and to this
life : with great felicity therefore was this said to the victorious
wrestler, when he was about to have his brows crowned with
the garlands of victory : and the declaration made with respect
to him was of the following tenor, " You have been mightily
powerful both with God and with men ; " for to have a good
* Genesis xlviii. 15.
+ Deuteronomy xii. 28.
$ This passage is given up by Mangey as corrupt. The text has
ravTa Si Kni tig rovg 6/ioioi g t"iuOt xwp"", which ia quite unintelligible.
Mangey corrects it, Tavra SI rote Jitrw Kai tw 6/*oiu>g tlwBt K
of which he gives a Latin translation which I have followed.
Genesis xxxii. 28.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 247
reputation with both classes, namely, with the uncreated God
and with the creature, is the task of no small mind, but, if one
must say the truth, it is one^fit for that which is in the con-
fines between the world and God.
In short, it is necessary that the good man should be an
attendant of God, for the creature is an object of care to the
Ruler and Father of the universe ; for who is there who does
not know, that even before the creation of the world God was
himself sufficient to himself, and that he remained as much a
friend as before after the creation of the world, without having
undergone any change? Why then did he make what did not
exist before ? Because he was good and bounteous. Shall we
not then, we who are slaves, follow our master, admiring, in an
exceeding degree, the great first Cause of all things, and not
altogether despising our own nature?
VI. But after he has said. " Be thou pleasing to me before
me," he adds further, " and be thou blameless," using here a
natural consequence and connection of the previous sentence.
Do thou therefore all the more apply thyself to what is good
that thou mayest be pleasing; and if thou canst not be
pleasing, at all events abstain from open sins, that thou may
est not incur reproach. For he who does right is praise
worthy, and he who avoids doing wrong is not to be blamed.
And the most important prize is assigned to those who do
right, namely, the prize of feeling that they are acceptable to
God : but the second prize belongs to those who do no sin,
that, namely, of avoiding blame ; and, perhaps, in the case of
the mortal race of mankind, the doing no sin is set down as
equivalent to doing right ; for who, as Job says, is " pure from
pollution, even if his life be but one single day long?
In fact, the things which pollute the soul are infinite in
number, and it is impossible completely to wash them away
and to efface their stains ; for there are, of necessity, left dis
asters which are akin to every mortal man, which it is natural
indeed to weaken, but impossible wholly to eradicate. Does
any one therefore seek a just, or prudent, or temperate, or, 111
short, any perfectly good man, in this confused life? Be con
tent if you find one who is not wholly unjust, or foolish, or in
temperate, or cowardly, or who is not utterly worthless ; for
the avoidance of evil is a thing with which to be content, but
Job xiv. 4.
248 PHILO JUD.EUS.
the complete acquisition of the virtues is unattainable to any
man, such as is endowed with our nature.
It was therefore with great reason that it was said, " and be
thou blameless," the speaker thinking that it is a great ad
dition towards a happy life to live without sin and without
reproach ; but the man who has deliberately chosen this way
of life, promises to leave his inheritance in accordance with the
covenant, such as is becoming to (rod to give, and to a wise
man to accept, for he says, " I will place my covenant lo-
tween me and between thee ;"* and covenants and testaments
are written for the advantage of those who are worthy of the
gift, so that a testament is a symbol of grace, which God has
placed between himself who proffers it and man who receives
it ; and this is the very extravagance of beneficence, that there
is nothing between God and the soul except his own virgin
grace. And I have written two commentaries on the whole
discussion concerning testaments, and for that reason I now
deliberately pass over that subject, for the sake of not appear
ing to repeat what I have said before ; and also at the same
time, because I do not wish here to interrupt the connected
course of this discussion.
VII. And immediately afterwards it is said, " And Abra
ham fell on his face :" was he not about, in accordance with
the divine promises, to recognize himself and the nothingness
of the race of mankind, and so to fall down before him who
stood firm, by way of displaying the conception which he en
tertained of himself and of God ? Forsooth that God, standing
always in the same place, moves the whole composition of the
world, not by means of his legs, for he has not the form of a
man, but by showing his unalterable and immovable essence.
But man, being never settled firmly in the same place, admits
of different changes at different times, and being tripped up,
miserable man that he is (for, in fact, his whole life is one
continued stumble), he meets with a terrible fall ; but he who
does this against his will is ignorant, and he who does it
voluntarily is docile ; on which account he is said to fall on his
face, that is to say, in his outward senses, in his speech, in
his mind, all but crying out loudly and shouting that the out
ward sense has fallen, inasmuch as it was unable, by itself, to
feel as it should, if it had not been aroused by the provi-
* Genesis xvii. 2.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. ^49
dence of the Saviour, to take hold of the bodies which lay in
its way. And speech too has fallen, being unable to give a
proper explanation of anything in existence, unless he who
originally made and adapted the organ of the voice, having
opened its mouth and enabled its tongue to articulate, should
strike it so as to produce harmonious sounds. Moreover, the
king of all the mind has fallen, being deprived of its compre
hension, unless the Creator of all living things were again to
raise it up and re-establish it, and furnishing it with the most
acutely seeing eyes, to lead it to a sight of incorporeal things.
VIII. Therefore admiring this same disposition when thus
taking to flight, and submitting to a voluntary fall by reason of
the confession which it had made respecting the living God,
namely, that he stands in truth and is one only, while all
other things beneath him are subject to all kinds of motions
and alterations, he speaks to it, and allows it to enter into
conversation with him, saying, " And I, behold my covenant is
with thee."* And this expression conceals beneath its figura
tive words such a meaning as this : There are very many
kinds of covenants, which distribute graces and gifts to those
who are worthy to receive them ; but the highest kind of cove
nant of all is I myself : for God, having displayed himself as
far as it was possible for that being to be displayed who can
not be shown by the words which he has used, adds further,
" And I too, behold my covenant ;" the beginning and foun
tain of all graces is I myself.
For on some persons God is in the habit of bestowing his
graces by the intervention of others ; as, for instance, through
the medium of earth, water, air, the sun, the moon, heaven,
and other incorporeal powers. But he bestows them on others
through himself alone, exhibiting himself as the inheritance
of those who receive him, whom from that he thinks worthy
of another appellation : for it is said in the scripture, " Thy
name shall not be called Abram, but Abraham shall thy name
be." Some, then, of those persons who are foud of disputes,
and who are always eager to affix a stain upon what is irre
proachable, on things as well as bodies, and who wage an
implacable war against sacred things, while they calumniate
everything which does not appear to preserve strict decorum in
speech, being the symbols of nature which is always fond of
Genesis xvii. 4.
2 50 PHILO JUD;EUS.
being concealed, perverting it all so as to give it a worse ap
pearance after a very accurate investigation, do especially find
fault with the changes of names.
And it is only lately that I heard an ungodly and impious
man mocking and ridiculing these things, who ventured to say,
" Surely they are great and exceeding gifts which Moses says
that the Ruler of the universe offers, who, by the addition of
one element, the one letter alpha, a superfluous element;*
arid then again adding another element, the letter rho, appears
to have bestowed upon men a most marvellous and great
benefit ; for he has called the wife of Abram Sarrah instead of
Sarah, doubling the Rho," and connecting a number of similar
arguments without drawing breath, and joking and mocking,
he went, through many instances. But at no distant period he
suffered a suitable punishment for his insane wickedness ; for
on a very slight and ordinary provocation he hanged himself,
in order that so polluted and impure a person might not die by
a pure and unpolluted death.
IX. But we may justly, in order to prevent any one else
from falling into the same error, eradicate the erroneous notions
which have been formed on the subject, arguing the matter on
the principle of natural philosophy, and proving that these
things which are here said are worthy of all attention. God
does not bestow on men mutes and vowels, or, in short, nouns
and verbs ; since when he created plants and animals, he sum
moned them before man as their governor, that he might give
each of them their appropriate names by a reference to the
knowledge which he had of all things ; for, says the scripture,
" Whatever Adam called any thing, that was the name
thereof, "f
Therefore since God did not think fit to take upon himself
even the active imposition of the names, but entrusted the
task to a wise man, the author of the whole race of mankind,
is it reasonable to suppose that he himself gave and arranged
the different parts, and syllables, and letters of nouns, disposing
not only the vowels, but even the mutes, and that he did this
too to make a show of liberality and exceeding beneficence ?
It is impossible to say so. But such things as these are the
* The text here is very corrupt. Mangey adopts the emendations
of Markland, and I have followed hia translation,
f Geneaia ii. 19.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 251
characteristic marks of different powers ; small marks of great
powers, marks perceptible by the outward senses of powers
appreciable only by the intellect, manifest marks of powers
which are indistinct ; and the powers themselves are discerned
in most excellent doctrines, in true and pure conceptions, in
the improvement of souls.
And it is easy to see a proof of this if we make a beginning
with the man who is here spoken of as having his name
changed; for the name Abram, being interpreted, means
41 sublime father," but Abraham means the " elect father of
sound ;" and how these names differ from one another we
shall know more clearly if we first of all read what is exhibited
under each of them. Now using allegorical language, we call
that man sublime who raises himself from the earth to a height,
and who devotes himself to the inspection of high things ; and
we also call him a haunter of high regions, and a meteorolo
gist, inquiring what is the magnitude of the sun, what are his
motions, how he influences the seasons of the year, advancing
as he does and retreating back again, with revolutions of equal
speed, and investigating as he does the subjects of the radiance
of the moon, of its shape, of its waning, of its increase, and of
the motion of the other stars, whether fixed or wandering ;
for the inquiry into these matters belongs not to an ill-con
ditioned or barren soul, but to one which is eminently endowed
by nature, and which is able to produce an entire and perfect
offspring ; on which account the scripture calls the meteorolo
gist " father," inasmuch as he is not unproductive of wisdom.
X. Now the symbols represented by the name of Abrum are
thus accurately defined; those conveyed under the name of
Abraham are such as we shall proceed to demonstrate. The
meanings now are three, " the father," and " elect," and " of
sound." Now by the word "sound" here, we mean uttered
speech ; for the sounding organ of the living animal is the
organ of speech. Of this faculty we say that the father is the
mind, for it is from the mind, as from a fountain, that the
stream of speech proceeds. The word elect " belongs to the
mind of the wise man, for whatever is most excellent is found
in him ; therefore the man devoted to learning and occupied
in the contemplation of sublime subjects, was sketched out
according to the former characteristic marks, but the philoso
pher, or I should rather say the wise man, was exhibited in
252 PHILO JUD^US.
accordance with those of which we have just given an
outline.
Think not, then, any longer that the Deity bestows a change
of names, but consider that what he gives is a correction of the
moral character by means of symbols ; for having invited the
man who formerly busied himself about the subject of the
nature of heaven, and whom some call a mathematician, to a
participation in virtue, he made him wise and called him so.
For having given an appropriate name to his transformed dis
position, he named him, as the Hebrews would call it, "Abra
ham," but in the language of the Greeks, " the elect father of
sound ;" for says he, On what account dost thou investigate
the motions and periods of the stars ? and why hast thou
bounded up so high from the earth to the heavens? Is it
merely that you may indulge your curiosity with respect to
those matters? Arid what advantage could accrue to you
from all this curiosity ? What destruction of pleasure would
it cause ? What defeat of appetite ? What dissolution of
pain or fear ? What eradication of the passions which disturb
and agitate the soul ? For as there is no advantage in trees
unless they are productive of fruit, so in the same way there is
no use in the study of natural philosophy unless it is likely to
confer upon a man the acquisition of virtue, for that is its
proper fruit.
On which account some of the ancients have compared the
discussion and consideration of philosophy to a field, and have
likened the physical portion of it to the plants, the logical part
to the hedges and fences, the moral part to the fruit, thinking
that the walls which are built around for the sake of protecting
the fruit have been erected by the possessors of the land, and
that the plants have been created for the sake of the produc
tion of fruit ; thus, therefore, they said that in philosophy it is
requisite for the consideration of the physical and the logical
part of philosophy to be referred to the moral part, by which
the moral character is improved, which has a desire at the
same time for both the acquisition and the use of virtue.
This is the lesson which we have been taught concerning the
man who in word indeed had his name changed, but who in
reality changed his nature from the consideration of natural to
that of moral philosophy, and who abandoned the contempla
tion of the world itself for the knowledge of the Being who
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 2?>3
created the world ; by which knowledge he acquired piety, the
most excellent of all possessions.
XI. We will now speak of his wife, Sarah, for she too had
her name changed to Sarrah by the addition of the one
element, the letter rho. These, then, are the names, and we
must now explain what they mean. Sarah, being interpreted,
signifies " my authority," but Sarrah signifies " princess ;"
the former name, therefore, is a symbol of specific virtue, but
the latter of generic virtue. But in proportion as genus is
superior to species in regard of quantity, in the same propor
tion dues the latter name excel the former; for species is
something small and perishable, but genus is numerous and
immortal, and the intention of God is to bestow great and
immortal things instead of such as are small and perishable,
and this is a task suited to his dignity.
Now the prudence which exists in the virtuous man is the
authority of himself alone, and he who has it would not err if
he were to say, my authority is the prudence which is in me ;
but that which has stretched out this authority is generic
prudence, not any longer the authority of this or that person,
but absolute intrinsic authority ; therefore that which exists
only in species will perish at the same time with its possessor,
but that which, like a seal, has stamped it with an impression,
is free from all mortality, and will remain for ever and ever
imperishable. Thus also those arts which exist only in species
perish along with those who have acquired them, such as
geometricians, grammarians, and musicians, but the generic
arts remain exempt from destruction. And, again, he gives
an additional sketch of his meaning when he teaches by the
same name that every virtue is a princess, and a queen, and a
ruler of all the affairs of life.
XII. But it has also happened that Jacob had his name
changed to Israel ; and this, too, was a felicitous alteration.
Why so ? Because the name Jacob means " a supplanter,"
but the name Israel signifies " the man who sees God." Now
it is the employment of a supplanter, who practises virtue, to
move, and disturb, and upset the foundations of passion on
which it is established, and whatever there is of any strength
which is founded on them. But these things are not brought
ataut without a struggle or without severe labour; but only
when any one, having gone through all the labours of prudence,
254 PHILO JUDJSUS.
then proceeds to practise himself in the exercises of the soul
and to wrestle against the reasonings which are hostile to it,
and which seek to torment it ; but it is the part of him who
sees God not to depart from the sacred contest without the
crown of victory, but rather to carry off the prize of triumph.
And what more flourishing and more suitable crown could be
woven for the victorious soul than one by which it will be able
acutely and clearly to behold the living God? At least a
beautiful prize is thus proposed for the soul which delights in
the practice of virtue, namely, the being endowed with sight
adequate to the clear comprehension of the only thing which is
really worth beholding.
XIII. And it is worth while here to raise the question why
Abraham, from the time that his name was changed, is always
thought worthy of this same appellation, and is no longer
called by his former name ; but Jacob, who is also called
Israel, is nevertheless called Jacob too, as he was before the
change of his name ; and, indeed, is called Jacob oftener than
Israel.
We must say, then, that these facts are characters by which
it is seen that the virtue which is taught differs from that
which is acquired by practice ; for the man who is improved
by instruction, having received a happy and virtuous nature,
uses that virtue alone which, by means of memory co-operating
with it, implants in him an absence of forgetfulness, so that he
comprehends and takes firm hold of all the things which he
has once learnt ; but he who practises virtue, since he is con
tinually exercising himself, stops to take breath, and relaxes
his efforts for a while, collecting himself and recovering the
vigour which was a little impaired by his exertions, just as
those men do who have oiled their bodies for the contests in
the arena For these men, also, labouring at their training
exercises, in order to prevent their powers being utterly broken
down, anoint themselves with oil on account of the violent and
continued nature of their exercise
Then the man who is improved by instruction, having an
immortal monitor, receives from him a harmonious and impe
rishable advantage, without suffering any change ; but the
practiser of virtue is impelled to action by his own inclination
alone, and he exercises himself in it, and labours at it in order
to change that passion, which is akin to a created being ; and
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 255
even if he attains to perfection, he still, being fatigued, returns
to his ancient kind of labour ; for he is more inclined to endure
toil, but the other is more fortunate, for he has another person
as a teacher. But this man, by his own unassisted efforts,
investigates, and inquires, and pushes his examination, investi
gating the mysteries of nature with great earnestness, and
exerting continual and incessant labour.
For this reason God, who never changes, altered the name
of Abraham, since he was about to remain in a similar condi
tion, in order that that which was to be firmly established
might be confirmed by him who was standing firmly, and who
was remaining in the same state in the same manner. But it
was an angel who altered the name of Jacob, being the Word,
the minister of God ; in order that it might be confessed and
ascertained, that there is none of the things whose existence is
subsequent to that of the living God, which is the cause 01
unchangeable and unvarying firmness but of that
harmony which, as in a musical instrument, contains the
intensity and relaxation of sounds so as to produce an artistical
combination of melody.
XIV. But, there being three leaders and authors of this
race, the two at each extremity of it had their names changed,
namely Abraham and Jacob : but the one in the middle, Isaac,
always retained the same appellation. Why was this?
Because both that virtue which is derived from teaching and
that which is attained to by practice, admit of improvement
and advancement: for the man who receives instruction
desires a knowledge of those matters of which he is ignorant
and he who applies himself to practice desires the crowns of
victory, and the prizes which are proposed to his industrious
and contemplation-loving soul. But the race which is self-
taught and which derives all its learning from its own dili
gence, inasmuch as it exists rather by nature than by study,
was at the very beginning introduced as equal, and perfect,
and even, there being no number whatever deficient of those
which tend to completeness.
Nor indeed does Joseph have any such need, he who is the
president of the necessities of the body ; for he also changes
his name, being called Psonthomphanech by the king of the
country. And what the meaning of these names is we must
explain ; the name Joseph, being interpreted, signifies " an
256 PHILO JUD^US.
addition " For things which are put by the side are an
addition to those which exist by nature ; for instance, gold,
silver, possessions, revenues, the ministrations of servants,
abundant treasure of heirlooms, and furniture, and other
superfluities, and the infinite multitude of the different
efficients of pleasure which some persons possess ; the
provider and superintendant of which was called Joseph, or
addition, by a very felicitous nomenclature : since he had
undertaken the superintendence of the things which were to
be brought in from without, and added to the natural things
previously existing in the course of nature. And the sacred
scriptures testify that this is the case, showing that he was the
purveyor of the food of all the corporeal region, Egypt, having
stored it up in his treasure-houses.
XV. Such a person as this, then, Joseph is recognized as
being by his distinctive marks and name. Let us now see
what sort of person is indicated by the name Psonthomphanech.
Now this name being interpreted means, "a mouth judging
in an answer ; " for every foolish person thinks that the man
who is very rich and overflowing with external possessions,
must at once be wise and sensible, competent to give an
answer to any question which any one puts to him, aud com
petent also of his own head to deliver advantageous and
sagacious opinions. And, in short, by such men prudence is
supposed to be identical with good fortune, while one ought,
on the contrary, to consider good fortune as consisting in being
prudent ; for it is fitting that what is unstable should be
under the direction of that which stands firmly.
And indeed his father gave to his own uterine brother the
name of Benjamin :* but his mother called him the son of her
sorrow, speaking most completely in accordance with nature.
For the name Benjamin being interpreted means, "the son of
days:" and the day is illuminated by that light of the sun
which is perceptible by the outward senses : and to this we
liken vain glory. For that has a certain brilliancy appreciable
by the outward senses in the praises which it receives from the
multitude and from the common herd of men, in formally
enrolled decrees, in the erection of statues and images, in
purple robes and golden crowns, in chariots and teams of four
horses, and processions of the multitude. He therefore who
* Genesis xxxv. 16.
ON THE CHANGK OF SCRIPTURE NAMES 257
is an admirer and desirer of such things is verv appropriately
called a son of days : that is to say, of that light which is per
ceptible by the outward senses and of the brilliancy which at
tends vain glory. This felicitous and appropriate name the
elder word and real father imposes on him ; but the soul which
has suffered gives him a name suited to what she has suffered.
For she calls him the son of her sorrow. Why so ? Because
those men who are borne about by vain glory are supposed in
deed to be happy, but in real truth are unhappy. For the things
which oppose their happiness are numerous, envy, discontent,
emulation, continual strife, irreconcileable enmities lasting till
death, hostilities handed down in succession to one s children s
children a destiny not at all to be desired. Very necessarily
therefore did the divinely inspired prophet represent that
vain glory as dying in the very act of bringing forth ; for says
he, "Rachel died, having had a bad delivery."* Since, in
truth and reality, the sowing and generation of vain glory per
ceptible by the outward senses is the death of the soul.
XVI. And what shall we say of the sons of Joseph, Ephra-
im and Manasseh ? Are they not, in strict accordance with
nature, compared to the two eldest sons of Jacob, Reuben and
Simeon ? For the scripture says, " Thy two sons who were
born in Egypt, before that I came into Egypt, belong to me ;
Ephraim and Manasseh shall be to me as Reuben and as
Simeon. "f Let us now then see in what manner the one pair
are likened to the other pair.
Reuben is the symbol of a good natural disposition, for the
name being interpreted means, " A seeing son ;" since every
one who is endowed with tolerable acuteness of mind and a
good disposition is capable of seeing ; and Ephraim, as we
have already frequently said in other places, is a symbol of
memory, for his name being interpreted signifies, " produc
tiveness of fruit," and the most excellent fruit of the soul is
memory ; and there is no one thing so nearly akin to another
as remembering is to a man of good natural endowments.
Again, the name of Simeon is a symbol of learning and in
struction ; for, being interpreted, it signifies " listening," and
it is the especial part of a learner to listen and attend to what
is said. J>ut Manasseh is a symbol of " recollection," for
thus that art is called, from forgetfulness ; for it must of ne-
* Genesis xxxv. 16. f Geucaia xlviii. 5.
V< L. II. S
258 PHILO JUD^EUS.
cessity happen to the man who has advanced out of forget-
fulness to recollect, and recollecting especially belongs to
learning, for very often his notions escape from the man who
is learning, as out of weakness he is unable to retain them,
and then again they return to him as at the beginning.
The condition therefore which arises from this escaping of
his notions is denominated forgetfulness, and that which arises
from their returning to him is called recollection. Now is not
memory very naturally spoken of as connected with good
natural endowments, and recollection as akin to learning ?
And, indeed, the same relation which Simeon bears to Reu
ben, that is to say, learning to natural endowment, the same
does Manasseh bear to Ephraim, and the same does recollec
tion bear to memory. For as the man of good natural endow
ments is better than he who is only a learner, for the one
resembles the sense of seeing, the other that of hearing, and
hearing is always reckoned as entitled to a lesser honour than
seeing ; so also, he who is endowed with a good memory is at
all times superior to him who only recollects, because the one
is combined with forgetfulness, but the other continues unal
loyed and unadulterated from beginning to end.
XVII. And indeed the scriptures at one time call the
father-in-law of the first of the prophets Jother, and at another
time Raguel-Jother, when pride is flourishing and at its
height ; for the name Jother being interpreted means " super
fluous," and pride is superfluous in an honest and sincere life,
turning into ridicule, as it does, all that is equal and necessary
to life, and honouring the unequal things of excess and
covetousness. This passion honours human things above
divine, and customs above laws, and profane above sacred
things, and mortal above immortal things, and, in short,
appearances above reality ; and it even ventures of its own
accord to pass on into the rank of counsellors, suggesting to the
wise man not to teach those things wliich alone are worthy to
be known, namely, " the commandments of God, and the
law,"* but to study the covenants and contracts of men with
one another, which are almost the causes of the society which
exists among them being so little sociable.
But the great man is obedient in all things, thinking that
little things are adapted to little people, and that great things
* Exodus xvni. II.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 259
are justly added to the great; but very often this man who i-
wise in his own conceit, and who, passing over from the herds
which the blind had assigned to him for him to guide, having
sought out the divine herd, becomes no small portion of it ;
admiring the leader of nature, and marvelling at his way of
leading which he employs in his care of his own flocks, for the
name Raguel being interpreted, signifies the " pastoral care of
God."*
XVIII. The main part has now been explained; we will
now proceed to adduce the proofs. In the first place the
scripture represents him as the cultivator of judgment and of
justice, for the name Midian, being interpreted, means " out
of judgment." And this is said in a twofold sense, for some
times it signifies both selection and rejection, such as usually
happens to those who are competitors in those contests
which are called sacred ; for numbers as they appear not
qualified, are rejected by the masters of the games. These are
the men who have been initiated in the unholy rites of Beel-
phegor.f and having widened all the mouths of the body to
enable them to receive the streams which are poured into
them from without, for the name Beelphegor is interpreted
" the mouth above the skin," for they have overwhelmed the
mind, the governor of the body, and have sunk it down to the
lowest depth, so that it can never emerge, nor even hold up
its head in ever so slight a degree.
And it suffered this until Phinehas, the lover of peace and
manifest priest of God, came as a champion of his own accord,
being by nature a hater of all that is evil, and filled with an
admiration and desire for what is good; and as he took a
coadjutor, that is to say, the well sharpened and sharp-edged
word, competent to investigate and examine everything, he
could not be deceived, but exerting a vigorous strength, he
pierced passion through her womb, that it might not hereafter
bring forth any divinely caused evil. Now between these men
and the seeing race there is a terrible war, in which no one of
the combatants differed in language,^ but each returned home
unwounded and safe, crowned with the garlands of victory.
XIX. This now is one of the things which are shown by the
name of Midian ; another is that more excellent and judicial
species which by the affinity of marriage is connected with the
Exodus ii. 18. f Numbers xxv. 1. Exodus xxxi. 29.
8 >:
260 PHILO JUtLEUS.
prophetic race. The scripture then says, " The priest of judg
ment and justice " (that is to say, of Midian) " has seven
daughters ;"* by which seven daughters are frequently inti
mated the powers of the irrational part of the soul, the power
of generation and the voice, and the five outward senses, tend
ing the flocks of their father ; for by means of these seven
powers it is that all the progresses and increases of their
father, the mind, exist in the perceptions which are produced
from him. These, then, coming each to its appropriate ob
ject, the power of sight to colours and shapes, the sense of
hearing to sounds, the faculty of smelling to scents, taste to
flavours, and all the other faculties to those objects which are
adapted for their exercise do in a manner imbibe some of the
external objects of the outward senses, until they have filled
all the channels of the soul, and from these channels they
give drink to the sheep of their father ; I mean by these sheep
that most pure flock of the reason which bears safety and
ornament at the same time.
But the companions of envy and jealousy, the leaders of the
wicked herd coming up, drive them away from that use of
their powers which is in accordance with nature, for some
conduct these things which are without, inwards to the mind as
to a judge and a king, in order that they may do well from
having the most excellent of governors ; but others take the
opposite side, pursuing and proclaiming the exact contrary,
while it is possible for the mind to be drawn towards them,
and to give up the flock which was entrusted to it to feed.f
Until the good disposition, devoted to virtue and inspired by
God, which for awhile has appeared to be resting in inactivity,
by name Moses, holds his shield over them and defends them
from those who would attack them, nourishing the flock of his
father on wholesome words, and they having escaped the
attack of the enemies of intellect who admire only the external
appendages, like people in tragedies, go no longer to Jother
but to Raguel, for they have abandoned all connection with
pride, and have connected themselves with lawful persua
sion, choosing to become a portion of the sacred flock, of
* Exodua ii. 16.
t This passage is very corrupt in the original. I have followed
Mangey in adopting the corrections of Marsland.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 20 i
which the divine word is the leader, as his name shows, for it
signifies the pastoral care of God.
XX. But while he is taking care of his own flock, all kinds
of good things are given all at once to those of the sheep who
are obedient, and who do not resist his will ; and in the
Psalms we find a song in these words, " The Lord is my
shepherd, therefore shall I lack nothing;"* therefore the
mind which has had the royal shepherd, the divine word, for
its instructor, will very naturally ask of his seven daughters,
" Why is it that you have contended with such great haste to
come hither this day ?"f for formerly, when you met with the
objects of the outward sense, remaining a long time outside,
you were a long time in returning again by reason of the
manner in which you were allured by them, but now I do not
know what it is that has happened to you, but you are speedy
in your return, contrary to your usual custom.
Therefore they will say that there were not the same causes
why they should run back with such exceeding speed, making
the double course from the objects of the outward sense and to
the objects of the outward sense, without stopping to take
breath, and with excessive impetuosity ; but that the cause
was rather the man who delivered them from the shepherds of
the wild flock.
And they call Moses an Egyptian, a man who was not only
a Hebrew, but even a Hebrew of the very purest race, of the
only tribe which is consecrated, because they are unable to
rise above their own nature ; for the outward senses, being on
the confines between the objects of the intellect and those of
the outward senses, we must be content if they aim at l>oth of
them, and are not allured by the objects of the outward sense
alone. And to think that they are inclined only to attend to
the things which are purely objects of the intellect is great
folly; on which account they give him both these names,
since when they call him a man, they indicate the things
which are within the province of reason alone to contemplate,
and when they call him an Egyptian, they indicate the objects
of the external senses.
When he has heard this, he will again inquire, " Where is
the man ?" In what part of you is the reasonable species
dwelling ? Why have you left it so easily, and have not rather
Psalm xri : 1. t Exodua ii. 18.
262 PHILO JUD^EUS.
after having once met with it, preserved that which was the
most beautiful of possessions, and the most advantageous for
yourselves ? But even if you have not done so before, at least
call it to you now, that it may eat of and be supported by your
improvement and your close connection with him ; for perhaps
he will even dwell with you, and will bring with him the
winged, and divinely inspired, and prophetical race by name
Zipporah.
XXI. Thus much we have thought fit to say on this subject.
But, moreover, Moses also changes the name of Hosea into
that of Joshua ; displaying by his new name the distinctive
qualities of his character ; for the name Hosea is interpreted,
"what sort of a person is this?" but Joshua means, " the
salvation of the Lord," being the name of the most excellent
possible character ; for the habits are better with respect to
those persons who are of such and such qualities from being
influenced by them: as, for instance, music is better in a
musician, physic in a physician, and each art of a distinctive
quality in each artist, regarded both in its perpetuity, and in its
power, and in its unerring perfection with regard to the objects
of its speculation. For a habit is something everlasting, ener
gising, and perfect ; but a man of such and such a quality is
mortal, the object of action, and imperfect. And what is impe
rishable is superior to what is mortal, the efficient cause is better
than that which is the object of action ; and what is perfect is
preferable to what is imperfect. In this way the coinage of
the above mentioned description was changed and received the
stamp of a better kind of appearance.
And Caleb himself was changed wholly and entirely ; " For,"
as the scripture says, "a new spirit was in him;"* as if the
dominant part in him had been changed into complete perfec
tion ; for the name Caleb, being interpreted, means, " the
whole heart." And a proof of this is to be gathered from the
fact that the mind is changed, not by being biassed and
inclining in one particular direction or the other, but wholly
and entirely in the direction which is good ; and that, even if
there is any thing which is not very praiseworthy indeed, it
makes that to depart by arguments conducive to repentance ;
for, having in this manner washed off all the defilements which
* Numbers xiv. 24.
ON TOE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. ii63
polluted it, and having availed itself of the baths and purifica
tions of wisdom, it must inevitably look brilliant.
XXII. But it happens to the arch-prophet to have many
names : for when he interprets and explains the oracles which
are delivered by God, he is called Moses ; and when he prays
for and blesses the people, he is called the man of God ;* and
when Egypt is paying the penalty of its impious actions, he is
then denominated the god of him who is king of the country,
namely, of Pharaoh.f And why is all this ? Because to alter
a code of laws for the advantage of those who are to use them
is the part of a man who is always handling divine things, and
having them in his hands ; and who is called a lawgiver by the
all-knowing God, and who has received from him a great gift
the interpretation of the sacred laws, and the spirit of pro
phecy in accordance with them. For the name Moses, being
translated, signifies " gain," and it also means handling, for the
reasons which I have already enumerated. But to pray and
to bless are not the duties of any ordinary man, but they belong
to one who has not admitted any connection with created
things, but who has devoted himself to God, the governor and
the father of all men. And any one must be content to whom
it has been allowed to use the privilege of blessing. And to be
able also to procure good for others belongs to a greater and
more perfect soul, and is the profession of one who is really
inspired by God, which he who has attained to may reasonably
be called God.
But, also, this same person is God, inasmuch as he is wise,
and as on this account he rules over every foolish person, even
if such foolish person be established and strengthened by a
haughty sceptre, and be ever so proud on this account ; for the
Ruler of the universe, even though some persons are about to
be punished for intolerable acts of wickedness, nevertheless is
willing to admit some intercessors to mediate on their behalf,
who, in imitation of the merciful power of the father, exercise
their power of punishment with more moderation and humanity ;
but to do good is the peculiar attribute of God.
XXIII. Having now discussed at sufficient length the sub
ject of the change and alteration of names, we will turn to the
matters which come next in order in our proposed examination.
Immediately after the events which we have just mentioned,
Deuteronomy xxxiii. 1. t Exodus vii 1.
264 PHILO JUD^EUS.
came the birth of Isaac ; for after God had given to his mother
the name of Sarrah instead of Sarah, he said to Abraham, " I
will give unto thee a son."* We must consider each of the
things here indicated particularly. Now he who is properly
said to give any thing whatever must by all means be giving
what is his own private property. And if this is true beyond
controversy, then it would follow that Isaac must not have been
a man, but a being synonymous with that most exquisite joy of
all pleasures, namely, laughter, the adopted son of God, who
gave him as a soother and cheerer to the most peace-loving
souls ; for it is absurd to suppose that there was one who was a
man, and another of whom bastard and illegitimate offspring were
descended : and, indeed, Moses calls the man of an intellect
devoted to virtue a god, when he says, " The Lord, seeing that
Leah was hated, opened her womb."f For having felt com
passion and pity for virtue as being hated by the race of man
kind, and for the soul which Joves virtue, he makes the nature
which loves beauty barren, but opens the fountain of fecundity
and gives it a prosperous labour.
But Tamar, when she became pregnant of divine seeds, and
did not know who it was who had sown them (for it is said
that at that time she " had covered her face," as Moses did
when he turned away, having a reverential fear of beholding
God), still when she saw the tokens and the evidences and
decided within herself that it was not a mortal man who gave
these things, cried out, " To whomsoever these things belong, it
is by him that I am with child. "J Whose was the ring, or the
pledge, or the seal of the whole, or the archetypal appearance,
according to which all the things, though devoid of species and
of distinctive quality, were all stamped and marked? And
whose again was the armlet, or the ornament ; that is to say,
destiny, the link and analogy of all things which have an
indissoluble connection? Whose, again, was the staff, the
thing of strong support, which wavers not, which is not moved ;
that is to say, admonition, correction, instruction ? Whose is
the sceptre, the kingly power? does it not belong to God
alone? Therefore, the disposition inclined to confession, that
is to say, Judah, being pleased at her possessed and inspired
condition, speaks freely, saying, " She has spoken justly,
Genesis xvii. 16. f Genesis xxix. 31. + Genesis xxxviii. 25.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIITURE NAMES. 2155
because I gave her in marriage to no mortal man ; "* thinking
it an impious thing to pollute divine with profane things.
XXIV. And wisdom, which, after the fashion of a mother,
has conceived and brought forth the self-taught race, points
out that it is God who is the sower of it ; for, after the offspring
is brought forth, she speaks magnificently, saying, " The Lord
has caused me laughter ;"f an expression equivalent to, he
has fashioned, he has made, he has begotten Isaac, since Isaac
is the same with laughter. But it does not belong to every
one to hear this sound, since the evil of superstition is very
widely spread among us, and has overwhelmed many unmanly
and ignoble souls ; on which account she adds, " For whoever
hears this will not rejoice with me." As if those persons were
very few whose ears are opened and pricked up so as to bo
inclined to the reception of these sacred words, which teach
that it is the peculiar employment of the only God to sow and
to beget what is good ; to which words all other persons are
deaf.
And I know that this illustrious oracle was formerly delivered
from the mouth of the prophet, " Thy fruit has been found
from me : who is wise and will understand these things ? who is
prudent and will know them?"* But I have observed, and
comprehended, and admired him who causes to resound, and
who himself, invisible as he is, does in an invisible manner
strike the organ of the voice ; being amazed also at the same
time at what was uttered. For if there be any good thing
among existing things, that, or I should rather say the whole
heaven and the whole world, if one must tell the truth, is the
fruit of God ; being preserved upon his eternal and ever-
flourishing nature as upon a tree. But it belongs to wise and
understanding men to understand and to confess such things
as these, and not to the ignorant.
XXV. We have now then explained what is meant by the
words, " I will give unto thee." We must now explain the
words, " out of her." Some now have understood them as
meaning that which exists out of her, thinking that it has been
most correctly decided by right reason that the soul never dis
plays any peculiar beauty of its own, but only such as comes to
it from without, in accordance with the greatness of the good
will of God who showers his graces upon it. But others
Genesis xxxviii. 26. f Genesis xxi. h. $ Hosca xiv 9.
266 PHILO JUD^EUS.
understand these words to mean instant rapidity ; for that the
words (i% avrqs, which we have translated) " out of her," are
here equivalent to, " at once, immediately, without any delay,
without hesitation." And it is in this way that the gifts of
God usually come to men, outstripping the differences of time.
There is a third class of persons who say, that virtue is the
mother of all created good, without having received the seed
of it from any mortal man ; and to those who ask, whether she
who is barren has an offspring (for the holy scriptures, which
some time ago represented Sarrah as barren, now confess that
she will become a mother) ; this answer must be given, that a
woman who is barren cannot, in the course of nature, bring
forth an offspring, just as a blind man cannot see, nor a deaf
man hear ; but that the soul, which is barren of bad things,
and which is unproductive of immoderate license of the
passions and vices, is alone very nearly attaining to a happy
delivery, bringing forward objects worthy of love, namely, the
number seven, according to the hymn which is sung by Grace,
that is, by Hannah, who says, " she who was barren hath
borne seven, and she who had many children has become
weak :"* and what she means by, * She who had many chil
dren," is the mind, which being pregnant of mixed and pro
miscuous reasonings, from all quarters confused together, by
reason of the multitudes which crowd around her, and of the
disorder which they cause, brings forth incurable evils ; and
by "she who was" barren," she means that mind which had
never received any mortal seed, as if it were productive of off
spring, but has avoided and shunned all association and all
connection with the wicked, and clings to the seventh, and to
the most peaceful numbers in accordance with it, for it deserves
to be pregnant of it, and to be called its mother.
XXVI. This then is the meaning of the words, " out of
her." We must now consider the third point, namely, what
that is which is called her son. In the first place, then, there
is this worthy of our admiration, that God does not say
that he will give her many children, but that he will give her
one only. And why is this ? Because it is the nature of
what is good to be investigated, not so much with respect to
its number or magnitude, as with respect to its power; for
musical precepts, to take them for an instance, or rules of
* 1 Samuel iL 5.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. C67
grammar, or of geometry, or of justice, or of wisdom, or of
manly courage, or of temperance, are very numerous indeed ;
but the science itself of music, or grammar, or geometry, and
still more the virtue of justice, or temperance, or wisdom, or
manly courage, is only one thing, the loftiest perfection, in no
respect differing from the archetypal model, after which all
those numerous and countless precepts were formed.
And this is why he only says that he will give her one son.
And now he has called it a son, not speaking carelessly or in
considerately, but for the sake of showing that it is not a
foreign, nor a supposititious, nor an adopted, nor an illegiti
mate child, but a legitimate child, a proper citizen, inasmuch
as a foreign child cannot be the offspring of a truly citizen
soul, for the Greek word rexvov (son), is derived from roxoj
(bringing forth), by way of showing the kindred by which chil
dren are, by nature, united to their parents.
XXVII. And, says God, " I will bless her, and she shall he
a mother of nations ;"* because, not only is generic virtue di
vided into its proximate species, and into individuals subordi
nate to the species, as if into nations ; but also because, as
there are nations of living animals, so in a manner are
there nations of things, to which virtue is a very great advan
tage ; for all things which are devoid and destitute of wisdom
are mischievous, just as all places upon which the sun does
not shine are of necessity dark ; for it is by virtue that a
farmer is able to pay better attention to his crops, and by vir
tue that a charioteer drives his chariot in the horse-races so as
to avoid falling; and by virtue too, that a pilot and a steers
man guides his vessel in its voyage. Virtue again has caused
houses, and cities, and countries to be inhabited in a better
manner, making men competent to manage houses and cities,
and fit to associate with one another. Virtue also has intro
duced most excellent laws, and has sown the seeds of peace
everywhere ; since, from the contrary habit, things of a con
trary character do naturally arise war, lawlessness, bad con
stitutions, confusion, unsuccessful voyages, overthrows, that
which, in science, is the most grievous of all diseases, namely,
cunning, from which, instead of art, all kinds of evil artifice
has flowed. Very necessarily, therefore, will virtue be divided
among all nations, which are lage and collected systems of
Genesis xvii. 16.
268 PHILO JUD^US
living beings and things taken together, for the advantage of
those who receive her.
XXVIII. Immediately afterwards it is said, " And kings
of the nations shall be born of her." For those with whom
she is pregnant and whom she brings forth are all rulers ; not
because they have been elected as such for a short period by
lot, which is an uncertain thing, or by the show of hands of
men who are for the most part bribed, but because they have
been destined and appointed so for everlasting by nature herself.
And these are not my words only, but those of the most holy
scriptures, in which certain persons are introduced as saying to
Abraham, " Thou art a king from God among us ;"* not out
of consideration for his resources (for what resources could a
man have who was an emigrant and who had no city to inhabit,
but who was wandering over a great extent of impassable
country ?), but because they saw that he had a royal disposition
in his mind, so that they confessed, in the words of Moses, that
he was the only wise king.
For in real truth the wise man is the king of those who are
foolish, since he knows what he ought and what he ought not
to do ; and the temperate man is the king of the intemperate,
as he has attained to no careless or inaccurate knowledge of
what relates to choice and avoidance. Also the brave man is
kin<* over the cowardly, inasmuch as he has thoroughly learnt
what he ought to endure and what he ought not. So too the
just man is king of the unjust, as he is possessed of the know-
ledge of undeviating equality as to what is to be distributed.
And the holy man is king over the unholy, as he is possessed
with the most just and excellent notions of God.
XXIX. It was natural then for the mind, being puffed up
by these promises, to be elated and raised to an undue height
in its own estimation ; and accordingly, by way of producing
conviction in us, who were accustomed to hold up our heads at
the slightest trifles, " it falls down and immediately laughs
the laughter of the soul," looking mournful as to its face, but
smiling in its mind a great and unmixed joy having entered
into it : and both these feelings, namely, to laugh and also to
fall, do at the same time occur to a wise man who inherits
good things beyond his expectation ; the one being his fate,
as a proof that he is not over-proud because of his thorough
* Genesis xxiii. 6.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 269
knowledge of his mortal nothingness ; and the other, by way
of a confirmation of his piety on account of his looking upon
God as the sole cause of all graces and of all good things.
Let, then, the creature fall down and wear a melancholy
countenance very naturally ; for it has no stability in its own
nature, and as far as that goes is easily dissolved ; but let it
be raised up again by God, and laugh, for he alone is the sup
port and joy of it.
And here any one may reasonably express a doubt how it is
possible for any one to laugh when laughter had not as yet
come among one branch of the creation ; for Isaac is laughter,
who, according to the account under our consideration at
present, was not yet born. For just as it is impossible to see
without eyes, or to hear without ears, or to smell without nos
trils, or to exert any other of the external senses without the
organs adapted to each respectively, or to comprehend without
the reason, so also it is not likely that a person can have
laughed, if laughter had not as yet been made. What, then,
are we to say? Nature foreshows many of the things which
are hereafter to happen by certain symbols. Do you not see
how the young bird, before it commits itself to the air, is fond
of fluttering its wings and shaking its pinions, giving a
previous happy indication of its hope that it will be able to
tly ? And have you never seen a lamb, or a kid, or an ox,
while still young, and before his horns are as yet grown and
noticed, if by chance any one irritates him, how he opposes
him, and moves forward to defend himself with those parts in
which nature has planted his arms for defence ? And in the
battles which take place with wild beasts, the bulls do not at
once gore the adversaries who are opposed to them, but stand
ing well apart, and relaxing their neck in a moderate degree
and bending their htads on one side, and looking fierce, as it
were, they then, after a truce, rush on with the determination
of persevering in the contest. And this sort of conduct those
who are in the habit of inventing new words call sparring,"
being a sort of sham attack before the real one.
XXX. And the soul is subject to many things of much the
same kind. For when something good is hoped for it rejoices
beforehand, so that in a manner it rejoices before its joy, and
is delighted before its delight. And one may also compare
this to what happens with respect to plants; for they, too,
270 PHILO JUD^US.
when they are about to bear fruit, bud beforehand and flower
previously, and are green previously.
Look at the cultivated vine, how marvellously it is furnished
by nature with young shoots, and tendrils, and suckers, and
leaves redolent of wine, which, though they utter no voice, do
nevertheless indicate the joy of the tree at the coming fruit.
And the day also laughs in anticipation of the early dawn,
when the sun is about to rise ; for one ray is a messenger of
another, and one beam of light, as the forerunner of another
though more obscure, is still a herald of that which shall be
brighter.
Therefore, joy accompanies a good when it is already
arrived, and hope while it is expected. For we rejoice when
it is come, and we hope while it is corning ; just as is the case
also with the contrary feelings ; for the presence of evil brings
us grief, and the expectation of evil generates fear, and fear
is nothing more than grief before grief, as hope is joy before
joy. For the same relation that, I imagine, fear bears to grief,
that same does hope bear to joy. And the external senses
afford very manifest proofs of what has now been said; for
smell, sitting as it were in front of taste, pronounces judgment
beforehand on almost every thing which is eaten and drunk ;
from which fact some persons have very felicitously named it
the foret aster, having a regard to its employment. And so
hope is by nature adapted to have as it were a foretaste of the
coming good : and to represent it to the soul, which is to have
a firm possession of it.
Moreover, when any one who is engaged in a journey is
hungry or thirsty, if he on a sudden sees a fountain or all
kinds of trees weighed down with eatable fruits, he is at once
filled with a hope of enjoyment, not only before he has either
eaten or drunk, but before he has either come near them or
gathered of them. And do we then think that we are able to
feast on the nourishment of the body before we receive it, but
that the food of the mind is not able to render us cheerful
beforehand, even when we are on the very point of feasting on
it?
XXXI. He laughed then very naturally, even though
laughter did not as yet appear to have been scattered among
thehuman race : and not only did he laugh but the woman
also laughed; for it is said presently, "And Sarrah laughed in
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 271
herself, saving, There has never up to the present time
come any good unto me of its own accord without care on
my part ; but he who has promised is my Lord, and is older
than all creation, and him I must of necessity believe." And
at the same time it also teaches us that virtue is naturally a
thing to be rejoiced at, and that he who possesses it is at all
times rejoiced ; and, on the contrary, that vice is a painful
thing, and that he who possesses that is most miserable.
And do we even now marvel at those philosophers who
affirm that virtue consists in apathy ? For, behold, Moses is
found to be the leader of this wise doctrine, as he represents
the good man as rejoicing and laughing. And in other pas
sages he not only speaks of him in that way, but also of all
those who come to the same place with him ; for he says, " And
when he seeth thee he will rejoice in himself;"* as if the bare
sight of a good man were by itself sufficient to fill the mind
with cheerfulness while the soul would cast off its most fearful
burden, sorrow.
But it is not allowed to every wicked man to rejoice, as it is
said in the predictions of the prophet, " There is no rejoicing
for the wicked, says God."f For this is truly a divine saying
and oracle, that the life of every wicked man is melancholy,
and sad, and full of unhappiness, even if with his face he pre
tends to feel happiness ; for I should not say that the Egyp
tians rejoiced in reality when they heard that the brethren of
Joseph were come, but that they only feigned joy, putting on a
false appearance like hypocrites ; for no con victor, when stand
ing by and pressing upon a foolish man is a pleasure to him,
just as no physician is to an intemperate man who is sick ; for
labour attends on what is useful, and laziness on what is hurt
ful. And those who prefer laziness to labour are very naturally
hated by those who advise them to a course which will be use
ful and laborious.
When, therefore, you hear that " Pharaoh and all his
servants rejoiced on account of the arrival of Joseph s
brethren,"| do- not think that they rejoiced in reality, unless
perhaps in this sense, that they expected that he would become
changed from the good things of the soul in which he had
been brought up, and would come over to the profitless appe-
Exodua iv. 14. f Isaiah xlviii. 22. J Genesis xlv. 16.
272 FHILO JUD.EUS.
tites of the body, having adulterated the ancient and hereditary
coinage of that virtue which was akin to him.
XXXII. The mind, then, which is devoted to pleasure,
having entertained these hopes, does not think that it is suffi
cient to attract the younger men, and those who are as yet
only attending the schools of temperance, by its allurements ;
bnt it looks upon it as a terrible thing, if it cannot also bring
over the elder reasoning, the more impetuous passions of which
have now passed their prime ; for in a subsequent passage
Joseph says to them, proposing injuries to them as though they
were benefits, "Now, therefore, bringing with you your father
and all your possessions, come hither to me;"* speaking in
this way of Egypt and of that terrible king who drags back all
our paternal inheritance and the good things which really
belong to us and which have advanced beyond the body (for by
nature they are free), endeavouring by force to surrender
them to a very bitter prison, having, as the holy scripture tells
us, "appointed as guardian of the prison Pentaphres, the
eunuch and chief cook,"f who was a man in great want of all
that is good, and who had been deprived of the generative
parts of the soul ; and who was also unable to sow and to
plant any of those things which bear upon instruction ; but who
like a cook slew the living animals, and cut them up and
divided them in different portions limb by limb, and who
wallowed about in dead and lifeless bodies and things equally,
and who, by his superfluous preparations and refinements,
excited and stirred up the appetites of the profitless passions,
which it was natural to expect that those who were able to
tame them should mollify. And he also says, I will give
unto you of all the good things of Egypt, and you shall eat of
the marrow of the earth." J
But we will say unto him, We who keep our eyes fixed on
the good things of the soul do not desire those of the body.
For that most delicious desire of the former things, when once
implanted in the mind, is well calculated to engender a forget-
fulness of all those things which are dear to the flesh
XXXIII. Something like this, then, is the falsely named
joy of the foolish. But the true joy has already been described,
Avhich is adapted only to the virtuous, " Therefore, falling
Genesis xlv. 18. f Genesis xxxix. 1. Genesis xlv. 18.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 273
down, he laughed."* Not falling from God, but from himself;
for he stood near the unchangeable God, but he fell from his
own vain opinion. On which account that pride which was wise
in its own conceit, having been thrown down, and the feeling
which is devoted to God having been raised in its place, and
being established around the only unalterable being, he, imme
diately laughing, said in his mind, " Shall a child be bom to
one who is a hundred years old. and shall Sarrah, who is ninety
years old, have a child?" Do not fancy, my good friend,
that that word, "he said" not with his mouth but "in his
mind, "f has been added for no especial use ; on the contrary, it
is inserted with great accuracy and propriety. Why so?
Because ir. seems by his saying, " Shall a child be bom to him
who is a hundred years old?" that he had a doubt about the
birth of Isaac, in which he was previously stated to believe ; as
what was predicted a little before showed, speaking thus,
" This child shall not be thy heir, but he who shall come out
of thce;" and immediately afterward he says, "Abraham
believed in the Lord, and it was counted to him for right-
eousness."
Since then it was not consistent for one who had already
believed to doubt, he has represented the doubt as of no long
continuance, extending only as far as the mouth and the
tongue, and stopping there at the mind which is endowed with
such celerity of motion ; for, says the scripture, " he said in his
mind," which nothing, and no person ever so celebrated for
swiftness of foot, could ever be able to outstrip, since it out
runs even all the winged natures ; on which account the most
illustrious of all the Greek poets appears to me to have said :
" Swift as a winged bird or fleeter thought."
Showing by these words the exceeding speed of its promptitude,
placing the thought after the winged bird as a sort of climax ;
for the mind advances at. the same moment to very many
tilings and bodies, hurrying on with indescribable impetuosity,
and without a moment s lapse of time it speeds at once to the
borders of both earth and sea, bringing together and dividing
infinite magnitudes by a single word ; and at the same time it
soars to such a height above the earth, that it penetrates
Genesis xvii. 17. f Genesis xvii. 20.
Homer. Odyssey viii 171.
VOL. II. T
274 PHILO JUDJEUS.
through the air and reaches even the aether, and scarcely
stops at the very furthest circle of the fixed stars.
For the fervid and glowing heat of that region does not
suffer it to rest tranquil ; on which account, overleaping many
things, it is borne far beyond every boundary perceptible by
the outward senses, to that which is compounded of ideas and
appearances by the law of kindred. On which account in the
good man there is a slight change, indivisible, unapportionable,
not perceptible by the outward senses, but only by the intellect,
and being in a manner independent of them.
XXXIV. But, perhaps, some one may say, What then ? is he
who has once believed bound never to admit the slightest
trace, or shadow, or moment of incredulity at all ? But this
man appears to me to have nothing else in his mind except an
idea of proving the creature uncreated, and the mortal immor
tal, and the corruptible incorruptible, and man, if it be lawful
to say so, God. For he says that the belief which man has
once conceived ought to be so firm as in no respect to differ
from that which is entertained of the truly living God and
which is complete in every part; for Moses, in his greater
hymn, says, " God is faithful, and there is no unrighteousness
in him."* And it is great folly to fancy that the soul of
man is able to contain the virtues of God, which never vary
and which are established on the most solid footing ; for it is
sufficient, and one must be content to have been able to acquire
the images of them, though they are inferior to the archetypal
patterns by many and large numbers. And is not this reason
able ? for it follows of necessity that the virtues of God must
be pure and unmixed, since God is not a compound being,
inasmuch as he is a single nature; on the other hand, the
virtues of men must be mixed with some alloy, since we our
selves are compounds, the divine and human nature being
combined in us, and adapted together according to the princi
ples of perfect music ; and that which is composed of many
separate things has a natural attraction to each of its parts.
But he is happy to whom it has happened that for the greater
portion of his life he has inclined towards the more excellent
and more divine part; for that he should have done so all his
life is impossible, since at times the mortal weight which is
opposed to him has preponderated in the opposite scale, and
* Deuteronomy xxxii. 4.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 275
impending over his mind, has kept watch for the opportunities
of coming upon his reason at an unfavourable time, so as to
drag it back again.
XXXV. Abraham therefore believed in God ; but he
believed as a man ; that you may be aware of the peculiar
attribute of mortals, and may learn that his fall did not
happen to him in any other way than in consequence of the
ordinances of nature. And if it was of short duration and
only momentary, it is a thing to be thankful for : for many
other men have been so overturned by the violence and impe
tuosity of error, and by its irresistible force, that they have
been utterly destroyed for ever. For know, my good man, that,
according to the most holy Moses, virtue is not perfect in the
human body, but it suffers something like torpor, and is often
ever so little lame. For says the scripture, " The broader
part of his thigh became torpid, on which he was lame."* And
perhaps some man of an over-confident disposition may come
forward and say that this is not the language of one who dis
believes, but of one praying, so that if that most excellent of
all the happy feelings were about to be produced, it would not
be brought forth according to any other number than that of
ninety years, that so the perfect good might arrive at its pro
duction according to perfect numbers.
But the aforesaid numbers are perfect, and especially ac
cording to the sacred scriptures. And let us consider each of
them :. now first of all there is the son of the just Noah and
the ancestor of the seeing race, and he is said to have been a
hundred years old when he begot Arphaxad.f and the meaning
of the name Arphaxad is, "he disturbed sorrow." At all events
it is a good thing that the offspring of the soul should confuse,
and disorder, and destroy that miserable thing iniquity, so full
of evils.
But Abraham also planted a field.J using the ratio of an
hundred for the measurement of the ground : and Isaac found
some barley yielding a hundred fold. And Moses also made
the vestibule of the sacred tabernacle in a hundred arches, ||
measuring out the distance towards the east and towards the
west. Moreover the ratio of a hundred is the first fruit of
* Genesis xxxii. 25. t Genesis xl 10.
Genems xxl 33. Genesis xxvi. 12.
|| Exodus xxvii. 9.
T 2
276 PHILO JTJD^EUS.
the- first fruit which the Levites assign to those who are conse
crated to the priesthood ; * for after they have taken the
tenths from the nation they are enjoined to give unto the
priests a sacred tenth of the whole share, as if from their own
possessions. And if a person were to consider, he might find
many other instances to the praise of the aforesaid number
brought forward in the law of Moses, but for the present what
have been enumerated are sufficient. But if from the hundred
you set aside the tenth part as a sacred first fruit to God who
produces, and increases, and brings to perfection the fruit of
the soul for how can it be anything but perfect, inasmuch
as it is on the confines between the first and the tenth, in the
same manner in which the Holy of Holies is separated by the
veil in the middle . .t by which those things which are of
the same genus are divided according to the differences in
species ?
XXXVI. Therefore the good man was speaking and saying
things which were really good in his mind. But the bad man
at times interprets good things in a very excellent manner, but
nevertheless does shameful things in a most shameful one, as
Shechem does who is the offspring of folly. For he is the son
of Hamon his father, and the name Hamon, being trranslated,
means " an ass," but the name Shechem means " a shoulder"
when interpreted, the symbol of labour. But that labour of
which folly is the parent is miserable and full of suffering, as,
on the other hand, that labour is useful to which prudence is
related. Accordingly the holy scriptures tell us that,
" Shechem spake according to the mind of the virgin, having
first humbled her."J Is it not said then, with great purpose
and accuracy, that he spake according to the mind of the dam
sel, for the purpose of showing distinctly that he acted in a
contrary manner to that in which he spoke? For Dinah
means incorruptible judgment: justice the attribute seated
by God, the everlasting virgin ; for the name Dinah, being
interpreted, means either thing, judgment or justice.
Fools, then, laying violent hands upon and attempting to
defile her, by means of their daily designs and practices, by
their plausibility of speech escape conviction. Therefore
Numbers xviii 28. t There is a hiatus in the text here.
Genesis xxxiv. 3.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 277
they must either act in a manner consistent with the lan
guage that they hold, or else they must hold their tongues
while committing iniquity. For it is said, " Silence is one half
of evil :" as Moses says when rebuking the man who accounted
the creature worthy of the principal honour, and the immortal
God worthy only of the second place, " Thou hast sinned, be
silent." For to use bombastic language, and to boast of one s
evil deeds, is a double sin : and men in general are very prone
to this ; for they are constantly saying what is pleasing to
the ever-virgin virtue, and such things as are just: but they
never omit any opportunity of insulting and violating her when
they are able.
For what city is there which is not full of those who are
continually celebrating the praises of virtue ? men who weary
the ears of those who hear them by everlastingly dwelling on
such subjects as these ; wisdom is a necessary good ; folly is
pernicious ; temperance is desirable ; intemperance is hateful ;
courage is a thing proper to be cultivated ; cowardice must be
avoided ; justice is advantageous ; injustice is disadvantageous ;
holiness is honourable; unholiness is shameful ; piety towards
the gods is praiseworthy ; impiety is blameable ; that which is
most akin to the nature of man is to design, and to act, and to
speak virtuously ; that which is most alien from his nature
is to do the contrary of all these things.
By continually stringing together these and similar aphorisms
they deceive the courts of justice, and the council cham
bers, and the theatres, and every assembly and company
which they meet ; as men who put beautiful masks on ugly
faces, with the intention of not being discovered by those who
see them. But it is of no use ; for some persons will come
endowed with great vigour, and occupied with a real zeal and
admiration for virtue, and who will Strip them of all their
coverings, and disguises, and appendages which they had
woven round themselves by the evil artifice of plausible
speeches, and will display their soul naked by itself as it
really is, and will make themselves acquainted with the secret
things of their nature which are hidden as it were in recesses.
And then having brought to light all its shame and all the
reproaches to which it is liable, they will display them in
broad daylight to every one, and show what sort of thing it is,
how disgraceful and ridiculous, and what a spurious kind of
Q78 PHILO JTJDvEUS.
beauty it has disguised itself with by means of its appendages
and coverings.
And those who are prepared to avenge themselves on such
profane and impure dispositions are Simeon and Levi,* two
indeed in number, but only one in mind ; on which account, in
his blessings of his sons, their father numbers them together
under one classification, on account of the harmonious charac
ter of their unanimity and of their violence in one and the
same direction. But Moses does not make any mention of
them afterwards as a pair, but classes the whole tribe of Simeon
under that of Levi, combining together two essences, of which
he made one impressed as it were with one idea and appear
ance, uniting hearing to doing.
XXXVII. When, therefore, the virtuous man knew that
the promise was uttering things full of reverence and prudent
caution, according to his own mind, he admitted both these
feelings into his breast, namely, faith in God, and incredulity
as to the creature. Very naturally therefore he says, using the
language of entreaty, " Would that this Ishmael might live
before *thee,"t using each word of those which he utters here
with deliberate propriety, namely, the "this," the "might
live," the " before thee." For it is no small number of per
sons who have been deceived by the similarity of the names of
different things, and we had better examine here what I am
saying.
The name Ishmael, being interpreted, means " the hearing
of God," but some men listen to the divine doctrines to their
benefit, and others listen to both his admonitions and to those
of others only to their destruction. Do you not recollect the
case of the soothsayer Balaam ? J He is represented as hear
ing the oracles of God, and as having received knowledge from
the Most High, but what advantage did he reap from such
hearing, and what good accrued to him from such knowledge ?
In hisintention he endeavoured to injure the most excellent
eye of the soul, which alone has received such instruction as to
be able to behold God, but he was unable to do so by reason of
the invincible power of the Saviour ; therefore, being over
thrown by his own insane wickedness, and having received
many wounds, he perished amid the heaps of wounded, be-
* Deuteronomy xxxiii. G. t Genesis xvii. 18.
J Numbers xxiv. 17. Numbers xxxi S.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 079
cause he had stamped beforehand the divinely inspired pro
phecies with the sophistry of the soothsayers.
Very righteously, therefore, does the good man pray that
this his only son, Ishmael, may he sound in mind and health,
because of those persons who do not listen in a sincere spirit
to the sacred admonitions, whom Moses lias expressly forbidden
to come into the assembly of the Ruler of the universe, for
those men are broken as to the generative parts of their
minds, or are even rendered completely impotent in that
respect, who magnify their own minds, and their external
sense, as the only causes of all the events which take place
among men ; and there are others who are lovers of a system
of polytheism, and who honour the company which is devoted
to the service of many gods, being the sons of a harlot, having
no knowledge of the one husband and father of the virtue-
loving soul, namely, God ; and are not all these men very pro
perly driven away and banished from the assembly of God ?
They appear to me very much to resemble those parents who
accuse their sons of intemperance in wine, for they say.
44 This our son is disobedient,"* indicating, by the addition of
the word * this," that they have other sons likewise who are
temperate and self-denying, and who obey the injunctions of
right reason and instruction ; for these are the most genuine
parents, by whom it is a most disgraceful thing to be accused,
and a most glorious thing to be praised.
Then as to the words, " This is Aaron and Moses, whom
God directed to lead the children of Israel out of EgypC f
and the expression, " These are they who conversed with
Pharaoh the king." Let us not think that they are used su
perfluously, or that they do not convey some intimations
beyond the mere open meaning of the words ; for since Moses
is the purest mind, and Aaron is his speech, and moreover,
since the mind has been taught to think of divine things in a
divine manner, and since the speech has learnt to interpret
holy things in holy language, the sophists imitating them, and
adultrruting the genuine coinage, say, that they also conceive
rightly, and speak in a praiseworthy manner about what is
most excellent.
In order, therefore, that we may not be deceived by a placing
of the base money in juxtaposition with the good, by reason of
Deuteronomy xri. 20. t Exodus vl 26.
280 PHILO JUD^US.
the similitude of the impression, he has given us a test by
which they may be distinguished. What then is the test ? To
bring out of the region of the body the mind, endowed with
the power of seeing, fond of contemplation and philosophical ;
for he who can do this is this same Moses ; and he who is un
able really to do so, but who is only said to be able, and who
makes professions with infinite pomp and magnitude of lan
guage, is laughed at.
But he prays that Ishmael may live, not meaning to refer
to the life in conjunction with the body, but he prays that the
divine voice, dwelling for evermore in his soul, may awaken
and vivify it.
XXXVIII. And he indeed prays that the hearing of sacred
Avords and the learning of sacred doctrine may live, as has been
already said ; but Jacob, the practiser of virtue, prays that
the good natural disposition may live ; for he savs, " May
Reuben live and not die,"* does he then here pray for immor
tality for him, a thing impossible for man to attain to?
Surely not, we must then explain what it is which he intends
to signify. All the lessons and all the admonitions of in
struction are built up and established on the nature which is
calculated to receive instruction, as on a foundation previously
laid ; but if there is no natural foundation previously in
existence, everything is useless ; for men, by nature destitute
of sense, would not appear at all to differ from a stock or a
lifeless stone ; for nothing could possibly be adapted to them
so as to cleave to them, but everything would rebound and
spring back as from some hard body.
But on the other hand, we may see the souls of those who
are well endowed by nature, like a well -smoothed waxen tablet,
neither too solid nor too tender, moderately tempered, and
easily receiving all admonitions and all lessons, and themselves
giving an accurate representation of any impression which has
been stamped upon them, being a sort of distinct image of
memory.
It was therefore indispensable to pray that a good natural
disposition, free from all disease and from all mortality, should
be joined to the rational race ; for they are but few who partake
of the life according to virtue, which is the most real and
genuine life. I do not mean of the common herd of men
* Deuteronomy xxxiii. 6.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 281
only, for of them there is not one who partakes of real life :
but even of those to whom it has been granted to shun the
objects of human desire, and to live to God alone. On which
account the practiser of virtue, that courageous man, marvelled
greatly, if any one being borne along the middle of the stream
of life, was not dragged down by any violence, but was able to
withstand the flow of abundant wealth coming over him, and
to stem the impetuosity of immoderate pleasure, and to avoid
being carried away by the whirlwind of vain opinion.
At all events Jacob does not speak to Joseph more than the
sacred scripture speaks to every one who is vigorous in his
body, and who is seen to be immersed amid abundant treasures,
and riches, and superfluities, and to be overcome by none of
them, when he says, " For still thou livest," uttering a most
marvellous sentiment, and one which is quite beyond the daily
life of us who, if we have fallen in with ever so slight a breeze
which bears us towards good fortune, immediately set all sail
and become greatly elated, and being full of great and high
spirits, hurry forward with all our speed to the indulgence of
our passions, and never will check our unbridled and immo
derately excited desires until we run ashore and are wrecked
as to the whole vessel of our souls.
XXXIX. Very beautifully therefore, do we pray that this
Ishmael may live. Therefore, Abraham adds, " May he live
before God," looking upon it as the perfection of all happiness
for the mind to be accounted worthy of him who is the most
excellent of all beings, as its inspector and overseer ; for if,
while the teacher is present tho pupil cannot go wrong, and if
a monitor being at hand is of service to the learner, and if
while an elder person is present the younger man is adorned
by modesty and temperance, and if the presence of his father
or of his mother have often prevented a son when about to
commit sin, even though they are only beheld by him in
silence, then what excess of good must we imagine that man to
enjoy, who believes that he is always watched and beheld by
God ? for while he fears and reverences and looks up to the
dignity of him as being present, he will flee from committing
iniquity with all his might.
But when he prays that Ishmael may live, he does not
despair of the birth of Isaac, as I have already said, but he
believes in God ; tor it does not follow that what it is possible*
* Genesis xlv. 28.
282 PHILO .TTTIMEUS.
for God to give, it is also possible for man to receive, since to
God it is easy to give the most numerous and important
benefits, but to us it is not easy to accept of the gifts which
are proffered to us ; for we must he content, if, by means
of labour and diligence, we obtain a share of those good things
which are familiar and customary to us. But there is no hope
that we can attain to those which come of their own accord,
and from some ever ready and previously prepared source,
without any art, or in short, any human contrivance whatever ;
for inasmuch as these things are divine, they must of neces
sity be found out by more divine and unadulterated natures,
such as have no connection with any mortal body. And Moses
has shown that every one, to the best of his power, ought to
make grateful acknowledgments for benefits received; for
instance, that the clever man ought to offer up as a sacrifice
his acuteness and wisdom ; the eloquent man should consecrate
all his excellences of speech, by means of psalms and a regular
enumeration of the greatness and panegyric on the living God ;
and to proceed with each species, he who is a natural philoso
pher should offer up his natural philosophy; he who is a
moral philosopher should make an offering of his ethical
philosophy; he who is skilful in any art or science should
dedicate to God his knowledge of the arts and sciences.
Thus again a sailor and a pilot should dedicate their suc
cessful voyage ; the agricultural farmer, his productive crops ;
the stock-farmer, the prolific increase of his flocks and herds ;
the physician, the good health of his patients ; the commander
of an army, his success in war ; the magistrate or the king will
offer up his administration of the laws or his sovereign power.
And, in short, the man w ? ho is not blinded by self-love, looks
upon the only true maker of all things, God, as the cause of
all the good things affecting his soul, or body, or his external
circumstances. Let no one therefore, of those who seem to be
somewhat obscure and humble, from a despair of any better
hope, hesitate to become a suppliant to God. But even if he
no longer looks forward to any greater advantages, still let
him, to the best of his power, give God thanks for the blessings
which he has already received, and in effect, those which he
has received are countless ; his birth, his life, his soul, his
food, his outward senses, his imagination, his inclinations, hip
reason ; and reason is a very short word, but a most perfect
and admirable thing, a fragment of the soul of the universe,
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 283
or, as it is more pious to say for those who study philosophy
according to Moses, a very faithful copy of the divine image.
XL. It is right also to praise those inquirers after truth,
who have endeavoured to tear up and carry off the whole trunk
of virtue, root and branch : but since they have not been able
to do it, have at least taken either a single shoot, or a single
bunch of the fruit, as a specimen and portion of the whole tree,
being all that they were able to bear.*
It is a desirable thing, indeed, to associate at once with the
entire company of the virtues ; but if this be too great an
indulgence to be granted to human nature, let us be content if
it has fallen to our lot to be connected with any one of the
particular virtues, as a portion of the whole band, such as
temperance, or courage, or justice, or humanity ; for the soul
may produce and bring forth some good from even one of them,
and so avoid being barren and unproductive of any.
But will you impose any such injunctions as. these on your
own son ? Unless you treat your servants with gentleness,
do not treat those of the same rank as yourself socially. Un
less you behave decorously to your wife, never bear yourself
respectfully to your parents. If you neglect your father and
your mother, be impious also towards God. If you delight in
pleasure, you must not keep aloof from covetousness. Do you
desire great riches ? Then be also eager for vain-glory. For what
more need we add ? Need you not desire to be moderate in
some things unless you are able to be so in all ? Would not
your son say to you in such a case, My father, what do you
mean ? Do you wish your son to become either perfectly
good or perfectly bad, and will you not be content if he keeps
the middle path between the two extremes ? Was it not for
this reason that Abraham also, at the time of the destruction
of Sodom, began at fifty and ended at ten ?t
Therefore, propitiating and supplicating God, entreat him
that if there could not be found among his creatures a com
plete remission so as to give them liberty, of which the sacred
number of fifty is a symbol, at least the intermediate instruc
tion which is equal in number to the decade, might be
accepted for the sake of the deliverance of the soul which was
about to be condemned. But those who are instructed have
many more opportunities of prayer than those who are desti
tute of teachers, and those who are well initiated in encyclical
* Numbers liii. 25. f Genesis xviii. 32
284 PHILO JUD^US.
accomplishments have more opportunities than those who are
unmusical and illiterate, inasmuch as they from their childhood
almost have been imbued with all the lessons of virtue, and
temperance, and all kinds of excellence. Wherefore, even
if they have not entirely got rid of and effaced old marks
of iniquity so as to wear a completely clean appearance, at
least they have purified themselves in a reasonable and mode
rate degree.
And it is something like this that Esau seems to have said
to his father, 4i Have you not one blessing for me, my father ?
Bless me, bless me, also, O my father ! "* For different
blessings have been set apart for different persons, perfect
blessings for the perfect, and moderate blessings for the im
perfect. As is the case also with bodies ; for there are
different exercises appropiiate to those which are in health,
and to those which are sick. And also different regimens of
food, and different systems of living, and not the same. But
some things are suitable to the one kind that they may not
become at all diseased ; and other things are good for the
other sort, that they may be changed and rendered more
healthy.
Since, therefore, there are many good things existing in
nature, give me that which appears to be best adapted to my
circumstances, even if it be the most trifling thing possible ;
looking at this one point alone, whether I shall be able to bear
what is given me with equanimity, and not, like a wretched
person, sink under and be overwhelmed by it.
Again, what do we imagine to be me?nt by the words, " Will
not the hand of the Lord be sufficient ?"t Do they not sig
nify that the powers of the living God penetrate everywhere
for the purpose of conferring benefits, not only on those who
are noble, but on those also who appear to be in a more ob
scure condition, to whom also God gives such things as are
suitable to the measure and weight of the soul of each indi
vidual, conjecturing and measuring in his own mind with
perfect equality what is proportionate to the circumstances and
requirements of each.
XLI. But what makes an impression on me in no ordinary
degree is the law which is enacted with respect to those who
put off their sins and seem to be repentant For this law
commands that the first victim which such persons offer shall
* Genesis xxvii. 28. t Numbers xi. 2:3.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. ^ v "i
be a female sheep without spot. But if, it proceeds, * his
hand is not strong enough to bring a sheep, then for the trespass
which he has committed he shall bring two turtle doves or
two young pigeons, one for his trespass and one for a burnt
offering ; and if his hand cannot find a pair of turtle doves or
two young pigeons, then he shall bring as his gift the tenth part
of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering; he shall not pour
oil upon it, nor shall he place any frankincense thereon,
because it is a sin offering ; and he shall bring it to the priest,
and the priest having taken it from him shall take a full hand
ful of it, and place it as a memorial on the altar."*
God therefore here is propitiated by three different kinds
of repentance, by the aforesaid beasts, or by the birds, or by
the white flour, according, in short, to the ability of him who
is being purified and who repents. For small offences do not
require great purifications, nor are small purifications fit for
great crimes; but they should be equal, and similar, and in
due proportion. It is worth while, therefore, to examine what
is meant by this purification which may be accomplished in
three ways.
Now it may almost be said that both offences and good
actions are perceived to exist in three things ; in intention, or
in words, or in actions. On which account Moses, teaching in
his hortatory admonitions that the attainment of good is not
impossible nor even very difficult, says, " It is not necessary
to so.nr up to heaven, nor to go to the borders of the earth
and sea, for the attainment of it, but it is near, yea, and very
near." f And then in a subsequent passage he shows it all
but to the naked eye as one may say, where he says, Every
action is in thy mouth, or in thy heart, or in thy hands :"J
meaning under this symbolical expression, in thy words, or in
thy designs, or in thy actions. For he means that human
happiness consists in wise design, and good language, and
righteous actions, just as the unhappiness arises from the con
trary course. For both well-doing and wrong-doing exist in
the same regions, in the heart, or in the mouth, or in the hand ;
for some persons decide in the most righteous, and sagacious
manner, some speak most excellently, some do only what ought
to be done : again, of the three sources of error the most unim
portant is to design to do what ought not to be done, the most
grievous is to do what is iniquitous, the middle evil is to speak
* Leviticua v. 5. t Deut. rxx. 10. J Deut. xxx. 14.
286 PHILO JUD.EUS.
improperly. But it often happens that even what is least im
portant is the most difficult to be removed ; for it is very hard
to bring an agitated state of the soul to tranquillity ; and one
may more easily check the impetuosity of a torrent than the
perversion of the soul which is hurrying in a wrong direction,
without restraint. For innumerable notions coming one upon
the other like the waves of a stormy sea, bearing everything
along with them, and throwing everything into confusion,
overturn the whole soul with irresistible violence.
Therefore the most excellent, and most perfect kind of pu
rification is this, not to admit into one s mind any improper
notions, but to regulate it in peace and obedience to law, the
ruler of which principles is justice. The next kind is, not to
offend in one s language either by speaking falsely, or by
swearing falsely, or by deceiving, or by practising sophistry,
or by laying false informations; or, in short, by letting loose one s
mouth and tongue to the injury of any one, as it is better to
put a bridle and an insuperable chain on those members.
XLII. But why it is a more grievous offence to say what
is wrong than only to think it, is very easy to see. For some
times a person thinks without any deliberate previous inten
tion of so thinking, but inconsiderately : for he is compelled to
admit ideas in his mind which he does not wish to admit ; and
nothing which is involuntary is blameable : but a man speaks
intentionally, so that if he utters words which are not proper
he is unhappy and is committing offence, since he does riot
even by chance choose to say anything that is proper, and it
would be more for his advantage to adopt that safest expedient
of silence : and, in the second place, anyone who is not silent
can be silent if he pleases.
But what is even a still more grievous offence than speaking
wrongly, is unjust action. For the word, as it is said, is the
shadow of the deed ; and how can an injurious deed help being
more mischievous than a shadow of the same character? On
this account Moses released the mind, even when it yielded to
many involuntary perversions and errors, from accusations and
from penalties, thinking that it was rather acted upon by
notions which forced their way into it, than was itself acting.
But whatever goes out through the mouth that he makes the
utterer responsible for and brings him before the tribunal,
since the act of speaking is one which is in our own power.
But the investigation to which words are subject is a more
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 287
moderate one, and that with whicn words are united is a more
vigorous one. For he imposes severe punishments on those
who commit gross offences, and who carry out in action, and
utter with hasty tongues what they have designed in their
unjust minds.
XLIII. Therefore he has called the purifying victims which
are to be offered up for the three offenders, the mind,
speech, and the action, a sheep, and a pair of turtle doves or
pigeons, and the tenth part of a sacred measure of fine flour ;
thinking it fit that the mind should be purified by a sheep,
the speech by winged creatures, and the action by fine flour :
Why is this ? Because, as the mind is the most excellent
thing in us, so also is the sheep the most excellent among
irrational animals, inasmuch as it is the most gentle, and also
as it gives forth a yearly produce in its fleece, for the use and
also for the ornament of mankind. For clothes keep off all
injury from both cold and heat, and also they conceal the
unmentionable parts of nature, and in this way they are an
ornament to those who use them : therefore the sheep, as
being the most excellent of animals, is a symbol of the purifi
cation of the most excellent part of man, the mind.
And birds are an emblem of the purification of the speech :
for speech is a light thing, and winged by nature, flying and
penetrating in every direction more swiftly than an arrow.
For what is once said can never be re-called ;* but being borne
abroad, and running on with great swiftness, it strikes the ears
and penetrates every sense of hearing, resounding loudly :
but speech is of two kinds, one true and the other false ; on
which account it appears to me to be here compared to a pair
of turtle doves or young pigeons : and of these birds one he
says is to be looked upon as a sin offering, and one is to be
sacrificed as a burnt offering, since the speech which is true
is wholly and in all respects sacred and perfect, but that which
is false is very wrong and requires correction.
Again, as I have already said, fine flour is a symbol of the
purification of activity, but it is sorted from the commoner sort
by the hands of the bakers, who make the business their study.
This resembles what ia said by Horace
Neacit vox misaa. revertl A. P. 390.
And in another place
Etiemel einissuni volat irrevocable verbuin.- Epist I. 18, 71.
288 PHILO JUD^US.
On which account the law says, " And the priest having taken
an entire handful, shall place it on the altar as a memorial of
them," by the word handful, indicating both the endeavour and
the action.
And he speaks with exceeding accuracy with respect to the
sheep, when he says, " And if his hand be not strong enough
to supply a sheep ;" but with respect to the birds he says,
" And if he cannot find a bird." Why is this ? Because it is a
sign of very great strength and of excessive power, to get rid
of the errors of the mind : but it does not require any great
strength, to check the errors of words; for, as I have said
already, silence is a remedy for all the offences that can be
committed by the voice, and every one may easily practise
silence ; but yet, by reason of their chattering habits and want
of moderation in their language, many people cannot find out
how r to impose a limitation on their speech.
XLIV. Since then, the virtuous man has been bred up
among and practised in these and similar divisions and
discriminations of things, does he not rightly appear to pray
that Ishmael may live, if he is not as yet able to become the
father of Isaac ? What then does the merciful God say ? To
him who asks for one thing he gives two, and on him who
prays for what is less he bestows what is greater ; for, says the
historian, he said unto Abraham, "Yea, behold, Sarrah thy wife
shall bring forth a son."* Very felicitous and significant is
this answer, "Yea ;" for what can be more suitable to and more
like the character of God, than to promise good things and to
ratify that promise with all speed ! But what God promises
every foolish man repudiates ; therefore the sacred scriptures
represent Leah as hated, and on this account it is that she
received that name ; for Leah, being interpreted, means
" repudiating and labouring," because we all turn away from
virtue and think it a laborious thing, by reason of its very
often imposing commands on us which are not pleasant. But
nevertheless, she is thought worthy of such an honourable
reception from the prince, that her womb is opened by him, so
as to receive the seed of divine generation, in ord-er to the
production of honourable pursuits and actions.
Learn therefore, soul, that Sarrah, that is, virtue, will
bring forth to thee a son ; and that Hagar, or intermediate
* Genesis xviu 19.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 289
instruction, is not the only one who will do so; for her
offspring is one which has its knowledge from teaching, but the
offspring of the other is entirely self-taught. And do not
wonder, if God, who brings forth all good things, has also
brought forth this race, which, though rare upon the earth,
is very numerous in heaven. And you may leani this also from
other things of which man consists: do the eyes see from
having been taught to do so ? And what do the nostrils do ?
Do they smell by reason of their having learnt ? And do the
hands touch, or the feet advance, in accordance with the com-
mands or recommendations of instructors? Again, do tli
appetites and imaginations (and these are the first moving
powers and persuasions of the soul) exist in consequence
of teaching? And has our mind gone as a pupil to any
sophist, in order to learn to think and to comprehend ? All
these things repudiate all kinds of instruction, and avail them-
selves only of the spontaneous gifts of nature to exert their
appropriate energies.
Why then do you any longer wonder if God showers upon
men virtue, unaccompanied by any labour or suffering, such as
stand in need of no superintending care or instruction, but is
from the very beginning entire and perfect ? And if you wish
to receive any testimony in corroboration of this view, can you
find any more trustworthy than that of Moses ? And he says
that the rest of mankind derive their food from the earth, but
that he alone who is endowed with the power of sight, derives
his from heaven. And men occupied in agriculture co-operate
to produce the food from the earth ; but God, the only cause
and giver, rains down the food from heaven without the
co-operation of any other being.
And, indeed, we read in the scriptures, " Behold, I rain
upon you bread from heaven."* Now what nourishment can
the scriptures properly say is rained down, except heavenly
wisdom ? which God sends from above upon those souls which
have a longing for virtue, God who possesses a great abund
ance and exceeding treasure of wisdom, and who irrigates the
universe, and especially so on the sacred seventh day which he
calls the sabbath ; for then, he says, that there is an influx of
spontaneous good things, not rising from any kind of art, but
* Exodus xvi. 4.
VOL. n. u
290 PHILO JUDJEUS.
shooting up by their own spontaneous and self-perfecting
nature, and hearing appropriate fruit.
XLV. Virtue, therefore, will bring thee forth a legitimate
male child, far removed from all effeminate passions ; and thou
shalt call the name of thy son by the name of the passion
which thou feelest in regard to him; and thou wilt by all
means feel joy ; so that thou shalt give him a name which is
an emblem of joy, namely, Laughter. As grief and fear have
their appropriate expressions which the passion, when more
than usually violent and predominant, gives utterance to ; so
also, good counsels and happiness compel a man to employ a
natural expression of them, for which no one could find out
more appropriate and felicitous names, even if he were very
skilful in the imposition of names. On which account God
says, " I have blessed him, I will increase him, I will multiply
him, he shall beget twelve nations;"* that is to say, he shall
beget the whole circle and ring of the sophistical preliminary
branches of education; but I will make my covenant with
Israel, that the race of mankind may receive each kind of
virtue, the weaker part of them receiving both that which is
taught by others, and that which is learnt by one s self, and the
stronger part that which is ready and prepared.
XLVI. " And at that time," says he, " she shall bring forth
a son to thee ;"f that is to say, wisdom shall bring forth joy.
What time, O most marvellous being, are you pointing out?
Is it that which cannot be indicated by the thing brought
forth? For that must be the real time, the rising of the
universe, the prosperity and happiness of the whole earth, and
of heaven, and of all intermediate natures, and of all animals,
and of all plants. On which account Moses also took courage
to say to those who had run away, and who did not dare to
enter upon a war in the cause of virtue against those who were
arrayed against it, " The Lord has departed from them, but
the Lord is in us;"J for he here almost confesses in express
words that God is time, who stands aloof and at a distance
from every impious person, but walks among those souls which
cultivate virtue. " For," says he, " I will walk among you, and
I will be your God." But those who say that what is meant
by time is only the seasons of the year are misapplying the
* Genesis xvii. 20. + Genesis xv. 10.
Numbers xiv. 9. Leviticus xxvi. 12.
ON THE CHANGE OF SCRIPTURE NAMES. 29 1
names with great inaccuracy, like men who have not studied
the natures of things with any care, but have gone on to a
grent degree at random.
XL VI I. But by way of amplifying the beauty of the creature
to be born, he says that it shall be born the next year, indicating
by the term, the next year,"* not a difference of time, such as
is measured by lunar or solar periods, but that which is truly
marvellous, and strange, and new, being an nge which is very
different from those which are visible to the eyes and percep
tible to the outward senses, being investigated in incorporeal
things appreciable only by the intellect, which, in fact, is the
model and archetype of time. But an age is a name given to
the life of the world, intelligible only by the intellect, as time
is that given to the life of the world, perceptible by the out
ward senses.
And in this year the man who had sown the graces of God
io as to produce many more good things, in order that the
greatest possible number of persons worthy to share them
might participate in them, finds also the barley producing a
hundredfold. t But he who has sown does usually also reap.
And he sowed, displaying the virtue, the enemy of envy and
wickedness; he is, however, here said to find, not to reap.
For he who has made the ear of his good deeds more produc
tive and full, was a different person, having luid up an abund
ance of greater hopes well prepared, and he also proposed
more abundant advantages to all those who sought them
encouraging them to hope to find them.
XL VII I. And the words, "He finished speaking to him,"t
are equivalent to saying, he made his hearer perfect, though
he was devoid of wisdom before, and he filled him with
immortal lessons. But when his disciple became perfect, the
Lord went up and departed from Abraham, showing, not that
he separated himself from him ; for the wise man is naturally
an attendant of God, not wishing to represent the spontaneous
ichnation of the disciple in order that as he had learnt while
his teacher was no longer standing by him, and without any
necessity urging him, giving of his own accord a specimen or
himself, and displaying a voluntary and spontaneous eagerness
to learn, he might for the future exert his energies by himself;
for the teacher assigns a model to him who has learnt by
Genesi* xviii 10. f Gcnenis xxvi. 12. j Oencaig xvii 22
U 2
292 PHILO JUD^EUS.
voluntary stuly without any suggestions from other quarters,
stamping on him a most durable species of indelible recollec
tion.
A TREATISE
on THE
DOCTRINE THAT DREAMS ARE SENT FROM GOD.
BOOK L
I. THE treatise before this one has contained our opinions
on those visions sent from heaven which are classed under
the first species ; in reference to which subject we delivered
our opinion that the Deity sent the appearances which are
beheld by man in dreams in accordance with the suggestions
of his own nature. But in this treatise we will, to the best of
our power, describe those dreams which coine under the
second species.
Now the second species is that in which our mind, being
moved simultaneously with the mind of the universe, has
appeared to be hurried away by itself and to be under the
influence of divine impulses, so as to be rendered capable of
comprehending beforehand, and knowing by anticipation some
of the events of the future. Now the first dream which is
akin to the species which I have been describing, is that which
appeared on the ladder which reached up to heaven, and which
was of this kind.
"And Jacob dreamed, and behold a ladder was firmly
planted on the earth, the head of which reached up to heaven;
and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
And behold there was a ladder firmly planted on the earth,
and the Lord was standing steadily upon it ; and he said, I am
the God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac : be not
afraid. The earth on which thou art sleeping I will give unto
thee and unto thy seed, and thy seed shall be as the dust of
the earth, and it shall be multiplied as the sand on the sea
shore, and shall spread to the south, and to the north, and to
the east ; and in thee shall all the kindreds of the earth be
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 293
blessed, and in thy seed also. And, behold, I am with thee,
keeping thee in all thy ways, by whichever thou goest, and I
will bring thee again into this land : because I will not leave
thee until I have done everything which I have said unto
thee."
But the previous consideration of the circumstances of this
vision require that we should examine them with accuracy,
and then perhaps we shall be able to comprehend what is in
dicated by the vision. What, then, are the previous circum
stances ? The scripture tells us, " And Jacob went up
from the well of the oath, and came to Charran, and went into
a place and lay down there until the sun arose. And he took
one of the stones of the place and placed it at his head, and went
to sleep in that place." And immediately afterwards came the
dream. Therefore it is well at the outset to raise a question
on these three points: One, What was the well of the oath,t
and why was it called by this name ? Secondly, What is
Charran, and why, after Jacob had departed from the well be-
forementioned, did he immediately go to Charran ? Thirdly,
What was the place, and why, when he was in it, did the sun
at once set, and did he go to sleep ?
II. Let us then at once begin and consider the first of these
points. To me, then, the well appears to be an emblem of
knowledge ; for its nature is not superficial, but very deep.
Nor does it lie in an open place, but a well is fond of being
hidden somewhere in secret. Nor is it found with ease, but
only after great labour and with difficulty ; and this too is seen
to be the case with sciences, not only with such as have great
and indescribable subjects of speculation, but even with re
spect to such as are the most insignificant. Choose, therefore,
whichever art you please ; not the most excellent, but even the
most obscure of all, which perhaps no one who has been bred
a free man in the whole city would ever study of his own ac
cord, and which scarcely any servant in the field would attend
to, who, against his will, was a slave to some morose and ill-
tempered master who compelled him to do many unpleasant
things.
For the matter will be found to be not a simple one, but
rather one of great complications and variety, not easy to bo
seized upon, but difficult to discover, difficult to master, hostile
Geneai* xxviii. 12. f Geneais xxvi. 33.
294 PHILO JUD^EUS.
to delay, and indolence and indifference, full of earnestness
and contention, and sweat, and care. For which reason
" those who dig in this well say that they cannot find even
water in it ; " because the ends of science are not only hard to
discover, but are even altogether undiscoverable ; and it is
owing to this that one man is more thoroughy skilled in gram
mar or in geometry than another, because of its being
impossible to circumscribe, increase, and extend one within
certain limits ; for there is always more that is left behind
than what comes to be learnt ; and what is left watches for
and catches the learner, so that even he who fancies that he
has comprehended and mastered the very extremities of know
ledge would be considered but half perfect by another person
who was his judge, and if he were before the tribunal of truth
would appear to be only beginning knowledge; for life is short,
as some one has said, but art is long ; of which that man most
thoroughly comprehends the magnitude, who sincerely and
honestly plunges deeply into it, and who digs it out like a well.
And such a man, when he is at the point of death, being now
grey-headed and exceedingly old, it is said, wept, not that he
feared death as being a coward, but out of a desire for instruc
tion, as feeling that he was now, for the first time, entering
upon it when he was finally departing from life.
For the soul flourishes for the pursuit of knowledge when
the prime vigour of the body is withering away from the lapse
of time ; therefore, before one has arrived at one s prime
and vigour by reason of a more accurate comprehension of
things, it is not difficult to be tripped up. But this accident
is common to all people who are fond of learning, to whom
new subjects of contemplation are continually rising up and
striving after old ones, the soul itself producing many such
subjects when it is not barren and unproductive. And nature,
also, unexpectedly and spontaneously displaying a great num
ber to those who are gifted with acute and penetrating
intellects. Therefore the well of knowledge is shown to be
of this kind, having no boundary and no end.
We must now explain why it was called the well of the
oath. Those matters which are doubted about are decided lv
an oath, and those which are uncertain are confirmed in the
same manner, and so, too, those which want certification
receive it ; from which facts this inference is drawn, that
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 295
there is no subject respecting which any one can make an
affirmation with greater certainty than lie can respecting the
fact that the nice of wisdom is without limitation and without
end. It is well, therefore, to enrol one s self under the banners
of one who discusses these matters without an oath ; but he
who is not very much inclined to assent to the assertions ot
another will at least assent to them when he has made oath to
their correctness. But let no one refuse to take an oath of
this kind, well knowing that he will have his name inscribed
on pillars among those who are faithful to their oaths.
III. However, enough of this. The next thing must be
to consider why it is that as four wells had been dug by the
servants of Abraham and Isaac, the fourth and last was called
the well of the oath. May it not be that the sacred historian
here desires to represent, in a figurative manner, that as in
the universe there are four elements of which this world is
composed, and as there are an equal number in ourselves, of
which we have been fashioned before we were moulded into
our human shape, three of them are capable of being compre
hended somehow or other, but the fourth is unintelligible to
all who come forward as judges of it. Accordingly, we find
that the four elements in the world are the earth, and the
water, and the air, and the heaven, of which, even if some
are difficult to find, they are still not classed in the utterly
undiscoverable portion.
For that the earth, because it is a heavy, and indissoluble,
and solid substance, is divided into mountains and champaign
districts, and intersected by rivers and seas, so that some
portion of it consists of islands, and some portions are con
tinent. And again, some of it has a shallow and some a deep
soil ; and some is rough, and rugged, and strong, and alto
gether barren ; and some is smooth and delicate, and exceed
ingly fertile ; and besides all these facts we know a great
number of others relative to the earth.
And again, there is tlie water, which we know has many of
the aforesaid qualities in common with the earth, and many
also peculiar to itself; for some of it is sweet, and some
brackish, and some is mixed up of various characteristics ;
and some is good to drink, and some is not drinkable : and,
moreover, neither of these last qualities is invariable with
respect to every creature, but there are some to which it is
296 PHILO JUD^US.
tbe one and not the other, and vice versa. Again, some
water is by nature cold, arid other water naturally hot ; for
there is in all sorts of places an infinite number of springs
pouring forth hot water, not on the land only but even in the
sea : at all events, there have appeared before now veins
pouring up warm water in the middle of the sea, which all
the enormous efflux of salt water in all the sea that
encircles the world, pouring over them from all eternity,
has never been able to extinguish, nor even in the least degree
to diminish.
Again, we know that the air has an attractive nature, yield
ing to such bodies as surround it in an altitude of resistance,
being the organ of life, and breath, and sight, and hearing,
and all the rest of the external senses, admitting of rarifica-
tion, and condensation, and motion, and tranquillity, and
changes, and variations of every kind, by which it is altered
and modified, and generating summers and winters, and the
seasons of autumn and spring, by means of which the circle
of the year is at last brought to a conclusion.
IV. All these things, then, we feel : but the heaven has a
nature which is incomprehensible, and it has never conveyed
to us any distinct indication by which we can understand its
nature ; for what can we say ? that it is solid ice, as some
persons have chosen to assert ? or that it is the purest fire ?
or that it is a fifth body, moving in a circle having no partici
pation in any of the four elements ? For what can we say ?
Has that most remote sphere of the fixed stars any density in
an upward direction ? or is it merely a superficies devoid of
all depth, something like a plane figure ? And what are the
stars? Are they masses of earth full of fire? For some
persons have said that they are hills, and valleys, and thickets.
men who are worthy of a prison and a treadmill, or of any
place where there are instruments proper for the punishment
of impious persons ; or are they, as some one has defined
them, a continuous and dense harmony, the closely packed,
indissoluble mass of a?ther ?
Again, are they animated and intelligent? or are they
destitute alike of mind and vitality? Have they their
motions in consequence of any choice of their own ? or inerelv
because they are compulsory ?
What, again, are we to say of the moon ? Does she show
CN DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. i>97
us a light of her own, or a borrowed and illegitimate one,
only reflected from the rays of the sun? or is neither of these
things true, but has she something mixed, as it were, so as to
be a sort of combination of her own light and of that which
belongs to some other body ? For all these things, and others
like them, belonging to the fourth and most excellent of the
bodies in the world, namely, the heaven, are uncertain and
incomprehensible, and are spoken of in accordance with
conjectures and guesses, and not with the solid, certain
reasoning of truth, so that a person might venture to swear
that no mortal man will ever be able to comprehend any one
of these matters clearly. At all events, the fourth and dry well
was willed the well of the oath on this account, because the
search after the fourth element in the world, that is to say the
heaven, is without any result, and is in every respect fruitless.
V. But let us now see in what manner that fourth element
in us is by nature in such an especial and singular manner
incomprehensible.
There are, then, four principal elements in us, the body,
the external sense, the speech, and the mind. Now of these,
three are not uncertain or unintelligible in every respect, but
they contain some indication in themselves by which they are
comprehended. Now what is my meaning in this statement?
We know already that the body is divisible into three parts,
and that it is capable of motion in six directions, inasmuch as
it has three dimensions, in length, in depth, in breadth ; and
twice as many motions, namely six, the upward motion, the
downward motion, that to the right, that to the left, the
forward, and the backward motion. But, moreover, we are
not ignorant that it is the vessel of the soul ; and we are also
aware that it is subject to the changes of being young, of de
caying, of growing old, of dying, of undergoing dissolution.
And with respect to the outward senses, we are not. so far as
tbat is concerned, utterly dull and mutilated, but we are able
to say tbat that also is divided into five divisions, and that there
are appropriate organs for the development of eacli sense
formed by nature; for instance, the eyes for seeing, the ears
for hearing, the nostrils for smelling, and the other organs for
the exercise of the respective senses to which they ore
adapted, and also that we may call these outward senses
messengers of the mind which inform it of colours, and
298 PHILO JUD.EUS.
shapes, and sounds, and the peculiar differences of vapours,
and flavours, and, in short, which describe to it all bodies,
and all the distinctive qualities which exist in them.
They also may be looked upon as body-guards of the soul,
informing it of all that they see or hear; and if anything
injurious attacks it from without, they foresee it, and guard
against it, so that it may not enter by chance and unawares,
and so become the cause of irremediable disaster to their
mistress.
Again, the voice does not entirely escape our compre
hension ; but we know that one voice is shrill and another
deep ; that one is tuneful and harmonious, and another disso
nant and very unmusical ; and again, one voice is more
powerful, and another less so. And they differ also in tea
thousand other particulars, in kind, in complexion, in distance,
in combined and separate tension of the tones, in the sympho
nies of fourths, of fifths, and of the diapason. Moreover,
there are some things which we know also with respect to
that articulate voice which has been allotted to man alone of
all animals, as, for instance, we know that it is emitted by the
mind, that it receives its articulate distinctness in the mouth,
that it is by the striking of the tongue that articulate utterance
is impressed upon the tones of the voice, and which renders
the uttered sound not only a bare, naked, useless noise, void
of all characteristic, and that it discharges the office of a
herald or interpreter towards the mind which suggests it.
VI. Now then is the fourth element which exists within
us, the dominant mind, comprehensible to us in the same
manner as these other divisions ? Certainly not ; for what do
we think it to be in its essence? Do we look upon it as
spirit, or as blood, or, in short, as any bodily substance ! But
it is not a substance, but must be pronounced incorporeal. Is
it then a limit, or a species, or a number, or a continued act,
or a harmony, or any existing thing whatever ? Is it, the very
first moment that we are born, infused into us from without, or
is it some warm nature in us which is cooled by the air which
is diffused around us, like a piece of iron which has been
heated at a forge, and then being plunged into cold water, is
by that process tempered and hardened ? (And perhaps it is
from the cooling process (4/u^/c) to which it is thus submitted
that the soul (q ^vyji) derives its name.) What more shail
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FRO ,1 GOD. 299
we say? "\Vhen we die, is it extinguished and destroyed
toother with our bodies? or does it continue to live a lung
time ? or, thirdly, is it wholly incorruptible and immortal ?
Again, where, in what part does this mind lie hid ? Has it
received any settled habitation? For some men have dedi-
oited to it our head, as the principal citadel, around which all
the outward senses have their lairs ; thinking it natural that
its body-guards should be stationed near it, as near the palace
of a mighty king. Some again contend earnestly in favour of
the position which they assign it, believing that it is enshrined
like a statue in the heart.
Therefore now the fourth element is incomprehensible,
in the world the heaven, in comparison of the nature of the
earth, of the water, and of the air; and the mind in man, in
comparison of the body and the outward sense, and the
speech, which is the interpreter of the mind ; may it not be
the case also, that for this reason the fourth year is described as
holy and praiseworthy in the sacred scriptures? For among
created things, the heaven is holy in the world, in accordance
with which body, the imperishable and indestructible natures
revolve ; and in man the mind is holy, being a sort of frag
ment of the Deity, and especially according to the statement
of Moses, who says, " God breathed into his face the breath of
life, and man became a living soul."*
And it appeal s to me, that it is not without reason that
both these tilings are called praiseworthy ; for these two things,
the heaven and the mind, are the things which are able to
utter, with all becoming dignity, the praises, and hymns, and
glory, and beatitude of the Father who created them : for
man has received an especial honour beyond all other animals,
namely, that of ministering to the living God. And the
heaven is always singing melodies, perfecting an all-musical
harmony, in accordance with the motions of all the bodies
which exist therein ; of which, if the sound ever reached our
ears, love, which could not be restrained, and frantic desires,
and furious impetuosity, which could not be put an end to or
pacified, would be engendered, and would compel us to give
up even what is necessary, nourishing ourselves no longer
like ordinary mortals on the meat and drink, which is received
by means of cur throat, but on the inspired songs of music
Generis ii. 7.
300 PHILO JUD^US.
in its highest perfection, as persons about to be made im
mortal through the medium of their ears : and it is said that
Moses* was an incorporeal hearer of these melodies, when he
went for forty days, and an equal number of nights, without at
all touching any bread or any water.
VII. Therefore the heaven, which is the archetypal organ
of music, appears to have been arranged in a most perfect
ma mer. for no other object except that the hymns sung to the
honour of the Father of the universe, might be attired in a
musical manner; and we hear that virtue, that is to say,
Leah,f after the birth of her fourth son, was no longer able to
bring forth any more, but restrained, or perhaps I should say,
was restrained, as to her generative powers ; for she found, I
conceive, all her generative power dry and barren, after she
had brought forth Judah, that is to say, " confession," the
perfect fruit : and the phrase, " Leah desisted from bearing
children," differs in no respect from the statement, that the
children of Isaac found no water in the fourth well."J Since
it appears from both these figurative expressions, that every
creature thirsts for God, by whom all their births take place,
and from whom nourishment is bestowed to them when they
are born.
Perhaps therefore some petty cavilling critics will imagine
that all this statement about the digging of the wells is a
superfluous piece of prolixity on the part of the lawgiver : but
those who deserve a larger classification, being citizens not of
some petty state but of the wide world, being men of more
perfect wisdom, will know well that the real question is not
about the four wells, but about the parts of the universe that
the men who are gifted with sight, and are fond of contem
plation exercise their powers of investigation ; namely, about
the earth, the water, the air, and the heaven. And examin
ing each of these matters with the most accurately refined
conception, in three of them they have found some things
within the reach of their comprehension; on which account
they have given these names, injustice, enmity, and latitude to
what they have discovered. But in the fourth, that is to say in
heaven, they have found absolutely nothing whatever, which
they could comprehend ; as we explained a little time ago :
* Exodus xxiv. 18. t Genesis xxix. 35. Genesis xxvi. 32.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 301
for the fourth is found to be a well destitute of water, and dry ;
and tor the reason above mentioned it is called a well.
VI II. We will now investigate what comes next, and
inquire what Charran is, and why the man who went up from the
well came to it. Charran then, as it appears to me, is a sort
of metropolis of the oatward senses : and it is interpreted at
one time a pit dug, at another time holes ; one fact being
intimated by both these names ; for our bodies are in a man
ner dug out to furnish the organs of the outward senses, and
each of the organs is a sort of hole for the corresponding out
ward sense in which it shelters itself as in a cave : when there
fore any one goes up from the well which is called the well of
the oath, as if he were leaving a harbour, he immediately does
of necessity come to Charran : for it is a matter of necessity
that the outward senses should receive one who comes on an
emigration from that most excellent country of knowledge,
unbounded as it is in extent, without any guide.
For our soul is very often set in motion by its own self after
it lias put off the whole burden of the body, and has escaped
from the multitude of the outward senses ; and very often too,
even while it is still clothed in them.
Therefore by its own simple motion it has arrived at the
comprehension of those things which are appreciable only by
the intellect ; and by the motion of the body, it has attained to
an understanding of those things which are perceptible by the
outward senses ; therefore, if any one is unable altogether to
associate with the mind alone, he then finds for himself a
second refuge, namely, the external senses ; and whoever fails
in attaining to a comprehension of the things which are intel
ligible only by the intellect is immediately drawn over to the
objects of the outward senses ; for the second organ is always
to the outward senses, in the case of those things which are
not able to make a successful one as far as the dominant mind.
But it is well for man not to grow old or to spend all his time
in this course either, but rather, as if they were straying in a
foreign country like sojourners, to be always seeking for second
migration, and for a return to their native land.
.therefore Laban, knowing absolutely nothing of either
pp^ries or penus, or form, or conception, or of anything else
whatever which is comprehended by the intellect alone, and
depending solely on what lies externally visible, and such
802 PHILO JUDvEUS.
things as come under the notice of the eyes, and the ears, and
the other hundred faculties, is thought worthy of Charran for
his country, which Jacob, the lover of virtue, inhabits as a foreign
land for a short time, always bearing in his recollection his
return homewards ; therefore his mother, perseverance, that ig
Rebecca, says to him, " Rise up and flee to Laban, my brother,
to Charran, and dwell with him certain days."* Do you not
perceive then that the practiser of virtue will not endure to
live permanently in the country of the outward senses, but only
to remain there a few days and a short time, on account of the
necessities of the body to which he is bound ? But a longer
time and an entire life is allotted to him in the city which is
appreciable only by the intellect.
IX. In reference to which fact, also, it appears to me to be
that his grandfather also, by name Abraham, so called from
his knowledge, would not endure to remain any great length
of time in Charran, for it is said in the scriptures that
" Abraham was seventy-five years old when he departed from
Charran ; " f although his father Terah, which name being
interpreted means, the investigation of a smell, lived there till
the day of his death. $ Therefore it is expressly stated in the
sacred scriptures that " Terah died in Charran," for he was
only a reconnoitrer of virtue, not a citizen. And he availed
himself of smells, and not of the enjoyments of food, as he was
not able as yet to fill himself with wisdom, nor indeed even to
get a taste of it, but only to smell it ; for as it is said that
those dogs which are calculated for hunting can by exerting their
faculty of smell, find out the lurking places of their game at a
great distance, being by nature rendered wonderfully acute as
to the outward sense of smell ; so in the same manner the lover
of instruction tracks out the sweet breeze which is given forth
by justice, and by any other virtue, and is eager to watch
those qualities from which this most admirable source of
delight proceeds, and while he is unable to do so he moves
his head all round in a circle, smelling out nothing else, but
seeking only for that most sacred scent of excellence and food,
for he does not deny that he is eager for knowledge and
wisdom.
Blessed therefore are they to whom it has harpened to enjoy
the delights of wisdom, and to feast upon its speculations and
* Genesis xxvii. 43. t Genesis xii. 4. Genesis xvii. 32.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 303
doctrines, and even of the being cheered by them still to thirst
for more, feeling an insatiable and inceasing desire for
knowledge. And those will obtain the second place who are
uot allured indeed to enjoy the sacred table, but who never
theless refresh their souls with its odours ; for they will be
excited by the fragrances of virtue like those languid invalids
who, because they are not as yet able to take solid food,
nevertheless feed on the smell of such viands as the sons
of the physicians prepare as a sort of remedy for their
impotency.
X. Therefore, having left the bind of the Chaldreans, Terah is
said to have migrated to Charran ; bringing with him his son
Abraham and the rest of his household who agreed with him
in opinion, not in order that we might read in the account of
the historical chronicles that some men had become emigrants,
leaving their native country and becoming inhabitants of a
foreign land as if it were their own country, but in order that
a lesson of the greatest importance to life and full of wisdom,
and adapted to man alone, might not be neglected.
And what is the lesson ? The Chakheans are great astro-
nomers, and the inhabitants of Charran occupy themselves
with the topics relating to the external senses. Therefore the
sacred account says to the investigator of the things of nature,
why are you inquiring about the sun, and asking whether he
is a foot* broad, whether he is greater than the whole earth
put together, or whether he is even many times as large ?
And why are you investigating the causes of the light of the
moon, and whether it has a borrowed light, or one which
proceeds solely from itself? Why, again, do you seek to under
stand the nature of the rest of the stars, of their motion, of
their sympathy with one another, and even with earthly things ?
And why, while walking upon the earth do you soar above the
clouds ? And why, while rooted in the solid land, do you affirm
that you can reach the things in the sky? And why do you
endeavour to form conjectures about matters which cannot be
ascertained by conjecture ? And why do you busy yourself
about sublime* subjects which you ought not to meddle with ?
And why do you extend your desire to make discoveries in
mathematical science as far as the heaven ? And why do you
devote yourself to astronomy, and talk about nothing but high
subjects ? My good man, do not trouble your head about
304 PHILO JUD.^US.
things beyond the ocean, but attend only to what is near you;
and be content rather to examine yourself without flattery.
How, then, will you find out what you want, even if you are
successful ? Go with full exercise of your intellect to Charran,
that is, to the trench which is dug, into the holes and caverns
of the body, and investigate the eyes, the ears, the nostrils,
and the other organs of the external senses ; and if you wish to
be a philosopher, study philosophically that branch which is
the most indispensable and at the same time the most
becoming to a man, and inquire what the faculty of sight is,
what hearing is, what taste, what smell, what touch is, in a
word, what is external sense ; then seek to understand what it
is to see, and how you see ; what it is to hear, and how you
hear ; what it is to smell, or to taste, or to touch, and how
each of these operations is ordinarily effected. But is it not
the very extravagance of insane folly to seek to comprehend
the dwelling of the universe, before your own private dwelling
is accurately known to you? But I do not as yet lay the
more important and extensive injunction upon you to make
yourself acquainted with your own soul and mind, of the know
ledge of which you are so proud ; for in reality you will never
be able to comprehend it.
Mount up then to heaven, and talk arrogantly about the
things which exist there, before you are as yet able to compre
hend, according to the words of the poet,
"All the good and all the evil
Which thy own abode contains;"
and, bringing down that messenger of yours from heaven, and
dragging him down from his search into matters existing
there, become acquainted with yourself, and carefully and
diligently labour to arrive at such happiness as is permitted to
man. Now this disposition the Hebrews called Terah, and the
Greeks Socrates ; for they say also that the latter grew old in
the most accurate study by which he could hope to know him
self, never once directing his philosophical speculations to the
subjects beyond himself. But he was really a man ; but Terah
is the principle itself which is proposed to every one, according
to which each man should know himself, like a tree full of
good branches, in order that these persons who are fond of
virtue might without difficulty gather the fruit of pure morality,
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 305
and thus become filled with the most delightful and savin
food.
Such, then, are those men who reconnoitre the quarters of
wisdom for us ; but those who are actually her athletes, and
who practise her exercises, are more perfect. For these men
think fit to learn with complete accuracy the whole question
connected with the external senses, and after having done so,
then to proceed to another and more important speculation,
leaving all consideration of the holes of the body which they
call Charran. Of the number of these men is Abraham, who
attained to great progress and improvement in the comprehen
sion of complete knowledge ; for when he knew most, then he
most completely renounced himself in order to attain to
the accurate knowledge of him who was the truly living
God. And, indeed, this is a very natural course of events ; for
he who completely understands himself does also very much,
because of his thorough appreciation of it, renounce the uni
versal nothingness of the creature ; and he who renounces
himself learns to comprehend the living God.
XI. We have now, then, explained what Charran is, and
why he who left the well of the oath came thither. We must
now consider the third point which comes next in order,
namely, what the place is to which this man came ; for it is
said, " He met him in the place."* Now place is considered
in three ways : firstly, as a situation filled by a body ; secondly,
as the divine word which God himself has filled wholly and
entirely with incorporeal powers ; for says the scripture, " I
have seen the place in which the God of Israel stood,"} in
which alone he permitted his prophet to perform sacrifice to
him, forbidding him to do so in other places. For he is
ordered to go up into the place which the Lord God shull
choose, and there to sacrifice burnt offerings and sacrifices for
salvation, and to bring other victims also without spot.
According to the third signification, God himself is called a
place, from the fact of his surrounding the universe, and being
surrounded himself by nothing whatever, and from the fact of
his being the refuge of all persons, and since he himself is his
own district, containing himself and resembling himself
alone. I, indeed, am not a place, but I am in a place, and
every existing being is so in a similar manner. So that which
Genesis nviii. 11. f Exoduu xxiv. 10.
VOL. II. X
306 PHILO JUD.EUS.
is surrounded differs from that which surrounds it ; but the
Deity, being surrounded by nothing, is necessarily itself its own
place. And there is an evidence in support of my view of the
matter in the following sacred oracle delivered with respect to
Abraham : " He came unto the place of which the Lord God
had told him : and having looked up with his eyes, he saw
the place afar off."*
Tell me, now, did he who had come to the place see it afar
off? Or perhaps it is but an identical expression for two
different things, one of which is the divine world, and the
other, God, who existed before the world. But he who was
conducted by wisdom comes to the former place, having
found that the main part and end of propitiation is the
divine word, in which he who is fixed does not as yet attain to
such a height as to penetrate to the essence of God, but sees
him afar off ; or, rather, I should say, he is not able even to
behold him afar off, but he only discerns this fact, that God is at
a distance from every creature, and that any comprehension
of him is removed to a great distance from all human intellect.
Perhaps, however, the historian, by this allegorical form of
expression, does not here mean by his expression, " place," the
Cause of all things ; but the idea which he intends to convey
may be something of this sort ; he came to the place, and
looking up with his eyes he saw the very place to which he
had come, which was a very long way from the God who may
not be named nor spoken of, and who is in every way incom
prehensible.
XII. These things, then, being defined as a necessary pre
liminary, when the practiser of virtue comes to Charran, the
outward sense, he does not " meet " the place, nor that place
either which is filled by a mortal body ; for all those who are
born of the dust, and who occupy any place whatever, and who
do of necessity fill some position, partake of that ; nor the
third and most excellent kind of place, of which it was scarcely
possible for that man to form an idea who made his abode at
the well which was entitled the "well of the oath," where
the self-taught race, Isaac, abides, who never abandons his
faith in God and his invisible comprehension of him, but who
keeps to the intermediate divine word, which affords him the
* Genesis xxii. 4.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 307
best suggestions, and teaches him everything which is suit
able to the times.
For God, not condescending to come down to the external
senses, sends his own words or angels for the sake of giving
assistance to those who love virtue. But they attend like
physicians to the diseases of the soul, and apply themselves to
heal them, offering sacred recommendations like sacred laws,
and inviting men to practise the duties inculcated by them,
and, like the trainers of wrestlers, implanting in their pupils
strength, and power, and irresistible vigour. Very properly,
therefore, when he has arrived at the external sense, he is
represented no longer as meeting God, but only the divine
word, just as his grandfather Abraham, the model of wisdom,
did ; for the scripture tells us, " The Lord departed when ho
had finished conversing with Abraham, and Abraham returned
to his place."*
From which expression it is inferred, that he also met with
the sacred words from which God, the father of the universe,
had previously departed, no longer displaying visions from
himself but only those which proceed from his subordinate
powers. And it is with exceeding beauty and propriety that it
is said, not that he came to the place, but that he met the
place : for to come is voluntary, but to meet is very often
involuntary ; so that the divine Word appearing on a sudden,
supplies an unexpected joy, greater than could have been
hoped, inasmuch as it is about to travel in company with the
solitary soul ; for Moses also " brings forward the people to a
meeting with God,"t well knowing that he comes invisibly
towards those souls who have a longing to meet with him.
XIII. And he subsequently alleges a reason why he " met
the place ;" for, says he, " the sun was set. Not meaning the
sun which appears to us, but the most brilliant and radiant
light of the invisible and Almighty God. When this light
shines upon the mind, the inferior beams of words (that is of
angels) set. And much more are all the places perceptible by
the external senses overshadowed ; but when he departs in a
different direction, then they all rise and shine. And do not
wonder if, according to the rules of allegorical description, the
sun is likened to the Father and Governor of the universe ;
for in reality nothing is like unto God ; but those things
Genesis xviiL 33. + Exodus xix. 17. Geneaia xxviiL 11.
X 4
808 PHILO JUD^EUS.
which by the vain opinion of men are thought to be so, are only
two things, one invisible and the other visible ; the soul being
the invisible thing, and the sun the visible one.
Now he has shown the similitude of the soul in another
passage, where he says, " God made man, in the image of God
created he him." And again, in the law enacted against homi
cides, he says, " Whoso sheddeth man s blood, by man shall
his blood be shed in requital for that blood, because in the
image of God did I make him."* But the likeness of the sun
he only indicates by symbols. And it is easy otherwise by
means of argument to perceive this, since God is thefirst lights
" For the Lord is my light and my Saviour, "t is the lan-
guage of the Psalms ; and not only the light, but he is also the
archetypal pattern of every other light, or rather he is more
ancient and more sublime than even the archetypal model,
though he is spoken of as the model ; for the real model was
his own most perfect word, the light, and he himself is like to
no created thing. Since, as the sun divides day and night, so
also does Moses say that God divided the light from the dark
ness ; for " God made a division between the light and between
the darkness. "{
And besides all this, as the sun, when he arises, discovers
hidden things, so also does God, who created all things, not
only bring them all to light, but he has even created what
before had no existence, riot being only their maker, but also
their founder.
XIV. And the sun is also spoken of in many passages of
holy writ in a figurative manner. Once as the human mind,
which men build up as a city and furnish, who are com
pelled to serve the creature in preference to the uncreated
God, of whom it is said that, " They built strong cities for
Pharaoh and Peitho," that is, for discourse; to which per
suasion (rb KiiQstv) is attributed, and Rameses, or the out
ward sense, by which the soul is devoured as if by moths ;
for the name Rameses, being inteq^reted, means, " the
shaking of a moth ;" and On, the mind, which they called Heli-
opolis, since the mind, like the sun, has the predominance
over the whole mass of our body, and extends its powers like
the beams of the sun, over everything.
Genesis ix. 6. t Psalm xxvi. 1. J Genesis i. 4.
Genesis xi. 4. |j Exodua i. 11.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 309
But he who appropriates to himself the regulation of cor
poreal things, by name Joseph, takes the priest and minister
of the mind to be his father-in law ; for says the scripture,
" he gave him Aseneth, the daughter of Peutephres, the
priest of Heliopolis, for his wife."* And, using symbolical
language, he calls the outward sense a second sun, inasmuch
as it shows all the objects of which it is able to form a judg
ment to the intellect, concerning which he speaks thus, " The
sun rose upon him when he passed by the appearance of
God."t tor in real truth, when we are no longer able to
endure to pass all our time with the most sacred appearances, and
as it were with incorporeal images, but when we turn aside in
another direction, and forsake them, we use another light,
that, namely, in accordance with the external sense, which in
real truth, is in no respect different from darkness, which, after
it has arisen, arouses as if from sleep the senses of seeing,
and of hearing, and also of taste, and of touch, and of smell,
and sends to sleep the intellectual qualities of prudence, and
justice, and knowledge, and wisdom, which were all awake.
And it is for this reason that the sacred scripture says, that
no one can be pure before the evening,! as the disorderly
motions of the outward senses agitate and confuse the in
tellect. Moreover, he establishes a law for the priests also
which may not be avoided, combining with it an expression of
a grave opinion when it says, " He shall not eat of the holy
things unless he have washed his body in water, and unless
the sun has set, and he has become pure." For by these
words it is very clearly shown that there is no one whatever
completely pure, so as to be fit to be initiated into the holy
and sacred mysteries, to whose lot it has fallen to be honoured
with these glories of life which are appreciable by the external
senses. But if any one rejects these glories, he is deservedly
made conspicuous by the light of wisdom, by means of which
he will be able to wash off the stains of vain opinion and to
become pure.
Do you not see that even the sun itself produces opposite
effects when he is setting from those which he causes when
rising ? For when he rises everything upon the earth shines,
and the things in heaven are hidden from our view ; but, on
Genesis xli. 45. t Genesis xxxii. 31.
+ Leviticus iv. 31. Leviticus xxii. 6.
310 PHILO JUD^US.
the other hand, when he sets then the stars appear and the
things on earth are overshadowed. In the same manner,
also, in us, when the light of the outward senses rises like
the sun, the celestial and heavenly sciences are really and
truly hidden from view ; but when this light is near setting,
then the starlike radiance of the virtues appears, when the
mind is pure, and concealed by no object of the outward
senses.
XV. But according to the third signification, when he
speaks of the sun, he means the divine word, the model
of that sun which moves about through the heaven, as has
been said before, and with respect to which it is said, " The
sun went forth upon the earth, and Lot entered into Segor,
and the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and
fire." For the word of God, when it reaches to our earthly
constitution, assists and protects those who are akin to virtue,
or whose inclinations lead them to virtue ; so that it provides
them with a complete refuge and salvation, but upon their
enemies it sends irremediable overthrow and destruction.
And in the fourth signification, what is meant by the sun is
the God and ruler of the universe himself, as 1 have said
already, by means of whom such offences as are irremediable,
and which appear to be overshadowed and concealed, are
revealed ; for as all things are possible, so, likewise, all things
are known to God.
In reference to which faculty of his it is that he drags those
persons who are living dissolutely as regards their souls, and
who are in a debauched and intemperate manner, cohabiting
with the daughters of the mind the outward senses, as pros
titutes and harlots, to the light of the sun, in order to display
their true characters ; for the scripture says, " And the people
abode in Shittim ;" now the meaning of the name Shittim is,
" the thorns of the passions" which sting and wound the soul.
" And the people was polluted, and began to commit whoredom
with the daughters of Moab,"t and these who are called
daughters are the outward senses, for the name Moab is
interpreted, "of a father;" and the scripture adds, "Take all
the chiefs of the people, and make an example of them unto
the Lord in the face of the sun, and the anger of the Lord
shall be turned from Israel. "J For he not only desires that the
* Genesis xix. 23. f Numbers xxv. 1. * Numbers xxv. 4.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 311
wicked deeds which are hidden shall he made manifest, and
therefore turns upon them the beams of the sun, but he also
by this symbolical language calls the father of the universe the
sun, that being by whom all things are seen beforehand, and
even all those things which are invisibly concealed in the
recesses of the mind ; and when they are made manifest, then
he promises that he who is the only merciful being, will
become merciful tx> the people. Why so ? Because, even if
the mind, fancying that though it does wrong it can escape the
notice of the Deity as not being able to see everything, should
sin secretly and in dark places, and should after that, either by
reason of its own notions or through the suggestions of some
one else, conceive that it is impossible that anything should be
otherwise than clear to God, and should disclose itself and all
its actions, and should bring them forward, as it were, out of
the light of the sun, and display them to the governor of the
universe, saying, that it repents of the perverse conduct which
it formerly" exhibited when under the influence of foolish
opinion (for that nothing is indistinct before God, but all
things are known and clear to him, not merely such as have
been done, but even such are merely hoped or designed, by
reason of the boundless character of his wisdom), it then is
purified and benefited, and it propitiates the chastiser who
was ready to punish it, namely, conscience, who was previously
filled with just anger towards it, and who now admits repent
ance as the younger brother of perfect innocence and freedom
from sin.
XVI. Moreover, it appears that Moses has in other passages
also taken the sun as a symbol of the great Cause of all things,
of which I see an instance in the law which is enacted with
respect to those who borrow on pledges : let us recite the law,
If thou takest as a pledge the garment of thy neighbour,
thou shalt give it back before the setting of the sun : for it is
his covering, it is the only covering of his nakedness, in which
he lies down. If he cries unto me I will hearken unto him,
for I am merciful/ * Is it not natural that those who fancy
that the lawgiver displays such earnestness about a garment
should, if they do not reproach him, at least make a suggestion,
saving, "What are ye saying, my good men? Do ye affirm
that the Creator and ruler of the world calls hinweif merciful
Exodun xxii. 26.
312 PHILO JUD.^US.
with respect to so trivial a matter, as that of a garment not
being restored to the borrower by the lender?" These are the
opinions and notions of men who have never had the least
conception or comprehension of the virtue of the almighty
God, and who, contrary to all human and divine law, impart
the triviality of human affairs to the uncreate and immortal
nature, which is full of happiness, and blessedness, and per
fection ; for in what respect do those lenders act unreasonably,
who retain in their own hands the pledges which are deposited
with them as security, until they receive back their own which
they have lent? The debtors are poor, some one will perhaps
say, and it is right to pity them : would it not then have been
reasonable and better to enact a law in accordance with which
a contribution should be made to assist their necessities, rather
than allow them to appear as debtors, or else one which should
forbid the lending on pledges at all ?
But the law which has permitted the lending on pledges,
cannot fairly be indignant against those who will not give up
the pledges which they have received before the proper time,
as if they were acting unjustly.
But if any one having come, so to say, to the very farthest
limits of poverty, and, being clothed in rags, loads himself
with new debts, neglecting the pity which he receives from the
bystanders, which is freely bestowed, upon those who fall into
such misfortunes, in their own houses, and in the temples, and
in the market-place, and everywhere ; such an one brings and
offers to his creditor, the only covering which he had for
his shame, with which he has been wont to cover the secret
parts of his nature, as a pledge for something. For what, I
pray ? Is it for some other and better garment ? For no one
is unprovided with necessary food as long as the springs of the
rivers bubble up, and the torrents flow abundantly, and the
earth gives forth its annual fruits.
Again, is any creditor so covetous of riches, or so very cruel,
or so perverse, as not to be willing to contribute a tetradrachm,
or even less, to one in distress? Or is anyone so stingy as to
be willing to lend it, but to refuse to give it ? or as to take
the only garment that the poor man has as a pledge ? which
indeed under another name may fairly be called running away
with a man s clothes ;* for men who do this are accustomed to
The Greek word ia XuTroSvrtu. A \uirodvrijg was oue who
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 313
put on other peoples clothes, and steal them, and to leave the
proper owners naked.
And why has the law provided so carefully that the debtor
may not be without his clothes by night, and that he may not
lie down to sleep without them, but has not paid the same
attention to the fact of his being indecorously naked by day ?
Are not all things concealed by night and darkness, so as to
cause less shame, or rather none at all at that time, but are
they not disclosed by day and by light, so as then to compel
persons to blush more freely ? And why does the law not use
the expression "to give," but "to restore?" For restoration
takes place with respect to the property of other persons, but
pledges belong rather to those who have lent on them than to
those who have borrowed on them. Moreover, do you not
perceive that the law has not enjoined the debtor, who has
received back his garment that it may serve as bed-clothes, to
bring it back again to his creditor at the return of daylight ?
And, indeed, if the exact propriety of the language be con
sidered, even the most stupid person may see that there is
something additional meant beyond what is formally expressed.
For the injunction rather resembles a maxim than a re
commendation. For, if a person had been giving a re
commendation, he would have said : " Give back to your
debtor, at the approach of evening, the garment which has
been pledged to you, if it be the only garment that he is
possessed of, that he may have something with which to cover
himself at night." But one who was laying down a maxim
would speak thus ; as indeed the law does here, " For it is his
garment, the only covering of his nakedness, in which he will
fie down to sleep."
XVII. These things then, and other things of the same
kind, may be urged in reply to those assertors of the literal
sense of a passage ; and who superciliously reject all other
explanations. We will now, in accordance with the usual laws
of allegorical speaking, say what is becoming with respect to
these subjects.
We say, therefore, that a garment is here spoken of
symbolically, to signify speech ; for clothes keep off the injuries
which are wont to visit the body, from cold and heat, and they
frequented tho baths for the purpoBO of stealing the clothes of the
bathers.
314 PHILO JUD^US.
also conceal the unmentionable parts of nature, and moreover,
a cloak is a fitting garment for the body. In much the same
manner, speech has been given to man by God, as the most
excellent of gifts ; for in the first place, it is a defensive weapoi
against those who would attack him with innovations. For as
nature has fortified all other animals with their own appro
priate and peculiar means of defence, by which they are able to
repel those who attempt to injure them, so also has it bestowed
upon man that greatest defence and most impregnable pro
tection of speech, with which, as with a panoply, every one who is
completely clothed, will have a domestic and most appropriate
bodyguard ; and employing it as a champion, will be able
to ward off all the injuries which can be brought against him
by his enemies.
In the second place, it is a most necessary defence "against
shame and reproach ; for speech is very well calculated to
conceal and obscure the faults of men.
In the third place, it conduces to the whole ornament of
life : for this is the thing which improves every one, and which
conducts every one to what is best ; for there are many
disgraceful and mischievous men, who take conversation as a
pledge, and deprive its proper owners of it, and utterly cut off
what they ought to seek to increase ; like men who ravage
the lands of their enemies, and who attempt to destroy their
corn and all the rest of their crops, which, if it were left unhurt,
would be a great advantage to those who would use it.
For some men carry on an irreconcilable and never-ending
war against rational nature, and utterly extirpate its every shoot
and beginning, and destroy all its first appearances of propa
gation, and render it, as one may say, utterly unproductive and
barren of all good practices. For sometimes, when it is borne
onwards towards sacred instruction with irresistible impetuosity,
and when it is smitten with a love of the speculations of
true philosophy, they out of jealousy and envy, fearing lest,
when it has derived strength from its noble aspirations and
has been elevated to a splendid height, it may overwhelm all
their petty cavils and plausible devices against the truth, like
an irresistible torrent turn its energy in another direction by
their own evil artifices, guiding it in another channel to vulgar
and illiberal acts : and very often they seek to blunt it or to
hedf*e it in, and in this way leave the nobility of its nature
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 815
uncultivated, just as at times wicked guardians of orphan
children have rendered a deep-soiled and ferule land barren.
And these most pitiless of all men have not been restrained
bv shame from stripping the man of his only garment, namely,
speech ; " For," says the scripture, " it is his only covering.
What is a man s only covering, except speech? For, as
neicThin* is the peculiar attribute of a horse, and barking of a
do<* and lowing of an ox, and roaring of a lion, so also is
peaking, and speech itself, the peculiar property of man : for
this is what man has received above all other animals as his
peculiar gift, as a protection, and bulwark, and panoply, and wall
of defence ; he being, of all living creatures, the most beloved
XVIII. On which account the scripture adds, " This is the
only covering of his nakedness ;" for what can so becomingly
overshadow and conceal the reproaches and disgraces of life,
as speech? For ignorance is a disgrace akin to irrational
nature, but education is the brother of speech, and an orna
ment properly belonging to man. In what then will a man
lie down to rest ? That is to say, in what will a man find
tranquillity and a respite from his labours, except in speech?
For speech is a relief to our most miserable and afflicted race ?
As therefore, when men have been overwhelmed by grief, or by
fear, or by any other evil, tranquillity, and constancy, and the
kindness of friends have often restored them ; so it happens, not
often, but invariably, that speech, the only real averter of evil,
wards off that most heavy burden which the necessities of that
body in the which we are bound up, and the unforeseen
accidents of external circumstances which attack us, impose
upon us ; for speech is a friend, and an acquaintance, and a
kinsman, and a companion bound up within us; I should
rather say, fitted close and united to us by some indissoluble
and invisible cement of nature.
On this account it is, that it forewarns us of what will be
expedient for us, and when any unexpected event befalls us it
comes forward of its own accord to assist us ; not only bringing
advantage of one kind only, such as that which he who is an
adviser without acting, or an agent who can give no advice,
may supply, but of both kinds : for he does not display a half-
complete "power, but one which is perfect in every part.
Inasmuch, as even if it were to fail in his endeavour, and
316 PHILO JUDJEUS.
in any conceptions which may have been formed, or efforts
which may have been made, it still can have recourse to the
third species of assistance, namely, consolation.
For speech is, as it were, a medicine for the wounds of the
soul, and a saving remedy for its passions, which, " even before
the setting of the sun," the lawgiver says one must restore :
that is to say, before the all-brilliant beams of the almighty
and all-glorious God are obscured, which he, out of pity for our
race, sends down from heaven upon the human mind. For
while that most God-like light abides in the soul, we shall be
able to give back the speech, which was deposited as a pledge,
as if it were a garment, in order that he who has received this
peculiar possession of man, may by its means conceal the
discreditable circumstances of life, and reap the benefit of the
divine gift, and indulge in a respite combined with tranquillity,
in consequence of the presence of so useful an adviser and
defender, who will never leave the ranks in which he has been
stationed.
Moreover, while God pours upon you the light of his beams,
do you hasten in the light of day to restore his pledge to the
Lord ; for when the sun has set, then you, like the whole land
of Egypt,* will have an everlasting darkness which may be
felt, and being stricken with blindness and ignorance, you
will be deprived of all those things of which you thought that
you had certain possession, by that sharp-sighted Israel, whose
pledges you hold, having made one who was by nature exempt
from slavery a slave to necessity.
XIX. We have discussed this subject at this length with
no other object except that of teaching that the mind, which is
inclined to practise virtue, having irregular motions towards
prolificness and sterility, and as one may say, being in a
manner always ascending and descending, when it becomes
prolific and is elevated to a height is illuminated with the
archetypal and incorporeal beams of the rational spring of the
all-perfecting sun ; but when it descends and becomes unpro
ductive, then it is again illuminated by those images of those
beams, the immortal words which it is customary to call angels.
On which account we now read in the scripture, " He met the
place ; for the sun was set."f
For when those beams of God desert the soul by means of
* Exodus x. 21. f Genesis xxviii. 2.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 317
which the clearest comprehensions of affairs are engendered in
it, then arises that second and weaker light of words, and the
light of things is no longer seen, just as is the case in this
lower world. For the moon, which occupies the second rank
next to the sun, when that body has set, pours forth a some
what weaker light than his upon the earth; and to meet a
place or a word is a most sufficient gift for those who cannot
discern that God is superior to every place or word ; because
they have not a soul wholly destitute of light, but because,
since that most unmixed and brilliant light has set, they have
been favoured with one which is alloyed.
" For the children of Israel had light in all their dwell
ings,"* says the sacred historian in the book of the Exodus,
so that night and darkness were continually banished from
them, though it is in night and darkness that those men
live who have lost the eyes of the soul rather than those of
the body, having no experience of the beams of virtue. But
some persons supposing that what is meant here by the figura
tive expression of the sun is the external sense and the mind,
which are looked upon as the things which have the power of
judging; and that what is meant by place is the divine word-
understand the allegory in this manner: the practiser of
virtue met with the divine word, after the mortal and human
light had set ; for as long as the mind thinks that it attains to
a firm comprehension of the objects of intellect, and the out
ward sense conceives that it has a similar understanding of its
appropriate objects, and that it dwells amid sublime objects,
the divine word stands aloof at a distance ; but when each of
these comes to confess its own weakness, and sets in a manner
while availing itself of concealment, then immediately the
right reason of a soul well-practised in virtue comes in a wel
come manner to their assistance, when they have begun to
despair of their own strength, and await the aid which is invi
sibly coming to them from without.
XX. Therefore, the scripture says in the next verses, " That-
he took one of the stones of the place and placed it at his head,
and slept in that place."f Any one may wonder not only at
the interior and mystical doctrine contained in these words,
but also at the distinct assertion, which gives us a lesson in
* Exodus x. 23. f Geuwia xxviii. 11.
318 PHILO JUD^US.
labour and endurance : for the historian does not think it
becoming, that the man who is devoted t~> the study of virtue
should adopt a luxurious life, and live softly, imitating the
pursuits and rivalries of those who are called indeed happy,
but who are in reality full of all unhappiness ; whose entire
life is a sleep arid a dream, according to the holy lawgiver.
These men, after they have during the whole day been doing
all sorts of injustice to others, in courts of justice, and council
halls, and theatres, and everywhere, then return home, like
miserable men as they are, to overturn their own house.
I mean not that house which comes under the class of buildings,
but that which is akin to the soul, I mean the body. Intro
ducing immoderate and incessant food, and irrigating it with
an abundance of pure wine, until the reason is overwhelmed,
and disappears ; and the passions which have their seat beneath
the belly, the offspring of satiety, rise up, being carried away
by unrestrained frenzy, and falling upon, and vehemently
attacking all that they meet with, are only at last appeased
after they have worked off their excessive violence of excitement.
But by night, when it is time to turn towards rest, having
prepared costly couches and the most exquisite of beds, they
lie down in the most exceeding softness, imitating the luxury
of women, whom nature has permitted to indulge in a more
relaxed system of life, inasmuch as their maker, the Creator of
the universe, has made their bodies of a more delicate stamp.
Now no such person as this is a pupil of the sacred word, but
those only are the disciples of that who are real genuine men,
lovers of temperance, and orderliness, and modesty, men who
have laid down continence, arid frugality, and fortitude, as a
kind of base and foundation for the whole of life ; and safe
stations for the soul, in which it may anchor without danger
and without changeableness : for being superior to money, and
pleasure, and glory, they look down upon meats and drinks,
and everything of that sort, beyond what is necessary to ward
off hunger: being thoroughly ready to undergo hunger, and
thirst, and heat, and cold, and all other things, however hard
they may be to be borne, for the sake of the acquisition of
virtue. And being admirers of whatever is most easily pro
vided, so as not to be ashamed of ever such cheap or shabby
clothes, thinking rather, on the other hand, that sumptuous
apparel is a reproach and great scandal to life.
ON DKEAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 3 1
To these men, the soft earth is their most costly couch ;
their bed is bushes, and gross, and herbage, and a thick layer
of leaves ; and the pillows for their head are a few stones, or
any little mounds which happen to rise a little above the
surface of the plain.
Such a life as this, is, by luxurious men, denominated a life
of hardship, but by those who live for virtue, it is called most
delightful ; for it is well adapted, not for those who are called
men, but for those who really are such. Do you not see, that
even now, also, the sacred historian represents the practiser of
honourable pursuits, who abounds in all royal materials and
appointments, as sleeping on the ground, and using a stone for
his pillow ; and a little further on, he speaks of him as asking
in his prayers for bread and a cloak, the necessary wealth of
nature ? fike one who has at all times held in contempt, the
man who dwells among vain opinions, and who is inclined to
revile all those who are disposed to admire him ; this man is
the archetypal pattern of the soul which is devoted to the
practice of virtue, and an enemy of every effeminate person.
XXI. Hitherto I have been uttering the praises of the
man devoted to labour and to virtue, as it occurred to me
naturally ; but now we must examine what is symbolically
signified under the expressions made use of.
Now it is well that we should know, that the divine place
and the sacred region are full of incorporeal intelligences ; and
these intelligences are immortal souls. Taking then one of
these intelligences, and selecting one of them according as it
appears to be the most excellent, this lover of virtue, of whom
we are speaking, applies it to our own mind, to it as to the
head of a united body ; for, indeed, the mind is in a manner
the head of the soul ; and he does this, using the pretext in
deed as if he were going to sleep, but, in reality, as being
about to rest upon the word of God, and to place the whole of
his life as the lightest possible burden upon it ; and it lis
tens to him gladly, and receives the labourer in the paths of
virtue at first, as if he were going to become a disciple ; then
when he has shown his approbation of the dexterity of his
nature, he gives him his hand, like a gymnastic trainer, and
invites him to the gymnasia, and standing firmly, compels him
to wrestle with him, until he has rendered his strength so
great as to be irresistible, changing his ears by the divine iuflu-
320 PHILO JUD^EUS.
ences into eyes, and calling this newly-modelled disposition
Israel, that is, the man who sees.*
Then also he crowiis him with the garland of victory. But
this garland has a singular and foreign, and, perhaps, not alto
gether a well-omened name, for it is called by the president of
the games torpor, for it is said, that the breadth became tor-
pidf of all the rewards and of the proclamations of the heralds,
and of all those most wonderful prizes for pre-eminent excel
lence which are had in honour; for the soul which has
received a share of irresistible power, and which has been
made perfect in the contests of virtue, and which has arrived
at the very furthest limit of what is honourable, will never be
unduly elated or puffed up by arrogance, nor stand upon tip
toes, and boast as if it were well to make vast strides with
bare feet; but the breadth which was extended wide by
opinion, will become torpid and contracted, and then will vo
luntarily succumb and yield to tameness, so as being classed
in an inferior order to that of the incorporeal natures, it may
carry off the victory while appearing to be defeated ; for it is
accounted a most honourable thing to yield the palm to those
who are superior to one s self, voluntarily rather than through
compulsion ; for it is incredible how greatly the second prize
in this contest is superior in real dignity and importance to
the first prize in the others.
XXII. Such then may be said, by way of preface, to the
discussion of that description of visions which are sent from
God. But it is time now to turn to the subject itself, and to
investigate, with accuracy, every portion of it.
The scripture therefore says, " And he dreamed a dream.
And behold a ladder was planted firmly on the ground, the
head of which reached to heaven, and the angels of God were
ascending and descending along it."J By the ladder in this
thing, which is called the world, is figuratively understood the
air, the foundation of which is the earth, and the head is the
heaven ; for the large interior space, which being extended in
every direction, reaches from the orb of the moon, which is
* The marginal note in our bible translates Israel, "a prince of
God."
t Genesis xxxii. 25 ; where, however, the expression of the bible ia
"the hollow of Jacob s thigh was out of joint."
Genesia xxviii. 12.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD 821
described as the most remote of the order in heaven, but the
nearest to us bv those who contemplate sublime objects, down
to the earth, which is the lowest of such bodies, is the air.
This air is the abode of incorporeal souls, since it seemed good
to the Creator of the universe to fill all the parts of the world
with living creatures. On this account he prepared the ter
restrial animals for the earth, the aquatic animals for the sea
and for the rivers, and the stars for the heaven ; for every one
of these bodies is not merely a living animal, but is also pro
perly described as the very purest and most universal mind
extending through the universe ; so that there are living crea-
ures in that other section of the universe, the air.
And if these things are not comprehensible by the outward
senses, what of that ? For the soul also is invisible. And yet
it is probable that the air should nourish living animals even
more than the land or the water. Why so ? Because it is the
air which has given vitality to those animals which live on the
earth and in the water. For the Creator of the universe
formed the air so that it should be the habit of those bodies
which are immoveable, and the nature of those which are moved
in an invisible manner, and the soul of such as are able to
exert an impetus and visible sen^e of their own. Is it not
then absurd that that element, by means of which the other
elements have been filled with vitality, should itself be destitute
of living things? Therefore let no one deprive the most
excellent nature of living creatures of the most excellent of
those elements which surround the earth ; that is to say, of the
air. For not only is it not alone deserted by all things besides,
but rather, like a populous city, it is full of imperishable and
immortal citizens, souls equal in number to the stars
Now of these souls some descend upon the earth with a view
to being bound up in mortal bodies, those namely which are
most nearly connected with the earth, and which are lovers of
the Ixxly. But some soar upwards, being again distinguished
according to the definitions and times which have been
appointed by nature. Of these, those which are influenced by
a desire for mortal life, and which have been familiarised to it.
ac?nin return to it. But others, condemning the body of pret
folly and trifling, have pronounced it a prison and a grave,
and, flying from it as from a house of corrsction or a tomb,
VOL. IL Y
322 PIIILO JUD^US.
have raised themselves aloft on light wings towards the aether,
and have devoted their whole lives to sublime speculations.
There are other*, again, the purest and most excellent of all,
which have received greater and more divine intellects, never
by any chance desiring any earthly thing whatever, but being
as it were lieutenants of the Ruler of the universe, as though
they were the eyes and ears of the great king, beholding and
listening to everything. Now philosophers in general are
wont to call these demons, but the sacred scripture calls them
angels, using a name more in accordance with nature. For
indeed they do report (biayytJ^vai) the injunctions of the
father to his children, and the necessities of the children to the
father.
And it is in reference to this employment of theirs that the
holy scripture has represented them as ascending and
descending, not because God, who knows everything before
any other being, has any need of interpreters ; but because it
is the lot of us miserable mortals to use speech as a mediator
and intercessor ; because of our standing in awe of and fearing
the Ruler of the universe, and the all-powerful might of his
authority ; having received a notion of which he once
entreated one of those mediators, saying : " Do thou speak for
us, and let not God speak to us, lest we die."* For not only
are we unable to endure his chastisements, but we cannot bear
even his excessive and unmodified benefits, which he himself
proffers us of his own accord, without employing the ministra
tions of any other beings.
Very admirably therefore does Moses represent the air under
the figurative symbol of a ladder, as planted solidly in the
earth and reaching up to heaven. For it comes to pass that
the evaporations which are given forth by the earth becoming
rarefied, are dissolved into air, so that the earth is the founda
tion and root of the air, and that the heaven is its head.
Accordingly it is said that the moon is not an unadulterated
consolidation of pure aether, as each of the other stars is, but
is rather a combination of the aether-like and air-like essence.
For that black spot which appears in it, which some call a
face, is nothing else but the air mingled with it, which is by
nature black, and which extends as far as heaven.
XXIII. The ladder therefore in the world which is here
* Exodus xx 19.
ON DREAMS REINO SENT FROM GOD. 323
spoken of in this symbolical manner, was something of this
sort. But if we carefully investigate the soul which exists in
men, the foundation of which is something corporeal, and as it
were earth-like, we shall find that foundation to be the outward
sense ; and the head to be something heavenly, as it were the
most pure mind. But all the words of God move incessantly
upwards and downwards through the whole of it, draggin" i t
upwards along with them whenever they soar aloft, and sepa
rating it from whatever is mortal, and exhibiting to it a sight
of those things which alone are worthy of being beheld ; but
yet not casting it down when they descend. For neither is
God himself, nor the word of God, worthy of blame. But tbey
join with them in their descent, by reason of their love for
mankind and compassion for our race, for the sake of beiii" their
allies and rendering them assistance, in order that by breathing
in a saving inspiration they may recall to life the soul which
was still being tossed about in the body as in the river.
Now the God and governor of the universe does by him
self and alone walk about invisibly and noiselessly in the
minds of those who are purified in the highest decree For
there is extant a prophecy which was delivered to the wise man,
in which it is said : I will walk among you, and I will be
your God."* But the angels the words of God move about
in the minds of those persons who are still in a process of bein"
washed but who have not yet completely washed off the life
which defiles them, and which is polluted by the cortact of
their heavy bodies, making them look pure and brilliant to the
eyes of virtue.
But it is plain enough what vast numbers of evils are driven
out, and what a multitude of wicked inhabitants is expelled in
order tlut one good man may be introduced to dwell there Do
thou therefore, O my soul, hasten to become the abode of God,
his holy temple, to become strong from having been most weak
powerful from having been powerless, wise from having been fool
ish, and very reasonable from having been doting and childless
And perhaps too the practiser of virtue represents his own
life as like to a ladder; for the practice of anything is natu
rally an anomalous thing, since at one time it soars up to a
height, and at another it turns downwards in a contrary direc
tion; and at one time has a fair voyage like a ship, and at
* Leyiticus xxvi. 12.
324 PHILO JUD^US.
another has but an unfavourable passage ; for, as some one says,
the life of those who practise virtue is full of vicissitudes ;
being at one time alive and waking, and at another dead or
sleeping. And perhaps this is no incorrect statement ; for the
wise have obtained the heavenly and celestial country as their
habitation ; having learnt to be continually mounting upwards,
but the wicked have received as their share the dark recesses
of hell, having from the beginning to the end of their existence
practised dying, and having been from their infancy to their
old age familiarised with destruction.
But the practisers of virtue, for they are on the boundary
between two extremities, are frequently going upwards and
downwards as if on a ladder, being either drawn upwards by a
more powerful fate, or else being dragged down by that which
is worse ; until the umpire of this contention and conflict,
namely God, adjudges the victory to the more excellent class
and utterly destroys the other.
XXIV. There is also in this dream, another sort of simili
tude or comparison apparent, which must not be passed over
in silence ; the affairs of mankind are naturally compared to a
ladder, on account of their irregular motion and progress : for
as some one or other has said ; " One day has cast one man
down from on high and destroyed him, and another it has
raised up, nothing that belongs to our human race being
formed by nature so as to remain long in the same condition,
but all such things changing with all kinds of alteration. Do
not men become rulers from having been private individuals,
and private individuals from having been rulers, poor from
having been rich, and very rich from having been poor ;
glorious from been despised, and most illustrious from having
been infamous ?" *
A very beautiful way of life : for it is very possible that the
being whose habitation is the whole world, may dwell with
you also, and take care of your house, so that it may be com
pletely protected and free from injury for ever; and there is
such a way as this in which human affairs move upwards and
downwards, meeting with an unstable and variable fortune,
the anomalous character of which, unerring time proves by
evidence which is not indistinct but manifest and legible.
XXV. But the dream also represented the archangel,
namely the Lord himself, firmly planted on the ladder ; for wo
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 325
must imagine that the living God stands above all things, liko
the charioteer of a chariot, or the pilot of a ship; that is, above
bodies, and above souls, and above all creatures, and above the
earth, and above the air, and above the heaven, and above nil
the powers of the outward senses, and above the invisible
natures, in short, above all things whether visible or invisible ;
for having made the whole to depend upon himself, he governs
it and all the vastness of nature.
But let no one who hears that he was firmly planted thus
suppose that any thing at all assists God, so as to enable him
to stand firmly, but let him rather consider this fact that what
is here indicated is equivalent to the assertion that the firmest
position, and the bulwark, and the strength, and the steadiness
of everything is the immoveable God, who stamps the charac
ter of immobility on whatever he pleases ; for, in consequence
of his supporting and consolidating things, those which he does
combine remain firm and indestructible.
Therefore he who stands upon the ladder of heaven says to
him who is beholding the dream, " I am the Lord God of
Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac ; be not afraid. *
This oracle and this vision wore also the firmest support of the
soul devoted to the practice of virtue, inasmuch as it taught it
that the Lord and God of the universe is both these things
also to his own race, being entitled both the Lord and
God of all men, and of his grandfathers and ancestors, and
being called by both names in order that the whole world and
the man devoted to virtue might hare the same inheritance ;
since it is also said, " The Lord himself is his inheritance."!
XXVI. But do not fancy that it is an accidental thing here
for him to be called in this place the God and Lord of
Abraham, but only the God of Isaac ; for this latter is the
svmbol of the knowledge which exists by nature, which hears
itself, and teaches itself, and learns of itself; but Abraham is
the symbol of that which is derived from the teaching of
others ; and the one again is an indigenous and native inhabit
ant of his country, but the other is only a settler and a
foreigner; for having forsaken the language of those who
indulge in sublime conversations about astronomy, a language
inflating that of the Chaldicans, foreign and barbarous, he v.r,
GneniB iivui. 13. f Deuteronomy x. 9.
326 PHILO JUD^US.
brought over to that which was suited to a rational being,
namely, to the service of the great Cause of all things.
Now this disposition stands in need of two powers to take
care of it, the power that is of authority, and that of conferring
benefits, in order that in accordance with the authority of the
governor, it may obey the admonitions which it receives, and
also that it may be greatly benefited by his beneficence. But
the other disposition stands in need of the power of beneficence
only ; for it has not derived any improvement from the autho
rity which admonishes it, inasmuch as it naturally claims
virtue as its own, but by reason of the bounty which is
showered upon it from above, it was good and perfect from the
beginning ; therefore God is the name of the beneficent power,
and Lord is the title of the royal power.
What then can any one call a more ancient and important
good, than to be .thought worthy to meet with unmixed and
unalloyed beneficence ? And what can be less valuable than
to receive a mixture of authority and liberality ? And it
appears to me that it was because the practiser of virtue saw
that he uttered that most admirable prayer that, " the Lord
might be to him as God ;"* for he desired no longer to stand
in awe of him as a governor, but to honour and love him as a
benefactor. Now is it not fitting that even blind men should
become sharp-sighted in their minds to these and similar things,
being endowed with the power of sight by the most sacred
oracles, so as to be able to contemplate the glories of nature,
and not to be limited to the mere understanding of the
words ? But even if we voluntarily close the eye of our soul and
take no care to understand such mysteries, or if we are unable
to look up to them, the hierophant himself stands by and
prompts us. And do not thou ever cease through weariness to
anoint thy eyes until you have introduced those who are duly
initiated to the secret light of the sacred scriptures, and have
displayed to them the hidden things therein contained, and
their reality, which is invisible to those who are uninitiated.
It is becoming then for you to act thus ; but as for ye,
souls, who have once tasted of divine love, as if you had even
awakened from deep sleep, dissipate the mist that is before
you ; and hasten forward to that beautiful spectacle, putting
aside slow and hesitating fear, in order to comprehend all the
* Genesis xxviii. 21
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 327
beautiful sounds and sights which the president of the games
lias prepared for your advantage.
XXVII. There are then a countless number of things \vell
worthy of being displayed and demonstrated ; and among them
one which was mentioned a little while ago ; for the oracle
calls the person who was really his grandfather, the father of
the practiser of virtue, and to him who was really his father,
it has not given any such title ; for the scripture says, " I am
the Lord God of Abraham thy father," but in reality Abraham
was his grandfather; and then proceeds, "And the God of
Isaac," and in this case he does not add, thy father :" is it
not then worth while to examine into the cause of this differ
ence ? Undoubtedly it is ; let us then in a careful manner
apply ourselves to the consideration of the cause.
Philosophers say that virtue exists among men, either by
nature, or by practice, or by learning. On which account the
sacred scriptures represent the three founders of the nation of
the Israelites as wise men ; not indeed originally endowed with
the same kind of wisdom, but arriving rapidly at the same end.
For the eldest of them, Abraham, had instruction for his
guide in the road which conducted him to virtue ; as we shall
show in another treatise to the best of our power. And Isaac,
who is the middb one of the three, had a self-taught and self-
instructed nature. And Jacob, the third, arrived at this point
by industry and pactice, in accordance with which were his
labours of wrestling and contention.
Since then there are thus three different manners by which
wisdom exists among men, it happens that the two extremes
are the most nearly and frequently united. For the virtue
which is acquired by practice, is the offspring of that which is
derived from learning. But that which is implanted by nature
is indeed akin to the others, for it is set below them, as the
root for them all. But it has obtained its prize without any
rivalry or difficulty. So that it is thus very natural for
Abraham, as one who had been improved by instruction, to be
called the father of Jacob, who arrived at his height of virtue by
practice. Bv which expression is indicated not so much the
relationship of one man to the other, but that the power which
is fond of hearing is very ready for learning ; the power which
is devoted to practice being also well suited for wrestling. If,
* Geueau xxviiL 13.
328 PHILO JUD.EUS.
however, this practiser of virtue runs on vigorously towards the
end and learns to see clearly what he previously only dreamed
of in an indistinct way, being altered and re-stamped with a
better character, and being called Israel, that is, "the man who
sees God," instead of Jacob, that is, " the supplanter," he then
is no longer set down as the son of Abraham, as his father, of
him who derived wisdom from instruction, but as the son of
Israel, who was born excellent by nBture.
These statements are not fables of my own invention, but are
the oracle written on the sacred pillars. For, says the
scripture : " Israel having departed, he and all that he had
came to the well of the oath, and there he sacrificed a sacrifice
to ]the God of his father Isaac."* Do you not now perceive
that this present assertion has reference not to the relationship
between mortal men, but, as was said before, to the nature of
things ? For look at what is before us. At one time, Jacob
is spoken of as the son of his father Abraham, and at another
time he is called Israel, the son of Isaac, on account of the
reason which we have thus accurately investigated.
XXVIII. Having then said: "I am the Lord God of
Abraham, the father and the God of Isaac," he adds : " Be not
afraid," very consistently. For how can we any longer be
afraid when we have thee, God, as our armour and defender ?
Thee, the deliverer from fear and from every painful feeling?
Thee, who hast also fashioned the archetypal forms of our
instruction while they were still indistinct, so as to make them
visible, teaching Abraham wisdom, and begetting Isaac, who
was wise from his birth. For you condescended to be called
the guide of the one and the father of the other, assigning to
the one the rank of a pupil, and to the other that of a son.
For this reason, too, God promised that he would give him
the land. I mean by the land here, all-prolific virtue, on which
the practiser rests from his contests and sleeps, from the fact
of the life according to the outward sense being lulled asleep,
and that of the soul being awakened. Receiving gladly peace
ful repose there, which he did not obtain without war, and the
afflictions which arise from war, not by means of bearing arms
and slaying men ; away with any such notion ! but bv over
throwing the array of vices and passions which are tho
adversaries ol virtue.
* Geneain xlvi. 1.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 329
But the race of wisdom is likened to the sand of the sea,
by reason of its boundless numbers, and because also the sand,
like a fringe, checks the incursions of the sea ; as the reasonings
of instruction beat back the violence of wickedness and iniquity.
And these reasonings, in accordance with the divine promises,
are extended to the very extremities of the universe. And
they show that lie who is possessed of them is the inheritor of
all the parts of the world, penetrating everywhere, to the east,
and to the west, to the south, and to the north. For it is said
in the scripture : " lie shall be extended towards the sea, and
towards the south, and towards the north, and towards the
east."* But the wise and virtuous man is not only a blessing
to himself, but he is also a common good to all men, diffusing
advantages over all from his own ready store. For as the sun
is the light of all those beings who have eyes, so also is the
wise man light to all those who partake of a rational nature.
XXIX. "For in thee shall all the nations of the earth be
blessed." And this oracle applies to the wise man in respect
of himself, and also in respect of others.f For if the mind
which is in me is purified by perfect virtue, and if the tribes of
that earthly part which is about me are purified at the sime
time, which tribes have fallen to the lot of the external senses,
and of the greatest channel of all, namely the body ; and if
any one, either in his house, or in his city, or in his country, or
in his nation, becomes a lover of wisdom, it is inevitable that
that house, and that city, and that country, and that nation,
must attain to a better life. For, as those spices which are set
on fire fill all persons near them with their fragrance, so in the
same manner do all those persons who are neighbours of and
contiguous to the wise man catch some of the exhalations
which reach to a distance from him, and so become improved in
their characters.
XXX. And it is the greatest of all advantages to a soul
engaged in labours and contests, to have for its fellow traveller,
God, who penetrates everywhere. " For behold," says God,
" I am with thee."$ Of what then can we be in need while
we have for our wealth Thee, who art the only true and real
* Genesis xxviii. 14.
t The text is very corrupt here. I have followed Mangey s reading
and truncation.
J Ueneuig xxviii. 15.
330 PHILO JUD^EUS.
riches, who keepest us in the road which leads to virtue in all
its different divisions ? For it is not one portion only of the
rational life which conducts to justice and to all other virtue,
but the parts are infinite in number, from which those who
desire to arrive at virtue can set out.
XXXI. Very admirably therefore is it said in the scripture :
" I will lead thee back to this land." For it was fitting that
the reason should remain with itself, and should not depart
to the outward sense. And if it has departed, then the next
best thing is for it to return back again. And perhaps also a
doctrine bearing on the immortality of the soul is figuratively
intimated by this expression. For the soul, having left the
region of heaven, as was mentioned a little while before, came
to the body as to a foreign country. Therefore the father who
begot it promises that he will not permit it to be for ever held
in bondage, but that he will have compassion on it, and will
unloose its chains, and will conduct it in safety and freedom as
far as the metropolis, and will not cease to assist it till the
promises which he has made in words are confirmed by the
truth of actions. For it is by all means the peculiar attribute
of God to foretell what is to happen.
And why do we say this ? for his words do not differ from
his actions ; therefore the soul which is devoted to the practice
of virtue, being set in motion, and roused up to the investiga
tions relating to the living God, at first suspected that the
living God existed in place ; but after a short space it became
perplexed by the difficulty of the question, and began to
change itso pinion. <l For," says the scripture, "Jacob awoke
and said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not;"
and it would have been better, I should have said ; not to know
it, than to fancy that God existed in any place, he who him
self contains all things in a circle.
XXXII. Very naturally, therefore, was Jacob afraid, and
said in a spirit of admiration, " how dreadful is this place."*
For, in truth, of all the topics or places in natural philosophy,
the most formidable is that in which it is inquired where the
living God is, and whether in short he is in any place at all.
Since some persons affirm that everything which exists
occupies some place or other, and others assign each thing a
c.ifferent place, either in the world or out of the world, in
Genesis xxviiL 16.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 331
some space between the different bodies of the universe.
Others again affirm that the uncreated God resembles no
created being whatever, but that he is superior to everything,
so that the very swiftest conception is outstripped by him,
and confesses that it is very far inferior to the comprehension
of him ; wherefore it speedily cries out, This is not what I
expected, because the Lord is in the place ; for he surrounds
everything, but in truth and reason lie is not surrounded by
anything.
And this thing which is demonstrated and visible, this
world perceptible by the outward senses, is nothing else but
the house of God, the abode of one of the powers of the true
God, in accordance with which he is good ; and he calls this
world an abode, and he has also pronounced it with great
truth to be the gate of heaven. Now, what does this mean ?
We cannot comprehend the world which consists of various
species, in that which is fashioned in accordance with the
divine regulations, appreciable only by the intellect, in any
other manner than by making a migration upwards from this
other world perceptible by the outward senses and visible ; for
it is not possible either to perceive any other existing being
which is incorporeal, without deriving our principles of judg
ment from bodies. For while they are quiet, their place is
perceived, and when they are in motion we judge of their
time ; but the points, and the lines, and the superficies, and in
short the boundaries * as of a garment wrapped
externally around it.
According to analog} , therefore, the knowledge of the
world appreciable by the intellect is attained to by means of
our knowledge of that which is perceptible by the outward
senses, which is as it were a gate to the other. For as men
who wish to see cities enter in through the gates, so also they
who wish to comprehend the invisible world are conducted in
their search by the appearance of the visible one. And the
world of that essence which is only open to the intellect with
out any visible appearance or figure whatever, and which exista
only in the archetypal idea which exists in the mind, which is
fashioned according to its appearance, will be brought on with-
* There is an hiatus here, which cannot be filled up satisfactorily.
The whole of the rest of the chapter is pronounced by Mangey to be
obscure and corrupt, and almost uuiutelligiblb.
PHILO
out any shade ; all the walls, and all the gates which could
impede its progress being removed, so that it is not looked at
through any other medium, but by itself, putting forth a
beauty which is susceptible of no change, presenting an
indescribable and exquisite spectacle.
XXXIII. But enough of this. There is another dream also
which belongs to the same class, that one I mean about the
spotted flock, which the person who beheld it relates after he
had awoke, saying, "The angel of God spake unto me in
a dream, and said, Jacob ; and I said, What is it ? And he
said unto me, Look up with thine eyes, and see the goats and
the rams mounting on the flocks, arid the she-goats, some
white, and spotted, and ring-stroked, and speckled : for I have
beheld all that Laban does unto thee. I am that God who
was seen by thee in the place of God, where thou anointedst
the pillar, and vowedst a vow unto me. Now therefore, rise up
and depart out of this land, arid go into the land of thy birth,
and I will be with thee."*
You see here, that the divine word speaks of dreams as sent
from God ; including in this statement not those only which
appear through the agency of the chief cause itself, but those
also which are seen through the operation of his interpreters
and attendant angels, who are thought by the father who
created them to be worthy of a divine and blessed lot : consider,
however, what comes afterwards. The sacred word enjoins
some persons what they ought to do by positive command, like
a king ; to others it suggests what will be for their advantage,
as a preceptor does to his pupils ; to others again, it is like a
counsellor suggesting the wisest plans ; and in this way too, it
is of great advantage to those who do not of themselves know
what is expedient ; to others it is like a friend, in a mild and
persuasive manner, bringing forward many secret things which
no uninitiated person may lawfully hear.
For at times it asks some persons, as for instance, Adam,
" Where art thou ? " And any one may properly answer to such
a question, "No where?" Because all human affairs never
remain long in the same condition, but are moved about and
changed, whether we speak of their soul or their body, or of
their external circumstances ; for their minds are unstable, not
always having the same impressions from the same things, but
* Genesia xxxi. 11.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 333
such as are diametrically contrary to their former ones. The
body also is unstable, as all the changes of the different ages
from infancy to old age show ; their external circumstances also
are variable, being tossed up and down by the impetus of ever-
agitated fortune.
XXXIV. When, however, he comes into an assembly of
friends, he does not begin to speak before he has first accosted
each individual among them, and addressed him by name, so
that they prick up their ears, and are quiet and attentive,
listening to the oracles thus delivered, so as never to forget
them or let them escape their memory : since in another pass
age of scripture we read, " Be silent and listen."* In this
manner too, Moses is called up to the bush. For, the
scripture says, " When he saw that he was turning aside to see,
God called him out of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses : and
he said, What is it, Lord ?"t
And Abraham also, on the occasion of offering up his
beloved and only son as a burnt-offering, when he was
beginning to sacrifice him, and when he had given proof of
his piety, was forbidden to destroy the self-taught race, Isaac
by name, from among men ; for at the beginning of his
account of this transaction, Moses says that " God did tempt
Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham, Abraham ; and he
said, Behold, here am I. And he said unto him, Take now thy
beloved son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and offer him up."
And when he had brought the victim to the altar, then the
angel of the Lord called him out of heaven, saying, "Abraham,
Abraham," and he answered, " Behold, here am I. And he said,
Lay not thy hand upon the child, and do nothing to him."J
Also the practiser of virtue is also called one of this company
dear to God, being deservedly accounted worthy of the same
honour; for, says the scripture, "The angel of God said to
me in my sleep, Jacob : and I answered, and said, What
is it ?" But after he has been called he exerts his attention,
endeavouring to arrive at an accurate knowledge of the symbols
which are displayed to him ; and these symbols are the con
nection and generation of reasonings, as flocks and herds.
For, says the scripture, "Jacob, looking up with his eyes,
saw the goats and the rams leaping upon the she-goats and
* Deuteronomy xxvii. 9, t Exodus iii. 4.
Genesis xxii. 1. Genesis xxxi. 10.
331 PHILO JUDJEUS.
upon the sheep." Now the he-goat is the leader of the flock o c
goats, and the ram is the leader of the flock of sheep, and
these two animals are symbols of perfect reasonings, one
of which purifies and cleanses the soul of sins, and the other
nourishes it and renders it full of good actions.
Such then are the leaders of the flocks in us, namely,
reasons ; and the flocks themselves, resembling the sheep and
goats whose names they bear, rush forwards and hasten with
zeal and earnestness towards justice.
Therefore, looking up with the eye of his mind, which up
to that time had been closed, he saw the perfect and thoroughly
sharpened reasons analogically resembling the goats and rams,
prepared for the diminution of offences and the increase of
good actions. And he beheld how they leap upon the sheep and
the goats, that is on those souls which are still young and
tender, and in the vigour of youth, and beautiful in the flower
of their age ; not pursuing irrational pleasure, but indulging
in the invisible sowing of the doctrines of prudence. For this
is a marriage which is blessed in its children ; not uniting
bodies, but adapting perfect virtues to well-disposed souls.
Therefore do all ye right reasons of wisdom leap up, form
connections, sow seed, and pass by no soul which you see rich
and fertile, and well-disposed, and virgin ; but inviting it to
association and connection with you, render it perfect and
pregnant ; for so you will become the parents of all kinds of
good things, of a male offspring, white, variegated, ring-straked,
and speckled.
XXXV. But we must now examine what power each of these
offspring has. Now those which are purely white (5/aXsuxo/)
are the most beautiful and the most conspicuous ; the word dice.
being often prefixed in composition by way of adding force to
the word, so that the words bia.brfa and didffri>j,ov are commonly
used to signify what is very conspicuous (6JjXoi<) and very
remarkable (s^is^^ov) ; therefore them eaning here is that the
first-born offspring of the soul which has received the sacred
seed, is purely white ; being like light in which there is no
obscurity, and like the most brilliant radiance : like the
unclouded beam which might proceed from the rays of the sun
in fine weather at mid-day. Again, by the statement that some
are variegated, what is meant is, riot that the flocks are marked
by such a multiform and various spottedness as to resemble the
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 305
unclean leprosy, and which is an emblem of a life unsteady and
tossed about in any direction by reason of the fickleness of the
mind, but only that they have marks drawn in regukr lines and
different characters, shaped and impressed with all kinds of
well approved forms, the peculiarities of which, being mingled
together and combined properly, will produce a musical har
mony.
For some persons have looked upon the art of variegating
as so random and obscure a matter, that they have referred it
to weavers. But I admire not only the art itself, but the
name likewise, and most especially so when I look upon the
divisions of the earth and the spheres in heaven, and the dif
ferences between various plants and various animals, and that
most variegated texture, I mean the world ; for I am com
pelled to suppose, that the maker of this universal textile
fabric was also the inventor of all varied and variegating
science ; and I look with reverence upon the inventor, and I
honour the art which he invented, and 1 am amazed at the
work which is the result, and this too, though it is but a very
small portion of it which I have been able to see, but still,
from the portion which has been unfolded to me, if indeed I
may say that it has been unfolded, I hope to form a tolerably
accurate judgment of the whole, guiding my conjectures by the
light of analog) .
Nevertheless I admire the lover of wisdom for having stu
died the same art, collecting and thinking ft to weave together
many things, though different, and proceeding from different
sources, into the same web ; for taking the two first elements
from the grammatical knowledge imparted to children, that is
to say, reading and writing, and taking from the more perfect
growth of knowledge the skill which is found among poets, and
the comprehension of ancient history, and deriving certainty
and freedom from deception from arithmetic and geometry, in
which sciences there is need of proportions and calculations ;
iind borrowing from music rhyme, and metre, and harmonies,
and chromatics, and diatonics, and combined and disjoined me
lodies ; and having derived from rhetoric invention, and lan
guage, and arrangement, and memory, and action ; and from
philosophy, whatever has been omitted in any of these sepa
rate branches, and all the other things of which human life
consists, he has put together in one most admirably arranged
336 PEILO JUD^US.
work, combining great learning of one kind witn great learn
ing of another kind.
Now the sacred scripture calls the maker of this compound
work Besaleel, which name, being interpreted, signifies "in
the shadow of God ;" for he makes all the copies, and the
man by name Moses makes all the models, as the principal
architect ; and for this reason it is, that the one only draws
outlines as it were, but the other is not content with such
sketches, but makes the archetypal natures themselves, and
has already adorned the holy places with his variegating art ;
but the wise man is called the only adorner of the place ol
wisdom in the oracles delivered in the sacred scriptures.
XXXVI. And the most beautiful and varied work of God,
this world, has been created in this its present state of per
fection by all-wise knowledge ; and how can it be anything
but right to receive the art of variegating as a noble effort of
knowledge ? the most sacred copy of which is the whole word
of wisdom, which will bear about in its bosom the things of
heaven and of earth, from which the practiser of virtue
elaborates his notions of various things.
For after the white sheep he immediately beheld the varie
gated animals, stamped with the impression of instruction.
The third kind are the ring-straked and speckled ; and what
man in his senses would deny that these also are, as to their
genus, variegated ? but still he is not so very eager about the
varieties of the members of the flocks, as about the road
which leads to virtue and excellence ; for the prophet intends
that he who proceeds along this road shall be besprinkled with
dust and water ; because it is related that the earth and water
being kneaded together and fashioned into shape by the
Creator of man, was formed into one body, not being made by
hand, but being the work of invisible nature.
Therefore it is the first principle of wisdom not to forget
one s self, and always to keep before one s eyes the materials of
which one has been compounded ; for in this way a man will
get rid of boasting and arrogance, which of all evils is the
one most hated by God ; for who that ever admits into his
mind the recollection that the first principles of his formation
are dust and water, would ever be so puffed by vanity as to be
unduly elated ? On this account the prophet has thought it
fit that those who are about to offer sacrifice shall be be
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD 337
sprinkled with the aforesaid things ; thinking no one worthr
to appear at a sacrifice who has not first of all learnt to know
himself, and to comprehend the nothingness of mankind, and
the elements of which he is composed, conjecturing from them
that he himself is utterly insignificant.
XXXVII. These three signs, the white, the variegated, and
the ring-straked and speckled, are as yet imperfect in the
practiser of virtue, who has not himself as yet attained to
perfection. But, in the case of him who is perfect, they also
appear to be perfect. And in what manner they appear so we
will examine. The sacred scripture has appointed that the
great High Priest, when he was about to perform the minis
trations appointed by the law, should be besprinkled with water
and ashes m the first place, that he might come to a remem
brance of himself. For the wise Abraham also, when he went
forth to converse with God, pronounced himself to be dust and
ashes. In the second place, it enjoins him to put on a tunic
reaching down to his feet, and the variously-embroidered thing
which was called his breast-plate, an image and representation
of the light-giving stars which appear in heaven.
For there are, as it seems, two temples belonging to God
one being this world, in which the high priest is the divine
J^Jn^ow^first-born son. The other is the rational soul,
tne priesFoi wnicli Is the real true man, the copy of whom,
perceptible to the senses, is he who performs his paternal vows
and sacrifices, to whom it is enjoined to put on the aforesaid
tunic, the representation of the universal heaven, in order that
the world may join with the man in offering sacrifice, and that
the man may likewise co-operate with the universe.
He is now therefore shown to have these two things, the
speckled and the variegated character. We will now proceed
to explain the third and most perfect kind, which is denomi
nated thoroughly white. When this same high priest enters
into the innermost parts of the holy temple, he is clothed in the
variegated garment, and he also assumes another linen robe
mde of the very finest flax. And this is an emblem of vigour
I incorruptibility, and the most brilliant light. For such a
rail is a thing very difficult to be broken, and it is made of
pthir.g mortal, and when it is properly and carefully purified
^. has a most clear and brilliant appearance. And these in-
i-.^tions contain this figurative meaning, that of those who in
VOL. II. 7
338 PHILO JUVJEU3.
a pure and guileless spirit serve the living God, there is j*
one who does not at first depend upon the firmness and
obstinacy of his mind, despising all human affairs, which allure
men with their specious bait, and injure them, and produce
weakness in them. In the next place, he aims at immortality,
laughing at the blind inventions with which mortals delude
themselves. And last of all, he shines with the unclouded and
most brilliant light of truth, no longer desiring any of the
things which belong to false opinion, which prefer darkness
rather than light.
XXXVIII. The great high priest of the confession, then,
may have now been sufficiently described by us, benfg stamped
with the impressions above-mentioned, the white, the varie
gated, and the ring-straked and speckled. But he who is
desirous of the administration of human affairs, by name Joseph,
does not, as it appears, claim for himself any of the extreme
characteristics, but only that variegated one which is in the
middle between the others. For we read that Joseph had a
coat of many colours, * not being sprinkled with the sacred
purifications, by means of which he might have known that he
himself was only a compound of dust and water, and not being
able to touch that thoroughly white and most shining raiment,
virtue. But being clothed in the much-variegated web of
political affairs, with which the smallest possible portion of
truth is mixed up ; and also many and large portions of
plausible, probable, and likely falsehoods, from which all the
sophists of Egypt, and all the augurs, and ventriloquists, and
sorcerers spring ; men skilful in juggling, and in incantations,
and in tricks of all kinds, from whose treacherous arts it is very
difficult to escape.
And it is on this account that Moses very naturally repre
sents this robe as stained with blood ; since the whole life of
the man who is mixed up in political affairs is tainted, warring
on others and being warred against, and being aimed at, and
attacked, and shot at by all the unexpected chances which be
fall him.
Examine now the man who has great influence with the
people, on whom the affairs of the city depend. Do not be
alarmed at those who look with admiration upon him ; and you
will find many diseases lurking within him, and you will see
* Genesis xxxvii. 3.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. ^f\
that he \9 entangled in many disasters, and that fortune K
dragging him violently in different directions, though he bends
his neck the other way, and resists, although invisibly, and iu
fact that fortune is seeking to overthrow and destroy him ; or
else the people themselves are impatient at his supremacy, or
he is exposed to the attacks of some more powerful rival. And
envy is a formidable enemy, and one hard to be shaken off,
clinging also to everything that is catted good fortune, and it
is not easy to escape from it.
XXXIX. What reason is there then for our congratulating
ourselves on the administration of political affairs as if we were
clothed in a garment of many colours, deceived by its external
splendour, and not perceiving its ugliness, which is kept out of
sight, and hidden, and full of treachery and guile? Let us
then put off this flowery robe, and put on that sacred one woven
with the embroideries of virtue ; for thus we shall escape the
snares which want of skill, and ignorance, and want of know
ledge, and education lay for us, of which Laban is the com
panion. For when the sacred word lias purified us with the
sprinklings prepared beforehand for purification, and when
it has adorned us with the select reasonings of true philosophy,
and, having led us to that man who has stood the test, has
made us genuine, ond conspicuous, and shining, it blames the
treacherous disposition which seeks to raise itself up to
invalidate what is said.
For the scripture says : " I have seen what Laban does
unto thee,"* namely, things contrary to the benefits which I
conferred on you, things impure, wicked, and altogether suited
to darkness. But it is not right for the man who anchors on
the hope of the alliance of God to crouch and tremble, to whom
God says, " I am the God who was seen by thee in the place
of God." A very glorious boast for the soul, that God should
think fit to appear to and to converse with it. And do not
pass by what is here said, but examine it accurately, and see
whether there are really two Gods. For it is said : I am the
God who was seen by thee ; " not in my place, but iu the place
of God, as if he meant of some other God.
What then ought we to say ? There is one true God only :
but they who are called Gods, by an abuse of language, ire
numerous ; on which account the holy scripture on the prese ut
Genesis xxxi. 12.
340 PHILO JUD^US.
occasion indicates that it is the true God that is meant by the
use of the article, the expression being, " I am the God
(o 0sog);" but when the word is used incorrectly, it is put
without the article, the expression being, " He who was seen
by thee in the place," not of the God (D soD), but simply
" of God"(0soD); and what he here calls God is his most
- w FM-^
anciejLUX__word, not having any superstitious regard to the
position of the names, but only proposing one end to himself,
namely, to give a true account of the matter ; for in other
passages the sacred historian, when he considered whether
there really was any name belonging to the living God, showed
that he knew that there was none properly belonging to him ;
but that whatever appellation any one may give him, will be an
abuse of terms ; for the living God is not of a nature to be
described, but only to be.
XL. And a proof of this may be found in the oracular
answer given by God to the person who asked what name he
had, " I am that I am,"* that the questioner might know the
existence of those things which it was not possible for man to
conceive not being connected with God. Accordingly, to the
incorporeal souls which are occupied in his service, it is natural
for him to appear as he is, conversing with them as a friend
with his friends ; but to those souls which are still in the body
he must appear in the resemblance of the angels, though
without changing his nature (for he is unchangeable), but
merely implanting in those who behold him an idea of his
having another form, so that they fancy that it is his image,
not an imitation of him, but the very archetypal appearance
itself.
There is then an old story much celebrated, that the Divinity,
assuming the resemblance of men of different countries, goes
round the different cities of men, searching out the deeds of
iniquity and lawlessness ; and perhaps, though the fable is not
true, it is a suitable and profitable one. But the scripture,
which at all times advances its conceptions with respect to the
Deity, in a more reverential and holy tone, and which likewise
desires to instruct the life of the foolish, has spoken of God
under the likeness of a man, though not of any particular man ,
attributing to him, with this view, the possession of a face, and
hands, and feet, and of a mouth and voice, and also anger and
* Exodus iii. 14.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 341
passion, and moreover, defensive weapons, and goings in aiK
goings out, and motions upwards and downwards, and in every
direction, not indeed using all these expressions with strict
truth, but having regard to the advantage of those who are to
learn from it ; for the writers knew that some men are very
dull in their natures, so as to be utterly unable to form any
conception whatever of God apart from a body, whom it
would be impossible to admonish if they were to speak in any
other style than the existing one, of representing God as
coming and departing like a man ; and as descending and
ascending, and as using his voice, and as being angry with
sinners, and being implacable in his anger; and speaking too
of his darts and swords, and whatever other instruments
are suitable to be employed against the wicked, as being all
previously ready.
For we must be content if such men can be brought to a
proper state, by the fear which is suspended over them by such
descriptions ; and one may almost say that these are the only
two paths taken, in the whole history of the law ; one leading
to the plain truth, owing to which we have such assertions as,
God is not as a man ;"* the other, that which has regard to
the opinions of foolish men, in reference to \vhom it is said,
" The Lord God shall instruct you, like as if a man instructs
his son."t
XLI. Why then do we any longer wonder, if God at times
assumes the likeness of the angels, as he sometimes assumes
even that of men, for the sake of assisting those who address
their entreaties to him ? so that when he says, " 1 am the God
who was seen by thee in the place of God ;"| we must under
stand this, that he on that occasion took the place of an angel.
as far as appearance went, without changing his own real
nature, for the advantage of him who was not, as yet, able to
bear the sight of the true God ; for as those who are not abla
to look upon the sun itself, look upon the reflected rays of the
sun as the sun itself, and upon the halo around the moon as if
it were the moon itself ; so also do those who are unable to
bear the sight of God, look upon his image, his angel word, nf
himself.
Do you not see that encyclical instruction, that is, Hugm
5 uinbera xxiii. 19. t Deut. L 31. Geneaw xxxl ft.
*42 PHILO JUD^US.
says to the angel, "Art thou God who seest me?"* for she was
liOt capable of beholding the most ancient caire, inasmuch as
she was by birth a native of Egypt. But now the mind begins
to be improved, so as to be able to contemplate the governor
of all the powers ; on which account he says himself, " I am
the Lord God,"f I whose image you formerly beheld instead
of me, and whose pillar you set up, engraving on it a most
sacred inscription ; and the inscription indicated that I stood
alone, and that I established the nature of all things, bringing
disorder and irregularity into order and regularity, and sup
porting the universe firmly, so that it might rest on a firm and
solid foundation, my own ministering word.
XLII. For the pillar is the symbol of three things ; of
standing, of dedication, and of an inscription : now the standing
and the inscription have been described, but the dedication it is
necessary should be explained to all men. For heaven and
the world are an offering dedicated to God who made them ;
and all the cosmopolitan and God-loving souls, which dedicate
and consecrate themselves to him, not allowing any mortal
thing to drag them in an opposite direction, are never weary of
hallowing their own life, and adorning it with every kind
of beauty as a meet offering for him. And he is a foolish man
who does not set up a pillar to God, but who erects one to
himself instead, attributing stability to the things of creation,
which is tossed about in every direction, and thinking those
things worthy of inscriptions and panegyrics, which are in
reality full of matter for blame and accusation, and which as
such had better never have been mentioned in an inscription
at all, or if they had, had better have been speedily erased
again.
On which account the holy scripture says distinctly, " Thou
shall not set up a pillar to thyself ;"J for in truth there is
nothing belonging to man that is stable, no, not though some
persons persist even so obstinately in affirming it. But they
not only think that they stand firmly, but also that they are
worthy of honours and inscriptions, forgetting him who is
alone worthy of honour, and who is alone firmly fixed ; for
while they are turning aside and wandering away from the path
which leads to virtue, the outward sense leads them still more
astray, that is to say, the woman who is akin to them, she also
* Genesis xvi. 13. t Genesis xxxi. 13. Deut. xvi. 22.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 343
compels them to run ashore ; therefore, the whole soul, like a
ship,* being shut in all around, is offered up as a pillar ; for
the sacred scriptures tell us that Lot s wife having turned back
to look behind her, became a pillar of salt, and this is said
very naturally and fitly ; for if any one does not look forwards
at those things which are worthy of being seen and heard (and
these things are the virtues and the actions done in accordance
with virtue), but looks backwards at the things which are
behind him, at deaf glory, and blind riches, and senseless
vigour of body, and an empty elegance of mind, pursuing
these objects only, and such as are akin to them, he will lie
as a lifeless pillar melting away by itself; for salt is not a
thing to preserve his firmness.
XLIII. Very admirably therefore does the practiser of vir
tue, having learnt by continued study that creation is a thing
in its own nature moveable, but that the uncreated God is
unchangeable and immoveable, erect a pillar to God, and
anoint it after he has erected it ; for God says, " Thou hast
anointed my pillar/ t But do not fancy that that stone was
anointed with oil, but understand rather that that opinion,
that God is the only being who stands firmly, was thoroughly
hardened by exercise, and established in the soul by the
science of wrestling, not that science by which bodies are
made fat, but that by which the mind acquires strength and
irresistible vigour ; for the man who is eager in the pursuit of
good studies and virtuous objects is fond of labours, and fond
of exercises ; so that very naturally, having worked out the
science of training which is the sister of the art of medicine,
ho anoints and brings to perfection all the reasonings of
virtue and piety, and dedicates them, as a most beautiful and
lasting offering to God.
For this reason, after mentioning the dedication of the pillar,
God adds that, "Thou vowedst avow tome." Now a vow also
is, to speak properly, a dedication, since he who makes a vow
is said to offer up, as a gift to God, not only his own posses
sions, but himself likewise, who is the owner of them ; for says
the scripture, " the man is holy who nourishes the locks of the
hair of his head ; who has vowed a vow." But. if he is holy he
Mangey thinks that this passage is corrupt, and proposes to alter
vai f into dirvovf, "dead," but it seeuiB unnecessary.
t Genesis zzxl 13.
844 PHILO JUD^EUS.
is undoubtedly an offering to God, no longer meddling wits
anything unholy or profane ; and there is an evidence in favour
of my argument, in the conduct of the prophetess, and mother
of a prophet, Hannah, whose name being translated, signifies
grace ; for she says that she gives her son, " Samuel, as a gift
to the Holy One,"* not dedicating him more as a human being,
than as a disposition full of inspiration, and possessed by a
d vinely sent impulse; and the name Samuel being interpreted
means, " appointed to God."
Why then, O my soul, do you any longer waste yourself in
vain speculations and labours? and why do you not go as a
pupil to the practiser of virtue, taking up arms against the
passions, and against vain opinion, to learn from him the way
to wrestle with them ? For as soon as you have learnt this
art, you will become the leader of a flock, not of one which
is destitute of marks, and of reason, and of docility, but of one
which is well approved, and rational, and beautiful, of which,
if you become the leader, you will pity the miserable race of
mankind, and will not cease to reverence the Deity ; and you
will never be weary of blessing God, and moreover you will
engrave hymns suited to your sacred subject upon pillars, that
you may not only speak fluently, but may also sing musically
the virtues of the living God ; for by these means you will be
able to return to your father s house, being delivered from a
long and profitless wandering in a foreign land.
A TREATISE
ON THE
DOCTRINE THAT DREAMS ARE SENT FROM GOD.
BOOK II.
I. IN describing the third species of dreams which are sent
from God, we very naturally call on Moses as an ally, in order
that as he learnt, having previously been ignorant, so he may
instruct us who are aiso ignorant, concerning these signs, illus
trating each separate one of them.
* 1 Samuel i. 28.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 345
Now this third species of dreams exists, whenever in sleep
the mind being set in motion by itself, and agitating itself, is
filled with frenzy and inspiration, so as to predict future events
by a certain prophetic power. For the first kind of dreams
which we mentioned, was that which proceeded from God as
the author of its motion, and, as some invisible manner
prompted us what was indistinct to us, but well known to him
self. The second kind was when our own intellect was set
in motion simultaneously with the soul of the universe, and
became filled with divine madness, by means of which it is
allowed to prognosticate events which are about to happen ;
and for this reason the interpreter of the sacred will very
plainly and clearly speaks of dreams, indicating by this expres
sion the visions which appear according to the first species, as
if God, by means of dreams, gave suggestions which were
equivalent to distinct and precise oracles. Of the visions
according to the second species he speaks neither very clearly
nor very obscurely ; an instance of which is afforded by tho
vision which was exhibited of the ladder reaching up to heaven ;
for this vision was an enigmatical one ; nevertheless, the
meaning was not hidden from those who were able to see with
any great acuteness.
But these visions which are afforded according to the third
species of dreams, being less clear than the two former kinds
by reason of their having an enigmatical meaning deeply
seated and fully coloured, require the science of an interpreter
of dreams. At all events all the dreams of this class, which
are recorded by the lawgiver, are interpreted by men who are
skilled in the aforesaid art.
Whose dreams then am I here alluding to? Surely every
one must see to those of Joseph, and of Pharaoh king of
Egypt, and to those which the chief baker and the chief butler
saw themselves ; and it may be well at all times to begin our
instruction with the first instances.
Now the first dreams are those which Joseph beheld,
receiving two visions from the two parts of the world, heaven
and earth. From the earth the dream about the harvest ; and
that is as follows, " I thought that we were all binding sheaves
in the middle of the field; and my sheaf stood up."* And
the other relates to the circle of the zodiac, and is, " They
Genesis rrxriu 7.
346 PHILO JUD^US.
worshipped me as the sun and the moon and the eleven stars."
And the interpretation of the former one, which was delivered
with great violence of reproof, is as follows, "Shall you be a
king and reign over us? or shall you be a lord and lord it over
us?" The interpretation of the second is again full of just
indignation, " Shall I, and thy mother, and thy brethren come
and fall down upon the ground and worship thee ? "
II. Let these things be laid down first by way of founda
tion; and on this foundation let us raise up the rest of the
building, following the rules of that wise architect, allegory,
and accurately investigating each particular of the dreams;
but first we must mention what it is requisite should be
attended to before the dreams. Some persons have extended
the nature of good over many things, and others have
attributed it to the most excellent Being alone; some again
have mixed it with other things, while others have spoken of
it as unalloyed.
Those then who have called only what is honourable good,
have preserved this nature free from alloy, and have attributed
it only to what is most excellent, namely to the reason that is in
us; but those who have mixed it have combined it with three
things, the soul, the body, and external circumstances. And
they who act thus are persons of a somewhat effeminate and
luxurious way of life, being bred up the greater part of their
time, from their earliest infancy, in the women s apartments
and among the effeminate race which is found in the women s
apartments. But those who argue differently are men inclined
to a harder regimen, being bred up from their boyhood among
men, and being themselves men in their minds, embracing
what is right in preference to what is pleasant, and devoting
themselves to nourishment fit for athletes for the sake of
strength and vigour, not of pleasure.
Moses moreover represents two persons as leaders of these
two companies. The leader of the noble and good company
is the self-taught and self-instructed Isaac ; for he records
that he was weaned, not choosing to avail himself at all of ten
der, and milk-like, and childish, and infantine food, but only
of such as was vigorous and perfect, inasmuch as he was
formed by nature, from his very infancy, for acts of virtue,
and was always in the prime and vigour of youth and energy.
But the leader of the company, which yields and which is
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM COD. 347
inclined to softer measures, is Joseph ; for he does not indeed
neglect the virtues of the soul, but he likewise shows anxiety
about the stability and permanence of the body, and also de
sires an abundance of worldly treasures ; and it is in strict
accordance with natural truth, that he is represented as drawu
in different directions, since he proposes to himself many dif
ferent objects in life ; and being attracted by each of them, he
is kept in a state of commotion and agitation, without being
able to stand firm.
And his case is not like that of cities, which having made a
truce enjoy peace, and yet after a time are again attacked, so
as to gain the victory and to be defeated alternately ; for at
times a great influx of riches and glory coming upon them,
subdues all their cares for the body and the soul, but after
wards, being repelled by both these things, they are conquered
by the adversary : and in the same manner all the pleasures
of the body coming upon the soul in a compact array over
whelm and efface all the objects of the intellect one after the
other; and then, after a short time, wisdom, changing its
course and blowing in the opposite direction with a fresh and
violent breeze, causes the stream of the pleasures to slacken,
and altogether moderates all the eagerness, and impetuosity,
and rivalry of the external senses.
Such a circle then of never-ending war revolves around the
soul, subject as it is to so many changes ; for when one
enemy has been destroyed, then immediately there springs up
another more powerful, after the fashion of the many-headed
hydra ; for they say, that in the case of this monster, instead
of the head which was cut off another sprung up, by which
statement they mean to intimate the multiform, and prolih c,
and almost invincible character of undying wickedness.
Do not, therefore, answer Joseph * but
know that he is the image of multiform and mixed knowledge.
For there appears in him a rational species of continence,
which is of the masculine kind, being fashioned in accordance
with his father Jacob ; and also that kind which is devoid of
reason is likewise visible, that of the outward sense I mean,
being made in the likeness of his maternal race, according to
Rachel. There appears in him also the seed of bodily plea.
There is an hiatus here, and there la a good deal of corruption
iVout the beginning of thit book
348 PIIILO JUD.EUS.
sure, which his association with the chief butlers, and chief
bakers, and chief cooks has stamped upon him. There is,
also visible the seed of vain opinion, on which he mounts as
on a chariot by reason of his levity, being puffed up, and
elated, and raising himself to a height to the destruction of
equality.
III. Now the character of Joseph is sketched out by the
foregoing outlines. But each of his dreams must be investi
gated with accuracy; and first of all we must examine the one
about the sheaves. " I thought," says he, " that we were all
binding sheaves." The expression, " I thought," is clearly
that of a person who is not certain, but who is hesitating and
supposing with some amount of indistinctness, not of one who
sees positively and clearly ; for it is very natural for persons
just awakening out of a deep sleep, and still dozing as it were,
to say, " I thought;" but not so for people who are thoroughly
awake, and who can see distinctly. And the practiser of
virtue, Jacob, does not say, " I thought," but his language is,
44 Behold, a ladder firmly set, the head of which reached up to
heaven."* And again he says, when " the sheep conceived
1 saw them with my eyes in my sleep, and behold the he-goats
and the rams leapt upon the ewes and upon the she-goats,
white, and variegated, and ring-straked, and speckled. "f
For it happens of necessity that the sleeping conceptions also
of those who think what is honourable eligible for its own sake
are more distinct and more pure, just as their waking actions
are also more deserving of approbation.
IV. But when I hear Joseph relating his dream I marvel
at his having fancied that he was binding up the sheaves, and
not reaping the corn ; for the one is the task of the lower
classes and of servants, but the other is the occupation of the
employers, and of men more skilled in agriculture. For to be
able to distinguish what is necessary from what is mischievous,
and what is nutritious from what is not so, and what is
genuine from what is spurious, and useful fruit from a worth
less root, not only in reference to those things which the land
bears, but also in those which the intellect bears, is the work
of most perfect virtue. Accordingly the holy scripture repre
sents those who see, that is the sons of Israel, as reaping, and
what is a most extraordinary thing, as reaping not barley or
* Geuesis xxviii. 12. f Genesis xxxi. 10.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 349
wheat, but the harvest itself; accordingly the language of
Moses is, " When you reap your harvest, you shall not wholly
reap the corners of your harvest."* For he means here that
the virtuous man is not merely the judge of things which
differ from one another, and that he does not only distinguish
the things from which some produce is derived from the
produce itself; hat that he is ahle also to distinguish while
reaping the harvest, to remove this opinion of his ability to
distinguish, and to eradicate a man s own opinion of himself ;
because he is firmly persuaded, and believes Moses when he
affirms that "judgment belongs to God alone/ t with whom
are the comparisons and distinctions between all things ; to
whom it is well for a man to confess that he is inferior, a con
fession more glorious than the most renowned victory.
Now the reaping a harvest is like cutting a second time
what has been cut already ; which when some persons fond
of novelty applied themselves to they found a circumcision of
circumcision, and a purification of purification ;* that is to say,
they found that the purification of the soul was itself purified,
attributing the power of making bright to God, and never
fancying that they themselves were competent, without the
assistance of the divine wisdom, to wash and cleanse a life
which is full of stains.
Akin to this is the double cave, which is a symbol of the
twofold and excellent recollections (the one existing in refer
ence to the creature, and the other to the Creator), in which
the virtuous man is bred up, contemplating the things which
are in the world, and being also fond of inquiring about the
father who made them ; and it is owing to these twofold
recollections, in my opinion, that the double symphony in
music, that of the double diapason, was invented. For it was
necessary that the work and the creator should be made happy
in two most perfect melodies, and not both in the same one.
For since the excellencies which were to be celebrated by
them differed from one another, it followed of necessity that
the melodies and symphonies should likewise differ from one
another. The combined symphony being assigned to the
world, which is a compound creation, composed of many
different parts ; and the disjoined melody being appropriated
Leviticus xu. 9. t Deut. i. 17. J Number* ri. 2.
350 PHILO JUD^US.
to him who, as to his essence, is separated from every creature,
namely, to God.
Moreover, the interpreter of the sacred will again enunciates
an opinion friendly to virtue, saying that it is not proper " to
thoroughly reap every corner of the harvest field ;" remember
ing the original proposition, according to which he agreed
that " the tribute belonged to the Lord,"* to whom the
authority and the conformation of these things also belong ;
but he who is uninitiated in reaping boasts, so far as to say,
" I thought that I was with the others binding up the sheaves
which I had reaped. "f And he does not consider that this is
the occupation of servants and of unskilful hands, as I have
said a little while ago. But this word sheaves is an allegori
cal expression by which affairs are really meant, such as each
man takes in hand for the support of his house, in which he
hopes to live and dwell for ever.
V. There are, therefore, an infinite number of differences
between sheaves, that is to say, between such affairs as support
a house. There are also a countless host of differences
between those who gather and take up the sheaves in their
hand, so that it is impossible to mention or even to imagine
them all. Still it is not out of place to describe a few of
them by way of example, which he too mentioned, when he
was recounting his dream. For he says to his brethren, " I
thought that we were binding up sheaves." Now, of brethren
he has ten, who are sons of the same father as himself, and
one who is by the same mother ; and the name of each
individual among them is an emblem of some most necessary
thing. Reuben is an emblem of natural acuteness, for he is
called " the son who sees," being in so far as he is a son not
perfect, but in so far as he is endowed with the faculty of sight
and sees acutely, he is naturally well qualiefid. Simeon is an
emblem of learning, for his name being interpreted means,
" listening. " Levi is a symbol of virtuous energies and
actions, and of holy ministrations. Judas is an emblem of
songs and hymns addressed to God. Issachar, of wages
which are given for good works ; but perhaps the works them
selves are their own perfect reward. Zabulon is a symbol of
light, since his name means the departure of night ; and
when the night departs and leaves us, then of necessity ligfo
* Numbers xxxi. 28. t Genesis xxxvii. 7.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 351
arises. Dan is a symbol of the distinction between, and
division of, different things. Gad is an emblem of the
invasion of pirates, and of a counter attack made upon them.
Asser is a symbol of natural wealth, for his name being inter
preted, signifies " a calling blessed," since wealth is accounted
a blessed possession. Napthali is a symbol of peace, for all
things are opened and extended by peace, as on the other
hand they are closed by war ; and his name being interpreted
means, "widening," or "that which is opened." Benjamin is
an emblem of young and old time ; for being interpreted his
name means " the son of days," and both young time and old
time are measured by days and nights.
Accordingly, every one of them takes up in his hand what
belongs to himself; and having taken it up, binds all the
parts together ; the man well endowed by nature taking up
the parts of dexterity, and perseverance, and memory, of
which good natural endowments consist ; the man who has
learnt well takes up the parts of listening, tranquillity, and
attention ; the man willing to endeavour takes up courage
and a happy confidence which does not shrink from danger ;
the man inclined to gratitude takes up praises, panegyrics,
hymns, and blessings, both in speaking and in singing ; the
man who is eager for wages takes up unhesitating industry,
most enduring gratitude, and care, armed with a promptitude
which is not to be despised ; he who pursues light rather than
darkness takes up wakefulness and acuteness of sight ; the
man who is an admirer of the division of and distinction
between things takes up well -sharpened reasons so as not to
be deceived by things similar to one another as if they were
identical, impartiality so as not to be led away by favour, and
incorruptibility ; he who, in something of a piratical fashion,
lays ambuscades against those who counterplot against him, takes
up deceit, cajolery, trickery, sophistry, pretence, and hypocrisy,
which being in their own nature blamable, are nevertheless
praised when employed against an enemy ; he who studies to
be rich in the riches of nature takes up temperance and fru
gality ; he who loves peace takes up obedience to law, a good
reputation, freedom from pride, and equality.
VI. It is of these things, then, that the sheaves of his
Vethren by the same fither are composed and bound up ; but
852 PH1LO JUD.-EUS.
the sheaf of his uterine brother is composed of uays and of
time, which are the causes of nothing, as if they were the
causes of all things. But the dreamer and interpreter of
dreams himself, for he united both characters, makes a sheaf
of empty opinion as of the greatest and most brilliant of pos
sessions and the most useful to life. For which reason it is
originally by his dreams, which are things dear to night, that
he is made known to the king of the bodily country, and not
by any performance of conspicuous actions, which require day
for their exhibition. After that, he is appointed overseer or
governor of all Egypt, and is honoured with the second rank
in the kingdom, and made inferior in honour only to the king.
All which things are in the eye of wisdom, if that were the
judge, more inglorious and more ridiculous than even defeat
and dishonour. After that he puts on a golden necklace, a
most illustrious halter, the circlet and wheel of interminable
necessity, not the consequence and regular order of things in
life, nor the connection of th eaffairs of nature as Thamar was ;
for her ornament was not a necklace, but an armlet. More
over, he assumes a ring, a royal gift which is no gift, a pledge
devoid of good faith, the very contrary gift to that which was
given to the same Thamar by Judah the son of the seeing
king, Israel ; for God gives to the soul a seal, a very beautiful
gift, to show that he has invested with shape the essence of all
things which was previously devoid of shape, and has stamped
with a particular character that which previously had no
character, and has endowed with form that which had pre
viously no distinctive form, and having perfected the entire
world, he has impressed upon it an image and appearance,
namely, his own word.
But Joseph also mounts the second chariot, being puffed up
with elation of mind and vain arrogance. And he is regulator
of the provisions, laying up and preserving the treasures for
the body, and providing it with food from all quarters : and
this is a very formidable fortification against the soul. More
over, his deliberate choice of life, and the life which he ad
mires, is testified to in no slight degree by his name ; for
Joseph, being interpreted, means * addition ;" and vain opinion
is always adding what is spurious to what is genuine, and what
is the property of others to what is one s own, and what is
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 353
false to what is true, and what is superfluous to what is ade
quate, and luxury to what is sufficient to support existence,
and pride to life.
VII. Consider now what it is which I am here desirous to
prove. We are nourished by meat and drink, even though the
meat be the most ordinary corn, and the drink plain water
from the stream. Moreover, besides this, vain opinion has
added to it an infinite number of varieties of cakes, and
| cheese-cakes, and sweetmeats, and costly and various mixtures
of an indescribable multitude of wines, for the enjoyment of
pleasure rather than for a participation in necessary food
properly prepared. Again, the necessary seasonings for eating,
are leeks,* and vegetables, and many fruits of trees, and
cheese, and other things of that sort ; and if you wish to
include carnivorous men, we must, besides, add fish and meat
to these items.
Would it not, then, have been sufficient to broil these things
upon the coals, or to roast them at the fire, and then eat them at
once, after the fashion of those true heroes of old time ? But
the epicure is eager not only for such things as these, but he
takes vain opinion for his ally, and excites the gluttonous pas
sions which are within him, and seeks out and hunts all about
for confectioners and pastrycooks of high reputation in their
art. And they, bringing forward the different baits for his
miserable stomach, which have been invented after long con
sideration, and preparing all kinds of peculiar flavours, and
arranging them in due order, tickle, and allure, and subdue
the tongue.
Then, immediately they circumvent that foundation of the
outward senses, the taste, by means of which the banquet-
hunter in a very short time is rendered a slave instead of a
free man. For who is there who does not know that clothes
were originally made as a defence against the injuries which
might arise to the body from cold and heat? as the poets
say somewhere :
" Taming the wind in the winter."
Who, therefore, thinks of costly purple garments ? Who cares
about transparent and thin summer robes ? Who wishes for a
garment delicate as a spider s web ? W T ho is eager to have em-
* Numbers xi. 4.
VOL. ii. A A
354 PHILO JUDGES.
broidered for him apparel flowered over with dyes and brocaded
figures, by those who are skilful in seeing and weaving cunning
embroidery, and are superior in. their handiwork to the imi
tative skill of the painter? Who, I say? Who, but vain
opinion ?
VIII. And, indeed, it is for these same reasons that we had
need of houses, requiring them also for protection against the at
tacks of wild beasts, or of men more savage in their nature than
even wild beasts. Why is it, then, that we adorn the pave
ments and floors with costly stones ? And why do we travel
over Asia, and Africa, and all Europe, and the islands, search
ing for pillars and capitals, and architraves, and selecting them
with reference to their superior beauty ? And why are we
anxious for, and why do we vie with one another in specimens
of Doric, and Ionic, and Corinthian sculpture, and in all the
refinements which luxurious men have devised in addition to
the existing customs, adorning the capitals of their pillars r
And why do we furnish our chambers for men and for women
with golden ornaments ? Is it not all from our being influ
enced by vain opinion ? And yet, for sound sleep, the mere
ground was sufficient (since, even to the present day, the ac
counts tell us that the gymnosophists, among the Indians,
sleep on the ground in accordance with their ancient customs);
and if it were not, at all events a couch made of carefully
chosen stones or plain pieces of wood, would be a sufficient
bed ; but now the poles of our ladders are ornamented with
ivory feet, and workmen inlay our beds with costly mother-of-
pearl and variegated tortoise-shell, at great expense of labour,
and money, and time : and some beds are even made of solid
silver or solid gold, and inlaid with precious stones, with all
kinds of flowery work, and embossed golden ornaments
strewed about them, as if for mere display and magnificence,
and not for daily use. The contriver of all which is again the
same vain opinion.
Again : why need we seek for more in the way of ointment
than the juice pressed out of the fruit of the olive ? For that
softens the limbs, and relieves the labour of the body, and
produces a good condition of the flesh ; and if anything has
got relaxed or flabby, it binds it again, and makes it firm and
solid, and it fills us with vigour and strength of muscle, no
less than any other unguent. But the pleasant unguents of
ON DREAMS BEIN J SENT FROM GOD. 355
vain apinion, are set up in opposition to those that are merely
useful, on which the perfumers work, and to which vast
regions contribute, such as Syria, Babylon, the Indians, and
the Scythians ; in which nations the origins of all perfumes
are found.
IX. Again, with respect to drinking ; what more could man
really have need of than the cup of nature wrought with the
perfection of art ? Now such a cup our own hands supply,
which, if any one brings together and forms into a hollow]
applying them closely to his mouth, while another pours in the
liquid to be drank, he gets not only a remedy for his thirst,
but also a most indescribable pleasure. Still, if one were
absolutely in need of something else, would not the ivy cup of
the agricultural labourer be sufficient ? and why should it be
requisite to have recourse to the arts of other eminent artists ?
And what can be the use of providing a countless multitude of
gold and silver goblets, if it be not for the gratification of
boastful and vain-glorious arrogance, and of vain opinion
raising itself to an undue height ?
Again, when men wear crowns, they are not content with
fragrant garlands of laurel, or ivy, or violets, or lilies, or
roses, or of any tree whatever, or of any flower, neglecting all
the gifts of God, which he bestows upon us at the various
seasons of the year, but they put golden crowns on their heads,
which are a very grievous weight, wearing them in the middle
of the crowded market place without any shame. And what
can we think of such men, but that they are slaves of vain
opinion, in spite of their asserting themselves not only to be
free, but even to be rulers over many other persons < The
day would fail me if I were to go through all the varieties of
human life ; and yet, why need I dwell on the subject with
prolixity ? For who is there who has not heard, or who has
not seen, such men as these ? Who is there who does not
associate with, and who is not familiar with them ? So that
the sacred scripture has very appropriately named " addition "
the enemy of simplicity and the companion of pride ; for as
superfluous shoots do grow on trees, which are a great injury
to the genuine useful branches, and which the cultivators
destroy and cut out from a prudent foreknowledge of what is
necessary : so likewise the life of falsehood and arrogance
often grows up by the side of the true life devoid of pride, of
A A a
356 PHILO JUD.EUS.
which, to this day, no cultivator has been found who has been
able to cut away the injurious superfluous growth by the
rooos.
Therefore the practisers of wisdom, knowing this in the first
instance by the outward sense, and secondly, pursuing it by
the mind, cry out loudly and say, " A. wicked beast has seized
and devoured Joseph."* But does not that most ferocious
beast, the various pride which springs up in the life of men
living in irregularity and confusion, whose chief workmen are
covetousness and unscrupulous cunning, devour every one
who comes within his reach ? Therefore grief will be added
to them, even while they are alive, as though they were dead,
since they have a life worthy of lamentation and mourning,
since Jacob mourns for Joseph, even while he is alive.
But Moses will not allow the sacred reasonings about Na-
dab to be bewailed ; t for they have not been carried off by a
savage beast, but have been taken up by unextinguishable
violence and imperishable light ; because, having discarded all
fear and hesitation, they had duly consecrated the fervent and
fiery zeal, consuming the flesh, and very easily and vehe
mently excited towards piety, which is unconnected with
creation, but is akin to God, not going up to the altar by the
regular steps, for that was forbidden by law, but proceeding
rapidly onwards with a favourable gale, and being conducted
up even to the threshold of heaven, becoming dissolved into
ethereal beams like a whole burnt-offering.
X. Therefore, thou soul, that art obedient to thy teacher!
thou must cut off thine hand and thy power when it begins to
take hold of the parts of generation ; that is to say, of things
created, or of human pursuits ; for very often
to cut off the hand which has laid hold of the privy
parts, "J in the first place, because it has gladly received the
pleasure which it ought rather to hate ; and, secondly, because
it has thought that the faculty of propagating seed was in our
own power, and also, because it has attributed to the creature
the power which belongs to the Creator. Dost thou not see
that the earthly mass, Adam, when it lays its hand upon the
two trees, dies, because it has preferred the number two to the
unit, and because it has admired the creature in preference to
the Creator ? But do thou go forth beyond the reach of the
* Genesis xxxvii. 33. t Leviticus x. 6. Deut. xxv. 12.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 357
smoke and the tempest, and flee from the ridiculous pursuits
of mortal life as a fearful whirlpool, and do not, as the proverb
has it, touch them even with the tip of thy finger.
And when thou hast girded thyself up for the sacred minis
trations, having made broad thy whole hand and thy whole
power, then take a firm hold of the speculations of instruction
and wisdom ; for the command is of this kind, "If a soul brings
a gift or a sacrifice, the gift shall be of fine wheaten flour. *
After that the lawgiver adds : " And when he has taken a
full handful of the fine wheateu flour, with the oil, and with all
the frankincense, he places the memorial on the altar of sacri
fice." Is not this a very beautiful and appropriate expression
of Moses, to call that soul incorporeal which is about to offer
sacrifice, but not to call the double mass which cousists of mor
tality and immortality by any such name ? For that which
vows the vow that which is full of gratitude that which
offers such sacrifices as are truly without spot, is one thing
only, namely, the soul.
What then is the offering of the incorporeal soul ? What
is he fine wheaten flour, a symbol of the mind purified by the
suggestions of instruction, which is able to render the friend
of education free from all disease, and life free from all
reproach? From which the priest taking a handful with his
whole hand, that is to say, with the whole grasp of his mind,
is commanded to offer up the whole soul itself, full of the
most unalloyed and pure doctrines, as the most excellent of
sacrifices, fat and in good condition, rejoicing in divine light,
and redolent of the exhalations which are given forth by
justice, and by the other virtues, so as always to enjoy a most
fragrant, and delicious, and happy life; for the oil and the
frankincense, of which the priest takes a handful with the
white wheat, contain a figurative assertion of this.
XI. It is on this account that Moses set apart an especial
festival for the sheaf ; however, not for every sheaf, but for
that which came from the sacred land. " For when," says he,
" you come into the land which 1 give unto you, and when
you reap its harvest, you shall bring sheaves as a first fruit of
your harvest to the priest. "f And the meaning of this injunc
tion is, when, O mind, you come into the country of virtue,
Leviticus ii. 1. t Leviticua xxiii. 10.
358 PHILO JUD^US.
which it is fitting should he offered up to God alone, being a
land good for pasture, a land of rich soil, a land which beareth
fruit, and when you reap the fruit (either that afforded by
the land spontaneously or that which thou hast sown), which
has been brought to perfection by the God who gives perfec
tion ; carry it not home to thy house ; that is to say, do not
store it up, and do not attribute to thyself the cause of the
crop which has arisen to thee, before thou hast offered the first
fruits to the Cause of all wealth, and to him who persuaded
thee to study the operations which confer riches. And it is
enjoined that you shall offer the " first fruits of your own har
vest ; " not of the harvest of the land, in order that we may
reap and gather in the harvest for ourselves; dedicating to
God all good and nutritious, and beneficial fruits.
XII. But the man who is at the same time initiated in
dreams and also an interpreter of dreams, is bold to say that
his sheaf rose and stood upright ; for in real truth, as spirited
horses lift their necks high, so all who are companions of vain
opinion place themselves above all things, above all cities,
and laws, and national customs, and above all the circum
stances which affect each individual of them. Then proceed
ing onwards from being demagogues to being leaders of the
people, and overthrowing the things which belong to their
neighbours, and setting up and establishing on a solid footing
what belongs to themselves, that is to say, all such dispositions
as are free and by nature impatient of slavery, they attempt
to reduce these also under their power ; on which account the
dreamer adds, " And your sheaves turning towards my sheaf
made obeisance unto it."*
For the lover of modesty marvels at and fears the stiffnecked,
and the cautious person fears the self-willed man, and he who
reverences holiness fears that which is impious both for him
self and for others. And is not this reasonable ? For inas
much as the good man is a spectator, not only of human life
but also of all the things which exist in the world, he knows
how many things are accustomed to be caused by necessity,
and chance, and opportunity, and violence, and authority ; and
what numbers of propositions, and what great instances of
prosperity proceeding onwards with rapidity towards heaven,
the same causes have shaken and overthrown ; so that he will
* Genesis xxxvii. 7.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. S59
of necessity take up caution as a shield, as a protection to
prevent his suffering any sudden and unexpected evil ; for as
1 imagine what a wall is to a city, that caution is to an indivi
dual.
Do not these men then talk foolishly, are they not mad, who
desire to display their inexperience and freedom of speech to
kings and tyrants, at times daring to speak and to do things
in opposition to their will ? Do they not perceive that they
have not only put their necks under the yoke like brute beasts,
but that they have also surrendered and betrayed their whole
bodies and souls likewise, and their wives and their children,
and their parents, and ail the rest of the numerous kindred
and community of their other relations?
And it is lawful for the charioteer, and also for the passenger,
with all freedom to spur, and to urge forward, and to check, and
to hold back, according as he desires to arrange things, so as to
make them greater or smaller. Therefore, being pricked with
goads, and flogged, and mutilated, and suffering all the cruel
ties which can be inflicted in an inhuman and pitiless manner
before death, all together, they are led away to execution and
put to death.
XIII. These are the rewards of unseemly freedom of speech,
not of that which is accounted such by right-thinking judges,
but of that license which is full of folly, and insanity of rnind,
and of incurable distemper. What do you mean ? Does any
one, when he sees a storm at its height, and a violent gale
opposing him, and a hurricane raging tempestuously, and the
sea full of vast waves, when he ought to anchor his ship, does
anyone, I say, at such a moment weigh anchor and put to sea ?
What pilot, or what captain of a ship, was ever so drunk and
intoxicated, as, while all the dangers which I have just enume
rated were threatening him, to be willing to set sail, lest, if his
vessel became water-logged by the sea breaking over it from
above, it might be swallowed up with all its crew ? For, if he
had been inclined to meet with a voyage free from danger, it
was in his power to wait for calm weather and a smooth and
favourable breeze. What would one say, suppose anyone were
to see a bear or a lion coming on with violence, and, while he
might pacify and tame him, were to provoke him and make
him savage, in order to give up himself as an unpitied meal
and feast to those ravenous monsters? Unless indeed anyone
:ir,0 PHILO JUD^EUS.
will assert that it is of 110 use to anyone to oppose the asps
and serpents of Egypt, and all the other things which .
destructive poison . . . inflict inevitable death on those
who are once bitten by them ; for that men must be content
to use incantations, and so to tame those beasts, and by such
means to avoid suffering any evil from them.
Moreover, are there not certain men who are more savage
and more treacherous than boars, or serpents, or asps ? whose
treacherous and malignant disposition it is impossible to escape
otherwise than by gentleness and caresses ? Therefore the wise
Abraham will offer adoration to the sons of Cheth, and their
name being interpreted, means " admiring," because the
occasion persuades him to do so. For he has not come to this
action of adoration because he honours persons who, by nature,
and by hereditary qualities, and by their own habits, are
enemies to reason, and who miserably waste that coinage of the
soul, namely instruction, corrupting, and adulterating, and
clipping it, but because he fears their present power and their
scarcely conquerable strength, and is on his guard not to
provoke them, he takes refuge in that great and powerful
possession and weapon of virtue, that most excellent place of
abode for wise souls, the double cave, which he could not
occupy while warring and fighting, but only by acting as a
champion and servant of reason.
What ? Do not we also, when we are spending our time
in the market-place, frequently wonder at the masters, and
also at the beasts of burden ? But we wonder at these two
classes, with different and not the same feelings. For we look
upon the masters with honour, and upon the beasts of burden
with fear, lest some injury should be done to us by them. And
when an opportunity offers, it is a good thing to attack our
enemies and put down their power ; but when we have no such
opportunity, it is better to be quiet ; but if we wish to find
perfect safety as far as they are concerned, it is advantageous
to caress them.
XIV. On which account it is even now proper to praise
those persons who do not yield to the president of vain opinion
but who withstand him and say, " Shall you be a king and
rule over us? * For they do not as yet see him actually in
possession of kingly power, they do not see him as yet kindled
* Genesis xxxvii. 8.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 361
like a flame, and shining and blazing in the unlimited fuel, but
only smouldering like a spark, dreaming of glorv, and not
visibly having attained to it ; for they also suggest favourable
hopes to themselves as if they will not be able to be overcome
bvhim ; for which reason they say, " Shall you reign over us?"
Which is equivalent to saying. Do you expect to be a king
over us while we are living, existing, strong, and breathing ?
Perhaps, indeed, you may make yourself master of such as are
weak people, but with respect to us who are strong you will be
looked upon by us as a subject.
And, indeed, this is the natural state of the case. For when
right reason is powerful in the soul, vain opinion is put down ;
but when right reason is weak, vain opinion is strong. As
long, therefore, as the soul has its own power still safe, and as
long as it is not mutilated in any part of it, it may well have
confidence to attack and aim its arrows at the pride which
resists it, and it may indulge in freedom of speech, saying,
44 You shall not be a king, you shall not be a lord either over
us, or during our lifetime over others ; but we, with our body
guards and shield-bearers, the offtpring of wisdom, will over
throw your attacks and baffle your threats with one single sally
of ours. In reference to which circumstances it is said, 44 They
began to hate him because of his dreams and because of his
words."
But are not all the images which pride sets up and worships
mere words and dreams, while, on the contrary, those things
alone deserve to be called actions and real energies which are
referable to correct life and right reason ? And the one class
are worthy of hatred as being false, and the other class deserve
friendship as being full of desirable and lovely truth. Let no
one, therefore, venture to bring accusations against the virtues
of such men, as if they exhibited a specimen of an inhuman
and unbrotherly disposition ; but let any one who is disposed
to do so, leani that it is not a man who is now being judged
of, but the disposition which exists in the soul of each indivi
dual, which is mad on the subject of glory and arrogant pride ;
let him embrace these men who have adopted irreconcileable
enmity and hatred towards this disposition, and let him never
love what is hated by them. Knowing thoroughly that such
judges are never deceived so as to wander from a sound opi
nion, but that, having learnt from the beginning to understand
362 PHILO JUD^US.
who is the true king, namely, the Lord, they indignantly refuse
to worship him who deprives God of his honour, and seeks to
appropriate it to himself, and who invites his fellow servants
to do him service.
XV. On which account they say with confidence, " Shall you
be a king and reign over us ?" Are you ignorant that we are
not independent, but that we are under the government of ail
immortal king, the only God? And why should you be a
lord and lord it over us ? for are we not under domination, and
have we not now, and shall we not have for ever, and ever the
same one Lord ? in being whose servants we rejoice more than
any one else can do in his liberty ; for to be the servant of God
is the most excellent of all things which are honoured in crea
tion.
******
I, therefore, should pray that I myself also might be able
to abide firmly in the things which have been decided by these
men ; for they are accurate investigators, and superintendents,
and overseers of things, not of bodies, and just, and sober all
their lives, so as never to be deceived by any of those things
which are accustomed to deceive mankind. But up to this
time I am in a state of intoxication, and I am labouring under
much uncertainty, and 1 have need of a staff and of a guide
like a blind man ; for if I had a staff to support me, then,
perhaps, I might neither stumble nor fall.
But if any persons who are conscious that they are but
inconsiderate and precipitate, pay no attention to and do nrt
care to follow those who have investigated all necessary matters
with diligence and circumspection, nor, though they themselves
are ignorant of the road, submit to the guidance of those who
are acquainted with it, let them know that they have entered a
course which it is very difficult to travel through, and that
they are entangled in it, and will not be able to advance fur
ther ; but I am am so bound by treaties to these men, the
moment I have a little recovered from my intoxication, that I
think the same person both a friend and an enemy.
But at present I will drive from me and hate that dreamer
no less than they do ; for no one in his senses could blame me
for this, that the majority of opinions and votes does always pre
vail ; but when he changes to a better course of life, and no
longer dreams, and no longer worries himself by entangling
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 363
himself in the vain imaginations of the slaves of vain opinion,
and when he no longer dreams about night, and darkness, and
the changes of uncertain matters which cannot be guessed at ;
lie, then, having awakened from deep sleep, continues awake
and receives certainty instead of indistinctness, and truth
instead of false conceptions, and day instead of night, and light
instead of darkness, and rejects an Egyptian wife, that is to
say, the pleasure of the body, when she invites him to come
in to her, and to enjoy her conversation, out of an indescriba
ble love of continence and admiration for piety, and asserts his
right to a share in those kindred and inherited blessings from
which he appeared to be alienated, again desiring to recover
that portion of virtue which properly belongs to him.
For proceeding by small and gradual improvements, as
if he were now established on the summit and perfection of
his own life, he cries, out, what indeed he knows to a certainty
from what has happened to him, that he " belongs to God,"*
and that he belongs no more to any object of external sense
which can affect any creature ; and then his brethren will
come to a permanent reconciliation with him, changing their
hatred into friendship, and their malignity into good will.
But I who am the follower of these men, for I have learnt
to obey them as a servant obeys his master, will never cease
to praise him for his change of mind. Since Moses, also, that
priest of sacred things, preserves his change of mind as what
is worthy of love and of being preserved in men s recollection,
from being forgotten, by the symbol of the bones* which he
did not think proper to have buried in Egypt for ever, looking
upon it as a hard thing, if the soul put forth any beautiful
flower to suffer that to wither away, and to be overwhelmed
and destroyed by the torrents which the Egyptian river of the
passions, namely the body, which is incessantly flowing through
all the outward senses, sends forth.
XVI. The vision, therefore, which appeared proceeding
from the earth, with reference to the sheaves and the interpre
tation thereof, has now been sufficiently discussed. It is
time now to consider the other vision ; and to examine how
that is interpreted by the art of the explanation of dreams.
He saw then," says the scripture, "a second dream, and he
related it to his father, and to his brethren, and he said, I saw
Geueais 1. 19. t Exodus iiii. 19.
364 PHILO JUD^US.
that the sun, and the moon, and the eleven stars worshipped
me. And his father rebuked him, and said, What is this
dream that thou hast dreamed ? Shall I, and thy mother, and
thy brethren, come forward and advance, and fall down to the
earth and worship thee ? And his brethren were jealous of
him ; but his father regarded his words."*
The studiers of sublime wisdom now say that the zodiac,
the greatest of all the circles in heaven, is studded with twelve
animals (<w<5/a), from which it has derived its name. And that
the sun and the moon are always revolving around it, and go
through each of the animals, not indeed with equal rapidity,
but in unequal numbers and periods ; the one doing so in
thirty days, and the other in as near as may be a twelfth part
of that time, that is in two days and a half ; therefore, he who
saw this heaven-sent vision, thought that he was being
worshipped by eleven stars, ranking himself among them as the
twelfth, so as to complete the whole circle of the zodiac.
And I recollect having before now heard some man who
had applied himself to learning in no careless or indolent
spirit, say that men were not the only beings which went mad
with vain opinions, but that the stars did so too. And they
also, said he, contend with one another for precedence, and
those which are the greater claim to be attended by the lesser
stars as their guards ; these matters, however, we may leave
for the studiers of sublime subjects to investigate, and to
settle how much truth and how much random assertion there
is in them.
But we say, that the lover of indiscriminate study, and un
reasonable contention, and vain opinion, being always puffed
up by folly, wishes to assert a precedence, not only over men,
but also above the nature of all existing things; arid he thinks
that all things were created for his sake, and that it is neces
sary that everything, whether earth or heaven, or water or air,
should bring him tribute ; and he has gone to such an extra
vagant pitch of folly, that he is not able to reason upon such
matters as even a young child might understand, and to see
that no artist ever makes the whole for the sake of the part,
but rather makes the part for the sake of the whole. Now the
part of the whole is the man, so that he is properly asserted to
* Genesis xxxvii. 9.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 3f>5
have been made for the sake of perfecting the world in which
he is rightly classed.
XVII. But some persons are full of such exceeding folly,
that they are indignant if the whole world does not follow
their intentions : for this reason Xerxes, the king of Persia,
being desirous to strike terror into his enemies, made a dis
play of very mighty undertakings, altering the whole face of
nature ; for he changed the nature of the elements of the
earth and of the sea, giving land to the sea and sea to the
land, by joining the Hellespont with a bridge, and breaking
up Mount Athos into deep gulfs, which, being filled with sea,
became so many new and artificially-cut seas, being entirely
changed from the ancient course of nature. And having worked
wonders with respect to the earth, according to his wishes, he
mounted up upon daring conceptions, like a miserable man as
he was, contracting the guilt of impiety, and seeking to soar
up to heaven, as if he would move what cannot be moved, and
would subjugate the host of heaven, and, as the proverb has it,
he began with a sacred thing.
For he aimed his arrows at the most excellent of the
heavenly bodies, the sun, the ruler of the day, as if he had
not himself been wounded by the invisible dart of insanity,
not only because of his desiring things which were impossible,
but such as were also most impious, either of which is a great
disgrace to him who attempts them.
It is related, also, that the very populous nation of the
Germans, and theirs is a country where the sea is subject to
the ebb and flow of the tide, ran down to the reflux which
occurs in their country with great impetuosity, and drawing
their naked swords charged and encountered the billowy sea
as if it were a phalanx of enemies : and these men deserve to
be hated because they dare impiously to take up the arms of
enemies against the free and invincible parts of nature ; but
they deserve also to be ridiculed for attempting what is im
possible, as if they thought it practicable to wound the water
as though it were a living animal, or to stab it and kill it.
And again, one should grieve at the sight of such men, and
fear, and flee out of fear at their attacks, and submit to all the
affections of the soul which are conversant with pleasures
and pains.
XVIII. Moreover, it is only a very short time ago that
3C6 PHILO JUD^DS.
I knew a man of very high rank, one who was prefect and
governor of Egypt, who, after he had taken it into his head to
change our national institutions and customs, and in an extra
ordinary manner to abrogate that most holy law guarded
by such fearful penalties, which relates to the seventh day,
and was compelling us to obey him, and to do other things
contrary to our established custom, thinking that that would
be the beginning of our departure from the other laws, and of
our violation of all our national customs, if he were once able
to destroy our hereditary and customary observance of the
seventh day. And as he saw that those to whom he offered
violence did not yield to his injunctions, and that the rest of
our people was not disposed to submit in tranquillity, but was
indignant and furious at the business, and was mourning and
dispirited as if at the enslaving, and overthrow, and utter
destruction of their country ; he thought fit to endeavour by
a speech to persuade them to transgress, saying : " If an
invasion of enemies were to come upon you on a sudden, or
the violence of a deluge, from the river having broken down
all its barriers by an inundation, or any terrible fire, or a
thunderbolt, or famine, or pestilence, or an earthquake, or
any other evil, whether caused by men or inflicted by God,
would you still remain quiet and unmoved at home ? And
would you still go on in your habitual fashion, keeping your
right hand back, and holding the other under your garments
close to your sides, in order that you might not, even without
meaning it, do anything to contribute to your own preserva
tion? And would you still sit down in your synagogues,
collecting your ordinary assemblies, and reading your sacred
volumes in security, and explaining whatever is not quite
clear, and devoting all your time and leisure with long discus
sions to the philosophy of your ancestors ? Nay : rather
shaking off all these ideas, you would gird yourselves up for
the preservation of yourselves, and of your parents, and of
your children, and, if one must tell the plain truth, of your
possessions and treasures, to save them from being utterly
destroyed. And, indeed, I myself, am," said he, " all the
evils which I have just enumerated : I am a whirlwind, I am
war, and deluge, and thunderbolt, and the calamity of famine,
and the misery of pestilence, and an earthquake which shakes
and overthrows what stood firm before, not being merely the
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 367
name of a necessity of fate, but actual, visible power, standing
close to you."
What then can we say that a man who says, or who merely
thinks such things as these, is ? Is he not an evil of aii
extraordinary nature ? He surely must be some foreign
calamity, brought from over the sea, or from some other
world, since he, a man in every respect miserable, has dared
to compare himself to the all-blessed God. We must like
wise add, that he is daring here to utter blasphemies against
the sun, and the moon, and the rest of the stars, whenever
anything which had been looked for according to the seasons
of the year, either does not happen at all, or is brought about
with difficulty ; if, for instance, the summer causes too much
heat, or the winter too excessive a cold, or if the spring or
autumn were unseasonable, so that the one were to become
barren and unfruitful, and the other to be prolific only in
diseases.
Therefore, giving all imaginable license to an unbridled
mouth and abusive tongue, such a man will reproach the stars
as not bringing their customary tribute, all but claiming for
the things of earth the reverence and adoration of the heavenly
bodies, and for himself above them all, in proportion as he,
as being a man, looks upon himself as superior to the other
animals.
XIX. Such men then are classed by us as the very teachers
of vain opinion. Let us now in turn look at their followers
by themselves. These men are always laying plots against
the practisers of virtue, and when they see them labouring to
make their own life pure with guileless truth, and to exhibit
it, as one may say, to the light of the moon, or of the sun, as
able to stand inspection, they endeavour by deceit, or even by
open violence, to hinder them, trying to drive them into the
sunless country of impious men, which is occupied by deep
night, and endless darkness, and ten thousand tribes of
images, and appearances, and dreams, and then, having thrust
them down thither, they compel them to fall down and
worship them as masters.
For we look upon the practiser of virtue as the sun, since
the one gives light to our bodies, and the other to the things
which belong to the soul : and the education which such a
man uses we look upon as the moon, fur the use of each is
368 PHILO JUD.EUS.
most pure and most useful in the night ; and the brethren are
those virtuous reasonings which are the offspring of instruc-
t ion, and of a soul devoted to the practice of virtue, all of
which make straight the right path of life, and which they,
therefore, by all kinds of wary and cunning wrestlings, seek to
overcome, and to trip up, and overthrow, and break the neck
of, because they have determined neither to think nor to say
anything sound themselves.
For this reason his father rebukes this intractable youth
(I do not mean Jacob, but right reason, which is older even
than he), saying, " What is this dream which thou hast
dreamt ?" but thou hast not seen any dream at all ; hast thou
fancied that things which are free by nature are to be of ne
cessity slaves to human things, and that things which are
rulers are to become subjects? and, what is more paradoxical
still, subject, not to anything else but to the very things which
they govern ? and to be the slaves of no other things except
those very things which are their own slaves ? unless indeed
a change of all established things to their direct contraries is
to take place, by the power of God, who is able to effect all
things, and to move what is immovable, and to fix what is in
a constant state of agitation.
Since on what principle can you be angry with or reproach
a man who sees a vision in his sleep ? For he will say, I did
not see it intentionally, why do you bring accusations against
me, for errors which I have not committed from any deliberate
purpose ? I have related to you what fell upon me and made
an impression on my mind suddenly, and without my desiring
it. But the present question is not about dreams, but about
things which resemble dreams ; which, to those whose minds
are not highly purified appear great, and beautiful, and de
sirable things ; while they are, in reality, trifling, and obscure,
and deserving of ridicule, in the eyes of honest judges of the
truth.
XX. Shall I then, says he, I, that is to say, right reason,
come to you ? And shall the soul, which is both the mother
and nurse of the company devoted to learning virtuous in
struction, also come to thee ? And are the offspring of us too
to come likewise ? And are we all to stand in a row, laying
aside all our former dignity, and holding up our hands and
praying to thee ? And are we then to prostrate ourselves on
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. : ,( , 9
the ground, and endeavour to propitiate and adore thee ? But
may the sun never shine upon such transactions, since deep
darkness is suited to evil deeds, and brilliant light to good
deeds.
And what could be a greater evil than for pride, that
deceiver and beguiler, to be praised and admired, instead of
sincere and honest simplicity ? And it is with great propriety
that the statement is added, " And his father took notice or
his words." For it is the occupation of a soul which is not
young, nor barren, nor wholly unfruitful, but rather of one
which is really older and able to beget offspring, to cohabit
with prudent caution, and to despise and overlook nothing
whatever, but to have a reverential fear of the power of God,
from which we cannot escape, and which we cannot overcome ;
and to look all round to see what its very end shall bo.
For this reason they suy, that the sister of Moses also (and
she is called Hope by us, when speaking in a figurative man
ner) was contemplated at a distance by the sacred scriptures,
inasmuch as she kept her eyes fixed on the end of life, hoping
that some good fortune might befall her, sent by the Giver of all
good from above, from heaven ; for it has often happened that
many persons, after having taken long voyages, and having
sailed over a great expanse of sea with a fair wind, and with
out any danger, have suddenly been shipwrecked in the
harbour itself, when they have been on the very point of cast
ing anchor ; and many persons too, who have successfully
come to the end of formidable wars of long duration, and
have come off unwounded so as never to have received even
a scratch on the surface of the skin, but to have escaped whole
and entire as if they had only been at some popular assembly
or national festival, having returned home with joy and cheer
fulness, have been plotted against in their houses by those
who, of all the world, least ought to have done so ; being, as
the proverb says, like oxen slain in their stall.
XXI. As these unexpected events, which no one could ever
have anticipated, do frequently happen in this manner and
overthrow people, so also do they often drive the powers of the
soul in a contrary direction to the proper one, and drug it in an
opposite way, according to their power, and compel it to change
its course: for what man, who has ever descended into the arena
of life, has come off without a fall ? And who is there who has
VOL. n. B B
370 PHILO JUD.EUS.
never been tripped up in that contest ? He is happy who has
not often been so. And for whom has not fortune laid snares,
blowing upon him at intervals, and collecting its strength, that
it may twine itself around him, and speedily carry him off
before its adversary is ready for the contest? Do we not know,
that some persons have come from infancy to old age who have
never been sensible of any irregularity, whether it be from the
happy condition of their nature, or from the care of those who
brought them up and educated them, or owing to both circum
stances ? But then, being filled with profound peace in them
selves, which is real peace, and the archetypal model of that
which exists in cities, and being considered happy on that
account, because they have never had a notion, not even in a
dream, of the intestine war which arises from the violence of
the passions, and which is the most piteous of all wars, have at
last, at the very close of their lives, run on shore and made
shipwreck, either through some intemperance of language or
some insatiable gluttony, or some incontinent licentiousness of
the parts below the belly. For some, while
" Still on the threshold of extreme old age,"
Have admired the youthful, unhonoured, detestable, and dis
graceful life of debauchees ; and others have given in to
the cunning, and wicked, and calumnious, and desperate way
of life of others, pursuing the first fruits of a quarrelsome
curiosity, when they ought rather to have discarded such habits
now, even if they had been familiar to them.
For which reason one ought to propitiate God, and to suppli
cate him perseveringly, that he will not pass by our miserable
race, but that he will allow his saving mercy to be everlast
ingly shown towards us ; for it is difficult for those who have
tasted unalloyed peace to be prevented from glutting them
selves with it.
XXII. But, come now, this hunger is a lighter evil than
thirst, inasmuch as it has love and desire for its comforters ;
but when, through the desire of drinking, it is necessary to
to satisfy one s self with that other fountain, the water of
which is dirty and unwholesome, then it is indispensable for
the drinkers, being filled with a bitter-sweet pleasure, to live
an unenv able life, betaking themselves to pernicious things
as though they were advantageous, from ignorance of what is
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 371
really desirable. But the impetuous course of these evils is
most grievous when the irrational powers of the soul attack
the powers of the reason and get the better of them ; for as long
as the herds of oxen obey their drivers, and the flocks obey
their shepherds, and the goats obey the goatherds, the herds
and all belonging to them go on well ; but when the herds
men who are appointed to look after the cattle become weaker
than the beasts committed to their care, then everything goes
wrong, and instead of regularity there arises irregularity, and
disorder in the place of order, and confusion instead of steadi-
ness, and disturbance in the place of good arrangement, since
there is no longer any lawful superintending power properly
established ; for if there had been such a thing, it would have
been destroyed before this time.
What then ? Do we not think that even in ourselves there
is a herd of irrational cattle, inasmuch as the irrational multi
tude of the soul is deprived of reason, and that the shepherd
is the governing mind ? But as long as that is vigorous and
competent to act as the manager of the herd, everything goes
on in a just, and prosperous, and advantageous manner; but
when any weakness or want of power supervenes to the king,
then it follows of necessity that the subjects also labour with a
like infirmity ; and when they most completely seem to be
in enjoyment of liberty, then they are a prize, lying most en
tirely ready for anyone who pleases to contend for it to seize ;
for the natural course is for anarchy to be treacherous, and for
government to be salutary, especially in a state where law and
; ustice are honoured. And this is such a state as is consistent
with reason.
XXIII. We have now, then, spoken with sufficient accuracy
about the dreams of vain opinion. Now, the different species
of gluttony are conversant about drinking and eating. But the
one has no need of any great variety, while the other requires a
countless number of seasonings and sauces. These things,
then, are referred to two managers. The matters relating to
excessive drinking are referred to the chief butler, and those
which belong to luxurious eating to the chief baker. Now
these men are, with excessive propriety, recorded to have seeii
visions of dreams in one night; for they, each of them,
labour to gratify the same need of their master, providing not
simple food, but such as is accompanied with pleasure and
B B 2
372 PHILO JUD^US.
extraordinary gratification ; and each of them, separately,
labours about half the food, but the two together are employed
about the whole, and the one part draws on the other ; for
men when, they have eaten, immediately desire drink ; and
men who have drunk immediately wish to eat ; so that it is
in no slight degree on this account that a vision is ascribed to
them both at the same time. Therefore the chief butler has
the office of ministering to the appetite for wine, and the chief
baker to the voracity.
And each ol them sees in his vision what relates to his own
business : the one sees wine and the plant which engenders
wine, namely the vine ; the other sees white bread lying on
dishes, and himself serving up the dishes.*
Now perhaps it may be proper first of all to examine the first
dream. And it is as follows : " In my sleep there was a vine
before me ; and on the vine were three branches, and it
rlourished and brought forth shoots, and there were on it ripe
bunches of grapes. And Pharaoh s cup was in my hand, and
I took the bunch of grapes and pressed it, into the cup, and I
gave the cup into Pharaohs hand."f He speaks here in an
admirable manner, and the expression, " in my sleep, is quite
correct. For, in real truth, he who follows not so much the
inebriety which arises from wine as that which proceeds from
folly, being indignant at an upright and wakeful position, like
people asleep, is thrown down and relaxed, and shuts the eyes
of his soul, not being able either to see or to hear anything
which is worthy of being seen or of being heard. And being
overthrown, he goes on a blind and guideless (I will not say
path, but pathless) way through life, being pricked with thorns
and briars ; and sometimes too he falls down steep places, and
tumbles down upon other people, so as to hurt both them and
himself in a pitiable manner. But the deep and long-enduring
sleep in which every wicked man is held, removes all true con
ceptions, and fills the mind with all kinds of false images, and
unsubstantial visions, persuading it to embrace what is shameful
as praiseworthy. For at one time it dreams of grief as joy, and
does not perceive that it is looking at the vine, the plant of
folly and error. "For," says the chief butler, "the vine was
before me," the desired object was before him who desired it,
wickedness was before the wicked man : which we, foolish men
* Genesis xL 16. t Genesis xl. 9.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 373
that we are, cultivate, without being aware that we are doing so
to our own injury, the fruit of which we eat and drink, classing
it under both species of food, which, as it would seem, we
appropriate, not for one half the evils that affect us for the
whole of our complete and entire misfortunes.
XXI V. But it is desirable not to be ignorant that the intoxi
cation which proceeds from the vine does not affect all who
indulge in it in a similar manner, but very often affects different
people in contrary ways, so that it makes some better and others
worse than they are naturally. For in the case of some men,
it relaxes the sternness and moroseness of their character, and
relieves them of their cares, and assuages their anger and their
sorrow, and brings their dispositions into a milder mood, and
makes their souls placable. But of others again, it cherishes
the angry passions, and binds their pains firmly, and excites
their feelings of love, and stimulates their rudeness ; rendering
their mouth talkative, their tongue unbridled, emancipating
their external senses from all restraint, rendering their passions
furious, and their whole mind violent and excited towards every
object.
So that the condition of the men first-mentioned appears to
resemble an untroubled calm in fine weather, or a waveless
tranquillity at sea, or a most peaceful and steady state of
affairs in a city. But the condition of those whom I have last
described, is more like a violent and unremitting gale, or a sea
tossed by a storm into vast billows, or a sedition, an evil more
fearful than even interminable and irreconcileable war.
Therefore of these two banquet parties, the one is filled
with laughter, with men promising amusement, and hoping for
good fortune, and enjoying cheerfulness, and pleasant language,
and mirth, and joy, and freedom from anxiety ; but the other is
full of melancholy, and seriousness, and downcast looks, and
offences, and reproaches, and wounds ; of men gnashing their
teeth, looking fiercely at one another, barking, strangling one
another, contending with one another in every conceivable way,
mutilating one another s ears and noses, and whatever parts of
the body they can reach, displaying the intoxication of their
whole life and their drunkenness in this unholy contest, with
every kind of unseemly behaviour.
XXV. It would therefore be naturally consistent to consider
icxt that the vine is the symbol of two things : of folly, and of
8Y4 PHILO JUD^EUS.
mirth. And each of these two, thougli it is indicated by many
circumstances, we will explain in a few words, to avoid pro
lixity. When any one leading us along the road, deserted by
the passions and by acts of wickedness, the road, that is, of
philosophy, has led right reason to a height, and placed it like
a scout upon a watch-tower,* and has commanded it to look
around, and to survey the whole country of virtue, and to see
whether it be blessed with a deep soil, and rich, and productive
of herbage and of fruit, since deep soil is good to cause the
learning which has been sown in it to increase, and to make the
doctrines which have been planted in it, and which have grown
to trees, to form solid trunks, or whether it be of a contrary
character; and also to examine into actions, as one might
into cities, and see whether they are strongly fortified, or
whether they are defenceless and deprived of all the security
which might be afforded by walls around them.
Also to inquire into the condition of the inhabitants, whether
they are considerable in numbers and in valour, or whether
their courage is weak and their numbers scanty, the two causes
acting reciprocally on one another. Then because we were
not able to bear the weight of the whole trunk of wisdom, we
cut off one branch and one bunch of grapes, and carried it with
us as a most undeniable proof of our joy, and a burden very
easy to be borne, wishing to display at the same time the
branch and the fruit of excellence to those who are gifted with
acuteness of mental sight, to show them, that is, the strongly-
shooting and grape-bearing vine.
XXVI. They then very fairly compare this vine of which
we were only able to take a part, to happiness. And one of
the ancient prophets bears his testimony in favour of my view
of the matter, who speaking under divine inspiration has said.
" The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the house of Israel."*
Now Israel is the mind inclined to the contemplation of God
and of the world ; for the name Israel is interpreted, " seeing
God," and the abode of the mind is the whole soul ; and this
is the most sacred vineyard, bearing as its fruit the divine
shoot, virtue : thus thinking well (rb ev pgowft) is the deriva
tion of the word joy (gi^o*rui/7j), being a great and brilliant
thing so that, says Moses, even God himself does not disdain
to exhibit it ; and most especially at that time when the
* Numbers xiii. 38. + Isaiah v. 7.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 375
human race is departing from its sins, and inclining and bend
ing its steps towards justice, following of its own accord the
laws and institutions of nature.
" For," says Moses, " the Lord thy God will return, that he
may rejoice in thee for thy good as he rejoiced in thy fathers,
if thou wilt hear his voice to keep all his commandments and
his ordinances and his judgments which are written in the
book of this law."* Who could implant in man a desire for
virtue and excellence, more strongly than is here done ? Dost
thou wi*h, says the scripture, O mind, that God should rejoice?
Do thou rejoice in virtue thyself, and bring no costly offering,
(for what need has God of anything of thine ?) But, on the
other hand, receive with joy all the good things which he
bestows upon thee ; for he rejoices in giving, when they who
receive are worthy of his grace ; unless you think that those
men who live blameably may be justly said to make God
indignant and to excite his anger, but that those who live in a
praiseworthy manner do not make him rejoice.
But there is nothing which gives so much pleasure to
fathers and mothers, our mortal parents, as the virtues of
their children, even though they may be in want of numbers
of necessary things ; And does not the excellence of these
aforesaid persons in like manner rejoice the Creator of the
universe, who is in no want of anything whatever? Do thou
therefore, O mind, having learnt how mighty a thing the
anger of God is, and how great a good the joy of God is, do
not do anything worthy to excite his anger to thy own de
struction, but study only such things as may be the means 01
your pleasing God. And you will find these actions to be not
the making of long and unusual journeys, nor the passing over
unnavigable seas, or wandering without stopping to take breath
to the furthest boundaries of earth and sea : for good actions
do not dwell at a distance and have not been banished beyond
the confines of the habitable world, but, as Moses says, good
is situated near you, and is planted along with you, being
united to you in three necessary parts, in the heart, in the
mouth, and in the hands: that is to say, in the mind, in the
speech, and in the actions ; since it is necessary to think and
to say, and to do good things, which are made perfect by a
union of good design, good execution, and good language.
Deuteronomy XJUL 9.
376 PHILO JUD^EUS.
XXVII. I say therefore to him whose occupation is to
gratify one description of gluttony, the fondness for drinking,
namely to the chief butler, " Why are you labouring hard, O
unhappy man ? For you think that you are preparing plea-
bant things to give delight, but in reality you are kindling a
flame of folly and intemperance, and contributing great and
abundant quantities of fuel to it." But perhaps he may reply,
do not blame me precipitately before you have considered my
case ; I was appointed to pour out wine, not indeed for a man
who was endowed with temperance, and piety, and all the
other virtues, but for a violent, and intemperate, and unjust
master, one who was very proud in his impiety, and who
dared once to say, " I do not know the Lord ;"* so that I very
naturally studied what would afford him gratification : and do
not wonder that God is delighted with one thing, and the
mind which is hostile to God, namely Pharaoh, with the
contrary.
Who then is the chief butler of God ? The priest who
offers libations to him, the truly great high priest, who, having
received a draught of everlasting graces, offers himself in
return, pouring in an entire libation full of unmixed wine.
You see that there are differences between butlers in pro
portion to the differences existing between those whom they
are waiting on ; on this account I, the butler of Pharaoh, who
exerts his stiff-necked, and in all respects intemperate
reason, in the direction of indulgences of his passions, am a
eunuch, having had all the generative parts of my soul
removed, and being compelled to migrate from the apartments
of the men, and am a fugitive also from the women s chambers,
inasmuch as I am neither male nor female ; nor am I able to
disseminate seed nor to receive it, being of an ambiguous
nature, neither one thing nor the other ; a mere false coin o
human money, destitute of immortality, which is from time
to time kept alive by the constant succession of children and
offspring : being also excluded from the assembly and sacred
meeting of the people, for it is expressly forbidden that any
one who has suffered any injury or mutilation such as I have
should enter in thereto.t
XXVIII. But the high priest of whom we are speaking is a
perfect man, the husband of a virgin (a most extraordinary
* Exodus v. 2. t Deuteronomy xxiii. 1.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 377
statement), who has never been made a woman ; but who on
the contrary, has ceased to be intluenced by the customs of
women in regard to her connection with her husband.* And
not only is this man competent to sow the seeds of unpolluted
and virgin opinions, but he is also the father of sacred
reasonings, some of which are overseers and superintendents
of the affairs of nature, such as Eleazar and Ithamar ; others
are ministers of the worship of God, earnestly occupied in
kindling and burning up the flame of heaven ; for, as they are
always uttering discourses relating to holiness, they cause it to
shine, bringing forth the most divine kind of piety like fire
from a flint ; and the being who is at the same time the guide
and father of those men is no insignificant part of the sacred
assembly, but he is rather the person without whom the duly
convened assembly of the parts of the soul could never be
collected together at all ; he is the president, the chairman, the
creator of it, who, without the aid of any other being, is able
by himself alone to consider and to do everything.
He, when taken in conjunction with others, is insignificant in
point of number, but when he is looked at by himself he be
comes numerous ; he is a tribunal, an entire council, the whole
people, a complete multitude, the entire race of mankind,
or rather, if one is to speak the real truth, he is a sort of
nature bordering on God, inferior indeed to him, but superior
to mati ; " for when," the scripture says, " the high priest goes
into the Holy of Holies he will not be a man."f What then
will he be if he is not a man? Will he be God? I would
not venture to say that (for the chief prophet, Moses, did
receive the inheritance of this name while he was still in
Egypt, being called "the god of Pharaoh ;")| nor again is he
man, but he touches both these extremities as if he touched
both the feet and the head.
XXIX. So now one kind of vine, which has been assigned
as the portion of cheerfulness, and the intoxication which
arises from it, namely unmingled goodness of counsel, and the
cup-bearer too who drew the wine from the divine goblet,
which God himself has filled with virtues up to the lip, has
been explained ; but the other kind, that of folly, and grief,
and drunkenness, is also already depicted in a fashion but in
another character, by other expressions which are used in the
Genesis xviii. 11. f Leviticus xvi. 17. J Exodus v\L 1.
378 PHILO JUD^US.
greater canticle ; " for," says the scripture, " their vine is of
the vine of Sodom and their tendrils are of the vine of Gomor
rah ; their grapes are the grapes of gall ; their bunches are full
of bitterness itself. Their wine is the madness of dragons and
the incurable fury of asps."*
You see here what great effects are produced by the drunk
enness of folly : bitterness, an evil disposition, exceeding
gall, excessive anger, implacability, a biting and treacherous
disposition. The lawgiver most emphatically asserts the
branch of the vine of folly to be in Sodorn ; and the name
Sodom, being interpreted, means "blindness," or "barrenness;"
since folly is a thing which is blind, and also barren of all
good things ; though, nevertheless, some people have been so
greatly influenced by it as to measure, and weigh, and count
everything with reference to themselves alone.
Gomorrah, being interpreted, means " measure ;" but Moses
conceived that God was the standard of weight, and measure,
and number, in the universe, but he had not the same opinion
of the human mind. And he shows this in the following
passage, where he says, " There shall not be in thy sack one
weight, and another weight, a great and a small ; there shall
not be in thy house one measure, and another measure, a great
and a small ; thy weight shall be a true and just one." But
a true and just measure is, to conceive that it is the only just
Qod alone who measures and weighs everything, and who has
circumscribed the nature of the universe with numbers, and
limitations, arid boundaries. But it is unjust and false to ima
gine that these things are regulated in accordance with the
human mind. But the eunuch and chief butler of Pharaoh,
having beheld the plant generative of folly, namely, the vine,
adds besides to his delineation there stocks, that he may signify
the three extremities of error according to the three different
times ; for a root is equivalent to extremity.
XXX. When, therefore, folly has overshadowed and occu
pied the whole soul, and when it has left no portion of it
unoccupied or free, it not only compels it to commit such
errors as are remediable, but such also as are irremediable.
Now those which admit of a remedy are set down as the
easiest and the first ; but those which are irremediable are
altogether terrible, and are the last of all, being so far analo-
* Deuteronomy xxxii. 32. f Deuteronomy xxv. 13.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 379
gous to roots. And as, in my notions, wisdom begins to benefit
a man in small matters, and ends at last in the absolute
perfection of all well-doing, BO, in the same manner folly, con
straining the soul from above and leading it away from instruc
tion by small degrees, establishes it at last at a long distance
from right reason, and finally leads it to the extreme point,
and utterly overthrows it.
And the dream showed that after the roots appeared the
vine flourished and put forth shoots and bore fruit ; for, says
the chief butler. " It was flourishing and bearing shoots,
around which were bunches of grapes."* The foolish man is
accustomed to display barrenness, and never to put forth even
leaves, and, in fact, to be withered all his life ; for what could
be a greater evil than folly flourishing and bearing fruit ? But,
says he, " the cup of Pharaoh," the vessel which is the receptacle
of folly and drunkenness, and of the ceaseless intoxication of
life, " is in my hand ;" an expression equivalent to saying,
depends upon my administration, and endeavours, and powers ;
for without my contrivances, the passion will not proceed
rightly by its own efforts ; for as it is proper that the reins
should l>e in the hands of the charioteer, and the rudder in
the hands of the pilot for this is the only way in which the
course of the chariot and the voyage of the vessel can pro
ceed successfully so, also, the filling of the goblet with
wine is in the hands and depends upon the power of him who
by his art brings to perfection one of the two kinds of gluttony,
namely, satiety of wine.
But why has he endured to boast in respect of a matter
which deserved rather to be denied than to be confessed?
Would it not have been better not to have confessed at all
that he was a teacher of intemperance, and not to admit that
he increased the excitement of the passions by wine in the
case of the intemperate man, as being an inventor and pro
ducer -)f a luxurious, and debauched, and most disgraceful way
of life. Such, however, is the case. Folly boasts of those
things which ought to be concealed ; and in this present case
it prides itself, not only on holding in its hands the receptacle
of the intemperate soul, that is to say, the cup of wine, and
in showing it to all men, but also in pressing out the grapea
Genesis xL 10.
380 PHILO JUD^US.
into it; that is to say, in making that which satisfies the
passion, and bringing what is concealed to light.
For as children which require food, when they are about to
receive the milk, squeeze and press out the breast of the
nurse that feeds them, so likewise does the workman and
cause of intemperance vigorously press the fountain from which
the evil of abundance of wine pours forth, that he may derive
food in a most agreeable manner from the drops which are
squeezed out.
XXXI. Such a description then as I have here given may
be applied to the man who is made frantic by the influence of
unmixed wines, that he is a drunken, and foolish, and irremedi
able evil. We must now, in turn, investigate the character of
the glutton, who is akin to the drunkard, and who is a sworn
companion of all kinds of voracity and greediness, labouring,
without any restraint, at the artificial gratification of his appe
tite. And yet it does not require a great deal of care to
arrive at his true character ; for the dream which was seen is
a representation of his likeness very closely resembling him ;
and when we have accurately examined him, let us look upon
him as we would upon a representation in a mirror ; for " I
thought," said the chief cook, " that I had three baskets of
fine wheaten loaves upon my head." Now, using the word
* head " in an allegorical manner, we mean by it the dominant
part of the soul, that is, the mind, and we say that everything
rests or depends upon that ; for he once exclaimed concerning
it, " All these things were in my charge." Therefore when
he had completed the preparation of these things which he had
devised against the miserable belly, he displayed himself also,
and, like a foolish man as he was, he was not ashamed to be
weighed down with so great a burden, namely, the weight of
three baskets ; that is to say, with three portions of time.
For those who advocate the cause of pleasure affirm that it
consists of three times, of the memory of past delights, and of
the enjoyment of those that are present, and of the hope of
what are to come ; so that the three baskets are likened unto
the three portions of time, and the cakes upon the baskets to
those circumstances which are suitable to each of the portions ;
to the recollection of past joys, to the enjoyment of present
pleasures, to the hope of future delights. And he who carries
all these things is likened unto the lover of pleasure, who has
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 381
filled his fuithless table, a table destitute of all hospitable and
friendly salt, not with one kind of luxury only, but with almost
every description and species of intemperance ; and this is
enjoyed by king Pharaoh alone, as if he were sitting at a
public banquet, and devoting himself to a dispersion, and scat
tering, and defeat, and destruction of temperance ; for the
name Pharaoh, being interpreted, means "dispersion." And
it is a magnificent and royal piece of conduct in him not to
exult in the specious advantages of wisdom, but to pride him
self on those pursuits of profligacy which it is unseemly to
mention, wrecking himself on insatiable appetite, and gluttony,
and effeminacy of life.
Therefore the birds, that is to say, the chances which never
could have been anticipated by conjecture, coming from outward
quarters and hovering around him, will attack and kindle
ever} thing like fire, and will destroy every thing with their
aH-devouring power, so that there is not a single fragment
left to the bearer of the baskets for his enjoyment though he
had hoped to proceed with his inventions and contrivances, for
ever and ever carrying them on in a safe place, so that they
could never be taken from him.
And thanks be to God who giveth the victory and who
renders the labours of the man who is a slave to his passions,
though ever so carefully carried out, still unproductive and
useless, sending down winged natures in aw invisible manner
for their destruction and overthrow. Therefore, the mind,
being deprived of those things which it had made for itself,
having, as it were, its neck cut through, will be found head
less and lifeless, and like those who are fixed to a cross, nailed
as it were to the tree of hopeless and helpless ignorance. For
as long as none of these things come upon one which arrive
suddenly and unexpectedly, then those acts which are directed
to the enjoyment of pleasure appear to be successful; but
when such evils descend upon them unexpectedly, they are
overthrown, and their maker is destroyed with them.
XXXII. The dreams, therefore, of those men who divide
those things which produce the taste according to every species
of food, whether it be meat or drink, and such as is not neces
sary but superfluous, and sought only by the intemperate, have
been sufficiently explained. But those of Pharaoh, who
appears to exercise sovereignty over these men and over all
382 PHILO JUD^US.
the powers of the soul, must now be investigated if we would
proceed in order and consistently with our plan.
Pharaoh says, " In my dream I thought that I was standing
by the bank of a river, and seven oxen came up as it were out
of the river, of eminent plumpness in their flesh, and beautiful
to the view, and fed in the green marsh ; and behold, seven
other oxen came up out of the river after them, evil to look at
and ill-favoured, and lean in their flesh, such that I never saw
any leaner in all Egypt ; and the lean and ill-favoured oxen
devoured the seven former oxen which were beautiful, and
picked out, and they entered into their stomachs, and still
their appearance remained ill-favoured, as I have described it
at first. And when I had awoke 1 fell asleep again ; and again
I saw in my dream, and as it were seven ears of corn grew up
on one stalk, full and beautiful. And seven other ears of
corn also came up, lean and wind-beaten, close to them, and
these last seven ears did swallow up the seven beautiful and
full ears."*
You see now the preface of the lover of self who being easily
moved, and changeable, and fickle, both in his body and soul,
says, " I thought that I was standing," and did not consider
that unchangeableness and steadiness belong to God alone, and
to him who is dear to God. And the most evident proof of
the unchangeable power which exists in him is this world,
which is always in the same place and in the same condition.
And if the world is immovable how can the Creator of it be
any thing but firm ?
In the second place the sacred scriptures are likewise most
infallible witnesses ; for it is said in them, where the words
are put into the mouth of God, I stand here and there,
before you were dwelling upon the rock,"f which is an expres
sion equivalent to, Thus am I who am visible to you, and am
here : and I am there and everywhere, filling all places, stand
ing and abiding in the same condition, being unchangeable,
before you or any one of the objects of creation had any exist
ence, being beheld upon the highest and most ancient authority
of power, from which the creation of all existing things was
shed forth, and the stream of wisdom flowed ; " for I am he
who brought the stream of water out of the solid rock,"J is said
in another place. And Moses also bears witness to the immu-
* Genesis xli. 17. t Exodus xvii. 6. J Deut. viiL 15.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 383
tability of the Deity, where he says, " I saw the place where
the God of Israel stood ; "* intimating enigmatically that he is
not given to change by speaking here of his standing, and of
his being firmly established.
XXX III. But there is in the Deity such an excessive
degree of stability and firmness, that he gave even to the most
excellent natures a share of his durability as his most excel
lent possession : and presently afterwards he, the most ancient
author of all things, namely God, says that he is about to erect
firmly his covenant full of grace (and that means his law and
his word) in the soul of the just man as on a solid foundation,
which shall be an image in the likeness of God, when he savs
to Noah, " I will establish my covenant with thee."f And
besides this, he also indicates two other things, one that
justice is in no respect different from the covenant of God,
the other that other beings bestow gifts which are different
from the persons who receive them ; but God gives not only
those gifts, but he gives also the very persons who receive
them to themselves, for he has given me to myself, and every
living being has he given to himself; for the expression, "1
will establish my covenant with thee," is equivalent to, I will
give thee to thyself.
And all those who are truly lovers of God desire eagerly to
escape from the storm of multiplied affairs and business in
which there is always tempestuous weather, and rough sea,
and confusion, and to anchor in the calm and safe untroubled
haven of virtue. Do you not see what is said about the wise
Abraham who " is standing before the Lord ?"* For when
was it likely that the mind would be able to stand, no longer
inclining to different sides like the balance in a scale, except
when it is opposite to God, beholding him and being beheld
by him ? For perfect absence of motion comes to it in two
ways, either from beholding him with whom nothing can be
compared, because he is not attracted by anything resembling
himself, or from being beheld by him, because . .
which he considered worthy, the ruler has assigned to himself
alone as the most excellent of beings. And indeed a divine
admonition was given in the following terms to Moses :
Stand thou here with me," by which injunction both these
* Exodua xxiv. 10. f Genesis ix. 10.
J Genesis xviii. 22. Deuteronomy v. 81.
384 PHILO JUD^EUS.
things appear to be intimated, first, the fact that the good mau
is not moved, and secondly, the universal stability of the living
God.
XXXIV. For, in real truth, whatever is akin or near to
God is appropriated by him. becoming steady and stationary
by reason of his unchangeableness ; and the mind, being at
rest, well knows how great a blessing rest is, and admiring, it3
own beauty, it conceives that either it is assigned to God alone
as his, or else to that intermediate nature which is between
the mortal and the immortal race ; at all events, it says, "And
I stood in the midst between the Lord and you,"* not meaning
by these words that he was standing on his own feet, but
wishing to indicate that the mind of the wise man, being
delivered from all storms and wars, and enjoying unruffled
calm and profound peace, is superior indeed to man, but
inferior to God.
For the ordinary human mind is influenced by opinion, and
is thrown into confusion by any passing circumstances ; but
the other is blessed and happy, and free from all participation
in evil. And the good man is on the borders, so that one may
appropriately say that he is neither God nor man, but that he
toiK-hes the extremities of both, being connected with the
mortal race by his manhood, and with the immortal race by
his virtue.
And there is something which closely resembles this in the
passage of scripture concerning the high priest ; " For when,"
says the scripture, " he goes into the holy of holies, he will
not be a man till he has gone out again. "f But if at that
time he is not a man, it is clear that he is not God either, but
a minister of God, belonging as to his mortal nature to
creation, but as to his immortal nature to the uncreate God.
And he is placed in the middle class until he again goes forth
among the things which belong to the body and to the flesh.
And this is the order of things according to nature, when
the mind, being entirely occupied with divine love, bends its
course towards the temple of God, and approaches it with all
possible earnestness and zeal, it becomes inspired, and forgets
all other things, and forgets itself also. It remembers him
alone, and depends on him alone, who is attended by it as by
a body-guard, and who receives its ministrations, to whom it
* Deuteronomy x. 10. f Leviticus xvi. 17.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. OfcS
consecrates and offers up the sacred and untainted virtues.
But when the inspiration has ceased, and the excessive desire
has relaxed, then it returns from divine things and becomes a
man again, mixing with human affairs, which were awaiting
him in the vestibule, that they might carry him off while
gazing only on the things in them.
XXXV. Moses therefore describes the perfect man as being
neither God nor man, but, as I said before, something on the
border between the uncreated and the perishable nature.
Again, he classes him who is improving and advancing towards
perfection in the region between the dead and the living,
meaning by " the living " those persons who dwell with wis
dom, and by " the dead" those who rejoice in folly ; for it is
said with respect to Aaron, that " He stood between the dead
and the living, and the plague was stayed."* For he who is
making progress is not reckoned among those who are dead
as to the life of virtue, inasmuch as he has a desire and
admiration of what is honourable, nor among those who are
living in extreme and perfect prosperity, for there is still
something wanting to the end, but he touches both extremes ;
on which account the expression, " the plague was stayed," is
very properly used rather than " the plague ceased ;" for in
those who are perfect the things which break, and crush, and
destroy the soul cease ; but in those who are advancing towards
perfection, they are only diminished, as if they were only cut
short and checked.
XXXVI. Since then all steadiness, and stability, and the
abiding for ever in the same place unchangeably and im
movably, is first of all seen in the living God. and next in the
word of the living God, which he has called his covenant ;
and in the third place in the wise man, and in the fourth
degree in him who is advancing townrds perfection, what could
induce the wicked mind, which is liable to all sorts of curses,
to think that it is able to stand by itself, while it is in reality
borne about as in a deluge, and dragged hither and thither by
the incessant eddies of things flowing in through the dead and
agitated body ? " For I thought," says the scripture, * that
I was standing on the bank of the river :"f and by the word
river we say that speech is symbolically meant, since both these
things are borne outward, and flow on with a vigorous and
Numbers xvi. 48. f Genesis xli. 17.
VOL. II. C C
386 PHILO JUD^EUS.
sustained speed. And the one is at one time filled up with a
great abundance of water, and the other with a quantity of
verbs and nouns, and at another time they are both empty and
relaxed, and in a state of quiescence ; again, they are of use
inasmuch as the one irrigates the fields, and the other fertilizes
the souls of those who receive it. And at times they are in
jurious by reason of overflowing, as then the one deluges the
land on its borders, and the other troubles and confuses the
reason of those who do not attend to it.
XXXVII. Therefore speech is compared to a river, and the
nature of speech is twofold, the one sort being better and the
other worse ; that is, the better kind which does good, and
that of necessity is the worse kind which does harm ; and
Moses has given most conspicuous examples of each kind to
those who are able to see, for he says, " For a river goes out
of Eden to water the Paradise, and from thence it is divided
into four branches :"* and by the name Eden he means the
wisdom of the living God, and the interpretation of the name
Eden is " delight," because I imagine wisdom is the delight of
God, and God is the delight of wisdom, as it is said also in
the Psalms, " Delight thou in the Lord."f
And the divine word, like a river, flows forth from wisdom
as from a spring, in order to irrigate and fertilize the celestial
and heavenly shoots and plants of such souls as love virtue, as
if they were a paradise. And this sacred word is divided into
four beginnings, by which I mean it is portioned out into four
virtues, each of which is a princess, for to be divided into be
ginnings. does not resemble divisions of place, but a kingdom,
in order that any one, after having shown the virtues as boun
daries, may immediately proceed to show the wise man who
follows them to be a king, being elected as such, not by men,
but by the only free nature which cannot err, and which can
not be corrupted ; for those who behold the excellence of
Abraham say unto him, " Thou art a king, sent from God
among us : proposing as a maxim, for those who study philo
sophy, that the wise man alone is a ruler and a king, and that
virtue is the only irresponsible authority and sovereignty.
* Genesis ii. 10. + Psalm xxxvi. 4.
% There is an unavoidable obscurity in the translation here. The
Greek word is ap\ai, which means beginnings, or principles, and al&o
governments. Genesis xxiii. 0.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 387
XXXVIII. Accordingly, one of the followers of Moses,
having compared this speech to a river, has said in the Psalms,
" The river of God was filled with water;"* and it is absurd
to give such a title to any of the rivers which flow upon the
earth. But as it seems the psalmist is here speaking of the
divine word, which is full of the streams of wisdom, and which
has no part of itself empty or desolate, or rather, as some one
has said, which is diffused everywhere over the universe, and
is raised up on high, on account of the continued and incessant
rapidity of that ever-flowing spring.
There is also another expression in the Psalms, such as
this, " The course of the river makes glad the city of God."f
What city? For the holy city, which exists at present, in
which also the holy temple is established, at a great distance
from any sea or river, so that it is clear, that the writer here
means, figuratively, to speak of some other city than the
visible city of God. For, in good truth, the continual stream
of the divine word, being borne on incessantly with rapidity
and regularity, is diffused universally over everything, giving
joy to all. And in one sense he calls the world the city of
God, as having received the whole cup of the divine draught,
and being gladdened thereby, so as to hav
derived from it an imperishable joy, of which it cannot be
deprived for ever.
But in another sense he applies this title to the soul of the
wise man, in which God is said also to walk, as if in a city,
" For," says God, " I will walk in you, and I will be your God
in you."; And who can pour over the happy soul which prof
fers its own reason as the most sacred cup, the holy goblets of
true joy, except the cup-bearer of God, the master of the feast,
the word? not differing from the draught itself, but being
itself in an unmixed state, the pure delight and sweetness, and
pouring forth, and joy, and ambrosial medicine of pleasure
and happiness ; if we too may, for a moment, employ the lan
guage of the poets.
XXXIX. 13ut that which is called by the Hebrews the
city of God is Jerusalem, which name being interpreted means,
" the sight of peace." So that do not look for the city of the
living God in the regions of the earth, for it is not made of
wood or of stone, but seek it in the soul which is free from
* Psalm Ixv. 10. t Psalm xlv. 5. J Leviticus xxvi. 12.
C C 2
388 PHILO JUD^US.
war, and which proposes to those who are endowed with acute-
ness of sight a contemplative and peaceful life ; since where
could any find a more venerable and holy abode for God amid
all existing things, than the mind fond of contemplation, which
is eager to behold every thing and which does not, even in a
dream, feel a wish for sedition or disturbance ? And again,
the invisible spirit which is accustomed to converse with me
in an unseen manner prompts me with a suggestion, and says,
my friend, you seem to be ignorant of an important and most
desirable matter which I will explain to you completely ; for 1
have also in a most seasonable manner explained many other
things to you also. Know, then, O excellent man, that God
alone is the truest, and most real, and genuine peace, and that
every created and perishable essence is continual war.
For God is something voluntary, and mortal essence is
necessity. Whoever, therefore, is able to forsake war, and
necessity, and creation, and destruction, and to pass over to
the uncreated being, to the immortal God, to the voluntary
principle, and to peace, may justly be called the abode and
city of God. Do not, therefore, consider it a different thing
whether you speak of the sight of peace or the sight of God,
as they are the same thing ; because peace is not only the
companion but also the chief of the powers of the living God,
which are distinguished by many names.
XL. And, moreover, he says to the wise Abraham, " that
he will give him an inheritance of land from the river of
Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates,"* not mean
ing a portion of the land so much as a better portion in respect
of our own selves. For our own body, and the passions which
exist in it, and which are engendered by it, are likened to the
river of Egypt, but the soul and the passions which are dear to
that are likened to the river Euphrates. And here a doctrine
is laid down, at once most profitable to life and of the highest
importance, that the good man has received for his inheritance
the soul and the virtues of the soul : just as, on the contrary,
the wicked man has received for his share the body and the
vices of the body, and those which are engendered by the
body.
And the expression " from," has a double sense. One, that
by which the starting point from which it begins is included ;
* Genesis XT. 18.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 389
the other that by which it is excluded. For when we say
that from morning to evening there are twelve hours, or from
the new moon to the end of the month there are thirty days,
we are including in our enumeration both the first hour and
the day of the new moon. And when any one says that such
and such a field is three or four furlongs distant from the city,
he clearly means to leave the city itself out of that measure
ment. So that now, too, we must consider that the expres
sion, " from the river of Egypt," is to be understood so as not
to include that river ; for the writer intends to remove us to a
distance from the things of the body which are seen to exist
in a constant flow and course which is being destroyed and
destroying, that so we may receive the inheritance of the
soul with the imperishable virtues, which are, moreover, deserv
ing of immortality.
Thus, therefore, by tracing it out diligently, we have found
that praiseworthy speech is likened to a river ; but speech which
is deserving of blame is the very river of Egypt itself, untracta-
ble, unwilling to learn, as one may say in a word, lifeless
speech ; for which reason it is also changed into blood,* as not
being able to afford sustenance. For the speech of ignorance
is not wholesome, and it is productive of bloodless and lifeless
frogs, which utter only a novel and harsh sound, a noise pain
ful to the ear. And it is said, likewise, that all the fish in
that river were destroyed. And by the fish are here figura
tively meant the conceptions ; for these things float about and
exist in speech as in a river, resembling living things and fill
ing the river with life. But in uninstructed speech all con
ceptions die ; for it is not possible to find any thing intelligent
in it, but only, as some one has said, some disorderly and
unmusical voices of jackdaws.
XLI. We have now then said enough on these subjects. But
since he not only confesses that he saw in his dream, a stand
ing and a river, but also the banks of a river, as his words are,
* I thought that I was standing by the bank (YS/AO;) of the
river." f It must be desirable to say a few seasonable things also
alxiut the bank. Now there appears to be two most necessary
objects on account of which nature has adapted lips (y^i^n) to
all animals, and especially to men ; one for the sake of tran
quillity, for they are the strongest bulwark and fortification of
Exodus Tii. 17. t Genesia xlL 17.
390 PHILO JUDiEUS.
the voice; the other for the sake of distinctness, for it is
through them that the stream of words issues forth. For when
they are closed speech is checked ; for it is impossible that it
should be borne outward if they are not parted. And by these
means nature prepares and trains man for both objects, speech
and silence, watching the appropriate time for each employ
ment.
As for instance, is anything said worth listening to ? Then
attend, raising no obstacle, in perfect quiet, according to the
injunction of Moses, " Be silent and hear."* For of those per
sons who mix themselves up in contentious discussions there
is not one who can properly be considered as either speaking
or listening; but this is only advantageous to him who is
about to do so.
Again, when you see, amid the wars and disasters of life,
the merciful hand of God and his favourable power held over
you and standing in defence of you, be silent yourself ; for that
champion stands in no need of any assistance. And there are
proofs of this fact recorded in the sacred writings ; such, for
instance, as the verse, " The Lord will fight for us, and ye shall
be silent, "f And if you see the genuine offspring and the first
born of Egypt destroyed, namely desire, and pleasures, and
pain, and fear, and iniquity, and mirth, and intemperance, and
all the other qualities which are similar and akin to these,
then marvel and be silent, dreading the terrible power of God ;
for, say the scriptures, " Not a dog shall move his tongue, nor
shall anything, man or beast, utter a sound ;": which is equi
valent to saying, It does not become either the impudent
tongue to bark and curse nor the man that is within us, that
is to say, our dominant mind ; nor the cattle-like beast which
is within us, that is to say, the outward sense to boast, when
all the evil that was in us has been utterly destroyed, and
when an ally from without comes of his own accord to hold his
shield over us.
XLII. But there are many occasions which are not well
suited to silence : and if we go to the language of ordinary
prose, of which we may again see memorials laid up, how did
there, ever an unexpected participation in good take place to
any one? It is well, therefore, to give thanks and to sing
hymns in honour of him who bestowed it. What, then, is the
* Deut. xxvii. 19. t Exodus xiv. 14. Exodua xi. 7.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 391
good ? The passion which is attacking us is dead, and is
thrown out on its face without burial. Let not us delay, hut
standing still, let us sing that most sacred and becoming
hymn, feeling that we are commanded to say to all men, " Let
us sing unto the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously ; the
horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea."* But the
rout and destruction of the passions is indeed a good, but not
a perfect good ; but the discovery of wisdom is a surpassing
good, and when that is found all the people will sing harmo
nies and melodies, not with one kind of music only, but with
every sort ; for then, says the scripture, * Israel sang this
song at the well ;"f that is to say, in triumph for the fact
that knowledge, which had long been hidden but which was
sought for, had at length been found by all men, though Iving
deep by nature ; the duty of which was to irrigate the rational
fields existing in the souls of those men who are fond of con
templation.
What, then, shall we say ? When we bring home the
legitimate fruit of the mind, does not the sacred scripture en
join us to display in our reason, as in a sacred basket, the
first fruits of our fertility ; a specimen of the glorious flowers,
and shoots, and fruits which the soul has brought forth, bidding
us speak out distinctly, and to utter panegyrics on the God
who brings things to perfection, and to say, " I have cleared
away the things which were holy out of my house, and I have
arranged them in the house of God :"J appointing as stewards
and guardians of them, men selected for their superior merit,
and giving them the charge of these sacred things ; and these
persons are Levites. proselytes, and orphans, and widows.
But some are suppliants, some are emigrants and fugitives,
some are persons widowed and destitute of all created things,
but enrolled as belonging to God, the genuine husband and
father of the soul which is inclined to worship.
XLIII. In this way, then, it is most proper both to speak
and to he silent. But the wicked adopt an exactly contrary
course ; for they are admirers of a blnmable kind of silence,
and of an interpretation open to reproach, practising both lines
of conduct to their own destruction and that of others. But
the greater part of their employment consists in saying what
they ought not ; for having opened their mouth and leaving it
Kxodu* xv. 1. f Xuuibera xxi. 17. + Deut. xxvi. 13.
392 PHILO JUD.US.
unbridled, like an unrestrained torrent, they allow their speech
to run on indiscriminately, as the poets say, dragging on thou
sands of profitless sayings ; therefore those who have devoted
themselves to the advocacy of pleasure and appetite, and every
sort of excessive desire, building up irrational passion as a
fortification against dominant reason, and preparing them
selves for a contentious sort of discussion, have come at last to
a regular dispute, hoping to be able to blind the race which is
endowed with the faculty of sight, and to throw it down pre
cipices, and into depths from which it will not be able at any
future time to emerge. But some have not only put them
selves forward as rivals to human virtue, but have proceeded
to such a pitch of folly as to oppose themselves also to divine
virtue. Therefore Pharaoh, the king of the land of Egypt, is
spoken of as the leader of the company which is devoted to
the passions ; for it is said to the prophet, " Behold, he is
going forth to the river, and thou shalt stand in the way to
meet him, on the bank of the river ;"* for it is the peculiar
characteristic of the one man to go forth to the rapidity and
continual pouring forth of the irrational passion ; and it is also
characteristic of the wise man to oppose with exceeding vigour
the arguments on behalf of pleasure and desire, not with his
feet, but with his mind, firmly and immoveably, standing on
the bank of the river ; that is to say, on the mouth arid on the
tongue, which are the organs of speech.
For standing firmly on these, he will be able to overturn and
defeat the plausible specious arguments which advocate the
cause of passion. But the enemy of the race which is en
dowed with the power of seeing, is the people of Pharaoh,
which never ceased attacking, and persecuting, and enslaving
virtue, until .... it paid the penalty of the evils which
it inflicted being overwhelmed in the sea of those
iniquities . . . which it excited So that
that period exhibited an extraordinary sight, a victory which
was in no doubt, and a joy greater than could have been
hoped for.
On which account it is said, "And Israel saw the Egyp
tians dead upon the sea-shore. "f Great indeed was the hand
which fought for them, compelling those who had sharpened
these organs against the truth to fall by the mouth, and lips, and
* Exodus vii. 15. t Exodus xiy. 30.
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 393
speech, so that they who had token up these weapons against
others should perish by their own arms and not by those of
others. And this announces three most glorious things to the
soul ; one, the destruction of the passions of Egypt ; another,
that this lias taken place in no other spot than near the suit
and bitter springs, as if on the shore of the sea, by which
sophistical reason, that enemy of virtue, is poured forth ; and,
lastly, the sight of the disaster. For no glorious thing can be
invisible, but should be brought to the light and brilliancy of
the sun. For so also the contrary, namely evil, should be
thrust into deep darkness, and should be accounted deserving
of night. And may it indeed by chance happen to some one
to behold this : but what is really good should be always
beheld by more piercing eyes. And what is so good as that
what is good should live, and what is evil should die ?
XLIV. There were, therefore, three persons who uttered
atrocious words which were to reach even to heaven ; these
men devoted themselves to studies against nature, or rather
against their own souls, saying that this universe was the only
thing which was perceptible to the outward senses, and visible,
having never been created, and being never destined to be
destroyed, but being uncreated and imperishable, not requiring
any superintendence, or care, or regulation, or management.
Afterwards piling up fresh attempts one upon another, they
built up a doctrine which was not approved, and raised it to a
height like a tower ; for it is said, "And the whole earth spoke
one language,"* an inharmonious agreement of all the portions
of the soul, for the purpose of overthrowing that which is the
most comprehensive of all existing principles, namely, au
thority.
Therefore, a great and irresistible hand overthrew them
when they were hoping to mount up even to heaven by their
devices, for the purpose of destroying the everlasting kingdom ;
and it also dashed down the doctrine which they had built
up ; and the place is called confusion : a very appropriate
name for such an audacious and wicked attempt ; for what can
be more productive of contusion than anarchy ? Are not
houses which have no manager full of offences and dis
turbances? And are not cities which are left unprovided
with a king destroyed by the domination of the mob, the
* Genesis xL 1.
894 PHILO JUD^EUS.
opposite evil to Jringly power, and at the same time the
greatest of all evils? And have not countries, and nations,
and regions of the earth, the governments of which have been
put down, lost all their ancient and great prosperity ?
And why need I speak of matters of human history ? For
even the other species of animals, flocks of birds, and herds of
terrestrial beasts, and shoals of aquatic creatures, never exist
without some leader of their company ; but they always desire
and always pay attention to their own leader, as being the sole
cause of the advantages they receive ; at whose absence they
are scattered and destroyed. Do we suppose then, that in the
case of earthly creatures, which are the most insignificant
portion of the universe, authority is the cause of good things
and anarchy the cause of evils, but that the world itself is not
filled with extreme happiness by reason of the administration
of God its king?
Therefore they have suffered punishment corresponding to
their iniquities : for having polluted the sacred doctrine,
they saw themselves polluted in like manner, all authority
being taken away from among them ; and being thrown them
selves into confusion, but not having really caused any. But
as long as they were left unpunished, being puffed up by
insane pride, they sought to overthrow the authority of the
universe by unholy speeches ; and they set themselves up as
rulers and kings, attributing the irresistible power of God
to creatures which are perpetually coming to an end and
being destroyed.
XLV. Therefore these ridiculous men giving themselves
tragic airs and using inflated language, are accustomed to
speak thus : we are they who are leaders ; we are kings ;
On us all things depend. Who, except ourselves, is the cause
of good and of the contrary? To whom, except to us, can the
doing well or ill be truly attributed ? They talk nonsense too
in another manner, saying, that all things depend upon an
invisible power, which they fancy presides over all human and
divine affairs in the whole world.
Uttering such insolent falsehoods as these, if after intoxica
tion they have become sober, and have come to themselves
again, and feel ashamed of the intoxication to which they have
given way coming under the dominion of the external senses,
and if they reproach themselves for the evil actions which they
ON DREAMS BEING SENT FROM GOD. 395
have been led on to commit by folly, giving ear to their new
counsellor, which never flatters, and which cannot be corrupted,
namely, repentance, having propitiated the merciful power of
the living God by sacred hymns of repentance instead of pro
fane songs, they will find entire forgiveness.
But if they are restive and obstinate for ever, and indulge
in wanton behaviour, as if they were independent, and free,
and the rulers of others, then by a necessity which is deaf to
all entreaties and implacable, they will learn to feel their own
nothingness in all things both small and great ; for the driver
who mounts upon them, putting a bridle, upon this world, as
though it were a winged chariot, drawing back with main
strength the reins which before were loose, and pressing the bits
severely, will remind them by whip and spur of his authority
as master, which they, like wicked servants, have forgotten by
reason of the gentle and merciful temper of their manager ; for
l>ad servants, looking upon the gentleness of masters as
anarchy, fancy themselves entirely free from the power of any
master at all, until their owner checks their great and increas
ing disease by applying punishment as a remedy.
For which reason the expression is used of " a lawless soul,
which with its lips distinguishes well-doing and evil-doing,
and then will subsequently announce its own sin."* What
sayest thou, O soul, full of insolence ? For dost thou know
what real good or real evil, real justice or real holiness, are ?
or what is suited to what ? The knowledge of those things and
the power of regulating them belongs to God alone, and to
whoever is dear to him. And witness is borne to this asser
tion by the scripture in which it is said, " I will kill and 1 will
cause to live : I will smite and 1 will heal."f But the mind
which was wise in its own conceit had not even a superficial
dreaming intimation of the things placed above it : but,
wretched that it was, it was so completely carried away by the
wind of vain opinion that it swore that those things which it
had erroneously imagined stood firmly and solidly. If, there
fore, the violence and convulsion of the disease begin to relax,
the sparks of returning health becoming gradually re-kindled,
will compel it at first to confess its error, that is to say, to
reproach itself, and afterwards to become a suppliant at the
Leviticus v. 4. t Deuteronomy xxxiL 39.
396 PHILO JUD^EUS.
altar, entreating with prayers, and supplications, and sacrifices,
that it may only obtain pardon.
XLVI. After this who can fairly raise the question why the
historian of the scriptures has spoken of the river of Egypt
only as having banks and has made no such mention of the
Euphrates or of any other of the sacred rivers ; for here he
says, " Thou shalt stand in the way to meet him by the bank
of the river." And yet perhaps some persons in a spirit of
ridicule will say that it is not right to bring such matters as
these forward for investigation, for that it rather displays a
spirit of cavilling than does any good. But I imagine that
such things, like sweetmeats, are prepared in the sacred scrip
tures, for the improvement of those who read them, and that
we ought not to condemn the curiosity of those who investigate
such matters, but that we should rather blame their indolence
if they did not investigate them.
For our present discussion is not about the history of rivers
but about ways of life, which are compared to the streams of
rivers, running in opposite directions to one another. For the
life of the good man consists in actions; but that of the
wicked man is seen to consist only in worlds. And speech
in the tongue, and mouth, and lips, and*
A TEEATISE
ON THE
LIFE OF THE WISE MAN MADE PERFECT BY INSTRUCTION
OR, ON
THE UNWRITTEN LAW, THAT IS TO SAY, ON ABRAHAM.
I. THE sacred laws having been written in five books, the
first is called and inscribed Genesis, deriving its title from the
creation (y^sffis} of the world, which it contains at the
beginning ; although there are ten thousand other matters
also introduced which refer to peace and to war, or to fertility
and barrenness, or to hunger and plenty, or to the terrible
destructions which have taken place on earth by the agency of
ire and water ; or, on the contrary, to the birth and rapid
* The rest of this treatise is lost.
ON ABRAHAM. 397
propagation of animals and plants in accordance with the
admirable arrangement of the atmosphere, and the seasons of
the year, and of men, some of whom lived in accordance with
virtue, while others were associated with wickedness.
But since of these things some are portions of the world,
and some are accidents, and since the world is the most per
fect and complete of all things, he has nominally assigned the
whole hook to that subject.
We have then examined with all the accuracy that was in
our power, in what manner the creation of the world was
arranged in our previous treatises ; but since it is necessary, to
be consistent with the regular order in which the sacred history
proceeds to go on, now to investigate the laws, we will for the
present postpone the particular laws which are copies as it
were ; and first of all examine the more general laws which
are, as it were, the models of the others. Now these are those
men who have lived irreproachably and admirably, whose
virtues are dumbly and permanently recorded, as on pillars in
the sacred scriptures, not merely with the object of praising
the men themselves, but also for the sake of exhorting those
who read their history, and of leading them on to emulate their
conduct ; for these men have been living and rational laws ;
and the lawgiver has magnified them for two reasons ; first,
because he was desirous to show that the injunctions which
are thus given are not inconsistent with nature; and, secondly,
that he might prove that it is not very difficult or laborious
for those who wish to live according to the laws established in
these books, since the earliest men easily and spontaneously
obeyed the unwritten principle of legislation before any one
of the particular laws were written down at all.
So that a man may very properly say, that the written laws
are nothing more than a memorial of the life of the ancients,
tracing back in an antiquarian spirit, the actions and reason
ings which they adopted; for these first men, without ever
having been followers or pupils oi any one, and without ever
having been taught by preceptors what they ou^ht to do or
say, but having embraced a line of conduct consistent wiih
nature from attending to their own natural impulses, and from
being prompted by an innate virtue, and looking upon nature
herself to be, what in fact she is, the most ancient and duly
established of laws, did in reality spend their whole lives in
398 PHILO JUD^US.
making laws, never of deliberate purpose doing anything
open to reproach, and for their accidental errors propitiating
God, and appeasing him by prayers and supplications, so as to
procure for themselves the enjoyment of an entire life of virtue
and prosperity, both in respect of their deliberate actions, and
those which proceeded from no voluntary purpose.
II. Since then the beginning of all participation in good
things is hope, and since the soul devoted to virtue pioneers
and opens this path as a plain and easy one, being anxious to
attain to that which is really honourable, the sacred historian
has named the first lover of hope, Enos, giving him the com
mon name of the whole race as an especial favour. For the
Chaldaeans call man Enos ; as if he were the only real /nan,
who lived in expectation of good things, and who is established
in good hopes ; from which it is evident that they do not look
upon the man devoid of hope as a man at all, but rather as an
animal resembling a man, inasmuch as he is deprived of that
most peculiar possession of the human soul, namely hope.
For which reason, being desirous to deliver an admirable
panegyric on the hopeful man, the sacred historian tells us,
first, that " he hoped in the father and creator of the
universe," * and adds in a subsequent passage, " This is the
book of the generation of men,"t and of their fathers, and
grand-fathers who had existed previously ; but he conceived
that they were the ancestors of the mixed race, that is to say,
of that purer and thoroughly sifted race which is the really
rational one ; for, as the poet Homer, though the number of
poets is beyond all calculation, is called " the poet " by way of
distinction, and as the black [ink] with which we write is
called " the black," though in point of fact everything which
is not white is black ; and as that archon at Athens is
especially called " the archon." who is the archon eponymus
and the chief of the nine archons, from whom the chronology
is dated ; so in the same manner the sacred historian calls
him who indulges in hope, "a man." by way of pre-eminence,
passing over in silence the rest of the multitude of human
beings, as not being worthy to receive the same appellation.
And he has very properly called his f^rst volume, the Book
of the Generation of the Real Man, speaking with perfect cor
rectness ; because the man whc is full of good hope is worthy
* Genesis iv. 26. Genesis v. 1.
ON ABRAHAM. 399
of being described and remembered, not with such a memory
as is given by a record in papers, which are hereafter to be
destroyed by bookworms, but by that which exists in immortal
nature, where the virtuous actions are regularly recorded.
If then any one were to reckon the generations, from the
first man, who was made out of the earth, he will find him
who, by the Chtdcbeana is called Enos, and in the Greek lan
guage avtbwro; (the man), to be the fourth in succession, and
in numbers the number four is honoured among other philoso-
plifis, who have studied and admired the incorporeal essences,
appreciable only by the intellect, and especially by the all-wise
Moses, who magnifies the number four, and says that it is
" holy and praiseworthy ;"* and the reasons for which this cha
racter has been given to it are mentioned in a former treatise.
And the man who is full of good hope is likewise holy and
praiseworthy ; as, on the contrary, he who has no hope is ac
cursed and blameable, being always associated with fear, which
is an evil counsellor in any emergency ; for they say, that
there is no one thing so hostile to another, as hope is to fear
and fear to hope, and perhaps this may be correctly said, for
both fear and hope are an expectation, but the one is an ex
pectation of good things, and the other, on the contrary, of evil
things ; and the natures of good and evil are irreconcileable,
and such as can never come together.
III. What has now been said about hope is sufficient ; and
nature has placed her at the gates to be a sort of doorkeeper
to the royal virtues within, which no one may approach who
has not previously paid homage to hope. Therefore the law
givers, and the laws in even state on earth, labour with great
diligence to fill the souls of free men with good hopes ; but he
who, without any recommendation and without being enjoined
to be so, is nevertheless hopeful, has acquired this virtue by an
unwritten, self-taught law, which nature has implanted in him.
That which is placed in the next rank after hope is repent
ance for errors committed, and improvement ; in reference to
which principle Moses mentions next in order to Enos, the
man who changed from a worse system of life to a better, who
is called among the Hebrews Enoch, but as the Greeks would
say, " gracious," of whom the following statement is made,
" that Enoch pleased God, and was not found, because God
transported him. "I For transportation shows a change and
Leviticus xix. 24. t Genesis v. 24
400 PHILO JUD^EUS.
alteration : and such a change is for the better, because it
takes place through the providence of God ; for every thing
that is with God is in every case honourable and advantageous,
since that which is destitute of any divine superintendence is
useless and unprofitable.
And the expression, "he was not found,"* is very appro
priately employed of him whose place was changed, either
from the fact of his ancient blameable life being wiped out and
effaced, and being no longer found, just as if it had never existed
at all, or else because he whose place has been changed, and who
is enrolled in a better class, is naturally difficult to be disco
vered. For wickedness is a very multiform and extensive
thing, on which account it is known to many persons ; but
virtue is rare, so that it is not comprehended even by a few.
And besides, the bad man runs about through the market
place, and theatres, arid courts of justice, and council halls,
and assemblies, and every meeting and collection of men what
ever, like one who lives with and for curiosity, letting loose his
tongue in immoderate, and interminable, and indiscriminate
conversation, confusing and disturbing every thing, mixing up
what is true with what is false, what is unspeakable with what
is public, private with public things, things profane with things
sacred, what is ridiculous with what is excellent, from never
having been instructed in what is the most excellent thing in
season, namely silence. And pricking his ears, because of
the abundance of his leisure, and his superfluous curiosity, and
love of interference, he is eager to make himself acquainted
with the business of other people, whether good or bad, so as
at once to envy those who are prosperous, and to rejoice over
those who are not so ; for the bad man is by nature envious
and a hater of all that is good, and a lover of all that is evil.
IV. But the good man, on the contrary, is a lover of that
mode of life which is not troubled by business, and withdraws,
and loves solitude, desiring to escape the notice of the many,
not out of misanthropy, for he is a lover of mankind, if any
one in the world is so, but because he eschews wickedness,
which the chief multitude eagerly embraces, rejoicing at what
it ought to mourn over, and grieving at what it is becoming
rather to rejoice. On which account the good man shuts him
self up, and remains for the most part at home, scarcely going
* This is not the translation of the bible which savs " and Enoch
walked with God, and he was not, for God took him "
ON ABRAHAM. 40 1
over hi* threshold, or if he does go out, for the sake of avoiding
the crowds who come to visit him. he generally goes out of the
city, and makes his abode in some country place, living more
pleasantly with such companions as are the must virtuous of all
mankind, whose hodies. indeed, time has dissolved, but whose
virtues the records which are left of them keep alive, in poems
and in prose, histories by which the soul is naturally improved
and led on to perfection.
It is on this account that the sacred historian has said that
the man whose place was changed was not found, inasmuch as
he is difficult to find and hard to seek out. Therefore, such a
man emigrates from ignorance to instruction, and from folly
to wisdom, and from cowardice to courage, and from impietv
to piety ; and, again, from devotion to pleasure to temperance,
and from vain-gloriousness to simplicity, qualities superior to
all riches, and more valuable as a possession than any royal or
imperial power. For if one may speak the plain truth, that
wealth which is not blind, but which is clear-sighted, is the
abundance of virtues, which we must at once conclude to be
the genuine and legitimate predominance of good in compari
son of all other bastard and falsely named powers, and to be
the just and lawful superior of them all. But we must not be
ignorant that repentance occupies the second place only, next
after perfection, just as the change from sickness to convales
cence is inferior to perfect uninterrupted health. Therefore,
that which is continuous and perfect in virtues is very near
divine power, but that condition which is improvement
advancing in process of time is the peculiar blessing of a well-
disposed soul, which does not continue in its childish pursuits,
but by more vigorous thoughts and inclinations, such as really
become a man. seeks a tranquil steadiness of soul, and which
attains to it by its conception of what is good.
V. For which reason the sacred historian very naturally
classes the lover of God and the lover of virtue next in order to
him who repents; and this man is in the language of the
Hebrews called Noah, but in that of the Greeks, " rest," or
" the just man,"* both being appellations very well suited to
the wise man. That of " the just man " most evidently so,
for nothing is better than justice, which is the chief among
virtues, and which receives the highest honours like the most
beautiful member of a company : and the appellation " rest "
VOL. 11. D D
402 PHILO JUD^US.
is likewise appropriate, since the opposite quality to rest is
unnatural agitation, the cause of confusions, and tumults, and
seditions, and wars, which the wicked pursue ; while those
who pay due honour to excellence cultivate a tranquil, and
quiet, and stable, and peaceful life.
And in strict consistency with himself, the lawgiver also
calls the seventh day " rest, " which the Hebrews call "the
sabbath ; " not as some persons fancy, because after six days
the multitude was restrained from its habitual employments, but
because in real truth, the number seven is both in the world
and in ourselves free from seditions and from wars, and is of
all the numbers that which is the most averse to contention,
and the greatest lover of peace. And a proof of what I have
here asserted may be found in the powers which exist in us ;
for six of those powers, namely the five outward senses and
uttered speech, stir up continued and ceaseless war, both by
sea and land, some of them doing so from a desire for the
objects of the outward senses, which if they cannot obtain
they are grieved, and the last by divulging with unbridled
mouth numbers of things which ought to be buried in silence.
But the seventh power is that which proceeds from the domi
nant mind, which is more glorious than the other six powers,
and which has by pre-eminent vigour obtained the mastery
over them all, and when that retires, choosing solitude, and its
own society, and living by itself, as one that has no need of
any other, and that is all-sufficient for itself, being then
emancipated from the cares and troubles that are found in the
human race, embraces a calm and tranquil life.
VI. And the lawgiver magnifies the lover of virtue in such
a way, that even when he is giving his genealogy, he does not
trace him as he usually does other persons, by giving a cata
logue of his grandfathers and great grandfathers, and ances
tors who are numbered as men and women, but he gives a list
of certain virtues ; and almost asserts in express words that
there is no other house, or kindred, or country whatever to a
wise man, except the virtues and the actions in accordance
with virtues.
" For these," says he, " are the generations of Noah ; Noah
was a just man, perfect in his generation, and one who pleased
God."* But we must not be ignorant that when he says man
* Genesis vi. 9.
ON ABRAHAM. 403
here, he does not mean merely to use the common expression
for a rational mortal animal, but that he means to indicate in
an eminent degree him who verifies the name, having driven
awav all the untameuble and furious passions and brutal
wickednesses of the soul ; and as a proof of this, after the word
man he adds as an epithet, " the just," saying, " a just man,"
as if no unjust person were a man at all, but to speak more
properly a beast in the likeness of a man, and us if he alone
were a man who is an admirer of justice ; he also says that he
was "perfect," intimating by this expression that he was pos
sessed not of one virtue only but of all, and that being so
possessed of them, he constantly exhibited every one of them
according to his power and opportunities ; and finally crown
ing him like a wrestler who has gained a glorious victory, he
honours him moreover with a most noble proclamation, saving
that "he pleased God," (and what can there be in nature that
is more excellent than this panegyric ?) which is the most
visible proof of excellence ; for if they who displease God are
miserable, those who please him are by all means happy.
VII. It is not then without great correctness that after he
has praised the man as being possessed of such great virtues
he adds, " that he was perfect in his generation." Showing
that he was not perfect absolutely, but that he was good in
comparison with the others who lived at that time ; for in u
little time he will also speak of other wise men who were
possessed of unconquerable and incomparable virtue, not
merely if contrasted with the wicked, nor because they were
better than the other men of their age, and as such were
considered worthy of acceptance and pre-eminence, but because
having received a well disposed nature, they preserved it with
out any error or change for the worse ; not fleeing from evil
habits, but never having once fallen into them, and being by
deliberate purpose practisers of all virtuous actions and
speeches, by which system they have adorned their life.
Those then are the most admirable of all men who have
adopted free and noble inclinations, not in imitation of or by
way of contrast to others, but from an inclination to genuine
virtue and justice for its own sake ; he also is to be admired
who is superior to his own generation and his own age, and
who is overcome by none of those things which the multitude
follows; and he will be classed in the second rank, and nature
D D 2
404 PHILO JUD^US.
will give to such men the best of her prizes ; and the second
prize is of itself a great thing ; for what is not a great and
most desirable object which God offers to, and bestows upon
men ? And the greatest proof of this is to be found in the
exceeding graces which this man attained to ; for as that time
bore an abundant crop of injustice and impiety, and so every
country, and nation, and city, and house, and every separate
individual was full of wicked practices, all men of free will and
of deliberate purpose, as if in an arena, living with one another
for the first rank in iniquity, and strove with all possible zeal
and rivalry, every one seeking to surpass his neighbour in the
magnitude of his wickedness, and failing in nothing which
might render life blameable and accursed.
VIII. At whom God, being naturally indignant, and being
tngry that that which appeared to be the most excellent of
animals, and which had been thought worthy of being reckoned
akin to himself by reason of his participation in reason, when
he ought to have practised virtue, devoted himself rather to
wickedness, and to every species of vice, appointed a fitting
punishment for them, and determined to destroy the whole
race at that time existing by a deluge ; and not only those who
dwelt in the champaign country and in the lower districts,
but those also who lived in the most lofty mountains, for the
great deep,* being raised to a height which it had never
reached before, burst through its mouths with its whole col
lective impetuosity into the seas existing among us, and they
overflowed and inundated all the islands and continents ; and
incessant floods of everlasting fountains, and of native rivers
and torrents combined together, mingled with one another,
and rising to a vast height, so as to surmount everything.
Nor indeed was the air tranquil, for a deep and unbroken
cloud overspread the whole heaven, and there were fearful
storms of wind, and roarings of thunder, and flashes of light
ning, and rapid hurlings of thunderbolts, ceaseless storms of
rain being poured forth, so that one might have thought that
all the parts of the universe were hastening to dissolve them
selves into the one element of the nature of water, until,
while the water from above kept pouring down, and that below
kept bursting up, the streams were raised to a height above
* Genesis vii. 11.
ON ABRAHAM. 405
everytliing, so that they not only overwhelmed and hid from
sight all the plains and all the level ground, but even the tops
of the highest mountains, for every part of the earth was
under water, so that it was wholly buried and carried away,
and the world was mutilated of huge portions, and appeared
in all its wholeness and integrity, fearful as it is to say or
even to imagine such a thing, to be utterly crippled and
destroyed.
And likewise the air, with the exception of that small
portion which is about the moon, was wholly obscured, being
overcast by the violence and impetuosity of the water which
overran all the region belonging to it with irresistible might.
Then were speedily destroyed all the crops and all the trees,
for on unlimited quantity of water is as destructive to them as
a scarcity, and innumerable flocks of animals, both tame and
wild, perished at the same time ; for it was natural when the
most excellent race of all, that of man, had been destroyed,
that none of the inferior races should be left, since they
were only created to be slaves to his necessities, and to be
in a manner subject to his authoritative commands as their
master.
When such numbers then of such mighty evils had burst
forth which that time poured out for all the portions of the
world, except the heaven itself, were moved in an unnatural
manner as if they were stiicken with a terrible and deadly
disease.
And one house alone, that of the aforesaid just and God-
loving man who had received the two highest of all gifts, was
preserved ; one gift being, as I have said already, the not
being destroyed with all the rest of mankind, the other that
of becoming himself, at a subsequent period, the founder of a
new generation of mankind ; for God thought him worthy to
be both the end of our race and the beginning of it, the end
of those men who lived before the deluge, and the beginning
of those who lived after the deluge.
IX. Such was he who was the most virtuous of all the men
of his age, and such were the rewards which were allotted to him
which the holy scriptures enumerate ; and the arrangement and
classification of the aforesaid three, whether you call them men
or dispositions of the soul, is very symmetrical, for the perfect
uiun is entire from the beginning ; but he who has his place
406 PHILO JUD^US.
changed is but half entire, having appropriated the earlier
period of his life to wickedness, and the subsequent time to
virtue to which he afterwards came over, and with which at
that subsequent time he lived. But he who hopes, as his very
name shows, has still a defect, for though he is always wishing
for what is good, he is not as yet able to attain to it, but he is
like those who are on a voyage, who while they are eager to reach
the harbour, are still kept at sea without being able to anchor
in port.
X. I have now then explained the character of the first
triad of those who desire virtue. There is also another more
important company of which we must now proceed to speak,
for the former resembles those branches of instruction which
are allotted to the age of childhood, but this resembles rather
the gymnastic exercises of athletic men, who are really prepar
ing themselves for the sacred contests, who, despising all care
of getting their body into proper condition, labour to bring
about a healthy state of the soul, being desirous of that victory
which is to be gained over the adverse passions.
The particulars then on which each individual differs from
the other, though all are hastening to one and the same end,
we will hereafter examine more minutely ; but it is necessary
not to pass over in silence what it seems desirable to premise
concerning the whole three taken together.
It happens then that they are all three of one household
and of one family, for the last of the three is the son of the
middle one, and the grandson of the first ; and they are all
lovers of God, and beloved by God, loving the only God, and
being loved in return by him whe has chosen, as the holy
scriptures tell us, by reason of the excess of their virtues in
which they lived, to give them also a share of the same appel
lation as himself; for having added his own peculiar name to
their names he has united them together, appropriating to
himself an appellation composed of the three names : " For,"
says God, "-this is my everlasting name: I am the God of
Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,"*
using there the relative term instead of the absolute one ; and
this is very natural, for God stands in no need of a name.
But though he does not stand in any such need, nevertheless
he bestows his own title on the human race that they may
* Exodus iii. 15.
ON ABRAHAM. 407
have a refuge to which to betake themselves in supplications
and prayers, and so may not be destitute of a good hope.
XI. This then is what appears to be said of these holy
raen ; and it is indicative of a nature more remote from our
knowledge than, and much superior to, that which exists in
the objects of outward sense ; for the sacred word appears
thoroughly to investigate and to describe the different dispo
sitions of the soul, being all of them good, the one aiming at
what is good by means of instruction, the second by nature,
the last by practice ; for the first, who is named Abraham, is a
symbol of that virtue which is derived from instruction ; the
intermediate Isaac is an emblem of natural virtue ; the
third, Jacob, of that virtue which is devoted to and derived
from practice. But we must not be ignorant that each of
these men was endowed with all these powers, but that each
derived his name from that one which predominated in him
and mastered the others ; for neither is it possible for instruc
tion to be made perfect without natural endowments and
practice, nor is nature able to arrive at the goal without
instruction and practice, nor is practice unless it be founded
on natural gifts and sound instruction.
Very appropriately, therefore, has he represented, as united
by relationship, these three, which in name indeed are men, but
in reality, as I have said before, virtues, nature, instruction, and
practice, which men also call by another name, and entitle
them the three graces (%ag"g{), either from the fact of God
having bestowed (Ktyjt^icQai) on our race those three powers,
in order to produce the perfection of life, or because they
themselves have bestowed themselves on the rational soul as
the most glorious of gifts, so that the eternal name, as set
forth in the scriptures, may not be used in conjunction with
three men, but rather with the aforesaid powers ; for the
nature of mankind is mortal, but that of the virtues is im
mortal ; and it is more reasonable that the name of the ever
lasting God should be conjoined with what is immortal than
with what is mortal, since what is immortal is akin to what is
imperishable, but death is hostile to it.
XII. We must, however, not remain in ignorance that the
acred historian has represented the first man, him who was
formed out of the earth as the father of all those who existed
before the deluge ; and him who, with his whole family, waa
408 PHILO JUD^EUS.
the only person left out of so universal a destruction, because of
his justice and his other excellencies and virtues, as the founder
of the new race of men which was to flourish hereafter. And
that venerable, and estimable, and glorious triad is compre
hended by the sacred scriptures under one class, and called,
"A royal priesthood, and a holy nation."* And its name
shows its power ; for the nation is further called, in the lan
guage of the Hebrews, Israel, which name being interpreted
means, " seeing God."
But of sight, that which is exercised by means of the eyes
is the most excellent of all the outward senses, since by that
alone all the most beautiful of existing things are compre
hended, the sun and the moon, and the whole heaven, and the
whole world ; but the sight of the soul which is exercised,
through the medium of its dominant part excels all the other
powers of the soul, as much as the powers of the soul excel all
other powers ; and this is prudence, which is the sight of the
mind. But he to whose lot it falls, not only by means of his
knowledge, to comprehend all the other things which exist in
nature, but also to behold the Father and Creator of the
universe, has advanced to the very summit of happiness. For
there is nothing above God ; and if any one, directing towards
him the eye of the soul, has reached up to him, let him then
pray for ability to remain and to stand firm before him ; for
the roads which lead upwards to him are laborious and slow,
but the descent down the declivity, being rather like a rapid
dragging down than a gradual descent, is swift and easy. And
there are many things urged downwards, in which there is no
use whatever, when God having made the soul to depend on
his own powers, drags it up towards himself with a more
vigorous attraction.
XIII. Let thus much, then, be said generally about the
three persons, since it was absolutely necessary ; but we must
now proceed in regular order, to speak of those qualities in
which each separate individual surpasses the others, beginning
with him who is first mentioned. Now he, being an admirer
of piety, the highest and greatest of all virtues, laboured
earnestly to follow God, and to be obedient to the injunctions
delivered by him, looking not only on those things as his com
mands which were signified to him by words and facts, but
* Exodus xix. 6.
ON ABRAHAM. 409
those also which were indicated by more express signs through
the medium of nature, and which the truest of the outward
tenses comprehends before the uncertain and untrustworthy
hearing can do so ; for if any one observes the arrangement
which exists in nature, and the constitution according to which
the world goes on, which is more excellent than any kind of
reasoning, he learns, even though no one speaks to him, to
study a course of life consistent with law and peace, looking to
the example of good men. But the most manifest demon
strations of peace are those which the scriptures contain ; and
we must mention the first which also occurs the first in the
order in which they are set down.
XIV. He being impressed by an oracle by which he was
commanded to leave his country, and his kindred, and his
father s house, and to emigrate like a man returning from a
foreign land to his own country, and not like one who was
about to set out from his own land to settle in a foreign
district, hastened eagerly on, thinking to do with promptness
what he was commanded to do was equivalant to perfecting
the matter. And yet who else was it likely would be so un-
deviating and unchangeable as not to be won over by and as
not to yield to the charms of ones relations and one s country ?
The love for which has in a manner
" Grown with the growth and strengthened with the strength,"
of every individual, and even more, or at all events not less
than the limbs united to the body have done.
And we have witnesses of this in the lawgivers who have
enacted the second punishment next to death, namely, banish
ment, against those who are convicted of the most atrocious
crimes : a punishment which indeed is not second to any, as it
appears to me, if truth be the judge, but which is, in fact,
much more grievous than death, since death is the end of all
misfortunes, but banishment is not the end but the beginning
of new calamities, inflicting instead of our death unaccompanied
by pain ten thousand deaths with acute sensation.
Some men also, l>eing engaged in traffic, do out of desire for
gain sail over the sea, or being employed in some embassy, or
being led by a desire to see the sights of foreign countries, or
by a love for instruction, having various motives which attract
them outwards and prevent their remaining where they are,
410 PHILO JUD^US.
Rome being led by a love of gain, others by the idea of being
able to benefit their native city at its time of need in the most
necessary and important particulars, others seeking to arrive
at the knowledge of matters of which before they were ignorant,
a knowledge which brings, at the same time, both delight and
advantage to the soul. For men who have never travelled are
to those who have, as blind men are to those who see clearly,
are nevertheless anxious to behold their father s threshold and
to salute it, and to embrace their acquaintances, and to enjoy
the most delightful and wished-for sight of their relations and
friends ; and very often, seeing the affairs, for the sake of
which they left their country, protracted, they have abandoned
them, being influenced by that most powerful feeling of longing
for a union with their kindred.
But this man with a very few companions, or perhaps I
might say by himself, as soon as he was commanded to do so,
left his home, and set out on an expedition to a foreign country
in his soul even before he started with his body, his regard for
mortal things being overpowered by his love for heavenly things.
Therefore giving no consideration to anything whatever, neither
to the men of his tribe, nor to those of his borough, nor to his
fellow disciples, nor to his companions, nor to those of his blood
as sprung from the same father or the same mother, nor to his
country, nor to his ancient habits, nor to the customs in which
he had been brought up, nor to his mode of life and his mates,
every one of which things has a seductive and almost irresist
ible attraction and power, he departed as speedily as possible,
yielding to a free and unrestrained impulse, and first of all
he quitted the land of the Chaldseans, a prosperous district,
and one which was greatly flourishing at that period, and went
into the land of Charran, and from that, after no very distant
interval, he departed to another place, which we will speak of
hereafter, when we have first discussedt he country of Charran.
XV. The aforesaid emigrations, if one is to be guided by
the literal expressions of the scripture, were performed by a
wise man ; but if we look to the laws of allegory, by a soul
devoted to virtue and busied in the search after the true God.
For the Chaldseans were, above all nations, addicted to the
study of astronomy, and attributed all events to the motions
of the stars, by which they fancied that all the things in the
world were regulated, and accordingly they magnified the
ON ABRAHAM. 411
visible essence by the powers which numbers and the analogies
of numbers contain, taking no account of the invisible essence
appreciable only by the intellect. But while they were busied
in investigating the arrangement existing in them with refer
ence to the periodical revolutions of the sun, and moon, and the
other planets, and fixed-stars, and the changes of the seasons
of the year, and the sympathy of the heavenly bodies with the
things of earth, they were led to imagine that the world itself
was God, in their impious philosophy comparing the creature
to the Creator.
The man who had been bred up in this doctrine, and who
for a long time had studied the philosophy of the Chaldseans,
as if suddenly awakening from a deep slumber and opening
the eye of the soul, and beginning to perceive a pure ray of
light instead of profound darkness, followed the light, and saw
what he had never seen before, a certain governor and director
of the world standing above it, and guiding his own work in a
salutary manner, and exerting his care and power in behalf of
all those parts of it which are worthy of divine superin
tendence.
In order, therefore, that he may the more firmly establish
the sight which has thus been presented to him in his mind,
the sacred word says to him, My good friend, great things are
often- made known by slight outlines, at which he who looks
increases his imagination to an unlimited extent ; therefore,
having dismissed those who bend all their attention to the
heavenly bodies, and discarding the Chaldaan science, rise up
and depart for a short time from the greatest of cities, this
world, to one which is smaller ; for so you will be the better
able to comprehend the nature of the Ruler of the universe.
It is for this reason that Abraham is said to have made his
first migration from the country of the Chaldreans into the land
of Charran.
XVI. But Charran, in the Greek language, means "holes,"
which is a figurative emblem of the regions of our outward
senses ; by means of which, as by holes, each of those senses
is able to look out so as to comprehend the objects which
belong to it. But, some one may say, what is the use of these
holes, unless the invisible mind, like the exhibition of a puppet
show, does from within prompt its own powers, which at one
time losing and allowing to roam, and at another time holding
back and restraining by force ? He gives sometimes an harmo-
412 PHILO JUD^US.
nious motion, and sometimes perfect quiet to his puppets. And
having this example at home, you will easily comprehend that
being, the understanding of whom you are so anxious to arrive
at ; unless, indeed, you fancy that the world is situated in you
as the dominant part of you, which the whole common powers
of the body obey, and which each of the outward senses fol
lows ; but that the world, the most beautiful, and greatest, and
most perfect of works, of which everything else is but a part,
is destitute of any king to hold it together, and to regulate it,
and govern it in accordance with justice.
And if it be invisible, wonder not at that, for neither can the
mind which is in thee be perceived by the sight. Any one who
considers this, deriving his proofs not from a distance but close
at hand, both from himself and from the circumstances around
him, will clearly see that the world is not the first God, but
that it is the work of the first God and Father of all things,
who, being himself invisible, displays every thing, showing
the nature of all things both small and great. For he has not
chosen to be beheld by the eyes of the body, perhaps because
it was not consistent with holiness for what is mortal to touch
what is everlasting, or perhaps because of the weakness of our
sight ; for it would never have been able to stand the rays
which are poured forth from the living God, since it cannot
even look straight at the rays of the sun.
XVII. And the most visible proof of this migration
in which the mind quitted astronomy and the doctrines of
the Chaldseans, is this. For it is said in the scriptures
that the very moment that the wise man quitted his abode,
"God appeared unto Abraham,"* to whom, therefore, it
is plain that he was not visible before, when he was adher
ing to the studies of the Chaldaeans, and attending to the
motions of the stars, not properly comprehending any nature
whatever, which was well arranged and appreciable by the
intellect only, apart from the world and the essence perceptible
by the outward senses. But after he changed his abode and
went into another country he learnt of necessity that the world
was subject, and not independent ; not an absolute ruler, but
governed by the great cause of all things who had created it,
whom the rnind then for the first time looked up and sa\v ; for
previously a great mist was shed over it by the objects of the
* Genesis xii. 7.
ON ABRAHAM. 413
external senses, which she, having dissipated by fervent and
vivid doctrines, was scarcely al>le, as if in clear fine weather, to
perceive him who had previously been concealed and invisible.
But he, by reason of his love for mankind, did not reject the
soul which came to him, but went forward to meet it, and
showed to it his own nature as far as it was possible that he
who was looking at it could see it. For which reason it is
said, not that the wise man saw God but that God appeared to
the wise man ; for it was impossible for anv one to comprehend
by his own unassisted power the true living God, unless he
himself displayed and revealed himself to him.
XVIII. And there is evidence in support of what has here
been said to be derived from the change and alteration of his
name : for he was anciently called Abram, but afterwards he
was named Abraham : the alteration of sound being only that
which proceeds from ono single letter, alpha, being doubled,
but the alteration revealing in effect an important fact and
doctrine ; for the name Abram being interpreted means " sub
lime father ;" but Abraham signifies, " the elect father of
sound." The first name being expressive of the man who is
called an astronomer, and one addicted to the contemplation
of the sublime bodies in the sky, and who was versed in the
doctrines of the Chaldffians, and who took care of them as a
father might take care of his children. But the last name
intimating the really wise man; for the latter name, by the
word sound, intimates the uttered speech ; and by the word
father, the dominant mind. For the speech which is con
ceived within is naturally the father of that which is uttered,
inasmuch as it is older than the latter, and as it also suggests
what is to be said. And by the addition of the word elect his
goodness is intimated.
For the evil disposition is a random and confused one. but
that which is elect is good, having been selected from all
others by reason of its excellence. Therefore, to him who is
addicted to the contemplation of the sublime bodies of the sky
there appears to be nothing whatever greater than the world ;
and therefore he refers the causes of all things that exist to
the world. But the wise man, beholding with more accurate
eyes that more perfect being that rules and governs all things,
and is appreciable only by the intellect, to whom all things are
subservient as to a master, and by whom every thing is
414 PHILO JUD.EUS.
directed, very often reproaches himself for his former way of
life, and if he had lived the existence of a blind man, leaning
upon objects perceptible by the outward senses, on things by
their very nature worthless and unstable.
The second migration is again undertaken by the virtuous
man under the influence of a sacred oracle, but this is no
longer one from one city to another, but it is to a desolate
country, in which he wandered about for a long time without
being discontented at his wandering and at his unsettled condi
tion, which necessarily arose from it. And yet, what other mail
would not have been grieved, not only at departing from his own
country but also at being driven away from every city into an
inaccessible and impassable district ? And what other man would
not have turned back and returned to his former home, paying
but little attention to his former hopes, but desiring to escape
from his present perplexity, thinking it folly for the sake of
uncertain advantages to undergo admitted evils? But this
man alone appears to have behaved in the contrary manner,
thinking that life which was remote from the fellowship of
many companions the most pleasant of all.
And this is naturally the case ; for those who seek and
desire to find God, love that solitude which is dear to him,
iabouring for this as their dearest and primary object, to
become like his blessed and happy nature. Therefore, having
now given both explanations, the literal one as concerning the
man, and the allegorical one relating to the soul, we have
shown that both the man and the mind are deserving of love ;
inasmuch as the one is obedient to the sacred oracles, and
because of their influence submits to be torn away from things
with which it is hard to part ; and the mind deserves to be
loved because it has not submitted to be for ever deceived and
to abide permanently with the essences perceptible by the out
ward senses, thinking the visible world the greatest and first
of gods, but soaring upwards with its reason it has beheld
another nature better than that which is visible, that, namely,
which is appreciable only by the intellect ; and also that being
who is at the same time the Creator and ruler of both.
XIX. These, then, are the first principles of the man who
loves God, and they are followed by actions which do not
deserve to be lightly esteemed. But the greatness of them is
not evident to every one, but only to those who have tasted of
ON ABRAHAM. 415
virtue, and who are wont to look with ridicule upon the objects
which are admired by the multitude, by reason of the great
ness of the good things of the soul. Therefore, God, having
approved of his conduct which I have mentioned, presently
rewarded the virtuous man with a great gift, inasmuch as he
preserved sound and free from all pollution his marriage,
which was in danger of being plotted against by a powerful and
incontinent man.
And the cause of this man s design upon it arose from this
beginning; there having been a barrenness and scarcity of
crops for a long time, owing to a long and immoderate period
of rain which prevailed at one time, and to a great drought
and heat which ensued afterwards. The cities of Syria being
oppressed by a long continuance of famine, became destitute
of inhabitants, all of them being dispersed in different direc
tions for the purpose of seeking food and providing themselves
with necessaries. Therefore, Abraham, hearing that there
was unlimited abundance and plenty in Egypt, since the river
there irrigated the fields with its inundations at the proper
season, and since the winds by their salutary temperature
brought up and nourished rich and heavy crops of corn, rose
up with all his household to quit Syria and to go thither. And
he had a wife of a most excellent disposition, who was also fne
most beautiful of all the women of her time. The Egyptian
magistrates, seeing her and admiring her exquisite form, for
nothing ever escapes the notice of men in authority, gave
information to the king. And the king, sending for the woman
and beholding her extraordinary beauty, gave but little heed
to the dictates of modesty or to the laws which had been
established with respect to the honour due to strangers, but
yielding to his incontinent desires, conceived the intention in
name, indeed, to marry her in lawful wedlock, but, in fact to
seduce and defile her. But she, being destitute of all succour,
as being in a foreign land, before an incontinent and cruel-
minded ruler (for her husband had no power to protect her,
fearing the danger which impended over him from princes
mightier than he), at last, with him, took refuge in the only
alliance remaining to her, the protection of God.
And the merciful and gracious God, who takes compassion
on the stranger, and who fights on behalf of those who are
unjustly oppressed, inflicted in a moment painful sufferings and
416 PHILO JUD^EUS.
terrible chastisements on the king, filling his body and soul
with all kinds of miseries difficult to be escaped or remedied,
so that all his inclinations tending to pleasure were cut short,
and, on the contrary, he was occupied with nothing but
cares, seeking an alleviation from his endless and intolerable
torments by which he was harassed and tortured day and
night ; and his whole household also received their share of
his punishment, because none of them had felt any indigna
tion at his lawless conduct, but had all consented to it, and
had all but co-operated actively in his iniquity.
In this manner the chastity of the woman was preserved,
and God condescended to display the excellence and piety
of her husband, giving him the noblest reward, namely, his
marriage free from all injury, and even from all insult, so as
no longer to be in danger of being violated ; a marriage
which however was not intended to produce any limited
number of sons and daughters, but an entire nation the
most God-loving of all nations and one which appears to
me to have received the offices of priesthood and prophecy
on behalf of the whole human race.
XX. I have heard men versed in natural philosophy in
terpreting this passage in an allegorical manner with no
inconsiderable ingenuity and propriety ; and their idea is,
that the man here is a symbolical expression for the virtuous
mind, conjecturing from the interpretation of his name that
what is intended to be indicated is the virtuous disposition
existing in the soul ; and that by his wife is meant virtue,
for the name of his wife is, in the Chaldsean language,
Sarah, but in Greek " princess," because there is nothing
more royal or more worthy of pre-eminence than virtue.
And the marriage in which pleasure unites people compre
hends the connection of the bodies, but that which is
brought about by wisdom is the union of reasonings which
desire purification, and of the perfect virtues ; and the two
kinds of marriage here described are extremely opposite to
one another ; for in the marriage of the bodies it is the
male partner which sows the seed and the female which
receives it, but in the union which takes place with regard
to the soul it is quite the contrary, and it is virtue which
appears to be there in the place of the woman, which sows
good counsels, and virtuous speeches, and expositions of
ON ABRAHAM 417
doctrines profitable to life ; but the reason which is con
sidered to be classed in the light of the man receives the
sacred and divine seed, unless, indeed, there is any error in
the names usually given ; for certainly, in the grammatical
view of the words, the word reason is masculine, and the
word virtue has a feminine character.
But if any one, discarding the considerations of the
names which tend to throw darkness over the subject,
chooses to look at the plain facts without any disguise, he
will know that virtue is masculine by nature, inasmuch as
it puts things in motion, and arranges them, and suggests
good conceptions of noble actions and speeches ; but reason
is feminine, inasmuch as it is put in motion by another, and
is instructed and benefited, and, in short, is altogether the
patient, as its passive state is its only safety.
XXI. All men, therefore, even the most vile, in word
honour and admire virtue as far as appearance goes ; but it
is the virtuous alone who obey its injunctions; on which
account the king of Egypt, who is a figurative representa
tion of the mind devoted to the body, as if he were acting
in a theatre, assumes the character of a pretended partici
pation in temperance though being an intemperate man, and
in continence though being an incontinent n:an, and in justice
though an unjust man, and he invites justice to himself,
being eager to obtain a good report from the multitude ;
and the governor of the universe seeing this, for God alone
has power to look into the soul, hates him and rejects him,
and by the most cruel tests and powers convicts him of an
utterly false disposition.
But by what instruments are these tests carried out ?
Surely altogether by the parts of virtue which, whenever
they enter, inflict great pain and severe wounds ; for a
torture is a deficiency of supply to that which is insatiable,
and the torture of greediness is temperance ; moreover, the
man who is fond of glory is tortured while simplicity and
humility are in the ascendent, and so is the unjust man
when justice is extolled ; for it is impossible for two hostile
natures to inhabit one soul, namely, for wickedness and
virtue, for which reason, when they do come together, end
less and irreconcilable seditions and wars are kindled
between them ; and yet this is the case though virtue is of
TOL. II. E
418 PHILO JUD^EUS.
a most peaceful disposition, and, as they say, is anxioui
whenever it is about to come to a contest of strength to
make trial of its own powers first, so as only to contend if
it has a prospect of being able to gain the victory ; but if
it finds its power unequal to the conflict, then it will never
dare to descend into the arena at all, for it is not disgraceful
to wickedness to be defeated, inasmuch as ingloriousness is
akin to it ; but it would be a shameful thing for virtue, to
which glory is the most appropriate and the most peculiarly
belonging of all things, on which account it is natural for
virtue either to secure the victory, or else to keep itself un-
conquered.
XXII. It has been said then that the disposition of the
Egyptians is inhospitable and intemperate ; and the human
ity of him who has been exposed to their conduct deserves
admiration, for he* in the middle of the day beholding as it
were three men travelling (and he did not perceive that
they were in reality of a more divine nature), ran up and
entreated them with great perseverance not to pass by his
tent, but as was becoming to go in and receive the rites of
hospitality : and they knowing the truth of the man not so
much by what he said, as by his mind which they could look
into, assented to his request without hesitation ; and being
filled as to his soul with joy, he took every possible pains to
make their extemporaneous reception worthy of them ; and
he said to his wife, " Hasten now, and make ready quickly
three measures of fine meal," and he himself went forth
among the herds of oxen, and brought forth a tender and
well-fed heifer, and gave it to his servant ; and he having
slain it, dressed it with all speed.
For no one in the house of a wise man is ever slow to
perform the duties of hospitality, but both women and men,
and slaves and freemen, are most eager in the performance
of all those duties towards strangers ; therefore, after having
feasted, and being delighted, not so much with what was set
before them, as with the good will of their entertainer, and
with his excessive and unbounded zeal to please them,
they bestow on him a reward beyond his expectation, the
birth of a legitimate son in a short time, making him a
promise which is to be confirmed to him by one the most
* Genesis xviii. 1, &c.
ON ABRAHAM. 419
excellent of the three ; for it would have been inconsistent
with philosophy for them all to speak together at the same
moment, but it was desirous for all the rest to assent while
one spoke.
Nevertheless he did not completely believe them even
when they made him this promise, by reason of the incredi
ble nature of the thing promised ; for both he and his wife,
through extreme old age, were so old as utterly to have
abandoned all hope of offspring; therefore the scriptures
record that Abraham s wife, when she first heard what
they were saying, laughed ; and when they said after
wards, "Is anything impossible to God?" they were so
ashamed that they denied that they had laughed ; for
Abraham knew that everything was possible to God, having
almost learnt this doctrine as one may say from his cradle ;
then for the first time he appears to me to have begun to
entertain a different opinion of his guests from that which
he conceived at first, and to have imagined that they were
either some of the prophets or of the angels who had
changed their spiritual and soul-like essence, and assumed
the appearance of .men.
XXIII. We have now then described the hospitable
temper of the man, which was as it were a sort of addition
to set off his greater virtue ; but his virtue was piety
towards God, concerning which we have spoken before,
the most evident instance of which is to be found in his
conduct now recorded towards the strangers ; but if any per
sons have fancied that house happy and blessed in which it
has happened that wise men have stopped and abode, they
should consider that they would not have done so, and
would not even have looked into it at all, if they had seen
any incurable disease in the souls of those who were therein,
but I know not what excess of happiness and blessedness, I
should say, existed in that house in which angels conde
scended to tarry and to receive the rites of hospitality from
men, angels, those sacred and divine natures, the ministers
and lieutenants of the mighty God, by means of whom, as
of ambassadors, he announces whatever predictions he con
descends to intimate to our race.
For how could they ever have endured to enter a human
habitation at all, unless they had been certain that all the
E 2
420 PHILO JUD^US.
inhabitants within, like the well-managed and orderly crew
of a ship, obeyed one signal only, namely, that of their
master, as the sailors obey the command of the captain ?
And how would they ever have condescended to assume the
appearance of guests and men feasted hospitably, if they
had not thought that their entertainer was akin to them,
and a fellow servant with them, bound to the service of the
same master as themselves ? We must think indeed that
at their entrance all the parts of the house became improved
and advanced in goodness, being breathed upon with a
certain breeze of most perfect virtue.
And the entertainment was such as it was fitting that it
should be, the persons who were being feasted displaying at
the banquet their own simplicity towards their entertainer,
and addressing him in a guileless manner, and all of them
holding conversation suited to the occasion. And it is a
thing that deserves to be looked on as a prodigy, that
though they did not drink they seemed to drink, and that
though they did not eat they presented the appearance of
persons eating. But this was all natural and consistent
with what was going on. And the most miraculous circum
stance of all was, that these beings who were incorporeal
presented the appearance of a body in human form by
reason of their favour to the virtuous man, for otherwise
what need was there of all these miracles except for the
purpose of giving the wise man the evidence of his external
senses by means of a more distinct sight, because his cha
racter had not escaped the knowledge of the Father of the
universe.
XXIV. This then is sufficient to say by way of a literal
explanation of this account : we must now speak of that
which may be given if the story be looked at as figurative
and symbolical.
The things which are expressed by the voice are the signs
of those things which are conceived in the mind alone ;
when, therefore, the soul is shone upon by God as if at
noonday, and when it is wholly and entirely filled with that
light which is appreciable only by the intellect, and by
being wholly surrounded with its brilliancy is free from all
shade or darkness, it then perceives a threefold image of
one subject, one image of the living God, and others of the
ON ABRAHAM.
other two, as if they were shadows irradiated by it. And
some such thing as this happens to those who dwell in that
light which is perceptible by the outward senses, for whether
people are standing still or in motion, there is often a double
shadow failing from them.
Let not any one then fancy that the word shadow is
applied to God with perfect propriety. It is merely a cata-
chrestical abuse of the name, bv way of bringing before
our eyes a more vivid representation of the matter intended
to be intimated. Since this is not the actual truth, but m
order that one may when speaking keep as close to the
truth as possible, the one in the middle is the Father of the
universe, who in the sacred scriptures is called by his proper
name, I am that I am ; and the beings on each side are those
most ancient powers which are always close to the living
God, one of which is called his creative power, and the
other his royal power.
And the creative power is God, for it is by this that he
made and arranged the universe ; and the royal power is
the Lord, for it is fitting that the Creator should lord it
over and govern the creature. Therefore the middle person
of the three, being attended by each of his powers as by
body-guards, presents to the mind, which is endowed with
the faculty of sight, a vision at one time of one being, and
at another time of three ; of one when the soul being com
pletely purified, and having surmounted not only the multi
tudes of numbers, but also the number two, which is the
neighbour of the unit, hastens onward to that idea which is
devoid of all mixture, free from all combination, and by
itself in need of nothing else whatever ; and of three,
when, not being as vet made perfect as to the important
virtues, it is still seeking for initiation in those of less con
sequence, and is not able to attain to a comprehension of
the living God by its own unassisted faculties without the
aid of something else, but can only do so by judging of his
deeds, whether as creator or as governor. This then, as
they say, is the second best thing ; and it no less partakes
in the opinion which is dear to and devoted to God. But
the first-mentioned disposition has no such share, but is
itself the very God-loving and God-beloved opinion itself,
422 PfllLO JUD.EU3.
or rather it is truth which is older than opinion, and more
valuable than any seeming.
But we must now explain what is intimated by this
statement in a more perspicuous manner.
XXV. There are three different classes of human dispo
sitions, each of which has received as its portion one of the
aforesaid visions. The best of them has received that vision
which is in the centre, the sight of the truly living God.
The one which is next best has received that which is on
the right hand, the sight of the beneficent power which has
the name of God. And the third has the sight of that
which is on the left hand, the governing power, which is
called lord. Therefore, the best dispositions cultivate that
being who exists of himself, without the aid of any one
else, being themselves attracted by nothing else, by reason
of all their entire attention being directed to the honour of
that one being. But of the other dispositions, some derive
their existence and owe their being recognized by the father
to his beneficent power ; and others, again, owe it to his
governing power. My meaning in this statement is this :
Men when they perceive that, under the pretext of friend
ship, some persons come to them, being in reality only
desirous to get what they can from them, look upon them
with suspicion, and turn away from them, fearing their
insincere, and flattering, and caressing behaviour, as very
pernicious. But God, inasmuch as he is not liable to any
injury, gladly invites all men who choose, in any way what
ever to honour him, to come unto him, not choosing alto
gether to reject any person whatever; and, in truth, he
almost says in express words to those who have ears in the
soul, " The most valuable prizes shall be offered to those who
worship me for my own sake : the second best to those
who hope by their own efforts to be able to attain to good,
