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ALLEGORICAL
INTERPRETATION, III{*} I.
(1) "And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God in
the midst of the trees of the II.
(4) And let us in the next place consider how any one is said to be concealed
from God; but unless any one receives this as an allegorical saying it would be
impossible to comprehend what is here stated. For God has completed everything
and has penetrated every thing, and has left no one of all his works empty or
deserted. What kind of place then can any one occupy in which God is not? And
Moses testifies to this in other passages, when he says, "God is in the
heaven above, and in the earth beneath; and there is nothing anywhere but
He."{4}{Deuteronomy 4:39.} And in another place he speaks in this manner,
"I stood here before you did."{5}{Exodus 17:6.} For God is of older
date than any created being, and he will be everywhere, so that it cannot be
possible for any one to be concealed from him: and what need we wonder at? (5)
For even if any thing were to happen to us we should not be able to escape the
notice of, and to conceal ourselves from the most elementary of created things;
for instance, let any one try to flee from the earth, or the water, or the air,
or the heaven, or the entire universe, and he will fail; for it is impossible
but what he must be contained in these things, for no one will be able to flee
out of the world. (6) Again how could any man who is unable to conceal himself
from the parts of the world, and from the whole world itself, be able to escape
the notice of God? He never could do so. What then is the meaning of the
expression, "they hid themselves?" The bad man thinks that God is in a
certain place, not surrounding it, but being surrounded by it. On which account
also he thinks that he can conceal himself from him, as if God were without any
prevailing reason at a distance form that part of the world in which he has
determined to lurk. III.
(7) And we must understand this in the following manner. In the wicked man the
true opinion concerning God is overshadowed and kept out of sight, for he is
full of darkness, having no divine irradiation, by means of which he may be able
to contemplate things as they are. And such a man is a fugitive from the divine
company just as a leper is or a man with any other impure disease, the one
bringing together into the same place God and Creation, two opposite natures of
two different complexions, as the causes of things, when there is really but one
cause, the great Creator; and the other, a man afflicted with a foul disease,
believing that everything is created from the world, and again is dissolved into
the world, but thinking that nothing has been created by God, being a follower
of the doctrine of Heraclitus introduces covetousness and indigence, and one
universe, and all kinds of things alternately. (8) In reference to which the
Holy Scripture says "Let them send forth from the holy soul every leper,
and every one afflicted with foul disease, and every one who is impure in his
soul, both male and female, and all mutilated persons, and all these who are
emasculated, and all Whoremongers,"{6}{Numbers 5:2.} men who flee from the
authority of one God, and who are expressly forbidden "to come into the
assembly of God;"{7}{Deuteronomy 23:2.} (9) but wise reasons are not only
not concealed, but are even eager to manifest themselves. Do you not see that
Abraham was still standing in the place of the Lord, and coming near to him said
"do not then destroy the righteous with Impious,"{8}{Genesis 18:23.}
him who is manifest to you and well known by you, with him who flees from you
and seeks to escape your notice, for he indeed is impious, but the righteous man
is one who stands before you and does not flee. For it is right indeed master
that you alone should be honored, (10) but it does not follow that as an impious
man is discovered so also is a pious man; but it is sufficient if he is just. On
which account he says "do not then destroy the righteous with the
wicked." For not even one single man on earth honors God in a worthy
manner, but only according to righteousness. For when it is not possible for a
man to exhibit due gratitude even to his parents, for it is impossible for him
to become their parents in his turn; how can it be anything but absolutely
impossible adequately to requite God, or worthily to praise him who created the
whole universe out of things that had no previous existence. "For God made
all virtue." IV.
(11) Be thou therefore O my soul in all your entirety always visible to God, for
three separate times, that is to say for time divided according to a threefold
division; not drawing after you the female passion arising from external
sensation, but offering up to him manly thought, the encourager to and practicer
of persevering courage. "For at three seasons of the year every male must
appear before the Lord the God of Israel"{9}{Deuteronomy 15:16.} this is
the injunction of the holy scriptures. (12) On this account Moses when he
appears to God in visible form, flees from the dispersing disposition, that is
from Pharaoh, who boasts, saying, that he does not know the Lord, "for
Moses," says he, "retreated from the presence of Pharaoh, and dwelt in
the land of Midian"{10}{Exodus 2:15.} that is to say, being interpreted, in
the judgment of the nature of things; and sat down upon a well, waiting to see
what good which might be drank in God would rain upon his thirsting and eager
soul. (13) Accordingly he retreats from the impious opinion which is the
mistress of the passions, namely from Pharaoh; and he retreats into Midian, that
is to say into judgment, considering anxiously whether he ought to live in
tranquil inactivity or whether he ought again to contend with that wicked man to
his own destruction. And he considers whether if he attacks him he shall be able
to gain the victory, from which consideration he restrains himself waiting, as I
have already said, to see if God will give to his deep and not frivolous
consideration, a fountain sufficient to wash away the impetuosity of the king of
Egypt, that is to say of his own passions. (14) And he is thought worthy of
grace, for having fought the good fight in behalf of virtue he never ceases from
warring till he sees the pleasures overthrown and baulked of their object. And
with this view Moses does not flee from Pharaoh, for if he had done so he would
have fled without returning; but withdraws for a time, that is to say he makes a
truce from the war, after the fashion of a wrestler who seeks a respite and
collects his breath again, until, having aroused the alliance of prudence and
the other virtues he attacks his enemy once more, by divine reason, with the
most vigorous power. (15) But Jacob, for he is a supplanter, having acquired
virtue by regular system and discipline, not without hard labor, for his name
had not as yet been changed to Israel, "fled from the affairs of
Labor"{11}{Genesis 31:20.} that is to say from colors and figures, and in
short from bodies the nature of which is to wound the soul through the objects
of outward sense; for since, when he was present, he could not entirely and
utterly subdue them, he fled, fearing to be subdued by them. And he is very
worthy of praise for so doing; for "says Moses you will make the children
of Israel Cautious,"{12}{Leviticus 15:31.} but not bold, or covetous of
those things, which do not belong to them. V.
(16) "And Jacob concealed himself from Laban the Syrian, in that he told
him not that he was about to flee from him, and he fled from him, taking with
him all that he had, and he crossed the river, and proceeded towards the Mount
Gilead." It was most natural for him to conceal that he was about to flee,
and not to inform Laban, who was a man depending wholly on thoughts such as
arise from the outward senses, just as if you have seen some excellent beauty
and are charmed with it, and are likely to be led into error in respect of it,
you should privily flee from the imagination of it, and never tell it to your
mind, that is to say, never think of it again nor give it any consideration, for
continued recollections of anything are not without making some distinct
impression, and injure the intellect and turn it out of the right way, even
against its will. (17) And the same reasoning applies to all temptations which
arise in respect of any one of the external senses, for in all such cases secret
flight is the preserver from danger. But to keep recalling the temptation to
one's mind, and to talk of it and dwell upon it subdues and enslaves the reason
by force. Do not these then ever, O my mind, report to yourself any object of
outward sense that has been seen by you, if you are likely to be led away
captive by it, and do not dwell on it, in order that you may not become
miserable by being subdued by it, but rather, while you are still free, rise up
and flee, preferring untamed liberty to slavery and subjection to a master. VI.
(18) But why now, as if Jacob had been ignorant that Laban was a Syrian, does
Moses say, "And Jacob concealed himself from Laban the Syrian." This
expression, however, has a reason in it which is not superfluous; for the name VII.
(21) And what that prudence was he will proceed to tell us, for he adds,
"And you have led away my daughters as captives; and if you had told me, I
would myself have sent you away."{13} {Genesis 31:27.} You would not have
sent away things which were at variance with one another, for if you had sent
them away really, and had emancipated the soul, you would have removed from it
all bodily sounds, and such as affect the outward senses; for in this way the
intellect is emancipated from evils and passions. But now you say that you send
it away free, but by your actions you confess that you would have retained it in
a prison; for if you had sent it on its way with musical instruments, and drums
and harps, and all the pleasures which affect the outward senses, you would not
in reality have released it at all; (22) for it is not you then only from whom
we are fleeing, O Laban, thou companion of bodies and colors, but we are also
escaping from everything that is thine, in which the voices of the outward
senses sound in harmony with the energies of the passions. For we, if at least
we are practicers of virtue, have meditated a very necessary meditation, which
Jacob also meditated, namely, to overthrow and destroy those gods who are
hostile to the soul, gods made by hands, gods whom Moses forbade the people to
make; {14}{Leviticus 19:4.} and these gods are the destruction of virtue and of
a good state of the passions, but the consolidation and confirmation of vice and
the appetites; for that metal which is cast, after it has been fused, is soon
consolidated again. VIII.
(23) But Moses speaks thus, "And they gave to Jacob the foreign gods which
were in their hands, and the earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid
them under the turpentine tree which was in Shechem."{15}{Genesis 35:4.}
These are the gods of the wicked, but Jacob is not said to have taken them, but
to have concealed and destroyed them, for every case being most accurately
described, for the virtuous man will take nothing from wickedness for his own
advantage, but will conceal all such things and destroy them secretly. (24) Just
as Abraham tells the king of Sodom, when he was proposing to give him things of
irrational nature in exchange for rational animals, namely, horses in exchange
for men, "that he would take nothing that belonged to him, but that he
would stretch out "the action of his soul," which, speaking
symbolically, he called "his hand," to the most high God; {16}{Genesis
14:21.} "for that he had not taken from a thread even to a shoe-latchet of
all that was his (the king of IX.
(28) We have shown, therefore, in what manner the wicked man is a fugitive, and
how he conceals himself from God; but now let us consider where he conceals
himself. "In the middle," says Moses, "of the trees of the
Garden;"{19}{Genesis 3:8.} that is to say, in the middle of the mind, which
again is itself the centre of the whole soul, as the trees are of the garden.
For the man who escapes from God flees to himself, (29) for, since there are two
things, the mind of the universe, which is God, and also the separate mind of
each individual, he who escapes from the mind which is in himself flees to the
mind of the universe; and conversely, he who forsakes his own individual mind,
confesses that all the things of the human mind are of no value, and attributes
everything to God; again, he who seeks to escape from God asserts, by so doing,
that God is not the cause of anything, but looks upon himself as the cause of
everything that exists. (30) At all events it is affirmed by many people, that
everything in the world is borne on spontaneously without any guide or governor,
and that the human mind, by its own single power, has invented arts and
pursuits, and laws and customs, and all the principles of political and
individual, and common justice, with reference both to men and to irrational
animals. (31) But dost thou not see, O soul, the unreasonable character of these
opinions? For one of them having the particular mind, which was created and
which is mortal, does in reality ascribe it to the mind of the universe, which
is uncreated and immortal: and the other again, repudiating God, most
inconsistently drags forward, as an ally, that mind which is unable even to
assist itself. X.
(32) On this account also Moses says, that "If a thief be detected in the
act of breaking into a house, and be smitten so that he die, that shall not be
imputed as murder to him who has smitten him; but if the sun be risen upon him,
then he is liable, and shall die in Retaliation."{20}{Exodus 22:1.} For if
any one cuts down and destroys that reason which stands upright and is sound and
correct, which testifies to God that he alone is able to do everything, and is
found in the act of breaking in upon it, that is to say, standing over this
reason thus wounded and destroyed, and who recognizes his own mind as
energizing, and not God, is a thief, taking away what belongs to others, (33)
for all things belong to God; so he who attributes anything to himself is taking
away what belongs to another, and receives a very severe blow and one difficult
to heal, namely, arrogance, a thing nearly akin to imprudence and ignorance. But
he says nothing as to the name of him who has smitten him, for the smiter is not
a different person from him who is smitten. But as a man who rubs himself is
likewise a person who is rubbed, and as he who stretches himself out is also the
person who is stretched out, for he himself both exerts the power of the agent,
and also fills the part of the patient. In like manner is he, who steals the
things which belong to God, and attributes them to himself, subjected to the
tortures of his own impiety and arrogance. (34) Would that the man so stricken
might die, that is to say might perish before he had succeeded in his objects,
for then he will appear to be less sinful, for of vice one kind is discerned in
habit, and another kind in motion; but the one which is discerned in motion has
an inclination towards the perfecting of its operation, on which account it is
more mischievous than the one which is discerned only in habit. (35) If
therefore the mind, which imagines itself and not God to be the cause of things,
dies, that is to say, becomes inactive and contracts itself, then there is no
cause of death in it; it has not absolutely destroyed the living opinion, which
attributes all power, and all exertion of power to God, but if the Sun rises,
that is to say the mind which appears brilliant in us, and if it appears to see
through everything and to judge everything, and not to flee from itself, it then
becomes liable to death, and shall die in retaliation for the living doctrine
which it has destroyed; according to which God alone is the cause of everything,
being found to be wholly unable to effect any good purpose, and to be truly dead
in as much as it has shown itself the interpreter of a lifeless and dead and
departed doctrine. XI.
(36) And it is in reference to this that the Holy Scripture curses "any one
who has placed in any secret place any carved thing, or any thing made of cast
metal, the work of the hands of an Artist."{21}{Deuteronomy 27:15.} For
why, O mind, do you store and treasure up within yourself depraved opinions,
that God is a being of such and such qualities, (he who has no distinctive
qualities) like a carved work; or that he who is imperishable is perishable like
images that are cast in the foundry; and why do you not rather bring them
forward openly that you may learn what is right from men who
practice the truth? For you think that you are endowed with some great
skill because you have devised absurd opinions imposing upon you by an
appearance of probability, in opposition to the truth: but in reality you are
proved to be destitute of skill, in as much as you are unwilling to be healed of
that terrible disease of the soul, ignorance. XII.
(37) But that the wicked man skins into and is concealed within his own
scattered mind, fleeing from the real mind or truth, is testified by Moses
"who smote the Egyptian and buried him in the Sand,"{22}{Exodus 2:12.}
the meaning of which is that he by his arguments convinced him who asserted that
the good things of the body were the most excellent, and who thought that the
good things of the soul were of no value, and who likewise esteemed the
pleasures as the end of life. (38) For when he had comprehended the labor of him
who beholds God, which the king of Egypt had imposed on him, (and by the king of
Egypt is meant vice, which is the guide of the passions) he sees an Egyptian
man, that is to say human passions operating at a seasonable moment, beating and
insulting the man who behold God, and looking round upon the whole soul on this
side and on that side, and seeing no one standing by except the true God, and
everything else in a state of confusion and disorder, having stricken down and
convicted the lover of pleasure, he hides him in the dispersed and agitated
mind, which is deprived of all kindred with and comprehension of what is good.
(39) This man then is hidden in himself, but the man who is opposite to him
escapes from himself, and flees to the God of all existing things. XIII.
On which account Moses says moreover, "He led him forth out of doors and
said to him, look up to heaven, and count the Stars,"{23}{Genesis 15:5.}
which we should be glad indeed to see thoroughly and to comprehend; since we are
insatiable in our love for notice, but nevertheless we are unable to measure the
riches of God. (40) Nevertheless thanks be to that magnificent and bounteous God
because he says that he has implanted in the soul seeds as brilliant, as visible
at a distance, and as eternally new as the stars in heaven. And it is not a
superfluous addition when after having said "he led him forth," he
subjoins "out of doors," for who is ever led forth in doors? But
perhaps what he says here has some such meaning as this; he led him forth into
the outermost place, not into some place or other out of doors, which might be
surrounded by other places. For
as in dwelling houses the man's character is outside the woman's chamber, and
the inner chamber is within, and the vestibule is outside of the hall but within
the doorway, so also in the case of the soul that which is within one thing may
be outside of some other thing. (41) This then is the sense in which we must
understand this passage; he led the mind forth into the outermost place, for
what was the use of his leaving the body and fleeing to the outward senses; and
what would have been the use of his discarding the outward senses, and
subjecting that which exists to the voice? For it is fitting that the mind which
is about to be led forth, and to be dismissed in freedom should be emancipated
from all corporeal necessities, from all the organs of the outward senses, from
all sophistical ratiocinations, and plausible persuasions, and last of all from
itself. XIV.
(42) On which account in another passage also he boasts, saying "the Lord
the God of Heaven, and the God of earth who took me out of the house of my
Father."{24}{Genesis 24:7.} For it is not possible for one who dwells in
the body and belongs to the race of mortals to be united with God, but he alone
can be so whom God delivers from that prison house of the body. (43) On which
account also, that joy of the soul, Isaac, when he is conversing and discoursing
privately with God, comes forth forsaking himself and his own mind, for he says,
"Come forth, O Isaac, to converse in the plain towards
Evening,"{25}{Genesis 24:62.} and Moses, that word of prophecy, says,
"When I go forth from the city," that is from my soul, (for the soul
is the city of the living creature, in as much as it is the soul which gives it
its laws and customs), "I will stretch forth my Hands,"{26}{Exodus
9:29.} and I will reveal and unfold all my actions to God, invoking him as a
witness and inspector of every one of them, from whom it is impossible by its
own nature that vice should be hidden, but to whom it must be unfolded and by
whom it must be clearly discerned. (44)
When therefore the soul is made manifest in all its sayings and doings, and is
made a partaker of the divine nature, the voices of the external senses are
reduced to silence, and so likewise are all troublesome and ill-omened sounds,
for the objects of sight often speak loudly and invite the sense of sight to
themselves; and so do voices invite the sense of hearing; scents invite the
smell, and altogether each varied object of sense invites its appropriate sense.
But all these things are put at rest when the mind going forth out of the city
of the soul, attributes all its own actions and conceptions to God. XV.
(45) "For the hands of Moses are Heavy."{27}{Exodus 17:12.} For since
the actions of the wicked man are like the wind and light, those of the wise man
on the other hand are heavy and immovable, and not easily shaken; in reference
to which is hands are held up by Aaron, who is reason, or by XVI.
(49) "And the Lord God called Adam, and said unto him, where art
Thou?"{30}{Genesis 3:9.} Why now is Adam, alone called, when his wife also
was concealed together with him? In the first place we must say that the mind is
summoned, and asked where it is. When it is converted, and reproved for its
offence, not only is it summoned itself but all its faculties are also summoned,
for without its faculties the mind by itself is found to be naked, and to be
absolutely nothing, and one of its faculties is also the outward sense, that is
to say the woman. (50) The woman therefore, that is the outward sense is also
summoned together with Adam, that is the mind, but separately God does not
summon her. Why not? Because being destitute of reason she is incapable of being
convicted by herself. For neither can sight, nor hearing, nor any one of the
other external senses be taught, and moreover none of them are capable of
receiving the comprehension of things; for the Creator has not made them capable
of distinguishing anything but bodies only. But the mind is able to receive
teaching: on account of which fact God calls that, but not the external senses. XVII.
(51) And the expression "Where art thou?" amidst of being interpreted
in many ways. In the first place it may be taken not as an interrogation, but as
an affirmation, equivalent to the words "You are somewhere," if you
alter the accent on the particle pou "where." For, since you have
thought that God was walking in the garden, and was surrounded by it, learn now
that in this you were mistaken, and hear from God who knows all things that most
true statement that God is not in any one place. For he is not surrounded by
anything, but he does himself surround everything. For that which is created is
in place; for it is inevitable that it must be surrounded, and not be the thing
which surrounds. (52) In the second placed, that which is said is equivalent to
this, Where has thou been, O soul? What evils hast thou chosen instead of what
good things? When God invited you to a participation in virtue, have you pursued
vice? And when he offered to you for your enjoyment the tree of life, that is to
say the tree of wisdom by which you might live, have you hastened into ignorance
and to destruction, preferring misery, the death of the soul to the happiness of
eternal life? (53) The third interpretation is the interrogative one; to which
there may be two answers given. The one, if the answer be give to the inquirer,
"Where art thou?" is, "Nowhere." For the soul of the wicked
man has no place to which it can go, or in which it can be situated. In respect
of which fact the wicked man is said to be destitute of place; but an evil
destitute of place is one which is difficult to manage. And such is the man who
is void of good qualities, being always agitated and in a state of confusion,
and wavering about after the fashion of an unsteady breeze being altogether the
companion of no single steady opinion. (54) The other answer may be of this
kind; that which Adam himself uses. "Hear where I am," where those are
who are unable to see God; where those are who do not listen to God; where those
are who endeavor to conceal themselves from him who is the author of all things:
where those are who flee from virtue, where those are who are destitute of
wisdom, where those are who are alarmed and tremble because of the unmanliness
and cowardice of their souls. For when Adam says, "I heard thy voice in the
paradise and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself," he
exhibits all the qualities enumerated above, as I have shown, more at length, in
the former books of this treatise. XVIII.
(55) And yet Adam is not now naked. It has been said a little before that
"they made themselves girdles," but by this expression Moses intends
to teach you that he is not meaning here to speak of the nakedness of the body,
but of that in respect of which the mind is found to be wholly deficient in and
destitute of virtue. (56) "The woman," says Adam, "whom you gave
to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat." The expression here
is very accurate, inasmuch as he does not say, "The woman whom you gave to
me," but "The woman whom you gave to be with me." For you did not
give me the outward senses as a possession, but you left them free and
unimpeded, and in some sort not at all yielding to the injunctions of my
intellect. If therefore the mind were to be inclined to command the sight not to
see, it nevertheless would see any subject which came before it. And the hearing
also will in every case apprehend any sound which falls upon it, even if the
mind in its jealousy were to command it not to hear. And again the smell will
smell every scent which reaches it, even if the mind were to forbid it to
apprehend it. (57) On this account it is that God did not give the outward sense
to the creature, but to be with the creature. And the meaning of this is, the
inward sense in conjunction with our mind knows every thing, and does so too at
the same moments with the mind. As for instance the sense of sight in
conjunction and simultaneously with the mind strikes upon the subject of sight;
for the eye sees the substance, and immediately the mind comprehends the thing
seen, that is black or white, or pale, or red, or triangular, or quadrangular,
or round, or that is of any other color or shape as the case may be. And so
again the sense of hearing is affected by a sound, and with the sense of hearing
the mind is also affected; and the proof of it is this; the mind immediately
distinguishes the character of the voice, that it is thin, or that it has
substance, or that it is melodious and tuneful; or, on the other hand, that it
is out of tune and inharmonious. And the same is found to be the case in respect
of the rest of the inward senses. (58) And very appropriately do we see that
Adam adds this assertion, "She gave me of the tree;" but he gives an
habitation made of wood and perceptible by the outward senses to the mind except
that outward sense itself. For what gave to the mind to be able to distinguish
body, or whiteness? Was it not the sight? And what enabled it to distinguish
sounds? Was it not the hearing? What, again, endowed it with the faculty of
judging of smells? Was it not the sense of smell? What enabled it to decide upon
flavors? Was it not the taste? What invested it with the power of distinguishing
between rough and smooth? Was it not the touch? Correctly, therefore, and with
complete truth was it said by the mind, that it was the outward sense alone
which gave me the power to comprehend the corporeal substance. XIX.
(59) And God said to the woman, "What is this that thou hast done?"
And she said, "The serpent beguiled me and I did eat." God asks one
question of the outward sense, and she replies to a different one. For he is
putting a question which has reference to the man; but she in her reply speaks
not of the man but of herself, saying, "I ate," not I gave. (60) May
we then by the use of allegory solve the question which was here put, and show
that the woman gave a felicitous and correct answer to the question? For it
follows of necessity that when she had eaten, her husband did also eat, for when
the outward sense striking upon its object is filled with its appearance, then
immediately the mind joins it and takes its share of it, and is in a manner made
perfect by the nourishment which it receives form it. This therefore is what she
says, I unintentionally gave it to my husband, for while I was applying myself
to what was presented to me, he, being very easily and quickly moved, impressed
its appearance and image upon himself. XX.
(61) But take notice that the man says that the woman gave it to him; but that
the woman does not say that the serpent gave it to her, but that he beguiled
her; for it is the especial property of the outward sense to give, but it is the
attribute of pleasure which is of a diversified and serpent-like nature to
deceive and to beguile. For instance, the outward sense presents to the mind the
image of what is white by nature, or black, or hot, or cold, not deceiving it,
but acting truly; for the subjects of the outward sense are of such a character,
as also is the imagination which presents itself to man from them, in the case
of the great majority of men who do not carry their knowledge of natural
philosophy to any accurate extent. But pleasure does not present to the mind
that the subject is such as it is in reality, but deceives it by its artifice,
thrusting that, in which there is no advantage, into the class of things
profitable. (62) For as we may at times see ill-looking courtesans dyeing and
painting their faces in order to conceal the plainness of their countenances, so
also may we see the intemperate man acting who is inclined to the pleasures of
the belly. He looks upon great abundance of wine and a luxurious store of food
as a good thing, though he is injured by them both in his body and in his soul.
(63) Again, we may often see lovers madly eager to be loved by the ugliest of
women, because pleasure deceives them and all but affirms positively to them
that beauty of form, and delicacy of complexion, and healthiness of flesh, and
symmetry of limb, exists in those who have the exact contraries to all these
qualifications. Accordingly, they overlook those who are truly possessed of
perfectly irreproachable beauty, and waste away with love for such creatures as
I have mentioned. (64) Every kind of deceit therefore is closely connected with
pleasure; and every kind of gift with the outward sense: for the one bewilders
the mind with sophistry and misleads it, representing to it anything that comes
before it, not in the character which really belongs to it, but in one that does
not. But the outward sense presents bodies, plainly as they are according to
their real nature, without any device or artifice. XXI.
(65) "And the Lord God said to the serpent, Because thou hast done this
thing, thou art cursed above all cattle and every beats of the field; upon thy
breast and upon thy belly shall thou go, and dust shall thou eat all the days of
thy life. And I will put enmity in the midst between thee and between the woman,
and in the midst between thy seed and between her seed, He shall bruise thy
head, and thou shall bruise his Heel."{31}{Genesis 3:14.} What is the
reason why he curses the serpent without allowing him to make any defense, when
in another place he commands that "both the parties between whom there is
any dispute shall be Heard,"{32}{Deuteronomy 19:17.} and that one shall not
be believed till the other has been heard? (66) And indeed in this case you see
that he did not give a prejudged belief to Adam's statement against his wife;
but he gave her also an opportunity of defending herself, when he asked her,
"Why hast thou done this?" But she confessed that she had erred
through the deceitfulness of serpent-like and diversified pleasure. Why,
therefore, when the woman had said, "The serpent deceived
Me,"{33}{Genesis 3:13.} did he forbid the putting of the question to the
serpent whether it was he who had thus deceived her; and why did he thus appoint
him to be condemned without trial and without defense? (67) We must say,
therefore, that the external senses are not a peculiar property of either bad or
good men, but that they are of an intermediate nature, and common to both the
wise man and the fool, and when they are found in the fool, they are bad; but
when they are found in the wise man, they are good. Very naturally therefore,
since it has a nature which is not necessarily and intrinsically evil, but one
which being capable of either character, inclines at different times and under
different circumstances towards either extremity, it is not condemned till it
has itself confessed that it followed the worse inclination. (68) But the
serpent, that is pleasure, is of itself evil. On this account it is absolutely
not found at all in the virtuous man; but the wicked man alone enjoys it. Very
properly therefore does God curse it before it has time to make any defense,
inasmuch as it has no seed of virtue within it, but is at all times and in all
places blamable and polluting. XXII.
(69) On this account also, God "saw that Er was Wicked,"{34}{Genesis
38:7.} without any apparent cause for this judgment of his character, and he
slew him. For God is not unaware that that leathern mass which covers us,
namely, the body; for Er being interpreted means leather, is an evil thing, and
one which plots against the soul, and which is at all times lifeless and dead.
For what else does he compel any one of us to do but to carry about a dead body,
our soul raising up the body which as far as its own nature goes is dead, and
bearing it almost without difficulty? And just consider, if you will, the great
energy of the soul, (70) for the most vigorous athlete would not be able to
carry about a statue of himself for even a short time; but the soul, without any
exertion and without any fatigue, carries about the statue of a man occasionally
even for as long a time as a hundred years; for even at the end of that period
it does not kill it, but only gets rid of a body which was dead from the
beginning. (71) And it is evil by nature, as I have said before, and a thing
which plots against the soul, but which is not visible to all men, but only to
God, and to such men as are friends to God. "For the wicked Er," says
Moses, "was an enemy of the Lord." For when the mind busies itself
with sublime contemplations, and becomes initiated into the mysteries of the
Lord, it judges the body to be a wicked and hostile thing; but when it abandons
its investigations of divine things, it then looks upon the body as something
friendly, and belonging to and nearly akin to itself; and accordingly it flies
to the things which are dear to it. (72) On this account the soul of the athlete
and the soul of the philosopher differ; for the athlete attributes all his
importance to the good condition of his body, and would throw away his soul
itself in the cause of his body, as being a man devoted to his body; but the
philosopher, being a lover of what is virtuous, cares for that which is alive
within him, namely his soul, and disregards his body which is dead, having no
other object but to prevent the most excellent portion of him, namely his soul,
from being injured by the evil and dead thing which is connected with it. XXIII.
(73) You see that it is not the Lord who is here spoken of as slaying Er, but
God. For he does not kill the body in respect of the absolute and irresponsible
power which he possesses, and by which he rules and governs the universe, but in
respect of that authority which he possesses in consequence of his goodness and
excellence, for God is the name of goodness, the cause of all things; that you
may understand that he also created all inanimate things, not by his authority,
but by his goodness, by which also he created all living things; for it was
requisite for the manifestation of the better things, that there should also be
a subordinate creation of the inferior things, through the power of the same
goodness which was the cause of all, which is God. (74) When, then, O Soul!
shall you most especially consider that you have gained a victory? Will it not
be when you are made perfect, and when you have been thought worthy of decisions
in your favor and of crowns? For then you will be a lover of God, not of the
body, and you will receive prizes, inasmuch as your wife shall be Thamar the
bride of XXIV.
(77) As, therefore, God hates pleasure and the body without any especial cause,
so also does he give pre-eminent honor to virtuous natures without any visible
cause; not alleging any action of theirs before the praises of them which he
utters. For if any one were to ask why Moses says that "Noah found grace
before the Lord God,"{35}{Genesis 6:8.} without having previously done any
good thing, as far at least as we know, we shall be very properly answered, that
he was proved to be a praiseworthy character and order of creation; for the name
Noah, being interpreted, means rest, or just: and it follows of necessity that
one who is resting from acts of injustice and from sins, and who, so resting,
lives with virtue and justice, must find grace before God; (78) and to find
grace, is not only, as some call it, equivalent to the expression "pleasing
God," but it has some such meaning as this. The just man seeking to
understand the nature of all existing things, makes this one most excellent
discovery, that everything which exists, does so according to the grace of God,
and that there is nothing ever given by, just as there is nothing possessed by,
the things of creation. On which account also it is proper to acknowledge
gratitude to the Creator alone. Accordingly, to those persons who seek to
investigate what is the origin of creation, we may most correctly make answer,
that it is the goodness and the grace of God, which he has bestowed on the human
race; for all the things which are in the world, and the world itself, are the
gift and benefaction and free grace of God. XXV.
(79) Moreover, God made Melchisedek, the king of peace, that is of Salem, for
that is the interpretation of this name, "his own high
Priest,"{36}{Genesis 14:18.} without having previously mentioned any
particular action of his, but merely because he had made him a king, and a lover
of peace, and especially worthy of his priesthood. For he is called a just king,
and a king is the opposite of a tyrant, because the one is the interpreter of
law, and the other of lawlessness. (80) Therefore the tyrannical mind imposes
violent and mischievous commands on both soul and body, and such as have a
tendency to cause violent suffering, being commands to act according to vice,
and to indulge the passions with enjoyment. But the other, the kingly mind, in
the first place, does not command, but rather persuades, since it gives
recommendations of such a character, that if guided by them, life, like a
vessel, will enjoy a fair voyage through life, being directed in its course by a
good governor and pilot; and this good pilot is right reason. (81) We may
therefore call the tyrannical mind the ruler of war, and the kingly mind the
guide to peace, that is XXVI.
(82) But Melchisedek shall bring forward wine instead of water, and shall give
your souls to drink, and shall cheer them with unmixed wine, in order that they
may be wholly occupied with a divine intoxication, more sober than sobriety
itself. For reason is a priest, having, as its inheritance the true God, and
entertaining lofty and sublime and magnificent ideas about him, "for he is
the priest of the most high God."{38}{Genesis 14:18.} Not that there is any
other God who is not the most high; for God being one, is in the heaven above,
and in the earth beneath, and there is no other besides
Him."{39}{Deuteronomy 4:39.} But he sets in motion the notion of the Most
High, from his conceiving of God not in a low and grovelling spirit, but in one
of exceeding greatness, and exceeding sublimity, apart from any conceptions of
matter. XXVII.
(83) And what good thing had Abraham done as yet when God called him and bade
him become a stranger to his country and to this "generation," and to
dwell in the land which the Lord should give Him?{40}{Genesis 12:1.} And that is
a good and populous city, and one of great happiness. For the gifts of God are
great and honorable. But he made this position of Abraham also to be typical,
containing an emblem worthy of attentive consideration. For Abraham, being
interpreted, means "Lofty Father;"{41}{or, "Father of a great
multitude," according to the marginal translation in the Bible.} a title of
admiration in both its divisions. (84) For when the mind does not, like a
master, threaten the soul, but rather guides it, like a father, not indulging it
in the pleasant things, but giving it what is expedient for it, even against its
will, and also turning it away from all lowly things and such as lead it to
mortal paths, it leads it to sublime contemplations and makes it dwell amid
speculations on the world and its constituent parts. And, moreover, mounting up
higher, it investigates the Deity itself, and his nature, through an unspeakable
lore of knowledge, in consequence of which it cannot be content to abide in the
original decrees, but, being improved itself, becomes also desirous of removing
to a better habitation. XXVIII.
(85) But there are some persons whom, even before their creation, God creates
and disposes excellently; respecting whom he determines beforehand that they
shall have a most excellent inheritance. Do you not see what he says about Isaac
to Abraham, when he had no hope of any such thing, namely, that he should become
the father of such an offspring, but did rather laugh at the promise, and asked,
"Shall a son be born to me, who am a hundred years old; and shall Sarah,
who is ninety years old, bring forth a Child?"{42}{Genesis 17:17.} But God
asserts it positively, and ratifies his promise saying, "Yea, behold Sarah,
thy wife, shall bear thee a son, and thou shall call his name Isaac, and I will
establish my covenant towards him for an everlasting covenant." (86) What
then is the reason which caused this man, also, to be praised before his birth?
There are some good things which are an advantage to a man both when they are
past, and when they are present, such as good health, a sound condition of the
outwards senses, riches, if he be endowed with them, a good reputation; for all
these things may, by a slight perversion of words, be called good things. But
some are so not merely when they have been given to us, but even when it is
predicted that they shall be so given, as joy as a good affection of the soul;
for this does not cheer a man only when it is present and energizes actively in
him, but it delights him also by anticipations when it is hoped for--for it has
this especial quality; all other good qualities have their own separate
operation and effect, but joy is both a separate good and a common good, for it
comes as a crowning one after all the rest--for we feel joy at good health, and
we feel joy at liberty and at honor, and at all other such things, so that one
may say with propriety that there is not one single good thing which has not the
additional good of joy. (87) But not only do we rejoice at other good things
which are already previously past and also at those which are present, but we
rejoice also at good things when about to happen to us and expected; as for
instance, when we hope that we shall become rich, or that we shall obtain power,
or that we shall receive praise, or that we shall find a means to get rid of an
illness, or that we shall acquire vigor and strength, or that we shall become
learned instead of ignorant, in all these cases we are rejoiced in no slight
degree. Since, then, joy diffuses itself over and cheers the soul, not only
while it is present but also even when it is expected, it was very consistent
and natural for God to think Isaac worthy of a good name and of a great gift
before he was born, for the name of Isaac, being interpreted, means laughter of
soul, and delight, and joy. XXIX.
(88) Again, they say that Jacob and Esau, the former being the ruler, and
governor, and master, and Esau being the subject and the slave, had their
several estates appointed to them while they were still in the world. For God,
the creator of all living things, is thoroughly acquainted with all his works,
and before he has completely finished them he comprehends the faculties with
which they will hereafter be endowed, and altogether he foreknows all their
actions and passions. For when Rebecca, that is the patient soul, proceeds to
ask an oracle from God, the answers are, "Two nations are in thy womb, and
two people shall come forth from thy bowels, and one people shall be stronger
than the other people, and the elder shall save the Younger."{43}{Genesis
25:23.} (89) For that which is wicked and void of reason is, by its own nature,
a slave in the eye of God; but that which is good and endowed with reason and
better, is looked upon as powerful and free by him. And this is the case not
only when each of these two different characters is perfect in the soul, but
when there is a doubt on the subject; for, altogether, a slight breeze of virtue
shows power and supremacy, and not freedom only, and on the other hand, the
existence of even an ordinary degree of vice enslaves the reason, even though
not by any means as yet come to maturity. XXX.
(90) Again, why did the same Jacob when Joseph brought him his two sons, the
elder being Manasses and the younger Ephraim, change his hands, and put his
right hand upon the younger brother Ephraim, and his left hand upon the elder
brother Manasses? And when Joseph thought this a grievous thing, and thought
that his father had unintentionally made a mistake in the matter of the
imposition of hands, Jacob said, "I did not make a mistake, but I knew, my
son, I knew that this one should be a father of a nation, and should be exalted;
but, nevertheless, his younger brother shall be greater than
He."{44}{Genesis 48:1.} (91) What, then, must we say but this? That two
natures, both utterly necessary, were created in the soul by God, one memory and
the other recollection, of which memory is the best and recollection the worst.
For the one has its perceptions fresh and harmonious and clear, so that it never
errs through ignorance. But forgetfulness does, in every case, precede
recollection, which is but a mutilated and blind thing. (92) And, although
recollection is worse, it is nevertheless older than memory, which is better
than it, and is also conjoined with and inseparable from it; for when we are
first introduced to any art we are unable at once to make ourselves masters of
all the speculations which bear upon it. Being, therefore, affected with
forgetfulness at first, we subsequently recollect, until from a frequent
recurrence of forgetfulness and a frequent recurrence of recollection, memory at
last prevails in us in a lasting manner. On which account it is younger than
recollection, for it is later in its existence. (93) And Ephraim is a symbolical
name, being, to be interpreted, memory. For, being interpreted, it means the
fertility of the soul of the man fond of learning, which brings forth its
appropriate fruit when it has confirmed its speculations, and preserves them in
its memory. But Manasses, being interpreted, means recollection, for he is
spoken of as one who has been translated from forgetfulness, and he who escapes
from forgetfulness does unquestionably recollect. Most correctly, therefore,
does that supplanter of the passions and practicer of virtue, Jacob, give his
right hand to that prolific memory, Ephraim, while he places Manasses, or
recollection, in the second rank. (94) And, Moses, also, of all those who
sacrificed the passover, praised those who sacrificed first most, because they
having crossed over from the passions, that is to say, from Egypt, remained by
the passage, and did not hasten any more to the passions which they had quitted;
and the others he also thinks worthy to be placed in the second rank, for,
having turned back, they retraced their steps, and, as if they had forgotten
what it became them to do, they again hastened to do the same things; but the
former men continued in their course without turning back. Therefore, Manasses,
who is born of forgetfulness, resembles those who were the second party to
sacrifice the passover; but the fertile Ephraim is like those who had sacrificed
previously. XXXI.
(95) On which account God also calls Bezaleel by name, and says that "He
will give him wisdom and knowledge, and that He will make him the builder and
the architect of all the things which are in his Tabernacle;"{45}{Exodus
31:2.} that is to say, of all the works of the soul, when he had up to this time
done no work which any one could praise--we must say, therefore, that God
impressed this figure also on the soul, after the fashion of an approved coin.
And we shall know what the impression is if we previously examine the
interpretation of the name. (96) Now, Bezaleel, being interpreted, means God in
his shadow. But the shadow of God is his word, which he used like an instrument
when he was making the world. And this shadow, and, as it were, model, is the
archetype of other things. For, as God is himself the model of that image which
he has now called a shadow, so also that image is the model of other things, as
he showed when he commenced giving the law to the Israelites, and said,
"And God made man according to the image of God."{46}{Genesis 1:26.}
as the image was modeled according to God, and as man was modeled according to
the image, which thus received the power and character of the model. XXXII.
(97) Let us now, then, examine what the character which is impressed upon man
is. The ancient philosophers used to inquire how we obtained our conceptions of
the Deity? Men who, those who seemed to philosophise in the most excellent
manner, said that from the world and form its several parts, and from the powers
which existed in those parts, we formed our notions of the Creator and cause of
the world. (98) For as, if a man were to see a house carefully built and well
provided with outer courts and porticoes, and men's chambers and women's
chambers, and all other necessary apartments, he would form a notion of the
architect; for he would never suppose that the house had been completed without
skill and without a builder; (99) and, as he would argue in the same manner
respecting any city, or any ship, or anything whatever that is made, whether it
be great or small, so likewise any one entering this world, as an exceedingly
large house or large city, and seeing the heaven revolving round it in a circle
and comprehending everything within it, and all the planets and fixed stars
moving onwards in the same manner and on the same principles, all in regular
order and in due harmony and in such a manner as is most advantageous for the
whole created universe, and the earth stationed in the central situation, and
the effusions of air and water affixed on the boundaries, and, moreover, all the
animals, both mortal and immortal, and the different kinds of plants and fruits,
he will surely consider that undoubtedly all these things were not made without
skill, but that God both was and is the creator of this whole universe. They,
then, who draw their conclusions in this manner perceive God in his shadow,
arriving at a due comprehension of the artist through his works. XXXIII.
(100) There is also a more perfect and more highly purified kind which has been
initiated into the great mysteries, and which does not distinguish the cause
from the things created as it would distinguish an abiding body from a shadow;
but which, having emerged from all created objects, receives a clear and
manifest notion of the great uncreated, so that it comprehends him through
himself, and comprehends his shadow, too, so as to understand what it is, and
his reason, too, and this universal world. (101) This kind is that Moses, who
speaks thus, "Show thyself to me; let me see thee so as to know
Thee."{47}{Exodus 33:13.} for do not thou be manifested to me through the
medium of the heaven, or of the earth, or of water, or of air, or, in short, of
anything whatever of created things, and let me not see thy appearance in any
other thing, as in a looking-glass, except in thee thyself, the true God. For
the images which are presented to the sight in executed things are subject to
dissolution; but those which are presented in the One uncreate may last for
ever, being durable, eternal, and unchangeable. On this account "God called
Moses to him and conversed with Him,"{48}{Exodus 35:30.} (102) and he also
called Bezaleel to him, though not in the same way as he had called Moses, but
he called the one so that he might receive an idea of the appearance of God from
the Creator himself, but the other so that he might by calculation form an idea
of the Creator as if from the shadow of the things created. On this account you
will find the tabernacle and all its furniture to have been made in the first
instance by Moses, and again subsequently by Bezaleel. For Moses fashioned the
archetypal forms, and Bezaleel made the imitations of them. For Moses had God
himself for an instructor, as he tells us, when he represents God as saying to
him, "Thou shall make every thing according to the example which was shown
thee in the Mount"{49}{Exodus 25:40.} (103) And Bezaleel had Moses for his
instructor; and this was very natural. For Aaron the word, and Miriam the
outward sense, when they rose up against Moses were expressly told that "If
there shall arise a prophet to the Lord, God shall be made known to him in a
vision, and in a shadow, but not Clearly.{50}{Numbers 12:6.} But with Moses, who
is faithful in all his house, God will speak mouth to mouth in his own form, and
not by riddles." XXXIV.
(104) Since therefore we find that there are two natures which have been created
and fashioned and accurately and skilfully framed by God; the one being in its
own intrinsic nature pernicious and open to reproach, and accursed, and the
other beneficial and praiseworthy, the one too having a spurious stamp upon it,
but the other having undergone a strict test; we will utter a beautiful and
suitable prayer which Moses also addressed to God, praying that God may open his
treasurehouse, and may lay before us his sublime word pregnant with divine
lights, which he calls the heaven, and may bind fast the storehouses of evil.
(105) For, just as there are storehouses of good things so are there also
storehouses of evil things with God; as he says in his great song, "Behold
are not these things collected with me, and sealed up in my treasurehouses,
against the day of vengeance when their foot shall be tripped
Up?"{51}{Deuteronomy 32:34.} You see then that there are several
storehouses of evil things, and only one of good things. For since God is One,
so also is his storehouse of good things one likewise. But there are many
storehouses of evil things because the wicked are infinite in number. And in
this observe the goodness of the true God, He opens the treasurehouse of his
good things freely, but he binds fast that which contains the evil things. For
it is an especial property of God to offer his good things freely and to be
beforehand with men in bestowing gifts upon them, but to be slow in bringing
evil on them, (106) and Moses dwelling at length upon the munificent and
gracious nature of God, says that not only have his storehouses of evil things
been sealed up in all other times, but also when the soul is tripped up in the
path of right reason, when it is especially fair that it should be considered
worthy of punishment; for he says that, "In the day of vengeance the
storehouses of evil things have been sealed up," the sacred word of
scripture showing that God does not visit with his vengeance even those who sin
against him, immediately, but that he gives them time for repentance, and to
remedy and correct their evil conduct. XXXV.
(107) And the Lord God said to the serpent, "Thou art cursed over every
creature and over all the beasts of the field." As joy being a good state
of the passions is worthy to be prayed for; so also pleasure is worthy to be
cursed being a passion, which has altered the boundaries of the soul, and has
rendered it a lover of the passions instead of a lover of virtue. And Moses says
in his curses, that "He is cursed who removes his neighbour's land
Mark,"{52}{Deuteronomy 27:17.} for God placed virtue, that is to say, the
tree of life, to be a land mark, and a law unto the soul. But pleasure has
removed this, placing in its stead the land mark of vice, the tree of death,
(108) "Cursed indeed is he who causeth the blind man to wander in the
road." This also is done by that most impious thing pleasure, for the
outward sense, inasmuch as it is destitute of reason, is a thing blinded by
nature, since the eyes of its reason are put out. In reference to which we may
say that it is by reason alone that we attain to a comprehension of things, and
no longer by the outward sense; for they are bodies alone that we acquire a
conception of by means of the outward senses. (109) Pleasure therefore has
deceived the outward sense which is destitute of any proper comprehension of
things, inasmuch as though it might have been turned to the mind, and have been
guided by it, it has hindered it from being so, leading it to the external
objects of outward sense, and making it desirous of every thing which can call
it into operation, in order that the outward sense being defective may follow a
blind guide, namely the object of the outward sense, and then the mind being
guided by the two things, which are themselves both blind, may plunge headlong
to destruction and become utterly unable to restrain itself. (110) For if it
were to follow its natural guide then it would be proper for defective things to
follow reason which sees clearly, for in that way mischievous things would be
less formidable in their attacks. But now, pleasure has put such great artifices
in operation to injure the soul, that it has compelled it to use them as guides,
cheating it, and persuading it to exchange virtue for evil habits, and to give
good habit sin exchange for vice. XXXVI.
But the holy scripture has prohibited such an exchange as this when it says,
"Thou shall not exchange good for Evil"{53}{Leviticus 27:33.} (111) On
this account therefore pleasure is accursed, and let us now see how well adapted
to it are the curses which the scripture denounces against it, "Thou shall
be cursed" says God, "above all creatures." Therefore, the whole
race of animals is irrational andunder the guidance only of the external senses;
but every one of the outward senses curses pleasure as a most inimical and
hostile thing to it; for it is in reality hostile to the outward senses. And the
proof of this is that, when we are sated with an immoderate indulgence in
pleasure, we are not able either to see, or to hear, or to smell, or to taste,
or to touch with any clearness of our faculties, but we make all our essays and
approaches in an obscure and imbecile manner. (112) And this happens to us when
we are for a moment at a distance from its infection; but at the exact moment of
the enjoyment of pleasure we are completely deprived of all such perception as
can arise from the operation of the outward senses, so that we seem to be
mutilated. How then can it be anything but natural for the outward sense to
denounce curses upon pleasure which thus deprives it of its faculties? XXXVII.
(113) "And he is accursed beyond all the beasts of the field." And I
mean by this, beyond all the passions of the soul, for it is only there that the
mind is wounded and destroyed. Why then does this one appear to be worse than
all the other passions? Because it is almost at the bottom of them all, as a
sort of base or foundation for them, for desire originates in the love of
pleasure, and pain consists in the removal of pleasure; and fear again is caused
by a desire to guard against its absence. So it is plain that all the passions
are anchored on pleasure; and perhaps one might say that they would absolutely
have had no existence at all if pleasure had not been previously laid down as a
foundation to support them. XXXVIII.
(114) "Upon thy breast and upon thy belly shall thou Go."{54}{Genesis
3:14.} For passion works around these parts, the breast and the belly, like a
serpent in his hole; when pleasure has its efficient causes and its
subject-matter, then it is in operation around the belly and the parts adjacent
to the belly; and when it has not these efficient causes and this
subject-matter, then it is occupied about the breast which is the seat of anger,
for lovers of pleasure when deprived of their pleasures become embittered by
their anger. (115) But let us see what is shown by this sentence with greater
accuracy. It so happens that our soul is divisible into three parts, and that
one of its parts is the seat of reason, the second, the seat of courage, the
third, the seat of the appetites. Some therefore of the philosophers have
separated these parts from one another only in respect of their operations, and
some have distinguished them also by their places. And then they have assigned
the parts about the head to the residing part, saying where the king is, there
also are his guards, and the guards of the mind are the external senses, which
are seated about the head, so that the king may very naturally have his abode
there too, as if he had been assigned the highest part of the city to dwell in.
The chest is assigned to the courageous part, and they say, it is on this
account, that nature has fortified that part with a dense and strong defense of
closely conjoined bones, as though she had been arming a valiant soldier with a
breastplate and shield to defend himself against his enemies. To the appetitive
part they have assigned a situation about the liver and the belly, for there it
is that appetite dwells, being an irrational desire. XXXIX.
(116) If therefore you shall ever inquire, O my mind, what situation has been
assigned to pleasure, do not take into your consideration the parts about the
head, where the reasoning faculties of man have their abode, for you will not
find it there; since reason is at war with passion, and cannot possibly remain
in the same place with it. For the moment that reason gets the upper hand
pleasure is discarded; but as soon as ever pleasure prevails, reason is put to
flight. But seek first rather in the breast and in the belly, where courage and
anger, and appetite abide, all which are parts of the irrational faculties. For
it is there that our judgment is discovered, and also our passions. (117)
Therefore, the mind is not hindered by any external force from abandoning the
legitimate objects of its attention, which can only be perceived by the
intellect, and surrendering itself to those which are worse; but still this
never happens except when there is a war in the soul, for then indeed it follows
of necessity that reason must fall under the power of the inferior part of man,
inasmuch as it is not of a warlike character, but is fond of peace. XL.
(118) At all events the holy scripture being well aware how great is the power
of the impetuosity of each passion, anger and appetite, puts a bridle in the
mouth of each, having appointed reason as their charioteer and pilot. And first
of all it speaks thus of anger, in the hope of pacifying and curing it: (119)
"And you shall put manifestation and truth (the Urim and the Thummim), in
the oracle of judgment, and it shall be on the breast of Aaron when he comes
into the holy place before the Lord."{55}{Exodus 28:30.} Now by the oracle
is here meant the organs of speech which exist in us, which is in fact the power
of language. Now language is either inconsiderate, and such as will not stand
examination, or else it is judicious and well approved, and it brings us to form
a notion of discreet speech. For Moses here speaks not of a random spurious
oracle, but of the oracle of the judgment, which is equivalent to saying, a
well-judged and carefully examined oracle; (120) and of this well approved kind
of language he says that there are two supreme virtues, namely, distinctness and
truth, and he says well. For it is language which has in the first place enabled
one man to make affairs plain and evident to his neighbour, when without it we
should not be able to give any intimation of the impression produced on our soul
by outward circumstances, nor to show of what kind they are. XVI.
On which account we have been compelled to have recourse to such signs as are
given by the voices, that is nouns and verbs, which ought by all means to be
universally known, in order that our neighbours might clearly and evidently
comprehend our meaning; and, in the next place, to utter them at all times with
truth. (121) For of what advantage would it be to make our assertions clear and
distinct, but nevertheless false? For it follows inevitably that if this were
allowed the hearer would be deceived, and would reap the greatest possible
injury with ignorance and delusion. For what would be the advantage of my
speaking to a boy distinctly and clearly, and telling him, when I show him the
letter A, that it is G, or that the letter E is O? Or what would be the good of
a musician pointing out to a pupil whom comes to him to learn the rudiments of
his art that the harmonic scale was the chromatic; or the chromatic, the
diatonic; or that the highest string was the middle one; or that conjoined
sounds were separated; or that the highest tone in the tetrachord scale was a
supernumerary note? (122) No doubt, a man who said this might speak clearly and
distinctly, but he would not be speaking truly, but by such assertions he would
be implanting wickedness in language. But when he joins both distinctness and
truth, then he makes his language profitable to him who is seeking information,
employing both its virtues, which in fact are nearly the only ones of which
language is capable. XLII.
(123) Moses, therefore, says that discreet discourse, having its own peculiar
virtues, is placed on the breast of Aaron, that is to say, of anger, in order
that it may in the first instance be guided by reason, and may not be injured by
its own deficiency in reason, and, in the second place, by distinctness, for
there is no natural influence which makes anger a friend to distinctness. At all
events, not only are the ideas of angry men, but all their expressions also,
full of disorder and confusion, and therefore it is very natural for the want of
clearness on the part of anger to be rectified by clearness, (124) and, in
addition, by truth; for, among other things, anger has also this particular
property of being inclined to misrepresent the truth. At all events, of all
those who give way to this disposition scarcely any one speaks the strict truth,
as if it were his soul and not his body that is under the influence of its
intoxication. These, then, are the chief remedies suitable for that part of the
soul which is influenced by anger, namely, reason, disinterestedness of
language, and truth of language, for the three things are in power only one,
namely, reason, curing anger, which is a pernicious disease of the soul, by
means of the virtues truth and perspicuity. XLIII.
(125) To whom, or to what, then, does it belong to bear these things? Not to my
mind, or to that of any chance person, but to the consecrated and purely
sacrificial intellect, that, namely, of Aaron. And not even to this at all
times, for it is frequently subject to change, but only when it is going on
unchangeably, when it is entering into the holy place, when reason is entering
in together with holy opinions, and is not abandoning them. (126) But it often
happens that the mind is at the same time entering into sacred and holy and
purified opinions, but still such as are only human; such, for instance, as
opinions on what is expedient; opinions on successful actions; opinions on what
is in accordance with established law; opinions concerning virtue as it exists
among men. Nor is the mind, when disposed in this way, competent to bear the
oracle on its breast together with he virtues, but only that one which is going
in before the Lord, that is to say, that one which doeth everything for the sake
of God, and which estimates nothing as superior to the things of God; but
attributes to them also their due rank, not indeed dwelling on them, but
ascending upwards to the knowledge and understanding of an appreciation of the
honor due to the one God. (127) For, in a mind which is thus disposed, anger
will be directed by purified reason, which takes away its irrational part, and
remedies what there is confused and disorderly in it by the application of
distinctness, and eradicates its falsehood by truth. XLIV.
(128) Aaron, therefore, for he is a second Moses, restraining the breast, that
is to say, the angry passions, does not allow them to be carried away by
undistinguishing impulse, fearing lest, if they obtain complete liberty, they
may become restiff, like a horse, and so trample down the whole soul. But he
attends to and cures it, and bridles it in the first instance by reason, that
so, being under the guidance of the best of charioteers, it may not become
exceedingly unmanageable, and in the second place, by the virtues of language,
distinctness, and truth. For, if the angry passions were educated in such a way
as to yield to reason and distinctness, and to cultivate the virtue of
truthfulness, they would deliver themselves from great irritation and make the
whole soul propitious. XLV.
(129) But he, as I have already said, having this passion, endeavors to cure it
by the saving remedies already enumerated. But Moses thinks that it is necessary
completely to extirpate and eradicate anger from the soul, being desirous to
attain not to a state of moderation in the indulgence of the passions, but to a
state in which they shall have absolutely no existence whatever, and the most
Holy Scriptures bear witness to what I am here saying; for it says, "Moses
having taken the breast took it that it might be an offering before the Lord,
from the ram of consecration, and this was Moses's Part."{56}{Leviticus
8:29.} (130) Speaking very accurately, for it was the conduct of one who was
both a lover of virtue and a lover of God, after having contemplated the whole
soul, to take hold of the breast, which is the seat of the angry passions, and
to take it away and eradicate it, that so when the warlike part had been wholly
removed, the remainder might enjoy peace. And he removes this part not from any
chance animal, but from the ram of consecration, although, indeed, a young
heifer had been sacrificed; but, passing by the heifer, he came to the ram,
because that is by nature an animal inclined to pushing and full of anger and
impetuosity, in reference to which fact the makers of military engines call many
of their warlike machines rams. (131) This ramlike and impetuous and
undistinguishing character in us, therefore, is something fond of contention,
and contention is the mother of anger. In reference to which fact, they who are
somewhat quarrelsome are very easily made angry in investigations and other
discussions. Moses, therefore, does very properly endeavor to eradicate anger,
that pernicious offspring of a contentious and quarrelsome soul, in order that
the soul may become barren of such offspring and may cease from bringing forth
mischievous things, and may become a portion consistent with the character of a
lover of virtue, not being identical with either the breast or with anger, but
with the absence of those qualities, for God has endowed the wise man with the
best of all qualities, the power, namely, or eradicating his passions. You see,
then, how the perfect man is always endeavoring to attain to a complete
emancipation from the power of the passions. But he who eradicates them being
next to him, that is Aaron, labors to arrive at a state in which the passions
have only a moderate power, as I have said before; (132) for he is unable to
eradicate the breast and the angry passions. But he bears the oracle, on which
is distinctness and truth even beyond the guide himself, together with the
appropriate and kindred virtues of language. XLVI.
(133) And he will, moreover, make the difference more evident to us by the
following expression:--"For the wave-breast and the heaveshoulder have I
taken of the children of Israel from off the sacrifices of their peace
offerings, and have given them to Aaron the priest, and unto his sons, for
Ever."{57}{Leviticus 7:34.} (134) You see here that they are not able to
take the breast alone, but they must take it with the shoulder; but Moses can
take it without the shoulder. Why is this? Because he, being perfect, has no
inadequate or lowly ideas, nor is he willing to remain in a state in which the
passions have even a moderate influence; but he, by his exceeding power, does
utterly extirpate the whole of the passions, root and branch. But the others,
who go with faint endeavors and with but slight strength to war against the
passions, are inclined to a reconciliation with them, and make terms with them,
proposing terms of accommodation, thinking that thus, like a charioteer, they
may be able to bridle their extravagant impetuosity. (135) And the shoulder is a
symbol of labor and of the endurance of hardship; and such a person is he who
has the charge of and the care of administering the holy things, being occupied
with constant exercise and labor. But he has no labor to whom God has given his
perfect good things in great abundance, and he who attains to virtue by labor
will be found to be less vigorous and less perfect than Moses, who received it
as a gift from God without any labor or difficulty. For the mere fact of
laboring is of itself inferior to and worse than the condition of being exempt
from labor, so, also, what is imperfect is inferior to that which is perfect,
and that which learns anything to that which has knowledge spontaneously and
naturally. On this account it is that Aaron can only take the breast with the
shoulder, but Moses can take it without the shoulder. (136) And he calls it the
heave-shoulder for this reason, because reason ought to be set over and to be
predominant above the violence of anger, as a charioteer who is driving a
hard-mouthed and restiff horse. And then the shoulder is no longer called the
heave-shoulder, but the shoulder of removal, on this account, because it is
fitting that the soul should not attribute to itself labor in the cause of
virtue, but should remove it from itself and attribute it to God, confessing
that it is not its own strength or its own power which has thus acquired what is
good, but He who gave it a love for goodness. (137) And so neither the breast
nor the shoulder is taken, except from the virtue which bringeth salvation, as
is natural, for then the soul is sacred when the angry passions are under the
guidance of reason, and when labor does not bring conceit to the laborer, but
when he owns his inferiority to God, his benefactor. XLVII.
(138) Now that pleasure dwells not only in the breast but also in the belly, we
have already stated, showing that the belly is the most appropriate situation
for pleasure; for we may almost call pleasure the vessel which contains all the
pleasures; for when the belly is filled, then the desires for all other
pleasures are intense and vigorous, but when it is empty, they they are tranquil
and steady. (139) On which account Moses says, in another place, "Every
animal that goeth upon its belly, every animal which goeth on four legs at all
times, and that has a multitude of feet, is Unclean."{58}{Leviticus 11:42.}
And such a creature is the lover of pleasure, inasmuch as he is always going
upon his belly and pursuing the pleasures which relate to it. And God unites the
animal which goes on four legs with him that crawls upon his belly, naturally;
for the passions of those who are absorbed in pleasure are four, as one most
egregious account teaches. Therefore he who devotes himself as a slave to one of
them, namely, to pleasure, is impure as much as he who lives in the indulgence
of the whole four. (140) This much having been premised, behold again the
difference between the perfect man and him who is still advancing towards
perfection. As, therefore, the perfect man was, just now, found to be competent
to eradicate the whole of the angry feelings from the contentious soul and to
make it submissive and manageable, and peaceable and gentle to every one, both
in word and deed; and as he who is still advancing towards perfection is not
able wholly to eradicate passion, for he bears the breast about with him, though
he does educate it by the aid of judicious language, which is invested with two
virtues perspicuity and truth. XLVIII.
So, also, now he who is perfectly wise, that is, Moses, will be found to have
utterly shaken off an discarded the pleasures. But he who is only advancing
towards perfection will be found to have escaped not from every pleasure, but to
cling still to such as are desirable and simple, and to deprecate those which
are superfluous and extravagant as unnecessary additions, (141) for, in the case
of Moses, God speaks thus: "And he washed his belly and his feet, with the
blood of the entire burnt Offering."{59}{Leviticus 9:14.} Speaking very
truly, for the wise man consecrates his entire soul as what is worthy to be
offered to God, because it is free from all reproach, whether wilfully or
unintentionally incorrect, and being thus disposed, he washes his whole belly
and all the pleasures which it knows, and all which pursue it, and cleanses them
and purifies them from all uncleanliness, not being content with any partial
cleansing. But he is disposed to regard pleasures so contemptuously that he has
no desire for even the necessary meat or drink, but nourishes himself wholly on
the contemplation of divine things. (142) On which account in another passage,
he bears witness to himself, "For forty-eight years he did not eat bread,
and he did not drink Water,"{60}{Exodus 34:28.} because he was in the holy
mouth listening to the oracular voice of God, who was giving him the law. But
not only does he repudiate the whole belly, but he also at the same time washes
off all the dirt from his feet, that is to say, to the supports in which
pleasure proceeds. And the supports of pleasure are the efficient causes of it.
(143) For he who is advancing onwards to perfection is said "to wash his
bowels and his Feet,"{61}{Leviticus 1:9.} and not his whole belly. For he
is not capable of rejecting the whole of pleasure, but he is content if he can
purify his bowels, that is to say, his inmost parts from it, which the lovers of
pleasure say are certain additions to preceding pleasures, and which originate
in the superfluous ingenuity of cooks and makers of delicacies and laborious
gourmands. XLIX.
(144) And he also displays, in a further degree, the moderation of the passions
of the man who is advancing towards perfection, by the fact that the perfect man
discards all the pleasures of the belly without being prompted by any command to
do so, but that he who is only advancing onwards towards perfection only does so
in consequence of being commanded. For, in the case of the wise man, we find the
following expression used:--"He washes his belly and his feet with
Water,"{62}{Leviticus 9:14.} without any command, in accordance with his
own unbidden inclination. But, in the case of the priests, he spoke thus:
"But their bowels and their feet," not they have washed, but
"they do Wash;"{63}{Leviticus 1:13.} speaking with very cautious
exactness, for the perfect man must be moved in his own inclination towards the
energies in accordance with virtue. But he who is only practising virtue must be
instigated by reason, which points out to him what he ought to do, and it is an
honorable thing to obey the injunctions of reason. (145) But we ought not to be
ignorant that Moses repudiates the whole of the belly, that is to say, the
filling and indulging the belly, and almost renounces all the other passions
likewise; the lawgiver giving a lively representation of the whole from one
part, starting from a universal example, and discussing, potentially at least,
the other points as to which he was silent. L.
The filling of the belly is a most enduring and universal thing; and, as it
were, a kind of foundation of the other passions. At all events, there is not
one of them which can find any existence if it is not supported by the belly, on
which nature has made everything to depend. (146) On this account, when the
goods of the soul had previously been born of Leah, and had ended in Judah,
{64}{Genesis 29:35.} that is to say, in confession, God being about to create
also the improvements of the body, prepared Bilhah, the hand-maid of Rachel, to
bear children on behalf of and before her mistress. And the name Bilhah, being
interpreted, means deglutition. For he knew that not one of the corporeal
faculties can exist without imbibing moisture and without the belly; but the
belly is predominant over and the ruler of the whole body, and the preserver of
this corporeal mass in a state of existence. (147) And observe the subtle way in
which all this is expressed; for you will not find a single word used
superfluously. Moses indeed "takes away the breast," but as for the
belly he does not take that away, but he washes It.{65}{Leviticus 8:29ū9:14.}
Why so? Because the perfectly wise man is able to repudiate and to eradicate all
the angry passions, making them rise up and abandon anger; but he is unable to
cut out and discard the belly, for nature is compelled to use the necessary
meats and drinks, even if a man, being content with the scantiest possible
supply of necessaries should despise it, and purpose to himself to abjure
eating. Let him therefore wash and purify it from all superfluous and unclean
preparations; for to be able to do even this is a very sufficient gift from God
to the lover of virtue. LI.
(148) On this account Moses says, with respect to the soul which is suspected of
having committed adultery, {66}{Numbers 5:27.} that, if having abandoned right
reason, which is man living according to the law, it shall be found to have gone
over to passion, which pollutes the soul, "it shall become swollen in the
belly," which means it shall have all the pleasures and appetites of the
belly unsatisfied and insatiable, and it shall never cease to be greedy through
ignorance, but pleasures in boundless number shall flow into it, and thus its
passions shall be interminable. (149) Now I know many people who have fallen
into error in respect of the appetites of the belly, that while still devoting
themselves to their gratifications, they have again rushed with eagerness to
wine and other luxuries; for the appetites of the intemperate soul bear no
analogy to the mass of the body. But some men, like vessels made to hold a
certain measure, desire nothing extravagant, but discard everything that is
superfluous; but appetite on the other hand is never satisfied, but remains
always in want and thirsty. (150) In reference to which the expression, that
"the thigh shall fall away," is added in immediate connection with the
denunciation that "her belly shall swell;" for then right reason,
which has the seeds and originating principles of good, falls from the soul.
"If therefore," says Moses, "she has not been corrupted, then she
shall be pure, and free from all infliction from generation to generation;"
that is to say, if she has not been polluted by passion, but has kept herself
pure in respect of her legitimate husband, sound reason, her proper guide, she
shall have a productive and fertile soul, bearing the offspring of prudence and
justice and all virtue. LII.
(151) Is it then possible for us, who are bound up in our bodies, to avoid
complying with the necessities of the body? And if it is possible, how is it
possible? But consider, the priest recommends him who is led away by his bodily
necessities to indulge in nothing beyond what is strictly necessary. In the
first place, says he, "Let there be a place for thee outside of the
Camp;"{67}{Deuteronomy 23:12.} meaning by the camp virtue, in which the
soul is encamped and fortified; for prudence and a free indulgence in the
necessities of the body cannot abide in the same place. (152) After that he
says, "And you shall go out there." Why so? Because the soul, which is
abiding in companionship with prudence and dwelling in the house of wisdom,
cannot indulge in any of the delights of the body, for it is at that time
nourished on a diviner food in the sciences, in consequence of which it neglects
the flesh, for when it has gone forth beyond the sacred thresholds of virtue,
then it turns to the material substances, which disarrange and oppress the soul.
How then am I to deal with them? (153) "It shall be a peg," says
Moses, "upon thy girdle, and thou shall dig with It;"{68}{Deuteronomy
23:13.} that is to say, reason shall be close to you in the case of the passion,
which digs out and equips and clothes it properly; for he desires that we should
be girded up in respect of the passions, and not to have them about us in a
loose and dissolute state. (154) On which account, at the time of the passage
through them, which is called the passover, he enjoins us all "to have our
loins Girded,"{69}{Exodus 12:11.} that is to say, to have our appetites
under restraint. Let the peg, therefore, that is to say reason, follow the
passion, preventing it from becoming dissolute; for in this way we shall be able
to content ourselves with only so much as is necessary, and to abstain from what
is superfluous. LIII.
(155) And in this way when we are at entertainments, and when we are about to
come to the enjoyment and use of luxuries that have been prepared for us, let us
approach them taking reason with us as a defensive armour, and let us not fill
ourselves with food beyond all moderation like cormorants, nor let us satiate
ourselves with immoderate draughts of strong wine, and so give way to
intoxication which compels men to act like fools. For reason will bridle and
curb the violence and impetuosity of such a passion. (156) I myself, at all
events, know that it has done so with regard to many of the passions, for when I
have gone to entertainments where no respect was paid to discipline, and to
sumptuous banquets, whenever I went without taking Reason with me as a guide, I
became a slave to the luxuries that lay before me, being under the guidance of
masters who could not be tamed, with sights and sounds of temptation, and all
other such things also as work pleasure in a man by the agency of his senses of
smell and taste. But when I approach such scenes in the company of reason, I
then become a master instead of a slave: and without being subdued myself win a
glorious victory of self-denial and temperance; opposing and contending against
all the appetites which subdue the intemperate. (157) "Thou shall be
armed," Moses therefore says, "with a Peg."{70}{Deuteronomy
23:12.} That is to say, you, by the aid of reason, shall lay bare the nature
which each of the separate passions has, eating, and drinking, and indulging in
the pleasures of the belly, and you shall distinguish between them, that when
you have so distinguished you may know the truth. For then you shall know that
there is no good in any of these things, but only what is necessary and useful.
(158) "And bringing it over, you shall cover what is
Indecorous,"{71}{Deuteronomy 23:14.} speaking very appropriately. For come
to me, O my soul, bring reason to everything by which all unseemliness of flesh
and of passion is concealed, and overshadowed and hidden. For all the things
which are not in combination with reason are disgraceful, just as those which
are done in union with reason are seemly. (159) Therefore the man who is devoted
to pleasure goes on his belly, but the perfect man washes his whole belly, and
he who is only advancing towards perfection washes the things in his belly. But
he who is now beginning to be instructed proceeds out of doors when he is intent
upon curbing the passions of the belly by bringing reason to work upon the
necessities of the belly, and reason is called symbolically a peg. LIV.
(160) Moses therefore does well when he adds, "Thou shall go upon thy
breast and upon thy Belly."{72}{Genesis 3:14.} For pleasure is not one of
the things which is tranquil and steady, but is rather a thing which is in
constant motion and full of confusion, for as flame is excited by being moved,
so passion when it is put in motion in the soul, being in some respects like a
flame, does not suffer it to rest. On which account he does not agree with those
who pronounce pleasure a stable feeling, for tranquility is connected with
stones and trees, and all kinds of inanimate things, but is quite inconsistent
with pleasure; for it is fond of tickling and convulsive agitation, and with
regard to some of its indulgences it has not need of tranquility but of an
intense and violent unseemliness of commotion. LV.
(161) But the expression, "And dust shall thou eat all the days of thy
life," is also used with great propriety. For the pleasures which are
derived from the food of the body are all earthly. And may we not reasonably
speak thus? There are two several parts of which we consist, the soul and the
body; now the body is made of earth, but the soul consists of air, being a
fragment of the Divinity, for "God breathed into man's face the breath of
life, and man became a living Soul."{73}{Genesis 2:7.} It is therefore
quite consistent with reason to say that the body which was fashioned out of the
earth has nourishment which the earth gives forth akin to the matter of which it
is composed; but the soul, inasmuch as it is a portion of the ethereal nature,
is supported by nourishment which is ethereal and divine, for it is nourished on
knowledge, and not on meat or drink, which the body requires. LVI.
(162) But that the food of the soul is not earthly but heavenly the Holy
Scriptures will testify in many passages, "Behold I will rain upon you
bread from heaven, and the people shall come forth, and shall collect from day
to day, when I will try them, whether they will walk according to my law or
Not."{74}{Exodus 16:4.} You see that the soul is nourished not on earthly
and corruptible food, but on the reasons which God rains down out of his sublime
and pure nature, which he calls heaven. (163) "Let the people indeed go
forth and the whole system of the soul likewise, and let it collect science and
begin knowledge, not in large quantities but from day to day." For, in the
first place, in that way it will not exhaust all at once the abundant riches of
the grace of God: but it will overflow like a torrent with their superfluity.
Secondly, it will happen that when they have taken such good things as are
sufficient for them and duly measured, they will think God the dispenser of the
rest. (164) But he who endeavors to collect everything at once is only acquiring
for himself despair with great sorrow, {75}{it seems that for anias, sorrow, we
ought rather to read apistias, infidelity, as it is apistos which is afterwards
joined with dyselpis.} for he becomes full of despair if he expects that God
will only rain good things upon him at the present moment, and that he will not
do so hereafter. And he becomes inclined to infidelity if he does not believe
that the graces of God will be both at present and in all time abundantly poured
upon those who are worthy of them. And he is foolish, moreover, if he thinks
that he shall be a competent guardian of what he has collected contrary to God's
will. For a very slight inclination is sufficient to make the mind, which in its
boastfulness attributes safety and stability to itself, an impotent and unsure
keeper of those things of which it fancied itself a safe guardian. LVII.
(165) Collect therefore, O my soul, what is sufficient and proper, and in such a
quantity as shall neither exceed by being more than is sufficient, nor fall
short by being less than what is requisite: that so, using just measures you may
not be led into the commission of injustice. For while meditating on the
migration from the passions and sacrificing the passover you ought to take the
advance towards perfection, that is to say the sheep, in a moderate spirit.
"For each person of you," says Moses, "shall take a sheep, such
as shall be sufficient for him according to the number of his
House."{76}{Exodus 12:4.} (166) And in the case of the manna therefore, and
of every gift which God gives to the race of mankind, the principle being guided
by numbering and by measure, and of not taking what is more than is necessary
for us, is good; for the opposite conduct is covetousness. Let therefore one
soul collect what is sufficient for it from day to day, {77}{Exodus 12:4.} that
is may show that it is not itself which is the guardian of good things, but the
bounteous giver, God. LVIII.
(167) And this appears to me to be the reason why the sentence which I have
cited above was uttered. Day is an emblem of light, and the light of the soul is
instruction. Many persons therefore have provided for themselves the lights that
can exist in the soul against night and darkness, but not against day-time and
light; such lights for instance, as are derived from rudimental instruction, and
those branches of education which are called encyclical, and philosophy itself,
which is sought after for the sake both of the pleasure which is derived from
it, and also of the influence which it gives among rulers. But the good man
seeks the day for the sake of the day, and the light for the light's sake; and
he labors to acquire what is good for the sake of the good itself, and not of
anything else, on which account Moses adds, "In order that I may tempt them
and see whether they will walk according to my law or Not,"{78}{Exodus
16:4.} for the divine law enjoins us to honor virtue for its own sake. (168)
Accordingly, right reason tests those who practice
virtue as one might test a coin, to see whether they have contracted any stain,
referring the good things of the soul to any of the external things; or whether
they decide upon it as good money, preserving it in the intellect alone. These
men are nourished not on earthly things, but on heavenly knowledge. LIX.
(169) And Moses shows this in other passages also, when he says, "And in
the morning the dew lay round about the hosts; and when the dew that lay in the
morning was gone up, behold! upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small
round thing, small as coriander seed, {79}{Numbers 11:7.} and white like the
hoar-frost upon the earth. And when they saw it, they said one to another, what
is this? for they knew not what it was, and Moses said to them, This is the
bread which the Lord hath given you to eat, this is the thing which the Lord
hath commanded You."{80}{Exodus 16:13.} You see now what kind of thing the
food of the Lord is, it is the continued word of the Lord, like dew, surrounding
the whole soul in a circle, and allowing no portion of it to be without its
share of itself. (170) And this word is not apparent in every place, but
wherever there is a vacant space, void of passions and vice; and it is subtle
both to understand and to be understood, and it is exceedingly transparent and
clear to be distinguished, and it is like coriander seed. And agriculturists say
that the seed of the coriander is capable of being cut up and divided into
innumerable pieces, and if sown in each separate piece and fragment, it shoots
up just as much as the whole seed could do. Such also is the word of God, being
profitable both in its entirety and also in every part, even if it be ever so
small. (171) May it not be also likened to the pupil of the eye? For as that,
being the smallest portion of the eye, does nevertheless behold the entire orbs
of existing things and the boundless sea, and the vastness of the air, and the
whole immeasurable space of heaven, which the sun, whether rising in the east or
setting in the west, can bound; so also is the word of God, very sharp-sighted,
so as to be capable of beholding every thing, and by which all things that are
worth seeing can be beheld, in reference to which fact it is white. For what can
be more brilliant or visible at a greater distance than the divine word, by
participation in which all other things can repel mists and darkness, being
eager to share in the light of the soul? LX.
(172) There is a certain peculiarity which is attached to this word. For when it
calls the soul to itself, it excites a congealing power in everything which is
earthly, or corporeal, or under the influence of the external senses. On which
account it is said to be "like the hoar-frost on the
Earth."{81}{Exodus 6:16.} For when the man who beholds God, meditates a
flight from the passions, "the waves are frozen," that is to say, the
impetuous rush, and the increase, and the haughty pride of the waves are
arrested, in order that he who might behold the living God might then pass over
the Passion.{82}{Exodus 16:15.} (173) Therefore the souls inquire of one
another, those, that is, that have clearly felt the influence of the word, but
which are not able to say what it is. For very often, when sensible of a sweet
taste, we are nevertheless ignorant of the flavor which has caused it, and when
we smell sweet scents, we still do not know what they are. And in the same
manner also the soul very often, when it is delighted, is yet unable to explain
what it is that has delighted it; but it is taught by the hierophant and prophet
Moses, who tells it, "This is the bread, the food which God has given for
the Soul,"{83}{Exodus 16:15.} explaining that God has brought it, his own
word and his own reason; for this bread which he has given us to eat is this
word of his. LXI.
(174) He says also in Deuteronomy, "And he has humbled thee, and suffered
thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knowest not, neither did thy
fathers know, that he might make thee know that man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man
Life."{84}{Deuteronomy 8:3.} Now this illtreating and humbling of them is a
sign of his being propitiated by them, for he is propitiated as to the souls of
us who are wicked on the tenth day. For when he strips us of all our pleasant
things, we appear to ourselves to be ill-treated, that is in truth to have God
propitious to us. (175) And God also causes us hunger, not that which proceeds
from virtue, but that which is engendered by passion and vice. And the proof of
this is, that he nourishes us with his own word, which is the most universal of
all things, for manna being interpreted, means "what?" and
"what" is the most universal of all things; for the word of God is
over all the world, and is the most ancient, and the most universal of all the
things that are created. This word our fathers knew not; I speak not of those
who are so in truth, but of those who are grey with age, who say, "Let us
give them a guide, and let us turn Back"{85}{Numbers 14:1.} unto passion,
that is to say, to Egypt. (176) Therefore, let God enjoin the soul, saying to it
that, "Man shall not live by bread alone," speaking in a figure,
"but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God," that is
to say, he shall be nourished by the whole word of God, and by every portion of
it. For the mouth is the symbol of the language, and a word is a portion of it.
Accordingly the soul of the more perfect man is nourished by the whole word; but
we must be contented if we are nourished by a portion of it. LXII.
(177) But these men pray to be nourished by the word of God: but Jacob, raising
his head above the word, says that he is nourished by God himself, and his words
are as follows; "The God in whom my father Abraham and Isaac were
well-pleased; the God who has nourished me from my youth upwards to this day;
the angel who has delivered me from all my evils, bless these
Children."{86}{Genesis 48:15.} This now being a symbol of a perfect
disposition, thinks God himself his nourisher, and not the word: and he speaks
of the angel, which is the word, as the physician of his evils, in this speaking
most naturally. For the good things which he has previously mentioned are
pleasing to him, inasmuch as the living and true God has given them to him face
to face, but the secondary good things have been given to him by the angels and
by the word of God. (178) On this account I think it is that God gives men pure
good health, which is not preceded by any disease in the body, by himself alone,
but that health which is an escape from disease he gives through the medium of
skill and medical science, attributing it to science, and to him who can apply
it skilfully, though in truth, it is God himself who heals both by these means,
and without these means. And the same is the case with regard to the soul, the
good things, namely food, he gives to men by his power alone; but those which
contain in them a deliverance from evil, he gives by means of his angels and his
word. LXIII.
(179) And he uttered this prayer, blaming Joseph the statesman and governor,
because he had ventured to say, "I will feed them in that
Land,"{87}{Genesis 45:11.} for, "hasten ye," said Joseph,
"and go up to my father, and say unto him, Thus says Joseph," and so
on, and presently he adds, "Come down unto me, and do not tarry, come with
all thou hast, and I will feed thee in that land; for still the famine lasts for
five years." Jacob, therefore, speaks as he does reproving and at the same
time instructing this imaginary wise man, and he says to him, "O my friend,
know thou that the food of the soul is knowledge, which it is not the word which
is intelligible by the external senses that can bestow, but God only who has
nourished me from youth, and from my earliest age till the time of perfect
manhood, he shall fill me with it. (180) Joseph therefore was treated in the
same way with his mother Rachel, for she also thought that the creature had some
power; on which account she used the expression, "Give me children,"
but the supplanter, adhering to his proper character, says to her, "You
have used a great error; for I am not in the peace of God, who alone is able to
open the womb of the soul, {88}{Genesis 30:1.} and to implant virtues in it, and
to cause it to be pregnant, and to bring forth what is good. Consider also the
history of thy sister Leah, and you will find that she did not receive seed or
fertility from any creature--but from God himself." "For the Lord,
seeing that Leah was hated, opened her womb, but Rachel was
Barren."{89}{Genesis 29:31.} (181) And consider, now, in this sentence,
again, the subtlety of the writer spoken of. God opens the wombs, implanting
good actions in them, and the womb, when it has received virtue from God, does
not bring forth to God, for the living and true God is not in need of any thing,
but she brings forth sons to me, Jacob, for it was for my sake, probably, that
God sowed seen in virtue, and not for his own. Therefore, another husband of
Leah is found to be passed over in silence, and another father of Leah's
children, for he is the husband who openeth the womb, and he is the father of
the children to whom the mother is said to bear them. LXIV.
(182) "And I will place enmity between thee and between the
Woman."{90}{Genesis 3:15.} In reality, pleasure is hostile to the external
sense, although, to some persons, it appears to be especially friendly to it.
But as one would not call a flatterer a companion (for flattery is a disease of
friendship), nor would one call a courtesan friendly to her lover, for she
adheres only to those who give her presents, and not to those who love her; so,
also, if you investigate the nature of pleasure, you will find that she has but
a spurious connection with the external senses. (183) When we are sated with
pleasure, then we find that the organs of the external senses in us lose their
tone. Or do not you perceive the state of those men who from love of wine get
drunk?--that seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear; and, in the
same way, they are deprived of the accurate energies of the other external
senses? And, at times, through immoderate indulgence in food, all the vigor of
the external senses is relaxed when sleep overtakes them, which has derived its
name from the relaxation of them. For, at that time, the organs of the external
senses are relaxed, just as they are on the stretch in our waking hours, when
they no longer receive unintelligible blows from external things, but such as
speak loudly and are evident, and which transmit their impressions to the mind.
For the mind, when stricken, must recognize the external thing, and receive a
visible impression from it. LXV.
(184) And take notice here, that Moses does not say, "I will cause enmity
to thee and the woman," but, "I will place enmity between thee and
between the woman:"--why so? because the war between these two is
concerning what is in the middle, and what lies, as it were, on the borders of
pleasure and of the outward sense. And that which lies between them is what is
drinkable, and what is eatable, and what is inclined to all such things, every
one of which is an object to be appreciated by the outward sense, and an
efficient cause of pleasure. When, therefore, pleasure wallows immoderately in
these things, it at once by so doing inflicts injury on the outward sense. (185)
And again, the expression, "between thy seed and between her seed," is
uttered with strict natural propriety, for all seed is the beginning of
generation. But the beginning of pleasure is not passion, but an emotional
impulse of the outward sense, set in motion by the mind. For from this, as from
a fountain, the faculties of the outward senses are derived, especially,
according to the most sacred Moses, who says that the woman was formed out of
Adam, that is to say, the outward sense was formed out of the mind. The part,
therefore, that pleasure acts towards the outward sense, passion also acts
towards the mind. So that, since the two former are at enmity with one another,
the two latter must likewise be in a state of hostility. LXVI.
(186) And the war between these things in manifest. At all events, according to
the superiority of the mind when it applies itself to incorporeal objects, which
are perceptible only to the intellect, passion is put to flight. And, on the
other hand, when this latter gains a shameful victory, the mind yields, being
hindered from giving its attention to itself and to all its actions. At all
events, he says in another place, "When Moses lifted up his hands LXVII.
(188) And the expression, "He shall watch thy head, and thou shall watch
his Heel,"{93}{Genesis 3:15.} is, as to its language, a barbarism, but, as
to the meaning which is conveyed by it, a correct expression. Why so? It ought
to be expressed with respect to the woman: but the woman is not he, but she.
What, then, are we to say? From his discourse about the woman he has digressed
to her seed and her beginning. Now the beginning of the outward sense is the
mind. But the mind is masculine, in respect of which one may say, he, his, and
so on. Very correctly, therefore, does God here say to pleasure, that the mind
shall watch your principal and predominant doctrine, and you shall watch the
traces of the mind itself, and the foundations of the things which are pleasing
to it, to which the heel has very naturally been likened. LXVIII.
(189) But the words, "shall watch," intimate two things: in the first
place it means as it were "shall keep," and "shall
preserve." And, in the second place, it is equivalent to "shall watch
for the purpose of destroying." Now it is inevitable that the mind must be
either bad or good. Now, if it be bad, it would be but a foolish guardian and
dispenser of pleasure, for it rejoices in it. But the good man is an enemy to
it, expecting that, when he once attacks it, he will be able utterly to destroy
it. And, indeed, on the other hand, pleasure watches the footsteps of the
foolish man, but endeavors to trip up and undermine the standing ground of the
wise man, thinking that he is always meditating its destruction; but that the
fool is always considering the means by which its safety may be best secured.
(190) But, nevertheless, though pleasure appears to trip up and to deceive the
good man, it will in reality be tripped up itself by that experienced wrestler,
Jacob; and that, too, not in the wrestling of the body, but in that struggle
which the soul carries on against the dispositions which are antagonistic to it,
and which attack it through the agency of the passions and vices; and it will
not let go the heel of its antagonist, passion, before it surrenders, and
confesses that it has been twice tripped up and defeated, both in the matter of
the birthright, and also in that of the blessing. (191) For "rightly,"
says Esau, "is his name called Jacob, for now has he supplanted me for the
second time; the first time he took away my birthright, and now he has taken
away my Blessing."{94}{Genesis 27:36.} But the bad man thinks the things of
the body the more important, while the good man assigns the preference to the
things of the soul, which are in truth and reality the more important and the
first, not, indeed, in point of time, but in power and dignity, as is a ruler in
a city. But the mistress of the concrete being is the soul. LXIX.
(192) Therefore the one who as superior in virtue received the first place,
which, indeed, fell to him as his due. For he also obtained the blessing in
connection with the perfection of prayer. But he is a vain and conceited
pretender to wisdom who said, "He took away my blessing and also my
birthright." For what he took, O foolish man, was not yours, but was rather
the opposite to what was yours. For your deeds are thought worthy of slavery,
but his are thought worthy of supremacy. (193) And if you are content to become
the slave of the wise man, you shall receive your share of reproof and of
correction, and so you shall discard ignorance and folly which are the
destruction of the soul. For thy father, when praying, says to you, "You
shall serve your Brother,"{95}{Genesis 27:40.} but not now; for he will not
be able to endure your endeavoring to throw off the yoke. But when you have
loosed his yoke from off your neck, that is to say, when you have cast off the
boastfulness and arrogance which you had, after you had yoked yourself to the
chariot of the passions, under the guidance of the charioteer, Folly. (194) Now,
indeed, you are the slave of cruel and intolerable masters, who are within
yourself, and who look upon it as a law never to set any one free; but if you
run away and escape from them, then the master who loves slaves will receive you
in a good hope of freedom, and will not surrender you any more to your former
companions, having learnt from Moses that necessary doctrine and lesson,
"Not to give up a servant to his master who has escaped from his master
unto him; for he shall dwell with him in any place which shall please
Him."{96}{Deuteronomy 23:16.} LXX.
(195) But as long as you did not escape, and while you were still bridled with
the bridle of those masters, you were unworthy to be the servant of a worse
master. Giving thus the greatest proof of a mean, and lowly, and servile
disposition, when you said, "My birthright and my
Blessing."{97}{Genesis 27:36.} For these are the words of men who have
fallen into immoderate ignorance, since it belongs to God alone to say,
"Mine;" for to him alone do all things properly belong. (196) And to
this he will himself bear witness when he says, "My gifts, my offerings, my
first Fruits."{98}{Numbers 28:2.} You must take notice here that gifts are
spoken of in contradistinction to offerings. For the former display the
manifestation of the vastness of the perfect good things which God gives to
those men who are perfect, but the latter are only prepared to last a very short
time, and are partaken of by well-disposed practicers of virtue who are making
progress towards perfection. (197) On which account Abraham also, when following
the will of God, retained those things which had been given to him by God:
"but sends back the horses of the king of LXXI.
(200) "And to the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy
Groaning."{101}{Genesis 3:16.} The affection which is called pain is a
suffering peculiar to woman, who is a symbol of the outward sense. For to suffer
pain belongs to the same subject to which to experience pleasure does also
belong. But we experience pleasure through the medium of our outward senses, as
of necessity we also suffer pain through the same medium. But the virtuous and
purified mind suffers pain in the least degree; for the outward senses have the
least degree of power over him. But passion is exceedingly powerful in the case
of the foolish man, inasmuch as he has no antidote in his soul by which he can
ward off the evils which proceed from the outward senses and from those objects
which can only be perceived by them. (201) For as an athlete and a slave are
beaten in two different manners, the one in an abject manner, giving himself up
to the ill-treatment, and yielding to it submissively; but the athlete opposing,
and resisting, and parrying the blows which are aimed at him. And as you shave a
man in one way, and a pillow in another; for the one is seen only in its
suffering the shaving, but the man does himself do something likewise, and as
one may say, aids the infliction, placing himself in a posture to be shaved;
(202) so the irrational man, like a slave, submits himself to another, and
surrenders himself to the endurance of pains as to intolerable mistresses, being
unable to look them in the face, and wholly incapable of conceiving any
masculine or free thoughts. On which account a countless number of painful
things are endured by him through the medium of the outward senses. But the man
of experience, valiantly resisting like a brave athlete with strength and vigor,
opposes himself resolutely to all painful things, so as not to be wounded by
them; but so as to keep all their blows at a distance. And it seems to me that
he might with great spirit utter the verses of the tragedian against pain in
this manner:-- "Now
scorch and burn my flesh, and fill yourself With
ample draughts of my life's purpled blood; For
sooner shall the stars' bright orbs descend Beneath
the darkened earth, the earth uprise Above
the sky, and all things be confounded, Than
you shall wrench one flattering word from Me."{102}{this is a fragment of
the Syleus of Euripides. The lines are put in the mouth of Hercules.} LXXII.
(203) But as God has allotted all painful things to the outward sense in great
abundance and intensity, so also has he bestowed on the virtuous soul a
boundless store of good things. Accordingly he speaks with reference to the
perfect man Abraham in the following manner: "By myself have I sworn, saith
the Lord, that because thou hast done this thing and hast not withheld thy son,
thy beloved son from me, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying
I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is on the
shore of the Sea."{103}{Genesis 22:16.} He says this, and having confirmed
his promise solemnly and by an oath, and by an oath, too, such as could alone
become God. For you see that God does not swear by any other being than himself,
for there is nothing more powerful than he is; but he swears by himself, because
he is the greatest of all things. (204) But some men have said that it is
inconsistent with the character of God to swear at all; for that an oath is
received for the sake of the confirmation which it supplies; but God is the only
faithful being, and if any one else who is dear to God; as Moses is said to have
been faithful in all his House.{104}{Numbers 12:7.} And besides, the mere words
of God are the most sacred and holy of oaths, and laws, and institutions. And it
is a proof of his exceeding power, that whatever he says is sure to take place;
and this is the most especial characteristic of an oath. So that it would be
quite natural to say that all the words of God are oaths confirmed by the
accomplishment of the acts to which they Relate.{105}{there is a remarkable
coincidence between Philo's argument here, and that employed by St. Paul in
r.ference to the same event. LXXIII.
(205) They say, indeed, that an oath is a testimony borne by God concerning a
matter which is the subject of doubt. But if God swears he is bearing testimony
to himself, which is an absurdity. For the person who bears the testimony, and
he on whose behalf it is borne, ought to be two different persons. What, then,
are we to say? In the first place, that it is not a matter of blame for God to
bear testimony to himself. For what other being could be competent to bear
testimony to him? In the second place, He himself is to himself every thing that
is most honorable--relative, kinsman, friend, virtue, prosperity, happiness,
knowledge, understanding, beginning, end, entirety, universality, judge,
opinion, intention, law, action, supremacy. (206) Besides, if we only receive
the expression, "By myself have I sworn," in the manner in which we
ought, we shall be in no danger from sophistry. May we not, then, say, that the
truth is something of this sort? None of those beings which are capable of
entertaining belief, can entertain a firm belief respecting God. For he has not
displayed his nature to any one; but keeps it invisible to every kind of
creature. Who can venture to affirm of him who is the cause of all things either
that he is a body, or that he is incorporeal, or that he has such and such
distinctive qualities, or that he has no such qualities? or who, in short, can
venture to affirm any thing positively about his essence, or his character, or
his constitution, or his movements? But He alone can utter a positive assertion
respecting himself, since he alone has an accurate knowledge of his own nature,
without the possibility of mistake. (207) His positive assertion, therefore, is
one which may be thoroughly trusted in the first place, since he alone has any
knowledge respecting his actions; so that he very appropriately swore by
himself, adding himself confirmation to his assertion, which it was not possible
for any one else to do. On which account men who say that they swear by God may
well be considered impious. For no man can rightly swear by himself, because he
is not able to have any certain knowledge respecting his own nature, but we must
be content if we are able to understand even his name, that is to say, his word,
which is the interpreter of his will. For that must be God to us imperfect
beings, but the first mentioned, or true God, is so only to wise and perfect
men. (208) And Moses, too, admiring the exceeding excellency of the great
uncreated God, says, "And thou shall swear by his
Name,"{106}{Deuteronomy 6:13.} not by himself. For it is sufficient for the
creature to receive confirmation and testimony from the word of God. But God is
his own confirmation and most unerring testimony. LXXIV.
(209) But the expression, "Because thou hast done this
Thing,"{107}{Genesis 22:16.} is a symbol of piety. For to do everything for
the sake of God alone is pious. In consequence of which we do not spare even
that beloved child of virtue, prosperity, surrendering it to the Creator, and
thinking it right that our offspring should become the possession of God, but
not of any created being. And that expression, also, is a good one, "In
blessing I will bless thee." (210) For some persons do many acts worthy of
a blessing, but yet not in such a way as to obtain a blessing. Since even a
wicked man does some actions that are proper, but he does not do them from being
of a proper disposition. And sometimes a drunken man or a mad man speaks and
acts in a sober manner, but still he is not speaking or acting from a sober
mind. And children, who are actually infants, both do and say many things which
reasonable men do also do and say; but they, of course, do it not in consequence
of any rational disposition, for nature has not yet endowed them with a capacity
of reasoning. But the law giver wishes the wise man to appear deserving of
blessing not occasionally, accidentally, and, as it were, by chance, but in
consequence of habits and a disposition deserving of blessing. LXXV.
(211) Therefore it is not sufficient for the unfortunate external sense to be
abundantly occupied with pains, but it must also be full of groaning. Now
groaning is a violent and intense pain. For we are very often in pain without
groaning. But, when we groan, we are under the influence of most grievous and
thickly pressing pain. Now, groaning is of a twofold nature. One kind is that
which arises in those who desire and are very eager for august objects and who
do not succeed in them, which is wicked; the other kind is that which proceeds
from persons who repent and are distressed for previous sins, and who say,
"Miserable are we, how long a time have we passed infected with the disease
of foolishness, and in the practice of all kinds of folly and iniquity."
(212) But this kind of groaning does not exist unless the king of Egypt, that is
to say, the impious disposition wholly devoted to pleasure, has perished and
departed from our soul, "For, after many days, the king of Egypt
Died."{108}{Exodus 2:23.} Then immediately, as soon as vice is dead, the
man who has become alive to the perception of God and of his own sin, groans,
"For the children of Israel groaned at the corporeal and Egyptian
works;" since the reigning disposition devoted to pleasure, while it is
alive within us, persuades the soul to rejoice at the sins which it commits;
but, when that disposition is dead, it groans over them; (213) on which account
it cries out to its master, beseeching him that it may not again be perverted,
and that it may not arrive at only an imperfect sort of perfection. For many
souls who have wished to turn to repentance have not been allowed to do so by
God, but, been dragged back, as it were by the ebbing tide, having returned to
their original courses; in the manner in which Lot's wife did, who was turned
into stone because she loved Sodom, and who reverted to the disposition and
habits which had been condemned by God. LXXVI.
(214) But now Moses says that "Their cry has gone up to God, bearing
witness to the grace of the living God." For if he had not powerfully
summoned up to himself the supplicatory language of that people it would not
have gone up; that is to say, it would never have gained power and increase,
would never have begun to soar so high, flying from the lowness of earthly
things. On which account, in the next passage, God is represented as saying,
"Behold the cry of the children of LXXVII.
(217) On the other hand, you will find virtue not only conceiving with
extraordinary joy, but also bringing forth her good offspring with laughter and
cheerfulness; and you will also find the offspring of the two parents to be
actually cheerfulness itself. Now that the wise man becomes a parent with joy,
and not with sorrow, the word of God itself will testify to us when it speaks
thus: "And God said unto Abraham, Sarai, thy wife, shall no longer be
called Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah; I will bless her, and give thee a son
from Her."{110}{Genesis 17:15. Sarah is interpreted Princess in the margin
of the Bible.} And, afterwards, Moses proceeds to say, "And Abraham fell
upon his face and laughed, and said, ęShall a son be born to him who is a
hundred years old; and shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, have a son?'
"( 218) Abraham, therefore, appears here to be in a state of joy, and to be
laughing because he is about to become the father of happiness, that is to say,
of Isaac; and virtue, that is to say, Sarah, laughs also. And the same prophet
will further bear witness, speaking thus, "And it had ceased to be with
Sarah after the manner of women, and she laughed in her mind and said, such
happiness has never yet happened to me to this time, and my lord," that is
to say, the divine Lord, "is older than I;" in whose power, however,
this thing must inevitably be, and in whose power it is becoming to place
confidence. For the offspring is laughter and joy. For this is the meaning and
interpretation of the name of Isaac. Therefore, let the outward sense be
grieved, but let virtue be always rejoicing. (219) For, also, when happiness,
that is Isaac, was born, she says, in the pious exaltation, "The Lord has
caused me laughter, and whoever shall hear of it shall rejoice with
Me."{111}{Genesis 21:7.} Open your ears, therefore, O ye initiated, and
receive the most sacred mysteries. Laughter is joy; and the expression,
"has caused," is equivalent to "has begotten." So that what
is here said has some such meaning as this, "The Lord has begotten
Isaac." For he is the father of perfect nature, sowing and begetting
happiness in the soul. LXXVIII.
(220) "And thy desire," says God, "shall be to thy
Husband."{112}{Genesis 3:16.} There are two husbands of the outward senses.
The one a legal one, the other a destroyer. For the object of sight, acting upon
it like a husband, puts the sense of sight in motion; and so does sound affect
the sense of hearing, flavor the sense of taste, and so on with each of the
outward senses respectively. And these things attract the attention of and call
the irrational outward sense to itself, and become the master of it and govern
it. For beauty enslaves the sight, and sweet flowers enslave the sense of taste,
and each of the other objects of outward sense enslaves that sense which
corresponds to them. (221) See the glutton, what a slave he is to all the
preparations which cooks and confectioners devise. Behold the man who is devoted
to the study of music, how he is governed by the harp, or the flute, or by any
one who is able to sing. But the sense which turns itself to its legitimate
husband, that is to say, to the mind, derives the greatest possible advantage
from that object. LXXIX.
(222) Let us now see what account Moses gives of the mind itself, when it is set
in motion in a way contrary to right reason. And God said unto Adam,
"Because thou hast listened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the
tree of which I commanded thee not to eat, because thou hast eaten of it, cursed
is the earth in thy Actions."{113}{Genesis 3:17.} It is a most mischievous
thing, therefore, for the mind to be swayed by the outward senses, but not for
the outward senses to be guided by the mind. For it is at all times proper that
that which is better should rule, and that that which is worse should be ruled.
(223) And the mind is better than the outward senses. As, therefore, when the
charioteer has his horses under command and guides the animals with the rein,
the chariot is guided wherever he pleases; but if they become restiff, and get
the better of the charioteer, he is often dragged out of his road, and sometimes
it even happens that the beasts themselves are borne by the impetuosity of their
course into a pit, and everything is carried away in a ruinous manner. And, as a
ship holds on her right course when the pilot has the helm in his hand and
steers her, and she is obedient to her rudder, but the vessel is upset when some
contrary wind descends upon the waves and the whole sea is occupied by billows;
(224) so when the mind, which is the charioteer or pilot of the soul, retains
the mastery over the entire animal, as a ruler does over a city, the life of the
man proceeds rightly. But when the outward sense, which is devoid of reason,
obtains the supremacy, then a terrible confusion overtakes the man, as might
happen if a household of slaves were to conspire and to set upon their master.
For then, if one must tell the truth, the mind is set fire to and burnt, the
outward senses handling the flame and placing the objects of their operation
beneath, as fuel. LXXX.
And Moses, indeed, speaks of and describes such a conflagration of the mind as
this which arises in consequence of the operation of the outward senses, when he
says, (225) "And the women still burnt additional fires in LXXXI.
(228) It is best, therefore, to trust in God, and not in uncertain reasonings,
or unsure conjectures. "Abraham trusted in the Lord, and it was counted to
him for Righteousness."{115}{Genesis 15:6.} And Moses governed the people,
being testified to that he was faithful with his whole house. But if we distrust
our own reason, we shall prepare and build ourselves a city of the mind which
will destroy the truth. For Sihon, being interpreted means destroying. (229) In
reference to which he who had dreamed, waking up, found that all the motions and
all the advances of the foolish man are merely dreams that have no portion of
truth in them, for the very mind is found to be a dream; and the only true
doctrine is to believe in God, and to trust to vain reasonings is a mere
delusion. But irrational impulse goes forth and proceeds to each extremity,
while both the reasonings and the mind corrupt the truth. On which account,
Moses says that "fire went out of Heshbon, and flame out of the city of LXXXII.
(230) "And it devours even as far as LXXXIII.
(233) Sihon, then, who destroys the sound rule of truth, and his seed also,
shall both perish; and so shall Heshbon, namely, the sophistical riddles, as far
as Debon; which, being interpreted, means adjudication. And very consistently
with nature shall this be. For what is probable and plausible has not a positive
knowledge respecting truth, but only a trial and controversy and a litigious
contest and strife, and all such things as these. (234) But it was not
sufficient for the mind to have its own peculiar evils, which were perceptible
only to the intellect; but still the women burnt additional fire, that is to
say, the outward senses excited a great conflagration to have an effect upon it.
See, now, what the meaning is of what is here said. We who very often by night
desist from energizing according to any one of the outward senses, receive
absurd impressions respecting many different things, since our souls exist in a
state of perpetual motion and are capable of an infinite variety of changes.
There were, therefore, things quite sufficient for its destruction which it
brought forth out of itself. (235) But now, as it is, the multitude of the
outward senses has brought against it a most incalculable multitude of evils,
partly from objects of sight and partly from sounds; and besides that, from
flavors and from such essences as affect the sense of smell. And one may almost
say that the flavor which arises from them has a more pernicious influence on
the disposition of the soul than that which is engendered in the soul itself,
without any co-operation or agency of the organs of sense. LXXXIV.
(236) One of these women is Pentepho', the wife of Pharaoh's chief
Cook.{116}{Genesis 39:1.} We must now consider how a man who was a eunuch can be
represented as having a wife. For there will here be something which will seem
to offer a reasonable ground for perplexity to those who do not take the
expressions of the law in an allegorical sense. For the mind is really a eunuch,
and really the chief of cooks, using not merely such pleasures as are simple,
but those also which are superfluous, and is therefore called a eunuch and
barren of all wisdom, being the eunuch and slave of no other master than of that
squanderer of all good things, Pharaoh. On another principle, therefore, it
might appear a most desirable thing to be a eunuch, if our soul, by that means
escaping vice, might be able also to avoid all knowledge of passion. (237) On
which account Joseph, that is to say, the disposition of continence, says to
Pleasure, who accosts him with, "Lie with me, and being a man behave as a
man, and enjoy the pleasant things which life can afford." He, I say,
refuses her, saying, "I shall be sinning against God, who loves virtue, if
I become a votary of pleasure; for this is a wicked action." LXXXV.
(238) And, at first, he only skirmishes, but presently he fights and resists
valiantly, when the soul enters into her own dwelling, and, having recourse to
her own strength and energy, renounces the temptations of the body, and performs
her own appropriate actions as those which are the proper occupation of the
soul; not appearing in the house of Joseph, nor of Pentepho', but in the house.
Nor does Moses add a word to describe whose house he means, in order to give you
opportunity to interpret allegorically, in an inquisitive spirit, the meaning of
the expression, "to do his business." (239) The house, therefore, is
the soul, to which he runs, leaving all external affairs, in order that what is
spoken of may there be done. But may we not say that the conduct of the
temperate man is what it is, and is directed by the will of God? For there was
not present any inconsistent idea of all those which are accustomed to find
their place within the soul. Moreover, pleasure never ceases from struggling
against the yoke, but, seizing hold of his clothes, she cries, "Lie with
me." Now, clothes are, as it were, the covering of the body, just as life
is protected by meat and drink. And she says here, "Why do you renounce
pleasure, without which you cannot live? (240) Behold, I take hold of the things
which cause it; and I say that you could not possibly exist unless you also made
use of some of the things which cause it." What, then, says the temperate
man? "Shall I," says he, "become a slave to passion, on account
of the material which causes passion? Nay, I will depart out of reach of the
passion." For, leaving his garment in her hand, he fled, and escaped out of
doors. LXXXVI.
(241) And who, some one perhaps, may say, ever escapes in-doors? Do not many do
so? Or have not some people, avoiding the guilt of sacrilege, committed
robberies in private houses, or though not beating their own fathers, have not
they insulted the fathers of others? Now these men do escape from one class of
offences, but they run into others. But a man who is perfectly temperate, ought
to avoid every description of offence, whether greater or less, and never to be
detected in any sin whatever. (242) But Joseph, for he is a young man, and
because as such he was unable to struggle with the Egyptian body and to subdue
pleasure, runs away. But Phineas the priest, who was zealous with a great zeal
for God's service, did not provide for his own safety by flight; but having
taken to himself a yoke horse, that is to say, zeal combined with reason, would
never desist till he had wounded the Midianitish woman (that is to say the
nature which was concealed in the divine company), through her belly,
{117}{Numbers 25:7.} in order that no plant or seed of wickedness might ever be
able to shoot out from it. LXXXVII.
On which account after folly has been utterly eradicated, the soul receives a
twofold prize, and a double inheritance, peace and holiness, two kindred and
sister-like virtues. (243) We must therefore refuse to listen to such a woman,
that is to say to a wicked temptation of the outward senses, since "God
gave a good reward to the Midwives,"{118}{Exodus 1:20.} because they
disregarded the commands of the wasteful Pharaoh, "saving the male children
of the soul alive," which he wished to destroy, being a lover of the female
offspring alone, and rejecting all knowledge of the Cause of all things, and
saying, "I know him Not."{119}{Exodus 3:17.} (244) But we must give
our belief to another woman, such as it was ordained that Sarah should be, Sarah
being in a figure the governing virtue; and the wise Abraham was guided by her,
when she recommended him such actions as were Good.{120}{Genesis 21:12.} For
before this time, when he was not yet perfect, but even before his name was
changed, he gave his attention to subjects of lofty philosophical speculation;
and she, knowing that he could not produce anything out of perfect virtue,
counselled him to raise children out of her handmaid, that is to say out of
encyclical instruction, out of Agar, {121}{Genesis 16:2.} which name being
interpreted means a dwelling near; for he who meditates dwelling in perfect
virtue, before his name is enrolled among the citizens of that state, dwells
among the encyclical studies, in order that through their instrumentality he may
make his approaches at liberty towards perfect virtue. (245) After that, when he
saw that he was now become perfect, and was now able to become a father,
although he himself was full of gratitude towards those studies, by means of
which he had been recommended to virtue, and thought it hard to renounce them;
he was well inclined to be appeased by an oracle from God which laid this
command on him. "In everything which Sarah says, do thou obey her
Voice."{122}{Genesis 21:11.} Let that be a law to every one of us to do
whatever seems good to virtue; for if we are willing to submit to everything
which virtue recommends we shall be happy. LXXXVIII.
(246) And the expression, "And thou eatest of the tree of which alone I
commanded thee that thou shouldst not Eat,"{123}{Genesis 3:17.} is
equivalent to saying, You made a covenant with wickedness, which you ought to
have repelled with all your strength. On this account, "Cursed art
thou;" not, cursed is the earth for thy works. What, now, is the reason of
this? That serpent, pleasure, which is an irrational elevation of the soul, this
is intrinsically accursed in its own nature; and being such, attaches itself
only to the wicked man, and to no good man. But Adam is the intermediate sort of
mind which at one time if investigated is found to be good, and at another time
bad; for inasmuch as it is mind, it is not by nature either good or bad, but
from contact with virtue or with vice, it frequently changes for the better or
for the worse; (247) therefore it very naturally is not accursed of its own
nature, as neither being itself wickedness nor acting according to wickedness,
but the earth is accursed in its works: for the actions which proceed from the
entire soul, which he calls the earth, are open to blame and devoid of
innocence, inasmuch as he does everything in accordance withvice. In reference
to which fact God adds, that "In sorrow thou shall eat of it." Which
is equivalent to saying, you shall enjoy your soul in sorrow; for the wicked man
does enjoy his own soul with great pain the whole of his life, having no
legitimate cause for joy; for such cause is only produced by justice and
prudence, and by the virtues which are enthroned as companions with them. LXXXIX.
(248) "Thorns, therefore, and thistles shall it bring forth to you."
But what is it which is produced and which shoots up in the soul of the foolish
man except the passions which goad and sting and wound it? Which Moses here,
speaking symbolically, calls thorns, and which irrational appetite rushes upon
at first like fire, and so hastens to meet, and afterwards uniting itself to
them, it consumes and destroys all its own nature and actions. For Moses speaks
thus:--"But if fire when it has gone forth finds thorns, and shall also
burn a threshing-floor, or a crop of wheat, or a field of corn, then he who
kindled the fire shall pay the Damage."{124}{Exodus 22:6.} (249) You see
therefore when it has gone forth, that is to say, irrational impetuosity, it
does not only burn the thorns, but finds them: for being inclined to seek out
the passions, it attains to what it has been desiring to find; but when it has
found it, it consumes these three things, --perfect virtue, improvement, and
goodness of disposition. Moses therefore here compares virtue to a
threshing-floor; for as the crops when collected are brought to the
threshing-floor, so also are the good things which exist in the soul of the wise
man brought to virtue; and improvement he likens to the crop of wheat, inasmuch
as both the one and the other are imperfect, aiming at the end; and goodness of
disposition he compares to a field of corn, because it is well adapted to
receive the seeds of virtue; (250) and each of the passions he calls thistles (tribolia),
because they are divisible into three parts: the passion itself, the efficient
cause, and the effect which arises from the combined operation of the two. As
for instance pleasure, what is pleasant, and the being pleased; appetite, the
object of appetite, and the indulgence of appetite; pain, what is painful, and
the suffering pain; fear, what is fearful, and the being in a state of fear. XC.
(251) "And thou shall eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy brow
shall thou eat thy bread." He here speaks of the herb of the field and of
bread, as if they were synonymous, or identical with one another. The herb of
the field is the food of the irrational animal; but the irrational animal is a
worthless creature, which has been deprived of right reason. The outward senses
are also irrational, though they are part of the soul. But the mind, which is
eager for the attainment of those things which are the objects of the outward
sense by means of the irrational outward senses, does not attain its desires
without labor and sweat; for the life of the foolish man is very full of
distress and very burdensome, since he is always aiming at and greedily coveting
the things which give pleasure, and all such things as wickedness is wont to do.
(252) And how long shall this last? "Until," says God, "you
return to the dust form which you were taken." For is he not now ranked
among the things of the earth, and among things which have no consistency, ever
since he deserted the wisdom which is from heaven? We must consider therefore to
what point he is coming back; but may we not consider whether what he says has
not some such meaning as this, that the foolish mind is at all times averted
from right reason, and that it has been originally taken not from any sublime
nature, but from some more earthly material, and whether it is stationary, or
whether it is in motion, it is always the same, and desirous of the same
objects. (253) On which account, God adds that, "Dust thou art, and unto
dust shall thou return." And this is equivalent to what has been said
before. Moreover this sentence also signifies, the beginning and the end are one
and the same thing. For there hadst thou beginning in the perishable bodies of
the earth; and again, thou shall end in them, during the interval of your life,
between its beginning and its end, passing along a road which is not plain and
easy, but rough, full of briars and thorns, the nature of which is to tear and
wound thee.
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