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Featured Book: The Comprehensive New Testament More Books: Online References: Apostolic and Early Church Fathers
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ON
MATING WITH THE PRELIMINARY STUDIES* II.
(5) But neither is wealth, which it is not possible to employ, of any advantage
to its possessors, nor is the fertility of wisdom of any service to us, unless
it also brings forth such things as are serviceable to us. For some persons it
judges to be in every respect worthy of living in its company; but others appear
to have not yet arrived at such an age, as to be able to support so highly
praised and well regulated a charge; whom, however, it permits to enter upon the
preliminaries of marriage, holding out to them a hope that they may hereafter
consummate the wedlock. (6) Sarah therefore, the virtue which rules over my
soul, has brought forth, but, she has not brought forth for me (for I should
never as yet have been able, since I am quite young, to receive her offspring);
she has brought forth, I say, wisdom, and the doing of just actions, and piety,
by reason of the multitude of illegitimate children whom the vain opinions have
brought forth to me. For the education of the offspring, and the constant
superintendence and incessant care which they require, have compelled me to
neglect the legitimate children, who are really citizens. (7) It is well,
therefore, to pray that virtue may not only bring forth, since she is prolific
even without a prayer, but that she may bring for us; in order that we,
receiving a share of her seed and of her offspring, may be happy. For she is
accustomed to bring forth children to God alone, restoring with burning
gratitude the first fruits of all the blessings which she has received, to him,
who, as Moses says, "opened her Womb,"{2}{Genesis 29:31.} which was at
all times virgin. (8) For he also says that the lamp, that archetypal model
after which the copy is made, shines in one part, that is to say, in the part
which is turned towards God.{3}{Exodus 25:31.} For since that completes the
number of seven, and stands in the middle of the six branches, which are divided
into two lots of three each, acting as body-guards to it on either side, it
sends its rays upwards toward that one being, namely God, thinking its light too
brilliant for mortal sight to be able to stand its proximity. III.
(9) On this account he does not say that Sarah did not bring forth at all, but
only that she did not bring forth for him, for Abraham. For we are not as yet
capable of becoming the fathers of offspring of virtue, unless we first of all
have a connection with her handmaiden; and the handmaiden of wisdom is the
encyclical knowledge of music and logic, arrived at by previous instruction.
(10) For as in houses there are vestibules placed in front of staircases, and as
in cities there are suburbs, through which one must pass in order to enter into
the cities; so also the encyclical branches of instruction are placed in front
of virtue, for they are the road which conducts to her. (11) And as you must
know that it is common for there to be great preludes to great propositions, and
the greatest of all propositions is virtue, for it is conversant about the most
important of all materials, namely, about the universal life of man; very
naturally, therefore, that will not employ any short preface, but rather it will
use as such, grammar, geometry, astronomy, rhetoric, music, and all the other
sorts of contemplation which proceed in accordance with reason; of which Hagar,
the handmaid of Sarah, is an emblem, as we will proceed to show. (12) "For
Sarah," says Moses, "said unto Abraham, Behold, the Lord has closed me
up, so that I may not bear children. Go in unto my handmaiden, that thou mayest
have children by her." Now, we must take out of the present discussion
those conjunctions and connections of body with body which have pleasure for
their end. For this is the connection of the mind with virtue, which is desirous
to have children by her, and which, if it cannot do so at once, is at all events
taught to espouse her handmaid, namely, intermediate instruction. IV.
(13) And here it is worth while to admire wisdom, by reason of its modesty,
which has not thought fit to reproach us with the slowness of our generation, or
our absolute barrenness. And this, too, though the oracle says truly that she
brought forth no child, not out of envy, but because of the unsuitableness of
our own selves. For, says she, "The Lord has closed me up so, that I may
not bear children." And she no longer adds the words, "to you,"
that she may not appear to mention the misfortunes of others, or to reproach
them with theirs. (14) "Therefore," says she, "go thou in to my
handmaiden," that is to say, to the intermediate instruction of the
intermediate and encyclical branches of knowledge, "that you may first have
children by her;" for hereafter you shall be able to enjoy a connection
with her mistress, tending to the procreation of legitimate children. (15) For
grammar, by teaching you the histories which are to be found in the works of
poets and historians, will give you intelligence and abundant learning; and,
moreover, will teach you to look with contempt on all the vain fables which
erroneous opinions invent, on account of the ill success which history tells us
that the heroes and demigods who are celebrated among those writers, meet with.
(16) And music will teach what is harmonious in the way of rhythm, and what is
ill arranged in harmony, and, rejecting all that is out of tune and all that is
inconsistent with melody, will guide what was previously discordant to concord.
And geometry, sowing the seeds of equality and just proportion in the soul,
which is fond of learning, will, by means of the beauty of continued
contemplation, implant in you an admiration of justice. (17) And rhetoric,
having sharpened the mind for contemplation in general, and having exercised and
trained the faculties of speech in interpretations and explanations, will make
man really rational, taking care of that peculiar and especial duty which nature
has bestowed upon it, but upon no other animal whatever. (18) And dialectic
science, which is the sister, the twin sister of rhetoric, as some persons have
called it, separating true from false arguments, and refuting the plausibilities
of sophistical arguments, will cure the great disease of the soul, deceit. It is
profitable, therefore, to aide among these and other sciences resembling them,
and to devote one's especial attention to them. For perhaps, I say, as has
happened to many, we shall become known to the queenly virtues by means of their
subjects and handmaidens. (19) Do you not see that our bodies do not use solid
and costly food before they have first, in their age of infancy, used such as
had no variety, and consisted merely of milk? And, in the same way, think also
that infantine food is prepared for the soul, namely the encyclical sciences,
and the contemplations which are directed to each of them; but that the more
perfect and becoming food, namely the virtues, is prepared for those who are
really full-grown men. V.
(20) Now the first characteristics of the intermediate instruction are
represented by two symbols, the race and the name. As to race, the handmaiden is
an Egyptian, and her name is Hagar; and this name, being interpreted, means
"emigration." For it follows of necessity that the man who delights in
the encyclical contemplations, and who joins himself as a companion to varied
learning, is as such enrolled under the banners of the earthly and Egyptian
body; and that he stands in need of eyes in order to see and to read, and of
ears in order to attend and to hear, and of his other external senses, in such a
manner as to be able to unfold each of the objects of the external sense. (21)
For it is not natural to suppose that the subject of judgment can possibly be
comprehended without some power which is to judge; and the power which judges of
the objects of the external sense is the external sense, so that without the
external sense it would not be possible for any thing in that world which is
perceptible by the external sense to be accurately known, though those are the
matters which are the principal field for philosophical speculation. But the
external sense, being that portion of the soul which most resembles the body, is
deeply rooted in the entire vessel of the soul; and the vessel of the soul is,
by a figurative way of speaking, called VI.
But if any one, having determined on perseveringly enduring labors in the cause
of virtue, devotes himself to continued study, practising and meditating without
intermission, that man will marry two citizens, and also an equal number of
concubines, the handmaidens of the citizens. (25) And each of these has a
different appearance and a different nature. For instance, of the two citizen
wives, one is a most healthy and well established and peaceful motion, whom from
the circumstances the historians called Leah: and the other resembles a
whetstone and is called Rachel, in the pursuit of whom the mind, which is fond
of labor and fond of exercises, is much sharpened and excited; and the name,
being interpreted, means the "sight of profanation;" not because she
sees profanely, but, on the contrary, because she thinks the things which are
seen and which are the objects of the external senses, not brilliant but common
and profane in comparison of the pure and untainted nature of those things which
are invisible and which are only discernible by the intellect. (26) For since
our soul is composed of two parts, and since the one contains the rational
faculties, and the other the irrational ones, it follows that each part must
have its own peculiar virtue, Leah being the virtue of the rational part, and
Rachel of the irrational. (27) For the one trains us, by means of the external
senses and the parts of speech, to look contemptuously upon all things which it
is proper to disregard, such as glory, and wealth, and pleasure, which the
principal and general multitude of common men look upon as things to be admired
and striven for, their sense of hearing being corrupted, and the tribunal of all
the other external senses being corrupted likewise. (28) But the other teaches
us to turn away from that uneven and rough road which is never approached by
souls that love virtue, and to go smoothly along the smooth road without any
stumbling and without meeting any hindrances in the path. (29) Therefore the
handmaiden of the former of the two citizen wives will necessarily be the power
of interpretation as exercised by means of the organs of speech, and also the
rational invention of sophisms, deceiving man by a well-imagined plausibility;
and its necessary nourishment is meat and drink. (30) The historian has recorded
for us the names of the two handmaidens, calling them Zilpah and Billah.{4}{Genesis
30:1.} The name Zilpah, being interpreted, means "a mouth going
forth," a symbol of that nature which interprets and speaks. But Billah
means "a swallowing," which is the first and most necessary support of
all mortal animals. For it is by swallowing that our bodies are established
firmly, and the cables of life are attached to this action as to a sure
foundation. (31) Accordingly the practicer of virtue lives with all the
aforesaid powers, with some as with free women and citizens, and with others as
slaves and concubines. For he is enamoured of the motion of Leah; and a smooth (leia)
motion existing in a body would be calculated to produce health, and, when
existing in a soul, it would produce virtue and justice. But he loves Rachel,
wrestling with his passions, and preparing himself for a struggle of temperance,
arraying himself in opposition to all the objects of the external senses. (32)
For there are two kinds of advantage, either that according to which we enjoy
blessings, as in peace, or else that which comes from arraying one's self in
opposition to and from removing evils as in war. Now Leah is the wife according
to whom it happens to the husband to enjoy the elder, and more important, and
dominant blessings; and Rachel the wife, according to whom he obtains what
resemble the sports of war. Such then is his way, if left with his citizen
wives. (33) But the practicer of virtue also wants Billah, that is, swallowing,
but as a slave and a concubine; for without food and vitality, living well could
not possibly be the lot of man, since things indifferent are always the
foundation of what is better; and he also wants Zilpah, that is to say,
interpretation by means of utterance, in order that the rational part itself
may, in a twofold manner, contribute to perfection, both from the fountain
existing in the intellect, and also from the stream flowing therefrom in the
organ of the voice. VII.
(34) But these men were husbands of many wives and concubines, not only of such
as were citizens, as the sacred scriptures tell us. But Isaac had neither many
wives nor any concubine at all, but only his first and wedded wife, who lived
with him all his life. (35) Why was this? Because the virtue acquired by
teaching, which Abraham pursues, requires many things, both such as are
legitimate according to prudence, and such also as are illegitimate according to
the exegetical contemplations of preliminary instruction. And there is also a
virtue which is made perfect by practice, to which Jacob appears to have been
devoted; for exercises consist of many and various dogmas and doctrines, some
leading and others following, some leading the way, and others arriving later,
and bringing at one time more serious, and at other times lighter labors. (36)
But the self-instructed race, of which Isaac was a partaker, the excellent
country of the mastery over the passions, has received as its share a nature
simple, and unmixed, and unalloyed, standing in no need of either practice or
instruction in which there is need of the concubine sciences, and not only of
the citizen wives; for when God has showered down from above that most requisite
benefit of knowledge, self-taught, and having no need of a preceptor, it would
be impossible any longer for a man to live with the slavish and concubine arts,
having a desire for bastard doctrines as his children. For the man who has
arrived at this honor, is inscribed as the husband of the mistress and princess
virtue; and she is called in the Greek language, perseverance, but among the
Hebrews her name is Rebekkah. (37) For he who, by reason of the happy
constitution of his own nature and by the prolific fertility of his soul, has
attained to wisdom without encountering labor or enduring hardship, stands in
need of no further improvement; (38) for he has at hand the perfect gifts of
God, inspired by means of those most ancient graces, and he wishes and prays
that they may remain lasting. In reference to which, it appears to me to be that
the Author of all goodness gave him perseverance as his wife, in order that his
mercies might endure for ever to the man who had her for his wife. VIII.
(39) Now recollection only comes in the second rank after memory, as inferior to
it; and he who recollects is inferior to him who remembers; for the latter
resembles a man in an uninterrupted state of good health, but the other is like
a man recovering from a disease, for forgetfulness is a disease of the memory;
(40) and it follows inevitably that the man who exerts his recollection has
previously forgotten what he now recollects. Therefore the sacred scriptures
call memory Ephraim, which name, being interpreted, means
"fruit-bearing." But the Hebrews call recollection, after
forgetfulness, Manasseh; (41) for, in good truth, the soul of the man who
remembers does bear as fruit the things which he has learned, losing nothing of
them; but the soul of the man who exerts recollection, is only escaping from
forgetfulness, by which it was detained before it recollected; therefore a
citizen wife, memory, lives with the man who is endowed with remembrance. But
the concubine recollection, a Syrian by birth, insolent and overbearing, lives
with the man who forgets; for the meaning of the name Syria, is
"sublimity;" (42) and the son of the concubine recollection is Machir,
as the Hebrews call him; but the Greeks interpret the name to mean "of the
father." For those who recollect a thing think that the mind is the father
and cause of their recollecting, and do not consider that this same endowment of
the mind did also before contain "forgetfulness," though it never
would have received it if it had had memory in its power. (43) For it is said in
the scripture, "And the sons of Manasseh were Ashriel whom she bare, but
his concubine, the Aramitess, bare Machir; and Machir was the father IX.
(45) The name Nachor, being interpreted, means "a rest from light;"
and Milcah means "princess;" and Rumah means "she who sees
something." Therefore, to have light in the mind is good; but cessation
from light, and tranquility, and immobility is not perfect good, for it is
advantageous to have evils tranquil, but it is desirable to have blessings in
motion; for what advantage is there in a man's having a tuneful voice, if he
keeps silent? (46) or in his having the skill of a flute player, if he does not
play the flute? or of his knowing the harp, if he does not strike it? or, in
short, what good is there in any artist whatever, if he does not exercise his
art? for theoretical knowledge, without putting it in practice, is of no
advantage whatever to those who possess it. For a man, though skilful in the
contest of the pancratium, or in boxing, or in wrestling, would derive no
advantage from his athletic prowess if his hands were tied behind him; and he
who was thoroughly practiced in
running would derive no advantage from his fleetness of foot if he were
afflicted with the gout, or if he were to meet with any other injury to his
feet. (47) And the light of the soul, which is the most brilliant and the most
like the sun, is knowledge; for as the eyes are lightened up by beams, so is the
mind made brilliant by wisdom, and becomes gradually accustomed to see more
acutely from being continually anointed with new speculations. Therefore, Nachor
is interpreted "a cessation from light," very naturally; (48) for,
inasmuch as he is a relation of the wise Abraham, he partakes of that light
which is according to wisdom; but inasmuch as he did not join him in his
emigration from the crated to the uncreated being, from the world to the Creator
of the world, he has acquired only a lame and imperfect knowledge, intermittent
and delaying, or rather put together like a lifeless statue; (49) for he does
not depart and quit his abode in the Chaldaean country, that is to say, he does
not separate himself from the speculations concerning astronomy; honoring that
which is created rather than him who created it, and the world in preference to
God; or rather, I should say, looking on the world itself as an absolute
independent God, and not as the work of an absolute God. X.
(50) And he takes Milcah for his wife, not being some queen who by the
dispensations of fortune governs some nation of men, or some city, but only one
who bears a common name, the same as here. For, just as a person would not be
widely wrong who called the world, as being the most excellent of all created
things, the king of the objects of the external sense; so, also, one may call
the knowledge which is conversant about the heaven, which knowledge those who
study astronomy and the Chaldaeans possess in an eminent degree, the queen of
all the sciences. (51) This, therefore, is the wife who is a citizen; but the
concubine is she who sees one only of all existing things at a time, even though
it may be the most worthless of all. It is given, therefore, to the most
excellent race to see the most excellent of things, namely, the really living
God; for the name XI.
(54) Now the wicked also have a desire for concubines, that is, for vain
opinions and doctrines; accordingly Moses tells us that Thimna, the concubine of
Eliphah the son of Esau, bore Amalek to Eliphah.{6}{Genesis 36:12.} Alas, for
the eminent ignobleness of the descendant! And you will see this ignobleness the
more clearly, if you abandon the idea that this expression is used about a man,
and rather consider the soul, with a kind of anatomical dissection. (55) The
historian then calls the irrational and immoderate desires and impetuosity of
the passions, Amalek; now the name Amalek, being interpreted, means "the
people looking up." For as the power of fire consumes the materials which
are offered to it, so in the same manner does passion, when boiling over lick up
and destroy everything with which it meets. (56) And the father of this passion
is very properly described as Eliphah; for this name, being interpreted, means
"God has scattered me." But does it not follow that when God scatters,
and disperses, and discards the soul, banishing it from himself, irrational
passion is at once engendered? For He plants the mind which can really behold
him, and which is really attached to God, the vine of a good kind, stretching
out its roots so as to make them everlasting, and giving it abundance of fruit
for the acquisition and enjoyment of the virtues. (57) On which account Moses
prays, saying, "Bring them in and plant them In,"{7}{Exodus 15:17.} in
order that those divine shoots may not be ephemeral, but long-lived and lasting
for ever and ever. And banishing the unjust and ungodly soul, he disperses it
and drives it to a distance from himself to the region of the pleasures and
appetites and acts of injustice; and this region is, with exceeding
appropriateness, called the region of the impious, more fitly than that one
which is fabled as existing in the shades below. For indeed, the real hell is
the life of the wicked, which is audacious, and flagitious, and liable to all
kinds of curses. XII.
(58) There is also in another place the following sentence deeply engraven:
"When the Most High came down to scatter the nations, as he dispersed the
sons of Adam,"{8}{Deuteronomy 32:8.} he drove out all earthly dispositions,
which had no desire to see any good thing from heaven; depriving them of house
and city, and rendering them truly wanderers on the face of the earth. For no
house, nor city, nor anything else which relates to society and participation,
is preserved for any one of the wicked; but they are deprived of all settled
habitation, and dispersed abroad, being moved in every direction, and living a
life of continued emigration, and not being able to become settled any where.
(59) Therefore the wicked man has for his children, wickedness, by his wife who
is a citizen, and passion by his concubine; for the whole soul, like a free
citizen, is a companion of reason, but that which is open to reproach brings
forth wickedness. But the nature of the body is a concubine, by means of whom
the birth of the passion is beheld; and the body is the region of the pleasures
and passions, and it is called Thamnah, (60) which name, being interpreted,
signifies a "fluctuating abandonment." For the soul becomes faint and
powerless by reason of the passions having received much tossing about and
agitation from the body, on account of the violent storm which bursts forth from
immoderate impetuosity. (61) But as the head is the chief of all the
aforementioned parts of an animal, so is Esau the chief of this race, whose name
is at one time interpreted "an oak," and at another, "a thing
made." It is interpreted an oak, in reference to his being unbending, and
implacable, and obstinate, and stiffnecked by nature, and having folly for his
chief fellow counsellor, and being as such of a truly oaken character. And it is
interpreted "a thing made," inasmuch as a life according to folly is
an invention and a fable, full of tragic pomp and vain boasting; and, on the
other hand, of mockery and comic ridicule, having in it nothing sound, being
full of falsehood, having utterly cast off truth, and disregarding as a thing of
no value, that nature which is void of distinctive qualities, or of particular
species, but plain and sincere, which the practicer of virtue loves. (62) And
Moses bears witness to this, when he says that "Jacob was a man without
artifice, dwelling in a House;"{9}{Genesis 25:27.} so that he who is
contrary to him, must necessarily be destitute of a house, the companion of
invention, and of things made, and of fabulous nonsense, or rather be himself a
theatre and a fable. XIII.
(63) The connection therefore between the reason which is devoted to
contemplation and those powers which are citizen wives, or concubines, has here
been explained to the best of my power. We must now proceed to investigate what
follows, and endeavor to frame a proper connection for an argument.
"Abraham," says the sacred historian, "listened to the voice of
Sarah."{10}{Genesis 16:2.} For it is necessary for him who is a learner to
be obedient to the injunctions of virtue: (64) but yet all men are not so
obedient, but only those who are inspired with an exceedingly vehement love for
knowledge. Since almost every day the places where there is anything to hear and
the theatres are crowded, and those who study philosophy go on without ever
stopping to take breath in one long continued discussion about virtue. (65) But
still what advantage is derived from all that is said? For men, instead of
attending, turn their mind in other directions, some to marine and mercantile
affairs, others to rents and agriculture; some to public honors and affairs of
state, some to the gains to be derived from each different profession and art,
others to revenging themselves upon their enemies, others again to the
enjoyments to be derived from the indulgence of the amorous appetites, and in
short every body is under the influence of some distracting idea or other; so
that, as far as the subjects of the discussion are concerned, they are
completely deaf, and are present with their bodies only, but are at a distance
as to their minds, being in no particular different from images or statues. (66)
And if any persons do attend, they sit all that time only listening, and when
they have departed they do not recollect a word of what has been said, but they
have come in fact rather to be pleased through the medium of their hearing than
with the view of deriving any solid advantage; so that their soul has not been
able to comprehend anything or to become pregnant with any new idea, and even
the cause which at first excited their pleasure soon ceases and their attention
is extinguished. (67) There is a third kind of persons to whom what is said is
for a time attended to and remembered, as if still sounding in their ears; but
still they are found to be sophists rather than philosophers: of these men the
language indeed is praiseworthy but the life is blamable; for they are powerful
at speaking, but have no ability to do what is best. (68) It is therefore hardly
possible to find a man who is inclined to attend and endowed with a good memory,
honoring deeds rather than words; as is testified to in the praise of the man
fond of hearing in the words, "He listened to the voice of Sarah." For
he is not represented merely as hearing but also as listening to: and this last
is a particularly felicitous expression to indicate one who approves of and is
influenced by what he hears. (69) And the expression, "to the voice,"
is not inconsiderately or incorrectly used in preference to saying--he listened
to Sarah speaking. For it is the especial character of a learner to listen to
the voice and words of his teacher; for by these alone is he taught. But he who
acquires what is good by practice, and solitary meditation, and not by
instruction, does not attend to what is said but rather to those who say it,
imitating the lives of those men in their actions which are in each particular
irreproachable. (70) For it is said, in the case of Jacob when he was sent away
to form a marriage among his kinsmen, "Jacob listened to his mother and his
father, and went into XIV.
(71) Therefore, continues the sacred historian, Sarah, the wife of Abraham,
having taken Hagar, the Egyptian woman, her own handmaiden, ten years after
Abraham had begun to dwell in the land of Canaan, gave her to Abraham her
"husband, to be his Wife."{12}{Genesis 16:3.} Wickedness is by nature
an envious, and bitter, and evil-disposed thing, but virtue is gentle, and
inclined to communion, and friendly; wishing in every possible manner to benefit
those who are well disposed, either by its own power or by the means of others.
(72) So now accordingly, as we are not able to become the fathers of children by
prudence, she espouses us to her own handmaiden, encyclical instruction, as I
have said before, and all but endures to be the bridesmaid and manager of the
marriage; for it is said that Sarah herself took this woman and gave her to her
own husband. (73) And here it is worth while to raise the question why it is
that now again Moses calls the wife of Abraham Sarah, when he had already
repeatedly told us what her name was before; for he was not a writer who ever
indulged in that worst description of prolixity, tautology. What, then, are we
to say? Since she is about to betroth to him the handmaiden of wisdom,
encyclical instruction, he says that she did not forget the duty which she owed
to her mistress, but knew that she was, both in law and in her master's
feelings, his wife, and that she herself was only such because of necessity and
the force of opportunity. And this happens to every man who is fond of learning.
And he who has experienced it may be looked upon as the most trustworthy witness
to this fact. (74) At all events I, when I was first excited by the stimulus of
philosophy to feel a desire for it, when I was very young connected myself with
one of her handmaidens, namely, grammar; and all the offspring of which I became
the father by her, such as writing, reading, and the acquaintance with the works
of the poets and historians, I attributed to the mistress. (75) And at a
subsequent time, forming connection with another of her handmaidens, geometry,
and admiring her beauty (for she had beautiful symmetry and proportions in all
her parts), I still appropriated none of the offspring, but carried them to the
citizen wife, and bestowed them on her. (76) I was desirous also to form a
similar connection with a third, and she was full of good rhythm, well arranged,
and well limbed, and was called music. And by her I became the parent of
diatonic, and chromatic, and harmonic, and combined and separate melodies, and
all the different concords belonging to fourths and to fifths, and to the
diapason. And, again, I concealed none of all these things, in order that my
legitimate citizen wife might become wealthy, being ministered unto by a
multitude of ten thousand servants; (77) for some men, being attracted by the
charms of handmaidens, have neglected their true mistress, philosophy, and have
grown old, some in poetry, and others in the study of painting, and others in
the mixture of colors, and others in ten thousand other pursuits, without ever
being able to return to the proper mistress; (78) for each act has its own
peculiar brillliancies, certain attractive powers, by which some persons are
allured and overcome, forgetting all the covenants which they have made with
philosophy; but he who abides by the agreements which he has made, provides
every thing from all quarters with a view to pleasing her. Very appropriately,
therefore, does the sacred scripture, admiring his good faith in respect of his
legitimate wife, say that even now Sarah was his true wife, inasmuch as he only
took his handmaid into his bed out of complaisance towards her; (79) and,
indeed, in the same manner as the encyclical branches of education contribute to
the proper comprehension of philosophy, so also does philosophy aid in the
acquisition of wisdom; for philosophy is an attentive study of wisdom, and
wisdom is the knowledge of all divine and human things, and of the respective
causes of them. Therefore, just as encyclical accomplishments are the
handmaidens of philosophy, so also is philosophy the handmaiden of wisdom; (80)
but philosophy teaches temperance with regard to the belly, and temperance with
regard to the parts below the belly, and also temperance and restraint of the
tongue. Now these qualities are said to be worthy of praise for their own sakes,
but they would appear more respectable still if they were cultivated for the
sake of doing honor to and giving pleasure to God. We must, therefore, always
remember the legitimate mistress when we are about to espouse her handmaidens;
and let us be said indeed to be the husbands of the latter, but still let our
legitimate mistress be our real wife, and not merely called such. XV.
(81) Again, she gives Hagar to him, not the first moment that he arrives in the
country of the Canaanites, but after he has abode there ten years. And what the
meaning of this statement is we must investigate in no careless manner. Now, at
the beginning of our existence, our soul dwelt among the passions alone as its
fosterbrethren, griefs, pains, fears, desires, and pleasures, which reach it
through the medium of the external senses, before reason was as yet able to see
good and evil, and to distinguish accurately the points wherein these things
differ from one another, but while it was still wavering and hesitating, and as
it were closing its eyes in profound sleep; (82) but as time advances, when
advancing out of the age of infancy we are on the point of becoming young men,
then, without any delay, the double trunk of virtue and wickedness springs forth
out of one root, and we attain to a comprehension of them both, but still we by
all means choose one of the two; those who are well disposed choosing virtue,
and those of the contrary character choosing wickedness. (83) These things, now,
being previously sketched out in this manner, we must become aware that Egypt is
the symbol of the passions and the land of the Canaanites, the emblem of the
wickednesses; so that it is in strict accordance with natural probability that
God, after having roused his people and made them depart from Egypt, leads them
into the country of the Canaanites; (84) for the man, as I have said before, at
his very earliest birth had the Egyptian passions assigned to him to dwell
among, being deeply rooted in pleasures and in pains; and at a subsequent time
he departs as if to found a colony, and migrates towards wickedness. His reason
now being inclined to a more acute sight, and comprehending accurately both the
opposite extremes of good and evil, but nevertheless choosing the worse part,
because it has a great share in mortal nature, to which what is evil is in some
degree akin, as also the contrary, namely, good, is akin to the divine nature. XVI.
(85) But these are the different countries of each respective nature; passions,
that is to say, Egypt, being the country of the age of childhood; and
wickedness, that is the land of Canaan, being the country of the age of youth.
But the sacred scripture, although it is well acquainted with the different
countries of the mortal race, suggests to us what ought to be done and what will
be advantageous to us, enjoining us to hate the heathen, and their laws, and
their customs, in that passage where he says, (86) "And the Lord spake unto
Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the
Lord your God; ye shall not behave according to the customs of Egypt in which ye
dwelt among them, and ye shall not walk in their laws. Ye shall do my judgments,
and ye shall not do according to the customs of the XVII.
(89) But the sons of the musicians have accurately and carefully investigated
the question respecting the decade; and the most sacred Moses has composed a
hymn, with no slight degree of skill, attributing the most excellent things to
this number of the decade, such as prayers, first-fruits, the continual and
unceasing offerings of the priests, the observance of the passover, the
atonement, {14}{Leviticus 23:27.} the remission of debts, and the return to the
ancient allotments of property at the end of every fifty years; {15}{Leviticus
25:9.} the preparation and furnishing of the indissoluble tabernacle,
{16}{Exodus 26:1.} and ten thousand other things which it would take a long time
to enumerate. However, we must not pass over the most important points. (90) In
the first place he represents Noah to us (and this man is the first who is
specially entitled just, in the holy scriptures), as the tenth in succession
from him who was formed out of the earth, not intending by this statement to
indicate the number of years that had elapsed, but rather to show clearly that
as the decade is the most perfect boundary and end of the numbers which proceed
onwards from the unit, so also just in the soul is the perfection and true end
of the actions of human life. (91) For the number three when multiplied by
itself so as to make nine, the oracles have pronounced to be the most warlike of
numbers; but when one is added to it so as to complete the number ten, then they
receive it as a friendly one. (92) And as a proof of this, they allege the
kingdoms of the nine kings, {17}{Genesis 14:1.} (when the civil war was fanned
into a flame, the four passions rising up against the five outward senses, and
when the entire soul, like a city, was in danger of being subjected to an utter
overthrow and destruction,) which the wise Abraham, appearing as the tenth king,
put an end to, by joining in the warfare. (93) He then caused a calm instead of
a storm, and health instead of disease, and life, if one may speak the plain
truth, instead of death, showing himself as the trophy-bearer of God who giveth
the victory, to whom also he consecrated the tenths as a grateful offering on
account of his victory. (94) Moreover, he also separates off the tenth of all
the cattle which come "under the Rod,"{18}{Leviticus 27:32.} I mean by
this under instruction, and of all those which are of a tame and tractable sort,
pronouncing them to be holy by an express provision of the law. In order that
so, by many concurrent testimonies, we may learn the particular and especial
appropriateness of the number ten to God, and of the number nine to our mortal
race. XVIII.
(95) But also it is expressly ordered, that men should offer as first fruits the
tenths, not only of animals, but also of all the things which grow up out of the
earth; "For," says the scripture, "every tenth of the earth from
the seed and from the fruit of every tree, is holy to the Lord: and every tenth
of oxen and sheep, and everything of any cattle which passes under the rod, of
all these the tenth shall be holy to the Lord." (96) You see that he thinks
that it is proper to make an offering, by way of first fruits from the corporeal
mass that is around us, which is really earthly and wooden; for life, and
durability, and increase, and good health, fall to his share through the divine
grace. You see also, that again an express command is given to offer
first-fruits from all the irrational animals that are around ourselves; and by
these are meant the outward senses. For to see, and to hear, and to smell, and
to taste, and also to touch are divine gifts, for which it is our duty to give
thanks. (97) But not only are we taught to thank the giver of all goodness for
these earthly, and wooden, and corporeal things, and for the irrational animals,
the outward senses, but also for the mind, which, to speak with strict
propriety, is man in man, the better in the worse, the immortal in the mortal.
(98) On this account I think it is, that God ordered to be consecrated the whole
of the firstborn, the tenth, I mean the tribe of Levi, taking them in exchange
for the first-born, for the preservation and protection of holiness, and piety,
and sacred ministrations, which all have reference to the honor of God. For the
first and best thing in ourselves is our reason, and it is very proper to offer
up the first-fruits of our cleverness, and acuteness, and comprehension, and
prudence, and of all our other faculties which we have in connection with our
reason as first-fruits to God, who has bestowed upon us this great abundance of
power of exerting our intelligence. (99) From this consideration it was, that
Jacob, the practicer of virtue, at the beginning of his prayers, says: "Of
all that thou givest me, I will set apart and consecrate a tenth to
Thee."{19}{Genesis 28:22.} And the sacred scripture, which was written
after the prayers on occasion of victory, which Melchisedek, who had received a
self-instructed and self-taught priesthood, makes, says: "For he gave him a
tenth of all Things,"{20}{Genesis 14:20.} assigning to him the outward
senses the faculty of feeling properly, and by the same sense of speech the
faculty of speaking well, and by the senses connected with the mind the faculty
of thinking well. (100) Very beautifully, therefore, and at the same time most
unavoidably, does the sacred historian tell us in the fashion of an incidental
narrative, when the memorial of that heavenly and divine food was consecrated in
the golden urn, that "gomer was the tenth part of three
Measures."{21}{Exodus 16:36.} For in us men there appear to be three
measures, the outward senses, and speech, and mind. The outward sense being the
measure of the objects of outward sense, speech being the measure of nouns and
verbs, and of whatever is said; and the mind being the measure of those things
which can only be perceived by the intellect. (101) We must therefore offer
first-fruits of each of these three measures as a sacred tenth, in order that
our powers of speaking, and of feeling, and of comprehending, may be seen to be
irreproachable and sound, in reference to and in connection with God. For this
is the true and just measure, and the things that relate to ourselves are false
and unjust measures. XIX.
(102) Very appropriately, therefore, in the case of sacrifices also, the tenth
part of the measure of fine wheat flour will be brought upon the altar, together
with the victims. But the number of nine, which is what is left of the number
ten, will remain among us. (103) And the daily sacrifice of the priests
corresponds also to these facts. For it is expressly commanded to them to offer
every day the tenth part of an Ephah{22}{Exodus 10:20.} of fine wheat flour.
For, passing over the ninth number, the god who was only discernible by the
outward senses and by opinion, they learnt to worship the tenth, who is the only
living and true God. (104) For the world had nine portions assigned to it, eight
in heaven, namely the portion of the fixed stars and the seven planets which are
all borne forward in the same arrangement, and the ninth being the earth in
conjunction with the air and water. For of these things there is only one bond
and connection, though they admit all kinds of various changes and alterations.
(105) Therefore men in general have paid honors to these nine portions, and to
the world which is compounded of them. But the perfect man honors only that
being who is above the nine, and who is their creator, being the tenth portion,
namely God. For having examined into the whole of his works, he has felt a love
for the creator of them, and he has become anxious to be his suppliant and
servant. On this account the priest offers up a tenth every day to the tenth,
the only and everlasting God. (106) This is, to speak properly, the spiritual
passover of the soul, the passing over of all the passions and of every object
of the outward senses to the tenth, which is the proper object of the intellect,
and which is divine. For it is said in the scripture: "On the tenth day of
this month let each of them take a sheep according to his house; {23}{Exodus
12:3.} in order that from the tenth, there may be consecrated to the tenth, that
is to God, the sacrifices which have been preserved in the soul, which is
illuminated in two portions out of the three, until it is entirely changed in
every part, and becomes a heavenly brilliancy like a full moon, at the height of
its increase at the end of the second week, and so is able not only to guard,
but even to sacrifice uninjured and faultless improvements, that is to say,
propitiations. (107) For this propitiation also is established in the tenth day
of the month, when the soul addresses its supplications to the tenth portion,
namely to God, and has learnt, by its own sagacity and acuteness, the
insignificance and nothingness of the creature, and also the excessive
perfection and pre-eminent excellence in all good things of the uncreated God.
Therefore God becomes at once propitious, and propitious too, even without any
supplications being addressed to him, to those who abase and humble themselves,
and who are not puffed up with vain arrogance and self-opinion. (108) This is
remission and deliverance, this is complete freedom of the soul, shaking off the
wanderings in which it wandered, and fleeing for a secure anchorage to the one
nature which cannot wander, and which rises up to return to the lot which it
formerly received when it had brilliant aspirations, and when it vigorously
toiled in labors which had virtuous ends for their object. For then admiring it
for its exertions, the holy scripture honored it, giving it a most especial
honor, and immortal inheritance, a place namely in the imperishable race. (109)
This is what the wise Abraham supplicates for, when that which in word indeed is
the land of Sodom, but in real fact is the soul made barren of all good things
and blinded as to its reason, is about to be burnt up, in order that if the
memorial of justice, namely the Tenth{24}{Genesis 18:32.} part be found in it,
it may obtain a short of amnesty. Therefore he begins his supplication with a
prayer for pardon, connected with the number fifty, and terminates with the
number ten, the lowest number for whose deliverance he can dare to entreat. XX.
(110) From which consideration it appears to me to have been, that Moses, after
the appointment of chiliarchs, or commanders of thousands, and of centurians,
and of captains of fifties, {25}{Exodus 18:25.} thought proper to appoint
captains of ten over all, in order than if the mind was not able to be improved
by means of the elder orders, it might at least be purified by these last in
order. (111) And the son of the man who was devoted to learning, learnt a very
beautiful doctrine when he went on that admirable embassy, asking in marriage
for the self-taught wise man that most appropriate sister, namely, perseverance.
For he takes ten camels, {26}{Genesis 24:10.} a reminder of the number ten, that
is to say, of right instruction, from among many and, indeed, infinite memorials
of the Lord. (112) He also takes of his good things, evidently not silver, nor
any gold, nor any other of those things which consist of perishable materials;
for Moses never gave the favorable apellation of good to any of these things,
but those genuine good things which are the only good things of the soul; and
those he appropriates for the use of his journey, and for his purposes of
traffic, namely, instruction, improvement, study, desire, admiration,
enthusiasm, prophecy, and the love of doing good actions; (113) to which
objects, a man who devotes all his care, and who practices the actions
calculated to ensure their attainment, when he is about, as it were, to anchor
in a safe harbor after having been tossed in a stormy sea, will take two
earrings, each of a drachm in weight, and two golden armlets of ten shekels
weight of gold for the arms of her who is sought in Marriage.{27}{Genesis
24:22.} Oh the divine ornament! We may understand that the drachm means the
faculty of hearing, and the unbroken unit, and the attractive nature; for it is
not becoming for hearing to have leisure to attend to anything except to that
speech alone which sets forth in a suitable manner the virtues of the one and
only God. And the ten shekels weight of gold mean attempts at works; for the
actions, in accordance with wisdom, are established in perfect numbers, and
every one of them is more precious than gold. XXI.
(114) Something of this kind, now, is the contribution made by the princes,
selected and appointed with reference to worth and merit, which they made when
the soul being properly prepared and adorned by philosophy, was celebrating the
festival of the dedication in a sacred and becoming manner, giving thanks to God
its teacher and its guide; for it "offers up a censer full of frankincense,
ten golden shekels in Weight,"{28}{Numbers 7:14.} in order that the wise
man alone may judge of the odors which are exhaled by prudence and by every
virtue. (115) But when they appear to be made propitious, then Moses will sing a
sacred hymn over them, saying, "The Lord has smelt the smell of a sweet
savour," using the word to smell here as equivalent to approving of; for
God is not formed like a man, nor has he any need of nostrils, or of any other
organ parts. (116) But as he proceeds onwards he speaks also of the divine
abode, the tabernacle, and its ten Curtains;"{29}{Exodus 26:1.} for, in
fact, the compound edifice of entire wisdom has been assigned the perfect
number, the number ten. And wisdom is the court and palace of the all governing
and only absolute and independent king. (117) Accordingly, this is his abode,
discernible only by the intellect; but the world is perceptible by the outward
senses; since Moses made the curtains of such things as are symbols of the four
elements, for they were made of fine flax, and of hyacinthine color, and of
purple, and of scarlet, --four numbers, as I have said before. Now the fine flax
is an example of the earth, for the flax grows out of the earth; and the
hyacinthine color is a symbol of the air, for it is black by nature; purple (porphyra),
again, is a symbol of the water; for the cause of this dye is derived from the
sea, being the shell-fish of the same name (heµ porphyra); and scarlet is a
symbol of fire, for it most nearly resembles a flame. (118) Again, that
omnipotent overseer and ruler of the universe reproved the state of Egypt, when
rebellious against the rein, when it was extolling with grandiloquent words the
mind as an adversary of God, and bestowing on it all the ensigns of kingly
authority, such as the throne, the sceptre, the diadem; and chastised it with
ten stripes and severe punishment. (119) And in the same manner, also, he
promises the wise Abraham that he will work for him the overthrow and complete
destruction of ten Nations{30}{Deuteronomy 7:1.} exactly, neither more nor less,
and that he will give the country of those who are thus destroyed to his
descendants; in every instance choosing to employ the number ten, both for
praise and for blame, and also for honor and for punishment. And yet why do we
mention these things? (120) For what is more important than this is the fact,
that Moses gave laws to that sacred and divine assembly in a code of ten
commandments in all. And these are the commandments which are the generic heads,
and roots, and principles of the infinite multitude of particular laws; being
the everlasting source of all commands, and containing every imaginable
injunction and prohibition to the great advantage of those who use them. XXXII.
(121) Very naturally, therefore, is the connection of Abraham with Hagar, placed
at the end of ten years after his arrival in the land of the Chaldeans. For it
does not follow that the first moment that we become endowed with reason, while
our intellect is still in a somewhat fluid state, we are able at once to derive
encyclical instruction. But when we have attained to intelligence and acuteness
of comprehension, then we no longer have a light and superficial mind, but
rather a firm and solid intellect which we can exercise on every subject. (122)
And it is for this reason that the expression which follows is added, in
connection with the former statement, "And he went in unto Hagar." For
it was becoming for the scholar to go to his teacher, who was a man of learning,
in order to learn such branches of instruction as are suited to the nature of
man. For now, also, the pupil is represented as going to the place where he may
obtain learning; but learning very often anticipates him and runs forward to
meet him, having driven out envy from her habitation, and she attracts those
towards her who are well inclined to her. (123) Accordingly, one may read that
virtue, that is Leah, went forward to meet the practicer of virtue, and said
unto him, "To-day you shall come in to Me,"{31}{Genesis 30:16.} when
he was returning from the fields. For where was the man who had the care of the
seeds and plants of knowledge found to come, except to that virtue which he
himself had cultivated? XXIII.
(124) But there are times when virtue, as if making experiment of those who come
to her as pupils, to see how much eagerness they have, does not come forward to
meet them, but veiling her face like Tamar, sits down in the public road, giving
room to those who are traveling along the road to look upon her as a harlot, in
order that those who are over curious on the subject may take off her veil and
disclose her features, and may behold the untouched, and unpolluted, and most
exquisite, and truly virgin beauty of modesty and chastity. (125) Who then is he
who is fond of investigating, and desirous of learning, and who thinks it not
right to leave any of those things which are disguised or concealed unconsidered
and examined? Who is he, I say, but the chief captain and king, he who abides
and rejoices in the agreements which he has made with God, by name XXIV.
(131) In this manner also the seeds of the legitimate wisdom, which exists among
men, were sown, "For there was," says the same historian, "a man
of the tribe of Levi, named Amram, who took to wife one of the daughters of
Levi, and had her, and she conceived and brought forth a male child; and seeing
that he was a goodly child they concealed him for three Months."{32}{Exodus
2:1.} (132) This is Moses, the purest mind, the child that is really goodly; the
child that received at the same time all legislative and prophetic skill by the
means of inspired and heaven-bestowed wisdom; who, being by birth a member of
the tribe of Levi, and being flourishing both in the things relating to his
mother and in those affecting his father, clings to the truth; (133) and the
greatest profession ever made by the author and chief of this tribe is this, for
he makes bold to say, that "the only God is alone to be honored by
me;" and nothing besides of all the things that are inferior to Him,
neither earth, nor sea, nor rivers, nor the nature of the air, nor the nature of
the winds, nor the changes of the atmosphere, nor the appearances of any animals
or plants, nor the sun, nor the moon, nor the multitude of the stars moving in
well-arranged revolutions, nor the whole heaven, nor the entire world. (134)
This is a boast of a great and magnanimous soul, to rise above all creation, and
to overleap its boundaries, and to cling to the great uncreated God alone,
according to his sacred commands, in which we are expressly enjoined "to
cleave unto Him."{33}{Deuteronomy 30:20.} Therefore he, in requital,
bestows himself as their inheritance upon those who do cleave unto him, and who
serve him without intermission; and the sacred scripture bears its testimony in
behalf of this assertion, where it says, "The Lord himself is his
Inheritance."{34}{Deuteronomy 10:9.} (135) Thus the souls which are already
pregnant are naturally likely to bring forth children, rather than those which
are now receiving the seed. But as the eyes of the body do oftentimes see
obscurely, and often on the other hand see clearly, so in the same manner does
the eye of the soul, at times, receive the particular impressions conveyed to it
by things in a most confused and indistinct manner, and at other times it
beholds them with the greatest purity and clearness; (136) therefore an
indistinct and not clearly manifested conception resembles an embryo which has
not yet received any distinct character or similitude within the womb: but that
which is clear and distinctly visible, is like one which is completely formed,
and which is already fashioned in an artistic manner as to both its inward and
its outward parts, and which has already received its suitable character. (137)
And with respect to these matters the following law has been enacted with great
beauty and propriety: "If while two men are fighting one should strike a
woman who is great with child, and her child should come from her before it is
completely formed, he shall be muleted in a fine, according to what the husband
of the woman shall impose on him, and he shall pay the fine deservedly. But if
the child be fully formed, he shall pay life for Life."{35}{Exodus 21:22.}
For it was not the same thing, to destroy a perfect and an imperfect work of the
mind, nor is what is only likened by a figure similar to what is really
comprehended, nor is what is only hoped for similar to what really exists. (138)
On this account, in one case, an uncertain penalty is affixed to an uncertain
action; in another, a definite punishment is enacted by law against an act which
is perfected, but which is perfected not with respect to virtue, but with
reference to what is done in an irreproachable manner, according to some act.
For it is not she who has just received the seed, but she who has been for some
time pregnant, who brings forth this offspring, professing boasting rather than
modesty. For it is impossible that she who has been pregnant some time should
miscarry, since it is fitting that the plant should be conducted to perfection
by him who sowed it; but it is not strange if some mishap should befall the
woman who was pregnant, since she was afflicted with a disease beyond the art of
the physician. XXV.
(139) And do not suppose that Hagar is represented as beholding herself as
pregnant, by the words, "seeing that she had conceived," but as
beholding her mistress Sarah; for afterwards she speaks of herself, and says,
"Seeing that she was pregnant, she was despised before
Her."{36}{Genesis 16:4.} Why so? (140) Because the intermediate and
indifferent arts, and the sciences in accord with them, see indeed of what they
are pregnant, but they nevertheless see in every respect but dimly; but the
sciences comprehend clearly and very distinctly. For science is something beyond
art, having derived from reason a certain firmness and exemption from error;
(141) for this is the definition of art, a system of comprehensions well
practiced with reference to some desirable end, the word desirable being
very properly added by reason of the abundance of evil arts. But the definition
of science is a safe and firm comprehension, which, through reason, is not
liable to any error. (142) Therefore we call music and grammar, and other
pursuits, arts; for those also who are made perfect in them, as musicians, or
grammarians, are called artists. But we call philosophy and the other virtues,
sciences, and those who are possessed of the knowledge of them we call
scientific; for they are prudent, and temperate, and philosophical, not one of
whom is ever deceived in the doctrines of a philosophy which he himself has
cultivated, any more than the artists, whom I have mentioned before, err in
their speculations with respect to their indifferent arts. (143) For as the eyes
see, and still the mind sees more clearly by means of the eyes; and as the ears
hear, but nevertheless the mind hears better through the medium of the ears; and
as the nostrils smell, and yet the soul smells more precisely through the
instrumentality of the nostrils; and in like manner, as the other external
senses comprehend their respective appropriate objects, still the mind
comprehends them also more purely and distinctly by their ministration. For to
speak properly, it is the mind which is the eye of eyes, the hearing of hearing,
and the more pure external sense of each of the external senses, using them as
ministers in a court of justice, and itself deciding on the nature of the
objects submitted to it, so as to approve of some and to reject others. In the
same way, those that are called the intermediate arts, resembling the faculties
of the body, indulge in contemplations according to certain simple observations
of them, but the sciences do so with greater accuracy and with exceedingly
careful investigation. (144) For the same relation that the mind bears to the
outward sense, that same does science bear towards art; for, as has been said
before, the soul is as it were the outward sense of the outward sense; therefore
each of them has attracted to itself some slight things of nature, concerning
which it labors and occupies itself, geometry having appropriated lines, and
music sounds, and philosophy the whole nature of existing things. For this world
is its subject matter, and so is the whole essence, both visible and invisible,
of existing things. (145) What then is there wonderful if the soul, which sees
both the whole and the parts, sees them too better than they do, as if it were
furnished with larger and more acute eyes? Very naturally, therefore, proper
philosophy will behold intermediate instruction its handmaiden, and she that she
is pregnant, more than the other will see that she is. XXVI.
(146) And yet even this is not unknown to any one, namely, that philosophy has
bestowed upon all the particular sciences their first principles and seeds, from
which speculations respecting them appear to arise. For it is geometry which
invented equilateral and scalene triangles, and circles, and polygons, and all
kinds of other figures. But it was no longer geometry that discovered the nature
of a point, and line, and a superficies, and a solid, which are the roots and
foundations of the aforementioned figures. (147) For from whence could it define
and pronounce that a point is that which has no parts, that a line is length
without breadth; that a superficies is that which has only length and breadth;
that a solid is that which has the three properties, length, breadth, and depth?
For these discoveries belong to philosophy, and the consideration of these
definitions belongs wholly to the philosopher. (148) Again, to write and read is
the undertaking of this more imperfect kind of grammar, which some people,
perverting the name of, call grammatistica. But to the most perfect kind of
grammar belongs the explanation of the great works of the poets and historians.
When, therefore, men are going through the different parts of speech, and they
not in so doing trying to drag over to themselves and appropriate as a kind of
accessory the discoveries of philosophy? (149) For it is the peculiar province
of philosophy to inquire what a conjection, what a noun, what a verb, what a
common noun, what a particular noun, what is deficient in a speech, what is
superfluous, what is an affirmative, what an interrogative, what an indirect
question, what is a comprehensive expression, what is a supplicatory form of
address. For this is a science which has been compounded for the purpose of the
investigation of independent propositions, and axioms, and categorems. (150)
But, moreover, has not the whole question of semi-vowels, or vowels, or such
elements as are completely mute, and the consideration of the sense in which
each of these expressions is ordinarily used, and in short every notion
connected with the voice, and the elements, and the parts of speech, been
thoroughly worked out and brought to an accurate system by philosophy? And those
thieves, after having as it were carried off a few drops from her torrent, and
having sought to impregnate their own shallow souls with what they have stolen,
are not ashamed to bring forth her resources as their own. XXVII.
(151) On which account, being elated and proud, they disregard the mistress to
whom in reality the authority and the complete confirmation of their
contemplations belong. But she, perceiving their neglect, will convict them, and
will speak freely to them, and say, "I am treated unjustly, and in utter
violation of our agreement, as far as depends on you who transgress the
covenants entered into between us; (152) for from the time that you first took
to your bosom the elementary branches of education, you have honored above
measure the offspring of my handmaiden, and have respected her as your wife, and
you have so completely repudiated me that you never by any chance came to the
same place with me. And perhaps this may be only a suspicion of mine respecting
you, arising from your open connection with my servant, which leads me to
conjecture your alienation from myself, though it is not really manifest. But if
your disposition is contrary to that which I suspect, still it is impossible for
any one else to know this, but it is easy to God alone." (153) On which
account she says very appropriately, "May God judge between thee and me;
{37}{Genesis 16:5.} not making haste to condemn him beforehand as having done
her wrong, but intimating a doubt, that perhaps he may speedily do her right,
which in point of fact is seen to be the case not long afterwards, when he,
excusing himself and remedying her doubts, says to her, "Behold thy
handmaiden is in thy hands, do unto her as it seemeth good to thee." (154)
For also, when he calls her her handmaiden, he confesses both facts, both that
she is a slave and also that she is a child; for the name of the handmaiden (paidiskeµ)
suits both these circumstances. At the same time also, he confesses the contrary
things, opposing the child to the fullgrown woman, and the mistress to her
slave, all but crying out in plain words: I embrace indeed encyclical
instruction as a younger maiden and as a handmaiden, but I honor knowledge and
prudence as full-grown and a mistress. (155) And the expression, "She is in
thy hands," means, she is in thy power and subject to thee. And this is
also a symbol of something else of this nature, namely, that the qualities of
the handmaiden come to the hands of the body; for the encyclical branches of
knowledge have need of the bodily organs and faculties; but the qualities of the
mistress reach the soul; for the things which belong to prudence and knowledge
come under the province of reason; (156) so that in proportion as the mind is
more powerful and more efficacious than, and in short superior to, the hand, in
the same proportion also do I look upon knowledge and wisdom as more admirable
than encyclical accomplishment, and I honor them in a higher degree. Do thou,
therefore, O thou who both art the mistress, and who art so accounted by me,
take all my encyclical instruction and use it as thy handmaid, doing to it as it
shall seem good to thee; (157) for I am not unaware that whatever pleases thee
is in all respects good even though it may not always be pleasant, and is useful
even though it be far removed from being agreeable. But admonition and reproof
are both good and profitable to those who stand in need of correction, which
indeed the holy scriptures call by another name, and denominate affliction. XXVIII.
(158) On which account the historian presently adds, "And she afflicted
her;" an expression equivalent to, she admonished and corrected her. For a
sharp spear is very profitable for those who are corrupted by over security and
indolences, just as it is of use with restive horses; since they can scarcely be
subdued and made manageable by the whip and by gentle leading. (159) Do you not
see how they are utterly unaffected by the prizes proposed to Them?{38}{this is
scarcely sense, but the truth probably is that the passage is corrupt. Mangey
proposes one or two emendations, but they are not very satisfactory.} They are
fat, they are stout, they are sleek, they breathe hard; then they take up the
actions of impiety, miserable and wretched men that they are, seeking a
melancholy reward, being proclaimed and crowned as conquerors by ungodliness.
For by reason of the prosperity which was constantly flowing gently towards
them, they looked upon themselves as silver or golden gods, after the fashion of
adulterated money, forgetting the real and true coinage. (160) And Moses
testifies to this view of the matter when he says, "He got fat, he became
stout, he became swollen, and forsook God who had created
Him."{39}{Deuteronomy 32:15.} So that if excessive relaxation begets the
greatest of all evils, impiety, its contrary, affliction, in accordance with the
law produces that perfect good, much praised correction; (161) and proceeding
outward from this point, he also calls the unleavened bread the symbol of the
first festival, "the bread of Affliction."{40}{Deuteronomy 16:3.} And
yet who is there who does not know that feasts and festivals produce cheerful
joy and delectation, and not affliction? (162) But it is plain that he is here
using in a perverted sense this word for the labor of him who is the corrector.
For the most numerous and greatest blessings are usually acquired by laborious
practice and exercise, and by vigorously excited labor. But the festival of the
soul is emulation, which is labor to attain those things which are most
excellent and which are brought to perfection; on which account it is expressly
commanded to "eat the unleavened bread with bitter Herbs;"{41}{Exodus
12:8.} not by way of an additional dish, but because men in general look upon
the fact of being prevented from swelling and boiling over with their appetites,
but being forced to contract and restrain them as a grievous thing, thinking it
a bitter thing to unlearn the indulgence of their passions, which is the real
feast and festival of a mind which loves honorable contests. XXIX.
(163) It is for this reason that the law, as it appears to men, was given in a
place which is called Bitterness; for to do wrong is pleasant, but to act justly
is laborious. And this is the most unerring law; for the sacred history says,
"And after they had gone out from the passions of XXX.
(168) This unleavened cake is so sacred that it is enjoined in the holy
scriptures, "to place in the innermost part of the temple, on the golden
table, twelve loaves of unleavened bread, corresponding in number to the twelve
tribes; and those loaves shall be called the shew-Bread."{43}{Exodus
25:30.} (169) And again, it is in the law expressly "forbidden to offer any
leaven or any honey upon the Altar;"{44}{Leviticus 2:11.} for it is a
difficult thing to consecrate as holy either the sweetnesses of the pleasures
according to the body, or the light and unsubstantial elations of the soul,
since they are by their own intrinsic nature profane and unholy. (170) Does not,
then, the prophetic word, by name Moses, very rightly speak in dignified
language when he says, "Thou shall remember all the road by which the Lord
God led thee in the wilderness, and how he afflicted thee, and tried thee, and
proved thee, that he might know what was in thy heart, and whether thou wouldest
keep his commandments. Did he not afflict thee and oppress thee with hunger, and
feed thee with manna which thy fathers know not, that he might make thee know
that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of
the mouth of God?"{45}{Deuteronomy 8:2.} (171) Who, then, is so impious as
to conceive that God is one who afflicts, and who brings that most pitiable
death of hunger upon those who are not able to live without food? For God is
good, and the cause of good things, bounteous, the Savior, the supporter, the
giver of wealth, the giver of great gifts, driving out wickedness from the
sacred boundaries; for thus did he drive out the burdens of the earth, Adam and
Cain, from paradise. (172) Let us, then, not be led aside by words, but let us
consider and examine what meaning is intended to be conveyed under figurative
expressions, and pronounce that the words "he afflicted," are
equivalent to "he instructed, and he admonished, and he corrected."
And when it is said that he oppressed them with hunger, it does not mean that he
caused a deficiency of meat and drink, but of pleasures, and desires, and fear,
and grief, and acts of injustice, and, in short, of all things which are the
works of wickedness or of the passions. (173) And what is said immediately
afterwards is an evidence of this: "He fed thee with manna." Is it,
then, proper to call that food which, without any exertion or hardship on his
part, and without any trouble of his is given to man, not out of the earth as is
usual, but from heaven, a marvelous work, afforded for the benefit of those who
are to be permitted to avail themselves of it, the cause of hunger and
affliction, and not rather, on the contrary, the cause of prosperity and
happiness, of freedom from fear, and of a happy state of orderly living? (174)
But men in general and the common herd think that those who are nourished on the
word of God live in a miserable and wretched manner; for they are without the
taste of the allnourishing food of wisdom; but they are not aware that they are
living in the height of happiness. XXXI.
(175) Thus, therefore, there is a certain description of affliction which is
profitable, so that its very most humiliating form, even slavery, is accounted a
great good. And there is a father who is recorded in the sacred writings as
having prayed for this, for his son, namely, the most excellent Isaac for the
foolish Esau; (176) for he says somewhere, "By thy sword shall thou live,
and thou shall serve thy Brother."{46}{Genesis 27:40.} Judging that destiny
to be the most advantageous one for a man who had chosen war rather than peace,
and who was as it were constantly armed and engaged in battle, by reason of the
sedition and disorder constantly existing in his soul, the destiny namely of
being a subject and a servant, and of obeying all the commands which the lover
of temperance should lay upon him. (177) And it is from this consideration, as
it appears to me that one of the disciples of Moses, by name the peaceful, who
in his native language is called Solomon, says, "My son, neglect not the
instruction of God, and be not grieved when thou art reproved by him; for whom
the Lord loveth he chasteneth; and scourgeth every son whom he
Received."{47}{Proverbs 3:11.} Thus, then, scourging and reproof are looked
upon as good, so that by means of it agreement and relationship with God arise.
For what can be more nearly related than a son is to his father, and a father to
his son? (178) But that we may not seem to be too prolix connecting one argument
with another, we will, besides what we have already said, just add one most
evident proof that a certain description of affliction is the work of virtue.
For there is such a law a this, "Thou shall not afflict any widow or
orphan, but if thou dost afflict them with wickedness." ... What does this
mean? Is it then possible to be afflicted by something else? For if afflictions
were the work of wickedness alone, then it would be superfluous to add what
would be admitted by all, and which would be understood without any such
addition. (179) But, you will most certainly say, I know that men are reproved
by virtue, and instructed by wisdom; on which account I do not blame every kind
of affliction, but I very greatly admire that which is the work of justice and
of the law; for that corrects by means of punishment, but that which proceeds
from folly and wickedness and is pernicious, I do, as becomes me, detest, and
pronounce real evil. (180) When, therefore, you hear that Hagar was afflicted by
Sarah, you must not suppose that any of those things befell her, which arise
from rivalry and quarrels among women; for the question is not here about woman,
but about minds; the one being practiced
in the branches of elementary instruction, and the other being devoted to the
labors of virtue. |
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