PHILO

WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY F. H. COLSON, M.A.

LATE FELLOW OF ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

IN TEN VOLUMES (AND TWO SUPPLEMENTARY VOLUMES)

VI

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS

LONDON WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD

MCMLXXXIV

American ISBN 0-674-99319-5 British ISBN 0 434 99289 5

First printed 1935 Feprinted 1950, 1959, 1966, 1984

Printed in Great Britain

CONTENTS OF VOLUME VI

PREFACE . . 2. ce «© « e GENERAL INTRODUCTION. . . 26 © « « « List oF Puito’s WorKS ... . «2% « e

On AsranamM (De ABRAHAMO)—

Introduction . .. . . .« « «© «© « Text and Translation

On JoserH (De loserHo)—-

Introduction . . - . + «6 « w» « Text and Translation . ..... -«

Moses I. ann IJ. (De Vira Mosis)—

Introduction Text and Translation

APPENDICES— I. To De Abrahamo II. To De Losepho . III. To De Vita Mosis,i. . Ὁ τὰν oe ἐν IV. To De Vita Mosis,ii.. . . i te V. Supplement to Textual Footnotes.

PREFACE TO VOLUME VI

Mr. Wuitaker left no work of any kind bearing on the contents of this volume, and it therefore appears in my name only.

The great difference of subject matter from the five previous volumes has made the long detailed analytical introductions less necessary and where the narrative runs on continuously for a considerable length almost useless. I have accordingly retained them only in a very modified form. I have continued to divide the annotation into footnotes which seemed needed for the comprehension of the passages and appendix notes mainly for illustration, but both foot- notes and appendix are considerably diminished.

One point perhaps requires apology or at least justification. What appears here as the Second Book of the Life of Moses was before the publication of Cohn’s edition divided into two, a Second Book of twelve Chapters, and a Third Book of thirty-nine. Cohn who has demonstrated the erroneousness of this division,* takes the middle course of numbering the Chapters as of two books, but the sections as of one. Since Cohn originated the arrangement by sections this was probably the wiser course. But now that citation by sections is superseding the old citation by

See note on p. 274, τὸ Vu

PREFACE

chapters this difference of arrangement between sec- tions and chapters seemed to me confusing and I have accordingly numbered the chapters continuously from 1 to 50; and therefore in tracing a reference to a par- ticular chapter of De Vita Mosis, iii. my readers will have to subtract twelve. I hope any inconvenience caused by this will be diminished by the fact that most, if not all, references to Philo in earlier writers cite not only the chapters of a treatise but the Mangey pages, which of course remain unchanged.

I may add that Dr. Rouse’s help, which has been generously given throughout, has been particularly useful in this volume.

F. H.C. April 1935.

viii

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

In this volume we enter upon the second main divi- sion of Philo’s works. The preceding five volumes have been occupied with what is usually called the commentary or allegorical commentary. We now pass on to his Exposition of the Laws to which the biographical treatises in this volume serve as an in- troduction. Philo starts with the assumption that the Pentateuch as a whole is a law-book written by the lawgiver himself. But this law-book obviously opens and continues with a large amount of material whichis not, strictly speaking, legislative butnarrative. Hence the theory is developed that Moses began with describing the foundation of the world-commonwealth or cosmopolis which was to be governed by the laws, and followed it by describing the lives of those who had observed those laws while still unwritten and were therefore themselves “ living laws,’’ as well as

4 Or perhaps I shall rather say “ re-enter,” as De Abr. assumes that the De Opijficio is the opening book of the ‘* Exposition.”” And so the German translators begin with the De Op. and proceed at once to De Abr. In this transla- tion we have followed the traditional arrangement, which is also that adopted by Cohn and Wendland, not perhaps with- out justification. It must be noted that if De Op. begins the Exposition, it serves the same purpose for the Commentary which begins with Gen. ii. 1, and seems to assume that the story of Creation has been adequately dealt with.

1X

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

the rewards which obedience, and the punishments

which disobedience, in the past had incurred. He

has already in the De Opificio expounded Moses’ story

of the cosmogony. In the four treatises contained

in this volume and two others which have not been

akin he deals with the rest of what he calls the istorical part of the legislation.

The general plan of the first three of these six treatises, namely the extant Abraham and the lost Isaac and Jacob, was to shew that Moses set before us the history of the soul in two triads. The first triad, Enos, Enoch and Noah, represent respectively Hope, Repentance or Improvement, and Justice. These three are the imperfectly wise, for though Justice is the Queen of virtues and indeed Noah is called perfect, he is only perfect in his generation— that is, relatively only—and therefore falls below the second triad of the truly wise. This triad, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, represent respectively Wisdom or Virtue as acquired by teaching, nature and practice. The first triad is disposed of in §§ 7-47 of De Abrahamo ; the second forms the subject of the rest of that treatise, and no doubt of the two that have been lost.

The formula Nature (natural ability), Teaching, Practice as covering the necessary requirements for education is a commonplace in ancient scholastic literature. Philo is the first, so far as I know, to apply it to spiritual life, and we have met with this application frequently in the Allegorical Com- mentary.* But though it is one of his leading ideas, he takes little pains to show how it fits the three great Patriarchs. The chequered career of Jacob, “ long

@ Cf. De Sac. 5 f., De Cong. 35 f., De Mut. 12 and note, De Som. i. 160, 167, 173.

x

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

trained in the athletics of adversity,’ * qualifies him no doubt for the name of the Practiser so regularly applied to him, but it is difficult to see how Abraham pre-eminently represents wisdom acquired by teach- ing. True, he receives and obeys the Divine instruc- tions, but so do Isaac and Jacob, though perhaps in a lesser degree, and Isaac’s name of the Self-Taught does not exclude discipleship to God. What, if any- thing, Philo found in the life of Isaac to justify this epithet applied to him almost as often as Practiser is to Jacob he never tells τ. I imagine that the idea rests chiefly on the meaning of the name. Isaac is ‘laughter ”’ and therefore “ joy,’ and joy is the result, or as he calls it, the reward when the mind finds what it seeks instinctively and without labour.°¢

The De Abrahamo after the first 47 sections gives the main incidents of Abraham’s life, not in chronological order, but to illustrate his piety, hospitality, tact and kindness, courage and self-control. In every case except the last, which describes Abraham’s resigna- tion at the death of Sarah, the narrative is followed by an allegorical interpretation. The general prin- ciples of these allegories is much the same as in the Commentary, but the method is in one respect very different. No knowledge of the Pentateuch beyond the passage under discussion is supposed to be possessed by the reader, and consequently there is

* De Ios. 26.

Ὁ Though Stanley discovered in Isaac a gentleness and meditativeness which distinguishes him from the other two. See, for “ the gentle Isaac,”” Jewish Church, i. p. 32.

¢ See, particularly De Praemiis 50, where also faith is said to be the “ reward ”’ of the soul which learns by teaching, since instruction requires the readiness of the instructed to believe. This passage perhaps gives us the best clue to the meaning which Philo attaches to the formula.

xi

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

none of the rambling from text to text or of the insetting in the main allegory of minor allegories suggested by casual phrases, which constitutes the most striking characteristic and the chief difficulty of the other set of treatises.

The De Iosepho is something of an excrescence in the scheme. The qualities of the ideal “politician ”’ or “᾿ statesman ”’ might serve as an effective supple- ment to those of the contemplative and philosophical life, but they do not bear much relation to the three types of Nature, Teaching and Practice, and when Philo in the De Praemiis® gives a sort of recapitu- latory survey of the historical part of the law-book, while Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses are all dis- cussed again, there is no word of Joseph. I should imagine that he felt, what of course is true, that in the Joseph chapters of Geresis he had a fine dramatic - story which could not be without undue compression worked into the life of Jacob, a story rich in incidents which offer themselves for epic narrative, and in situations which gave full scope for the rhetorical exhibitions in which his age delighted. If in view of contemporary .misgovernment he felt a pleasure in showing how justly Egypt had once been governed by a Jew, the feeling was only natural.

The treatment of the life of Joseph in the De Iosepho makes a startling contrast to the persistent deprecia- tion to which his character has been subjected through- out the Allegorical Commentary. There he is the man wise in his own conceit, the philosopher of statecraft rather than truth,° the honourer of spurious goods,@ whose study is of the body and vain imaginations,é

@ §§ 29-56. δ Leg. All. iii. 179. 6 Quod Det. 7 4 De Sob, 14. De Agr. 56.

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GENERAL INTRODUCTION

the many-sided vanity of life.¢ One explanation given is that the two opposing views belong to different periods and stages in Philo’s life. Pro- fessor Goodenough ® ascribes it to the difference of audiences addressed in the Exposition and the Com- mentary, or to a chronic vacillation in Philo’s own temperament, or to both together. I am inclined to think that the “ chronic vacillation of character ”’ is enough in itself, though I should prefer to call it a chronic tendency to see both sides of a question alternately or even simultaneously. Philo un- doubtedly looks upon the philosophical life as the highest, and the practical life which includes the political as a necessary evil. But he is as firm upon the necessity of the latter as on the superiority of the former, and further the lower may be conceived of as a discipline or stepping-stone to the higher. If this is realized, the twofold representation of Joseph will not present insuperable difficulties. The main fact in the life of Joseph was that he lived in Egypt and was Pharaoh’s viceroy. Since Egypt spiritually is the body and the King of Egypt the body-loving mind, Joseph may represent the agent which that king employs for his baser purposes. He is not from this point of view a historical person, but a τρόπος or temperament ὁ and Philo has no difficulty in finding isolated facts and passages which can be made to

4“ De Conf. 71. Besides these and many others note especially the sustained depreciation in De Som. ii. 10-16 and often later in the same treatise.

δ “* Philo’s Exposition of the Law and his De Vita Mosis,” Harvard Theological Review, April 1933.

¢ Or “ one of the traits or feelings existing in every man’s soul,’’ as he is definitely stated to be in De Som. ii. 98. From

this point of view we are told to forget the actual cruelty of the brothers.

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GENERAL INTRODUCTION

bear this out. His coat of many colours, his name of “addition ᾿᾿ signifying adventitious goods, his mounting the second chariot, his swearing by the health of Pharaoh, the arrogant claims of his dreams, can all be pressed into service, while anything that does not fit can, if needed, be ignored. On the other hand, political life is also capable of bringing out higher qualities, and of those the historical Joseph is the obvious exemplar. In fact, Philo’s treatment of Joseph gives us the clearest example of his belief that the spiritual truths which may “ break out of the Word ”’ are manifold, not only different, but even at first sight contradictory.?

On the whole, these two treatises proceed on the same general method, though in De Josepho the rhetorical element is far more and the allegorical less conspicuous. But the two books on the life of Moses stand to some extent by themselves. The opening of the first book does not suggest that it is a sequel to the four that have preceded, but assigns a different reason for its composition, viz. that its object is to make the story and character of the great legislator

* Not but that opposing facts are sometimes too strong and numerous to be ignored. Thus in De Mig. 16-24, when the allegory is based on the carrying of Joseph’s bones to Canaan, these “* bones ’’ or memorable actions are catalogued, and even in De Som. ii., where the representation of him as the impersonation of vanity is most developed, the hope is held out that ultimately he will be reconciled with his brethren (§ 108). Again, when the allegory demands a more favour- able view, as when the point is that he jinds his brethren, he becomes the man who mixes in public life, but has no thirst for fame (πολιτικὸς μὲν ἥκιστα δὲ δοξομανής, De Fuga 126).

ὃ For instance, the coat of many colours, which has served in De Som. i. 219 to represent the falseness of the mere politician, stands in De Jos. 32 for the resourcefulness in peace and war of the true statesman.

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GENERAL INTRODUCTION

known to the outer world. The constitution of the book is also very different. Allegory is almost en- tirely banished from the narrative and confined to ex- planation of the priest’s vestments and the form and apparatus of the Tabernacle. Regarded as biography, they are not so satisfactory as the De Abrahamo and the De Iosepho. Philo’s arrangement of the life of Moses under the four heads of king, lawgiver, priest and prophet does, no doubt, serve for a logical basis to the work, but it leads him into many oddities. While the story of Moses as king or leader is carried on consistently to the end of Exodus xviii., what next to the deliverance itself is the central point of the story, the theophany on Sinai, is entirely omitted ; the account of Balaam and Balak, which has little to do with Moseshimself,is given at disproportionate length, while the stories of the Red Sea and the Manna and the Golden Calf are given twice over.

These and other considerations have led what is probably the great majority of scholars to think that the two books are not an integral part of the Exposi- tion, but a work composed on a separate occasion, and (at least in the eyes of those who consider the Ex- position to be intended primarily for Jewish readers) @

@ Any discussion of this disputed question may be left till we come to the Laws themselves in the next volume. Mean- while I find it difficult to resist the general impression that Philo in writing the De Abrahamo and De Iosepho as well as the De Vita Mosis, in which the fact is admitted, had Gentiles rather than Jews in view. Observe, for instance (unless it is to be put down as a mere mannerism), the strict economy of names in all four books. Just as neither Balaam nor even Aaron in the third and fourth is ever mentioned by name, so too Lot in the first and the brothers in the second (even when they act or speak individually) are only indicated by their relationship to Abraham or Jacob.

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GENERAL INTRODUCTION

for a different audience. While not venturing to hold the contrary I do not feel enough confidence in Philo’s consistency of method to regard this as certain. Anyhow, the fact is clear that, however and for whom- soever composed, the two books effect what indeed is implied in the recapitulatory survey in the De Praemiis, where Moses is joined with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as the recipient of the rewards of obedience which the Pentateuch in Philo’s view is intended to preach. Without them his survey of the lessons of the history which is begun in the De Abrahamo and his portrait of the “‘ Living Laws ’’* would be hopelessly incomplete, and their right place in the series is that which has been given them in all editions and is re- tained in this translation.

Taking the four books as a whole I would make two comments. One is that the separate stories are . admirably told with much fire, vigour and lucidity. The “stilted and frigid ὃ speeches repel us, but to Greek readers living in the age of Epideictic oratory they would be congenial enough. As for the narra- tives themselves, none of us would wish to exchange them for the sacred simplicity of our own version. But the Gentile readers who had no such associations must have found them a pleasant contrast to the harsh Greek of the Septuagint.

4 Moses is of course primarily the lawgiver, rather than himself the law, and Philo may possibly have shrunk from saying that Moses the biographer intended his own biography to serve the same purpose as the biographies of the patriarchs. ee hs title of ‘‘ Living Law ”’ is applied to him in De Mos. 1. 162.

ὃ The epithets are quoted from my own judgement of them as given in the General Introduction to Vol. I. p xxii. I am inclined now to modify them with regard to some of the speeches.

xvi

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

The second point is the essential fidelity with which Philo adheres to the narrative of Scripture. Though he professes to draw also from the Tradition of the Elders, there is little or none of the legendary accre- tions with which the Book of Jubilees, the so-called ‘ Antiquities of Philo’ and even Josephus, to say nothing of later Rabbinical tradition, endeavour to ἡ embellish the history of the Patriarchs and of Moses.¢ There is of course any amount of amplification: that is according to the practice of many if not most ancient historians, who consider it their business not merely to state but to interpret facts—to infer what the actors probably would have felt, said, or done in the given circumstances. A good example is the description of the battle of Abraham and 318 men against the four kings,® where the Lxx “he came upon them by night and smote them ” is expanded into “he attacked the enemy by night when they had supped and were preparing to go tosleep. Some fell helpless victims to him in their beds, others who took arms against him were completely annihilated,’ with a few more words about the extinction of the whole army. AsJosephus, Ant.i. 177,° gives similar details,

4 The closest approach to this is the account of Moses’ education in Mos. i. 21 ff., but even this is merely a state- ment of what an Egyptian prince would, in Philo’s view, have naturally been taught. ὃ De Abr. 233 f.

° As the relation of Josephus’s narrative to Philo’s may be of interest to some readers, I may remark here that Cohn in the introduction to his fourth volume, p. xxv, considers that Josephus did make use of Philo, particularly of MMos. i. and ii. He quotes ten examples of similar thought and phrases, mainly the former. Thackeray, in his notes to the Loeb translation of Ant. i. and ii., cites some five instances of the kind from the De Abr. and De Jos. The resemblance of thought in Ant. i. 18 f. to the opening of De Op. is far more striking, but clearly Josephus may have read that work or

| xvii

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

this is quoted as a “ striking parallel,’ but surely it merely describes what is naturally to be expected in a successful night attack by a small force against a larger.

As for the text, we find nothing corresponding to _ the difficulties and corruptions which we found in the first five volumes. In the first place the mss., at least those which are used by Cohn, are far more numerous. They vary from thirteen in number to eleven, whereas in the other set of treatises the maxi- mum was seven, and in three cases the editor was forced to rely on one or two codices, none of them remarkable for accuracy. Secondly, the straight- forward narrative as opposed to the tortuous argu- ment of the Allegorical Commentary was apparently handled by the scribes with greater ease and accuracy. Consequently, though there are plenty of the minor ‘differences certain to be found in this larger number of mss. so that the Apparatus Criticus is no shorter, the emendations adopted by Cohn are few and in only one case has the present translator ventured to add any to the list.

its opening, without reading or at least making systematic use of the other treatises. I think this last should be regarded as somewhat uncertain, but see note on pp. 608 f.

XVili

LIST OF PHILO’S WORKS

SHOWING THEIR DIVISION INTO VOLUMES

IN THIS EDITION

VOLUME

I.

II.

III.

IV.

On the Creation (De Opificio Mundi) Allegorical Interpretation (Legum Allegoria)

On the Cherubim (De Cherubim)

On the Sacrifices of Abel and Cain (De Sacrificiis Abelis et Caini)

The Worse attacks the Better (Quod Deterius Potiori insidiari solet)

On the Posterity and Exile of Cain (De Posteritate Caini)

On the Unchangeableness of God (Quod Deus im- mutabilis sit)

On Husbandry (De Agricultura)

On Noah’s Work as a Planter (De Plantatione)

On Drunkenness (De Ebrietate)

On Sobriety (De Sobrietate)

On the Confusion of Tongues (De Confusione Lin- guarum)

On the Migration of Abraham (De Migratione Abrahami)

Who is the Heir (Quis Rerum Divinarum Heres)

On the Preliminary Studies (De Congressu quaerendae Eruditionis gratia)

V. on Flight and Finding (De Fuga et Inventione) On

VI.

the Change of Names (De Mutatione Nominum) On Dreams (De Somniis)

On Abraham (De Abrahamo)

_ On Joseph (De Iosepho)

Moses (De Vita Mosis)

LIST OF PHILO’S WORKS

VOLUME ᾿

VII.

VIII.

On the Decalogue (De Decalogo) On the Special Laws Books I-III (De Specialibus Legibus) On τς Special Laws Book 1V (De Specialibus Legi- us On the Virtues (De Virtutibus)

On Rewards and Punishments (De Praemiis et Poenis)

IX. Every ile Man is Free (Quod Omnis Probus Liber sit On the Contemplative Life (De Vita Contemplativa) On the Eternity of the World (De Aeternitate Mundi) Flaccus (In Flaccum) Hypothetica 1 (Apologia pro ludaeis) On Providence! (De Providentia) X. On the Embassy to Gaius (De Legatione ad Gaium) Genera InpEx to Votumes I-X SUPPLEMENT I. Questions and Answers on Genesis? (Quaestiones et Solutiones in Genesin) II. Questions and Answers on Exodus? (Quaestiones et

XX

Solutiones in Exodum) GENERAL INDEx TO SupPLEMENTs I-II

1 Only two fragments extant. 8 Hxtant only in an Armenian version,

ON ABRAHAM (DE ABRAHAMO)

INTRODUCTION TO DE ABRAHAMO

AFTER stating his intention to follow Moses in describin the “ living ” before proceeding to the written Laws (1-6 Philo deals with the first and less perfect triad. First Enos the hoper, whose name equivalent to “‘ Man ” shows that hope is the first mark of a true man (7-10). Secondly repentance represented by Enoch, who was “ transferred ”’ i.e. to a better life and was “ not found,” for the good are rare and solitary (17-26). Thirdly, Noah, who was “just ”’ in comparison with the wicked generation destroyed by the Flood (27-46).

The higher triad of the three great Patriarchs are not only typical of the trinity, Teaching, Nature and Practice, but are also the parents of Israel, the soul which attains to the sight of God (48-59). To come to Abraham himeelf, the literal story of his migrations shows his self-sacrifice (60-67) ; allegorically it denotes the soul’s journey from godless astronomy first to self-knowledge (Haran), then to the knowledge of God (68-88). His adventures in Egypt (89-98) suggest that the tortures which plagued Pharaoh represent what the sensual mind suffers from the virtues which, while it professes to love them, are incompatible with it (99-106). Next comes the story of the three Angelic Visitors (107-118). Allegorically they represent the Self-existent and the beneficent and sovereign potencies apprehended according as the soul can rise to the full conception or is moved by hope of benefits or fear, and Philo points out that while men distrust these last motives, God does not hold them worthless (119-132). In fact the tale of the destruction of the Cities of the Plain represents the Self-existent as leaving these tasks to His subordinates

2

ON ABRAHAM

(133-146). This leads him to an allegory in which the five cities are the five senses, the noblest of which, sight, is figured by Zoar (147-166).

Next comes the sacrifice of Isaac (167-177). The great- ness of Abraham is vindicated against hostile criticisms based on the frequency of similar stories of child immolation (178-199). Allegorically the story means that a devout soul often feels a duty of surrendering its ‘ Isaac,’”’ Joy, which nevertheless through God’s mercy it is allowed to retain (200-207). |

These narratives have illustrated Abraham’s piety. Next comes his kindness to men as shewn in his settlement of the dispute with Lot (208-216). This dispute may be taken to represent allegorically the incompatibility of love for the goods of the soul with love for bodily or external things (217-224). Then his courage appears in his victory over the four kings who had routed the armies of the five cities (225-235), and this conflict is allegorized as one between the four passions and the five senses, in which the intervention of reason turns the scale against the former (236-244). Philo now goes on to say something of the virtues of Sarah, particularly as shewn by her advocacy of the mating with Hagar (245-254) and this leads on to an account of the grief coupled with resignation shown by Abraham at her death (255-261). The treatise concludes with an eloquent praise of Abraham’s faith and of his right to the title of ‘‘ Elder ’’ and the crowning tribute that he both did the law and was himself the Law (262-endq).

ΒΙΟΣ ΣΟΦΟΥ͂ TOY KATA ΔΙΔΑΣΚΑΛΙΑΝ ΤΕΛΕΙΏΘΕΝΤΟΣ H NOMON ΑΓΡΑΦΩΝ <TO ΠΡΩΤΟΝΣ O EXTI ΠΕΡῚ ΑΒΡΑΑΜ

“- “- 4 [1 1 Τῶν ἱερῶν νόμων ἐν πέντε βίβλοις ἀναγραφέν-

aA ’ 3 τῶν ἡ πρώτη καλεῖται Kal ἐπιγράφεται Teveois ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου γενέσεως, ἣν ἐν ἀρχῇ περιέχει, λαβοῦσα τὴν πρόσρησιν, καίτοι μυρίων ἄλλων ἐμφερομένων πραγμάτων, ὅσα κατ᾽ εἰρήνην ἢ πό-

“A A A 9 ’ Ἅ A A 9 , εμον ἣ φορὰς Kai ἀφορίας ἢ λιμὸν καὶ εὐθηνίαν

A “- A

ἢ τὰς μεγίστας τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς φθορὰς διὰ πυρὸς καὶ ὕδατος ἢ τοὐναντίον γενέσεις καὶ εὐτροφίας ζῴων

. A “- “- 3 “- καὶ φυτῶν κατὰ τὴν ἀέρος καὶ τῶν ἐτησίων ὡρῶν εὐκρασίαν καὶ ἀνδρῶν τῶν μὲν ἀρετῇ τῶν δὲ κακίᾳ 2 συμβιωσάντων" ἀλλ᾽ ἐπεὶ τούτων τὰ μέν ἐστι τοῦ κόσμου μέρη, τὰ δὲ παθήματα, τελειότατον δὲ καὶ

, ε , 9. αὶ \ [ἡ / πληρέστατον ὁ κόσμος, αὐτῷ τὴν ὅλην βίβλον ἀνέθηκεν. ὃν μὲν οὖν τρόπον ἡ κοσμο- ποιία διατέτακται, διὰ τῆς προτέρας συντάξεως, ὡς οἷόν τε | ἦν, ἠκριβώσαμεν. ἐπεὶ δὲ τοὺς νόμους A A ChA A 3 , 9 a

κατὰ τὸ ἑξῆς (Kat) ἀκόλουθον ἀναγκαῖον διερευ- νᾶσθαι, τῶν ἐπὶ μέρους καὶ ὡς ἂν εἰκόνων ὑπέρ- θεσιν ποιησάμενοι τοὺς καθολικωτέρους καὶ ὡς ἂν

[2]

«2,96. the Deluge and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Philo classes these two together, ignoring the purely local character of the latter. Compare his treatment of the two in Jfos. ii. 52-65, and cf. 7b. 263.

4

ΟΝ ABRAHAM

THAT IS, THE LIFE OF THE WISE MAN MADE PERFECT THROUGH TEACHING, OR THE FIRST BOOK ON UN- WRITTEN LAWS

I. The first of the five books in which the holy 1 laws are written bears the name and inscription of Genesis, from the genesis or creation of the world, an account of which it contains at its beginning. It has received this title in spite of its embracing numberless other matters ; for it tells of peace and war, of fruitfulness and barrenness, of dearth and plenty ; how fire and water wrought great destruc- tion of what is on earth; how on the other hand plants and animals were born and throve through the kindly tempering of the air and the yearly seasons, and so too men, some of whom lived a life of virtue, others of vice. But since some of these things are 2 parts of the world, and others events which befall it, and the world is the complete consummation which contains them all, he dedicated the whole book to it.

The story of the order in which the world was. made has been set forth in detail by us as well as was possible in the preceding treatise ὃ ; but, since 3 it is necessary to carry out our examination of the law in regular sequence, let us postpone considera- tion of particular laws, which are, so to speak, copies, and examine first those which are more general and

> 4.e. the De Opificio. See General Introduction to this volume, p. ix, note a. 5

PHILO

4 ἀρχετύπους προτέρους διερευνήσωμεν. οὗτοι δέ εἶσιν ἀνδρῶν ot ἀνεπιλήπτως καὶ καλῶς βιώσαντες, ὧν τὰς ἀρετὰς ἐν ταῖς ἱερωτάταις ἐστηλιτεῦσθαι γραφαῖς συμβέβηκεν, οὐ πρὸς τὸν ἐκείνων ἔπαινον αὐτὸ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑπὲρ τοῦ τοὺς ἐντυγχάνοντας προτρέψασθαι καὶ ἐπὶ τὸν ὅμοιον ζῆλον ἀγαγεῖν.

5 οἱ γὰρ ἔμψυχοι καὶ λογικοὶ νόμοι ἄνδρες ἐκεῖνοι γεγόνασιν, οὗς δυοῖν χάριν ἐσέμνυνεν" ἑνὸς μὲν βουλόμενος ἐπιδεῖξαι, ὅ ὅτι τὰ τεθειμένα διατάγματα τῆς φύσεως οὐκ ἀπᾷάδει, δευτέρου δὲ ὅ ὅτι οὐ πολὺς πόνος. τοῖς ἐθέλουσι κατὰ τοὺς κειμένους νόμους ζῆν, ὁ ὁπότε καὶ ἀγράφῳ τῇ νομοθεσίᾳ, πρίν τι τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀναγραφῆναι τῶν ἐν μέρει, ῥᾳδίως καὶ εὐ- πετῶς ἐχρήσαντο ot πρῶτοι" ὡς δεόντως ἄν τινα φάναι, τοὺς τεθέντας νόμους μηδὲν ἀλλ᾽ ἢ ὑπο- μνήματα εἶναι βίου τῶν παλαιῶν, ἀρχαιολογοῦντας

6ε ἔργα καὶ λόγους, οἷς ἐχρήσαντο. ἐκεῖνοι γὰρ οὔτε γνώριμοι καὶ φοιτηταὶ γενόμενοί τινων οὔτε παρὰ διδασκάλοις ἃ χρὴ πράττειν καὶ λέγειν ἀναδιδαχ- θέντες, αὐτήκοοι δὲ καὶ αὐτομαθεῖς, ἀκολουθίαν φύσεως ἀσπασάμενοι, τὴν φύσιν αὐτήν, ὅπερ ἐστὶ πρὸς ἀλήθειαν, πρεσβύτατον θεσμὸν εἶναι ὑπο- λαβόντες ἅπαντα τὸν βίον ηὐνομήθησαν, ὑπαίτιον μὲν οὐδὲν ,γνώμαις ἑκουσίοις “ἐργασάμενοι, περὶ δὲ τῶν ἐκ τύχης ποτνιώμενοι τὸν θεὸν καὶ λιταῖς καὶ ἱκεσίαις ἐξευμενιζόμενοι πρὸς ὁλοκλήρου μετουσίαν ζωῆς δι᾽ ἀμφοτέρων κατορθουμένης τῶν τε ἐκ προνοΐας καὶ τῶν ἄνευ ἑκουσίου γνώμης.

7 II. ᾿Επειδὴ τοίνυν ἀρχὴ μετουσίας ἀγαθῶν ἐστιν ἐλπὶς καὶ ταύτην οἷα λεωφόρον ὁδὸν ἡ φιλάρετος

α See App. p. 597.

ON ABRAHAM, 4-7

may be called the originals of those copies. These 4 are such men as lived good and blameless lives, whose virtues stand permanently recorded in the most holy scriptures, not merely to sound their praises but for the instruction of the reader and as an inducement to him to aspire to the same ; for in 5 these men we have laws endowed with life and reason,? and Moses extolled them for two reasons. First he wished to shew that the enacted ordinances are not inconsistent with nature ; and secondly that those who wish to live in accordance with the laws as they stand have no difficult task, seeing that the first generations before any at all of the particular statutes was set in writing followed the unwritten law with perfect ease, so that one might properly say that the enacted laws are nothing else than memorials of the life of the ancients, preserving to a later generation their actual words and deeds. For they were not scholars or pupils of others, nor 6 did they learn under teachers what was right to say or do: they listened to no voice or instruction but their own: they gladly accepted conformity with nature, holding that nature itself was, as indeed it is, the most venerable of statutes, and thus their whole life was one of happy obedience to law. They committed no guilty action of their own free will or purpose, and where chance led them wrong they besought God’s mercy and propitiated Him with prayers and supplications, and thus secured a perfect life guided aright in both fields, both in their pre- meditated actions and in such as were not of freely- willed purpose.

II. Since, then, the first step towards the possession 7 of blessings is hope, and hope like a high road is

7

PHILO

ἀνατέμνει Kal ἀνοίγει ψυχὴ σπουδάζουσα τυχεῖν τοῦ πρὸς ἀλήθειαν καλοῦ, τὸν πρῶτον ἐλπίδος ἐραστὴν προσεῖπεν “ἄνθρωπον ᾿᾿ τὸ κοινὸν τοῦ γένους ὄνομα κατ᾽ ἐξαίρετον χάριν δωρησάμενος

8 αὐτῷ----Καλδαῖοι γὰρ τὸν ἄνθρωπον ᾿Ενὼς καλοῦσιν

[3]

10

e 4 A 3 , ” 9 ’ “- A - ὡς μόνου πρὸς ἀλήθειαν ὄντος ἀνθρώπου τοῦ τὰ ἀγαθὰ προσδοκῶντος καὶ ἐλπίσι χρησταῖς ἐφιδρυ-

U4 9 Ὁ σ΄ Ὁ \ , 3 ” μένου" ἐξ οὗ δῆλον, ὅτι τὸν δύσελπιν οὐκ ἄνθρωπον ἱλλ᾽ 9 θ δὲ e aA θ ’ \ > ’ ἀλλ᾽ ἀνθρωποειδὲς ἡγεῖται θηρίον τὸ οἰκειότατην ἀνθρωπίνης ψυχῆς, ἐλπίδα, ἀφῃρημένον. ὅθεν καὶ παγκά ως ὑμνῆσαι βουλόμενος τὸν εὔελπιν προ- εὐπών, ὅτι οὗτος ἤλπισεν ἐ ἐπὶ τὸν τῶν ὅλων πατέρα καὶ ποιητήν, ἐπιλέγει" “΄ αὕτη ἡ βίβλος | γενέσεως 9 ἀνθρώπων, καίτοι πατέρων καὶ πάππων ἤδη γεγονότων" ἀλλὰ τοὺς μὲν ἀρχηγέτας τοῦ μικτοῦ γένους ὑπέλαβεν εἶναι, τουτονὶ δὲ τοῦ καθαρωτάτου καὶ διηθημένου, ὁ ὅπερ ὄντως ἐστὶ λογικόν. καθάπερ γὰρ ποιητὴς “Ὅμηρος, μυρίων ποιητῶν ὄντων, κατ᾽ ἐξοχὴν ἔγεται, καὶ τὸ μέλαν ᾧ γράφομεν, καίτοι παντὸς ὃ μὴ εὐκόν ἐστι μέλανος ¢ ὄντος, καὶ ἄρχων ᾿Αθήνῃσιν ὁ ἐπώνυμος καὶ τῶν ἐννέα ἀρχόντων ἄριστος, ἀφ᾽ οὗ οἱ χρόνοι καταριθμοῦνται, τὸν αὐτὸν 9

τρόπον καὶ τὸν ἐλπίδι χρώμενον “᾿ ἄνθρωπον ᾿᾿ κατ > A 3 4 A 4 “- ” 9 ’ὔ ἐξοχὴν ὠνόμασε τὰ πλήθη τῶν ἄλλων ἀφησυχάσας

4 Philo uses “Chaldaean”’ as a synonym for Hebrew frequently in these works, though not in the treatises con- tained in Vols. I.-V.

> This argument, founded on Gen. iv. 26, txx ‘“‘ He called his name Enos ; he hoped to call on the name of the Lord God ”’ (E.V. “then began men to call upon the name of the Lord ’’) and on the fact that Enos is a poetical Hebrew term for “‘ man,”’ has already been given in substantially the same form in Quod Det. 138.

8

ON ABRAHAM, 7-10

constructed and opened up by the virtue-loving soul in its eagerness to gain true excellence, Moses called the first lover of hope “ Man,” thus bestowing on him as a special favour the name which is common to the race (for the Chaldean? name for Man is Enos), 8 on the grounds that he alone is a true man who expects good things and rests firmly on comfortable hopes.® This plainly shows that he regards a de- spondent person as no man but a beast in human shape, since he has been robbed of the nearest and ᾿ dearest possession of the human soul, namely hope. And, therefore, in his wish to give the highest praise 9 to the hoper, after first stating that he set his hope on the Father and Maker of all, he adds, “‘ this is the book of the coming into being of men,’’ though fathers and grandfathers had already come into being. But he held that they were the founders of the mixed race, but Enos of that from which all impurity had been strained, in fact of the race which is truly reasonable. For just as we give the title of 10 ‘“ the poet’ to Homer in virtue of his pre-eminence, though there are multitudes of poets besides him, and “‘the black’’* to the material with which we write, though everything is black which is not white, and “the Archon’”’¢ at Athens to the chief of the nine archons, the Archon Eponymos, from whose year of office dates are calculated, so too Moses gave the name of man in pre-eminence to him who cherished hope and left unnoticed the many others as un-

¢ μέλαν being the regular word for “ink.”

4 The 1st Archon was called simply ὁ ἄρχων, the 2nd ἄρχων βασιλεύς, the 3rd ἄρχων πολέμαρχος, the other nine θεσμοθέται. The addition of ἐπώνυμος (‘ who gives his name to dates,”’ etc.) seems to be a later use.

9

PHILO

ὡς οὐκ ἀξίων τῆς αὐτῆς προσρήσεως ἐπιλαχεῖν. 11 εὖ μέντοι καὶ τὴν βίβλον γενέσεως τοῦ πρὸς ἀλήθειαν ἀνθρώπου προσεῖπεν, οὐκ ἀπὸ σκο- ποῦ, διότι γραφῆς καὶ μνήμης ἄξιος ὁ εὔελπις, οὐ τῆς ἐν χαρτιδίοις ὑπὸ σητῶν διαφθαρησομένοις, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἐν ἀθανάτῳ τῇ φύσει, παρ᾽ ἧ τὰς σπου- δαίας πράξεις ἀναγράπτους εἶναι συμβέβηκεν. 12 εἰ μέντοι καταριθμήσειέ τις ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου καὶ γηγενοῦς, τὸν ὑπὸ μὲν Χαλδαίων ᾿Ενὼς “Ἑλλάδι δὲ διαλέκτῳ προσαγορευόμενον “‘ ἄνθρω- 13 πον "εὑρήσει τέταρτον. ἐν ἀριθμοῖς δὲ ἡ τετρὰς τετίμηται παρά τε τοῖς ἄλλοις φιλοσόφοις, 6 ὅσοι τὰς ἀσωμάτους οὐσίας καὶ νοητὰς ἠσπάσαντο, καὶ μάλιστα παρὰ Μωυσεῖ τῷ πανσόφῳ, ὃ ὃς σεμνύνων τὸν τέταρτον ἀριθμόν φησιν ὅτι “΄ ἅγιός ἐστι καὶ αἰνετός᾽᾽" δι᾿ ἃς δ᾽ αἰτίας ἐλέχθη, διὰ τῆς προτέρας 14 συντάξεως εἴρηται. ἅγιος δὲ καὶ ἐπαινετὸς ὁ εὔελπις, ὡς τοὐναντίον , ἄναγνος καὶ ψεκτὸς ὁ δύσελπις, φόβῳ πρὸς ἅπαντα συμβούλῳ κακῷ χρώμενος" οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτως ἐχθρὸν ἄλλο ἄλλῳ φασίν, ὡς ἐλπίδα φόβῳ καὶ φόβον ἐλπίδι: καὶ μήποτ᾽ εἰκότως" «προσδοκία μὲν γὰρ ἑκάτερον, ἁ ἡ μὲν ἀγαθῶν, ἡ δ᾽ ἔμπαλιν κακῶν, ἀκατάλλακτοι δ᾽ αἱ φύσεις τούτων καὶ ἀσύμβατοι. 16 III. τοσαῦτα μὲν ἀπόχρη περὶ ἐλπίδος εἰπεῖν, ἣν

4 So in Quod Det. 139 that “the hoper is written in the book of God” is deduced from ‘‘this is the book of the generation of men’? following on Gen. iv. 26. Of course the phrase introduces what is coming and begins a fresh para- graph. For a similar misunderstanding ο΄. the treatment of Gen. ii. 4, in Leg. All. i. 19, and of Gen. vi. 9 in § 31 below.

> Enos as Adam’s grandson would naturally be third, or, if Abel and Cain are reckoned, fifth. Philo may obtain the

10

ON ABRAHAM, 11-15

worthy to receive the same title. He did 11 well, too, in speaking of the book of the coming into being of the true man.* The word was appropriate because the hoper deserves a memorial written not on pieces of paper which moths shall destroy but in the undying book of nature where good actions are registered. Further, if we reckon the 12 generations from the first, the earth-born man, we shall find that he, who is called by the Chaldeans Enos and in our tongue Man, is fourth.2 Now the 13 number four has been held in high honour by the other philosophers who devoted themselves to the study of immaterial and conceptual realities, and especially by the all-wise Moses who when glorifying that number speaks of it as “‘ holy and for praise,”’ ¢ and why he so called it has been shewn in the former treatise.* Holy, too, and praiseworthy is the hopeful 14 man, Just as on the contrary the despondent is unholy and blameworthy, since in all things he takes fear for his evil counsellor ; for no two things are more at enmity with each other, men say, than fear and hope, and surely that is natural, for each is an expectation, hope of good, fear on the other hand of evil, and their natures are irreconcilable and incapable of agreement. III. No more need be said about 15

number he requires by omitting either Abel, because in Gen. iv. 25 Seth is spoken of as a substitute for him, or Cain as accursed. See App. p. 597.

¢ Or “ praiseworthy.”’ See Lev. xix. 24 “‘In. the fourth year the fruit shall be holy and aiverés to the Lord.” In De Plant. 119, Philo takes alverés (probably rightly) as meaning something for which we may praise the Lord. So, too, in De Som. i. 33, though there it is the fourth year which is aiverés, Here the adjective is applied to the number itself and, as the sequel shews, means worthy of praise.

3 De Op. 47 ff. ον

VOL. VI B 11

aes | PHILO

ἐπὶ θύραις οἷα πυλωρὸν ἡ φύσις ἱδρύσατο βασιλίδων τῶν ἔνδον ἀρετῶν, αἷς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐντυχεῖν μὴ ταύτην

16 προθεραπεύσαντας. πολλὰ μὲν οὖν οἱ νομοθέται, πολλὰ δὲ οἱ πανταχοῦ νόμοι πραγματεύονται περὶ τοῦ τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν ἐλευθέρων ἐλπίδων χρηστῶν ἀναπλῆσαι:" ὁ δ᾽ ἄνευ παραινέσεως δίχα τοῦ κελευ- σθῆναι γενόμενος εὔελπις ἀγράφῳ μὲν νόμῳ δὲ πάλιν αὐτομαθεῖ τὴν ἀρετὴν ταύτην πεπαίδευται, ὃν ἡ φύσις ἔθηκε.

11 Δευτέραν δ᾽ ἔλαχε τάξιν μετὰ τὴν ἐλπίδα ἡ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἁμαρτανομένοις μετάνοια καὶ βελτίωσις" ὅθεν ἑξῆς ἀναγράφει τὸν ἀπὸ χείρονος βίου πρὸς τὸν ἀμείνω μεταβαλόντα, ὃς καλεῖται παρὰ μὲν Ἑβραίοις ᾿Ενώχ, ὡς δ᾽ ἂν Ἕλληνες εἴποιεν ᾿ κε- χαρισμένος, ἐφ᾽ οὗ καὶ ταυτὶ λέλεκται, ὡς ἄρα

[4] 5: εὐηρέστησεν ᾿Ενὼχ τῷ θεῷ καὶ οὐχ ηὑρίσκετο,

18 ὅτι μετέθηκεν αὐτὸν ὁ θεός. ἡ γὰρ μετάθεσις τροπὴν eudaiver καὶ μεταβολήν" πρὸς δὲ τὸ βέλτιον ἡ μεταβολή, διότι προμηθείᾳ γίνεται θεοῦ" πᾶν γὰρ τὸ σὺν θεῷ καλὸν καὶ συμφέρον πάντως, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸ ἄνευ θείας ἐπιφροσύνης ἀλυσιτελές.

19 εὖ δ᾽ εἴρηται τὸ “᾿ οὐχ ηὑρίσκετο ᾿᾿ ἐπὶ τοῦ μετα- τεθειμένου, τῷ τὸν ἀρχαῖον καὶ ἐπίληπτον ἀπαλη- λίφθαι βίον καὶ ἠφανίσθαι καὶ μηκέθ' εὑρίσκεσθαι, καθάπερ εἰ μηδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐγένετο, ἢ τῷ τὸν μετατιθέμενον καὶ ἐν τῇ βελτίονι ταχθέντα 'τάξει δυσεύρετον εἶναι φύσει: πολύχουν μὲν γὰρ ἡ κακία, διὸ καὶ πολλοῖς ᾿ γνώριμον, σπάνιον δ᾽ ἡ ἀρετή, ὡς

20 μηδ᾽ ὑπ᾽ ὀλίγων καταλαμβάνεσθαι. καὶ ἄλλως ὁ

@ Gen. v. 24. The τἰἸχχ version “‘ Enoch was well-pleasing to God, and he was not found because God translated him”’

12

ON ABRAHAM, 15-20

the subject of hope, set by nature as a door-keeper at the portals of the royal virtues within, to which access cannot be gained unless we have first paid our respects to her. Great indeed are the efforts expended both by lawgivers and by laws in every nation in filling the souls of free men with comfort- able hopes; but he who gains this virtue of hope- fulness without being led to it by exhortation or command has been educated into it by a law which nature has laid down, a law unwritten yet intuitively learnt. '

The second place after hope is given to repentance for sins and to improvement, and, therefore, Moses mentions next in order him who changed from the worse life to the better, called by the Hebrews Enoch but in our language “‘recipient of grace.’’ We are told of him that he proved “‘to be pleasing to God and was not found because God transferred him,@’”’ for transference implies turning and changing, and the change is to the better because it is brought about by the forethought of God. For all that is done with God’s help is excellent and truly profitable, as also all that has not His directing care is unprofitable.

And the expression used of the trans- ferred person, that he was not found, is well said, either because the old reprehensible life is blotted out and disappears and is no more found, as though it had never been at all, or because he who is thus transferred and takes his place in the better class is naturally hard to find. For evil is widely spread and therefore known to many, while virtue is rare,

16

18

19

so that even the few cannot comprehend it. Besides, 20

(E.V. “ Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him ’’) is familiar from Hebrews xi. 5. See App. p. 597).

13

PHILO

μὲν φαῦλος ἀγορὰν καὶ θέατρα καὶ δικαστήρια βουλευτήριά τε καὶ ἐκκλησίας καὶ πάντα σύλλογον καὶ θίασον ἀνθρώπων ἅτε φιλοπραγμοσύνῃ συζῶν μετατρέχει, τὴν μὲν γλῶτταν ἀνιεὶς πρὸς ἄμετρον καὶ ἀπέραντον καὶ ἄκριτον διήγησιν, συγχέων ἅπαντα καὶ φύρων, ἀληθέσι ψευδῆ καὶ ῥητοῖς ἄρρητα καὶ ἴδια κοινοῖς καὶ ἱεροῖς βέβηλα καὶ σπουδαίοις γελοῖα ἀναμιγνύς, διὰ τὸ μὴ πεπαι- δεῦσθαι τὸ ἐν καιρῷ κάλλιστον, ἡ ἡσυχίαν, τὰ δὲ ὦ ὦτα 21 ἐπουρίσας" ἕνεκα πολυπράγμονος περιεργίας" τὰ γὰρ ἑτέρων εἴτε ἀγαθὰ εἴτ᾽ αὖ κακὰ γ ἔχεται μανθάνειν, ὡς αὐτίκα τοῖς μὲν φθονεῖν, ἐφ᾽ οἷς δὲ ἥδεσθαι: βάσκανον γὰρ καὶ μισόκαλον καὶ φιλοπόνηρον ὁ 22 φαῦλος φύσει. IV. ὁ δ᾽ ἀστεῖος ἔμπαλιν ἀπράγ- μονος. ζηλωτὴς βίου γεγονὼς ὑποχωρεῖ καὶ μόνωσιν ἀγαπᾷ, λανθάνειν τοὺς πο ods ἀξιῶν, οὐ διὰ μισανθρωπίαν--φιλάνθρωπος γάρ, εἰ καί τις ἄλλος, -- ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ προβεβλῆσθαι κακίαν, ἣν ὁ πολὺς ὄχλος ἀσπάζεται, χαίρων. μὲν ἐφ᾽ οἷς στένειν ἄξιον, 28 λυπούμενος δὲ ἐφ᾽ οἷς γεγηθέναι καλόν. ὧν ἕνεκα συγκλεισάμενος οἴκοι τὰ πολλὰ καταμένει μόλις τὰς κλισιάδας ὑπερβαίΐων 7) διὰ τοὺς ἐπιφοιτῶντας συνεχέστερον ἔξω πόλεως προελθὼν ἐν μοναγρίᾳ ποιεῖται τὰς διατριβὰς ἥδιον συμβιωταῖς χρώμενος τοῖς ἅπαντος τοῦ γένους ἀνθρώπων ἀρίστοις, ὦ ὧν τὰ μὲν σώματα διέλυσεν ὁ χρόνος, τὰς δ᾽ ἀρετὰς αἱ ἀπολειφθεῖσαι γραφαὶ ζωπυροῦσι διά τε ποιημάτων καὶ τῶν καταλογάδην συγγραμμάτων, οἷς ἡ ψυχὴ

i ἜΜ so Cohn, but the text is very doubtful. Some mss. have ἐπορθιάσας εὐπορίας (with variations of order and spelling), others ἐπουριάσας or ἐπουριάς. The natural sense of ἐπουρίζω (lit. direct with a favouring wind ’’) seems by itself

14

ON ABRAHAM, 20-23

the worthless man whose life is one long restlessness . haunts market-places, theatres, law-courts, council- halls, assemblies, and every group and gathering of men; his tongue he lets loose for unmeasured, end- less, indiscriminate talk, bringing chaos and confusion into everything, mixing true with false, fit with unfit, public with private, holy with profane, sensible with absurd, because he has not been trained to that silence which in season is most excellent. His ears 21 he keeps alert in meddlesome curiosity, ever eager to learn his neighbour’s 4ffairs, whether good or bad, and ready with envy for the former and joy at the latter ; for the worthless man is a creature naturally malicious, a hater of good and lover of evil. IV. The man of worth on the other hand, having acquired 22 a desire for a quiet life, withdraws from the public and loves solitude, and his choice is to be unnoticed by the many, not because he is misanthropical, for he is eminently a philanthropist, but because he has rejected vice which is welcomed by the multitude who rejoice at what calls for mourning and grieve where it is well to be glad. And therefore he mostly 23 secludes himself at home and scarcely ever crosses his threshold, or else because of the frequency of visitors he leaves the town and spends his days in some lonely farm, finding pleasanter society in those noblest of the whole human race whose bodies time has turned into dust but the flame of their virtues is kept alive by the written records which. have survived them in poetry or in prose and serve

strange in this context. I should prefer to read ἐπορθιάσας ἐπ᾽ οὐρίας (“‘ pricked up and ready to catch any chance’’). It is true that ἐπορθιάζω is not used elsewhere with ὦτα, but ἀνορθιάξω is several times so used by Philo. See further on Mos. i. 283.. a |

15

PHILO

4 ~ A aA 4 e 24 πέφυκε βελτιοῦσθαι. διὰ τοῦτο εἶπεν ὅτι ὁ μετα- τεθεὶς “᾿ οὐχ εὑρίσκετο᾽᾿ δυσεύρετος καὶ δυσθήρατος ὦν. μεθορμίζεται οὖν εἰς παιδείαν ἐξ ἀμαθίας καὶ 3 , 9 l4 3 ’ 9 ἀφροσύνης εἰς φρόνησιν ἔκ τε δειλίας εἰς | 3 ’ A 9 3 ’ 9 9 ’ A 4 [5] ἀνδρείαν καὶ ἐξ ἀσεβείας εἰς εὐσέβειαν, καὶ πάλιν 9 A 4 9 9 ’ > A ’ ἐκ μὲν φιληδονίας εἰς ἐγκράτειαν, ἐκ δὲ φιλοδοξίας 9 3 ’ ae ’ “a aA 9 ’ av ’ εἰς ἀτυφίαν' ὧν τίς ἢ πλοῦτος ἐπάξιος ἢ βασιλείας 25 καὶ δυναστείας κτῆσις ὠφελιμωτέρα; εἶ γὰρ χρὴ τἀληθὲς εἰπεῖν, ὁ μὴ τυφλὸς ἀλλ᾽ ὀξὺ , βλέπων πλοῦτος ἡ τῶν ἀρετῶν ἐστι περιουσία, ἣν εὐθὺς γνήσιον καὶ εὔνομον παρὰ τὰς νόθους καὶ ψευδωνύ- μους ἀρχὰς ὑποληπτέον ἡγεμονίαν ἐνδίκως ἅπαντα 26 πρυτανεύουσαν. οὐ δεῖ δὲ ἀγνοεῖν, ὅτι τὰ δευτερεῖα φέρεται μετάνοια τελειότητος, ὥσπερ καὶ ἀνόσου σώματος ἡ πρὸς ὑγείαν ἐξ ἀσθενείας μεταβολή. τὸ μὲν οὖν διηνεκὲς καὶ τέλειον ἐν ἀρεταῖς ἐγγυτάτω θείας ἵσταται δυνάμεως, ἡ δ᾽ ἀπό τινος χρόνου βελτίωσις ἴδιον ἀγαθὸν εὐφυοῦς ψυχῆς ἐστι μὴ τοῖς παιδικοῖς ἐπιμενούσης ἀλλ᾽ ἁδροτέροις καὶ ἀνδρὸς ὄντως φρονήμασιν ἐπιζητούσης εὔδιον κατάστασιν [ψυχῆς] καὶ τῇ φαντασίᾳ τῶν καλῶν ἐπιτρεχούσης. Ψ 3 4 ~ ’ 4 A 2] ΡΝ. Ὅθεν εἰκότως TH μετανενοηκότι τάττει κατὰ τὸ ἑξῆς τὸν θεοφιλῆ καὶ φιλάρετον, ὃς “Εβραίων μὲν τῇ γλώττῃ καλεῖται Νῶε, “τῇ δὲ Ἑλλήνων ἀνάπαυσις " ἣ “ δίκαιος," οἰκειόταται προσρήσεις σοφῷ: ἐμφανῶς μὲν ὁ δίκαιος, ἄμεινον γὰρ οὐδὲν δικαιοσύνης, τῆς ἐν ἀρεταῖς ἡγεμονίδος, ἣ καθάπερ᾽ ἐν χορῷ καλλιστεύουσα πρεσβεύει" ἡ δ᾽ ἀνάπαυσις, ἐπεὶ καὶ τοὐναντίον τὴν παρὰ φύσιν κίνησιν ταραχῶν α ** Unnatural movement of the δου] is a phrase used by the Stoics to define πάθος S.V.F. iii. 462 and 476. 16

ON ABRAHAM, 24-27

to promote the growth of goodness in the soul. That 24 was why he said that the “ transferred” was not found, being hard to find and hard to seek. So he passes across from ignorance to instruction, from folly to sound sense, from cowardice to courage, from impiety to piety, and again from voluptuousness to self-control, from vaingloriousness to simplicity. And what wealth is equal in worth to these, or what possession of royalty or dominion more profitable ? For in very truth the wealth which is not blind 25 but keen of sight is abundance of virtues, which con- sequently we must needs hold to be, in contrast to the bastard governments falsely so-called, genuine and equitable sovereignty ruling in justice over all.

But we must not forget that repentance 26 holds the second place to perfection, just as a change from sickness to health is second to a body free from disease ; so, then, unbroken perfection of virtues stands nearest to divine power, but improvement in the course of time is the peculiar treasure of a soul gifted by nature, which does not stay in childish thoughts but by such as are more robust and truly manly seeks to gain a condition of serenity and pursues the vision of the excellent.

V. Naturally, therefore, next to the repentant he 27 sets the lover of virtue and beloved by God, who in the Hebrew language is called Noah but in ours ‘rest’ or ‘ just,”’ both very suitable titles for the Sage. “‘ Just” is obviously so, for nothing is better than justice, the chief among the virtues, who like the fairest maiden of the dance holds the highest place. But “rest ’’ is appropriate also, since its op- posite, unnatural movement,* proves to be the cause

17

28

PHILO

\ , , , \ , 27 5 καὶ θορύβων στάσεών τε καὶ πολέμων αἰτίαν εἶναι

’ a , e “-- 3 a A A συμβέβηκεν, ἣν μετίασιν ot φαῦλοι, ἠρεμαῖον δὲ Kal ἡσυχάζοντα καὶ σταθερὸν ἔτι δὲ καὶ εἰρηνικὸν βίον οἵ καλοκἀγαθίαν τετιμηκότες. ἑπόμενος δ᾽ αὐτὸς αὑτῷ καὶ τὴν ἑβδόμην, “ἣν Ἑβραῖοι σάββατα καλοῦσιν, ἀνάπαυσιν ὀνομά ει, οὐχ, ὡς οἴονταί τινες, ὅτι δι᾽ ἐξ ἡμερῶν τῶν συνήθων ἔργων 3 ’ A κι > > « a~a ew ἀπείχετο TO πλῆθος, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι τῷ ὄντι 6 ἕβδομος

9 A ” aA ’ A 9 eC a 9 A > A ἀριθμὸς ἔν τε TH κόσμῳ Kal ἐν ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς ἀεὶ

29

30

[6]

31

ἀστασίαστος καὶ ἀπόλεμος καὶ ἀφιλόνεικος καὶ εἰρηνικώτατος ἁπάντων ἀριθμῶν ἐστι. “μάρτυρες δὲ τοῦ λεχθέντος αἱ ἐν ἡμῖν δυνάμεις" at μὲν γὰρ ἕξ τὸν ἄπαυστον καὶ συνεχῆ πόλεμον ἐν γῇ καὶ θαλάττῃ συγκροτοῦσιν, αἵ τε πέντε αἰσθήσεις καὶ 6 προφορικὸς λόγος, at μὲν πόθῳ τῶν αἰσθητῶν, ὧν ἐὰν μὴ τυγχάνωσιν, ἀνιῶνται, ὁ δ᾽ ἀχαλίνῳ στόματι μυρία τῶν ἡσυχαστέων ἐκλαλῶν: ἡ δ᾽ ἐβδόμη δύναμις ἡ περὶ τὸν ἡγεμόνα νοῦν, ὃς ὅταν ἐπικυδέστερος γένηται τῶν ἕξ καὶ δυνατωτέρᾳ ῥώμῃ κατακρατήσας ἀναχωρήσῃ, μόνωσιν ἀσπασά- μενος καὶ ταῖς ἑαυτοῦ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν (χαίρων ὁμιλίαις, ὡς “ἀπροσδεὴς ὧν ἑτέρου καὶ αὐταρκέ- στατος ἑαυτῷ, τηνικαῦτα φροντίδων καὶ πραγμα- τειῶν | ἀπαλλαγεὶς τῶν ἐν τῷ θνητῷ γένει βίον εὔδιον καὶ γαληνὸν ἀσπάζεται.

VI. Οὕτως δ᾽ ἀποσεμνύνει τὸν φιλάρετον, ὥστε καὶ γενεαλογῶν αὐτὸν οὐ, καθάπερ ἔθος ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων, πάππων ἢ προπάππων ἣ προγόνων ποιεῦται κατάλογον, ὅσοι πρὸς ἀνδρῶν ἢ πρὸς γυναικῶν εἰσιν, ἀλλά τινων ἀρετῶν, μόνον οὐχὶ βοῶν ἀντι-

Σ Or read τὰς . .. ὁμιλίας omitting χαίρων.

18

ON ABRAHAM, 27-31

of turmoil and confusion and factions and wars. Such movement is sought by the worthless, while a life which is calm, serene, tranquil and peaceful to boot is the object of those who have valued nobility of con- duct. He shews consistency, too, when he 28 gives to the seventh day, which the Hebrews call sabbath, the name of rest; not, as some think, because the multitude abstained after six days from their usual tasks, but because in truth the number seven, both in the world and in ourselves, is always free from factions and war and quarrelling and is of all numbers the most peaceful. This statement is attested by 29 the faculties within us, for six* of them wage cease- less and continuous war on land and sea, namely the five senses and speech, the former in their craving for the objects of sense, deprivation of which is painful to them, speech because with unbridled mouth it perpetually gives utterance where silence

is due. But the seventh faculty is that of the 30 dominant mind, which, after triumphing over the six and returning victorious through its superior strength, welcomes solitude and rejoices in its own society, feeling that it needs no other and is com- pletely sufficient for itself, and then released from the cares and concerns of mortal kind gladly accepts

a life of calmness and serenity.

VI. So highly does Moses extol the lover of virtue 31 that when he gives his genealogy he does not, as he usually does in other cases, make a list of his grand- fathers, great-grandfathers and ancestors in the male and female line, but of certain virtues, and this is

* Elsewhere, when Philo’s argument requires it, the facul- ties, excluding mind, are seven by the addition of repro- duction (τὸ γόνιμον), De Op. 117, De Mut. 111.

19.

PHILO

Kpus, ὅτι οἰκία καὶ συγγένεια καὶ πατρὶς οὐδεμία ἐστὶν ἑτέρα σοφῷ ὁ ὅτι μὴ ἀρεταὶ καὶ at κατ᾽ ἀρετὰς πράξεις" “᾿ αὗται ᾿᾿ γάρ φησιν “ αἱ γενέσεις Νῶε- Νῶε ἄνθρωπος δίκαιος, τέλειος ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ αὐτοῦ, 82 τῷ θεῷ εὐηρέστησεν." οὐ δεῖ δὲ ἀγνοεῖν, ὅτι νῦν “ἄνθρωπον ᾿᾿ οὐ κοινῷ τύπῳ τὸ λογικὸν θνητὸν ζῷον καλεῖ, τὸν μέντοι κατ᾽ ἐξοχήν, ὃ ὃς ἐπαληθεύει τοὔνομα τὰ ἀτίθασα καὶ λελυττηκότα πάθη καὶ τὰς θηριωδεστάτας κακίας τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπεληλακώς. 33 σημεῖον δέ: μετὰ τὸν “ ἄνθρωπον ᾿᾿ ἐπιλέγει τὸν “δίκαιον ᾿᾿ εἰπὼν “᾿ ἄνθρωπος δίκαιος,᾽᾽ ὡς ἀδίκου μὲν οὐδενὸς ὄντος ἀνθρώπου (κυριώτερον δ᾽ εἰπεῖν ἀνθρωπομόρφου θηρίου), μόνου δὲ ὃ ὃς ἂν ζηλωτὴς ἡ Hy] 34 δικαιοσύνης. φησὶ αὐτὸν καὶ τέ- λειον ” γεγονέναι. διὰ τούτου παριστάς, ὡς οὐ μίαν ἀρετὴν ἀλλὰ πάσας ἐκτήσατο ᾿καὶ κτησάμενος ἑκάστῃ κατὰ τὸ ἐπιβάλλον χρώμενος διετέλεσεν. 8ὅ ἐπιστε ανῶν δ᾽ αὐτὸν ws ἀγωνιστὴν ἐκνενικηκότα κηρύγματι λαμπροτάτῳ προσεπικοσμεῖ φάσκων, ὅτι “‘ τῷ θεῷ εὐηρέστησεν᾽᾽" οὗ τί γένοιτ᾽ ἂν ἐν τῇ φύσει κρεῖττον; τίς καλοκαγαθίας ἐν- αργέστερος ἔλεγχος; εἰ γὰρ ot ἱ δυσαρεστήσαντες τῷ θεῷ κακοδαίμονες, οἷς εὐαρεστῆσαι συνέβη πάντως 86 εὐδαίμονες. VII. οὐκ ἀπὸ σκοποῦ μέν- τοι ταῖς τοσαύταις ἀρεταῖς ὑμνήσας τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἐπεῖπεν, ὅτι ‘‘ τέλειος ἦν ἐν τῇ γενεᾷ αὐτοῦ;, ᾿ δηλῶν ὅτι οὐ καθάπαξ ἀλλὰ κατὰ σύγκρισιν τῶν κατ᾽ 37 ἐκεῖνον τὸν χρόνον γεγονότων ἀγαθὸς ἦν. ἤδη γὰρ 1 Mss. τῆς K. ἐναργέστατος.

4 Gen. vi. 9, ef. Quod Deus 117. > te. “a man, a just one.”’ As the Greek adjective needs no substantive expressed, ἄνθρωπος, which would be otherwise

20

ON ABRAHAM, 31-37

little less than a direct assertion that a sage has no house or kinsfolk or country save virtues and virtuous actions ; “ for these,” he says, “‘ are the generations of Noah. Noah, a man just and perfect in his genera- tion, was well-pleasing to God.’’* But we must not 32 fail to note that in this passage he gives the name of man not according to the common form of speech, to the mortal animal endowed with reason, but to the man who is man pre-eminently, who verifies the name by having expelled from the soul the untamed and frantic passions and the truly beast-like vices. Here 33 isaproof. After “man” he adds “just,” implying by the combination® that the unjust is no man, or more properly speaking a beast in human form, and that the follower after righteousness alone is man.

He says, too, that Noah became “ perfect,” thereby 34 shewing that he acquired not one virtue but all, and having acquired them continued to exercise eachas op- portunities allowed. And as he crowns him 35 as victor in the contest, he gives him further distinc- tion by a proclamation couched in words of splendid praise, “he was well-pleasing to God.”” What better thing than this has nature to give? What clearer proof can there be of nobility of life? For, if those who have been ill-pleasing to God are ill-fated, happy most surely are those whose lot it is to be well- pleasing to God. VII. But Moses makes 36 a good point when, after praising him as possessed of all these virtues, he adds that he was perfect in his generation, thus shewing he was not good absolutely but in comparison with the men of that time. For 37

superfluous, must have a special emphasis. Assuming, as Philo does, that the Lxx follows the usage of classical Greek, the argument has some weight.

21

PHILO

οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν ἐπιμνησθήσεται σοφῶν ἑτέρων, ot τὴν ἀρετὴν ἀνανταγώνιστον ἔσχον, οὐ πονηροῖς ἀντεξετασθέντες οὐδ᾽ ὅτι βελτίους ἐγένοντο τῶν κατ᾽ αὐτοὺς ἀποδοχῆς καὶ προνομίας ἀξιωθέντες, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι φύσιν εὔμοιρον κτησάμενοι διετήρησαν αὐτὴν ἀδιάστροφον,. οὐ φυγόντες μοχθηρὰ ἐπιτηδεύ- ματα, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν αὐτοῖς περιπεσόντες, προηγουμένως δὲ καλῶν ἔ ἔργων καὶ λόγων ἀσκηταὶ 38 γενόμενοι τὸν βίον ἐπεκόσμουν. θαυμασιώτατοι μὲν οὖν ἄνδρες ἐκεῖνοι γεγόνασιν, οἷ ταῖς ὁρμαῖς ἐλευθέραις καὶ εὐγενέσιν ἐχρήσαντο, μὴ κατὰ μίμησιν ἢ ἐναντίωσιν ἑτέρων, ἀλλ᾽ αὐτὸ τὸ καλὸν καὶ τὸ δίκαιον ἀποδεξάμενοι, θαυμάσιος δὲ καὶ ὃ τῆς Kal? αὑτὸν γενεᾶς διενηνοχὼς καὶ μηδενὶ συνενεχθεὶς ὧν ἐζήλωσαν ot πολλοί: δευτερείων μὲν οὗτος ἐφίξεται, τὰ δὲ πρῶτα τῶν ἄθλων ἐκείνοις 89 ἀναδώσει 7 φύσις. τὰ μέντοι δευτερεῖα καὶ αὐτὰ [7] μεγάλα. τί | δ᾽ οὐχὶ μέγα καὶ περιμάχητον ὧν ὀρέγει καὶ δωρεῖται θεός; σαφεστάτη δὲ πίστις al τῶν χαρίτων ὑπερβολαί, ὧν οὗτος ἔτυχεν. 40 ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἀδικημάτων φορὰν ἤνεγκεν ὁ χρόνος ἐκεῖνος καὶ πᾶσα χώρα καὶ ἔθνος καὶ πόλις καὶ οἰκία καὶ ἕκαστος ἰδίᾳ πονηρῶν ἐπιτηδευμάτων ἀνεπέπληστο, πάντων ἑκουσίως καὶ ἐκ προνοίας ὡς ἐν ἀγῶνι περὶ τῶν ἐν τῷ διαμαρτάνειν πρωτείων ἁμιλλωμένων---μετὰ σπουδῆς γὰρ ἁπάσης ἐφιλο- νείκουν, ἑκάστου τὸν πλησίον μεγέθει κακίας ὑπερ- βαλεῖν ἐπειγομένου καὶ μηδὲν παραλείποντος τῶν 41 πρὸς ἐπίληπτον καὶ ἐπάρατον βίον. VIII. ἐφ᾽ οἷς ὁ θεὸς εἰκότως δυσχεράνας, εἰ τὸ ζῷον τὸ ἄριστον

22

ON ABRAHAM, 37-41

we shall shortly find him mentioning other sages whose virtue was unchallenged, who are not con- trasted with the bad, who are adjudged worthy of approval and precedence, not because they were better than their contemporaries but because they possessed a happily-gifted nature and kept it un- perverted, who did not have to shun evil courses or indeed come into contact with them at all, but attained pre-eminence in practising that excellence of words and deeds with which they adorned their lives. The highest admiration, then, is due to those 38 in whom the ruling impulses were of free and noble birth, who accepted the excellent and just for their own selves and not in imitation of or in opposition to others. But admiration is also due to him who stood apart from his own generation and conformed him- self to none of the aims and aspirations of the many. He will win the second prize, though the first will be awarded by nature to those others. Yet great also is 39 the second prize in itself, for how could anything fail to be great and worthy of our efforts which God offers and gives ? And the clearest proof of this is the exceeding magnitude of the bounties which Noah obtained. That time bore its harvest of iniquities, and 40 every country and nation and city and household and every private individual was filled with evil practices ; one and all, as though in a race, engaged in rivalry pre-willed and premeditated for the first places in sinfulness, and put all possible zeal into the conten- tion, each one pressing on to exceed his neighbour ip magnitude of vice and leaving nothing undone which could lead to a guilty and accursed life. VIII. Naturally this roused the wrath of God, to think that 41 man, who seemed the best of all living creatures,

23

PHILO

εἶναι δοκοῦν καὶ συγγενείας ἀξιωθὲν τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν ἕνεκα τῆς ἐν τῷ λόγῳ κοινωνίας, δέον ἀρετὴν ἐπιτηδεύειν, ἐζήλωσε κακίαν καὶ τὰ εἴδη πάντα κακίας, δίκην ὁρίζει τὴν προσήκουσαν, ἀφανίσαι τοὺς τότε ὄντας κατακλυσμῷ διανοηθείς, οὐ μόνον τοὺς ἐν τῇ πεδιάδι καὶ τοῖς χθαμαλωτέροις ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἐν τοῖς ὑψηλοτάτοις ὄρεσι κατοικοῦντας. 45 ἡ μὲν γὰρ μεγάλη θάλαττα μετέωρος ὡς οὐδέπω πρότερον ἀρθεῖσα διὰ τῶν στομάτων ἀθρόᾳ ῥύμῃ τοῖς καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς εἰσερρύη πελάγεσι, τὰ δὲ π ημ- μύραντα νήσους καὶ ἠπείρους ἐπέκλυσε, πηγῶν δ᾽ ἀενάων καὶ ποταμῶν αὐθιγενῶν τε καὶ χειμάρρων ἐπάλληλοι φοραὶ συνῆπτον ἀλλήλαις ἀναχεόμεναι 43 καὶ πρὸς ὕψος ἐπαιρόμεναι ἐπέβαινον. οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ ὁ ἀὴρ ἠρέμει: πάντα γὰρ τὸν οὐρανὸν βαθὺ καὶ συνεχὲς νέφος ἐπεῖχε καὶ πνεύματα ἦν ἐξαίσια πάταγοί τε βροντῶν καὶ ἐπιλάμψεις ἀστραπῶν καὶ κεραυνῶν φοραί, καταρρηγνυμένων ὄμβρων a ἀπαύοσ- τῶν, ὡς νομίσαι τὰ μέρη τοῦ παντὸς εἰς “μίαν φύσιν τὴν ὕδατος a ἀναστοιχειούμενα σπεύδειν, ἕ ἕως τοῦ μὲν ἄνωθεν καταράττοντος τοῦ δὲ κάτωθεν ἐπανιόντος μετάρσια ἤρθη τὰ ῥεῖθρα, οἷς οὐ μόνον ἡ πεδιὰς καὶ ὅση χθαμαλὴ κατακλυσθεῖσα ἠφανίσθη, ἀλλὰ καὶ 44 τῶν ὑψηλοτάτων ὀρῶν at κορυφαί. πάντα yap τὰ μέρη τῆς γῆς ἔδυ καθ᾽ ὕδατος, ws πᾶσαν κα ηἡρπάσθαι καὶ τὸν κόσμον ἀκρωτηριασθέντα μεγάλῳ τμήματι τὸν παντελῆ καὶ ὁλόκληρον, ὃ μήτε εἰπεῖν

@ 1xx Gen. vii. 11 “the fountains of the abyss were broken up.” By the Hebrew word translated in the rxx by ἄβυσσος is understood the “‘ocean which both encircled the world, and occupied the vast hollows beneath the earth” (Driver). Philo seems to represent the first part of this conception by

24

ON ABRAHAM, 41-44

who had been judged worthy of kinship with Him because he shared the gift of reason, had, instead of practising virtue as he should, shewn zeal for vice and for every particular form of it. Accordingly He appointed the penalty which fitted their wickedness. He determined to destroy all those who were then alive by a deluge, not only those who dwelt in the plains and lower lands, but also the inhabitants of the highest mountains. For the great deep? rose on 42 high as it had never risen before, and gathering its force rushed through its outlets into the seas of our parts, and the rising tides of these flooded the islands and continents, while in quick succession the streams from the perennial fountains and from the rivers spring-fed or winter-torrents pressed on to join each other and mounted upwards to a vast height. Nor 48 was the air still, for a deep unbroken cloud covered the heaven, and there were monstrous blasts of wind and crashings of thunder and flashings of lightning and downfall of thunderbolts, while the rainstorms dashed down ceaselessly, so that one might think that the different parts of the universe were hurry- ing to be resolved into the single element of water, until, as in one form it rushed down from above and in another rose up from below, the streams were lifted on high, and thus not only the plains and low- lands were submerged and lost to sight, but even the peaks of the highest mountains. For all parts of the 44 earth sank below the water, so that it was entirely carried away as though by violence, and the world seemed mutilated by the loss of a great section, its completeness and perfection destroyed and defaced,

‘‘the great sea or deep,’’ and the second by the “ perennial fountains.”’

25

- PHILO

μήτε νοῆσαι θέμις, λελωβῆσθαι δοκεῖν. ἀλλὰ yap καὶ ὁ ἀήρ, ἔξω μέρους βραχέος τοῦ κατὰ σελήνην, ἅπας ἀνήλωτο νικηθεὶς ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ ὕδατος φορᾶς καὶ βίας, ὅπερ ἀνὰ κράτος τὴν ἐκείνου χώραν

45 ἐπέσχε. τότε δὴ τότε εὐθὺς ἐφθείρετο ὁ ὅσα σπαρτὰ καὶ δένδρα---φθείρει γὰρ ὡς ἔνδεια καὶ πλῆθος ἄμετρον,--ἔθνῃησκον δ᾽ at μυρίαι τῶν ζῴων ἀγέλαι ἡμέρων ὁμοῦ καὶ ἀγρίων" ἦν γὰρ εἰκός, τοῦ κρατί- στου γένους ἀνθρώπων ἀφανιζομένου, μηδὲν ὑπολει- φθῆναι τῶν χειρόνων, ἐπεὶ καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἐκείνου χρείας ἐγένετο δοῦλα τρόπον τινὰ δεσποτικαῖς

46 προστάξεσιν ὑπηρετήσοντα. τοσούτων |

[8] δὴ καὶ τηλικούτων ἐπιρραξάντων κακῶν, ἅπερ ἐκεῖνος 6 καιρὸς ὦμ ρησε--πάντα γὰρ τὰ τοῦ κόσμου μέρη, δίχα τῶν κατὰ τὸν οὐρανόν, ἐκινήθη παρὰ φύσιν, ὡς ἂν βαρεῖαν καὶ θανατώδη νόσον νοσήσαντα, --μόνος δὲ εἷς οἶκος 6 τοῦ λεχθέντος ἀνδρὸς δικαίου καὶ θεοφιλοῦς “διασῴζεται δύο λαβόντος τὰς ἀνωτάτω δωρεάς, μίαν μέν, ἣν εἶπον, τὸ μὴ πᾶσι τούτοις συναπολέσθαι, “ἑτέραν δὲ τὸ πάλιν ἀρχηγέτην αὐτὸν ὑπάρξαι νέας ἀνθρώπων σπορᾶς" ἠξίωσε γὰρ αὐτὸν ὁ θεὸς καὶ τέλος τοῦ γένους ἡμῶν καὶ ἀρχὴν γενέσθαι, τέλος μὲν τῶν πρὸ τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ, τῶν δὲ μετὰ τὸν κατα- κλυσμὸν ἀρχήν.

41 ΙΧ. Τοιοῦτος μὲν. ὁ τῶν Kal’. αὑτὸν ἄριστος, τοιαῦτα δὲ καὶ τὰ τεθειμένα ἦθλα αὐτῷ, ὁποῖα δεδήλωκεν 6 ἱερὸς λόγος. τῶν δ᾽ εἰρημένων τριῶν εἴτε “ἀνδρῶν εἴτε ψυχῆς τρόπων ἐναρμόνιος ἡ τάξις" ὁ μὲν γὰρ τέλειος ὁλόκληρος ἐξ ἀρχῆς, ὁ δὲ μετα- τεθειμένος ἡμίεργος, τοῦ βίου τὸν μὲν πρότερον χρόνον ἀναθεὶς κακίᾳ, τὸν δ᾽ ὕστερον ἀρετῇ, πρὸς 26

ON ABRAHAM, 44-47

a thing too terrible for words or even for thoughts. Indeed even the air, except a small portion belong- ing to the moon, had been completely made away with, vanquished by the rush and violence of the water which perforce occupied its place. Then 45 indeed at once all crops and trees perished, for ex- cessive quantity of water is as destructive as the lack of it, and the numberless herds of animals died, tame and wild alike ; for it was to be expected that if the highest kind, the human, was annihilated none of the inferior kinds would be left, since they were made for man’s needs, as slaves in a sense meant to obey their masters’ orders. When all these 46 evils, so many and so vast, had burst upon the world in the downpour which that occasion brought, and the unnatural convulsion had shaken all its parts save the heavenly as with a grievous and deadly plague, one house alone, that of the man called just and dear to God, was preserved. Thus he received two gifts of the highest kind—one that, as I have said, he did not perish with the rest, the other that he should be in his turn the founder of a new race of men. For God deemed him worthy to be both the last and the first of our kind—last of those who lived before the flood and first of those who lived after it.

IX. Such was he who was best of his contem- 47 poraries, and such were the prizes awarded to him, the nature of which is made clear in holy writ. Now the three mentioned above, whether we think of them as men or types of soul, form a series of regular gradation: the perfect man is complete from the first ; the transferred stands half-way, since he devoted the earlier part of his life to vice but the latter to

27

PHILO

ἣν μετανέστη καὶ μετῳκίσατο, 6 δὲ ἐλπίζων, ὡς αὐτὸ δηλοῖ τοὔνομα, ἐλλιπής, ἐφιέμενος μὲν ἀεὶ τοῦ καλοῦ, μήπω δ᾽ ἐφικέσθαι τούτου δεδυνημένος, ἀλλ᾽ ἐοικὼς τοῖς πλέουσιν, ot σπεύδοντες εἰς λιμένας καταίρειν θαλαττεύουσιν ἐνορμίσασθαι καὶ μὴ δυνά- μενοι.

4 X. Ἢ μὲν οὖν προτέρα τριὰς τῶν ἀρετὴν ἐπι- ποθησάντων δεδήλωται. μείζων δέ ἐστιν ἡ ἑτέρα, περὶ ἧς νυνὶ λεκτέον. ἐκείνη μὲν γὰρ τοῖς ἐν ἡλικίᾳ παιδικῇ μαθήμασιν ἔοικεν, αὕτη δὲ τοῖς ἀνδρῶν ἀθλητικῶν γυμνάσμασιν ἐπὶ τοὺς ἱεροὺς ὄντως ἀλειφομένων ἀγῶνας, οἱ σωμασκίας κατα- φρονοῦντες τὴν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ κατασκευάζουσιν εὐεξίαν ἐφιέμενοι τῆς κατὰ τῶν ἀντιπάλων παθῶν

49 νίκης. οἷς μὲν οὖν διενήνοχεν ἕ ἕκαστος ἐφ᾽ ἕν καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ τέλος ἐπειγόμενος, αὖθις ἀκριβέστερον ἐροῦμεν" ἃ δὲ χρὴ περὶ τῶν τριῶν συλλήβδην

δ0 προειπεῖν, ἀναγκαῖον μὴ παρασιωπῆσαι. τούτους τοίνυν συμβέβηκε μιᾶς οἰκίας καὶ ἑνὸς γένους εἶναι —6 γὰρ τελευταῖος υἱὸς μέν ἐστι τοῦ μέσου, υἱωνὸς δὲ τοῦ πρώτου --- καὶ πάντας φιλοθέους ὁμοῦ καὶ θεοφιλεῖς, ἀγαπήσαντας τὸν ἀληθῆ θεὸν καὶ ἀντ- αγαπηθέντας πρὸς αὐτοῦ, ὃς ἠξίωσε, καθάπερ δηλοῦσιν οἱ χρησμοί, διὰ τὰς ὑπερβολὰς τῶν

| ἀρετῶν αἷς συνεβίουν κοινωνῆσαι τῆς προσρήσεως

Sl αὐτοῖς τὸ γὰρ ἴδιον ὄνομα τοῖς ἐκείνων ἐν- αρμοσάμενος ἥνωσε, τὴν ἐκ τῶν τριῶν σύνθετον κλῆσιν ἐπιφημίσας ἑ ἑαυτῷ" “᾿ τοῦτο γάρ pov” φησίν

“ ὄνομά ἐστιν αἰώνιον, θεὸς Αβραὰμ καὶ θεὸς

[9] ᾿Ισαὰκ καὶ θεὸς Ἰακώβ "--Οἀντὶ τοῦ | καθάπαξ τὸ 1 So most μ88.: Cohn prints αὐτοῦ, but suggests the

insertion of αὐτούς.

28

ON ABRAHAM, 47-51

virtue to which he passed over and migrated; the hoper, as his very name shews, is defective inasmuch as though he always desired the excellent he has not yet been able to attain to it, but resembles sailors eager to put into port, who yet remain at sea unable to reach their haven. | ΣΧ, So now we have explained the first trinity of 48 those who yearn for virtue ; but greater is the second trinity of which we have now to speak. The first we may compare to the studies of children, but the latter to the exercises of athletes who are preparing for games which are really sacred,* men who despise bodily training but foster robustness of soul in their desire for victory over their antagonists, the passions. How each of these differed from the others while 49 pressing on to one and the same goal will be described in detail later; but there is something to be said about them.taken as a whole which must not be omitted. We find that these three are all of one 50 house and one family. The last is the son of the second and grandson to the first. All alike are God- lovers and God-beloved, and their affection for the true God was returned by Him, Who deigned, as His utter- ances shew, in recognition of their high and life-long virtues to make them partners in the title which He took, for He united them by joining His special name 51 to theirs and calling Himself by one combined of the three. “For this,” He said, “is my eternal name ?— the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob,” relative instead of absolute,¢ and surely that

4 In contrast to the falsely called “holy ’’ games of the Greeks; cf. De Agr. 116 f.

> Ex iii. 15, cf. De Mut. 12 f.

σ See App. p. 597.

29

52

53

PHILO

πρός τι" καὶ μήποτ᾽ εἰκότως" ὀνόματος γὰρ ὁ θεὸς οὐ δεῖται, μὴ δεόμενος δ᾽ ὅμως ἐχαρίζετο τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων κλῆσιν οἰκείαν, ἵν᾽ ἔχοντες καταφυγὴν πρὸς ἱκεσίας καὶ λιτὰς μὴ ἀμοιρῶσιν ἐλπίδος χρηστῆς. XI. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ἐπ᾽ ἀνδρῶν ὁσίων εἰρῆσθαι δοκεῖ, μηνύματα δ᾽ ἐστὶ φύσεως ἀδηλοτέρας καὶ πολὺ βελτίονος. τῆς ἐν αἰσθητοῖς. τρόπους γὰρ ψυχῆς ἔοικεν ὁ ἱερὸς διερευνᾶσθαι λόγος, ἀστείους ἅπαντας, τὸν μὲν ἐκ διδασκαλίας, τὸν δ᾽ ἐκ φύσεως, τὸν δ᾽ ἐξ ἀσκήσεως ἐφιέμενον τοῦ καλοῦ. ὁ μὲν γὰρ πρῶτος, ἐπίκλησιν ᾿Αβραάμ, σύμβολον διδασκαλικῆς ἀρετῆς ἐστιν, ὃ δὲ μέσος, ᾿σαάκ, φυσικῆς, ὁ δὲ τρίτος, Ἰακώβ, ἀσκητικῆς.. ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὐκ ἀγνοητέον, ὅτι μετ- ἐποιεῖτο τῶν τριῶν ἕκαστος δυνάμεων, ὠνομάσθη δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς πλεοναζούσης κατ᾽ ἐπικράτειαν" οὔτε γὰρ διδασκαλίαν a ἄνευ φύσεως ἢ ἢ ἀσκήσεως τελειω- θῆναι δυνατὸν οὔτε φύσις ἐπὶ πέρας ἐστὶν ἐλθεῖν ἱκανὴ δίχα τοῦ μαθεῖν καὶ ἀσκῆσαι οὔτε ἄσκησις, εἰ μὴ προθεμελιωθείη φύσει τε καὶ διδασκαλίᾳ.

Ἁ A A , δά προσηκόντως οὖν καὶ τὴν τῶν τριῶν λόγῳ μὲν

ἀνδρῶν ἔργῳ δ᾽ wes εἶπον ἀρετῶν “οἰκειότητα συνῆψε, φύσεως, μαθήσεως, ἀσκήσεως," ἃς ἑτέρῳ ὀνόματι Χάριτας ἰσαρίθμους ἄνθρωποι καλοῦσιν, 1 ἢ

, τῷ κεχαρίσθαι τὸν θεὸν τῷ ἡμετέρῳ γένει τὰς τρεῖς av 4

55

δυνάμεις πρὸς τ τὴ τοῦ βίου ἢ παρόσον αὗται

δεδώρηνται ψυχῇ λ ογικῇ ἑαυτάς, δώρημα τέλειον

καὶ κάλλιστον, ἵ ἵνα καὶ τὸ αἰώνιον ὄνομα τὸ δηλού-

μενον ἐν τοῖς χρησμοῖς ἐπὶ τριῶν μὴ ἐπ᾽ ἀνθρώπων

μᾶλλον ἣ τῶν εἰρημένων δυνάμεων λέγηται. ἀν-

θρώπων μὲν γὰρ φθαρτὴ φύσις, ἄφθαρτος δ᾽ 7 τῶν 1 mss, φύσις μάθησις ἄσκησις.

80

ON ABRAHAM, 51-55

is natural. God indeed needs no name; yet, though He needed it not, He nevertheless vouchsafed to give to humankind a name of Himself suited to them, that so men might be able to take refuge in prayers and supplications and not be deprived of comforting hopes. | XI. These words do indeed appear to 52 apply to men of holy life, but they are also statements about an order of things which is not so apparent but is far superior to the order which is perceived by the senses. For the holy word seems to be searching into types of soul, all of them of high worth, one which pursues the good through teaching, one through nature and one through practice. The first called Abraham, the second Isaac and the third Jacob, are symbols of virtue acquired respectively by teaching, nature and practice. But indeed we must not fail 53 to note that each possesses the three qualities, but gets his name from that which chiefly predominates in him ; for teaching cannot be consummated without nature or practice, nor is nature capable of reaching its zenith without learning and practising, nor practice either unless the foundation of nature and . teaching has first been laid. Very properly, then, 54 Moses thus associated these three together, nominally men, but really, as I have said, virtues—teaching, nature, practice. Another name is given to them by men, who call them the Graces, also three in number; either because these values are a gift of God’s grace to our kind for perfecting its life, or because they have given themselves to the reasonable soul as a perfect and most excellent gift. Thus the | eternal name revealed in his words is meant to in- dicate the three said values rather than actual men. For the nature of man is perishable, but that of 55

31.

PHILO

ἀρετῶν: εὐλογώτερον δὲ ἐπιφημίζεσθαι τὸ ἀΐδιον ἀφθάρτοις πρὸ θνητῶν, ἐπεὶ συγγενὲς μὲν ἀιδιότη - τος ἀφθαρσία, ἐχθρὸν δὲ θάνατος. δ6 XII. Χρὴ μέντοι μηδ᾽ ἐκεῖνο ἀγνοεῖν, ὅτι τὸν μὲν πρῶτον ἄνθρωπον τὸν γηγενῆ πατέρα τῶν ἄχρι τοῦ κατακλυσμοῦ φύντων εἰσήγαγε, τὸν δὲ μόνον ἐκ τῆς τοσαύτης φθορᾶς ὑπολειφθέντα πανοίκιον ἕνεκα δικαιοσύνης καὶ τῆς ἄλλης καλοκἀγαθίας τοῦ νεά- σοντος αὖθις καινοῦ γένους ἀνθρώπων, τὴν δὲ περίσεμνον τριάδα καὶ περιμάχητον ἑνὸς εἴδους ἐπιλεγομένου ““ βασίλειον καὶ ἱεράτευμα καὶ ἔθνος 57 ἅγιον " οἱ χρησμοὶ καλοῦσι. μηνύει δὲ τοὔνομα τὴν ὕναμιν αὐτοῦ" προσονομάζεται γὰρ Ἑβραίων γλώττῃ τὸ ἔθνος ᾿Ισραήλ, ὅπερ ἑρμηνευθέν ἐστιν ὁρῶν εόν.᾽ ὅρασις δ᾽ ἡ μὲν δι᾽ ὀφθαλμῶν ἐν ἁπάσαις καλλιστεύει ταῖς αἰσθήσεσιν, € ἐπεὶ καὶ διὰ μόνης καταλαμβάνεται τὰ κάλλιστα τῶν ὄντων, ἥλιος καὶ σελήνη καὶ ὁ σύμπας οὐρανός τε καὶ κόσμος, ἡ δὲ διὰ τοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς ἡγεμονικοῦ προ- [10] φέρει τὰς ἄλλας ὅσαι περὶ αὐτὸ δυνάμεις" αὕτη | δέ 58 ἐστι φρόνησις ὄψις οὖσα διανοίας. ὅτῳ δὲ “μὴ μόνον ἐξεγένετο τἄλλα ὅσα ἐν τῇ φύσει δι᾽ ἐπι- στήμης καταλαμβάνειν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸν πατέρα καὶ ποιητὴν τῶν συμπάντων ὁρᾶν, ἐπ᾽ ἄκρον εὐδαι- “μονίας ἴστω προεληλυθώς" οὐδὲν γὰρ ἀνωτέρω θεοῦ, πρὸς ὃν εἴ τις τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς ὄμμα τείνας 59 eplaxe, μονὴν εὐχέσθω. καὶ στάσιν. αἱ μὲν γὰρ ἀνάντεις ὁδοὶ καματηραὶ καὶ βραδεῖαι, ἡ δὲ κατὰ πρανοῦς φορά, συρμὸν ἔχουσα τὸ πλέον ἢ κάθοδον, 1 mss. τὸν ἀίδιον. “ Ex. xix. 6. δ Cf. note on Quod Deus 46. 32

ON ABRAHAM, 55-59

virtue is imperishable. And it is more reasonable that what is eternal should be predicated of the imperishable than of the mortal, since imperishable- ness is akin to eternality, while death is at enmity with it. | XII. There is another thing which we must not fail 56 to know : while Moses represented the first man, the earth-born, as father of all that were born up to the deluge, and Noah who with all his house alone sur- vived that great destruction because of his justice and excellent character in other ways as the father of the new race which would spring up afresh, the oracles speak of this august and precious trinity as parent of one species of that race, which species is called ‘“‘royal”’ and “ priesthood’’ and “ holy nation.””* Its high position is shewn by the name ; 57 for the nation is called in the Hebrew tongue Israel, which, being interpreted, is ‘‘He who sees God.”’ Now the sight of the eyes is the most excellent of all the senses, since by it alone we apprehend the most excellent of existing things, the sun and the moon and the whole heaven and world; but the sight of the mind, the dominant element in the soul, surpasses all the other faculties of the mind, and this is wisdom which is the sight of the understanding.’ But he to 58 whom it is given not only to apprehend by means of knowledge all else that nature has to shew, but also to see the Father and Maker of all, may rest assured that he is advanced to the crowning point of happi- ness ; for nothing is higher than God, and whoso has stretched the eyesight of the soul to reach Him should pray that he may there abide and stand firm; for 59 journeys uphill are toilsome and slow, but the down- hill course where one is swept along rather than

33

60

61

62.

63

PHILO

ταχεῖα καὶ ῥᾷστη. πολλὰ δὲ τὰ κάτω βιαζόμενα, ὧν οὐδὲν ὄφελος, ὅταν ἐκ τῶν αὑτοῦ δυνάμεων ἀνακρεμάσας τὴν ψυχὴν 6 θεὸς ὁλκῇ δυνατωτέρᾳ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἐπισπάσηται.

XIII. Ταῦτα μὲν οὖν κοινῇ περὶ τῶν τριῶν ἀναγκαίως προειρήσθω. λεκτέον δ᾽ ἑξῆς, ἐν οἷς ἕκαστος ἰδίᾳ προήνεγκεν, ἀπὸ τοῦ πρώτου τὴν ἀρχὴν λαβόντας. ἐκεῖνος τοίνυν εὐσεβείας, ἀρετῆς τῆς ἀνωτάτω καὶ μεγίστης, ζηλωτὴς γενόμενος ἐσπούδασεν ἕπεσθαι θεῷ καὶ καταπειθὴς εἶναι τοῖς προσταττομένοις ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ, “προστάξεις ὑπολαμ- βάνων οὐ τὰς διὰ φωνῆς καὶ γραμμάτων μηννυο- μένας αὐτὸ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς διὰ τῆς φύσεως τρανοτέροις σημείοις δηλουμένας, ἃ ἃς ἡ ἀληθεστάτη τῶν αἰσθήσεων πρὸ ἀκοῆς τῆς ἀπίστου καὶ ἀβεβαίου καταλαμβάνει. θεώμενος γάρ τις τὴν ἐν τῇ φύσει τάξιν καὶ τὴν παντὸς λόγου κρεΐττονα πολιτείαν, ἧ χρῆται ὁ “κόσμος, ἀναδιδάσκεται, φθεγγομένου

μηδενός, εὔνομον καὶ εἰρηνικὸν βίον ᾿ ἐπιτηδεύειν εἰς τὴν τῶν καλῶν ἐξομοίωσιν ἀποβλέποντα. ἐναρ- γέσταται δὲ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀποδείξεις εἰσίν, ἃς περιέχουδιν αἱ ἱεραὶ γραφαί: πρώτην δὲ λεκτέον, ἣ ἣ καὶ πρώτη τέτακται. XIV. λογίῳ πληχθεὶς περὶ τοῦ πατρίδα καὶ συγγένειαν καὶ πατρῷον οἶκον

καταλιπεῖν καὶ μεταναστῆναι, καθάπερ ἀπὸ τῆς

ξένης εἰς τὴν οἰκείαν ἐπανιὼν ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἀπὸ τῆς οἰκείας εἰς τὴν ξένην μέλλων ἀπαίρειν, ἐπέσπευδέ συντείνων, νομίζων ὦ ἰσότιμον εἶναι τῷ τελειῶσαι τὸ ταχέως τὸ προσταχθὲν ἀνύσαι. καίτοι τίνα ἕτερον

5 Philo seems to assume that the command to leave country and kindred, of. Gen. xii. 1, was given to Abraham in Chaldaea and not in Haran. So perhaps the A.V. “‘ the

34

ON ABRAHAM, 59-63

descends is swift and most easy. And many are the forces which would bear us down, yet none of them avail when God sets the soul suspended to His potencies and with a mightier attraction draws it to Himself.

XIII. So much for what was needed by way of-60 preliminary discussion on the three in common. We must now speak of the superior merits shewn by each separately, beginning with the first. Abraham, then, filled with zeal for piety, the highest and greatest of virtues, was eager to follow God and to be obedient. to His commands ; understanding by commands not only those conveyed in speech and writing but also those made manifest by nature with clearer signs, and apprehended by the sense which is the most truthful of all and superior to hearing, on which no | certain reliance can be placed. For anyone who 61 contemplates the order in nature and the constitution enjoyed by the world-city whose excellence no words can describe, needs no speaker to teach him to practise a law-abiding and peaceful life.and to aim at assimilating himself to its beauties, But the clearest proofs of his piety are those which the holy scriptures contain, and the first which should be mentioned is that which comes first in order. XIV. Under the force of an oracle * which bade him leave 62 his country and kinsfolk and seek a new home,: thinking that quickness in executing the command was as good as full accomplishment, he hastened eagerly to obey, not.as.though he were leaving home for a strange land but rather as returning from amid strangers to his home. Yet who else would be likely 63

Lord had said,”’ as against the R.V. “ the Lord said.” Philo may have implied the same from Gen. xv. ἢ.. Of. Acts vii. 2.

35.

PHILO

> A 4 3 “- Δ» 4 e A εἰκὸς οὕτως ἀκλινῆ Kal ἄτρεπτον γενέσθαι, ὡς μὴ , aA A A φίλτροις ὑπαχθῆναι καὶ ὑπενδοῦναι συγγενῶν καὶ I πατρίδος, ὧν ὁ πόθος ἑκάστῳ τρόπον τινὰ συγ- ’ A , A A “A 3 ae γεγένηται Kal συνηύξηται καὶ μᾶλλον 7) οὐχ ἧττον ~ , ~ A θ64 τῶν ἡνωμένων μερῶν συμπέφυκε; μάρτυρες δὲ ot νομοθέται τὴν δευτερεύουσαν θανάτου τιμωρίαν A A a κατὰ τῶν ἐπὶ τοῖς μεγίστοις ἑαλωκότων ὁρίσαντες aA 9 φυγήν, οὐ δευτερεύουσαν, ὥς γ᾽ ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ, παρ 3 ’ 4 A A 9 ’ ” ἀληθείᾳ δικαζούσῃ, πολὺ δὲ ἀργαλεωτέραν, εἴ γε πέρας μὲν κακοπραγιῶν ὃ θάνατος, ἀρχὴ δ᾽, πέρας, ἡ φυγὴ καινοτέρων συμφορῶν, ἀνθ᾽ ἑνὸς τοῦ A 4 ’ 4 A χωρὶς ἀλγηδόνων μυρίους ἐπάγουσα θανάτους τοὺς nae σὺν αἰσθήσει. | κατ᾽ ἐμπορίαν ἔνιοι πόθῳ χρηματι- σμοῦ πλέοντες ἢ κατὰ πρεσβείαν ἣ ἢ κατὰ θέαν τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς ἀλλοδαπῆς δι’ ἔρωτα παιδείας, ὁλκοὺς ἔχοντες δυνάμεις τῆς ἔξω μονῆς οἱ μὲν τὰς ἐπι- ’ e A A A 4 > A “- 3 aA κερδείας, οὗ δὲ TO τὴν πόλιν ἐπὶ καιρῶν ἐν τοῖς ~ ’ ἀναγκαιοτάτοις καὶ μεγίστοις ὀνῆσαι, οἱ δὲ ἱστορίαν e ’ 3 ’ ’ 4 \ 9 ’ ~ ὧν πρότερον ἠγνόουν τέρψιν ἅμα Kat ὠφέλειαν TH ψυχῇ παρασκευάζουσαν---τυφλοὺ γὰρ παρ᾽ ὀξὺ βλέποντας ἀναποδήμητοι παρ᾽ ἐκδεδημηκότας---, A 3 aA ὅμως ἐπείγονται TO πατρῷον ἔδαφος ἰδεῖν καὶ προσκυνῆσαι καὶ συνήθεις ἀσπάσασθαι συγγενῶν τε A ’ ἐς, Α 4 3 3 καὶ φίλων ἡδίστης καὶ ποθεινοτάτης ὄψεως ἀπο- ~ A 4 A 4 e 4 9 4 λαῦσαι Kai πολλάκις τὰς πράξεις, ὧν ἕνεκα ἐξεδή- μησαν, μηκυνομένας ὁρῶντες κατέλιπον ἱμέρῳ τῶν 66 προσηκόντων ἐλχθέντες βιαιοτάτῳ. μετ᾽ 96

ON ABRAHAM, 63-66

to be so firm and unmoved of purpose as not to yield and succumb to the charms of kinsfolk and country ? The desire of these may be said to be born and grow with each of us and is a part of our nature as much as or even more than the parts which unite to make the whole. And this is attested by the 64 legislators who have appointed banishment as the penalty second only to death for those who have been convicted of the greatest crimes, though indeed, in my opinion, it is not second to death, if truth gives its verdict, but rather a far heavier punishment, since death ends our troubles but banishment is not the end but the beginning of other new misfortunes and entails in place of the one death which puts an end to pains a thousand deaths in which we do not lose sensation. Some men go on voyages for trading 65 purposes in their desire for making money or on embassies or in their love of culture to see the sights of a foreign land. These are subject to influences driving them to stay abroad, in some cases financial gains, in others the chance of benefiting their country, when occasion offers, in its most vital and important interests, in others acquiring knowledge of things which they did not know before and thus providing at once pleasure and profit to the soul, for the stay-at- home is to the travelled as the blind are to the keen- sighted. Yet all these are eager to see and salute their native soil, and to greet their familiars and to have the sweet and most desired enjoyment of beholding their kinsfolk and friends. And often when they find the business for which they left home protracting itself they abandon it, drawn by the constraining desire for their own belongings. But Abraham, the moment he was 66

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ὀλίγων δὲ οὗτος ἢ καὶ μόνος ἅμα τῷ κελευσθῆναι μετανίστατο καὶ τῇ ψυχῇ πρὸ τοῦ σώματος τὴν ἀποικίαν ἐστέλλετο, τὸν ἐπὶ τοῖς θνητοῖς ἵμερον παρευημεροῦντος ἔρωτος οὐρανίου. οὐδενὸς οὖν ἡροντίσας, οὐ φυλετῶν, οὐ δημοτῶν, οὐ συμφοιτη- τῶν, οὐχ ἑταίρων, οὐ τῶν ἀφ᾽ αἵματος ὅσοι πρὸς πατρὸς ἣ μητρὸς ἦσαν, οὐ πατρίδος, οὐκ ἀρχαίων ἐθῶν, οὐ συντροφίας, οὐ συνδιαιτήσεως, ὦ ὧν ἕκαστον ἀγωγόν τε καὶ δυσαπόσπαστον ὁλκὸν ἔ ἔχον δύναμιν, ἐλευθέραις. καὶ ἀφέτοις ὁρμαῖς ἣ τάχιστα μεταν- ίσταται, τὸ μὲν πρῶτον ἀπὸ τῆς Χαλδαίων γῆς, εὐδαίμονος ) χώρας καὶ κατ᾽ ἐκεῖνον ἀκμαζούσης τὸν χρόνον, εἰς τὴν “Χαρραίων γῆν, ἔπειτα οὐ μακρὰν ὕστερον καὶ ἀπὸ ταύτης εἰς € ἕτερον τόπον, περὶ οὗ λέξομεν. ἐκεῖνο πρότερον. εἰπόντες..

ΧΥ. Αἱ δηλωθεῖσαι ἀποικίαι τῷ μὲν ῥητῷ τῆς γραφῆς ὑπ᾽ ἀνδρὸς σοφοῦ γεγόνασι, κατὰ δὲ τοὺς ἐν ἀλληγορίᾳ νόμους ὑπὸ φιλαρέτου ψυχῆς τὸν ἀληθῆ ζητούσης θεόν.. Χαλδαῖοι. γὰρ ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα διαπονήσαντες a ἀστρονομίαν καὶ πάντα ταῖς κινήσεσι τῶν ἀστέρων ἀναθέντες ὑπέλαβον οἶκο- νομεῖσθαι τὰ ἐν κόσμῳ δυνάμεσιν, ἃς περιέχουσιν ἀριθμοὶ καὶ ἀριθμῶν ἀναλογίαι, (Kat) τὴν ὁρατὴν οὐσίαν ἐσέμνυνον. τῆς ἀοράτου καὶ νοητῆς οὐ λαβόντες. ἔννοιαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐν ἐκείνοις τάξιν δι- ερευνώμενοι κατά τε τὰς ἡλίου καὶ σελήνης καὶ τῶν

ἄλλων πλανήτων Kat ἀπλανῶν περιόδους καὶ κατὰ Τὰς τῶν. ἐτησίων ὡρῶν μεταβολὰς καὶ κατὰ τὴν Τῶν οὐρανίων πρὸς τὰ ἐπίγεια συμπάθειαν τὸν

κόσμον αὐτὸν ὑπέλαβον εἶναι θεόν, οὐκ εὐαγῶς τὸ

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ON ABRAHAM, 66-69

bidden, departed with a few or even alone, and his emigration was one of soul rather than body, for the heavenly love overpowered his desire for mortal things. And so taking no thought for anything, 67 either for his fellow-clansmen, or wardsmen, or schoolmates, or comrades, or blood relations on father’s or mother’s side, or country, or ancestral customs, or community of nurture or home life, all of them ties possessing a power to allure and attract which it is hard to throw off, he followed a free and unfettered impulse and departed with all speed first from Chaldea, a land at that time blessed by fortune and at the height of its prosperity, and migrated to Haran; then not long afterwards he left this too for another place, about which we shall speak after dealing with something else to which I now proceed. XV. The migrations as set forth by the literal text 68 of the scriptures are made by a man of wisdom, but according to the laws of allegory by a virtue- loving soul in its search for the true God. For the 69 Chaldeans were especially active in the elaboration of astrology and ascribed everything to the movements of the stars. They supposed that the course of the phenomena of the world is guided by influences contained in numbers and numerical proportions. Thus they glorified visible existence, leaving out of consideration’ the intelligible and invisible. But while exploring numerical order as applied to the revolution of the sun, moon and other planets and fixed stars, and the changes of the yearly seasons and the interdependence of phenomena in heaven and on earth, they concluded that the world itself

α Gen. xi. 31 and xii. 5. For the meaning of ‘‘ another place’’ see on § 85. | 89

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PHILO

γενόμενον ἐξομοιώσαντες τῷ πεποιηκότι. ταύτῃ τοι τῇ δόξῃ συντραφεὶς καὶ ΄χαλδαΐσας μακρόν τινα χρόνον, ὥσπερ ἐκ βαθέος ὕπνου | διοίξας τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς ὄμμα καὶ καθαρὰν αὐγὴν ἀντὶ σκότους βαθέος βλέπειν ἀρξάμενος ἠκολούθησε τῷ φέγγει καὶ κατεῖδεν, ὃ ὃ μὴ πρότερον. ἐθεάσατο, τοῦ κόσμου τινὰ ἡνίοχον καὶ κυβερνήτην ἐφεστῶτα καὶ σωτη- ρίως εὐθύνοντα τὸ οἰκεῖον ἔργον, ἐπιμέλειάν τε καὶ προστασίαν καὶ τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ μερῶν ὅσα θείας ἐπάξια φροντίδος ποιούμενον. ὅπως οὖν βεβαιώ- σηται τὴν φανεῖσαν ὄψιν ἐν τῇ διανοίᾳ παγιώτερον, αὖθίς φησιν 6 ἱερὸς λόγος αὐτῷ" “᾿ τὰ μεγάλα, ὦ οὗτος, ὑποτυπώσει βραχυτέρων πολλάκις γνωρί- ζηται, πρὸς ἅ τις ἀπιδὼν ηὔξησε τὴν φαντασίαν ἀπεριγράφοις μεγέθεσι. παραπεμψάμενος οὖν τούς τε κατ᾽ οὐρανὸν περιπολοῦντας καὶ τὴν Χαλδαϊκὴν ἐπιστήμην μετανάστηθι πρὸς ὀλίγον χρόνον ἀπὸ τῆς μεγίστης πόλεως, τοῦδε τοῦ κόσμου, πρὸς βραχυτέραν, δι᾽ ἧς δυνήσῃ μᾶλλον καταλαβεῖν τὸν ἐφορον τοῦ παντός." διὰ τοῦτο τὴν πρώτην ἀποικίαν ἀπὸ τῆς Χαλδαίων γῆς εἰς τὴν Χαρραίων λέγεται ποιήσασθαι. XVI. Χαρρὰν δὲ “Ἑλληνιστὶ “‘ τρῶγλαι ᾿᾿ λέγονται, κατὰ σύμβολον. αἱ τῶν “ἡμετέρων αἰσθήσεων χῶραι, δι᾽ ὧν ὥσπερ ὀπῶν ἑκάστη διακύπτειν πέφυκε πρὸς τὴν τῶν οἰκείων ἀντίληψιν. ἀλλὰ τί τούτων, εἴποι τις ἄν, ὄφελος ἦν, εἰ μὴ νοῦς ἀόρατος καθάπερ θαυματο- ποιὸς ἔνδοθεν ὑπήχει ταῖς ἑαυτοῦ δυνάμεσιν, ἃς

¢ The allegorical meaning of Haran is given more fully and clearly in De Mig. 176 ff. and De Som. i. 41 ff. Haran

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ON ABRAHAM, 69-73

was God, thus profanely likening the created to the Creator. In this creed Abraham had been reared, 70 and for a long time remained a Chaldean. Then opening the soul’s eye as though after profound sleep, and beginning to see the pure beam instead of the deep darkness, he followed the ray and discerned what he had not beheld before, a charioteer and pilot presiding over the world and directing in safety his own work, assuming the charge and superintendence of that work and of all such parts of it as are worthy of the divine care. And so to establish more firmly 71 in his understanding the sight which had been revealed to him the Holy Word follows it up by saying

to him, ‘Friend, the great is often known by its outlines as shown in the smaller, and by looking at them the observer finds the scope of his vision in- finitely enlarged. Dismiss, then, the rangers of the heavens and the science of Chaldea, and depart for

a short time from the greatest of cities, this world, to the lesser, and thus you will be better able to apprehend the overseer of the All.”

This is why he is said to emigrate first from the land of 72 Chaldea to that of Haran. XVI. Now Haran in our language means “ holes,” a symbol for the seats of our senses through which each of them naturally peers as through orifices to apprehend what belongs to it. Yet what use, we might ask, would they be if 73 the invisible mind were not there like a juggler to prompt its faculties, sometimes relaxing and giving

being the place of sense-perception is the bodily tenement of the mind (De Mig. 187), and therefore stands for Socratic self-knowledge as a whole in contrast to astrological specula- tion. It thus gives the conviction that there is a higher power than mind and thus leads to the second migration from self-knowledge to knowledge of God.

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PHILO

τοτὲ μὲν ἀνιεὶς καὶ ἐπιχαλῶν τοτὲ δὲ ἀντισπῶν καὶ ἀνθέλκων βίᾳ κίνησιν ἐμμελῆ καὶ πάλιν ἡσυχίαν ἐμπαρεῖχε τοῖς θαυμασίοις; τοῦτο ἔχων παρὰ σεαυτῷ τὸ παράδειγμα ῥᾳδίως οὗ σφόδρα ποθεῖς λαβεῖν τὴν ἐπιστήμην κατανοήσεις. οὐ γὰρ ἐν σοὶ 9 μὲν νοῦς ἐστιν ἡγεμὼν ἐπιτεταγμένος, ᾧ καὶ τοῦ σώματος ἅπασα κοινωνία πειθαρχεῖ καὶ ἑκάστη τῶν αἰσθήσεων ἑ ἕπεται, ὁ δὲ κόσμος, τὸ κάλλιστον καὶ μέγιστον καὶ τελεώτατον ἔ ἔργον, οὗ πάντα τὰ ἄλλα συμβέβηκεν εἶναι μέρη, βασιλέως σἀμοιρεῖ τοῦ συνέχοντος καὶ ἐν ίκως ἐπιτροπεύοντος. εἰ δ᾽ ἀόρατος ὁ βασιλεύς, μ μὴ θαυμάσῃς" οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ ἐν σοὶ νοῦς ὁρατός. ταῦτά τις ἐπιλογιζόμενος καὶ οὐ πόρρωθεν ἀλλ᾽ ἐγγύθεν ἀναδιδασκόμενος ἔκ τε ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τῶν περὶ αὑτὸν εἴσεται σαφῶς, ὅτι ὃ κόσμος οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ πρῶτος θεός, ἀλλ᾽ ἔργον τοῦ πρώτου θεοῦ καὶ τοῦ συμπάντων πατρός, ὃς ἀειδὴς ὧν πάντα φαίνει μικρῶν τε αὖ καὶ μεγάλων δια- δεικνὺς τὰς φύσεις. σώματος γὰρ ὀφθαλμοῖς οὐκ ἠξίωσε καταλαμβάνεσθαι, τάχα μὲν ἐπειδὴ θνητὸν ἀιδίου ψαύειν οὐχ ὅσιον ἦν, τάχα δὲ καὶ δι᾽ ἀσθέ- νειαν τῆς ἡμετέρας ὄψεως: οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἐχώρησε τὰς ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄντος ἐκχεομένας αὐγάς, ὁπότε οὐδὲ ταῖς ἀφ᾽ ἡλίου προσβλέπειν ἀκτῖσιν οἵα τέ ἐστι. XVH. τεκμήριον δὲ ἐναργέστατον τῆς ἀποικίας, ἣν ἀπ ἀστρονομίας καὶ τῆς χαλδαϊζούσης δόξης ἡ διάνοια ἐστείλατο" λέγεται γὰρ εὐθὺς ἅμα τῇ μεταναστάσει τοῦ σοφοῦ: “᾿ ὦφθη δὲ ὁ θεὸς τῷ

᾿Αβραάμ ’’ ᾧ δῆλον ὅτι πρότερον οὐκ ἦν ἐμφανής, 1 uss. συνέξοντος,

“ Gen. xii. 7. But this “ appearance” comes when Abraham is in Canaan. If Philo is following Genesis carefully the

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ON ABRAHAM, 73-77

them a free rein, sometimes forcibly pulling and jerking them back, and thus causing its puppets at one time to move in harmony, at another to rest? With this example in yourself you will easily appre- hend that which you so earnestly desire to know. For it cannot be that while in yourself there is a mind 74 appointed as your ruler which all the community of the body obeys and each ofthe senses follows, the world, the fairest, and greatest and most perfect work of all, of which everything else is a part, is without a king who holds it together and directs it with justice. That the king is invisible need not cause you to wonder, for neither is the mind in your- self visible. Anyone who reflects on these things and 75 learns from no distant source. but from one near at hand, namely himself and what makes him what he is, will know for certain that the world is not the primal God but a work of the primal God and Father of all Who, though invisible, yet brings all things to light, revealing the natures of great and small. For 76 He did not deem it right to be apprehended by the eyes of the body, perhaps because it was contrary to holiness that the mortal should touch the eternal, perhaps too because of the weakness of our sight. For our sight could not have borne the rays that pour from Him that 1s, since it is not even able to look upon the beams of the sun. XVII. We havea very 77 clear proof of the mind’s migration from astrology and the Chaldean creed in the words which follow at once the story of the departure of the Sage. ‘‘ God,” it says, ““ was seen by Abraham.”’* This shews that God was not manifested to him before, when in his

μετανάστασις must embrace both migrations. But the sequel suggests that he mistakenly assigns it to the Haran period.

VOL. VI 6.4; 43

PHILO

σ of aA a > ’ ’ “Ῥ9 ὅτε χαλδαΐζων τῇ τῶν ἀστέρων χορείᾳ προσεῖχεν. ἔξω τοῦ κόσμου καὶ τῆς αἰσθητῆς οὐσίας εὖ- dppoorov καὶ νοητὴν φύσιν οὐδεμίαν ἁπλῶς κατα- 18 λαμβάνων. ἐπεὶ δὲ μετεχώρησε καὶ μεθωρμίσατο, κατὰ τἀναγκαῖον ἔγνω τὸν κόσμον ὑπήκοον ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ αὐτοκράτορα, οὐ πρυτανεύοντα ἀλλὰ πρυτα- νευόμενον ὑπ᾽ αἰτίου τοῦ πεποιηκότος, ὅπερ 19 διάνοια τότε πρῶτον ἀναβλέψασα εἶδε. πολλὴ γὰρ αὐτῆς πρότερον ἀχλὺς ὑπὸ τῶν αἰσθητῶν κατ- εκέχυτο, ἣν ἐνθέρμοις καὶ διαπύροις δόγμασιν 9 ’ ’ ” e 9 3 ’ A ἀνασκεδάσασα μόλις ἴσχυσεν ὡς ἐν αἰθρίᾳ καθαρᾷ τοῦ πάλαι κρυπτομένου καὶ ἀειδοῦς φαντασίαν A a 4 ’ 9 , A λαβεῖν: ὃς ἕνεκα φιλανθρωπίας ἀφικνουμένην τὴν ψυχὴν ὡς ἑαυτὸν οὐκ ἀπεστράφη, προὕπαντήσας ὃ A A e aA ’ ξὸ > ὸ 4 4 ἐ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ φύσιν ἔδειξε, καθ᾽ ὅσον οἷόν τε ἦν 9 aA A 4 ὃ A 4 9 4 ς 3 80 ἰδεῖν τὸν βλέποντα. διὸ λέγεται, οὐχ ὅτι ὁ σοφὸς εἶδε θεόν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι “΄ ὁ θεὸς ὦφθη ᾿᾿ τῷ σοφῷ" καὶ γὰρ ἦν ἀδύνατον καταλαβεῖν τινα δι᾽ αὑτοῦ τὸ πρὸς ἀλήθειαν ὄν, μὴ παραφήναντος ἐκείνου ἑαυτὸν καὶ ; : » BY 1 ἐπιδείξαντος. a A aA > 4 Δ ¢ ~ 81 XVIII. Μαρτυρεῖ δὲ τοῖς εἰρημένοις καὶ ἡ τοῦ > a ὀνόματος ὑπαλλαγὴ καὶ μετάθεσις. ἐκαλεῖτο γὰρ 3} Ἄβραμ τὸ ἀρχαῖον ὄνομα, προσερρήθη δ᾽ ὕστερον Αβραάμ, φωνῇ μὲν ἑνὸς στοιχείου τοῦ ἄλφα διπλασιασθέντος, δυνάμει δὲ μεγάλου πράγματος 82 καὶ i δόγματος ἐνδειξαμένου τὴν μεταβολήν. ἼἌβραμ μὲν γὰρ ἑρμηνευθέν ἐστι “" πατὴρ μετέωρος, A ᾿Αβραὰμ δὲ “ πατὴρ ἐκλεκτὸς ἠχοῦς, τὸ μὲν πρότερον ἐμφαῖνον τὸν ἀστρολογικὸν καὶ μετεωρο- λογικὸν ἐπικαλούμενον, οὕτως τῶν Χαλδαϊκῶν

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ON ABRAHAM, 177-82

Chaldean way he was fixing his thoughts on the choric movement of the stars with no apprehension at all of an harmonious and intelligible oxder of things outside the world and the sphere of sense. But when he had departed and changed his habita- 78 tion he could not help but know that the world is not sovereign but dependent, not governing but governed by its Maker and First Cause. And this his mind then saw for the first time with its re- covered sight. For before a great mist had been 79 shed upon it by the things of sense, and only with difficulty could it dispel this mist under the warmth and fervour of higher verities and so be able as in clear open sky to receive the vision of Him Who so long lay hidden and invisible. He in His love for mankind, when the soul came into His presence, did not turn away His face, but came forward to meet him and revealed His nature, so far as the beholder’s power of sight allowed. That is why we are told not 80 that the Sage saw God, but that God was seen by him. For it were impossible that anyone should by himself apprehend the truly Existent, did not He reveal and manifest Himself.

XVIII. What hasbeensaid is attested by the altera- 81 tion and change in his name, for his original name was Abram, but afterwards he was addressed as Abraham.* To the ear there was but a duplication of one letter, alpha, but in fact and in the truth con- veyed this duplication shewed a change of great importance. Abram is by interpretation “ uplifted 82 father’; Abraham, “elect father of sound.” The former signifies one called astrologer and meteoro-

4 Gen. xvii. 5. For the interpretation of Abram and Abraham (Greek Abraam) cf. De Cher. 4, 7, De Gig. 62, 64, De Mut. 66.

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PHILO

δογμάτων ἐπιμελούμενον, ὡς ἄν τις πατὴρ ἐγγόνων 83 ἐπιμεληθείη, τὸ δ᾽ ὕστερον τὸν σοφόν. διὰ μὲν γὰρ τῆς ἠχοῦς τὸν προφορικὸν λόγον αἰνίττεται, διὰ τοῦ πατρὸς δὲ τὸν ἡγεμόνα νοῦν---πατὴρ γὰρ ὁ ἐνδιά- θετος φύσει τοῦ γεγωνοῦ πρεσ ὑτερός γε ὧν καὶ τὰ λεκτέα ὑποσπείρων---, διὰ δὲ τοῦ ἐπιλέκτου τὸν ἀστεῖον" εἰκαῖος μὲν γὰρ καὶ πεφυρμένος 6 φαῦ- dos τρόπος, ἐκλεκτὸς δὲ ὁ ἀγαθός, ἐπικριθεὶς ἐξ 84 ἁπάντων ἀριστίνδην. τῷ μὲν οὖν μετεωρολογικῷ μεῖζον οὐδὲν τοῦ κόσμου τὸ παράπαν εἶναι δοκεῖ, ᾧ καὶ τὰς τῶν γινομένων αἰτίας ἀνατίθησιν- ὁ δὲ σοφὸς ἀκριβεστέροις ὄμμασιν ἰδών τι τελεώτερον νοητὸν ἄρχον τε καὶ ἡγεμονεῦον, ὑφ᾽ οὗ τἄλλα | [14] δεσπόζεται καὶ κυβερνᾶται, πολλὰ κατεμέμψατο τῆς προτέρας ζωῆς ἑαυτὸν ὡς τυφλὸν βίον δι- εξεληλυθότα, σκηριπτόμενον ἐπὶ τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς, ἀβεβαίῳ καὶ ἀνιδρύτῳ φύσει πράγματι. δευτέραν δ᾽ ἀποικίαν στέλλεται λογίῳ πάλιν πεισ- 85 θεὶς ὁ ὁ ἀστεῖος οὐκέτ᾽ ἐκ πόλεως εἰς πόλιν, ἀλλ’ εἰς χώραν. ἐρήμην, ἐν ἡ πλαζόμενος διετέλει μὴ δυσ- αρεστῶν τῇ π avy καὶ τῷ OV αὐτὴν ἀνιδρύτῳ. 80 καίτοι τίς ἕτερος οὐκ ἂν ἠχθέσθη μὴ μόνον τῆς οἰκείας ἀπανιστάμενος, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐξ ἁπάσης πόλεως ἐλαυνόμενος εἰς δυσβάτους καὶ δυσπορεύτους avo- δίας; τίς δ᾽ οὐκ ἂν μετατραπόμενος ἐπαλινδρόμη- σεν οἴκαδε, βραχέα μὲν φροντίσας τῶν μελλουσῶν ἐλπίδων, τὴν δὲ παροῦσαν ἀπορίαν σπεύδων ἐκ- φυγεῖν, εὐήθειαν ὑπολαβὼν ἀδήλων χάριν ἀγαθῶν

6 Gen. xii. 9. Ιχχ “And Abram departed and having journeyed encamped in the wilderness.” E.V. ** And Abram journeyed going on still towards the south.”’ Philo con- veniently ignores the earlier movements of Abraham in

46

ON ABRAHAM, 82-86

logist, one who takes care of the Chaldean tenets as a father would of his children. The latter signifies 88 the Sage, for he uses “ sound ”’ as a figure for spoken thought and “ father ’’ for the ruling mind, since the inward thought is by its nature father of the uttered, being senior to it, the secret begetter of what it has to say. “Elect”’ signifies the man of worth, for the worthless character is random and confused, while the good is elect, chosen out of all for his merits. Now to the meteorologist nothing at all seems 84 greater than the universe, and he credits it with the causation of what comes into being. But the wise man with more discerning eyes sees something more perfect perceived by mind, something which rules and governs, the master and pilot of all else. And therefore he blames himself severely for his former life, feeling that all his years have been passed in blindness with no staff to support him but the world of sense, which is by its nature an insecure and unstable thing. The second migration 85 which the man of worth undertakes, again in obedi- ence to an oracle, is not as before from state to state but into a desert country in which he continued to wander, never complaining of the wandering or the insecurity which it caused. Yet who else would not 86 have felt it a burden not only to be severed from his own country, but also to be driven out of all city life into pathless tracts where the traveller could hardly find a way? Who would not have turned his course and hurried back homeward, paying little regard to future hopes, but eager to escape his present hard- ships, and thinking it folly to choose admitted evil

Canaan and fastens on the ultimate goal—the wilderness, as a symbol of the solitude of the mystic.

AT

PHILO

e e α 87 ὁμολογούμενα αἱρεῖσθαι κακά; μόνος δ᾽ οὑτοσὶ τοὐναντίον πεπονθέναι φαίνεται, βίον ἥδιστον ’ aA aA A νομίζων τὸν ἄνευ συνδιαιτήσεως τῆς τῶν πολλῶν. A ley καὶ πέφυκεν οὕτως ἔχειν" οἱ γὰρ ζητοῦντες καὶ ἐπιποθοῦντες θεὸν ἀ ἀνευρεῖν τὴν φίλην αὐτῷ μόνωσιν ἀγαπῶσι, κατ᾽ αὐτὸ τοῦτο σπεύδοντες πρῶτον ἐξομοιοῦσθαι τῇ μακαρίᾳ καὶ εὐδαίμονι φύσει. 88 ἑκατέραν οὖν ἀπόδοσιν πεποιημένοι, lA e A e > 95 9.9 A A A > ¢ aA τὴν τε ῥητὴν ὡς ἐπ᾽ ἀνδρὸς Kal τὴν du ὑπονοιῶν ὡς ἐπὶ ψυχῆς, ἀξιέραστον καὶ τὸν ἄνδρα καὶ τὸν νοῦν ἀπεφήναμεν, τὸν μὲν πεισθέντα λογίοις ἐκ δυσαποσπάστων ἀφελκυσθέντα, τὸν δὲ νοῦν, ὅτι οὐ μέχρι παντὸς ἀπατηθεὶς ἐπὶ τῆς αἰσθητῆς οὐσίας ld ᾿ ἔστη τὸν ὁρατὸν κόσμον ὑπολαβὼν μέγιστον καὶ ~ iy θ ’ > A > ὃ A aA λ a πρῶτον εἶναι θεόν, ἀλλὰ ἀναδραμὼν τῷ λογισμῷ 4 e aA A 3 4 φύσιν ἑτέραν ἀμείνω τῆς ὁρατῆς νοητὴν ἐθεάσατο A aA A e καὶ TOV ἀμφοῖν ποιητὴν ὁμοῦ καὶ ἡγεμόνα. A A A t 89 XIX. Ταῦτα τοῦ θεοφιλοῦς τὰ προτέλεια, οἷς ἕπονται πράξεις οὐκ εὐκαταφρόνητοι. τὸ δὲ μέγε- A ’ A > A ’ a Bos αὐτῶν ov παντί τῷ δῆλον, ἀλλὰ μόνον τοῖς γευσαμένοις ἀρετῆς, οἱ τὰ θαυμαζόμενα παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς εἰώθασι χλευάζειν ἕνεκα μεγέθους τῶν περὶ 90 ψυχὴν ἀγαθῶν. ἀποδεξάμενος οὖν ὁ θεὸς τὴν εἰρημένην πρᾶξιν αὐτίκα τὸν ἀστεῖον ἀμείβεται ’ μεγάλῃ δωρεᾷ, τὸν γάμον αὐτῷ κινδυνεύσαντα πρὸς δυνατοῦ καὶ ἀκρατοῦς ἀνδρὸς ἐπιβουλευθῆναι 91 διατηρήσας dibavorov τε καὶ σῷον. ἡ δ᾽ αἰτία τῆς & 3 ’᾽ > A 3 4 ~ 9 ’ ἐπιθέσεως ἀρχὴν ἔλαβε τοιάνδε. καρπῶν ἀφορίας

@ For 88 91-98 see Gen. xii. 10-20. 48

ON ABRAHAM, 87-91

for the sake of uncertain good? Yet he alone ap- 87 pears to have had feelings the opposite of these, and to have thought that no life was so pleasant as one lived without association with the multitude. And that is natural, for those who seek God and yearn to find Him love the solitude which is dear to Him, and in this way first of all hasten to make themselves like His blessed and happy nature. So in 88 both our expositions, the literal as applied to the man and the allegorical as applied to the soul, we have shewn both man and soul to be worthy of our affec- tion. We have shewn how the man in obedience to divine commands was drawn away from the stubborn hold of his associations and how the mind did not remain for ever deceived nor stand rooted in the realm of sense, nor suppose that the visible world was the Almighty and Primal God, but using its reason sped upwards and turned its gaze upon the intel- ligible order which is superior to the visible and upon Him who is maker and ruler of both alike.

XIX. This is the opening of the story of the friend 89 of God, and it is followed by actions which call for anything but contempt. But their greatness is not clear to everyone, but only to those who have tasted virtue and who recognize the greatness of the good things which belong to the soul and therefore are wont to deride those which win the admiration of the multi- tude. God, then, approving of the action just re- 90 lated, at once rewards the man of worth with a great gift ; for when his marriage was threatened through the designs of a licentious potentate, God kept it safe and unharmed. ° The occasion which led up to 91 the attempted outrage originated in the following way. There had been a failure of the crops for a

49

92

[15]

93

94

95

96

PHILO

ἐπὶ συχνὸν χρόνον γενομένης, τοτὲ μὲν διὰ πολλὴν καὶ ἄμετρον ἐπομβρίαν τοτὲ δὲ δι᾽ αὐχμὸν καὶ ζάλην, at κατὰ Συρίαν πόλεις συνεχεῖ λιμῷ πιε- σθεῖσαι κεναὶ τῶν οἰκητόρων ἦσαν, ἄλλων ἀλλαχόσε σκιδναμένων κατὰ ζήτησιν τροφῆς καὶ πορισμὸν τῶν ἀναγκαίων. πυθόμενος οὖν ᾿Αβραὰμ ἄφθονον εὐθηνίαν καὶ εὐετηρίαν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ, τοῦ μὲν πο- ταμοῦ ταῖς πλημμύραις λιμνάσαντος ἐν καιρῷ τὰ πεδία, τῶν δὲ τὸν σπόρον εὔσταχυν ἐνεγκόντων καὶ ἀναθρεψαμένων | εὐκρασίαις πνευμάτων, ἀπαίρει πᾶσαν τὴν οἰκίαν ἐπαγόμενος. ἦν δ᾽ αὐτῷ γυνὴ τήν τε ψυχὴν a ἀρίστη καὶ τὸ σῶμα τῶν καθ᾽ αὐτὴν περικαλ-

λεστάτη" ταύτην ἰδόντες τῶν Αἰγυπτίων οἱ ἐν τέλει" καὶ τῆς εὐμορφίας ἀγάμενοι---λανθάνει γὰρ τοὺς ἐν ἐξοχαῖς οὐδέν---μηνύουσι τῷ ασιλεῖ. μεταπεμ- ψάμενος δὲ τὴν ἄνθρωπον καὶ θεασάμενος € ἐκπρεπε- στάτην ὄψιν, βραχὺ φροντίσας αἰδοῦς καὶ νόμων τῶν ἐπὶ τιμῇ ξένων ὁρισθέντων, ἐνδοὺς ἀκρασίᾳ δι- ενοεῖτο ὄγῳ μὲν αὐτὴν ἀγαγέσθαι πρὸς γάμον, τὸ δ᾽ ἀληθὲς αἰσχύνειν. ἡ δ᾽ ἅτε ἐν ἀλλοτρίᾳ γῇ παρ ἀκρατεῖ τε καὶ ὠμοθύμῳ δυνάστῃ τοῦ βοηθήσοντος ἀποροῦσα---οὐδὲ γὰρ ὁ ἀνὴρ ἔσθενεν ἀρήγειν τὸν ἐπικρεμάμενον ἐκ τῶν δυνατωτέρων φόβον δεδιώς -ἐπὶ τὴν τελευταίαν ἅμ᾽ ἐκεΐῳ καταφεύγει συμμαχίαν τὴν ἐκ θεοῦ. λαβὼν δὲ τῶν ἕένων οἶκτον ὁ εὐμενὴς καὶ ἵλεως καὶ ὑπέρμαχος τῶν ἀδικουμένων ἀλγηδόνας. δυσκαρτερήτους καὶ χαλε- πὰς τιμωρίας ἐπάγει τῷ βασιλεῖ, παντοίων κακῶν ἀναπλήσας αὐτοῦ σῶμα καὶ ψυχὴν δυσιάτων, ὦ ὡς τὰς μὲν ἐφ᾽ ἡδονὴν ἀγούσας ὀρέξεις ἁπάσας ἐκκεκόφ- θαι, τὰς δ᾽ ἐναντίας ᾿ παρεισεληλυθέναι φροντίδας

50

ON ABRAHAM, 91-96

considerable period, at one time through a great and excessive rainfall, at another through drought and stormy weather; and the cities of Syria, hard pressed through continual famine, were stripped of their in- habitants who scattered in different directions to seek for food and to procure necessities. Abraham, then, 92 learning that there was a rich and abundant supply of corn in Egypt, where the river by its seasonal flooding had turned the plains into pools, and well- tempered winds had produced and fostered a fine growth of corn, set off thither with his whole house- hold. He had a wife distinguished greatly for her 93 goodness of soul and beauty of body, in which she surpassed all the women of her time. When the chief people of Egypt saw her and admired her beauty, since the highly placed leave nothing unobserved, they told the king. He sent for the 94 woman, and, marking her surpassing comeliness, paid little regard to decency or the laws enacted to shew respect to strangers, but gave rein to his licence and determined nominally to take her in marriage, but in reality to bring her to shame. She who in a 95 foreign country was at the mercy of a licentious and. cruel-hearted despot and had no one to protect her, for her husband was helpless, menaced as he was by the terror of stronger powers, joined him in fleeing for refuge to the last remaining championship, that of God. And God, Who is kindly and merciful and 96 shields the wronged, had pity for the strangers and plied the king with almost intolerable pains and grievous penalties. He filled him body and soul with all manner of scarce curable plagues. All appetite for pleasure was eradicated and replaced by visita- tions of the opposite kind, by cravings for release

51

PHILO

περὶ ἀπαλλαγῆς ἀνηνύτων βασάνων, ὑφ᾽ ὧν γυμνα- ζόμενος μεθ᾽ ἡμέραν καὶ νύκτωρ ἐξετραχηλίζετο.

97 παραπέλαυσε δὲ τῆς τιμωρίας καὶ σύμπας ὁ οἶκος αὐτῷ, μηδενὸς ἐπὶ τῇ παρανομίᾳ δυσχεράναντος, ἀλλὰ πάντων ἕνεκα τοῦ συναινεῖν μόνον οὐ συγ-

98 χειρουργησάντων τὸ ἀδίκημα. τοῦτον τὸν τρόπον ἡ μὲν ἁγνεία τῆς γυναικὸς διασῴζεται, τοῦ δὲ ἀνδρὸς τὴν καλοκἀγαθίαν καὶ εὐσέβειαν ὁ θεὸς ἠξίωσεν ἐπιδείξασθαι γέρας αὐτῷ μέγιστον παρασχών, ἀσινῆ καὶ ἀνύβριστον ὅσον οὔπω κινδυνεύσαντα διαφθ αρῆναι τὸν γάμον, ὃς οὐκ ἔμελλεν ὀλίγων ἀριθμὸν υἱῶν ἢ θυγατέρων γεννᾶν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅλον ἔθνος καὶ ἐθνῶν τὸ θεο ἱλέστατον, ὅ μοι δοκεῖ τὴν ὑπὲρ παντὸς ἀνθρώπων γένους ἱερωσύνην καὶ προφητείαν λαχεῖν.

990. ΧΧ. Ἤκουσα μέντοι καὶ φυσικῶν ἀνδρῶν οὐκ ἀπὸ σκοποῦ τὰ περὶ τὸν τόπον ἀλληγορούντων, οἵ τὸν μὲν ἄνδρα συμβολικῶς ,ἔφασκον σπουδαῖον εἶναι νοῦν ἐκ τῆς περὶ τοὔνομα ἑρμηνευθείσης δυνάμεως τεκμαιρόμενοι τρόπον ἀστεῖον ἐν ψυχῇ, τὴν δὲ τούτου γυναῖκα ἀρετήν, ἧς τοὔνομά ἐστι “Χαλδαϊστὶ μὲν Σάρρα," Ἑλληνιστὶ δὲ ‘ ἄρχουσα, ἂ διὰ τὸ μηδὲν ἀρετῆς ἀρχικώτερον εἶναι καὶ ἡγεμο-

100 νικώτερον. γάμος δέ, ὃν μὲν ἁρμόζεται ἡδονή, σωμάτων κοινωνίαν ἔλαχεν, ὃν δὲ σοφία, λογισμῶν καθάρσεως ἐφιεμένων καὶ τελείων ἀρετῶν. ἐναν- τιώτατοι δὲ ἀλλήλοις εἰσὶν of λεχθέντες γάμοι.

10] κατὰ μὲν γὰρ τὸν τῶν σωμάτων σπείρει μὲν τὸ

* Or “students of the (higher) truths of N ature,”’ almost in some contexts (6... Mos. ii. 216) ΞΞ “ theologians.”’ Nature is so closely akin to the divine (see note on De Sac. 98) that allegorical truths such as these especially belong to its study,

52

ON ABRAHAM, 96-101

from the endless tortures which night and day haunted and racked him almost to death. The whole 97 household, too, shared the punishment with him, since none had shewn indignation at the outrage, but all by consenting were almost accomplices in the mis~ deed. Thus the chastity of the woman was pre- 98 served, while the nobility and piety of the man was evidenced by God, Who deigned to grant him this signal boon, that his marriage, which would have been in almost immediate danger of violation, should remain free from harm and outrage, that marriage from which was to issue not a family of a few sons and daughters, but a whole nation, and that the nation dearest of all to God, which, as I hold, has received the gift of priesthood and prophecy on behalf of all mankind.

XX. I have also heard some natural philosophers @ who took the passage allegorically, not without good reason. They said that the husband was a figure for the good mind, judging by the meaning given for interpretation of this name that it stood for a good disposition of soul. The wife, they said, was virtue, her name being in Chaldean Sarah but in our language a sovereign lady,? because nothing is more sovereign or dominant than virtue. Now in a marriage where 100 the union is brought about by pleasure, the partner- ship is between body and body, but in the marriage made by wisdom it is between thoughts which seek purification and perfect virtues. Now the two kinds of marriage are directly opposed to each other. For 101 in the bodily marriage the male sows the seed and the

ῷ

9

cf. De Post. Ἴ τὴν δι’ ἀλληγορίας ὁδὸν φυσικοῖς φίλην ἀνδράσι, and De Mut. 62 φυσιολογοῦντεςἨς See further App. p. 597. δ Ch De Cher. 8, De Mut. 77. 53

[16]

102

PHILO

ἄρρεν, γονὴν δ᾽ ὑποδέχεται TO θῆλυ, κατὰ δὲ THY | ἐν ψυχαῖς σύνοδον ἔμπαλιν ἡ μὲν ἀρετὴ τάξιν γυναικὸς ἔχειν οκοῦσα σπείρειν πέφυκε βουλὰς ἀγαθὰς καὶ λόγους σπουδαίους καὶ βιωφελεστάτων εἰσηγήσεις δογμάτων, ὁ δὲ λογισμὸς εἰς τὴν ἀνδρὸς χώραν τάττεσθαι νομισθεὶς τὰς ἱεροπρεπεῖς καὶ θείας ὑποδέχεται σποράς" ἢ μήποτε τὸ λεχθὲν ἔψευσται δι᾿ ἀπάτην ὀνομάτων, ἐπειδήπερ ὁ μὲν νοῦς ἄρρενος ἡ δ᾽ ἀρετὴ θήλεος μετέχει χαρακτῆρος ἐν φωναῖς. εἰ δέ τις τὰς ἐπισκιαζούσας κλήσεις ἀπαμφιάσας γυμνὰ τὰ πράγματα βουληθείη κα- θαρῶς ἰδεῖν εἴσεται διότι ἄρρεν μέν ἐστιν ἡ ἀρετὴ φύσει, παρόσον κινεῖ καὶ διατίθησι καὶ καλὰς ἐννοίας καλῶν πράξεων καὶ λόγων ὑπηχεῖ, θῆλυ δὲ ὁ λογισμὸς κινούμενος. καὶ παιδευόμενος καὶ ὠφελούμενος καὶ συνόλως ἐν τῷ πάσχειν ἐξεταζό- μενος, καὶ τὸ πάθος αὐτῷ τοῦτο μόνον ἐστὶ σωτή-

103 ριον. ΧΧΙ. ἅπαντες μὲν οὖν καὶ οἱ φαυλότατοι

τῷ λόγῳ τιμῶσι καὶ θαυμάζουσιν ἀρετὴν ὅσα τῷ δοκεῖν, χρῶνται δ᾽ αὐτῆς τοῖς παραγγέλμασιν ot ἀστεῖοι μόνοι. διὸ καὶ ὃ τῆς Αἰγύπτου βασιλεύς, ὅπερ ἐστὶ συμβολικῶς νοῦς φιλοσώματος, καθυπο- κρινόμενος ὡς ἐν θεάτρῳ προσποίητον ἐπιμορφάζει ᾿ e > \ \ . κοινωνίαν, πρὸς ἐγκράτειαν ὃ ἀκρατὴς Kal πρὸς σωφροσύνην 6 ἀκόλαστος καὶ πρὸς δικαιοσύνην ὁ ἄδικος, καὶ καλεῖ τὴν ἀρετὴν ὡς ἑαυτὸν τῆς παρὰ

104 τοῖς πολλοῖς εὐφημίας γλιχόμενος. ὅπερ κατιδὼν

ὁ EPopos—povep yap ἔξεστι θεῷ ψυχὴν idetv— ἐμίσησε καὶ προὐβάλετο καὶ βασάνοις ἤλεγξεν ἀργαλεωτάταις ἦθος κατεψευσμένον. ai δὲ βάσανοι διὰ τίνων ὀργάνων ; ἢ πάντως διὰ τῶν τῆς ἀρετῆς μερῶν, ἅπερ ἐπεισιόντα χαλεπῶς αἰκίζεται καὶ 54

ΟΝ ABRAHAM, 101-104

female receives it ; on the other hand in the matings within the soul, though virtue seemingly ranks as wife, her natural function is to sow good counsels and excel- lent words and to inculcate tenets truly profitable to life, while thought, though held to take the place of the husband, receives the holy and divine sowings. Perhaps however the statement? above is a mistake due to the deceptiveness of the nouns, since in the actualwordsemployed vot'shasthemasculine,and ἀρετή the feminine form. And if anyone is willing to divest facts of the terms which obscure them and observe them in their nakedness in a clear light he will under- stand that virtue is male, since it causes movement and affects conditions and suggests noble conceptions of noble deeds and words, while thought is female, being moved and trained and helped, and in general belonging to the passive category, which passivity is its sole means of preservation. XXI. All men, then, even the most worthless, professedly honour and admire virtue so far as outward appearance goes, but only the worthy practise its injunctions. And so the king of Egypt, under which figure is symbolized the mind which loves the body, acts a part as in a theatre and assumes a counterfeited fellowship, he, the licentious with chastity, the profligate with self-con-

102

103

trol, the unjust with justice, and in his desire to earn .

a good repute with the multitude invites virtue to join him. Seeing this, God the surveyor, since He alone can scan the soul, hates and rejects the sham character and submits it to the test of most painful tortures. What are the instruments of these tortures? Surely the different parts of virtue which enter in and plague

3 2,9. that virtue is wife, and mind husband; but see App. pp. 597-598. 55

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PHILO

τιτρώσκει; βάσανος μὲν γάρ ἐστιν ἀπληστίας ὀλιγοδεΐα, βάσανος δὲ λαγνείας ἐγκράτεια" στρε- βλοῦται δὲ καὶ ὁ φιλόδοξος arugias εὐημερούσης καὶ

105 ὁ ἄδικος δικαιοσύνης ἐπαινουμένης. μίαν γὰρ ἀμήχανον ψυχὴν κατοικεῖν δύο τὰς ἐχθρὰς φύσεις, κακίαν καὶ ἀρετήν" οὗ χάριν, ἐπειδὰν συνενεχθῶσιν, ἀσύμβατοι καὶ ἀκατάλλακτοι. στάσεις καὶ πόλεμοι συγκροτοῦνται, καίτοι τῆς ἀρετῆς εἰρηνικωτάτην φύσιν ἐχούσης, ἧ φασιν ἐπιμελὲς εἶναι, ὅταν εἰς χειρῶν ἅμιλλαν ἰέναι μέλλῃ, τῆς ἰδίας δυνάμεως ἀποπειρᾶσθαι πρότερον, ἵν᾽ " εἰ μὲν ἰσχύοι κατ- αγωνίσασθαι, συνιστῆται, εἰ δ᾽ ἀσθενεστέρᾳ χρῷτο τῇ δυνάμει, μηδὲ συγκαταβῆναι τὴν ἀρχὴν εἰς τὸν

106 ἀγῶνα θαρρήσῃ" κακίαν μὲν γὰρ ἡττᾶσθαι οὐκ αἰσχρόν, ἣ συγγενὲς ἀδοξία, ἀρετὴν δὲ ὄνειδος, ἧ πάντων οἰκειότατον εὔκλεια, δι᾿ ἣν πέφυκε νικᾶν ἢ διατηρεῖν αὑτὴν ἀήττητον.

11 ΧΧΙ͂. Τὸ μὲν οὖν Αἰγυπτίων ἄξενον καὶ ἀκό- λαστον εἴρηται. τοῦ δὲ τοιαῦτα “πεπονθότος ἄξιον θαυμάσαι τὴν φιλανθρωπίαν, ὃς μεσημβρίας |

[17] θεασάμενος. τρεῖς ὡς ἄνδρας ὁδοιποροῦντας---οἱ δὲ θειοτέρας ὄντες φύσεως ἐλελήθεσαν---προσδραμὼν ἱκέτευε λιπαρῶς μὴ παρελθεῖν αὑτοῦ τὴν σκηνήν, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς πρέπον εἰσεληλυθότας ξενίων μετασχεῖν" οἱ δ᾽ οὐκ ἐκ τῶν λεγομένων μᾶλλον ἢ τῆς διανοίας εἰδότες ἀληθεύοντα μηδὲν ἐνδοιάσαντες ἐπινεύουσι.

108 πληρωθεὶς δὲ τὴν ψυχὴν χαρᾶς πάντ᾽ ἐσπούδαζεν εἰς τὸ ἀνυπέρθετον τῆς ὑποδοχῆς καὶ τῇ μὲν γυναικί φησι " σπεῦσον καὶ τρία μέτρα ποίησον ἐγκρυφιῶν, - αὐτὸς δὲ εἰς τὰ βουκόλια συντείνας, ἁπαλὸν καὶ

109 εὔσαρκον ἀγαγὼν μόσχον, οἰκέτῃ παραδίδωσιν. ὁ

α For §§ 107-118 see Gen. xviii. 56

ON ABRAHAM, 104-109

and wound him grievously? For greediness is tortured

by frugal contentment and lewdness by continence. And so the vainglorious is racked when simplicity prevails, and the unjust when justice is praised. For 105 it is impossible for the single soul to have for its tenant two hostile natures, vice and virtue, and therefore when they meet factions and wars are set on foot incapable of truce or reconciliation. And yet virtue’s nature is most peaceable, and she is careful, so they say, to test her own strength before the conflict, so that if she is able to contend to the end she may take the field, but if she finds her strength too weak she may shrink from entering the contest at all. For vice 106 feels no disgrace in defeat, since ill-repute is congenital

to her, but to virtue it is a reproach, for nearest and dearest to her is good fame which makes it natural for her to be victorious or at least to keep herself undefeated.

XXII. ¢I have described the inhospitality and 107 licentiousness of the Egyptians. Turning to the victim of this outrage, we may well admire his kind- ness of heart. When at noon he saw three travellers in the form of men, for their diviner nature was not apparent to him, he ran to them and earnestly begged of them not to pass his tent but to enter as was fitting and partake of hospitality. But they, knowing, not so much by his words as by the feeling he showed, that he spoke the truth, assented without hesitation. And he, his soul full of joy, was eager to carry out 108 the reception without delay, and said to his wife :

‘‘ Hasten and bake three measures of cakes in the ashes.’’ Meanwhile he himself hurried to the stalls and brought a tender and well-fed calf which he gave to the servant who killed it and dressed it with all 109

57

PHILO

δὲ καταθύσας σκευάζει τάχιστα: βραδὺς yap οὐδεὶς πρὸς φιλανθρωπίαν ἐν οἴκῳ σοφοῦ, ἀλλὰ καὶ γυ- ναῖκες καὶ ἄνδρες καὶ δοῦλοι καὶ ἐλεύθεροι προ- θυμότατοι πρὸς τὰς τῶν ξενιζομένων ὑπηρεσίας.

110 ἐστιαθέντες δ᾽ οὐ τοῖς εὐτρεπισθεῖσι μᾶλλον ἢ τῇ τοῦ ξενοδόχου γνώμῃ καὶ πολλῇ τινι καὶ ἀπεράντῳ φιλοτιμίᾳ παρέχουσιν ἄθλον ἐλπίδος μεῖζον αὐτῷ, υἱοῦ γνησίου γένεσιν εἰς νέωτα βεβαιωθησομένην ὑποσχόμενοι δι᾽ ἑνὸς τοῦ τῶν τριῶν ἀρίστου-- λέγειν γὰρ ἐν ταὐτῷ πάντας ἀθρόους ἦν ἀφιλό- σοφον, ἑνὶ δὲ λέγοντι τοὺς ἄλλους συνεπινεύειν

111 ἐμπρεπές---. ἀλλὰ γὰρ οὐδ᾽ ὑπισχνουμένοις ἕνεκα τοῦ περὶ τὸ πρᾶγμα ἀπίστου βεβαίως προσεῖχον" ἤδη γὰρ ὑπερήλικες γεγονότες διὰ μακρὸν. γῆρας

112 ἀπεγνώκεσαν παιδὸς σποράν. ἀκούσασαν οὖν τὴν γυναῖκα ἐν ἀρχῇ φησι γελάσαι καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα, εἰπόντων “᾿ μὴ ἀδυνατεῖ παρὰ τῷ θεῷ πᾶν ῥῆμα; ᾿ καταιδεσθεῖσαν ἠρνῆσθαι τὸν γέλωτα" πάντα γὰρ ἤδει θεῷ δυνατὰ σχεδὸν ἐξ ἔτι σπαργάνων τουτὶ τὸ

113 δόγμα προμαθοῦσα. τότε μοι δοκεῖ πρῶτον οὐκέθ᾽ ὁμοίαν τῶν ὁρωμένων λαβεῖν φαντασίαν, ἀλλὰ σεμνοτέραν ἢ προφητῶν ἣ ἀγγέλων μεταβαλόντων ἀπὸ πνευματικῆς καὶ ψυχοειδοῦς οὐσίας εἰς ἀν- θρωπόμορφον ἰδέαν.

114 XXIII. Τὸ μὲν οὖν φιλόξενον τοῦ ἀνδρὸς εἴρηται, πάρεργον ὃν ἀρετῆς μείζονος" ἡ δ᾽ ἀρετὴ θεοσέβεια, περὶ ἧς καὶ πρότερον εἴπομεν, ἧς “δεῖγμα σαφέοσ- τατον τὰ νῦν λεχθέντα ἐστὶν ὡς ἐπὶ ξένων ἀνδρῶν.

α i.e, Sarah’s denial of her laughter is ascribed to a recognition that the Visitor was divine, rather than as in

58

ON ABRAHAM, 109-115

speed. For in a wise man’s house no one is slow in showing kindness ; but women and men, slaves and free, are full of zeal to do service to their guests. After 110 feasting not so much on the viands prepared for them

as on the goodwill of their host, and on this example

of a great and unbounded generosity, they presented him with a reward surpassing his hopes, by promising him the birth of a son born in wedlock. And this promise, which was to be made good in the next year, was given through one, and that the highest, of the three. For wise refinement demanded that all should not speak together at once but rather that one should speak and the others shew assent. But to Abraham 111 and Sarah the thing seemed incredible, and therefore they did not pay serious regard even to the promises

of the three. For as they had passed the years of parenthood their great age had made them despair

of the birth of a son. So the scripture says that the 112 wife first laughed at the words and afterwards when they said, “15 anything impossible with God ? ’’ was ashamed and denied her laughter, for she knew that

all things were possible with God, a truth which she had learnt long ago, and even from the cradle. It 113 was then, I think, that she first saw in the strangers before her a different and grander aspect, that of prophets or angels, transformed from their spiritual and soul-like nature into human shape.*

XXIII. We have described Abraham's hospitality 114 which was but a by-product of a greater virtue. That virtue is piety, of which we have spoken before, and it is quite clearly seen in this story, even if we think of the strangers as men. Some may feel that the 115

Genesis to fear. Otherwise Philo here gives the natural interpretation of the incident. See note on § 206. é 59

115

[18] 116

117

PHILO

εἰ δ᾽ εὐδαίμονα καὶ μακάριον οἶκον ὑπέλαβον εἶναί τινες, ἐν ᾧ συνέβη καταχθῆναι καὶ ἐνδιατρῖψαι σοφούς, οὐκ ἂν ἀξιώσαντας ἀλλ᾽ οὐδ᾽ ὅσον διακῦψαι μόνον, εἴ τι πάθος ἐνεώρων ταῖς ψυχαῖς τῶν ἔνδον ὄντων ἀνίατον, “ἐγὼ δὲ οὐκ οἶδα, τίνα ὑπερβολὴν εὐδαιμονίας καὶ μακαριότητος εἶναι φῶ περὶ τὴν οἰκίαν, ἐν ἧ καταχθῆναι καὶ ξενίων λαχεῖν ὑπ- ἔμειναν ἄγγελοι πρὸς ἀνθρώπων," ἱεραὶ καὶ θεῖαι φύσεις, ὑποδιάκονοι καὶ ὕπαρχοι τοῦ πρώτου θεοῦ, f δι᾿ ὧν ola πρεσβευτῶν ὅσα av θελήσῃ τῷ γένει ἡμῶν προθεσπίσαι διαγγέλλει. πῶς γὰρ ἂν τὴν ἀρχὴν εἰσελθεῖν ὑπέμειναν, εἰ μὴ καθάπερ νεὼς εὖ συντεταγμένον πλήρωμα τοὺς ἔνδον ἅπαντας ἤδεσαν ἑνὶ πειθαρχοῦντας κελεύσματι τῷ τοῦ προεστηκότος ὡσανεὶ κυβερνήτου; πῶς δ᾽ ἂν ἑστιωμένων καὶ ξενιζομένων παρέσχον ὑπόληψιν, εἰ μὴ τὸν ἑστιά- Topa συγγενῆ καὶ ὁμόδουλον ἡγοῦντο τῷ αὐτῶν προσπεφευγότα δεσπότῃ; νομιστέον μέντοι καὶ κατὰ τὴν εἴσοδον αὐτῶν ἔτι μᾶλλον ἐπιδοῦναι πάντα τὰ μέρη τῆς οἰκίας πρὸς τὸ βέλτιον avpa τινὶ τελειοτάτης ἀρετῆς ἐπιπνευσθέντα. τὸ δὲ συμ- πόσιον οἷον εἰκὸς γενέσθαι, τὴν ἐν εὐωχίαις ἀφέλειαν ἐπιδεικνυμένων πρὸς τὸν ἑστιάτορα τῶν ἑστιωμένων καὶ γυμνοῖς ἤθεσι προσαγορευόντων καὶ ὁμιλίας τὰς ἁρμοττούσας τῷ καιρῷ ποιου-

UA A 118 μένων. τεράστιον δὲ καὶ TO μὴ πίνοντας πινόντων

\ A \ 2 ’ 3 ’ ’ καὶ τὸ μὴ ἐσθίοντας ἐσθιόντων παρέχειν φαντασίαν. 9 A a e 9 , A A A 2 A ἀλλὰ ταυτί ye ὡς ἀκόλουθα" τὸ δὲ πρῶτον ἐκεῖνο

9 , 5 A τερατωδέστατον, ἀσωμάτους ὄντας [τοῦδε σώματος]

1 So one ms. The others ἀνθρώπους, which Cohn prints in the text, but later declared for τῶν. The accusative, however Ξε “ἴῃ relation with men” is not impossible.

60

ON ABRAHAM, 115-118

house must have been happy and blessed in which such an event as this took place, that wise men halted there and made a stay who would not have deigned even to look inside if they saw anything hopelessly wrong in the souls of the inmates. And, if this is so, I do not know how to express the vast happiness and blessedness of that house where angels did not shrink from halting and receiving hospitality from men— angels, those holy and divine beings, the servitors and lieutenants of the primal God whom He employs as ambassadors to announce the predictions which He wills to make to our race. For how could they have 116 brought themselves to enter at all if they had not known that all the household, like a well ordered crew, was obedient to a single call from him who steered them like a pilot? And how should they have given ground for the idea that they feasted and received hospitality unless they thought that the giver of the feast was their kinsman and fellow-servant who had sought refuge with their master? Indeed we must suppose that at their entrance all parts of the house advanced still further in goodness and felt some breath of the inspiration of perfect virtue. The 117 conduct of the meal was such as it should be. The guests showed to their entertainer the frank sim- plicity of a festive gathering. Their manner in addressing him was unreserved, and their converse suited to the occasion. It is a marvel indeed that 118 though they neither ate nor drank they gave the appearance of both eating and drinking. But that is a secondary matter ; the first and greatest wonder is that, though incorporeal, they assumed human

@ See App. p. 598. 61

PHILO

εἰς ἰδέαν ἀνθρώπων μεμορφῶσθαι. χάριτι τῇ πρὸς τὸν ἀστεῖον" τίνος γὰρ ἕνεκα ταῦτα ἐθαυματουρ- γεῖτο ἢ τοῦ παρασχεῖν αἴσθησιν τῷ σοφῷ διὰ τρανοτέρας ὄψεως, ὅτι οὐ λέληθε τὸν πατέρα τοιοῦτος ὦν;

19 XXIV. Τὰ μὲν οὖν τῆς ῥητῆς ἀποδόσεως ὡδὶ λελέχθω: τῆς δὲ δι᾿ ὑπονοιῶν ἀρκτέον. σύμβολα τὰ ἐν φωναῖς τῶν διανοίᾳ μόνῃ καταλαμβανομένων ἐστίν: ἐπειδὰν οὖν ἡ ψυχὴ καθάπερ ἐν μεσημβρίᾳ θεῷ περιλαμφθῇ καὶ ὅλη δι᾿ ὅλων νοητοῦ φωτὸς ἀναπλησθεῖσα ταῖς ἐν κύκλῳ κεχυμέναις αὐγαῖς" ἄσκιος γένηται, τριττὴν φαντασίαν ἑνὸς ὑποκει- μένου καταλαμβάνει, τοῦ μὲν ὡς ὄντος, τῶν δ᾽ ἄλλων δυοῖν ὡς ἂν ἀπαυγαζομένων ἀπὸ τούτου σκιῶν: ὁποῖόν τι συμβαίνει καὶ τοῖς ἐν αἰσθητῷ φωτὶ διατρίβουσιν: 7) γὰρ ἑστώτων 7) κινουμένων

120 διτταὶ σκιαὶ πολλάκις συνεμπίπτουσι. μὴ μέντοι νομισάτω τις ἐπὶ θεοῦ τὰς σκιὰς κυριολογεῖσθαι" κατάχρησις ὀνόματός ἐστι μόνον πρὸς ἐναργεστέραν ἔμφασιν τοῦ δηλουμένου πράγματος, ἐπεὶ τό γε

121 ἀληθὲς οὐχ ὧδε ἔχει" ἀλλ᾽ ἔστιν, ὡς av τις ἐγγύτατα τῆς ἀληθείας ἱστάμενος εἴποι, πατὴρ μὲν τῶν ὅλων

[19] ὁ μέσος, ὃς ἐν ταῖς | ¢ ἱεραῖς “γραφαῖς κυρίῳ ὀνόματι καλεῖται ὁ ὁ (oy, at δὲ παρ᾽ ἑκάτερα at πρεσβύταται καὶ ἐγγυτάτω τοῦ ὄντος δυνάμεις, ἡ μὲν ποιητική, ἡ δ᾽ αὖ βασιλική" προσαγορεύεται δὲ ἡ μὲν ποιητικὴ θεός, ταύτῃ γὰρ “ἔθηκέ τε καὶ διεκόσμησε τὸ πᾶν, ἡ δὲ βασιλικὴ κύριος, θέμις γὰρ ἄρχειν καὶ κρατεῖν

122 τὸ πεποιηκὸς τοῦ γενομένου. δορυφορούμενος οὖν

1 uss. (with the exception of H*) ras . . κεχυμένας αὐγὰς, which perhaps might be kept, as Cohn suggests, by correcting ἄσκιος γένηται to ἀσκίους δέχηται Or ἀσπάσηται.

62

ON ABRAHAM, 118-122

form to do kindness to the man of worth. For why was this miracle worked save to cause the Sage to perceive with clearer vision that the Father did not fail to recognize his wisdom ?

XXIV. Here we may leave the literal exposition 119

and begin the allegorical. Spoken words contain symbols of things apprehended by the understanding only. When, then, as at noon-tide God shines around the soul, and the light of the mind fills it through and through and the shadows are driven from it by the rays which pour all around it, the single object presents to it a triple vision, one representing the reality, the other two the shadows reflected from it. Our life in the light which our senses perceive gives us a somewhat similar experience, for objects stand-

ing or moving often cast two shadows at once. No 120

one, however, should think that the shadows can be properly spoken of as God. To call them so is loose speaking, serving merely to give a clearer view of the fact which we are explaining, since the real truth

is otherwise. Rather, as anyone who has approached 121

nearest to the truth would say, the central place is held by the Father of the Universe, Who in the sacred scriptures is called He that 1s as His proper name, while on either side of Him are the senior potencies, the nearest to Him, the creative and the kingly. The title of the former is God,* since it made and ordered the All; the title of the latter is Lord, since it is the fundamental right of the maker to rule and control what he has brought into being. So the central Being with each of His pot-

α Evidently an allusion to the accepted derivation of θεός from τίθημι. Cf. De Conf. 137 δύναμις καθ’ ἣν ἔθηκε καὶ

διετάξατο τὰ πάντα κέκληται ἐτύμως θεός, where ἐτύμως Shews that an etymology is intended (see note). Cf. also De Mut. 29.

63

122

PHILO

ς , ; ey? e , aA , , ~ 6 μέσος ὑφ᾽ ἑκατέρας τῶν δυνάμεων παρέχει TH e aA ’ A A e A A A “- ὁρατικῇ διανοίᾳ τοτὲ μὲν ἑνὸς τοτὲ δὲ τριῶν φαν- ’ e Ay A Lf 4 , “A A Taciav, ἑνὸς μὲν ὅταν ἄκρως τύχη καθαρθεῖσα Kal A , A ’ὔ “A 9 “A 3 A A A μὴ μόνον τὰ πλήθη τῶν ἀριθμῶν ἀλλὰ Kal τὴν ’ aA 9 “A γείτονα μονάδος δυάδα ὑπερβᾶσα πρὸς τὴν ἀμιγῆ \ 9 ᾽ A > e A 9 A 9 A δ καὶ ἀσύμπλοκον καὶ καθ᾽ αὑτὴν οὐδενὸς ἐπιδεᾶ τὸ ’ A ’ὔ παράπαν ἰδέαν ἐπείγηται, τριῶν δὲ ὅταν μήπω τὰς A 4 A μεγάλας τελεσθεῖσα τελετὰς ἔτι ἐν ταῖς βραχυ- ’ 9 A Tépais ὀργιάζηται καὶ μὴ δύνηται TO ὃν ἄνευ ἑτέρου A > 9 “A ’ A 3 A A ~ Twos ἐξ αὐτοῦ μόνου καταλαβεῖν, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῶν av , vn » , \ εν 128 δρωμένων, ἢ κτίζον ἢ ἄρχον. δεύτερος μὲν οὖν, [2 aA a 9 ws φασι, πλοῦς οὗτος, μετέχει δ᾽ οὐδὲν ἧττον δόξης θ aA e δὲ ’ 4 9 ’ > 3 εοφιλοῦς" ὁ δὲ πρότερος τρόπος οὐ μετέχει, ἀλλ᾽. 9 A aA A αὐτός ἐστι θεοφιλὴς δόξα, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ δόξης ’ A A A A a πρεσβυτέρα καὶ παντὸς τιμιωτέρα τοῦ δοκεῖν ἀλή- A A Gea. γνωριμώτερον δὲ τὸ δηλούμενον , a 3 IDA 9 124 παραστατέον. XXV. τρεῖς εἰσιν ἠθῶν ἀνθρω- ’ Ul & e 4 , aA πίνων τάξεις, ὧν ἑκάστη διακεκλήρωται μίαν τῶν “--οἝ e A ’ A A εἰρημένων φαντασιῶν ἡ μὲν ἀρίστη τὴν μέσην τοῦ 8 3, e A > 9 ’ A > A ’ A ὄντως ὄντος, ἡ δὲ μετ᾽ ἐκείνην τὴν ἐπὶ δεξιά, τὴν 3 , Φ ..» e gi , 1 9 1 Qe . εὐεργέτιν, ἡ θεὸς ὄνομα, ἡ δὲ τρίτη τὴν ἐπὶ θάτερα, A ἃ a A A εν 125 τὴν ἀρχικήν, ἣ καλεῖται κύριος. τὰ μὲν οὖν ἄριστα τῶν ἠθῶν τὸν καθ᾽ αὑτὸν ἄνευ τινὸς ὄντα θεραπεύει e A πρὸς μηδενὸς ἑτέρου μεθελκόμενα, τῷ τετάσθαι “A A A e A lA A > » A μοναδικῶς πρὸς τὴν ἑνὸς τιμήν" τῶν δ᾽ ἄλλων τὰ A A A ’ ’ A μὲν διὰ τῆς εὐεργέτιδος συνίσταται Kal γνωρίζεται

α For this proverbial phrase see note on De Som. i. 44.

64

ON ABRAHAM, 122-125

encies as His squire presents to the mind which has vision the appearance sometimes of one, sometimes of three: of one, when that mind is highly purified and, passing beyond not merely the multiplicity of other numbers, but even the dyad which is next to the unit, presses on to the ideal form which is free from mixture and complexity, and being self-con- tained needs nothing more ; of three, when, as yet uninitiated into the highest mysteries, it is still a votary only of the minor rites and unable to appre- hend the Existent alone by Itself and apart from all else, but only through Its actions, as either creative or ruling. This is, as they say, a ‘second best 123 voyage ®’’; yet all the same there is in it an element of a way of thinking such as God approves. But the former state of mind has not merely an element. It is in itself the divinely-approved way, or rather it is the truth, higher than a way of thinking, more precious than anything which is merely thought. - But it would be well to state the point in a more familiar guise. XXV. There are three classes of human 124 temperaments, each of them so constituted that the vision presents itself in one of the three ways above- mentioned. To the best class it presents itself in the middle form, that of the essentially existent ; to the next best, in that which stands on the right, the beneficent, which bears the name of God; to the third, in that on the left, the governing, which is called Lord. Temperaments of the last kind 125 worship the solely Self-existent and nothing can make them swerve from this, because they are subject to the single attraction which leads them to honour the one. Of the other two types, one is introduced and made known to the Father by

65

PHILO

δυνάμεως τῷ πατρί, τὰ δὲ διὰ τῆς βασιλικῆς. 126 ὃ δὲ λέγω, τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν. ἄνθρωποι μὲν ἐπειδὰν αἴσθωνται κατὰ πρόφασιν ἕταιρείας προσιόντας αὐτοῖς τινας ἐπὶ θήρᾳ πλεονεξιῶν, ὕπο- βλέπονταΐί τε καὶ ἀποστρέφονται τὴν προσποίητον κολακείαν καὶ τιθασείαν αὐτῶν δεδιότες ὡς 127 σφόδρα ἐπιζήμιον" ὁ ὁ δὲ θεὸς ἅτε βλάβην οὐκ ἐπι- δεχόμενος ἅπαντας τοὺς καθ᾽ ἡντινοῦν ἰδέαν προ- αιρουμένους τιμᾶν αὐτὸν ἄσμενος προσκαλεῖται, μηδένα σκορακίζειν ἀξιῶν τὸ παράπαν, ἀλλὰ μόνον οὐκ ἄντικρυς τοῖς ἀκοὰς ἔχουσιν ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ θεο- 128 miler τάδε: “᾿τὰ μὲν πρῶτα τῶν ἄθλων κείσεται τοῖς ἐμὲ θεραπεύουσι δι᾿ ἐμὲ αὐτόν, τὰ δὲ δεύτερα τοῖς δι᾿ ἑαυτούς, ἢ τυχεῖν ἀγαθῶν ἐλπίζουσιν ἣ τιμωριῶν ἀπαλλαγὴν εὑρήσεσθαι προσδοκῶσι" καὶ γὰρ εἰ ἔμμισθος ἡ τῶνδε θεραπεία καὶ μὴ ἀδέκα- στος, ἀλλ᾽ οὐδὲν ἧττον ἐντὸς εἱλεῖται θείων περι- 129 βόλων καὶ οὐκ ἔξω “πλάζεται. τὰ δὲ ἄθλα τοῖς | [90] μὲν ἐμὲ τιμῶσι δι᾿ ἐμὲ κείσεται φίλια, τοῖς δὲ διὰ τὰς χρείας φίλια μὲν οὔ, τὸ δὲ μὴ ἀλλοτρίοις νομίζεσθαι" δέχομαι γὰρ καὶ τὸν τῆς “εὐεργέτιδός μου δυνάμεως βουλόμενον μεταλαχεῖν εἰς μετουσίαν ἀγαθῶν καὶ τὸν φόβῳ τὴν ἡγεμονικὴν καὶ δεσ- ποτικὴν ἱλασκόμενον. ἐξουσίαν εἰς ἀποτροπὴν κολά- σεως" οὐ γὰρ ἀγνοῶ, διότι πρὸς τῷ χείρους μὴ γίγνεσθαι καὶ βελτίους ἔσονται τῷ συνεχεῖ τῆς θεραπείας εἱλικρινῇ καὶ καθαρὰν εὐσέβειαν ἀσκή- 180 σαντες. εἰ γὰρ καὶ μάλιστα ot “τρόποι διαφέρουσιν, ἀφ᾽ ὧν ποιοῦνται τὰς πρὸς τὴν ἀρέσκειαν ὁρμάς, οὐκ αἰτιατέον, ὅτι σκοπὸς εἷς καὶ τέλος ἕν ἐστιν 131 αὐτοῖς, τὸ θεραπεύειν ἐμέ. . ὅτι δ᾽ ἡ

66

ON ABRAHAM, 125-130

the beneficial, the other by the kingly potency. My meaning is something as follows : 126 men, when they see others approaching them under profession of friendship, in quest of advantages to be gained from them, look askance and turn away ; they fear that counterfeited adulation and suavity which they regard as exceedingly pernicious. But 127 God cannot suffer injury, and therefore He gladly invites all who set themselves to honour Him under any form whatsoever, and in His eyes none such deserves rejection. Indeed one might almost say that to those whose souls have ears God speaks plainly as follows : ‘‘ My first prizes will be set apart 128 for those who honour Me for Myself alone, the second to those who honour Me for their own sakes, either hoping to win blessings or expecting to obtain remission of punishments, since, though their worship is for reward and not disinterested, yet all the same its range lies within the divine precincts and does not stray outside. But the prizes set aside for those 129 who honour Me for Myself will be gifts of friend- ship; to those whose motive is self-interest they do not show friendship but that I do not count them as aliens. For I accept both him who wishes to enjoy My beneficial power and thus partake of blessings and him who propitiates the dominance and authority of the master to avoid chastisement. For I know well that they will not only not be worsened, but actually bettered, through the persistence of their worship and through practising piety pure and undefiled. For, however different are the characters which pro- 139: duce in them the impulses to do My pleasure, no charge shall be brought against them, since they have one aim and object, to serve Me.”

67

PHILO

τριττὴ φαντασία δυνάμει' ἑνός ἐστιν ὑποκειμένου, φανερὸν οὐ μόνον ἐκ τῆς ἐν ἀλληγορίᾳ θεωρίας, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ῥητῆς, γραφῆς τάδε περιεχούσης"

132 ἡνίκα μὲν γὰρ ὁ σοφὸς ἱκετεύει τοὺς ἐοικότας ὁδοιπόροις τρεῖς ξενισθῆναι παρ᾽ αὑτῷ, διαλέγεται τούτοις οὐχ ὡς «τρισίν, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς ἑνί, καὶ φησι:

᾿ κύριε, εἰ ἄρα εὗρον χάριν παρὰ σοΐ, μὴ παρέλθῃς τὸν παῖδά σου" τὸ γὰρ “ κύριε " καὶ τὸ “‘ παρὰ σοὶ " καὶ TO“ μὴ παρέλθῃς ᾿ καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα πρὸς ἕνα πέφυκεν ἀλλ᾽ οὐ πρὸς πλείους λέγεσθαι: ἡνίκα δὲ ξενιζόμενοι φιλοφρονοῦνται τὸν ξενοδόχον, πάλιν εἷς ὑπισχνεῖται ὡς μόνος αὐτὸς παρὼν γνησίου παιδὸς σπορὰν διὰ τῶνδε" ᾿ ᾿ ἐπανιὼν ἥξω “πρὸς σὲ κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον εἰς νέωτα, καὶ ἕξει υἱὸν Σάρρα ἡ γυνή cov.”

138 XXVI. Davepwraro, μέντοι καὶ διαπονητότατα" μηνύει διὰ τῶν ἑξῆς τὸ δηλούμενον. ἡ “Σοδομιτῶν χώρα, μοῖρα τῆς Χανανίτιδος γῆς, ἣν ὕστερον ὠνόμασαν Συρίαν Παλαιστίνην, ἀδικημάτων μυ- ρίων ὅσων γεμισθεῖσα καὶ μάλιστα τῶν ἐκ γαστρι- μαργίας καὶ λαγνείας ὅ ὅσα τε μεγέθη καὶ πλήθη τῶν ἄλλων ἡδονῶν ἐπιτειχίσασα ἤδη παρὰ τῷ δικαστῇ

134 τῶν ὅλων κατέγνωστο. αἴτιον δὲ τῆς περὶ τὸ ἀκολασταίνειν ἀμετρίας ἐγένετο τοῖς οἰκήτορσιν ἡ τῶν χορηγιῶν ἐπάλληλος ἀφθονία" βαθύγειος γὰρ καὶ εὔυδρος οὖσα ἡ χώρα παντοίων ἀνὰ πᾶν ἔτος

εὐφορίᾳ καρπῶν ἐχρῆτο" “᾿ μεγίστη δ᾽ ἀρχὴ κακῶν ᾽᾿

1 Cohn suspects δυνάμει, needlessly, I think. No doubt δυνάμει is properly opposed to οὐσίᾳ or ἐντελεχείᾳ. Cf. De Op. 47, Leg. All. i. 61. But the statement here is that the vision of one is the reality which lies behind the vision of three. Actually a φαντασία can only be of that which appears.

68

ON ABRAHAM, 131-134

That the triple vision is in reality 5 a vision of a single 131 object is clear not merely from the principles of allegory but from the literal text which contains the following account. When the Sage supplicates the 132 three seeming travellers to accept his hospitality, he discourses with them as though they were one and not three. He says, “ Sir, if indeed I have found favour with thee, do not thou pass thy servant by.”’ Here “ Sir’’ and “ with thee’ and “do not thou pass’ and the other like phrases must be addressed to one and not to more than one; and during their entertainment, when they show courtesy to their host, we find one only, as though no other was pre- sent, promising the birth of a son born in wedlock in the following words: “I will return and come to thee at this season next year, and Sarah, thy wife, shall have a son.’’®

XXVI. °He brings out the point most clearly and 133 elaborately in what follows. The land of the Sodo- mites, a part of the land of Canaan afterwards called Palestinian Syria, was brimful of innumerable iniquities, particularly such as arise from gluttony and lewdness, and multiplied and enlarged every other possible pleasure with so formidable a menace that it had at last been condemned by the Judge of All. The inhabitants owed this extreme licence to the 134 never-failing lavishness of their sources of wealth, for, deep-soiled and well-watered as it was, the land had every year a prolific harvest of all manner of fruits,

@ Or “virtually.” See critical note.

» See Gen. xviii. 3 and 10. ¢ For §§ 133-141 see Gen. xix.

2 Some mss. ἀδιαπονητότατα or ἀδιαπόνητα : Cohn suggests ἀδιαπορητότατα. 69

PHILO

e ; 4 9 3 A a 66 A , 9 4993 ws εἶπέ τις οὐκ ἀπὸ σκοποῦ “τὰ λίαν ἀγαθά.

ae 3 A ’ A 4 ¢ “A ’ 185 ὧν ἀδυνατοῦντες φέρειν τὸν κόρον ὥσπερ τὰ θρέμ-

ματα σκιρτῶντες ἀπαυχενίζουσι τὸν τῆς φύσεως νόμον, ἄκρατον πολὺν καὶ ὀψοφαγίας καὶ ὀχείας ἐκθέσμους μεταδιώκοντες" οὐ γὰρ μόνον θηλυμα- νοῦντες dAdo pious γάμους διέφθειρον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄνδρες ὄ ὄντες ἄρρεσιν ἐπιβαίνοντες, τὴν κοινὴν πρὸς τοὺς πάσχοντας οἱ δρῶντες φύσιν οὐκ αἰδούμενοι, παιδοσποροῦντες ἠλέγχοντο μὲν ἀτελῆ γονὴν σπεί- ροντες, ὁ δ᾽ ἔλεγχος πρὸς οὐδὲν ἦν ὄφελος, ὑπὸ

4 ’ 3 ’ > 2 ~ 3 136 βιαιοτέρας νικωμένων ἐπιθυμίας. εἶτ εἰς τοῦ κατ

[21]

137

| ὀλίγον ἐθίζοντες τὰ γυναικῶν ὑπομένειν τοὺς ἄνδρας γεννηθέντας θήλειαν κατεσκεύασαν αὐτοῖς νόσον, κακὸν δύσμαχον, οὐ μόνον τὰ σώματα μαλακότητι καὶ θρύψει γυναικοῦντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰς ψυχὰς ἀγεννεστέρας ἀπεργαζόμενοι, καὶ τό γε en αὐτοὺς ἧκον μέρος τὸ σύμπαν ἀνθρώπων γένος διέφθειρον" εἰ γοῦν Ἕλληνες ὁμοῦ καὶ βάρβαροι συμ ὠνήσαντες ἐζήλωσαν τὰς τοιαύτας ὁμιλίας, ἠρήμωντο ἂν ἕξῆς ai πόλεις ὥσπερ λοιμώδει νόσῳ κενωθεῖσαι. XXVII. λαβὼν δὲ 6 θεὸς οἶκτον ἅτε σωτὴρ καὶ φιλάνθρωπος τὰς μὲν κατὰ φύσιν ἀνδρῶν καὶ γυναικῶν συνόδους γινομένας ἕνεκα παίδων σπορᾶς ηὔξησεν ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα, τὰς δ᾽ ἐκφύλους καὶ ἐκθέσμους διαμισήσας ἔσβεσε καὶ τοὺς ὀργῶν- τας ἐπὶ ταύτας προβαλόμενος οὐχὶ τὰς ἐν ἔθει καινουργήσας δ᾽ ἐκτόπους καὶ “παρηλλαγμένας

138 τιμωρίας ἐτιμωρήσατο. κελεύει γὰρ ἐξαίφνης τὸν

ἀέρα νεφωθέντα πολὺν ὄμβρον οὐχ ὕδατος ἀλλὰ

1 uss. ἐφ᾽ αὑτοῖς or ἐπ᾽ αὐτοῖς.

8 ἀρχὴ μεγίστη τῶν ἐν ἀνθρώποις κακῶν, ὠγαθέ, τὰ λίαν ἀγαθά. Menander. 70

ON ABRAHAM, 134-138

and the chief beginning of evils, as one has aptly said, is goods in excess.* Incapable of bearing such satiety, 135 plunging like cattle, they threw off from their necks the law of nature and applied themselves to deep drinking of strong liquor and dainty feeding and for- bidden forms of intercourse. Not onlyin their mad lust for women did they violate the marriages of their neighbours, but also men mounted males without respect for the sex nature which the active partner shares with the passive; and so when they tried to beget children they were discovered to be incapable of any but asterileseed. Yet the discovery availed them not, so much stronger was the force of the lust which mastered them. Then, as little by little they accus- 136 tomed those who were by nature men to submit to play the part of women, they saddled them with the formidable curse of a female disease. For not only did they emasculate their bodies by luxury and voluptuousness but they worked a further degenera- tion in their souls and, as far as in them lay, were corrupting the whole of mankind. Certainly, had Greeks and barbarians joined together in affecting such unions, city after city would have become a desert, as though depopulated by a pestilential sickness. XXVII. But God, moved by pity for mankind whose 137 Saviour and Lover He was, gave increase in the greatest possible degree to the unions which men and women naturally make for begetting children, but abominated and extinguished this unnatural and for- bidden intercourse, and those who lusted for such He cast forth and chastised with punishments not of the usual kind but startling and extraordinary, newly- created for this purpose. He bade the air grow sud- 138 denly overclouded and pour forth a great rain, not of

71

PHILO

πυρὸς ὕειν ἀθρόας δὲ νιφούσης ἀδιαστάτῳ καὶ ἀπαύστῳ ῥύμῃ φλογός, ἐκαίοντο μὲν ἀγροὶ καὶ ειμῶνες καὶ λάσια ἄλση, καὶ ἕλη δασύτατα καὶ δρυμοὶ βαθεῖς, ἐκαίετο δ᾽ ἡ πεδιὰς καὶ ὁ τοῦ σίτου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων σπαρτῶν ἅπας καρπός, ἐκαίετο δὲ καὶ τῆς ὀρεινῆς ἡ δενδροφόρος, στελεχῶν ῥίζαις

139 αὐταῖς ἐμπιπραμένων" ἐπαύλεις δὲ καὶ οἰκίαι καὶ τείχη καὶ ὅσα ἐν οἰκοδομαῖς ἰδιωτικὰ καὶ δημόσια πάντα συγκατεπίμπραντο καὶ ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ αἱ μὲν εὐανδροῦσαι πόλεις τάφος τῶν οἰκητόρων ἐγεγέ- νΉντο, at δ᾽ ἐκ λίθων καὶ ξύλων κατασκευαὶ τέφρα

140 καὶ λεπτὴ κόνις. ἐπεὶ δὲ σὰ ἐν φανερῷ καὶ ὑπὲρ γῆς ἅπαντα κατανάλωσεν ἡ ἡ φλόξ, ἤδη καὶ τὴν γῆν αὐτὴν ἔκαιε κατωτάτω διαδῦσα καὶ τὴν ἐν- ὑπάρχουσαν ζωτικὴν δύναμιν ἔφθειρεν εἰς ἀγονίαν παντελῆ, ὑ ὑπὲρ τοῦ μηδ᾽ αὖθίς ποτε καρπὸν ἐνεγκεῖν ἣ χλοηφορῆσαι τὸ παράπαν δυνηθῆναι" καὶ μέχρι νῦν καίεται, τὸ γὰρ κεραύνιον πῦρ ἥκιστα σβεννύμενον

141 ἢ νέμεται 7 ᾿ἐντύφεται. πίστις δὲ σαφεστάτη τὰ ὁρώμενα: τοῦ γὰρ συμβεβηκότος πάθους μνημεῖόν ἐστιν ὅ τε ἀναδιδόμενος ἀεὶ καπνὸς καὶ ὃ ὃ μεταλ- λεύουσι θεῖον" τῆς δὲ περὶ τὴν χώραν παλαιᾶς εὐδαιμονίας € ἐναργέστατον ὑπολείπεται δεῖγμα πόλις μία τῶν ὁμόρων καὶ ἡ ἐν κύκλῳ γῆ, πολυάνθρωπος μὲν ἡ πόλις, εὔχορτος. δὲ καὶ εὔσταχυς καὶ συνόλως καρποφόρος ἡ γῆ, πρὸς ἔλεγχον δίκης γνώμῃ θείᾳ δικασθείσης.

45 XXVIII. ᾿Αλλὰ γὰρ οὐχ ἕνεκα τοῦ δηλῶσαί Me τὰς μεγαλουργηθείσας συμφορὰς καινὰς ταῦτα διεξῆλθον, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκεῖνο βουλόμενος παραστῆσαι, ὅτι τῶν τριῶν ὡς ἀνδρῶν ἐπιφανέντων τῷ σοφῷ δύο

72

ON ABRAHAM, 138-142

water but fire. And when the flames streamed down massed in one constant and perpetual rush, they burnt up the fields and meadows, the leafy groves, the overgrowths of the marshland and the dense thickets. They burnt the plainland and all the fruit of the corn and other crops. They burnt the forest-land on the mountains, where trunks and roots alike were con- sumed. The conflagration reached to byres and 139 houses and walls and all public and private property contained in buildings; and in one day populous cities had become the grave of the inhabitants and fabrics of stone and timber had turned into ashes and fine dust. And when the flame had utterly consumed 140 all that was visible and above ground it penetrated right down into the earth itself, destroyed its inherent life-power and reduced it to complete sterility to pre- vent it from ever bearing fruit and herbage at all. And to this day it goes on burning, for the fire of the thunderbolt is never quenched. but either continues

its ravages or else smoulders. And the clearest proof 141 is what is still visible, for a monument of the disastrous event remains in the smoke which rises ceaselessly and the brimstone which the miners obtain; while the ancient prosperity of the country is most plainly attested by the survival of one of the cities of the neighbourhood and the land round it; for the city is thickly populated and the land rich in corn and pas- turage and fertile in general, thus providing a stand- ing evidence to the sentence decreed by the divine judgement.

XXVIII. However, I have given these details not in 142 order to describe the unprecedented calamity of God’s mighty working, but in my wish to shew something else. Scripture tells us that of the three who appeared

73

PHILO

[22] μόνους εἰς τὴν] ἀφανισθεῖσαν χώραν τὰ λόγιά φησιν ἐλθεῖν ἐπ᾽ ὀλέθρῳ τῶν οἰκητόρων, τοῦ τρίτου μὴ

143 δικαιώσαντος ἥκειν" ὃ ὃς κατά YE τὴν ἐμὴν ἔννοιαν ἦν ὁ πρὸς ἀλήθειαν ὦν, ἁρμόττον ὑπολαβὼν εἶναι τὰ μὲν ἀγαθὰ παρὼν δι᾿ αὑτοῦ χαρίζεσθαι, μόναις δ᾽ ἐπιτρέπειν ταῖς δυνάμεσι καθ᾽ ὑπηρεσίαν τὰ ἐναντία χειρουργεῖν, ἵνα μόνων ἀγαθῶν αἴτιος,

144 κακοῦ δὲ μηδενὸς προηγουμένως νομίζηται. τοῦτό μοι δοκοῦσι καὶ τῶν βασιλέων οἱ μιμούμενοι τὴν θείαν φύσιν πράττειν, τὰς μὲν χάριτας δι᾿ ἑαυτῶν προτείνοντες, τὰς δὲ τιμωρίας δι᾽ ἑτέρων βεβαιοῦν-

145 Tes. ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ τῶν δυεῖν δυνάμεων ἡ μὲν εὐ- εργέτις ἐστίν, ἡ δὲ κολαστήριος, ἑκατέρα κατὰ τὸ εἰκὸς ἐπιφαίνεται τῇ Σοδομιτῶν γῇ: διότι τῶν ἀρίστων ἐν αὐτῇ πέντε πόλεων τέτταρες μὲν ἔμελ᾽ λον ἐμπίπρασθαι, μία δὲ ἀπαθὴς παντὸς κακοῦ σῷος ὑπολείπεσθαι. ἐχρῆν γὰρ διὰ μὲν τῆς κολα- στηρίου γίνεσθαι τὴν φθοράν, σῴζεσθαι δὲ διὰ τῆς

146 εὐεργέτιδος. ἀλλ᾽ ἐπειδὴ καὶ τὸ σῳζόμενον μέρος οὐχ ὁλοκλήρους καὶ παντελεῖς εἶχεν ἀρετάς, δυνάμει μὲν τοῦ ὄντος εὐεργετεῖτο, προηγουμένως δὲ τῆς ἐκείνου φαντασίας ἀνάξιον ἐνομίσθη τυχεῖν.

147, XXIX. ‘H μὲν οὖν ἐν φανερῷ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς πολλοὺς ἀπόδοσις ἥδ᾽ ἐστίν: ἡ δ᾽ ἐν ἀποκρύφῳ καὶ πρὸς ὀλίγους, ὅσοι τρόπους ψυχῆς ἐρευνῶσιν ἀλλ᾽ οὐ σωμάτων μορφάς, αὐτίκα λεχθήσεται. συμ- βολικῶς ἡ πεντάπολις αἱ ἐν ἡμῖν πέντε αἰσθήσεις εἰσί, τὰ τῶν ἡδονῶν ὄργανα, du ὧν ἅπασαι μικραί

@ Or “ primarily.’

> The idea that "God's direct agency appears only in doing good and that He leaves punishment to His subordinates has been already worked out in De Conf. 168 ff. on the text “‘ let

74

ON ABRAHAM, 142-147

to the Sage in the guise of men two only went on to the land whose existence was blotted out to destroy the inhabitants, but the third thought good not to accompany them. In my opinion that one was the 143 truly Existent, who held it fitting that He should be present to give good gifts by His own agency, but should leave the execution of the opposite of good entirely in the hands of His potencies acting as His ministers, that so He might appear to be the cause

of good only, but not directly the cause of anything evil.2 This is the practice, I think, of kings also, who 144 imitate the divine nature. They are their own agents in granting boons, but employ others to enforce punishment. But since of the two potencies 145 one is beneficial and the other punitive it was natural that each should make his appearance in the land of the Sodomites, since of the five most flourishing cities

in it four were to be burnt but one was to be left, pre- served from all evil that could harm it. It was right that the punitive should be employed for destruction, but the beneficial for preservation. Yet since the 146 virtues of the part preserved were not complete and perfect, while it received benefits through a potency

of the Existent, it was not thought worthy to be granted the vision of Him directly.

XXIX. Such is the natural and obvious rendering 147 of the story as suited for the multitude. We will pro- ceed at once to the hidden and inward meaning which appeals to the few who study soul characteristics rather than bodily forms. Symbolically the group of five cities is the five senses in us, the instruments of the. pleasures which, whether great or small, are

99

us go down and confuse their tongue,’’ and so, too, in De

Fuga 68 ff. Cf. also De Op. 72 ff. VOL. VI" D 75

PHILO

148 τε αὖ καὶ μεγάλαι τελεσιουργοῦνται. ἢ yap ὁρῶντες χρωμάτων καὶ σχημάτων ποικιλίας ἔν τε ἀψύχοις καὶ ψυχὴν ἔχουσιν ἡδόμεθα 7 φωνῶν ἐμμελεστάτων ἀκούοντες, ἢ κατὰ γεῦσιν ἐν τοῖς περὶ ἐδωδὴν καὶ πόσιν ἢ κατ᾽ ὄσφρησιν ἐ ἐν εὐωδίαις ἀτμῶν ἢ ἐν μαλακοῖς καὶ θερμοῖς ἔ ἔτι δὲ λείοις κατὰ

149 τὴν ἁφήν. ᾿ζωωδέσταται μὲν οὖν καὶ ἀνδραποδω-- δέσταται τῶν πέντε τρεῖς εἶσιν αἰσθήσεις, γεῦσις, ὄσφρησις, ἁφή, περὶ ἃς τῶν θρεμμάτων καὶ τῶν

npiwy τὰ γαστριμαργότατα καὶ συνουσιαστικώ- τατα μάλιστα ἐπτόηται" du ὅλης γὰρ ἡμέρας καὶ νυκτὸς ἢ τροφῶν ἀπλήστως ἐμφορεῖται ἢ πρὸς τὰς

160 ὀχείας ὁρμᾷ. δύο δ᾽ εἰσὶν ἐμφιλόσοφοι καὶ ἡγε- μονίδες, ἀκοὴ καὶ ὅρασις" βραδύτερα δέ πως καὶ θηλύτερα ὦτα ὀφθαλμῶν ἐ ἐπὶ τὰ ὁρατὰ φθανόντων ὑπὸ εὐτολμίας καὶ οὐκ ἀναμενόντων, ἄχρις ἂν ἐκεῖνα κινήσῃ, προὕπαντιαζόντων δὲ καὶ ἀντικινῆ- σαι γλιχομένων. ἀκοὴ μὲν οὖν, διότι βραδεῖα καὶ

[28] θηλυτέρα, δευτερεύουσαν τάξιν τετάχθω, | προνομία δ᾽ ἔστω τις ἐξαίρετος ὁράσει" ταύτην γὰρ ὁ θεὸς βασιλίδα τῶν ἄλλων ἀπέφηνεν ἐπάνω θεὶς ἁπασῶν καὶ ὥσπερ ἐπ᾽ ἀκροπόλεως ἱδρυσάμενος οἰκειοτάτην

151 ἀπειργάσατο ψυχῇ. τεκμηριώσαιτο δ᾽

ἄν τις ἐκ. τοῦ συμμεταβάλλειν ταῖς ἐκείνης τροπαῖς"

λύπης μὲν γὰρ ἐγγινομένης, ὀφθαλμοὶ. συννοίας γέμουσι καὶ κατηφείας, χαρᾶς δ᾽ ἔμπαλιν, ὑ ὑπομει- διῶσι καὶ γεγήθασι, φόβου δὲ κρατήσαντος, ταρα- ᾿ς χώδους γέμουσιν ῥ κινήσεις καὶ παλμοὺς

152 καὶ περιστροφὰς ἀτάκτους ἐνδεχόμενοι" εἰ δ᾽ ὀργὴ κατάσχοι, τραχυτέρα πως καὶ ὕφαιμος ἡ ὄψις, καὶ ἐν μὲν τῷ λογίζεσθαι καὶ φροντίζειν τινὸς ἠρεμεῖ καὶ ἐκνένευκε, μόνον οὐ συνεκτείνουσα τῇ διανοίᾳ 76

Meg

ON ABRAHAM, 148-152

brought to their accomplishment by the senses. For 148 we get pleasure either by seeing varieties of colours and shapes in objects, whether possessed of physical life or not, or by hearing very melodious sounds or through taste in matters of food and drink, or through smell in fragrant perfumes or through touch in soft and warm and also in smooth substances. Now of the 149 five, the three most animal and servile are taste, smell, and touch, which cause particular excitation in the cattle and wild beasts most given to gluttony and sexual passion. For all day and night they fill them- selves with food insatiably or are at rut. The other 150 two have a link with philosophy and hold the leading place—hearing and sight. But the ears are in a way more sluggish and womanish than eyes. The eyes have the courage to reach out to the visible objects and do not wait to be acted on by them, but anticipate the meeting, and seek to act upon them instead. Hearing, then, sluggish and more womanish as it is, must be put in the second place and a special preced- ence must be given to sight, for God has made it the — queen of the other senses and set it above them all, and, establishing it as it were on a citadel, has associated it most closely with the soul.

We may find a proof of this in the way in which it 151 changes with the soul’s phases. When the soul feels grief, the eyes are full of anxiety and depression. When on the other hand it feels joy, they smile and rejoice. When fear is supreme, they are full of tur- bulent gonfusion, and move and quiver and roll con- . fusedly. If anger prevails, the organ of sight is 152 harsher and bloodshot, and during reflection and care-

ful consideration of any question it has a quiet and distant appearance, almost as though it was accommo-

77

PHILO

; ἑαυτήν, ἐν δὲ ταῖς ᾿ἀναψύξεσι καὶ ἀνέσεσι συνανίεται 168 καὶ χαλᾶται: καὶ προσιόντι μὲν φίλῳ προευαγ- γελίζεται τὸ τῆς εὐνοίας πάθος εὐδίῳ καὶ γαληνῷ βλέμματι, εἰ δ᾽ ἐχθρὸς τύχοι, τὸ δυσάρεστον τῆς ψυχῆς πάθος προμηνύει: καὶ θρασύτητι μὲν προπη- ὥσι καὶ προεκτρέχουσιν ὀφθαλμοί, αἰδοῖ δὲ πρᾷως ἠρεμοῦσι" [καὶ] ὡς συνελόντι φράσαι ψυχῆς εἰκόνα δεδημιουργῆσθαι τὴν ὅρασιν ἀκρότητι τέχνης εὖ μεμιμημένης ἐναργὲς ἐμφαίνουσαν εἴδωλον οἷα διὰ κατόπτρου τὴν φύσιν ὁ ὁρατὴν ἐξ αὑτῆς οὐκ ἐχούσης. 154 ἀλλὰ yap οὐ ταύτῃ μόνον τὰς ἄλλας αἰσθήσεις ὑπερβάλλει. τὸ κάλλος ὀφθαλμῶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ διότι τῶν ἄλλων ἐν ταῖς ἐγρηγόρσεσι---τὴν γὰρ καθ᾽ ὕπνον ἀπραξίαν οὐ παραληπτέον---ἐπιλείπουσιν at χρήσεις" ὁπότε γὰρ μὴ κινήσειέ τι τῶν ἐκτός, ἡσυχάζουσιν, αἱ δὲ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν᾽ ἀναπεπταμένων ἐνέργειαι συνεχεῖς καὶ ἀδιάστατοι μηδέποτε πληρου- μένων εἰσὶ καὶ ταύτῃ παριστάντων, ἣν ἔχουσι πρὸς 155 ψυχὴν συγγένειαν. ἀλλ᾽ ἐκείνη μὲν ἀεικίνητος οὖσα μεθ᾽ ἡμέραν καὶ νύκτωρ διανίσταται, τοῖς δ᾽ ἅτε σαρκὸς πλεῖστον μετέχουσιν αὐτάρκης ἐδόθη δωρεά, μέρος ἥμισυ τοῦ παντὸς χρόνου καὶ βίου διατελεῖν ἐνεργοῦντας τὰς ἁρμοττούσας ἐνεργείας. 166 XXX. ὃ δ᾽ ἐστὶν ἀναγκαιότατον τῆς ἀπὸ τῶν ὀμμάτων ὠφελείας, ἤδη λεκτέον: μόνῃ γὰρ ὁράσει τῶν αἰσθήσεων ὁ ὁ θεὸς ἀνέτειλε φῶς, ὃ καὶ τῶν ὄντων ἐστὶ κάλλιστον καὶ πρῶτον ἐν ἱεραῖς 167 βίβλοις ὠνομάσθη καλόν. διττὴ δὲ φωτὸς φύσις" τὸ μὲν γὰρ ἀπὸ τοῦ χρειώδους πυρός, φθαρτοῦ φθαρτόν, ἐκλάμπει σβέσιν ἐνδεχόμενον, τὸ δὲ 4 For the distinction between the “useful”? and the “heavenly ”’ fire ¢f. Quis Rerum 136 and note.

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ON ABRAHAM, 152-157

dating itself to the outlook of the mind. In times of mental refreshment and relaxation it relaxes also and is at its ease. When a friend approaches, its peaceful 153 and sunny look is the happy herald of the kindly feeling within, while in the case of an enemy it gives a warning of the soul’s displeasure. Courage makes _ the eyes dart swiftly forward. Modesty makes them gentle and reposeful. In short, one may say that sight has been created as an image of the soul, and - through the perfection of the art which has produced so faithful a copy presents a clear and mirror-like reflection of the original whose nature is in itself in- visible. But indeed it is not only in this j54 way that the excellence of the eyes exceeds’ the other senses, but also because in waking moments, since we need not consider their inaction in sleep, they cease to function. For when no outward object moves them they are still, whilst the eyes when open are constant and unceasing in their activities ; they have always room for more, and in this way they shew their kinship with the soul. But, while the soul is always i in motion and wakeful 155 day and night, the eyes in which the fleshly is the principal ingredient must rest satisfied with the gift _ of continuing ‘to exercise the activities which befit | them for half the whole span of time and human life. XXX. But the most vital part of the 156 benefit we gain from sight remains now to be told. God made the light to shine upon sight alone of the senses, and light is the best of existing things and was the first to be called good in the sacred books. Now 157 light has a double nature: one is the effulgence of the fire of common use,* perishable as that which produces it and liable to extinction, the other, the

79

PHILO

ἄσβεστον καὶ ἀδιάφθορόν ἐστιν, ἄνωθεν ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πρὸς ἡμᾶς φερόμενον, ὥσπερ ἀπ᾽ ἀενάων πηγῶν ἑκάστου τῶν ἀστέρων αὐγὰς ἐκχέοντος" ἑκατέρῳ δ᾽ ἡ ὄψις ἐνομιλεῖ καὶ δι᾽ ἀμφοτέρων προσβάλλει τοῖς ὁρατοῖς εἰς ἀκριβεστάτην ἀντί- 158 ληψιν. ἔτι τοίνυν ἐπιχειρῶμεν ὀφθαλμοὺς λόγοις ἐγκωμιάζειν, τοῦ θεοῦ τοὺς ἀληθεῖς ἐπαίνους αὐτῶν (24] | στηλιτεύσαντος ἐν οὐρανῷ, τοὺς ἀστέρας; ἡλίου γὰρ αὐγαὶ καὶ σελήνης καὶ τῶν ἄλλων πλανήτων καὶ ἀπλανῶν τοῦ χάριν γεγόνασιν ὅτι μὴ τῆς ὀφθαλμῶν ἐνεργείας εἰς τὴν τοῦ ὁρᾶν ὑπηρεσίαν; 169 διὸ καὶ προσχρώμενοι τῇ πασῶν ἀρίστῃ δωρεᾷ φωτὶ καταθεῶνται τὰ ἐν κόσμῳ, γῆν, φυτά, ζῷα, καρπούς, πελαγῶν ἀναχύσεις ποταμοὺς αὐθιγενεῖς τε καὶ χειμάρρους πηγῶν τε διαφοράς, ὧν at μὲν ψυχρὸν αἱ δὲ “θερμὸν νᾶμα προχέουσι, πάντων τῶν κατὰ τὸν ἀέρα συνισταμένων τὰς φύσεις -ἀμύθητοι δέ εἰσιν ἰδέαι καὶ ἀπερίληπτοι λόγῳ, --- καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶσι τὸν οὐρανόν, ὃς ἀληθείᾳ κόσμος ἐν κόσμῳ δεδημιούργηται, καὶ τὰ κατ᾽ οὐρανὸν κάλλη καὶ θεῖα ἀγάλματα. τίς οὖν τῶν ἄλλων αἰσθήσεων ἐπαυχήσει διαβῆναί ποτε τοσοῦτον; 160 XXXI. ἀλλ᾽ ἐάσαντες τὰς ἐπὶ ταῖς φάτναις τὸ σύμφυτον ἡμῖν θρέμμα πιαινούσας, τὴν ἐπιθυ- μίαν, ἐξετάσωμεν τὴν λόγου μεταποιουμένην ἀκοήν" ἧς ὁ ὁ σύντονος καὶ τελειότατος δρόμος ἵ ἵσταται κατὰ ἀέρα τὸν περίγειον, ὅταν βία πνευμάτων καὶ κτύποι βροντῶν συρμὸν πολὺν καὶ χαλεπὸν ᾿πάταγον 16] ἐξηχῶσιν. ὀφθαλμοὶ δὲ a ἀπὸ γῆς ἐν ἀκαρεῖ φθάνου- σιν εἰς οὐρανὸν καὶ τὰ πέρατα τοῦ παντός » ἐπ᾽ ἀνα- τολὰς ὁμοῦ καὶ δύσεις ἄρκτον τε καὶ μεσημβρίαν,

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ON ABRAHAM, 157-161

unquenchable and imperishable, brought to us from heaven above, where each of the stars pours forth its rays as though from perennial fountains. With each of these the sight is conversant, and through both it strikes upon visible objects so as to apprehend them with all exactness. Need we still try to expend words in extolling the eyes, when God has set graven in the heaven their true praises, the stars? For with what purpose have the rays of the sun and moon and the other stars, planets or fixed, been made save to serve the action of the eyes and to minister to sight ? And so it is, by using light, the best of gifts, that men contemplate the world’s contents, earth, plants, living creatures, fruits, seas with their tides, rivers spring-fed or winter torrents, various kinds of foun- tains, some sending up a cold, others a warm, stream, and all the phenomena of the air with their several natures, the different forms of which are so countless that speech can never include them all; above all, heaven, which in truth has been framed as a world within a world, and the divine and hallowed forms which beautify it. Which of the other senses, then, can boast that it ever traverses so great a span? XXXI. Let us leave out of consideration those senses which do but fatten in its manger the beast which shares our nature, lust, and examine the one which does lay claim to reason, hearing. When its travel- ling is tense and at its fullest, that is when the violent winds with their long, sweeping sound or the loud thunders with their terrific claps make themselves heard, it halts within the air that surrounds the earth. But the eyes-leave earth and in an instant reach heaven, and the boundaries of the universe, east, west, north and south alike, and when they

81

158

159

160

16]

PHILO

<xat) ἀφικνούμενοι πρὸς τὸ θεωρεῖν ἕλκουσιν ἐπὶ 162 τὰ φανέντα τὴν διάνοιαν. ἡ δὲ τὸ παρα- πλήσιον ἐνδεξαμένη πάθος οὐκ ἠρεμεῖ, ἀλλ᾽ ἅτε ἀκοίμητος καὶ ἀεικίνητος οὖσα, παρὰ τῆς ὄψεως τοῦ δύνασθαι τὰ νοητὰ θεωρεῖν τὰς ἀφορμὰς λα- βοῦσα, εἰς σκέψιν ἦλθε, πότερον τὰ φανέντα ταῦτ᾽ ἐστὶν ἀγένητα ἢ γενέσεως ἔλαβεν ἀρχὴν καὶ πότερον ἄπειρα ἢ πεπερασμένα καὶ πότερον εἷς ἢ πλείονές εἰσι κόσμοι καὶ “πότερον τὰ τέτταρα στοιχεῖα τῶν ἁπάντων ἐστὶν ἢ φύσιν ἐξαίρετον οὐρανὸς καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ ᾿κεκλήρωται θειοτέρας καὶ οὐχὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις 168 τῆς αὐτῆς οὐσίας “ἐπιλαχόντα" εἰ δὲ “δὴ καὶ γέγονεν ὁ κόσμος, ὑπὸ τίνος γέγονε καὶ τίς ὁ δημιουργὸς κατ᾽ οὐσίαν ἢ ποιότητα καὶ τί i διανοηθεὶς ἐποίει καὶ τί νῦν πράττει καὶ τίς αὐτῷ διαγωγὴ καὶ βίος καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα περιττὸς νοῦς φρονήσει συμβιῶν. εἴωθε 164 διερευνᾶσθαι. ταῦτα δὲ καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα ἀνάκειται τῷ φιλοσοφεῖν" ἐξ οὗ δῆλόν ἐστιν, ὅτι σοφία καὶ φιλοσοφία. τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀπ᾽ οὐδενὸς εἴληφεν ἑτέρου τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν ἢ τῆς ἡγεμονίδος τῶν αἰσθήσεων ὁρά- σεως, ἣν καὶ μόνην ἐκ τῆς σωματικῆς χώρας διέσωσεν ὃ θεὸς τὰς τέσσαρας φθείρας, ὅτι at μὲν σαρκὶ καὶ τοῖς σαρκὸς πάθεσιν ἐδούλευσαν, ἡ δὲ ἰσχυσεν ἀνατεῖναι τὸν αὐχένα καὶ βλέψαι καὶ .] [26] τέρψεις ἑτέρας ἀνευρεῖν πολὺ βελτίους τῶν σωμα- τικῶν ἡδονῶν ἐκ τῆς περὶ τὸν κόσμον θεωρίας καὶ 165 τῶν ἐν αὐτῷ. μίαν οὖν ὥσπερ ἐκ πενταπόλεως τῶν πέντε αἰσθήσεων τὴν ὅρασιν ἐξαιρέτου γέρως τυχεῖν ἁρμόττον ἦν καὶ φθειρομένων τῶν ἄλλων διαμένειν,

α For the thought cf. Timaeus 47a ““ whence,” i.e. from the knowledge which sight gives us, ‘‘we have derived

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ON ABRAHAM, 161-165

arrive draw the understanding to the observation

of what they have seen. And the under- 162

standing affected in like manner is not quiescent, but, unsleeping and constantly in motion as it is, takes the sight as the starting-point for its power of observing the things of the mind, and proceeds to investigate whether these phenomena are un- created or had some beginning of creation, whether they are infinite or finite, whether there is one world or more than one, whether the four elements make up all things, or on the other hand heaven and its contents enjoy a special nature of their own and have been given a substance which differs from the others

and is more divine. Further, if the world has been 163

created, who is the Creator? What is His essence and quality ? What was His purpose in makingit? What does He do now and what is His occupation and way

of life? And all the other questions which the curious |

mind with good sense ever at its side is wont to ex-

plore. But these and the like belong to philosophy, 164

whence it is clear that wisdom and philosophy owe their origin to no other of our faculties but to the princess of the senses, sight. And this alone of all the bodily region did God preserve when He destroyed the four, because they were in slavery: to flesh and the passions of flesh, while the sight had the strength to stretch its neck upwards, and to look, and to find in the contemplation of the world and its contents plea- sures far better than those of the body. It was fitting, then, that the one of the five senses which form, so to speak, a group of five cities, should receive a special privilege and continue to exist when the others were

philosophy.’’ A similar adaptation of the same passage was made in De Op. 54, where see note.

83

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PHILO

ὅτι οὐ περὶ τὰ θνητὰ εἱλεῖται μόνον ὡς ἐκεῖναι, μετανίστασθαι δὲ πρὸς τὰς ἀφθάρτους φύσεις ἀξιοῖ

166 χαίρουσα τῇ θέᾳ τούτων. διὸ καὶ παγκάλως “΄ μι- Kpav”’ τε καὶ “οὐ μικρὰν τὴν πόλιν “ταύτην οἱ χρησμοὶ διασυνιστᾶσιν αἰνιττόμενοι τὴν ὅρασιν" μικρὰ μὲν γὰρ λέγεται εἶναι, διότι βραχὺ μέρος τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν ἐστι, μεγάλη δέ, διότι μεγάλων ἐφίεται τὸν σύμπαντα οὐρανὸν καὶ κόσμον γλιχομένη καταθεάσασθαι.

167. XXXII. Περὶ μὲν οὖν τῆς ἐπιφανείσης ὄψεως καὶ τῶν ἀοιδίμων καὶ παγκάλ) ων ξενίων, ἐν οἷς δοκῶν ἑστιᾶν ὁ ξενοδόχος εἱστιᾶτο, καθ᾽ ὅσον ᾿ ἐφικτὸν ἦν, ἀκριβοῦσιν. ἡμῖν τὰ περὶ τὸν τόπον δεδήλωται. μεγίστην ὲ πρᾶξιν ἀξίαν ἀκοῆς οὐχ ἡσυχαστέον" ὀλίγου γὰρ δέω φάναι πάσας ὅσαι θεο- φιλεῖς ὑπερβάλλει. λεκτέον δὲ τὰ καίρια περὶ

168 αὐτῆς. υἱὸς ἐκ τῆς γαμετῆς γίνεται τῷ σοφῷ γνήσιος, ἀγαπητὸς καὶ μόνος, τό τε σῶμα κάλ- λιστος καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν ἄριστος" ἤδη γὰρ τελειοτέρας τῆς ἡλικίας ἐξέφαινεν ἀρετάς, ὡς τὸν πατέρα μὴ πάθει μόνον εὐνοίας φυσικῆς ἀλλὰ καὶ γνώμῃ. καθάπερ ἠθῶν δικαστὴν ἰσχυρᾷ τινι κεχρῆσθαι

169 φιλοστοργίᾳ. διακειμένῳ δ᾽ οὕτως ἐξαπιναίως θεσπίζεται λόγιον οὔποτ᾽ ἐλπισθέν, σφαγιάσαι τὸν υἱὸν ἐπί τινος ὑψηλοτάτου κολωνοῦ πορρωτάτω

110 πόλεως ἀποστάντα τριῶν ὁδὸν ἡμερῶν. ὁ δὲ καίτοι

4 Gen. xix. 20 πόλις αὕτη ἐγγὺς... ἥ ἐστι μικράς... οὐ μικρά ἐστι; R.V. ‘‘ This city is near... and it is a little one. . .. Is it not alittle one?” Philo either fails to see that the last three. words are a question, or more probably thinks that the grammatical possibility of treating them as a state- ment is a sufficient ground for extracting an allegorical esson.

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ON ABRAHAM, 165-170

destroyed, because its range is not confined to mortal things, as theirs is, but it aspires to find a new home amid imperishable beings and rejoice in their con- templation. And therefore it is excellently said, 166 when the oracles represent this city first as small and then as not small, figuring thereby sight. For sight is said to be small in that it is a little part of all we contain, but great in that great are its desires, since it is the whole world and heaven which it yearns to survey. : |

XXXII. °I have now told with all the care that lay 167 within my powers the story of the vision which was manifested to Abraham and of that splendid and magnificent exchange of hospitality, where the host who seemed to give the feast was himself the feasted. But his greatest action which deserves reporting must not be passed over in silence. For I might almost say that all the other actions which won the favour of God are surpassed by this; and on this subject I must say what is needed. The wife of the 168 Sage bore to him in full wedlock his only and dearly- cherished son, a child of great bodily beauty and excellence of soul. For already he was showing a perfection of virtues beyond his years, so that his father, moved not merely by a feeling of natural affection but also by such deliberate judgement as a censor of character might make, cherished for him a great tenderness. Such were his feelings when 169 suddenly to his surprise there came a divine message that he should sacrifice his son on a certain lofty hill at a very considerable distance,° as much as three days’ journey, from the city. He, though devoted to 170

ὃ For §§ 167-177 see Gen. xxii. 1-19. |

¢ Strictly speaking ἀποστάντα agrees with υἱὸν» Perhaps we should read ἀποστάντος.

85

PHILO

> ὔ 4 “-- A 3 Ul ” \ ἀλέκτῳ πόθῳ τοῦ παιδὸς ἐκκρεμάμενος οὔτε τὴν χρόαν 'μετέβαλεν οὔτε τὴν ψυχὴν ἐγνάμφθη, γνώμῃ δ᾽ ἀνενδότῳ καὶ ἀ ἀρρεπεῖ διέμεινεν ἀκλινής, οἷος καὶ πρόσθεν ἦν" ἔρωτι δὲ θείῳ δεδαμασμένος ἀνὰ κράτος ἐνίκα πάντα ὅσα συγγενείας ὀνόματα καὶ φίλτρα

\ \ “A 3 9 \ Α 4 3

καὶ μηδενὶ τῶν ἔνδον ἐξειπὼν τὸ λόγιον, Ex πολυ- ανθρώπου θεραπείας οἰκετῶν δύο μόνους τοὺς πρε-

U4 \ 4 4 ’ σβυτάτους καὶ μάλιστα φιλοδεσπότους παραλαβών, ὡς ἕνεκά τινος ἱερουργίας τῶν ἐν ἔθει τέταρτος 171 ἐξήει σὺν τῷ παιδί. τὸν δὲ προσταχθέντα “χῶρον .ὥσπερ ἀπὸ σκοπιᾶς ἰδὼν ἐκ “μακροῦ τοῖς μὲν θεράπουσι κελεύει καταμένειν, τῷ δὲ παιδὶ πῦρ καὶ ξύλα δίδωσι κομίζειν, αὐτὸ δικαιώσας τὸ ἱερεῖον

\ 3 \ , 9 ’ὔ / ,

τὰ πρὸς τὴν θυσίαν ἐπηχθίσθαι, κουφότατον βάρος" 30." \ 9 , > , , >

172 οὐδὲν yap εὐσεβείας ἀπονώτερον. βαδίζοντες ὃ

~ A ~ \ aA ἰσοταχῶς οὐ τοῖς σώμασι μᾶλλον ἢ Tats διανοίαις \ > 7 e e \ 4 > ON [26] ὁδὸν τὴν ἐπίτομον, ἧς ὁσιότης τὸ τέλος, ἐπὶ τὸν | 3 “- 3

173 προσταχθέντα τόπον ἀφικνοῦνται. Karel” ὃ μὲν \ 4 λί σ ’ 4 e \ πατὴρ συνεκόμιζε λίθους, ἵνα δείμαυιτο βωμόν, a δὲ υἱὸς τὰ μὲν ἄλλα ὁρῶν ὅσα πρὸς ἱερουργίαν εὐτρεπῆ, ~ 3 ᾿ ζῷον δὲ μηδέν, ἀπιδὼν εἰς τὸν πατέρα “᾿ ἰδοὺ τὸ ~ 29 » (( A \ 4 ᾿ 4 A A ¢ A 2)

πῦρ ἔφη καὶ τὰ ξύλα, πάτερ, ποῦ τὸ ἱερεῖον; 114 ἕτερος μὲν οὖν ἃ δρᾶν ἔμελλεν εἰδὼς καὶ τῇ ψυχῇ συσκιάζων ὑπὸ τοῦ λεχθέντος Kav συνεχύθη καὶ δακρύων πληρωθεὶς ἔμφασιν τοῦ γενησομένου παρ- 175 ἔσχεν ἐκ τῆς περιπαθήσεως ἡσυχάζων. ὁ δ᾽ οὐδεμίαν ἐνδεξάμενος τροπὴν οὔτε κατὰ τὸ σῶμα οὔτε κατὰ τὴν διάνοιαν σταθερῷ μὲν τῷ βλέμματι σταθερῷ δὲ τῷ λογισμῷ φησι. πρὸς τὴν πεῦσιν ἀποκρινόμενος" “ὦ τέκνον, ὁ θεὸς ὄψεται ἱερεῖον

@ Literally “‘ the names and love-charms of kinship.” > In Genesis Isaac does not carry the fire.

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ON ABRAHAM, 170-175

his son with a fondness which no words can express, shewed no change of colour nor weakening of soul, but remained steadfast as ever with a judgement that never bent nor wavered. Mastered by his love for God, he mightily overcame all the fascination expressed in the fond terms of family affection,* and told the divine call to none of his household, but taking out of his numerous following two. only, the oldest and most loyal, he went forth with his son, four in all, as though to perform one of the ordinary rites. But, when, like a scout on some commanding point, he saw the appointed place afar off, he bade his servants stay there, but gave his son the fire ὃ and wood to carry ; for he thought it good that the victim himself should bear the load of the instruments of sacrifice, a light burden indeed, for nothing is less toilsome than piety. They walked with equal speed of mind rather than body along the short straight road at the end of which is holiness and came to the appointed place. ¢ And then, while the father was collecting stones to build the altar, the son, seeing everything else ready for sacrifice but no animal, looked at his father and said: “ My father, behold the fire and the wood, but where is the victim?’ To anyone else who knew what he was about to do, and was hiding it in his heart, these words would have brought confusion and tearfulness and he would have remained silent through extreme emotion, and thus given an indica- tion of what was going to happen. But Abraham admitted no swerving of body or mind, and with visage and thought alike unmoved he said in answer

to the question, “‘ Child, God will provide Himself a

¢ rxx Gen. xxii. 8 καὶ ἐπορεύθησαν οἱ δύο ἅμα. Philo has gained from this phrase a fuller spiritual lesson in De Aig. 166 ἢ | 87

μα

71

172

173

174

175

PHILO

ἑαυτῷ καὶ ἐν ἐρημίᾳ πολλῇ, δι᾿ ἣν ἴσως ἀπογινώ- σκεις εὑρεθήσεσθαι" πάντα δ᾽ ἴσθι θεῷ δυνατὰ καὶ ὅσα ἐν ἀμηχάνῳ καὶ ἀπόρῳ κεῖται παρ᾽ ἀνθρώ-

176 Tos.” καὶ ταῦθ᾽ ἅμα λέγων ἧ τάχιστα τὸν υἱὸν ἐξαρπάσας ἐπιτίθησι τῷ βωμῷ καὶ »σπασάμενος τῇ δεξιᾷ τὸ ξίφος ἐπέφερεν ws ἀναιρήσων: φθάνει δ᾽ ὁ σωτὴρ θεὸς am’ ἀέρος φωνῇ μεσολαβήσας τὸ ἔργον, ἣ προσέταττεν ἀνέχειν καὶ μὴ ψαῦσαι τοῦ παιδός, ὀνομαστὶ καλέσας δὶς τὸν πατέρα, ἵν᾽ ἐπιστρέψας καὶ ἀντισπάσας διακωλύσῃ τὴν σφαγὴν

177 ἐργάσασθαι. XXXIII. καὶ 6 μὲν διασῴζεται, τὸ δῶρον ἀντιχαρισαμένου τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ τὸν φέροντα ἐν οἷς εὐσεβεῖτο ἀντιτιμήσαντος" τῷ δ᾽ ἤδη καὶ ἡ πρᾶξις, εἶ καὶ μὴ τὸ τέλος ἐπηκολούθησεν, ὁλόκλη- ρος καὶ παντελὴς οὐ μόνον ἐν ταῖς ἱεραῖς βίβλοις ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν ταῖς τῶν ἀναγινωσκόντων διανοίαις ἀνάγραπτος ἐστηλίτευται.

118 ᾿Αλλὰ τοῖς φιλαπεχθήμοσι καὶ πάντα διαβάλ- λουσιν, οἵ ψόγον πρὸ ἐπαίνου τιμᾶν ἐθίζονται, τὸ πραχθὲν ἔργον οὐ δοκεῖ μέγα καὶ θαυμαστόν, ὡς

179 ἡμεῖς ὑπολαμβάνομεν εἶναι. πολλοὺς γὰρ καὶ ἄλλους φασὶ τῶν πάνυ φιλοικείων καὶ φιλοτέκνων ἐπιδοῦναι τοὺς ἑαυτῶν παῖδας, τοὺς μὲν ὑπὲρ πατρίδων σφαγιασθησομένους, λυτήρια ἢ πολέμων ἣ αὐχμῶν 7 ἐπομβρίας ἢ ἢ νοσημάτων λοιμικῶν γενη- σομένους, τοὺς ὑπὲρ ,γενομισμένης εὐσεβείας, εἰ

180 καὶ μὴ πρὸς ἀλήθειαν οὔσης: “Ἑλλήνων μέν γε τοὺς δοκιμωτάτους, οὐκ ἰδιώτας μόνον ἀλλὰ καὶ βασι- λεῖς, ὀλίγα φροντίσαντας ὧν ἐγέννησαν διὰ τῆς τούτων ἀναιρέσεως δυνάμεις στρατευμάτων μεγά- λας καὶ πολυανθρώπους ἐν μὲν τῇ συμμαχίᾳ τεταγ-

88

ON ABRAHAM, 175-180

victim, even in this wide desert, which perhaps makes you give up hope of finding it; but know that to God all things are possible, including those that are impossible or insuperable to men.” And, as he said 176 this, he hastily seized his son, laid him on the altar and with his drawn knife in his right hand was pre- paring with it to deal the death blow. But ere he did so, God the Saviour stopped the deed half-way with a voice from the air, in which He ordered him to stay and not touch the lad. And twice He called the father by name to turn him and draw him back from his purpose and thus prevent his carrying out the slaughter. XXXIII. So Isaac was saved, since 177 God returned the gift of him and used the offering which piety rendered to Him to repay the offerer, ' while for Abraham the action, though not followed by the intended ending, was complete and perfect, and the record of it as such stands graven not only in the sacred books but in the minds of the readers.

But quarrelsome critics who misconstrue every- 178 thing and have a way of valuing censure above praise do not think Abraham’s action great or wonderful, as we suppose it to be. They say that many other 179 persons, full of love for their kinsfolk and offspring, have given their children, some to be sacrificed for their country to serve as a price to redeem it from wars or drought or excessive rainfall or pestilence, others for the sake of what was held to be piety though it is not really so. Indeed they say that 180 among the Greeks men of the highest reputation, not only private individuals but kings, have with little thought of their offspring put them to death, and thereby saved armed forces of great strength and magnitude when enlisted as their allies, and

89

PHILO

μένας διασῶσαι, ev δὲ TH μερίδι TOV ἐχθρῶν αὖτο-

181 βοεὶ διαφθεῖραι" βαρβαρικὰ δὲ ἔθνη μέχρι πολλοῦ

παιδοκτονίαν ὡς ὅσιον ἔργον καὶ θεοφιλὲς προσέσ-

θαι, ὧν μεμνῆσθαι τοῦ ἄγους καὶ τὸν ἱερώτατον

Μωυσῆν: αἰτιώμενος γὰρ αὐτοὺς τοῦ μιάσματος

φάσκει, ὅτι ‘‘ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτῶν καὶ τὰς θυγατέρας

κατακαίουσι τοῖς θεοῖς αὐτῶν᾽᾽- ᾿Ινδῶν δὲ | τοὺς γυμνοσοφιστὰς ἄχρι νῦν, ἐπειδὰν ἄρχηται καταλαμ- βάνειν ἡ μακρὰ καὶ ἀνίατος νόσος, τὸ γῆρας, πρὶν βεβαίως κρατηθῆναι, πυρὰν νήσαντας ἑαυτοὺς ἐμ- πιπράναι, δυναμένους ἔτι πρὸς πολυετίαν ἴσως ἀντισχεῖν: ἤδη δὲ καὶ γύναια προαποθανόντων ἀνδρῶν ὁρμῆσαι γεγηθότα πρὸς τὴν αὐτὴν πυρὰν καὶ ζῶντα τοῖς ἐκείνων σώμασιν ὑπομεῖναι δυγ-

183 καταφλεχθῆναι: ταῦτα μὲν εἰκότως ἂν τις τῆς εὐτολμίας θαυμάσειεν ἐκ πολλοῦ τοῦ περιόντος καταφρονητικῶς ἔχοντα θανάτου καὶ ws ἐπ᾽ ἀθανασίαν αὐτὸν ἱέμενα καὶ ἀπνευστὶ θέοντα" XXXIV. τὸν δὲ τί προσῆκεν ἐπαινεῖν ὡς ἐγχειρη- τὴν κεκαινουργημένης πράξεως, 7 ἣν καὶ ἰδιῶται καὶ

. βασιλεῖς καὶ ὅλα ἔθνη δρῶσιν ἐν καιροῖς;

184 ἐγὼ δὲ πρὸς τὴν τούτων βασκανίαν καὶ πικρίαν ἐκεῖνα λέξω: τῶν καταθυόντων παῖδας of μὲν ἔθει τοῦτο δρῶσιν, ὥσπερ ἐνίους ἔφασκον τῶν βαρ- βάρων, οἱ δὲ δι᾿ ἀβουλήτους καὶ μεγάλας ὑποθέσεις πόλεών TE καὶ χωῤῶν ἑτέρως κατορθοῦσθαι μὴ δυναμένων, ὧν οἱ μὲν ἀνάγκῃ τοὺς αὑτῶν ἐπι-

182 [21]

Ee

@ Philo may be thinking of Iphigeneia and Macaria in Euripides’ Heracleidae, though neither exactly fits the circum- stances. > Deut. xii. 31.

90

ON ABRAHAM, 180-184

destroyed them without striking a blow when arrayed as enemies.* Barbarian nations, they add, have for long admitted child sacrifice as a holy deed and acceptable to God, and this practice of theirs is mentioned by the holy Moses as an abomination, for, charging them with this pollution, he says that “they burn their sons and daughters to their gods.’’® Again they point out that in India the gymno- sophists even now when the long incurable disease of old age begins to take hold of them, even before they are completely in its clutches, maké up a funeral pile and burn themselves on it, though they might possibly last out many years more. And the womenfolk when the husbands die before them have been known to hasten rejoicing to share their pyre, and allow themselves to be burned alive with the corpses ofthe men. These women might reasonably, no doubt, be praised for their courage, so great and more than great is their contempt for death, and the breathless eagerness with which they rush to it as though it were immortality. XXXIV. Why, then, they ask, should we praise Abraham, as though the deed which he undertook was unprecedented, when private individuals and kings and whole nations do it when occasion calls? To their malignity and bitterness I reply as follows. Some of those who sacrifice their children follow custom in so doing, as was the case according to the critics with some of the barbarians. Others have important and painful reasons for their action because their cities and countries cannot but fail otherwise. These give their children partly under compulsion and the

¢ For Philo’s knowledge of the Indian custom see App. p. 598 091

18]

182

184

PHILO

διδόασιν ὑπὸ δυνατωτέρων βιασθέντες, οἱ δὲ δόξης καὶ τιμῆς ἐφιέμενοι καὶ εὐκλείας μὲν τῆς ἐν τῷ 186 παρόντι, εὐφημίας δὲ τῆς εἰς ὕστερον. οἱ μὲν οὖν ἔθει σφαγιάζοντες οὐδὲν ὡς ἔοικε μέγα δρῶσιν' ἐγχρονίζον γὰρ ἔθος ἐξισοῦται φύσει πολλάκις, ὡς καὶ τὰ δυσυπομόνητα καὶ δυσκαρτέρητα ῥᾳδίως ἐπελαφρίζειν, τὰς ὑπερβολὰς τῶν φοβερῶν ἐξευ- 186 μαρίζον. τῶν δ᾽ ἕνεκα δέους ἐπιδιδόντων ἔπαινος οὐδείς: 6 γὰρ ἔπαινος ἐν ἑκουσίοις κατορθώμασι γράφεται, τὰ δ᾽ ἀβούλητα ἑ ἑτέροις ἀνάκειται πράγ- μασιν, ἣ καιροῖς ἢ τύχαις ἢ ταῖς ἀπ᾽ ἀνθρώπων > + 9 , ’ 3 4 [ΔΙ nv 187 ἀνάγκαις. εἰ δέ τις δόξης ὀρεγόμενος υἱὸν ἢ θυγατέρα προΐεται, ψέγοιτ᾽ ἂν ἐνδίκως μᾶλλον ἢ ἐπαινοῖτο, θανάτῳ τῶν φιλτάτων ὠνούμενος τιμήν, ἣν καὶ κεκτημένος ὦφειλεν ὑπὲρ σωτηρίας τῶν 188 τέκνων ἀπορρίπτειν.. | ἐρευνητέον οὖν, εἶ

e , ~ , e Ἁ 93 aA ” ὑπό τινος τῶν λεχθέντων ἡττηθεὶς ἐκεῖνος ἔμελλε

. A es ” wv “A “A ’ - 3ἢ σφαγιάζειν τὸν υἱόν, ἔθους ἣ τιμῆς 7 δέους. ἔθος A eR N24 , \ \ . μὲν οὖν τὸ ἐπὶ παιδοκτονίᾳ Βαβυλὼν καὶ Meoo- ’ A A , μὴ 9 ’ 3 ποταμία καὶ τὸ Χαλδαίων ἔθνος οὐ παραδέχεται, ἐν οἷς ἐτράφη καὶ ἐπεβίωσε τὸν πλείονα χρόνον, ὡς τῇ συνεχείᾳ τῶν δρωμένων ἀμβλυτέραις ταῖς τῶν δει- 189 νῶν φαντασίαις κεκρατῆσθαι" δοκεῖν. καὶ μὴν οὐδὲ φόβος τις ἦν an’ ἀνθρώπων---οὐδὲ γὰρ τὸ χρησθὲν αὐτῷ μόνῳ λόγιον Hoel τις---, οὐδέ τις συμφορὰ κοινὴ κατείληφεν, ἡ ἧς ἔδει τὴν θεραπείαν ἀναιρέσει 190 γενέσθαι τοῦ δοκιμωτάτου παιδός. ἀλλὰ θηρώ- [28] μενος | ἔπαινον τῶν πολλῶν ἐπὶ τὴν πρᾶξιν ὥρμησε; 1 Perhaps, as Mangey suggests, κεχρῆσθαι. 92

ON ABRAHAM, 184-190

pressure of higher powers, partly through desire for glory and honour, to win fame at the time and a good name in the future. Now those who are led 185 by custom to make the sacrifice would not seem to be doing anything great, for long-standing custom often becomes equal to nature, so that in matters where patience and resolution are difficult to attain it gives ease and relief by reducing their terrors to moderate dimensions. Where the gift is made 186 through fear no praise is due, for praise is recorded for voluntary good deeds, while for those which are involuntary other things are responsible, favourable occasions, chances or force brought to bear by men. And if anyone throws away a son or a daughter 187 through desire for glory he will be justly blamed rather than praised, for with the life of his dearest he is purchasing an honour which he ought to cast aside, if he possessed it, to ensure the safety of his children. | We must therefore examine 188 whether Abraham, when he intended to sacrifice his son, was mastered by any of these motives, custom or love of honour or fear. Nowin Babylonia and Mesopotamia and with the nation of the Chaldeans with whom he was brought up and lived the greater part of his life the custom of child slaughter does not obtain, so as to suggest that his realization of its horrors was rendered less powerful by the regularity of such a practice. Surely, too, he had nothing to 189 fear from man, since no one knew of the oracular message which he alone had received ; nor was he under the pressure of any public misfortune which could be remedied only by the immolation of a child of special worth. Or was the quest of praise from the 190 multitude the motive which urged him to the deed ἢ

93

PHILO

Α ’ μὴ 3 3 “ A “a a καὶ Tis ἔπαινος ev ἐρημίᾳ, μηδενὸς τοῦ μέλλοντος 3 A A “A ἐπευφημήσειν παρόντος, ἀλλὰ Kal τῶν δυεῖν οἰκετῶν A > » > , “4 Ἁ 3 μακρὰν ἐπίτηδες ἀπολειφθέντων, ἵνα μὴ ἐγκαλ- λωπίζεσθαι καὶ ἐνεπιδείκνυσθαι δοκῇ μάρτυρας. 2 ᾿ 19] ἐπαγόμενος ὧν εὐσέβει; XXXV. στόμασιν οὖν 3 ἀχαλίνοις καὶ κακηγόροις θύρας ἐπιθέντες μετρια- ’ aA Cérwoav τὸν ἐν αὑτοῖς μισόκαλον φθόνον καὶ 9 . 9 A ΠῚ “ \ , a ἀρετὰς ἀνδρῶν εὖ βεβιωκότων μὴ σινέσθωσαν, ἃς ἁρμόττον ἦν εὐφημίᾳ συνεπικοσμεῖν. ὅτι δὲ τῷ ὄντι ἐπαινετὴ καὶ ἀξιέραστος ἡ ἡ πρᾶξις, ¢ ἐκ 192 πολλῶν εὐμαρὲς ἰδεῖν. πρῶτον μὲν τοίνυν τὸ ’ A A a “A : A πείθεσθαι θεῷ παρὰ πᾶσι τοῖς εὖ φρονοῦσι σεμνὸν Α aA καὶ περιμάχητον εἶναι νομιζόμενον ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα 9 , A A ETETHOEVEV, WS μηδενὸς πώποτε τῶν προστεταγ- ay 3 λ A ᾽ ὃ “ ‘3 δί 5S) μένων ἀλογῆσαι, ἄνευ υσκολίας καὶ an tas, κἂν πόνων τε καὶ ἀλγηδόνων μεστὸν 7 παρὸ καὶ τὸ χρησθὲν ἐπὶ τῷ υἱῷ γενναιότατα καὶ στερρότατα 193 ἤνεγκεν. ἔπειτ᾽ οὐκ ὄντος ἔθους ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ, 4 ” 9 > », > , 9 aA Δ καθάπερ ἴσως παρ᾽ ἐνίοις ἐστίν, ἀνθρωποθυτεῖν, ὃ τῇ συνεχείᾳ τὰς τῶν δεινῶν φαντασίας εἴωθεν ἐκλύειν, αὐτὸς ἔμελλε πρῶτος ἄρχεσθαι καινοτάτου ; aA \ καὶ παρηλλαγμένου πράγματος, ὅ μοι δοκεῖ μηδεὶς ἂν ὑπομεῖναι, καὶ εἰ σιδήρου τὴν ψυχὴν 7 ἀδάμαντος ; l4 κατεσκεύαστο" *‘ φύσει © γὰρ ὡς εἶπέ τις “᾿ ἔργον 194 μάχεσθαι." γνήσιόν τε υἱὸν πεποιημένος μόνον τοῦτον εὐθὺς εἶχε καὶ τὸ πάθος ἐπ᾽ αὐτῷ τῆς εὖ- , , e 4, Ἁ ’ 3 νοίας γνήσιον, ὑπερβάλλον τοὺς σώφρονας ἔρωτας 9 ὔ es 4 “- 195 καὶ τὰς φιλίας, ὅσαι δι᾽ ὀνόματος γεγόνασι. προσῆν

θ4

ON ABRAHAM, 190-195

What praise could there be in a solitude where no one was present to report his fame afterwards, but. even the two servants had been purposely left afar off lest he should appear to be making a boastful parade by bringing witnesses to his pious conduct ἢ XXXV. Let them, therefore, set bolt and bar to 191 their unbridled evil-speaking mouths, control their envy and hatred of excellence and not mar the virtues of men who have lived a good life, virtues which they should rather help to glorify by their good report. That the deed really deserves our praise and love can easily be seen in many ways. . First, 192 then, he made a special practice of obedience to God, a duty which every right-minded person holds

to be worthy of all respect and effort. Hitherto he had not neplected any of God’s commands, nor ever met them with repining or discontent, however | charged with toils and pains they might be, and therefore he bore the sentence pronounced on his son with all nobleness and firmness. Secondly, since 193 human sacrifice was not in that country, as it was perhaps in some, sanctioned by custom which is

so apt through constant repetition to weaken the realization of the terrible, he would have been the first himself to initiate a totally new and extraordinary © procedure, and this, to my mind, is a thing which no one could have brought himself to do even if his soul had been made of iron or adamant, for, as it has been said, it is hard work to fight against nature. And, 194 as he had: begotten no son inthe truest sense but Isaac, his feeling of affection for him was necessarily.

on the same high level of truth, higher even than the chaste forms of love and also the much talked-of ties of friendship. Further, he had a most potent 195

95

PHILO

δέ τι καὶ βιαστικώτατον φίλτρον, τὸ μὴ καθ᾽ ἡλικίαν ἀλλ᾽ ἐν γήρᾳ γεγεννηκέναι τὸν παῖδα" τοῖς γὰρ ὀψιγόνοις ἐπιμεμήνασί πως οἱ τοκεῖς, ἢ τῷ μακρὸν ἐπιποθῆσαι χρόνον τὴν γένεσιν αὐτῶν ἢ τῷ μηκέθ᾽ ἑτέρους ἐλπίζειν ἔσεσθαι, τῆς φύσεως ἐνταῦθα ἱσταμένης ὡς ἐπὶ τελευταῖον καὶ ὕστατον 196 ὅρον. ἐκ πολυπαιδίας μὲν οὖν ἕνα προέσθαι θεῷ καθάπερ ἀπαρχήν τινα τέκνων παράδοξον οὐδέν, ἔχοντα τὰς ἐπὶ τοῖς ζῶσιν ἡδονὰς οὐ μικρὰ παραμύ- θια καὶ μειλίγματα τῆς ἐπὶ τῷ σφαγιασθέντι λύπης" ὃν δὲ μόνον τις ἔσχεν ἀγαπητὸν διδοὺς λόγου παντὸς μεῖζον ἔργον διαπράττεται, μηδὲν οἰκειότητι χαριζόμενος, ἀλλ᾽ ὅλῃ τῇ ῥοπῇ πρὸς τὸ θεοφιλὲς 197 ταλαντεύων. ἐκεῖνο μὲν δὴ ἐξαίρετον καὶ μόνῳ σχεδόν τι τούτῳ πεπραγμένον" οὗ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλοι, κἂν ὑπὲρ σωτηρίας πατρίδων ἢ “στρατευμάτων ἐπιδιδῶσι σφαγιασθησομένους τοὺς ἑαυτῶν, ἢ οἴκοι καταμένουσιν ἢ μακρὰν ἀφίστανται τῶν βωμῶν ἢ, κἂν παρατυγχάνωσι, τὰς ὄψεις ἀποστρέφονται θεά- 198 σασθαι μὴ ὑπομένοντες, ἄλλων ἀναιρούντων" ὁ δ᾽ [29] ὥσπερ ἱερεὺς | αὐτὸς κατήρχετο τῆς ἱερουργίας, ἐφ᾽ υἱῷ τὰ πάντα ἀρίστῳ φιλοστοργότατος πατήρ' ἐμέλισε δ᾽ ἂν ἴσως καὶ νόμῳ τῶν ὁλοκαυτωμάτων Kara ᾿μέλη τὸν υἱὸν ἱερουργῶν. οὕτως οὐ τὸ μέν τι μέρος ἀπέκλινε πρὸς τὸν παῖδα, τὸ δέ τι πρὸς εὐσέβειαν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅλην τὴν ψυχὴν δι᾿ ὅλων ὁσιότητι προσεκλήρωσεν ὀλίγα φροντίσας συγγενικοῦ at- 199 ματος. τί δὴ τῶν εἰρημένων πρὸς ἑτέρους κοινόν; τί δ᾽ οὐκ ἐξαίρετον καὶ παντὸς λόγου κρεῖττον;

96

ON ABRAHAM, 195-199

incentive to love in that he had begotten the boy in his old age and not in his years of vigour. For parents somehow dote on their late-born children, either because they have longed for their birth for so many years or because they do not hope to have any more, since nature comes to a halt at this point as its final and furthermost boundary. For a father 196 to surrender one of a numerous family as a tithe to God is nothing extraordinary, since each of the survivors continues to give him pleasure, and this is no small solace and mitigation of his grief for the one who has been sacrificed. But one who gives his only darling son performs an action for which no language is adequate, since he concedes nothing to the tie of relationship, but his whole weight is thrown into the scale on the side of acceptability with God. The following point is exceptional, and his conduct 197 in it is practically unique. Other fathers, even if they give their children to be sacrificed for the safety of their country or armies, either stay at home or stand far away from the altars, or, if they are present, turn away their eyes, since they cannot bear the sight, and leave others to kill the victim.. But here 198 we have. the most affectionate of fathers himself beginning the sacrificial rite as priest with the very best of sons for victim. Perhaps too, following the law of burnt offering, he would have dismembered his son and offered him limb by limb. Thus we see that he did not incline partly to the boy and partly to piety, but. devoted his whole soul through and through to holiness and disregarded the claims of their common blood. Which of all the points men- 199 tioned is shared by others? Which does not stand by itself and defy description ? Thus everyone who

97

PHILO

. ’ \ , , Α . ἢ ὡς τόν γε μὴ φύσει βάσκανον. καὶ φιλοπόνηρον καταπλαγῆναι καὶ θαυμάσαι τῆς περιττῆς ἄγαν εὐσεβείας, οὐχ ἅπαντα ὅσα εἶπον ἀθρόα εἰς νοῦν βαλλόμενον, ἀλλὰ κἂν ἕν τι τῶν πάντων" ἱκανὴ γὰρ \ e e A ’ ’ \ aA A 3 καὶ ἡ ἐνὸς φαντασία τύπῳ τινὶ βραχεῖ--βραχὺ ὃ οὐδὲν ἔργον σοφοῦ-- μέγεθος ψυχῆς καὶ ὕψος ἐμφῆναι.

200 ΧΧΧΥ͂Ι. ᾿Αλλὰ γὰρ οὐκ ἐπὶ τῆς ῥητῆς καὶ φανερᾶς ἀποδόσεως ἵ ἵσταται τὰ λεχθέντα, φύσιν δὲ τοῖς πολλοῖς ᾿ἀδηλοτέραν ἐ ἔοικε παρεμφαίνειν, ἣ ἣν ot τὰ νοητὰ πρὸ τῶν αἰσθητῶν ἀποδεχόμενοι καὶ ὁρᾶν

201 δυνάμενοι γνωρίζουσιν. ἔστι δὲ τοιάδε᾽ ὁ μελλήσας σφαγιάζεσθαι καλεῖται Χαλδαϊστὶ μὲν ᾿Ισαάκ,' ἔλλη-

\ \ , “-ο > ἢ {{ ’ 3) νιστὶ δὲ μεταληφθέντος τοῦ ὀνόματος “᾿ γέλως ᾽᾿’ γέλως δ᾽ οὐχ 6 κατὰ παιδιὰν ἐγγινόμενος σώματι παραλαμβάνεται τὰ νῦν, ἀλλ’ ἧ κατὰ

202 διάνοιαν εὐπάθεια καὶ χαρά. ταύτην ὁ σοφὸς ἱερουργεῖν λέγεται δεόντως θεῷ διὰ “συμβόλου παριστάς, ὅτι τὸ χαίρειν μόνῳ θεῷ οἰκειότατόν ἐστιν" ἐπίλυπον μὲν γὰρ τὸ ἀνθρώπινον γένος καὶ περιδεές, ἢ παρόντων κακῶν ἢ προσδοκωμένων, ὡς “vn 9 A aA 3 A > 4 > A 3..." A ἢ ἐπὶ Tots ἐν χερσὶν ἀβουλήτοις ἀνιᾶσθαι ἢ ἐπὶ τοῖς

’ “A \ 4 ’ ” μέλλουσι ταραχῇ καὶ φόβῳ κραδαίνεσθαι" ἄλυπος δὲ καὶ ἄφοβος καὶ παντὸς πάθους ἀμέτοχος ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ φύσις εὐδαιμονίας καὶ μακαριότητος παντελοῦς

203 μόνη μετέχουσα. τῷ δὴ τὴν ἀληθῆ ταύτην ὁμολο- γίαν ὡμολογηκότι τρόπῳ χρηστὸς ὧν καὶ φιλάν- θρωπος ὁ ὁ θεός, φθόνον ἐληλακὼς ἀφ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ, προῦ- ηκόντως ἀντιχαρίζεται τὸ δῶρον, καθ᾽ ὅσον ἔχει δυνάμεως ὁ ληψόμενος, καὶ μόνον οὐ ταῦτα θεσπίζει

α In the strict Stoic sense of the word, for reasonable forms of πάθος. See note on De Mut.-1 and references there given.

98

ON ABRAHAM, 199-203

is not malignant or a lover of evil must be over- whelmed with admiration for his extraordinary piety ; and he need not take into consideration at once all the points which I have mentioned, for any single one of them would be enough. For to picture in the mind one of these, however small the form which the picture takes, though no action of the Sage is small, is enough to show the greatness and loftiness of his soul.

XXXVI. But the story here told is not confined to 200 the literal and obvious explanation, but seems to have in it the elements of a further suggestion, obscure to the many but recognized by those who prefer the mental to the sensible and have the power to see it. It is as follows. The proposed victim is 20] called in Chaldaean Isaac, but, if the word is trans- lated into our language, Laughter. But the laughter here understood is not the laughter which amuse- ment arouses in the body, but the good emotion ® of the understanding, that is joy. This the Sage is 202 said to sacrifice as his duty to God, thus showing in a figure that rejoicing is most ‘closely associated with God alone. For mankind is subject to grief and very fearful of evils either present or expected, so that men. are either distressed by disagreeables close at hand or are agitated by troublous fear of those which are still to come. But the nature of God is without grief or fear and wholly exempt from passion of any kind, and alone partakes of perfect happiness and bliss. The frame of mind which has made this true 203 acknowledgement God, Who has banished jealousy from His presence in His kindness and love for man- kind, fitly rewards by returning the gift in so far as the recipient’s capacity allows. And indeed we may

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PHILO

4 ce A A ~ aA ’ A δυο ’ . 204 λέγων" ““ τὸ μὲν τῆς χαρᾶς γένος καὶ τὸ χαίρειν ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἑτέρου πλὴν ἐμοῦ τοῦ πατρὸς τῶν ὅλων A A 9 “ κτῆμα, σαφῶς οἶδα, κεκτημένος δ᾽ ὅμως οὐ φθονῶ “ 957 “a ” A ’ 4, , A ” τοῖς ἀξίοις χρῆσθαι" ἄξιος δὲ τίς ἂν εἴη, πλὴν εἴ τις ἐμοὶ καὶ τοῖς ἐμοῖς βουλήμασιν ἕποιτο; τούτῳ γὰρ ἥκιστα μὲν ἀνιᾶσθαι ἥκιστα δὲ φοβεῖσθαι συμ-

’ ’ \ ,

βήσεται πορευομένῳ ταύτην τὴν ὁδόν, ἣ πάθεσι μὲν καὶ κακίαις ἐστὶν ἄβατος, εὐπαθείαις δὲ καὶ ἀρεταῖς

9 A 32 A 9 e , 205 ἐμπεριπατεῖται. μηδεὶς δ᾽ ὑπολαβέτω 9 a ~ τὴν ἄκρατον καὶ ἀμιγῆ λύπης χαρὰν ἀπ᾽ οὐρανοῦ

’ 9 A aA LAA A , 1 9 A [30] καταβαίνειν ἐπὶ τὴν γῆν, ἀλλὰ | κέκραται' ἐξ ἀμφοῖν,

lo , περιττεύοντος τοῦ κρείττονος" ὅνπερ τρόπον καὶ TO “- ~ A ” \ > φῶς ev οὐρανῷ μὲν ἄκρατον καὶ ἀμιγὲς σκότους a Α 4 > “- ἐστίν, ἐν δὲ τοῖς ὑπὸ σελήνην ἀέρι ζοφερῷ κεκρα- ’ Uy “-- > » A 9206 μένον φαίνεται. ταύτης ἕνεκα τῆς αἰτίας δοκεῖ μοι 4 e¢ 955 a 3 καὶ πρότερον γελάσασα ἡ ἀρετῆς ἐπώνυμος Σάρρα ’ 9 πρὸς τὸν πυνθανόμενον ἀρνήσασθαι τὸν γέλωτα, A καταδείσασα μή ποτε ἄρα TO χαίρειν οὐδενὸς ὃν “- A “- aA γενητοῦ, μόνου δὲ τοῦ θεοῦ, σφετερίζηται" διόπερ , 9 A ee δ] , ’ A 9 θαρσύνων αὐτὴν 6 ἱερὸς λόγος φησί: μηδὲν εὐλαβη- 207 θῇς, ὄντως ἐγέλασας καὶ μέτεστί σοι χαρᾶς. οὐ γὰρ εἴασεν 6 πατὴρ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸ γένος λύπαις 9 ,

καὶ ὀδύναις καὶ ἄχθεσιν ἀνιάτοις ἐμφέρεσθαι, παρ- ἐμιξε δὲ καὶ τῆς ἀμείνονος φύσεως, εὐδιάσαι καὶ γαληνιάσαι ποτὲ τὴν ψυχὴν δικαιώσας" τὴν δὲ τῶν

1 vss. ἀλλ᾽ ἐγκέκραται or ἀλλὰ κρέμαται e¢ alia. Perhaps ἀλλά κρᾶμὰ τι.

* Gen. xviii. 12 and 15. Sarah’s laughter has been ex- plained in the obvious way in ὃ 112. Here we have a more

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ON ABRAHAM, 204-207

almost hear His voice saying: “* All joy and rejoicing 204 I know well is the possession of none other save Me alone, the Father of All. Yet I do not grudge that this My possession should be used by such as are worthy, and who should be worthy save one who should follow Me and My will, for he will prove to be most exempt from distress and fear if he travels by this road which passion and vice cannot tread, but good feelings and virtue can walk therein.” But let no one suppose that joy de- 205 scends from heaven to earth pure and free from any mixture of grief. No, it is a mixture of both, though the better element is the stronger, just as light too in heaven is pure from any mixture of darkness but in regions below the moon is clearly mixed with dusky air. This was the reason, I think, why Sarah 206 who bears the name of virtue first laughs, and then, in reply to her questioner, denies the laughter.* She feared lest she should be grasping for herself the joy which belongs not to created being but to God alone. Therefore, the holy word bids her be of good cheer and says: “ Be not afraid: thou didst indeed laugh and dost participate in joy.”’ For the 207 Father did not suffer the whole course of the human race to move amid griefs and pains and burdens which admit no remedy, but mixed with them something of the better nature and judged it well that the soul should at times dwell in sunshine and calm; and as

spiritual interpretation. That the laughter signified joy, not incredulity, has already been suggested in Leg. All. iii. 217 f. and De Mut. 166. In neither of these places, however, has the subsequent denial been dealt with. The interpretation here suggested that the soul begins to doubt whether joy is not more than humanity can expect appears again in Spec. Leg. ii. 54.

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a A A ’ ’ “- ’ A 3

σοφῶν καὶ τὸν πλείω χρόνον τοῦ βίου γήθειν Kat 3 ’ ἕ “A A 4 7 9 / εὐφραίνεσθαι Tots τοῦ κόσμου θεωρήμασιν ἐβουλήθη.

XXXVII. Τοσαῦτα μὲν περὶ τῆς τοῦ ἀνδρὸς 9 , 9 A A 3 9 A > ’ εὐσεβείας, εἰ καὶ πολλῶν ἄλλων ἐστὶν ἀφθονία,

’ ’ \ \ A \ > , λελέχθω. διερευνητέον δὲ καὶ τὴν πρὸς ἀνθρώπους αὐτοῦ δεξιότητα: τῆς γὰρ αὐτῆς φύσεώς ἐστιν A A εὐσεβῆ τε εἶναι καὶ φιλάνθρωπον, καὶ περὶ τὸν αὐτὸν ἑκάτερον, ὁσιότης μὲν πρὸς θεόν, δικαιοσύνη δὲ πρὸς ἀνθρώπους, θεωρεῖται. πάντα μὲν οὖν τὰ πεπραγμένα μακρὸν ἂν εἴη διεξιέναι, δυεῖν δὲ ἢ τριῶν οὐκ ἄτοπον ἐπιμνησθῆναι. πολυάργυρος καὶ “ ς“ \ 4

πολύχρυσος ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα ὧν καὶ θρεμμάτων πολυζῴους ἔχων ἀγέλας καὶ τῶν ἐγχωρίων καὶ αὐτοχθόνων τοῖς ἱκανὰ κεκτημένοις ἐν τῷ περι- ουσιάζειν ἁμιλλώμενος καὶ πλουσιώτερος γεγονὼς δ 9 \ 3 ’ “

ἢ κατὰ μέτοικον ὑπ᾽ οὐδενὸς ἐμέμφθη τῶν ὑπο- ,ἤὕ > > ¢ A ’ “A 3 A 3 ’’ δεξαμένων, ἀλλ᾽ ὑπὸ πάντων τῶν εἰς πεῖραν ἐλθόντων 3 ’ ’ὔἢ 3 \ , e a ἐπαινούμενος διετέλεσεν. εἰ δὲ καί τις, ola φιλεῖ πολλάκις, ἐκ θεραπόντων καὶ τῶν συνδιατριβόντων ἅμιλλα καὶ διαφορὰ πρὸς ἑτέρους ἐγένετο, ταύτην ἐπειρᾶτο διαλύειν ἡσυχῇ βαρυτέρῳ ἤθει τὰ φιλό- νεικα καὶ ταραχώδη καὶ στασιαστικὰ πάντα προβε- βλημένος καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπεληλακώς. καὶ θαυ- μαστὸν οὐδέν, εἰ πρὸς τοὺς ἀλλοτρίους τοιοῦτος ἦν, ot βαρυτέρᾳ καὶ δυνατωτέρᾳ χειρὶ συμφωνήσαντες ἠμύναντο ἂν ἄρχοντα χειρῶν ἀδίκων, ὁπότε καὶ πρὸς τοὺς γένει μὲν οἰκείους, γνώμῃ δ᾽ ἠλλοτριω-

«--......

α Or “ kindness and courtesy.”” See note on De Fuga 31. . ὃ For Abraham’ 8 wealth ef. Gen. xiii. 2 and xxiv. 35. ¢ Or ‘“‘seriousness.”” But the word seems strange.

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ON ABRAHAM, 207-211

for the soul of the wise He willed that it should pass the chief part of its life in glad-hearted contempla- tion of what the world has to show.

XXXVII. These examples must suffice for our treatment of Abraham’s piety, though others might be found in great plenty. But we must also examine the good and wise behaviour ® shown in his dealings with men. For the nature which is pious is also kindly, and the same person will exhibit both qual- ities, holiness to God and justice to men. It would be too long, indeed, to describe all his actions, but it would not be out of place to mention two or three. Though he was exceedingly rich ® in silver and gold and possessed many herds of numerous live-stock and in abundance of wealth rivalled those of the natives and original inhabitants who possessed good means, and became more opulent than would be expected of an immigrant, he incurred no censure from those who received him into their midst but continued to be praised by all who had experience of him. But, if, as often happens, any of his ser- vants or regular associates had a quarrel or differ- ence with his neighbours, he would try to put an end to it quietly, banishing and expelling from the soul by means of his greater dignity® of character all that tended to strife and confusion and faction. And we need not wonder that he so bore himself to strangers who could have united to repel him with their superior weight of strength if he was the aggres- sor in injustice, when we see what moderation he showed to those who, connected with him by birth but estranged from him in moral principles, stood

Mangey wished to read mpgorépw. Cohn notes that the Armenian seems to have read πρᾳοτέρῳ τὰ βαρύτερα.

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21]

PHILO

4 > γ᾿ A 4, A AA “--ὠ 7) s μένους, ἐρήμους Kal μόνους Kal πολλῷ καταδεέ- e A στερα κεκτημένους ἐμετρίαζεν, ἐλαττούμενος ἑκὼν 212 ἐν οἷς πλεονεκτεῖν ἐδύνατο. ἦν γὰρ ἀδελφιδοῦς αὐτῷ, τῆς πατρίδος ὅτε μετανίστατο, συνεξεληλυ- θώς, ἀβέβαιος, ὑπαμφίβολος, ἀντιρρέπων ὧδε [31] κἀκεῖσε, τοτὲ μὲν προσσαίνων | φιλικοῖς ἀσπά- σμασι, τοτὲ δὲ ἀφηνιάζων καὶ ἀπαυχενίζων διὰ τὴν “- A 213 τῶν τρόπων ἀνωμαλίαν. ὅθεν καὶ τὸ οἰκετικὸν αὐτῷ δύσερι καὶ ταραχῶδες ἦν σωφρονιστὴν οὐκ ἔχον καὶ μάλιστα τὸ ποιμενικὸν μακρὰν τοῦ δεσπό- του διεξευγμένον" ἀπελευθεριάζοντες γοῦν ὑπ᾽ αὐθαδείας ἀεὶ διεφέροντο τοῖς προεστηκόσι τῶν θρεμμάτων τοῦ σοφοῦ τὰ πολλὰ εἴκουσι διὰ τὴν τοῦ ae 9 4

δεσπότου πραύὔπάθειαν: bp οὗ πρὸς ἀπόνοιαν ἐπιδόντες καὶ θράσος ἀναίσχυντον ὥργων, μηνι- ὥντες ἤδη καὶ τὸ ἀκατάλλακτον ἐν αὑτοῖς ζωπυ- “-- Ἁ ’ > ροῦντες, ἕως ἀπηνάγκασαν τοὺς ἀδικουμένους εἷς 214 ἄμυναν “ὁρμῆσαι. μάχης δὲ ἐμβριθεστάτης γενο- μένης, ἀκούσας ὁ ἀστεῖος τὴν ἀντεφόρμησιν, εἰδὼς ἐπικυδεστέραν οὖσαν τὴν αὑτοῦ μερίδα πλήθει τε καὶ δυνάμει, τὴν διαφορὰν οὐκ εἴασεν ἄχρι νίκης 3 a e A le) \ .9 aA A > ~ 3.49 ἐλθεῖν, ὑπὲρ τοῦ μὴ ἀνιᾶσαι τὸν ἀδελφιδοῦν ἐφ

@ ~ 90, 3 9 > ,. AY ἥττῃ τῶν ἰδίων, ἀλλ᾽ ἐν μεθορίῳ στὰς συμβατη- ld 4 A ’ ’ 3 ρίοις λόγοις τοὺς διαφερομένους κατήλλαξεν, οὐ

A πρὸς TO παρὸν μόνον ἀλλὰ Kal τὸν μέλλοντα χρόνον. 215 εἰδὼς γὰρ ὅτι συνοικοῦντες -pev καὶ ἐν ταὐτῷ διαιτώμενοι γνωσιμαχοῦντες φιλονεικήσουσι στά- > A A ’ 9.9 ’ 3 ’ @

σεις ἀεὶ Kal πολέμους κατ᾽ ἀλλήλων ἐγείροντες, ἵνα

@ For §§ 212-216 see Gen. xiii. 5-11. 104